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 57
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Thomas Morris Hardy was reared on the old homestead in Fall Creek township, received his education in one of the early schools of this locality and after attending the district school went to the Pendleton Academy for six months. Then in 1862, at the age of twenty-two, he enlisted in Company A of the Sixteenth Indiana Infantry, and was with the army during its great campaign down the Mississippi Valley.
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He was in the Vicksburg Campaign and was twice wounded. At his enlistment he went in as a private and for meritorious service was pro- moted to lieutenant after the Battle of Arkansas Post. He was mus- tered out at the conclusion of three years' military duty with this rank. After his return as a veteran soldier he spent three years in Illinois as a teacher and farmer, and then returned to the old homestead where he continued as a teacher and farmer for some eight or ten years. In 1890 Mr. Hardy, in association with E. P. Rogers, became connected with the Pendleton Banking Company, and has since acquired a half interest and has been president of the company since 1905. This is one of the strongest private banks of Madison county, and the company enjoys high standing throughont all the territory tributary to Pen- dleton.
Lieutenant Hardy was married September 28, 1865, to Margaret J. Wilson, who was born in Madison county, November, 1839. Mrs. Hardy received her education in the public schools of this county, and was a valnable companion to her husband and greatly beloved in all social circles. After nearly forty-four years of happy married life she passed away on August 22, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy had no children of their own, but they reared five under the protection and influence of their own roof, giving them good educational advantages and the best of influences for their preparations to meet the larger duties and responsibilities of life. One of their children now keeps house for Mr. Hardy.
Lieutenant Hardy is a member of the Friends church, is affiliated with the Grand Army Post No. 230 and the Loyal Legion of Indiana. He has for many years been a supporter of the Republican party, but in the last campaign of 1912 gave his vote for the new Progressive party. He donated the lot on which the Pendleton Public Library now stands, and this donation was at the time absolutely essential to the success of the library enterprise, since the necessary endowment could not have been secured without this generosity on his part. He has served as president of the Library board since its organization in 1909 and has devoted much time to the success of this local institution.
JOHN MECKEL. With the pre-conceived ability to design and execute plans for buildings, possessed of marked artistic talent and that hard- headed practicality which puts ideas and ideals to the test of materiality, and the capacity for co-operation with others, John Meckel, architect of Anderson, has accomplished a work in the planning of structures that is of such a character as to leave its impress on the city for many years to come. With a mind fertile in means, resources and,expedients, he has fully mastered the multitudinous details of his complex and many-sided profession, and has risen to deserved prominence solely through merit and undeviating application. Mr. Meckel was born in the city of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, June 25, 1844, and is a son of Jacob and Katherine (Eckhart) Meckel, natives of Germany.
Jacob Meckel learned the trade of shoemaker in his youth and worked thereat in the Fatherland until grown, emigrating to the United States when twenty-one years of age and locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was married to Katherine Eckhart, who had come to this country as a lass of sixteen years. For some years Jacob Meckel was engaged in custom shoemaking in Cincinnati, but in 1848 removed with his family to Henry county, Indiana, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres,
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and devoted his energies to farming and stoek raising. His operations were fairly successful, and at the time of his death, in 1890, he was con- sidered one of the substantial men of his community. Mrs. Meckel passed away in 1881, having been the mother of five sons and two daugh- ters, of whom one son and one daughter are deceased.
John Meckel was reared on the home farm, and was sent to the dis- triet schools during the winter terms until his eighteenth year, in the meantime assisting his father during the summers on the farm. He then learned the trade of carpenter and followed that occupation for several years, during which time he took up the study of architecture, his knowl- edge being acquired at Cambridge City, Indiana, at which place he had been a contractor for a time. In 1885 he removed from Cambridge City to Anderson, and this has since been his field of endeavor. He has drawn and completed the plans for many of the fine dwellings, business houses. sehools and ehurehes of this city, as well as the Anderson Opera House, but has not confined his efforts to this community, for in the country and a number of neighboring towns and villages are found many examples of his skill and talent. His work evidences the pride he has taken in his adopted locality, and his eonscientious devotion to the best ethics and ideals of his profession has given him a firmly established position in the ranks of leading Indiana architeets.
Mr. Meckel was married in 1869 to Miss Edna A. Barnard, of Henry county, who died in 1895, leaving the following children: Frank B., who is a resident of Anderson; Grace, who is the wife of John W. Bernard, of Neosho, Missouri ; Nellie B., who died in 1895; and Maude, a stenographer and bookkeeper at present residing at Neosho, Missouri. Mr. Meekel was married in 1901, to Miss Ella St. John. The family residenee is located at No. 215 West Sixth street, corner of Brown and Sixth.
Mr. Meckel has enjoyed the privileges of membership in fraternal orders, belonging to Cambridge Lodge No. 17, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and No. 9, Knights of Pythias. He is a Democrat in his politieal views, and while a resident of Cambridge City served capably as a member of the eity council for a period of four years.
GEORGE W. BICKFORD. Mr. Bickford has been a resident of Anderson for more than twenty years and during the greater part of that time has been one of the faithful and efficient men in the postal service. He comes from good New England stock, and was born in the village of Rochester, New Hampshire, June 11, 1856, a son of John H. and Mary Jenks Bickford, both natives of New Hampshire. The father was a car- penter by trade and worked in that line the greater part of his life, and did well by his family.
George W. Biekford grew up in New England, attained his primary education at Great Falls, now Summersworth, and after getting a com- mon and high school education entered the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy at the age of fifteen. He then clerked in a drug store for seven years, in Boston, Massachusetts. From Boston he moved out to Kansas, and was a resident and business man at Phillipsburg until 1891. In that year he returned to Indiana, and located at Anderson. In 1896 Mr. Biekford became a government employe as a letter carrier, and for seventeen years has quietly performed a service which has brought him both esteem and recognition as one of the important factors in his local work of the city. He has filled his office under different postmasters, and
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is now one of the oldest men in this service in this city. He is a Demo- crat in his political affiliations.
On April 6, 1881, Mr. Bickford was married in Kansas to Miss Katherine Hanlon, who was born in Connecticut, a daughter of John Hanlon, of Philadelphia. Their union has been blessed with the follow- ing children : Walter N .; Laura M .; Leo and Roy.
In Masonic circles, Mr. Bickford is one of the best known members in Anderson, and has his affiliations with Mount Moriah Lodge No. 57, F. & A. M .; Anderson Chapter No. 52, R. A. M .; Anderson Council No. 69, R. & F. M .; Anderson Commandery No. 32, K. T. For thirteen years he served as secretary of Mount Moriah Lodge. He is a member of the Methodist church. The Bickford home is a pleasant residence at 120 W. Fifth street.
HON. GEORGE NICHOL. Still hale and hearty at the age of eighty- three and a familiar figure on the streets of Anderson and a daily visitor at the store whose business was founded and built up by him, Hon. George Nichol has a record as a soldier, business man, public spirited citizen and official, which places him among the most venerable and useful men of Madison county. Nearly sixty years of his life time has been spent within the limits of this county, and he is one of the few still living whose memory and intimate knowledge of business and local affairs goes back into the decade of the fifties. Anderson as a city of trade and industry has been fortunate in its possession of a fine body of citizenship, including men of ability and integrity to direct the large enterprises which have given this city distinction, among the larger cities of Indiana, and Hon. George Nichol during his long and varied career has been one of the most prominent of business builders and upholders of local prosperity.
Born in Butler county, Ohio, January 14, 1830, George Nichol was a son of Thomas and Jane (Marshall) Nichol, and comes of an old and prominent American family. The family history is authentically traced back to the time of Edward the Confessor of England, during whose reign a member of the family came over from Normandy, and during subsequent generations the name, individual records, and the Nichol coat of arms are found in English annals. The founder of the American family was Francis Nichol, who was born in Enniskillen, Ireland, in 1737. and came to America, with his brother William, who afterwards served as a captain in the American army. They settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and in June, 1775, Francis Nichol enlisted in the patriot army. He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and was taken prisoner at Quebec, December 31, 1775. Released in August, 1776, he later rose to the rank of brigadier general of the American forces. At the close of the war he was elected first United States marshal of eastern Pennsylvania, and died at Pottstown, February 13, 1812.
General Francis Nichol was the great-grandfather of Hon. George Nichol of Anderson. Grandfather Thomas Nichol, who was born near Belfast, Ireland, after coming to the United States settled on land on the Ohio side of the River Ohio, near Wheeling, West Virginia, but after- ward moved to Butler county, Ohio, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, and cleared off the woods with his ax. His children were: Joseph, a soldier in the war of 1812; John; Thomas; George; Wells; Sarah A., who married Jesse Andrew; Mary, who married Mr. Marshall, and Martha, who married a Mr. Royce.
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The father of Hon. George Nichol, Thomas Nichol, was born about 1803 in Belmont county, Ohio, and was about three years old when the family moved to Butler county. He received his education in the pioneer schools, and in Butler county married Jane Marshall, daughter of Gilbert and Mary (Taylor) Marshall. After the marriage the young couple settled on land in the woods, and eventually became owners of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, where the father spent the remainder of his life. He was a Jacksonian Democrat in politics. The children of Thomas and Jane were: William M., born in 1828; George; Mary ; Joseph W .; Martha ; Gilbert ; Jennie; Frances; Catherine ; John and Robert.
While a boy on the home farm in Butler county, George Nichol had only limited opportunities for acquiring an education, although they were probably the best to be obtained at that time and in that country. His early ambition was for a good education, and he secured it during a number of terms in the district schools, and one year at Farmers Col- lege. near Cincinnati. In 1852, when about twenty-two years of age, Mr. Nichol went to Keokuk, Iowa. and became clerk in a hardware store. From there in March, 1854, he came to Anderson, which was destined to be the city of his permanent residence. In Anderson he established himself in business on his own account as a hardware merchant, his associate being Amos J. King. From that year, nearly sixty years' distant to the present time, the name of Nichol has been familiarly associated with the hardware trade in Anderson. Mr. Nichol retired a number of years ago, but his two sons, Thomas J. and George E., still carry on the enterprise, founded and made prosperous by their honored father. Thomas J. is president of the Nichol Hardware Company, and the younger son is also in the business.
Mr. Nichol had been in Anderson but a few years when the Civil war cast its black shadow across the country and made the usual routine of existence and business an impossibility. He was one of the young men who went out from Anderson in September, 1861, as a private in the Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteers, and was soon afterwards appointed quartermaster of his regiment. At the end of his term in 1864 he returned home, after having participated in all the severe campaigns through which the Forty-seventh passed. He held the rank of first lieutenant in the army. His service as a soldier hy no means ended Mr. Nichol's participation in public affairs, and his has always been the part of the disinterested and unselfish worker for the general welfare. Mr. Nichol was one of the founders of the Republican party in this section of the country, and voted for its first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, for Abraham Lincoln, and for every other Republican candidate to the present time. For his success in business and for his eminent public spirit, he has been honored with positions of trust in his community. He was a member of the first city council elected in Ander- son. In 1870, he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of county auditor, being the first Republican elected in the county to that important office. That was one of the notable campaigns, made so by his successful participation. His opponent was the late Neal C. McCullough, a man of acknowledged integrity and ability, and long prominent as a leader in public affairs. The county at that time was safely Democratic hy six hundred majority, and the fact that Mr. Nichol overcame this margin was one of the highest compliments ever accorded to an individual in the political history of Madison county. He served
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as auditor from 1871 to 1875. In 1904, he was elected a member of the sixty-fourth General Assembly of Indiana, and in 1907 Governor Hanley appointed him a member of the board of trustees for the Indiana Epileptic Village at Newcastle, and his service in that capacity for four years until 1911 was his last important participation in large public affairs. For a number of years Mr. Nichol was chairman of the Repub- lican Central Committee of Madison county. His name has been asso- ciated with nearly every enterprise having for its object the promotion of Anderson's interest, and the development of the county. He was chosen president of the Anderson Board of Trade at the time of its organization, and served as long as the body was in existenee. Though a man of liberal views in all matters, Mr. Nichol has long been a con- sistent member of the First Presbyterian Church of Anderson. Ile was a charter member of Major May Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Anderson, and up to 1888 served as its quartermaster.
On December 4, 1855, in Anderson, Mr. Nichol married Harriet Robinson, who was born in Ripley county, Indiana, in 1835, a daughter of Josephus and Matilda Robinson, and a sister of the late Col. M. S. Robinson. Her father was born in Tennessee, educated himself in the law, and was a lawyer at Versailles and later at Greensburg, in Decatur county, Indiana. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nichol were Thomas J., born September 15, 1856, and George E., born October 4, 1861. Thomas J. is now president of the Nichol Hardware Company, while George E. is vice president of the Citizens Bank of Anderson. Both sons are married and established in homes of their own at Ander- son. The mother of these sons died May 25, 1896. On September 27, 1899, Mr. Nichol married Mrs. Mary Eglin, widow of Captain John F. Eglin, formerly of the Forty-seventh Indiana Regiment. Her death occurred September 24, 1907.
CHARLES J. ROZELLE. Eminent in Anderson business affairs, and also in the political life of the city, Mr. Rozelle has for a number of years successfully followed the contracting and building trade, and his prac- tical endeavors have their results in many of the permanent structures to be seen in this city and vicinity.
Charles J. Rozelle was born in the city of Anderson, November 16, 1873, and belongs to one of the old families of Indiana. The Rozelles are of French descent, the first ancestors having come from France and settled at an early date in the colony of Virginia. The paternal grand- father was William Rozelle, who was born in Virginia, moved from the Old Dominion at an early day, and was a settler of Indiana at a time not far removed from the beginning of pioneer development in this state. The maternal grandfather was John Tilford, who was also a native of Virginia. The parents of Mr. Rozelle were Miles M. Rozelle and Elvira T. (Tilford) Rozelle, the father having been born was also a native of Virginia. The parents of Mr. Rozelle were Miles in Rush county, Indiana, in 1838, and the mother a native of Pennsyl- vania, from which state she came to Indiana during her early girlhood. The father in young manhood took up the trade of tanner, and as a tan- ner and manufacturer of leather he was well known and followed the business for a number of years. In 1893 he retired from the business, which he had conducted at Anderson for many years. His wife died in 1907.
Charles J. Rozelle grew up in Anderson and while a boy attended the grammar and high schools of the city. When he left school it was to
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enter his father's tannery, where he assisted in the work for a time, but did not chose to follow that as a regular vocation, and soon engaged in the mercantile business. He continued that work until he sold out. From merchant he became carpenter and builder, and having special skill in his trade and good business ability, he has since enjoyed much prosperity and has been employed in fulfilling many contracts for residences, school houses, churches and business houses in Anderson and elsewhere.
In 1900 Mr. Rozelle married Miss Zimmer, a daughter of Michael Zimmer, an old resident of Madison county. She died in 1903, and was the mother of the following named children: Charles B. and Helen E. Fraternally Mr. Rozelle is well known in Masonic circles, being a mem- ber of Fellowship Lodge, No. 681. A. F. & A. M .; Anderson Chapter, No. 52, R. A. M .; Anderson Commandery, No. 69, K. T., and Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and has also taken thirty-two degrees in the Scottish Rite. In politics a Republican, he served three years as a member of the city council, and was also chosen and acted as a member of the board of public works, from which he resigned at the end of one year.
HERBERT D. WEBB. Among the energetic and successful citizens of Anderson, Indiana, none is better known that Herbert D. Webh, secre- tary and treasurer of one of the important manufacturing plants of this city. Mr. Webb has always taken an active part in any movement which had as its aim the advancement of Anderson or of this section of the state, and he has played a prominent part in the commercial history of the city. Mr. Webb has been a hard worker throughout his life and his success is not the result of good fortune but of industry and a natural business ability, heightened by years of experience.
Herbert D. Webb was born in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 4th of June, 1860. He is the son of J. Russell Webb and Harriet C. (Camp) Webb. His father was a native of New York and his mother was born in Vermont. J. Russell Webb was a well known man, having the peculiar honor of originating the "Word Method of Teach- ing." He was a teacher for a number of years, as well as the author of a number of text books, which were used in the schools of the United States in the early days. He was a well known educator and his methods were very generally approved by the educators of the country. He died in September, 1888.
Herbert D. Webb received his education in the state of Michigan, attending the schools of Jackson and Benton Harbor, and being a grad- uate of the high school in the latter place. After leaving school he first went to work on a farm, this place being not far from Benton Harbor, Michigan. After spending some time in this occupation he next came to Anderson, Indiana, where he found employment in some of the fac- tories, working in various ones at different times. This was in 1889, and he worked his way steadily. upward, gaining knowledge and experi- ence. In 1900 he went into the plumbing and heating business in Ander- son and continued in this business until 1908, when he originated and established the present business.
He is at present secretary and treasurer of the Webb, Baxter Com- pany, manufacturers of vacuum cleaning machinery and machine knives. The company was incorporated in 1908 and Noah Baxter was made president. The plant is forty by one hundred and forty feet in size and
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fifteen people are employed in manufacturing its products, which are shipped to the different parts of the United States, by order.
Mr. Webb is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He has an attractive home at 605 Hendricks street. Mr. Webb was married in 1890 to Miss Louise Sher- wood, a daughter of Isaac Sherwood and Celia ( Adams) Sherwood.
IRA WILLIAMS. Now retired from business and looking after his real estate business in Anderson, Mr. Williams is a citizen of Madison county, who started out as a farmer, found himself against a losing game, then managed to turn, ventured into a new field in a very modest way and by furnishing exceptional value and service in return for his customer's money, built up a local business which was highly profitable and from which he was able to retire a few years ago, and spend his later years in comfort. To his wife he also credits a large share of the success gained in his business.
Ira Williams, who belongs to an old and honored family of Madison county, was born on a farm in Richland township, December 12, 1855. His father was Morgan T. Williams, who was born in Surrey county, North Carolina, and the grandfather was Jesse Williams, who so far as known was a life long resident of North Carolina. Grandfather Williams owiied and occupied a farin about three miles from Long Gap in Surrey county, and that was his home when death came to him. He reared 14 children. Morgan T. Williams was reared and educated in his native state, and when a young man came to Indiana, and here met and married Marindah Maynard. After their marriage they located on the farm belonging to her father, and continued as substantial farming people until the death of Morgan T. Williams on June 27, 1863, at the age of twenty years.
The maternal ancestors of Mr. Williams introduces some of the oldest families of Madison county. His mother was born in Richland township of Madison county, about April 19, 1839. Her father was James May- nard, and it is supposed that Kentucky was his birthplace. Her great- grandfather, William Maynard was a shoemaker by trade, and probably spent all his life in North Carolina. Moses Maynard, the grandfather of Mrs. Morgan T. Williams, was born near Hillsboro, North Carolina, September 23, 1763, was reared and married in that state, and from there went to Kentucky, living near the Big Sandy River for some years. From there he came into Indiana, and was one of the very first settlers of Madison county. On Killbuck Creek, he took up a homestead direct from the government, built a log cabin in the wilderness, and continued to live and perform his share of hard work and good citizenship in this county until his death. Moses Maynard died at the home of his son Barnabas in Monroe township, June 15, 1874, at the remarkable age of one hundred and eleven years. He was the oldest man in the county and probably in the state. It is indeed doubtful if any American has a sim- ilar record. He cast a vote for George. Washington for president, and voted at every presidential election in the long line of quadriennial elections from the first down to and including that of 1872, when Grant was elected for the second term. Moses Maynard married Sarah Green- street, and they reared eleven children.
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