USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 53
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 53
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F. B. VANVALZAH.
It is generally considered by those in the habit of superficial thinking that the history of so-called great men only is worthy of preservation, and that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praises of the his- torian or the cheers and the appreciation of mankind. A greater mistake was never made. No man is great in all things. Many by a lucky stroke achieve lasting fame who before that had no reputation beyond the limits of their immediate neighborhoods. It is not a history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but the long study and effort which made the lucky stroke possible. It is the preliminary work, the method, that serves as a guide for the success of others. Among those in Monroe county who have achieved success along steady lines of action is the subject of this sketch.
F. B. Van Valzah, one of the leading merchants and enterprising citi- zens of Bloomington, Indiana, was born in Pennsylvania on July 22. 1852, and is the son of John A. and Sara B. ( Barber ) Van Valzah, the former hav- ing been a farmer and miller, and died in his old home in the Keystone state. The subject of this sketch received his education in the common schools near his home and in an academy at Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Upon taking up the active duties of life on his own account, he engaged as clerk in a store for three years, and then on account of his health he went to Colorado, where he engaged in the cattle business. After remaining in the West about six and one-half years, and in a measure recovering his health, he went to Kansas, where in Sedgwick county he engaged in farming for about six and one-half years, and in 1888 came to Indiana, locating in Monroe county, where he operated a farm for nine years with a gratifying degree of success. At the end of that period he moved to Bloomington, where he made his permanent residence, and for a year was engaged as a traveling salesman for the Osborne
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Harvester Company. He then accepted a clerkship in the hardware store of W. J. Allen, with whom he remained a clerk for six years, at the end of which time he bought his employer's interest in the business and has been engaged in the hardware trade for the last eight years, four years of which time he had a partner, but is now alone. Splendidly qualified in every respect for a business career, Mr. VanValzah has been very successful in all that he has undertaken and is numbered today among the leading business men of his community. He is not narrow or selfish in his aims in life, for he has due regard at all times for the general interests of the community and his duties as a citizen, and every movement having for its object the advancement of the general welfare of the people receives his hearty indorsement and sup- port. Politically, Mr. VanValzah is a stanch Progressive. while his fraternal relations are with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. Religiously, he is a member and regular attendant of the Presbyterian church.
In 1883 Mr. VanValzah married Emma J. Wolf, and to them have been born four children. Sara. Bessie, Samuel and Harold, all of whom are at home except Harold. Mr. VanValzah's life work has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods he has ever followed have resulted not only in gaining the confidence of those with whom he has had dealings, but also in the building up of a good business. In every avenue of life's activities he has been faithful to his duties and, because of his good character and splendid success, he has merited and re- tains the respect and good will of all who know him.
JOHN T. FREELAND, . M. D.
It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that have moved a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success; little more can be done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under consideration. In view of this fact, the life of the physician and pub- lic-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well defined purpose, with the ability to make that purpose subserve not only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor Freeland has long held prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid pro- fessional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge with the
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skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above medioc- rity in ministering to human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Free- land has achieved a notable success, which has been duly recognized and ap- preciated throughout the section of the state in which he lives. In addition to his long and creditable career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions, he has proved an honorable member of the body politic and in every relation of life he has never fallen below the dignity of true manhood nor in any way resorted to methods that have invited censure.
John T. Freeland, M. D., of Bedford, Indiana, was born near Freelands- ville, Knox county, Indiana, on June 7, 1860, and is the son of Dr. John T. and Lydia (Ford) Freeland. The subject's paternal grandfather, Benjamin Freeland, was a native of Maryland, who, in an early day, came to Indiana and settled in Monroe county, where his death occurred. John T. Freeland, Sr., who also was born in Maryland, was brought to Indiana by his parents in childhood. After attending the public schools he became a student at the State University, of which he was one of the earliest graduates. He then matriculated in the Louisville Medical College and afterward practiced his profession in Knox county up to the time of his death. He married Lydia Ford, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and whose death occurred in 186S. To these parents were born three children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Robert, deceased, and Mrs. C. B. Robbins, of Knox county, Indiana.
Dr. John T. Freeland, Jr., attended the public schools and completed his literary education in the University of Michigan. Having determined to adopt the practice of medicine for his life work, he then entered the Ken- tucky School of Medicine, at Louisville, where he was graduated in 1886, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He then attended the New York Polyclinic, graduating in 1888, after which he was interne and later house surgeon in the New York Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled. Coming then to Bedford, Indiana, he has since been engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery here with splendid success, acquiring a high reputation throughout this section of the state because of ability. He is chief surgeon for the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern Railroad Company, which position he has held since John R. Walsh acquired the road. He is also surgeon for the Indiana Quarries Company and other industrial concerns. He is a member of the Lawrence County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In the civic life of the community he has, though a busy man professionally, taken a commend- able interest and has given his earnest support to all movements which have promised to benefit the locality in any way.
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In October, 1888, Doctor Freeland was married to Caroline Pearson, of Bedford, and they are the parents of two children, Mrs. Ruth McCloud, who lives in Canada, and Frances, who is at home with her parents. Fraternally, Doctor Freeland is a member of the Masonic order, in the workings of which he takes an intelligent interest. He is in the highest sense a man among men and because of his genial disposition and splendid character he enjoys a well- deserved popularity in the community which is honord by his citizenship.
ALFRED GUTHRIE.
Among the successful self-made men of a past generation in Lawrence county whose efforts and influence contributed to the material upbuilding of the community, the late Alfred Guthrie occupied a conspicuous place. Being ambitious from the first, but surrounded with none too favorable environ- ment, his early youth was not especially promising but, resolutely facing the future, he gradually surmounted the difficulties in his way and in due course of time rose to a prominent position in the commercial, agricultural and finan- cial circles of his community, besides winning the confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact, either in a business or a social way, and for years he stood as one of the representative citizens of the locality hon- ored by his citizenship. Strongly in contrast with the humble surroundings of his youth was the brilliant position which he eventually filled in business circles. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomplishment. His life and labors were worthy because they contributed to a proper under- standing of life and its problems. The strongest characters in our national history have come from the ranks of self-made men to whom adversity acts as an impetus for unfaltering effort, and from this class came the lamented gentleman whose name initiates this memorial.
Alfred Guthrie was born in Guthrie township, Lawrence county, Indiana, on June 25. 1828, and his death occurred at his home in Tunnelton, this county, on June 7, 1913, at the advanced age of nearly eighty-five years. He was the eldest of the eight children born to Daniel and Lucy ( Weddell) Guthrie. His father, who was a native of Lee county, Virginia, was brought by his parents to Lawrence county. Indiana, in 1811, at the age of four years, though prior to their coming here they had for two years resided in the state of Kentucky. The father secured a large tract of land in Guthrie township, Lawrence county, and there Daniel was reared and spent his life. He be-
RESIDENCE OF MRS. ISABELLE GUTHRIE
ALFRED GUTHRIE
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came a gunsmith by trade, not only making firearms, but also gunpowder and saltpeter. Physically, he was a powerful man, was widely known throughout this section of the country and was well liked generally. By his union with Lucy Weddell, he became the father of the following children : Alfred, the immediate subject of this memoir; Mitchell, who lived at Tunnel- ton, was a farmer and stock man ; he was twice married, first to a Miss Wal- ters and then to Judith Hubbard: John D., who was a farmer and lived first at Tunnelton and then at Meringo, Iowa, married Patsy Walters; Hester Ann became the wife of Elisha Lee, of Guthrie township, this county ; U. D., who was a farmer and stock man in Guthrie township, married first Malvina Mundell and then a Miss Brooking; Marshall, deceased, who was a farmer and stock man and was engaged in business with the subject of this sketch, married first Susie Cooper and then Maggie Paine, who now lives in Bed- ford; Miliscent became the wife of A. J. Lee, who was a veteran of the Civil war, and subsequently engaged in farming and merchandising: Eli and Eri were twins; the former died at Duckport, Louisiana, during the Civil war while in the service of his country, while Eri, who also served in the army during that war, now lives in Kansas; he has been twice married, his first wife having been Elizabeth Moody.
Alfred Guthrie was reared on the home farm and received only a meager education in the common schools. However, he was an ambitious student and by his private efforts gained a good practical education, so that he was qualified to teach school. Most of his time was occupied by the hardest kind of labor, clearing timber from the land and putting it into cultivation, which, under the primitive conditions of those early days, was no easy task. How- ever, the lessons of industry, patience and persistency which he inbibed in those early days were the secrets of his later success and in the free outdoor life he gained a ruggedness of physique which enabled him to maintain a con- tinuous activity of a long business life. By dint of the most persistent in- dustry and wise economy Mr. Guthrie was enabled to open a general store at Tunnelton and then begun what was destined to be one of the most remark- able business careers in this locality. For more than a half century he con- ducted the store at Tunnelton and commanded the major portion of the trade in his line over a wide radius of surrounding country, his business for years amounting to eighty to a hundred thousand dollars annually. 'As he was prospered, Mr. Guthrie wisely invested his profits in real estate and at one time owned about three thousand acres of excellent farming land, all of which he kept well stocked and carefully cultivated. About four years before his death he gave to each of his seven children a farm of two hundred or more
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acres. He was during all these years the most prominent citizen of Tunnel- ton, in the growth and development of which he was deeply interested. He was the second man to erect a house in that town and out of his own means he built the first railroad depot in the town, these being but instances of the many efforts initiated by him for the upbuilding of the town and the welfare of the people. Mr. Guthrie was also a large stockholder in the Stone City Bank, of Bedford, and for many years was president of that institution: later, however, on account of advancing years and declining health, he de- clined further election to the presidency, though retaining to the end a posi- tion on the board of directors. A man of ripe experience and sound judg- ment, his advice was held invaluable by his business associates. A man of great business capacity and of the highest principles of integrity and honor, he made his influence felt along diverse lines and was long a leader among those men who conserved the general welfare of the community and county. His integrity was of the most insistent and unswerving type and no shadow rests upon any portion of his career as an active business man and sterling citizen. He was especially distinguished for his honesty, firmness of charac- ter, piety and intelligence. And he was one of the most unostentatious of men, open-hearted and candid in manner, always retaining in his demeanor the simplicity and candor of the old-time gentleman, and, though his labors are ended, his record stands as an enduring monument.
In public affairs Alfred Guthrie always took an intelligent interest and held several public offices to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. He was twice a member of the board of county commissioners and in 1876 was elected a member of the lower house of the state Legislature, where he ac- quitted himself with credit. Religiously, he was a member of the Congrega- tional church, in the prosperity of which he ever maintained the warmest interest, giving liberally to its support and contributing in every way possible to its welfare. He gave liberally to all worthy charitable and benevolent causes, though always without ostentation, many of his kindly acts being unknown except to the beneficiaries or his immediate family.
At the time of his death the following beautiful tribute to Mr. Guthrie appeared in the Bedford Mail: "He was a power for good in his neighbor- hood and his county as well. He was foremost in whatever was best and by word and example took the lead in furthering everything that would tend to advance his town, his county, state and country. The world is better be- cause of him. He has left to his children a rich inheritance, the name, 'an honest man.' He was a good neighbor, a kind and affectionate husband and father, a generous, whole-souled friend and. all in all, we shall not soon
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again see his like. He will be sadly missed by the community and most of all by those with whom in life he was daily associated. If men are judged by the deeds done in the body, if the acts and conduct of life are reviewed in the great hereafter, and the judgment is to be pronounced thereon, then surely, Alfred Guthrie shall not fall 'short of the glory,' but will enter into the life everlasting and be forever at rest."
Alfred Guthrie was twice married, first, on September 6, 1849, to Isa- belle A. Hubbard, of Lawrence county, Indiana, the daughter of Austin and Isabelle (Dewey) Hubbard. She was one of thirteen children born to her parents, of whom twelve grew to maturity and three are now living, namely : Harriet, of Oklahoma : Eliza, of Lawrence county, Indiana, and William, of Guthrie township, this county. To Alfred and Isabelle Guthrie were born eight children, namely: (1) Melvin T., of Tunnelton, a successful farmer and stock raiser. He is a Republican in politics and was census enumerator in 1890. On January 28, 1875. he married Jennie Paine, of Kokomo, In- diana, and they had eight children, of whom six are living, namely: Flor- ence, Ernest M., Ralph, Roy, Opal, Alfred B., deceased, Orin R. and an in- fant. (2) Melvina is the widow of J. H. Malott, of Indianapolis, and their children are Claude, an attorney at Bloomington ; Noble, a merchant : Ray, an attorney, and Frank, who is deceased. (3) Lillie married, first. John P. Davis, and then Dr. Frank Collyer, of Louisville, Kentucky. (4) Carrie, the wife of L. A. Crim, of Indianapolis. (5) Ella is the wife of J. D. Moore- head, a farmer at Tunnelton, and they have one child, Ruth. (6) Alfred H., of Nashville, Tennessee, has been married twice, first to Eva Parrett, by whom was born one child, Edwin P., and secondly to Alvira ( Miller ) Sal- yard. Mrs. Isabelle Hubbard Guthrie died on June 10, 1890, and on April I. 1893, Mr. Guthrie married Isabel Isenhower, of Owensburg, Indiana, a daughter of George A. and Elizabeth (Caffy) Isenhower. These parents, who were natives, respectively, of North Carolina and Illinois, lived in Jack- son township, Greene county, Indiana, where Mr. Isenhower successfully carried on farming operations. He died in 1894 and his wife passed away in 1862. By his second marriage Mr. Guthrie became the father of a son, Blaine A., born April 9, 1898, who remains at home with his mother. Mrs. Guthrie is a lady of splendid qualities and is honored and respected by all who know her, because of her gracious personality and kindly relations with those about her.
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LOUIS W. HUGHES.
It is interesting to note from the beginning the growth and development of a community, to note the lines along which progress has been made and to take cognizance of those whose industry and leadership in the work of ad- vancement have rendered possible the present prosperity of the locality under consideration. L. W. Hughes, of this review, is one of the strong, sturdy individuals who has contributed largely to the material welfare of the city in which he resides, being an up-to-date business man, public spirited as a citizen, and progressive in all the term implies.
L. W. Hughes was born at Bloomington, Indiana, on May 13, 1856, and is the son of David and Mary C. (Gibler) Hughes. The father, who was born here in 1845, was a farmer early in his life, but later ran a transfer line and eventually, in 1800, entered the lumber business under the name of Hughes Brothers. Prior to this time the business had been conducted under the name of W. B. Hughes, the business having been established in 1880. Mr. Hughes died in 1899. His son, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the common schools of Bloomington, being a graduate of the high school, and he then entered the State University, where he graduated with the class of 1898. With the object in view of following the dental pro- fession, he then attended the Central Dental College at Indianapolis, where he graduated in 1901, and during the following six years he was engaged in the active practice of his profession at Bloomington. However, in 1907, he entered into the lumber business with his father and became the manager of the Hughes Brothers Lumber Company, one of the most important and suc- cessful enterprises of the kind in the city of Bloomington. They carry a full line of all kinds of lumber, together with building materials, such as plaster, paint and light hardware, and also carry a full line of coal, lime and cement. The firm has a splendid reputation for square dealing and evident anxiety to please their customers and it is now considered the leading enterprise of the kind in this section of the country.
In 1900 Mr. Hughes was married to Maud Orr, the daughter of A. A. Orr, of Bloomington, and whose death occurred in 1899. To Mr. and Mrs. Hughes has been born one child, Lucile O. Politically, the subject of this sketch is a stanch Republican, while his religious membership is with the Church of Christ. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order and has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and is also a member of Murat Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. Mr. Hughes
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is well and favorably known in Monroe county, having long been regarded as a man of sound business principles, upright in all his dealings and con- genial in his relations with his acquaintances, and he has a host of friends, and, because of his eminent business success and his high character, he is eminently entitled to representation among the enterprising and progressive citizens of his community.
FRANK W. LAMKINS.
It is proper to judge of the success of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in church, hear his views on public questions, observe the opera- tion of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the rela- tions of society and civilization, and are therefore competent to judge of his merits and his demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observa- tion, it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know of his worth, for, as has been said, "actions speak louder than words." In this connection it is not too much to say that the subject of this sketch has passed a life of unusual honor, that he has been industrious and has the confidence of all who have the pleasure of his friendship.
Frank W. Lamkins, who, as recorder of Monroe county, has earned a high place in the regard of his fellow citizens, is a native of the county in which he now lives and was born on July 4, 1869. He is the son of Andrew and Mary E. (Shields) Lamkins, the former of whom also was a native of Monroe county, while his paternal grandfather, James Lamkins, was one of the county's earliest settlers and pioneer citizens. The subject's father, who followed the vocation of farming, was prominent in the public life of the community and for several years served his county in public capacity. He was recorder of the county in 1898, was trustee of Salt Creek township for two terms and served a like period as assessor. His death occurred in De- cember, 1910. His widow is still living and resides at No. 503 East Third street, Bloomington. They were the parents of two children : Belle, who is at home with her mother, and Frank W., the immediate subject of this sketch. The latter received his elementary education in the common schools and later was a student in the Danville Normal School, where he prepared himself for teaching. During the following five years, he was successfully engaged in pedagogical labors and later took up farming. Eventually he engaged in the operation of a brick and tile factory, also farming, in Salt Creek town-
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ship, in the operation of which he was successful, and which he continued up to the time of his appointment as county recorder. Mr. Lamkins was serving as deputy county recorder when, in 1907, the recorder died and he was ap- pointed to fill the unexpired term. His performance of his official duties was so satisfactory that at the next election he was elected to the office, being one of two Democratic candidates for county office elected that year.
In 1898 Mr. Lamkins was married to Mattie Dodds, the daughter of Clelland F. and Mary E. (Orchard) Dodds, and to this union have been born four children, Clelland A., Ruth M., Nellie C. and Charles R.
Politically, Mr. Lamkins gives earnest support to the Democratic party, in whose councils he has been a prominent and influential figure, while, fra- ternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Lamkins resides in a comfortable and attractive home at No. 514 West Sixth street. and is held in high regard by his neighbors and friends. His life has been controlled by proper motives and he has been indefatigable in his honest efforts and business pursuits and in his official capacity he is coming up to the full requirements of his office, while his personal relations are such as to command at all times the esteem of those who know him.
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