USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 50
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 50
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Reference of President Hinsdale, Hiram College, to the Atwater family : "Perhaps the best known family group of students that attended school at Hiram, in the early period, were the Atwaters, three brothers and a sister. Belonging to a well-known family in the vicinage and possessing abilities and character, they naturally impressed themselves upon the school. both as a group and as individuals."
Four Months in the War, from the Atwater Family History, published by Francis Atwater: "While at Northwestern University, with three other students, Mr. Atwater enlisted in May, 1864. for the hundred-day service, in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, Colonel Vance. The plan of the campaign was, while Grant should assail Richmond in the East, to send General Sherman, with well-drilled troops, through the heart of the Confederacy in the West, and thus break the back of the rebellion. The short-service. raw recruits were to fill the place of the trained soldiers on guard duty. The plan worked and really ended the war. They had their little part in it. The regiment went South by way of Louisville and Nash- ville, the boys often singing. 'John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave. But his soul goes marching on.' And they really felt that the great soul of
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the slave liberator was someway in their van. The regiment camped, and drilled, and guarded the important points at Nashville, later at Stevenson, Alabama. Being sent on some duty to Chattanooga in July (it was the time when Sherman was marching into, or through, Georgia) our 'tenderfoot' soldier had the pleasure of climbing with peaceful Alpine stock, or perpendic- ular ladder, the steeps of Lookout Mountain, near where Hooker, the pre- ceding November, had forced his way up above the clouds in the face of blood and fire. A visit to Mission Ridge, on the east of the city, brought clearly to light the proofs of the hard fighting where Sherman, co-operating with Hooker, attacked Bragg and, after repeated repulses, had driven him head- long from the ridge. The trees that stood in the center of the fierce conflict were riddled with bullets, and many branches and even trunks were broken off. You could even then pick up unexploded shells and cannon balls on the blood-drenched plain in front of the rebel breastworks, and the limbs of dead rebel soldiers protruding from their shallow graves on the mountain side bore painful witness to their cheap and hasty burial. These last days of '64, the trains of the South were loaded with disabled soldiers and wounded men had their stories to tell of the bloody battles near Atlanta, where General Sherman, by skillful maneuvering and desperate fighting, was forcing the Confederates from their well-chosen and fortified positions. It was the be- ginning of the end. By September Ist Atlanta was taken, and the success of the great campaign planned by Grant was assured. A little later Sherman began his great march to the sea. The time was up and the playing at war by our hundred-day men was over. With the loss of a very few, they rode back to Indianapolis."
In 1882 Mr. Atwater made a vacation trip to Europe. He crossed the Alps on the 4th of July, passing by Genoa and Pisa to Rome and thence to Naples. Here he lodged in the home and had as his guide the famous anti- quarian and ex-consul, Dr. J. C. Fletcher, of Indianapolis. No more per- fectly equipped leader of sightseeing could possibly be found. With him, he visited ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In the former of these, the ex- plorations perhaps were still going on and the relics of all sorts were being transferred to a museum in Naples. With Dr. Fletcher he visited Pozzuoli (Puteoli, where Paul landed ). the famous lake Avernum and brought off interesting relics dug up at old Cumae on the coast. One day the Doctor left his pupil to go alone and he went up by carriage, without guide, the side of Mount Vesuvius, took the steam tramcar lift to near the top and scrambled up through sand and ashes to the summit. The visitor finds himself on that
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high lookout really far above the clouds. The volcano was at that time in a mild state of eruption, but as it looked very innocent (though the Italian at- tendant reported lava flowing in places) the venturesome sight-seer passed down by a little slanting path into the immense crater, peering through the dense, misty darkness for a sight of the cavernous opening whence the smoke and fire were pouring. But August had come and, taking the train for the North, having already made his stay in Rome, the tourist hastened by Flor- ence without stopping to view its treasures of art or glance into its old churches. At the close of a hot summer day he dropped into Venice, whose drays and carriages are boats and whose streets are waterways. It was here restful sightseeing to ride by gondola among the wonders of this famous city on the sea. On the other side of the Alps his old Hiram friend, the noted consul, Frank H. Mason, made his stay at Lake Lucerne most delightful. He stopped for a few hours at Heidelberg-the old German university. The route was next down the Rhine and across the straits of Dover into England, the ancient home of his forefathers. A week in London, a day at Windsor palace and castle, and the meadow of Runnymede, where King John signed the Magna Charta ; an hour or two at Oxford, time enough to glance at the great university and view the spot where Cranmer Ridly and Latimer perished at the stake; a Sunday at Chester and a sea-sick voyage from Southampton to New York completed his hasty trip to Europe. It was undertaken to study Ro- man antiquities, and was a success and an inspiration.
In 1893, after more than a quarter of a century of teaching in the uni- versity, Mr. Atwater left the institution, returned to the ministry and spent several years of pastoral work among the churches, one of which was near Yale University and the residence of his ancestors, the other at the home of his childhood in Ohio. A little later he was chosen field secretary for the endowment of Butler College, Indianapolis. Since that service he has re- turned to Bloomington and made that place ( his favorite town) his residence, his son, Munson D. Atwater, having for many years a desirable position with the Bell Telephone Company either in New York, Indianapolis or Chicago. About 1904 Indiana University conferred on Mr. Atwater the title of Emeri- tus Professor of Latin. This is an honorary title, involving no duties and conferring no salary. He prizes this honor the more because many of the present faculty and members of the board of trustees who voted for it were students of his, in years long past. It is an interesting fact that he is the only person now living of the faculty of 1865, when he entered it. Nor does any member of the board of trustees of that day survive. Teachers and mana- gers and officers of all kinds have passed to the other side.
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About his last public duty in the university was to deliver the baccalau- reate-the address to the graduating class-June 19, 1904. The text was, "They that are in health need not the physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." The duty impressed upon the "educated man" was to devote his powers and his education to meeting the world's needs.
In March, 1905, Mr. Atwater joined with several other professors and citizens in forming the Monroe County Historical Society. Prof. James A. Woodburn, who had been the first to suggest the enterprise, became its first secretary, largely gave it direction and helped to make it a success. The com- missioners wisely conceded to it a conveniently located room in the new court house and suitable furniture. The society is now filling an important place in the county.
Mr. Atwater having now (November, 1913.) reached seventy-four, is pleasantly spending his old age at his home in Bloomington. He devotes much of his time to his books and papers, perhaps preparing some of his addresses for publication or it may be simply for the binding of the type- writer. He assists the minister of the Christian church in caring for the congregation, which he has known almost half a century. He teaches his Bible class and counsels with his brethren of other congregations in the county, preaches an occasional sermon, is deeply interested in religion, education and government and is in ardent sympathy with men and missions and all efforts for the world's advancement.
WALTER E. WOODBURN.
The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as well as upon knowledge, it being a self-evident proposition that honesty is the best policy. Business demands confidence and where that is lacking busi- ness ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth rather than for their wealth or political standing. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the younger gen- erations heed their example, and when. they "wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams" posterity listens with reverence to the story of their quiet and useful lives. Among such men of a past generation in Indiana was the late Walter E. Woodburn, of Blooming- ton, Monroe county, who was not only a progressive man of affairs, successful
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in material pursuits, but a man of modest and unassuming demeanor, well educated, a fine type of the reliable, self-made American, a friend to the poor, charitable to the faults of his neighbors and who always stood ready to unite with them in every good work and active in the support of laudable public enterprises. He was proud of Bloomington and of the grand state of Indiana and zealous of their progress and prosperity. He was a man who in every respect merited the high esteem in which he was universally held, for he was a man of public spirit, intellectual attainments and exemplary character.
Walter E. Woodburn was born in Bloomington, Monroe county, Indi- ana, on February 7, 1848, and was the son of James and Martha ( Hemphill) Woodburn, the former having been a native of the Chester district, South Carolina. James Woodburn was a man of splendid character and fine intel- lectual attainments and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1865, he was a teacher in the Indiana State University and enjoyed a high standing among his fellow educators. Walter E. Woodburn received his preliminary education in the Bloomington public schools and for two years was a student in the State University, being compelled to relinquish his studies there on account of the death of his father, when he became the chief support and reliance of his widowed mother and the younger children. He nobly assumed his full share of the burden thus thrown upon him and from that time to the close of his life his record was one of unceasing activity. For practically a third of a century he was connected with the First National Bank of Bloom- ington, and during the greater part of this time he was at the cashier's desk. rendering honest and faithful service to the institution and doing much to keep it among the leading banking institutions of this section of the state. In evidence of the exalted position Mr. Woodburn held in the minds of those familiar with his history, the following lines are quoted from the Blooming- ton press : "There was no man who made more impression upon the com- munity than Walter E. Woodburn. For over thirty-five years he has been an active and energetic part of the city, known of all men and in all avenues of trade and professions as the soul of honor. For over thirty years as cashier of the First National Bank he has been the fountain head of reliable infor- mation ; a statement quoted as being from him passed as an accepted fact. Mr. Woodburn was not radical in word, but he was firm in belief and no one needed to ask his position on any question of right or any policy that meant the welfare and best interests of the city. As a banker almost all his business life, money was a sacred trust to him and, without a seeming thought of taking credit for the statement, he often said that in the thirty-two years of his work as a cashier he never touched a cent of the money or knowingly
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violated the laws of the institution. It was a life principle with him not to speculate and, though he was in a position where information was first-hand as to trades and prospects, these things were no temptation. No man could have been more faithful to the work before him. His view of business was that his time and energies all belonged to the bank and, though often impor- tuned by the officials to take rest and recreation. he always refused, and it is doubtful if any man in the city for so long a time has such a faithful record of duty well performed. In all these thirty-two years he has probably not been absent from his place in the bank a month all told until the breakdown in his health last summer. He applied himself constantly to his work and in these few statements is told the life's story of an honest and faithful man." Mr. Woodburn died at his home in Bloomington on May 4, 1906.
On November 27. 1878, Walter E. Woodburn was married to Anna K. Arnott, the daughter of Rev. Moses and Mary ( Pollock) Arnott, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Pennsylvania. At the time of his death Rev. Arnott was pastor of a Presbyterian church at Hanover, Jef- ferson county, Indiana. He was a man of good education, high intellectual attainments and was a successful and popular minister of the gospel. To Mr. and Mrs. Woodburn were born the following children: Laura, who be- came the wife of Prof. D. O. McGovney, who is connected with Tulane University, at New Orleans, Louisiana; Walter F., who is connected with the Collins & Seidel grocery store in Bloomington, married Helen Marshall and they have three children, Frank, John and Margaret ; Arnott, who lives at home is an invalid: Mary and Martha, twins, who remain at home, were students in the same class in the State University. The family home is most beauti- fully situated on North College avenue, comprising ample grounds, from which may be had an inspiring view of the surrounding country in all direc- tions.
Politically, Mr. Woodburn was an earnest supporter of the Republican party, especially in its views of financial matters, of which he had made a deep study. He took an interest in public affairs and performed his full duty as a citizen, attending his party conventions and primaries, but he never aspired to fill any public office, though in his earlier days he had served as treasurer of Bloomington and as a member of the school board, where he rendered efficient and appreciated service. At the time of his death he was treasurer of Indiana University and also treasurer of the Bloomington Na- tional Building Association. Mr. Woodburn had a deep and conscientious regard for the spiritual verities and for many years was a leading member of the United Presbyterian church, of which he was a member of the official
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board and treasurer for twenty-five years. He was a regular attendant at the various services of the church and by his daily life he set an example of correct living well worthy of emulation. Always calm and dignified, never demonstrative, his life was, nevertheless, a persistent plea, more by precept and example than by written or spoken word, for the purity and grandeur of right principles and the beauty and elevation of wholesome character. He had the greatest sympathy for his fellow men and was ever willing to aid and encourage those who were struggling to aid themselves against adverse fate, yet in this, as in everything else, he was entirely unostentatious. To him home life was a sacred trust, friendship was inviolable and nothing could swerve him from the path of rectitude and honor.
CHARLES S. SMALL.
The biographies of successful men are instructive as guides and incen- tives to those whose careers are yet to be achieved. The examples they fur- nish of patient purpose and consecutive endeavor strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. The gentleman whose life story herewith is briefly set forth is a conspicuous example of one who has lived to good purpose and achieved a definite degree of success in the special sphere to which his talents and energies have been devoted.
Charles S. Small, the well known and popular cashier of the First Na- tional Bank of Bloomington, was born in the city in which he now resides on July 1, 1862, and is the son of James and Matilda ( Riddle) Small. These parents were both natives of Ireland, who early in life came to America, the father at the age of twelve years and the mother when seven years of age. They located in different communities, the mother's family settling in Penn- sylvania, while the father was brought to Indiana. Here he became a farmer early in life, in which he met with success, and subsequently engaged in the hardware business in Bloomington, which he conducted until the time of his retirement shortly before his death, his wife dying in 1905. They became the parents of six children, of whom all are deceased excepting the subject of this sketch. The latter has also one half-sister, Nancy Jane, who keeps house for him.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools and in the preparatory department of the State University, and his first employment on his own account was as clerk in a furniture store, where he was engaged one year and then for a short time was employed in a like capacity in a book
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store. He was faithful to his duties and made friends easily, his career being such as to gain the confidence and good will of the community. On February 15, 1881, he accepted a position in the First National Bank of Bloomington and several years later was promoted to the position of assistant cashier, the duties of which he performed until 1906, when he was elected cashier of this well known institution, and has since served in that capacity. He has been most efficient and painstaking in the discharge of his duties and has gained the commendation of his associates in the bank, as well as the approval of its patrons. The First National Bank has long occupied a position among the leaders of the strong financial institutions of Monroe county and a large part of the success which has characterized the institution has been due to the untiring efforts and personal influence of Mr. Small.
Fraternally, Mr. Small is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Ben- evolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Free and Accepted Masons, be- longing to both blue lodge and chapter in the latter organization. Religiously, he is a member of the Presbyterian church, of which he is a regular attendant and to which he contributes liberally of his means. Personally, he is affable and popular with the people of his city and ready at all times to lend aid to all laudable measures and enterprises for the general good. By a life con- sistent in motive and because of his many fine qualities he has earned the sincere regard of all who know him, and his success in his special field of endeavor has been well merited.
ASHER S. WILCOX.
In holding up for consideration those facts which have shown the dis- tinction of a true, useful and honorable life, a life characterized by perse- verance, energy and well defined purpose, such as was lived by the late Asher S. Wilcox, long a well known business man at Tunnelton, Lawrence county, Indiana, will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who knew him so long and well, for the subject of this memoir pre- sented in his career an interesting study of the manner in which adherence to principle and sturdy endeavor may win worthy distinction. Throughout an interesting and active career duty was ever his motive of action, and use- fulness to his fellow men not by any means a secondary consideration. He achieved much in an individual way not dependent upon hereditary prestige, but proved himself worthy as a factor in local public affairs and as a citizen
ASHER S.WILCOX
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and business man of the utmost loyalty and progressiveness. He carried for- ward to successful completion whatever he undertook and his business meth- ods were ever in strict conformity with the standard ethics of commercial life-in brief, his is the story of a life whose success is measured by its use- fulness, a life that made for good in all its relations with the world.
Asher S. Wilcox was born on April 22, 1843, in Washington county, In- diana, and he was the son of Hiram and Julia ( Clark ) Wilcox, both of whom were born in the state of Vermont, having come to Indiana from that state with their parents, who were also natives of Vermont. Hiram Wilcox was for a number of years a successful farmer in Washington county, Indiana, and a business man of considerable importance in his community. To him and his wife were born the following children: Mary, Alonzo, Asher S., Lorrena, Thalus, Solon and Amber.
Asher S. Wilcox received a common school education, which was lib- erally supplemented during after years by such reading and habits of close observation, that he was considered a well informed man. In young manhood he followed the pursuit to which he had been reared, that of farming and stock raising, also doing an extensive business in the buying and shipping of stock, carrying on his operations in partnership with his brother, Thalus M., in Bono township, this county. They were successful and in 1887 Mr. Wil- cox located in Tunnelton and engaged in the mercantile business, in which his efforts were rewarded with gratifying results. He also owned a mill here. His brother, Thalus, was associated with him to the time of his death, which occurred in 1900, after which the brother's widow took his place in the firm. Eventually, William H. Huddleston bought an interest in the business. Mr. Wilcox remained actively in management of his varied interests up to the time of his death, which occurred on July 15. 1907. and by his sound judg- ment, persistent efforts and integrity in all of his transactions he gained a comfortable competence, owning besides the interests already mentioned, six hundred acres of valuable farm land near Tunnelton and several houses and lots in Tunnelton. The store building was burned on November 13. 1907. and in 1910 Mrs. Wilcox erected a splendid and substantial brick store build- ing. The mill burned in 1912 and is now being rebuilt by a local company. Mrs. Wilcox having sold her interest in the mill, though she is a stockholder in the new company. The fine residence in which Mrs. Wilcox now resides was built by Mr. Wilcox in 1892, and is a comfortable and attractive home.
On March 19, 1874, Mr. Wilcox married Ellen B. Speake, a native of Jackson county, Indiana, and the daughter of James and Ann ( Stutsman) (34)
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Speake, he a native of North Carolina and she of Jackson county, Indiana, though of old Pennsylvania stock. James Speake came to Jackson county, Indiana, in childhood with his mother, and here he received a limited educa- tion. He learned the trade of a cooper and also made many flat boats. He died in 1854. She died on June 12, 1909, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. She was a member of the Christian church. They were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, deceased, was the wife of E. Wright and the mother of five children : Ella B., Mrs. Wilcox; Emma, who became the wife of Josiah Huffington, of Oklahoma, is the mother of six children.
Politically, Mr. Wilcox was an earnest supporter of the Democratic party and took an active part in campaigns, though he never aspired to public office for himself, though often solicited. Fraternally, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. Religiously, Mr. Wilcox was an attendant of the Christian church, of which he was a warm supporter, giving liberally to the support of the society and doing all in his power to advance its welfare. Although his life was a busy one, his every- day affairs making heavy demands upon his time, he never shrank from his duties as a citizen and his obligations to the church, his neighbors and his friends. To him home life was a sacred trust, friendship was inviolable and nothing could swerve him from the path of rectitude and honor. Owing to his splendid success, his genuine worth and his genial disposition, he easily won friends and always retained them, enjoying a marked degree of popu- larity in the locality where so many of his active years had been spent.
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