History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 103

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918


USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 103


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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On February 17, 1896, Mr. Haines was married to Miss Kate Mauzy, a natural artist, who was born in Adams township, and she died in 1902, without issne. Mr. Ilaines' second marriage occurred October 1, 1904. when he was united with Miss Mary S. Bebout, who was born in Rush county, Indiana, but at this time was a professional nurse and a doctor of medicine in Indianapolis, having received her degree as M. D. in 1903. They have had one child, Mary B., a bright and interesting lassie of seven years.


HARRISON CANADAY. For almost thirty years Harrison Canaday has been a resident of Anderson, during all of which period he has been prominently identified with the commercial and material progress of the city. His career adds another to the great number that Anderson has furnished to the Middle West, of the grand results which are attained by intelligence, tact and perseverance when applied to the building up of a fortune under the favoring conditions which have, for half a century, attended all of the city's enterprises. It is true that during this period unusual opportunities have opened to business men, but. they have only yielded the meed of great success to those who have had the sagacity to perceive them and the boldness to push them to their best results. Harri- son Canaday was born May 2, 1830, on a farm in Rush county, Indiana, and is a son of Cable and Martha (Dwiggins) Canaday. The father was


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a native of South Carolina and the mother of North Carolina, and shortly after their marriage, in 1826, the parents moved to Rush county, Indiana, where Mr. Canaday was engaged in farming for a few years. They then moved to Madison county, settling on a tract of land near Elwood, the original purchase of eighty acres being added to until there were three hundred and twenty acres in the homestead. During the early years the family experienced all the hardships incident to the clearing of land in new country, but eventually Mr. Canaday became known as one of the most prosperous farmers of his community. His death occurred in 1856, his wife having passed away some years before.


Harrison Canaday passed his boyhood and youth on the home farm, his early education being secured in the subscription and district schools during the winter months. Mr. Canaday was married in his twenty-first year to Miss Elizabeth Howard, a daughter of Joseph Howard, of Wayne county, and after their marriage they settled on a farm in Wayne county, there residing twelve years. In 1863, Mr. Canaday moved to Anderson and purchased a farm two and one-half miles north of the city, com- prising two hundred acres, to which he added from time to time until he had three hundred and sixty-five acres, all of this property being put in a high state of cultivation. This was one of the model farms of Rich- land township, and was well stocked with all kinds of livestock, Mr. Canaday dealing extensively in cattle, hogs and sheep, his principal mar- kets being Boston and other eastern cities. During this time he became recognized as one of the leading stock dealers of Madison county. He still is the owner of two farms in Lafayette township, containing three hundred and ninety acres and three hundred and sixty-five acres, respect- ively, and these are well stocked and leased out on shares.


In 1884 Mr. Canaday came to Anderson and became a stockholder and director in the Anderson Banking Company, still retaining his interests in this institution, one of the most substantial in the state. He is also a stockholder in the Anderson Trust Company. His modern brick residence is located at No. 311 West Eleventh street. The busi- ness qualities that are essential to the proper handling of these large enterprises are obvious. To breadth and comprehensiveness of mind, quickness to perceive opportunities and readiness to improve them, energy and push, there must be added a capacity for organization, as well as an attention to detail. In all these qualities Mr. Canaday excels. Amidst his active business life, he has found time and manifested an inclination to perform all the duties of good citizenship. In politics he is a Democrat. Of Mr. Canaday's children there are two living, Joseph R., and Ollie B., the latter the wife of George Quick. Three children died when young. Mr. Canaday's second wife was Victoria Teneyck. He has been a member and a trustee of the Central Christian church for many years. Though past his eighty-third year, he is still actively engaged in managing his business, with mental powers unabated. So methodical and well ordered have been all his operations that he has not been a victim to the worries which beset those less happily con- stituted. It may be said truthfully that he is one of Anderson's most representative men.


DANIEL WISE, JR. The record of a very old and prominent family in Madison county is that of the Wises. The list of original land entries affords the most reliable record for determining the real pioneers of any country. At the head of the list of land entrants in Jackson


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township stands the name of Daniel Wise, Sr., who according to the best sources of information was the first prominent white settler to establish his home within the boundaries of what is now the civil town- ship of Jackson. That was in 1825 several years before Madison county was organized and less than ten years after Indiana became a state. Thus nearly ninety years has passed away since the name first became identified with this part of the state, and the greater number of the descendants of the original settlers are now in the third and fourth generation. Much of the interesting family history connected with this name will be found in the sketch of a surviving daughter of Daniel Wise, Sr., Mrs. Coy, on other pages of this volume.


Daniel Wise, Sr., was a native of Virginia, born on the south branch of the Potomac river, and was the son of John. Wise, also of Virgina ancestry, and of a prominent old family in that commonwealth. John Wise himself spent the closing years of his life in Madison county. Daniel Wise, Sr., moved from Virginia first to Ohio, and then in 1825 accomplished the long and tedious journey by team and wagon to the wilderness between Ohio and Indiana. The wagon was piled with household goods, and the family camped by the wayside at the close of each day's journey. Practically the entire area of Madison county was then included in government land, recently ceded by the Indians to the United States and was for sale at one dollar and a quarter ($1.25) per acre. Samuel Wise selected his land in sections two and three of township nineteen, range six east, and most of the land included within his original purchase has never passed out of the Wise ownership. In the midst of the forest he cleared a space for the log cabin home, which was the first shelter of the family, and there under the shadows of the primeval forest, abounding with its wild game, and occasionally haunted by the Indians, began the life and activities of this worthy pioneer household in Madison county. After a few years the log house was replaced by a substantial brick structure, which though twice wrecked by cyclones, has been rebuilt and is still standing as a landmark of a previous generation. Daniel Wise lived there until his death. He mar- ried in Virginia, Mary Miller, a native of that state. She survived her husband many years, and reared seven children named as follows: Lucinda, Huldah, Lovina, Seth, Perinia, Lorana and Daniel, Jr.


Daniel Wise, Jr., was born on the Wise homestead in Jackson town- ship, May 4, 1833. His early life was spent amidst pioneer surround- ings, and this environment has been elsewhere described in connection with the career of his older sister, Mrs. Lorana Coy. When he was still a boy he became inured to the practical work of the early farmer in Madison county, and continued to devote his labors to agriculture until his death. He succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead of two hundred and ten acres, and it was in the old brick home that he passed away in 1865, at the comparatively early age of thirty-two years. Daniel Wise, Jr., married Susan Thurman, who was born in Highland county, Ohio. Left a widow with a family of small children, she very capably managed the farm, and succeeded in rearing and educating her children for useful parts in the world. She continued to make her home on the old estate in Jackson township until her death, June 11, 1912, when she was eighty-five years of age. Her chil- dren were Wesley, Augusta Victoria, Mary A., Sarah A., and Seth. Wesley Wise had been twice married and has four children named : Woodie, Hazel, Everett and Clark. Mary A. married August Busby,


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and their two sons are Willis and Clifford. Sarah A. married San- ford Tolin, and the four children of their union are Olga, Vivian, Harold and Eulan, all of whom are graduates of the Shortridge high school at Indianapolis. Miss Augusta Victoria has for a number of years had her home chiefly in Indianapolis, but the past two years were spent at home caring for her mother, until the later's death. Miss Wise now occupies and manages the old estate. She is thoroughly familiar and appreciative of the pioneer life through which her family has passed in Madison county, and is one of the highly esteemed descendants of the pioneers in this county.


B. PERRY REMY AND FRANK I. REMY. The subjects of this sketch are both of Hoosier birth, B. Perry Remy having been born at Columbus, Ind., March 15th, 1876, and Frank Irwin Remy being born at Columbus, Ind., September 6th, 1880. They spent several years of their boyhood in Kansas, later returning to Indiana. Both secured a High School edu- cation. B. Perry Remy married Margaret Wood, the daughter of Albert C, and Eva Haynes Wood of near Pendleton, Ind., November 20th, 1902. Frank I. Remy married Nellie G. Forkner, the daughter of John L. and Mary Watson Forkner of Anderson, Ind., August 5th, 1907. Both B. Perry and Frank Remy are members of Masonic order being identified with Scottish Rite and Knight Templar orders of Masonry, as well as the order of Mystic Shrine. They are members of the Anderson Town and Country Clubs, the Columbia Club of Indianapolis, hunting clubs, engineering and business clubs.


The brothers have an interesting family history as well as a startlingly successful business career. The name Remy is French, the family being descendants of a Frenchman of noble birth by that name. In the family history prepared by the French College of Heraldry it is found that the family has been an active one. Many inventions of note and success particularly having followed the name. Their originality seems to date from the earliest history of the family when they very early withdrew from the Catholic Church, later coming to America as Huguenots. Ben- jamin Milton Remy, the father of Perry and Frank Remy, was born April 30th, 1839, at Brookville, Ind. He was educated at Brookville College. He early joined the Knights of Pythias and M. E. Church and was a faithful member of both throughout his lifetime. Politically he was a Republican. He was a merchant in early life, but ill health caused his retirement, when but a comparatively young man and he was never able later to stand business strains and cares. He died at Anderson, Ind., May 24th, 1913. Marion I. Irwin Remy, the mother of Perry and Frank Remy, is of Scotch and English descent and is a descendant of the Irwins of Scotland and more directly of Joseph Irwin, who came to America from Ireland and lived and died near Columbus, Ind. She is also a descendant of David Jones and wife, who came from England with Wm. Penn in the Mayflower. The history of this branch of the family seems to indicate that ambition and thrift were at least very prominent characteristics as great wealth has been accumulated from time to time and honest, straightforward dealings and philanthropy have kept pace with the ability to accumulate the world's treasures. The peculiar Scotch firmness and determination certainly found its way to the mother of Perry and Frank Remy of Anderson, for when ill health compelled her husband to retire from business, when the boys were quite young and expenses incident to ill health soon ate away


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what money had been saved, she did not lose hope but kept on instilling the ambition for honest success that had been the parents' earliest dreams. The boys worked in factories prior to coming to Anderson, educating themselves at night school when unable to do better, but in 1895 with little more than car fare to bring them the family came to Anderson, the father still enfeebled, but the boys possessed with ambition and a will. B. Perry Remy had worked unceasingly where and when he could in trying to master a knowledge of electrical work and his knowledge had been recognized before the move was made, so with his brother as a helper they put out a shingle and started an electrical contracting busi- ness in Anderson in 1895, one boy nineteen and the other fourteen years of age. They were successful from the start and soon the younger brother Frank was in school, while the older brother kept hard at work. that later they might both be better fitted to do bigger things, as they continually looked forward to doing. In 1901 the Remy Brothers incor- porated their business under the name of Remy Electric Company and started the manufacture of the electrical equipment for gas and gasoline engines, which they felt had greater possibilities for growth and future than the contracting business could possibly have. In just ten years time the business was one of the largest in Anderson and one of the most modern manufacturing industries in the Central States. Manufacturers from all over the United States came to visit the plant and learn of its methods. Perry by practical work had developed his mind, naturally of a scientific turn, until he was recognized as an engineer of unusual abil- ity, not infrequently meeting with engineers and physicists in public dis- cussions of engineering problems of the day, while Frank, who from early boyhood had loved to trade and bargain above, everything else, had fitted the opportunity equally as well and developed and handled the business side of the brothers' interests with unusual judgment and ability. It should be mentioned that never had two brothers, although of a different temperament and inclination, worked more harmoniously and with each others interests at heart more than these two. Early recogniz- ing the particular work for which they were best suited they tried to develop themselves accordingly as they progressed never having their ambition satisfied or apparently realizing that they had built up a big industry giving employment to hundreds in a few years time.


January 25th, 1911, they sold the controlling stock in the Remy Electric Company to an Indianapolis banker and his associates and retired from the active management of the business. With their wives they then set out to travel, Perry and his wife going around the world, while Frank and his wife spent six months in traveling through European countries and some time traveling in America. While they were enjoy- ing these pleasures they were not unmindful of what might be learned from European manufacturers and they met with many of them. While their trips were supposedly for pleasure it is a significant fact that patent applications were being made by them while abroad and shortly after their return they were starting in business again.





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