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 95
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On the 21st of June, 1883, he married Miss Louie Smith, a daughter of Jeremiah and Hester (Winship) Smith. Their two children are named Donna Fay and Glendon Guy. Donna Fay married Bloomer J. Pickard, who is now deceased, leaving one daughter, Georgia Ruth; Glendon Guy died at the age of twenty-one years on November 27, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are members of the Methodist church in Alexandria, and Mr. Davis has for many years been a worker and official, being now trustee and treasurer. He is affiliated with Alexandria Lodge No. 235 A. F. & A. M .; Alexandria Chapter No. 99 R. A. M .; Alexandria Coun- cil No. 85 R. & S. M., also with Necessity Lodge No. 222 I. O. O. F., having also attained the Encampment and Canton degrees of this order ; and with the Improved Order of Red Men. In politics he is a Republican. Mrs. Davis is a native of Rush county, her mother being a native of the same county, and her father of Kentucky. The family subsequently moved to Madison county, where the parents died. Her father was killed in a railroad accident a few years ago, and her mother died in December, 1907. Mrs. Davis was the only child.
LEROY FREE. Since the pioneer times in Madison county, few fam- ilies have borne so well the duties and responsibilities of citizenship as the Free family, one of the most prominent representatives of which in the present generation is LeRoy Free, the present trustee of Lafay- ette township. The various members of the family have for many years been identified with the agricultural industry of the county, and all have made worthy names and been materially prosperous in their in- dividual lives.
LeRoy Free was born on the homestead which he still occupies in Lafavette township. on August 20, 1878. He is a son of George and
Leany Time
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Jane (Clay) Free. His father came from Ross county, Ohio, and was a boy when the family located in Madison county. The founders of the Free family in this county were the paternal grandparents, Abra- ham and Cynthia (Van Meter) Free. Their settlement here occurred about 1852, along about the time the first railroad was constructed through the county, and when the county was still only a few years away from its pioneer conditions. They located in Lafayette town- ship, and George Free attended the early schools of that locality and was reared on a farm which when the family first occupied it had been little developed since its primitive condition. George Free and wife became the parents of four children, named as follows: Hattie, who is now Mrs. Alexander, with residence near Frankton; LeRoy; Charles and Cloe.
LeRoy Free during his boyhood attended the common schools and as soon as he was able to wield any of the farm implements he began his active labors as a helper about the homestead. He has been a success- ful member of the agricultural community, and has interested himself in all public-spirited endeavors in this . vicinity.
It is his record as township trustee during the past four years that has brought Mr. Free into prominence as a factor in public affairs, and so well has he discharged the duties of that important position in one township that he is now regarded as the most eligible Democratic can- didate for the nomination to the office of county auditor. His election to the position of trustee came with a gratifying majority, which was a tribute both to his personal standing and to his recognized efficiency as an administrator of the township affairs. Under the accounting law, passed a few years ago by the legislature, Mr. Free has the honor of receiving the first report issued in the state. The schools of Lafayette township in the past four years have made more notable progress toward effi- ciency than could be claimed of any other similar locality in Madison county, and the chief credit for this improvement is due to Trustee Free. The school No. 9 which was constructed under his supervision has the distinction of being the first building to comply with the sanitary laws of the state. While trustee of Lafayette township he has directed the construction of three school buildings, and has in addition looked after many other affairs affecting the territory under his efficient jurisdiction. As a member of the board of education of Madison county he has again and again made his influence felt in the direction of progress, and thus the example set by him in one township has proved stimulating to the other constituent parts of the county.
His work in connection with the schools, while perhaps first in import- ance, has not solely occupied his time and attention officially. Under his trusteeship more practical road improvement has been effected than at any previous four-year period in the history of the township. Township road work has been systematized to such an extent that the mud road in Lafayette is a thing of the past. Those who use the roads to any extent in different parts of the county quickly learn from the state of the highways when they come into the township of which Mr. Free has supervision. To a similar degree has progress been made in drainage work. The greater part of the open ditches have been covered over and converted into tiled subterranean outlets, and in some respects this im- provement lead all the rest in placing Lafayette among the best farming communities of the state. The effort and interest which he has directed so unreservedly toward material betterment have been equally bestowed
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upon the advancement of social and moral tone in the rural districts, and he has done much to make Lafayette a better place to live in for both the young and the old.
ALVA NEWTON HAROLD. Some men are in business by force of cir- cumstances over which they have no control, and for the reason that the majority of persons adopt any line of work. There are others, compara- tively few, however, who take to business pursuits from the very earliest sessions of inclinations and aptitudes, and are often spoken of as born to trade. In this latter line is Alva Newton Harold, who has been a trader, a buyer and seller, since boyhood, and now controls probably more extensive mercantile enterprises in Alexandria than any other indi- vidual business man. He is in the buggy and general implement trade, has a general merchandise store, and is also a dealer in real estate.
Alva Newton Harold was born in Tipton county, Indiana, January 30, 1877, a son of James Perry and Rachael Ann (Garner) Harold, the father a native of Indiana, and the mother born in Ohio at Chillicothe. The paternal grandparents were Ezekiel and Nancy Harold, natives of Pennsylvania and pioneers of Indiana. Ezekiel Harold was a farmer by occupation, and died when past middle life. His seven children were James P., Daniel, Jasper, Rebecca, Nancy, Eliza and Marinda. The grandfather had previously married and had one child, William, by that marriage. The maternal grandparents of Mr. Harold were Vincent and Rachael Garner. They were farmers by occupation and early settlers in Tipton and Howard counties, and the children of their family were Margaret, Rachael, Betsy, Nancy and Enoch. The father of Mr. Harold was reared in Hamilton and Tipton counties, and he spent most of his life as a farmer in those two counties, and also in Howard county. His death occurred February 20, 1899. He and his wife had four children, namely : Sarah Ellen, deceased; Elma, wife of George Manlove, of Kempton, Indiana; Clara, single, and residing at Kempton, and Alva N., of Alexandria.
Mr. Harold was reared on a farm in Tipton and Howard counties, received his education in the district schools, and then in the West Middleton school at Howard county, and remained on the home farm until he was grown. After the death of his father he moved into Tipton county, where for several years he operated a large rented farm. He next bought a half interest in his father's estate and some time later traded it for a stock of implements and buggies. Thus formally he got into the channels of trade in which he has remained ever since.
In September, 1910, he came to Alexandria, where he bought the Spitler hardware store, and also the James G. Bowers Buggy & Imple- ment house. Besides this extensive business, he owns a large department store, considerable other city property and has one of the finest homes in Alexandria.
On April 6, 1902, Mr. Howard married Miss Leuella Wells, daughter of William H. and Mary (Beatty) Wells. Mrs. Harold was born in Howard county, and her parents were natives of Tipton and Howard counties, respectively. Her mother died in the latter county at the age of fifty-nine, and her father now makes his home at Russiaville, Indiana. The children in the Wells family were Thomas, Anna, Jeanette, Luella, George and Lizzie. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Harold are named Aaron and Hazel. Mr. and Mrs. Harold are both members of the Chris-
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tian church and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. In politics he has taken up with the new political party and is a Progressive.
Mr. Harold is one of the leading citizens of Alexandria. He owns a number of business houses and business interests, and has made his work a valued and important factor in the community. He is a man of genial personality, and one whose possessions have never rendered him vain, but on the contrary have increased his public spirit and his kindli- ness toward the community and toward his fellow-citizen. He takes much interest in the welfare and improvement of Alexandria, and is one of the local citizens who can be depended upon to support any move- ment or enterprise which bas the larger growth and the betterment of the city as its central purpose.
JAMES F. BRENAMAN. It is an honorable distinction to have been in one line of business in one city for thirty-seven years, especially when these years have also been filled with worthy activities and influence for the good of the community. Mr. Brenaman, who is a proprietor of a marble and granite yard in Alexandria, has been in this special line of business longer than any other dealer and cutter in Madison county. Through his wife's family he also represents one of the oldest pioneer families of the state.
James F. Brenaman was born in New York City, August 1, 1846, a son of James M. and Catherine Brenaman, the father a native of Penn- sylvania and the mother of New York. The father spent his early years in Pennsylvania, at the trade of machinist, and lived in New York City until his death, which occurred when his son James was twelve years of age. The mother died in that city in 1848 when James was only two years old.
Mr. Brenaman, owing to the early deaths of his parents, was reared as an orphan boy. During a few terms, he attended the schools of New York City, but at the age of twelve came out to Bucyrus, Ohio, where he lived with John G. Sherwood. Mr. Sherwood taught him the trade of marble cutter, and thus prepared him for his permanent vocation in life. He also finished his education while at Bucyrus. From 1868 until 1873, having become a master workman, he traveled about the country, doing journeyman's work in his trade. Then in 1873 he located in Alexandria, and was employed in the firm of Ellison & Wood. In 1876 he bought out the interest of Mr. Ellison, and since that date has conducted a marble and monument business in this city.
In 1879 Mr. Brenaman married Miss Elizabeth Emily Tomlinson, a daughter of Nathan E. and Catherine E. (Henderson) Tomlinson. Mrs. Brenaman is now one of the oldest daughters of Alexandria, where she was born in 1848. Her mother came from South Carolina, and her father from North Carolina. The paternal grandfather was William C. Tomlinson, the maiden name of whose wife was Elizabeth Edwards. Both were born in North Carolina, and came out to Indiana, and settled at Richmond, about 1820, only four years after the territory of Indiana was made a state. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Brenaman was Shadrach Henderson, who married a Miss Fisher. They were both born in South Carolina, and came to Wayne county, Indiana, in the pioneer epoch and passed away there at a good old age. The parents of Mrs. Brenaman located in Alexandria, in 1833, and by comparison with the settlement of Madison county localities, they were among the early pioneers of this section. The father brought a stock of goods across the
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country and opened a general store in Alexandria, conducted in one location for fifty years. Both parents died in Alexandria, the father at seventy-two and the mother at eighty-two years of age. Their children were named: Mark, Alfred, Nathan E., William C., Martha, Elizabeth E., and Catherine C. The four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brenaman were Ralph, Lewis, James M. and Nathan E. Ralph died when about fifteen years of age, having served as one of the boy pages in the house of the Indiana legislature. Lewis is a granite and marble cutter in the employ of his father. James M. is a barber. Nathan is an electrician in Alexandria, and by his marriage to Helen Redenbaugh has two chil- dren, Ruth and Winifred, who are the only grandchildren of Mr. and Mrs. Brenaman.
Mr. Brenaman is an active member of the Methodist church. He is active in fraternal affairs, being specially prominent in Odd-Fellow- ship. He belongs to Necessity Lodge No. 222, I. O. O. F., and also to the Encampment and the Canton, being a chevalier. For sixteen years he was trustee of Necessity Lodge and superintended the building of Odd Fellows Hall in Alexandria from the foundation to the roof. He is also affiliated with Alexandria Lodge No. 478 B. P. O. of E. A Republican in politics, he has done much disinterested public service to his home city. He served as town clerk in 1880, and subsequently as city treasurer. For nine years he was a member of the school board and built two of the principal school buildings of the city. During President Mckinley's administration he was appointed to the office of postmaster at Alexandria, and received a reappointment under President Roosevelt, finally retiring after nine years of service from the office in July, 1906. His work of postmaster naturally interrupted his marble business, but since then he has applied his time exclusively to that vocation.
LEWIS C. Cox. After many years spent in industrious and fruit- ful labor in Madison county, Lewis C. Cox is now living a life of quiet retirement on his farm of forty acres, located about four miles north of the county seat of Anderson. A self-made man, who has accumu- a competence through his own persevering efforts, he was for many years identified with the agricultural interests of Henry and Madison counties, and for a period was also engaged in stationary engineering in Anderson. He was born September 19, 1848, at Granville, Monon- gahela county, West Virginia (then Virginia), and is a son of Levi and Mary (Dawson) Cox, agricultural people of West Virginia, who spent their entire lives in that State. There were three children in .the family : Lewis C .; Jennie, who married a Mr. Weakley ; and Sallie, who became the wife of Mr. Shackleford.
Lewis C. Cox received his education in the public schools of his native State, completing his studies when. he was fourteen years of age. At that time he embarked upon a career of his own, coming to Henry county, Indiana, and securing employment as a farm hand. He was an ambitious and industrious youth, working faithfully with the idea in view of accumulating a property of his own. When still a young man he came to Madison county, settling in Anderson, where he learned the trade of stationary engineer, and for some years made this his occupation. He subsequently returned to agricultural work, however, investing his savings in a piece of property, to which he added from time to time as his finances would permit. His faithful and per- severing labor was rewarded by the accumulation of a handsome com-
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petence, and he eventually retired from active life, and is now living quietly with his son-in-law and daughter.
Mr. Cox was married June 9, 1895, to Mrs. Adelia Teeple, daughter of George D. and Anna (Kendall) Thompson, the former one of the earliest settlers of Madison county. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have had no children, but by her former marriage she had one daughter: Lettie. She was born August 29, 1888, on a farm in Madison county, and was well educated in the Elm Grove and Free schools. She was married here to James A. Kennedy, who was born in Chesterfield, Indiana, May 4, 1884, and moved to Madison county with his parents when a child. He was educated in the public schools, and as a youth learned the trade of tin plate worker, an occupation which he followed for some time, but during the past three years has been engaged in farming, being the manager of his father-in-law's property. He is a young man of steady habits and excellent abilities, and is attaining good results from his operations. He and his wife have two interesting children : Mary Catherine and Adelia Louise.
Mr. Cox is a valued member of Mount Moriah Lodge, No. 77, of the Masonic fraternity, at Anderson. With his family he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church at Florida. He has lived a long and useful life, ably performing his part in the great progress that has marked the history of Madison county during the past half century, and everywhere is esteemed as a good and public-spirited citizen, who has the welfare of his community and its people at heart.
WILLIAM MADISON GARRETSON, M. D. For a period of more than thirty years, Dr. Garretson has quietly and efficiently performed his services as a doctor at the village of Perkinsville and vicinity in Jackson township. Dr. Garretson is a man of high standing in his profession, and perhaps there are none who will say he has not chosen wisely in spending his career in a country community where the opportunities for service are just as great as in a city where he has enjoyed many of the rewards of community esteem in a richer degree than are ever paid to the city practitioner.
William Madison Garretson was born in Jackson township of Mad- ison county, October 22, 1860, and his father, Dr. James M. Garretson, was likewise a physician in that vicinity, so that the profession has gone from father to son through a long number of years. Dr. Garret- son, Sr., was born in Tennessee, a son of John Garretson, a native of England. The latter was reared and educated in his native land, and was one of three brothers who came to the United States. John Gar- retson found a home in Tennessee, where he taught school and where he lived the rest of his life. He was twice married, and the three sons of his union were John, William and James M. Of the children of his second wife two sons were George and Job. The late Dr. James M. Garretson received a good education, as a young man taught school, and while teaching took up the study of medicine, and after a period of practice in Hamilton county, moved to Perkinsville in Madison county.
There he continued in active practice until his death at the age of sixty-five. The elder Dr. Garretson married Elizabeth Weir. She was born in Pennsylvania, and at her death at the age of forty-five left four sons named : George, James Albert, Francis, and William Madison.
In the schools at Perkinsville, William Madison Garretson received his first training for life, and later was a student in the Noblesville
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high school. His first studies in medicine were under his father's direction, and he later attended the Indianapolis medical college, where he was graduated M. D. in 1882. In the same year he established him- self for practice at Perkinsville, and has since had his home in this thriving agricultural community. Dr. Garretson has membership in the Madison County Medical Society, the State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association.
In 1884, he married Margaret Zeller. She was born in Jackson township, a daughter of Jacob and Matilda (Frazer) Zeller. Her father was a native of Germany, while her mother was born in Ohio. The one daughter of the Doctor and wife is Miss Nellie.
DANIEL GOEHLER. For thirty-seven years Mr. Goehler has been a resident of Anderson, Indiana, where he has devoted himself to the business of merchant tailoring and where his position in commercial circles is assured. Like thousands of his fellow country men he left his native land for America with little capital save willing hands, a strong heart and a spirit of determination and ambition, and with these qual- ities as his sole resource has made a place for himself among the citizens of his adopted land. Mr. Goehler is a native of Alsace, France, and was born in 1844. When six years of age he was sent to the public schools of his native place, and continued to study therein until reach- ing the age of fourteen years, when he was apprenticed to learn the trade of a merchant tailor, serving two and a half years at this trade. He then entered the army and served six years and three months in the Franco-German war.
At the time of receiving his honorable discharge Mr. Goehler was married, in 1871, to Mary J. Strile, and in 1872, with his wife, who was also a native of France, emigrated to the United States, landing first at New York city. From that metropolis he made his way to Louis- ville, Kentucky, where he worked at his trade until 1874, subsequently making a removal to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he continued at the same line until 1876. From the latter place he came to Anderson, Indiana, and entered business on his own account, continuing in the same to the present time. Mr. Goehler's thorough knowledge of every detail of his business has drawn to him a large and representative trade. He is a man of acknowledged skill in his line, handles only the best of goods and carries a full stock of foreign and domestic cloths. Members of both the older and younger generations of men in Anderson have de- pended upon his taste and knowledge of clothing values, while his abso- lute integrity and reliability have served to make him popular. His establishment is located at No. 920 Main street, while his residence is situated at No. 212 East Eleventh street.
Mr. Goehler is a prominent Mason, being a member of Mt. Moriah Lodge, No. 57, A. F. & A. M .; Anderson Chapter, No. 57, R. A. M .; Anderson Commandery, K. T., No. 16; and he has attained to the thirty-second degree of Masonry, holding membership in Mt. Moriah Temple, Indianapolis. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 209.
Mr. and Mrs. Goehler are the parents of two daughters, Ida and Leonora. Ida became the wife of Frank Timmons, and they have one son and one daughter, Rheta Leonora Timmons and Daniel Benjamin Timmons. Mr. Goehler has traveled extensively in Europe.
DANIEL GOEHLER
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Lovis E. HALBOTII. Long experience in the mercantile business, from his youth up, has made Louis E. Halboth especially well qualified to conduct such a business on his own responsibility. As the assistant of his father who was engaged in the general merchandise business for many years, Mr. Halboth early learned the cardinal principles of con- dueting a general store along safe and successful methods, and he has put well to the test the lessons learned in those days. He has been a resident of Linwood since 1911, and here has come to be reckoned among the dependable and substantial business men of the place.
Mr. Halboth was born in Bloom Center, Ohio, and is the son of Andrew and Barbara M. (Huber) Ilalboth. The father was born in Baden, Germany, and was a boy in his teens when he came to these shores. In his native land he had learned the trade of a weaver, and when he settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, soon after his coming to America, he occupied himself with his trade for some little time. He married in early manhood and twelve children were born to him and his wife. They are named as follows: Louise, Henry, Jacob. Emma, Sallie, lda, Louis, Charles, Lillian J., deceased, Charlotte, George and Barbara.
Louis Halboth, in common with his brothers and sisters, attended the common schools at Bloom Center, Ohio, where the family home was established for many years, and where the father was occupied in the conduct of a general store. IIere young Halboth assisted his father, when he had completed his schooling, and remained in the store until he reached the age of twenty-seven years. The Bloom Center post office was located in the store and Mr. Halboth was assistant post- master for a number of years, his father occupying the office of post- master. When Mr. Halbothi was twenty-seven, he quitted the store and allied himself with a squad of government engineers who were engaged in running lines for and building the Ohio Southern Railroad, and he continued with them for some time, advancing rapidly in the work, and gaining a splendid working knowledge of the profession. When he finally withdrew from the civil engineering work, he engaged in the hardware business at Lakeview, Ohio, and was there located for seven years. He experienced a degree of success there, but was not wholly satisfied with conditions, and finally disposed of his interests and accepted a position as traveling salesman for a coal concern, moving later to Alexander, Indiana, which place he made his headquarters. He was traveling for four years and had prospered in the work when he decided to once more establish himself in an independent business. and he accordingly came to Linwood where he opened up a general mer- chandise store and has here been stationed since that time. He is the sole owner and proprietor of his business, which is making excellent headway in the town, and prosperity continues to show favors to him.
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