USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 74
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 74
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The subject of this sketch secured his education in the common schools of Clark county, Indiana, and was variously engaged until coming to Bloom- ington and interesting himself in the business, which now commands his time and attention as a partner with Cornelius Mckinley under the firm name of Bell & Mckinley, cleaners, pressers and dyers. They have built up a large business, commanding the major portion of the local patronage in their line and are numbered among Bloomington's most successful business men. Their work is first class and they are well equipped with every thing necessary to the best quality of workmanship and because of their earnest efforts to please their patrons they have met with a very fair degree of success.
On December 22, 1905, Mr. Bell married Delia, daughter of Thomas and
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Rose Anne ( McGill) Mckinley. The father, who was a native of Ireland, came to the state of Indiana in an early day and here followed farming and fruit raising, in which he was fairly successful. He is now deceased. His wife, who was a native of Indiana, survives. To Mr. and Mrs. Bell have been born two children, Mary Rose and Alberta.
Politically, Mr. Bell gives an earnest support to the Democratic party. in the success of which he is deeply interested. though he is not in any sense a seeker after public office. Religiously, he is a member of the Church of Christ, to the support of which he contributes of his means. Mr. Bell enjoys to a marked degree the esteem of his neighbors and friends and is a true type of the enterprising, representative citizen, an intelligent, high-minded, court- eous gentleman whom to know is to esteem and honor.
FRED W. FENNEMAN.
The record of Mr. Fenneman is that of a man who has worked his way from a modest beginning up to a position of considerable prominence by his efforts, which have been practically unaided, which fact renders him the more worthy of the praise that is freely accorded him by his fellow men. His life has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the notably sys- tematic and honorable methods he has followed have won for him the un- bounded confidence and regard of all who have formed his acquaintance and in looking over the list of Monroe county's business men who have been suc- cessful in their line of work, especially those whose place of residence is Bloomington, none are deemed more worthy of representation in a work of this nature than the gentleman whose name appears above.
Fred W. Fenneman was born on October 11, 1880, in the city of Indi- anapolis, Indiana, and is the son of George W. and Fredrika (Drover) Fenne- man. The father, who was a native of the state of Ohio, moved to Indi- anapolis with his parents when about eight years old. Upon attaining mature years he became a contractor and builder, in which he was fairly successful and in which he remained actively engaged up to the time of his death. His wife was a native of Indiana. They were the parents of five children, Ed- ward W .. William H., Laura, Henry H., and Fred, the immediate subject of this sketch.
Fred W. Fenneman attended the public schools of Marion county, Indi-
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ana, and received the benefit of a half term in the Indianapolis high school. At the age of thirteen years he started to learn the plumbing trade and has been closely identified with this industry from that time to the present. He was for quite a time engaged in business on his own account in Indianapolis under the firm name of Fenneman Brothers, but in 1905 he came to Bloom- ington, established himself in the sanitary plumbing and steam heating busi- ness, in which he has met with most pronounced success. Throughly quali- fied by experience and training for his special line of work, he has kept thor- oughly informed as to the latest advances in methods and means in his line and many of the best heating plants in this section of the state have been in- stalled by him to the entire satisfaction of the owner. As an evidence of the character of the work installed by Mr. Fenneman, we quote the following ex- tract from the Indiana Master Plumber, a trade magazine, under date of September 1, 1913: "One of the largest contracts for vacuum cleaners ever closed in this state by a master plumber was sold by Mr. Fred W. Fenneman. of this city ( Bloomington). The contract was for a complete vacuum clean- ing equipment for the Indiana University, and the installing consisted of four Arco Wands, No. 462, manufactured by the American Radiator Company, and three Invincible machines manufactured by the United States Radiator Company, and two portable machines manufactured by the same company. Mr. Fenneman has also closed the contract for a three-sweeper machine for the high school building." Mr. Fenneman's shop is thoroughly equipped with the most up-to-date machinery and he employs none but expert workmen, so that his contracts are fulfilled to the entire approval of his patrons.
On June 5, 1907, Fred W. Fenneman was married to Nolia Wright, daughter of Calvin and Addie (Sellers) Wright. George Wright, who is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, was for a long time owner of a one-third interest in the Brunson-Wright Hardware Company (wholesale and retail), and is now a local dealer for the Rock Island Plow Company at Indianapolis, being still actively engaged in this pursuit. His wife was born on a farm near Plainfield, Indiana, and is still living. Mrs. Fenneman died on January IO, 19II.
Fraternally, Mr. Fenneman is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees at Bloomington, while, politically, he assumes an independent attitude, voting for the men who in his opinion are best calculated to serve the highest interest of the people. Religiously, he is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he contributes liberally of his means. He is a member of the state and national plumbers' associations and takes an intelligent interest
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in the proceedings of these bodies. His well directed efforts have gained for him a position of prominence in the business circles of Bloomington and his energy, enterprise and industry have been crowned with well deserved suc- cess. Personally, he is a pleasant man to meet, and has scores of friends in Bloomington as a result of his upright life, sterling integrity, sound business judgment and methods and his genial disposition.
EDWIN CORR.
The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgement, the historian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and incidents, and yet in summing up such a career the writer must needs touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and elimi- nating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The subject of this sketch has led an active and eminently useful life, not entirely devoid of the exciting, but the more prominent facts have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following lines.
Edwin Corr, who was born in Monroe county, Indiana, on December 31, 1860, is the son of Charles G. and Mary J. (Canine) Corr. Charles G. Corr, who also was a native of Monroe county, was a man of considerable promi- nence in the community during his active life, having been a successful farmer and for many years postmaster at Bryant's Creek, where he also served efficiently as township trustee. He had received a good common school edu- cation in his native county, and after an eminently active and successful life he retired during his later years. He is now deceased. The subject's mother was a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, and in 1850 came to Monroe county on horseback, the family being numbered among the prominent and well known residents of this county. She also is deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles Corr were born nine children, namely: One who died before being named; Frank, John and Cornelius, all of whom died in infancy: Isaac N., Edwin, Henry W .. Ella M. and Lillian May. The subject's paternal grand- father was a native of Ireland who came to this country and in 1818 settled in Monroe county, being numbered among the earlier residents of this section.
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Two years after locating here he moved ten miles north, where he spent his remaining years. Charles G. devoted his efforts to farming, in which he was successful. He was also identified with educational matters and in the early days taught school some in Monroe county. He was a veteran of the Mexican war, having gone with a company from Monroe county in 1848, and rendered valiant service for his adopted country. Politically, he was a Democrat and took an intelligent interest in public affairs.
The subject of this sketch received his elementary education in the public schools of Monroe county and then became a student in the State University at Bloomington for four years, graduating in 1883. He then entered the law department of Depauw University at Greencastle, where he was graduated in 1885. During the fall of that year and the spring of 1886 he engaged in teaching school in Greene county, Indiana, but in the spring of the latter year he entered upon the active practice of his profession at Bloomington, in which he has since been continuously engaged and in which he has met with a large and well deserved measure of success. Well adapted for his professional work by natural ability and educational training. he has devoted himself assiduously to the work before him and is numbered today among the leading members of the Monroe county bar, his success being the legitimate result of his untiring efforts and consecration to his professional work. Mr. Corr served one term as deputy prosecuting attorney, two years as county attorney and one term as assistant United States attorney, discharging the duties of all of these positions to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, and later received the appointment as deputy attorney-general of the state of Indiana, in which he is now serving his second term. He has demonstrated ability of a high order and is indefatigable in the discharge of any work before him, no matter how difficult or onerous and he has gained the unqualified confidence not only of the public generally, but of his professional brethren. Mr. Corr has given his life-long support to the Democratic party and has been active in public affairs for many years. He was elected to the State Senate and served one term of two sessions and also was a member of the lower house of the Legislature for one term, winning for himself during each term the commendation of his constituents. Since 1891 Mr. Corr has been a member of the board of trustees of Indiana State University, in which position he has rendered valuable service to the institution and to the cause of education generally. He is a member of the college fraternity, Sigma Chi, with which he has been identified for over thirty years, having joined the fraternity at Indiana University.
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On December 31, 1895, Mr. Corr was united in marriage to Kate Mobley, the daughter of Charles and Nancy (Shields) Mobley, the father a native of Monroe county, where for many years he was a successful and well known merchant, being retired during the latter part of his life. He is now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Corr have been born two children, Edwin G. and Mary L. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. Corr are faithful and earnest members of the Christian church, to which they give liberal support, and Mr. Corr is found in hearty accord with all movements which have for their object the advance- ment of the educational, moral, social or material welfare of the community. A man of large experience, sound judgment and sagacity, he is a keen observer of public events, on which he holds decided convictions, and is a man of positive character and sterling worth, his value to the community being evi- denced by the high position which he has ever held in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
GEORGE D. THORNTON.
George D. Thornton, real estate and insurance man of Bloomington, Indiana, is a Hoosier by birth and may justly bear the title of "self-made man," having worked his way unaided from the humble ranks of the toilers, through the vicissitudes and adversities of life, to an admirable and influential position among the business men of Monroe county. The success attained by him in his business affairs has been greatly owing to his steady persistence, stern integrity and excellent judgment, qualities which have also won for him the confidence and esteem of the public to a marked degree.
George B. Thornton was born on West Seventh street, Bloomington, Indiana, on February 18, 1863, and is the son of James A. and Nancy J. (Mercer) Thornton. The father, who was born at Georgetown, Kentucky, was a buggy and wagon maker, having learned this trade at Independence, Missouri. In 1840 he came to Indiana. His wife and family had come to . this locality in 1818 from Shelby county, Kentucky, and here the subject's parents spent the balance of their lives, the father dying in 1904, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-two years. To him and his wife were born seven chil- dren, namely : Felix G., of Clay county, Indiana : Jimcy A., deceased; Will- iam A., of Terre Haute, Indiana ; Joseph A., of Bloomington ; Margaret, who became the wife of Henry Munson, of Bloomington ; George, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Carrie, deceased. The subject's father was a (48)
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Republican in his political views and hell staunchly to his convictions on public questions, although never a seeker after public office.
The subject of this sketch received his education in the public schools. being a graduate of the Bloomington high school, and upon taking up active life on his own account he became an employee in Showers Brothers furniture factory, where he was promoted to the position of foreman of the department in which he worked, which position he held for thirteen years. He then be- came deputy county clerk under John T. Woodward, and in 1896 was elected sheriff of Monroe county, serving two years to the eminent satisfaction of his fellow ciitzens. At the expiration of his official terin Mr. Thornton opened his present business, that of insurance and real estate, in which he has met with the most pronounced success. His partner, Mr. Huntington, is also well quali- fied for business and together they make one of the strongest business firms in Bloomington. They handle all lines of insurance, life, fire and tornado, and also engage extensively in the loan business, in which they have met with splendid success, besides which they handle Indian lands and attend to abstract business when called upon to do so. In every phase of their business affairs they have met with good success and have achieved a splendid record among their business associates. Mr. Thornton is also general manager and vice- president of the United Indiana Stone Company, a three-hundred-thousand- dollar corporation, which is really the consolidation of a number of smaller companies, some of which Mr. Thornton was connected with prior to the organization of the United Indiana Stone Company. As a side issue and recreation, Mr. Thornton gives his attention to the cultivation of two hun- dred and four acres of splendid land which he owns in this county and which he has found a profitable source of income, as well as a pleasure in its operation.
In 1886 Mr. Thornton was married to Nancy V. Williams, of Stinesville. Monroe county, the daughter of James S. and Louisa J. ( Ashbaugh ) Will- iams, the father a stone and quarry operator.
Fraternally, Mr. Thornton is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while, religiously, he is a member of the Methodist church, while his wife belongs to the Christian church. Politically, he is an ardent advocate of the Republican doctrine and gives his support to this party at the polls. Possessing splendid executive and business ability, Mr. Thornton has been successful in a material way and because of his sterling qualities he is num- bered among the representative men of the community in which he lives.
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JOSEPH STRAIN.
Joseph Strain, one of the pioneers of Monroe county Male form in the north of Ireland in 1784, and when about seven years of age, with his parents. he emigrated to America, settling in Penn's Valley, Pennsylvania. After living there several years, he moved to Ohio, where he was married to Elnor Martin, whose parents also came from the north of Ireland. A few years after their marriage the young couple decided they could better their condi- tion by moving west. He left his family and journeyed to Indiana, where he entered land in Clear Creek township. Monroe county, January 15. 1817. This land and the patent for the same, signed by James Monroe, still remains in the family. Joseph returned to Ohio and later moved with his family to Indiana, settling on a piece of land he bought in Indian Creek township, near the old Hebron church, where they lived during the first winter, and then moved to a tract of land he bought of James Borland about three miles south- west of Bloomington. This tract he later traded to Jackson Cookerley for a tract in the southwest part of Clear Creek township. He also traded his Hebron land for a farm in Clear Creek township, joining the land he had entered in 1817. Here he moved, and here a large family, consisting of eight boys and three girls, grew to manhood and womanhood. The sons helped the father to clear the land and raise the crops, while the daughters did the carding, spinning and weaving and the various other duties of a pioneer home. The father was an industrious and an enterprising man. He saw the need of a mill in the community and built a combination saw and grist mill. the saw being what was termed an up-and-down saw. Here people came for miles to have logs made into lumber and their corn and wheat turned into flour and meal. In these early days it was difficult to dispose of surplus products of the farm, such as pork, lard and wheat, so Joseph, as did many other enterprising men of the southern part of the county, built flat boats at the boat yard on Clear creek, north of Harrodsburg, near the Bloomington and Bedford road. They built the boat and, when the rains came to swell the streams to proportions sufficient to carry the vessel, they loaded it with the goods previously stored in a building near at hand and then floated with the current to New Orleans, Louisiana, where they disposed of their cargo and returned home, part of the way by boat and part way on foot. These were long and dangerous voyages, yet they were made numbers of times by the pioneers of the southern part of the county. It may not be very generally known, yet it is true, that one boat at least was built and launched on Clear creek, this county, that not only made the voyage to New Orleans, but to
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Havana, Cuba. The grandfather of the wife of the writer of this sketch, Uncle Robert Taylor, as he was familiarly called, built and loaded a boat and when he reached New Orleans the market was such that he could not dispose of his produce to an advantage. He hired a tug boat to tow his vessel to Havana, where he exchanged his cargo for coffee and returned to New Orleans, where he disposed of his coffee and returned home. This may per- haps seem strange and appear unreasonable, but his papers, or passports as they are termed, permitting him to enter and leave the port of Havana, are still in the hands of a member of the family. Before the old New Albany & Salem railroad was built the company asked that the people of each county. through which it was built, subscribe one hundred thousand dollars for stock. The solicitor, Thomas Carter, approached Joseph to sell him stock, to be paid for in work. As he was getting old, he did not care to take any himself, but if two of the boys, James and John, who were about grown, cared to take one thousand dollars each, he would see them through with it. They took out one thousand dollars each, for which they graded one mile, begin- ning about one mile north of Harrodsburg, and then took out two thousand dollars between them, for which they cut and placed the ties on three miles of the grade. In the final settlement, they, as did many others, found their stock worthless. Joseph Strain and his wife Elnor were devout Presbyterians and brought up their sons and daughters in that faith. In his will he gave a tract of land upon which to build a church, but as Harrodsburg was then getting to be quite a village and a trading center, the members decided it would be better for all concerned to build the church in or near the town, rather than a mile away, which was done. Up to about 1895 this was a strong church. Several noted men have been pastors of the congregation that wor- shiped here, but now, like many villages and country churches, it seems to be on the decline. Joseph Strain's sons were all substantial farmers of this and other states, his daughters married farmers and they all have done their part in the building up of the community in which they lived. His grandsons and granddaughters are many and live in many states and are engaged in many professions and occupations.
WILLIAM B. HARRIS.
A review of the life of the subject of this sketch must of necessity be brief and general in its character. To enter fully into the interesting details of the career of William B. Harris, touching the struggles of his early man-
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hood and the sticcesses of his later years, would far transcend the limits of this article. He has filled a large place in the ranks of the public-spirited citizens and successful newspaper men of his day, and that he has done his part well cannot be gainsaid, for his record has been such as has gained for him the commendation and approval of his fellows. His career has been a long, busy and useful one and he has contributed much to the material, civic and moral advancement of the community, while his admirable qualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his daily life has won for him the esteem and confidence of the circles in which he has moved.
The Harris family has long been established in this community, and its members have borne an honorable part in its history, including the pioneer struggles and the subsequent development and growth of the various com- munities with which they have been identified. About the year 1740 George Harris arrived in Virginia from Scotland. He had two sons, Richard and William. Richard remained single and became a large land and slave owner. In the year 1770, William, at the age of twenty-three, in company with Robert Overstreet and family, went to what is now Lexington, Kentucky. They built a small fort as a protection from the Indians, in which they lived. Shortly after taking up this residence William Harris and Jane Overstreet, daughter of Robert Overstreet, were married. A small tract of land was cleared, and for two or three years the families battled for life against the Indians and struggled for food and clothing. Then they moved twelve miles south of Lexington to a point known as the "Pocket," formed by the circular course of the Kentucky river in Jessamine county.
To William and Jane Harris the following children were born : Lewis, James, John, Rice, Thomas, Betsy, Jennie, Sealy, Sarah, Nancy and Susan. Besides being a thrifty farmer, William Harris was a pioneer preacher and held religious services in the cabins of the country. He was past ninety years of age when gathered to his fathers. Excepting Thomas, all the members of this family remained in Kentucky.
Thomas, fifth son of William and Jane Harris, was born in 1797. At about the age of twenty-one, Thomas was married to Elizabeth McCarley. daughter of Moses McCarley, whose wife was a Boyd. In the year 1829 Thomas Harris and wife, with their children, James M., William J., Samuel B., Thomas Jefferson and Oliver A., came to Monroe county, Indiana. After a short residence at Clear Creek, the family moved to Owen county, settling in a dense forest, camping until a cabin could be erected. With a small amount of money, a few skillets and pots, sufficient bedding and clothing, the
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trusty flint lock, a Methodist hymn book and a well-worn Bible, and courage without bounds, the work of clearing a farm began. To add spice and life to the primitive home, in due season a daughter, Elizabeth, and another son, Rice C., were born. The second year of this pioneer home gave evidence of thrift and comfort. With a family of rugged boys, a few acres had been cleared, and in 1832 one hundred bushels of corn was shelled by mauls in a trough dug in a large poplar log, and carried on horseback to Mt. Tabor, to be taken by flat-boat to New Orleans, by Hezekiah Wampler, of Gosport, the flat-boat king of those days. For this one hundred bushels of corn the munificent sum of eight dollars and thirty-three cents was received. During these years the head of this family did not handle to exceed fifty dollars actual cash in a year, but with squirrels so plentiful and tame they had to be driven out of the corn field with clubs, and wild turkeys and all kinds of game in abundance, with the virgin soil so graciously responding in the production of vegetables, the food problem was easily solved. The father was a shoe-maker and har- ness-maker by trade, and the mother knew all about converting hemp into clothing-with willing hands and loving hearts abundance of raiment was provided. As the boys grew and other families entered the neighborhood, a road was shrubbed and built to Mt. Tabor, and the products of the enlarged farm were hauled to this market center in the typical scoop-bed Kentucky wagon. Guided by pious, Christian parents, whose lives were centered in the service of the Master and the simple comforts of the family, at the very fountain of nature, with only the simple needs to be supplied, stripped of all the social deceits and allurements it was easy to develop a family of boys and girls with that sternness of character and faithfulness to duty required of the pioneer. These environs had their willing echo in this family of five boys and one girl, who bore well their part in the development of our county. They have all passed to their reward.
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