USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 26
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Mr. MeVaugh was united in marriage in May, 1909, to Miss Hazel V. Taylor, of Pendleton, where she was born on September 10, 1885. She is a graduate of the Pendleton high school in the class of 1904, and in 1906 was a student in Earlham College, later substituting in the public schools of Pendleton on the staff of instructors. She was one of the most popular young women of her native town, and still retains
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her old place in the hearty esteem of her townspeople. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. MeVaugh, born on September 27, 1910, and named William J., in honor of his father.
Mr. MeVaugh is a Democrat, but has never taken any especially active parts in the political life of his community. Like his wife, he is popular and prominent in the town which has represented his home from birth, and enjoys the confidence of all.
JAMES W. POTTS. A business enterprise of Summitville which is a reliable source of supplies in the hardware and implement line to the greater part of Van Buren township in the store of James W. Potts and his partner, Mr. Vinson. Mr. Potts has been known in Van Buren township since childhood. He is an aggressive and able young business man, and for a number of years followed farming in this vicinity and in Delaware county. His practical knowledge of agriculture has been an asset in his present business, since he knows exactly what the agricultural community needs in the way of its mechanical and hardware supplies, and is a business man who looks closely after his trade and his stock, which has been the chief factor in the success of his establishment in Summitville.
James W. Potts was born February 8, 1871, on his father's farm in Van Buren township, about three miles southeast of Summitville, on the Peter Flint Gravel Road. His parents were Jesse M. and Sarah A. (Hudson) Potts. His father came to Indiana from North Carolina when a young man, arriving in Anderson without money. He is the type of man who made success from small beginnings. Miscellaneous work of any honest kind afforded him his livelihood for some time antil he was married. He then rented a farm from his father-in-law, James Hudson, and afterwards as his means increased bought eighty acres. At the time of his death he was the owner of one hundred and forty-three acres, and a man of substantial influence in the county. He was buried in Mt. Pisgah cemetery in Monroe township. His children were: Martha A., deceased; Mrs. Mary Jane Ellsworth, deceased; Lilly A. Poindexter: James W .; William W., who is employed on the Cincinnati Times-Star at Cincinnati.
James W. Potts was reared on a farm. All his school associations center about the Dageon school, in Van Buren township, which he attended from the time he learned his letters until his education was considered complete. When he started out for himself he rented a part of the Hudson estate, and at the same time managed his father's farm. Afterwards he bought seventeen acres from the Hudson place, and con- ducted that little farm with profit for some years. He then sold it and moved to Deleware county, where he rented a farm of seventy acres for two years. After that he bought back from his brother William W., the seventeen acres of his original homestead, and has since increased his ownership of land in this township to sixty-five acres. It is located two and a half miles southeast from Summitville. His brother-in-law Wallace Poindexter attends the farm. On leaving the country, Mr. Potts engaged in business in Summitville, and in partnership with Oscar A. Vinson bought out what has long been known as the Summitville Hardware Company.
On August 18, 1892, Mr. Potts married Miss Ida A. Young, a daughter of Ellison and Laura (Widener) Young. Five children have blessed their marriage, namely: Two who died in infancy; Londis L., in
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high school; Jesse E., in the first year of high school and James F. Mr. Potts has fraternal affiliations with the Improved Order of Red Men, Neoskaleta Tribe, No. 149; the Knights of Pythias, Gas Belt Lodge No. 361; the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 10434; and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 478. His church is the Christian denomination. When he can get away from business Mr. Potts enjoys nothing better than recreation in the woods, hunting and fishing and such other diversions as the outdoor life affords.
LEWIS F. MOBLEY, M. D. For twelve years in the successful practice of his profession at Summitville, Dr. Mobley is one of the able doctors in the northern part of Madison county, and has built up a splendid practice both in and about the town of Summitville.
L. F. Mobley was born August 6, 1875, in Hartsville, Bartholomew county, Indiana, a son of Warren W. and Mary (Ryan) Mobley. The maternal grandfather Ryan was a physician, one of the early members of the profession in this state, and was also a Methodist minister, an old-time circuit rider, who exercised a beneficent influence over the large scope of country to which he ministered in the early days. Grand- father John Mobley came from Baltimore, Maryland, and was an early settler in Indiana, where he followed the quiet pursuits of farming. He had been a soldier in the War of 1812.
Warren W. Mobley, the father, was both a farmer and a man of exceptional scholarship. He was born in Indiana, and spent his life on a farm near Hartville in Bartholomew county. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, namely: L. F .; Mrs. Elsie Day ; Nina; Otto; Homer, deceased; Herbert; and two that died in infancy.
Dr. Mobley as a boy attended the common schools and the town- ship high school, and secured the means for his advancement to pro- fessional life, largely by teaching school, an occupation which he fol- lowed for two years. He then took two years of a normal and com- mercial course at Indianapolis. In 1898 he entered the Kentucky School of Medicine, and was there during that year and during 1900-01. He completed his medical studies in the Indiana College of Medicine where he was graduated M. D. in 1902. Dr. Mobley moved to Summitville, April 28, 1902, and bought out the practice of C. F. Williams, M. D., since which time he has extended the original practice throughout Van Buren township.
Dr. Mobley was married December 31, 1902, to Miss Louie Taylor, of Columbus, Indiana. They have one daughter, Ethel May, in second grade of school. The Doctor is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 475; the Knights of Pythias, No. 361; the Improved Order of Red Men, Neoskaleta Tribe No. 149; the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 10434, and he and his wife worship in the Baptist church. He also has membership in the Madison County, Indiana, State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is the city health officer of the town of Summitville. He is held in high esteem throughout the community to which he gives his professional services.
WILSON CORY. Four miles south of the city of Anderson on the- Cory gravel road in Anderson township is located the fine farm of Wilson Cory, one of the best country estates in Madison county. Mr. Cory has: one hundred and twenty aeres of land, and for many years has been successful as a grower of the various crops and as a stock raiser. The. conspicuous feature of his place, which has in fact made it known all
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over the south side of Madison county is the fine barn. This is not only a structure built and equipped according to the most modern and approved standards of farm-building construction, but attracts attention because of its unusual shape. The Cory barn is built in cirenlar forni, and is a notable departure from the usual plan. It is by no means a whim of Mr. Cory that he has built his barn in this manner, since by its form it provides much more space and gives a more effective arrange- ment than the old rectangular method of construction. Wilson Cory was born in Madison county, March 4, 1842, a son of Abner and Martha (Roberts) Cory. His father was one of the early settlers of the county, having come from North Carolina in 1832, and the land which he entered in Anderson township was patented in a document bearing the signa- ture of President Andrew Jackson. The father came from North Caro- lina to Indiana. Wilson Cory as a boy attended the common schools and spent his vacation times and mornings and evenings at work on the farm. He continued in that way until he was married and then began as a renter on a portion of his father's land.
On March 2, 1862, Mr. Cory married Karen HI. MeAllister, a daughter of John and Louisa ( Galbraith) McAllister. John McAllister came from Mason county, Virginia, was a farmer and stock dealer, and lived in Madison county nearly all his life, and was an old-time pioneer. His parents, William and Belana (Connor) McAllister, brought him to Adams township when he was a child of fourteen years. The father of Mrs. Cory was known throughout this country as " Hog" John McAllister on account of his extensive dealings in hogs. There were ten children in the MeAllister family, namely: Karen, the first wife of Wilson Cory ; Emily Poindexter; Carshena, deceased ; Beltana Manning; Decatur, who had the distinction of being the youngest Mason in Indiana, and is now deceased ; William, deceased; Mary E., the present wife of Wilson Cory ; Enos, deceased; Walter, deceased; and John, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska. John McAllister and wife were buried twelve miles west of Auburn.
Mr. Wilson Cory by his first marriage was the father of ten children, who are mentioned as follows: Carey B., wife of J. H. Hardy, is the mother of three children, Howard W., Kenneth, and Joseph, Kenneth being deceased; Estella M. is the wife of W. F. Roth. and has three chil- dren; Bertha L. is the wife of J. E. Rout, and has three children; John C. married Emma Reed; Martha B., married Mr. Catterson, and has two children named Kenneth and Grace M; Walter A. is the sixth child : Frank, of Los Angeles, is unmarried: Indiana R. is the wife of Mr. Brasket, and has one child, Carmen; Grace is deceased; and Mary K. is the wife of Mr. F. M. Johnson of Portland Oregon.
After the death of his first wife Mr. Wilson Cory married a sister of his previous wife, Mary E. McAllister. The five children of this union are Cecil, Pauline, Russell N., Dollie, and Clarence, the latter two being deceased. Mr. Cory has been affiliated with the Masonie Order since 1866, a member of Ovid Lodge. The family worship in the Christian church. He is an extensive traveler, and during his long and active career has seen much of and enjoyed life in all its phases.
In politics he was formerly a Democrat, but is now a Socialist, and has been for two years. Mrs. Cory was the first to own a red card of the Socialist organization in this county and her daughter Cecil was the first woman Socialist to vote the Socialist ticket in this county.
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ANDREW F. KAUFMAN. A man who has been connected with many phases of the life of Madison county during a period extending over sixty years and who has always played his part well, is A. F. Kaufman, now in the insurance business at Summitville, and also serving in the office of justice of the peace. For years he has been connected with busi- ness and farming interests in this vicinity, and although of late years he has lived in town he is still near enough to his farm to keep an eye on its management.
A. F. Kaufman was born in Western Virginia, as it was known then, but now Mason county, West Virginia, on March 1. 1844. His parents were Jolin and Martha (Hughes) Kaufman, and John Kaufman was originally from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, his family having been planters in the early part of the previous century. Leaving the Shenandoah Valley John Kaufman moved to Mason county, and in 1853, came on west and found a home in Boone township of Madison county. Much land in this county was still opened to settlement, and he entered one hundred and sixty acres and proceeded to develop it and inerease his enterprise, until he was one of the most substantial farmers in the county. Eventually he became the owner of more than five hun- dred acres of the fine land in Boone township. There were nine children in the family, two of whom are now living, Judson and A. F.
A. F. Kaufman when a small boy was a pupil in the schools of Mason county, West Virginia, and was about ten years old when the family came west and located in Madison county. He continued his education in the local schools of this county, and while growing up worked on the home farm. By the time he was sixteen years old he had qualified him- self for work as teacher, and for several terms he followed that occupa- tion. After that he lived on the old homstead until 1892, and was well known as a substantial farmer of the county. In 1892 he moved into Summitville, which town has since been his home and the center of his business affairs. For one year he was owner ard conducted a sawmill in the town. After that he took up gas fitting and machine work. In 1896 Mr. Kaufman was elected justice of the peace and has been retained in that office ever since. He has the judicial temperament and for a time his election to the office has been a matter of course, having no opposition, since his services were deemed so satisfactory that he had the undivided support of the entire community. Along with the work of his justice office he engages in insurance and represents several of the best fire and life companies.
In 1864, on April 5, Mr. Kaufman married Mary E. Siler. They have been the parents of six children: Alva, married Miss Josephine Run- van, and their four children are Bessie, Gladys, Frank and Mary C. Lillie M., now deceased was the wife of Thomas E. Cartwright, a promi- nent resident of Madison county. John M .. city clerk and connected with the bank of Summitville, married Bertha Thomas, and their children are Russell, Harry, Arthur and Iris. Charles A., who is with the glass factory at Dunkirk, Indiana, married Stella Ernest, and they have three children : Ernest, Ruth and Clare. Harry C. married Mildred Harlan. William E. is deceased. Mr. Kaufman is affiliated with the Summitville Lodge No. 475, I. O. O. F., and with the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Summitville Council No. 23. His church is the First Baptist of Summitville. He has always been a Democrat, and previous to his election as justice of the peace served as trustee of Boone township for
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one term, was also assessor for that township in 1888 and was a justice of the peace in Boone township for four years.
JESSE D. GARR, M. D. A physician whose practice has brought hin into relations with a large number of citizens in the northern and west- ern parts of Madison county, Dr. Garr has been a capable member of his profession for many years, and enjoys a high reputation both in the frater- nity and among his patients and fellow citizens.
Jesse D. Garr was born in 1856 in Howard county, Indiana, near Kokomo, a son of William and Lucy B. (Clore) Garr. William Garr was a native of Virginia, spent a number of years in Kentucky, and from that state moved to Indiana. The ten children in this family were Flo, Mil- dred, Mollie, Betty, Barbara, Abe, Crawford, Jesse D., John F., and Jennie, the last named being deceased.
Dr. Garr as a boy attended the common schools of Howard county, and spent a number of years as a farmer. He prepared for college in Howard county, and later entered the Cincinnati Eclectic Medical College where he was graduated M. D. in September, 1896. He practiced first in west Middleton, and Converse, then in Sims township, for two years had his office and practice at Campbellsburg, and since that time has been in Summitville.
Dr. Garr was first married to Miss Laura Parson, now deceased. Their six children were William, Fred, Lela, Roy, Ralph, and Homer. After the death of his first wife Dr. Garr married Miss Sadie Hatfield. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masonic Order at Summitville, and the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows No. 691. In polities he is a Democrat.
GEORGE LILLY. The late Mr. Lilly was one of the industrial leaders who in the past quarter of a century have placed Anderson among the large productive centers of manufacturing in Indiana. His death on December 5, 1913, was consequently a distinet loss to all of Madison county. He was one of the founders and until his death president of the National Tile Company. This is an industry of which the community is properly proud. It has been in continuous existence for nearly a quar- ter of a century, and during this time it has been as much of an institu- tion, and in many ways more valuable to the existence and welfare of a large portion of the population, as the court house, post office, or any other particular institution which is regarded distinetly as belonging to the public. The National Tile Company's plant was established in 1889. as the Columbia Eneaustie Tile Works, with capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars. Despite the fact that the plant was destroyed by fire in 1892, its growth was steady and its prosperity sure, and it has for some years been one of the most substantial of Anderson's larger indus- tries, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars. Mr. B. O. Haugh and George Lilly were the principal partners in the original enterprise. For many years Mr. Lilly was vice president and treasurer of the com- pany, but on the death of Mr. Haugh became president, and the full official directory up to the time of Mr. Lilly's death was as follows : George Lilly, president; Louis E. Lathrop, vice president; Harry Haugh, secre- tary ; and Louis S. Jones, treasurer. The chief output of the National Tile Plant is tiles for walls, flooring and fireplaces. The company has made a reputation for the high quality of these wares, which are now shipped throughout the United States as well as South America. They are par- ticularly popular on account of their fine finish and durability, as well
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as for their distinctive coloring. The company have on their payrolls from three hundred and fifty to four hundred persons. It needs little calculation to understand that such an industry should be a large fac- tor in the aggregate business enterprise and economic welfare of a city like Anderson. The works comprise a number of brick buildings, and the machinery used in the manufacture is of the latest and most im- proved pattern.
Mr. George Lilly was a native of Pennsylvania, born at Reading, Berks county, in February, 1860, and was therefore in his fifty-fourth year at his death. His parents were James W. and Mary E. (Kerper) Lilly. In 1860, the family came to Indiana, first locating in Madison, and later moving to Lafayette, where the father was employed in the railway service for some time. He subsequently engaged in farming, and served a term as sheriff of the county. Still later he was employed as superintendent in the railroad shops at Lafayette, and remained su- perintendent and machinist until his death in 1866. George Lilly at- tained his primary education in the public schools of Indianapolis, and after graduating from the high school he was connected with the Big Four Railroad. Leaving railroading in 1884, he became connected with the milling business in Indianapolis. Then in 1889 when twenty-nine years of age, he came to Anderson and associated himself with Mr. Haugh and Mr. Lathrop, in establishing the title factory.
Mr. Lilly married Miss Carrie Olmstead, of Cincinnati, a daughter of Hiram B. Olmstead, a prominent banker of that city. The one daugli- ter born to their marriage is Ella Marie, a graduate from Mount Ver- non Seminary in Washington, D. C. Mr. Lilly was one of the prominent Masons, being affiliated with Fellowship Lodge No. 681, A. F. & A. M .; Anderson Chapter No. 52, R. A. M .; Anderson Commandery of the Knights Templar; and also with the Scottish Rite, including the Thirty- Second Degree, his membership being in the Consistory at Indianapolis, and with Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. In pol- ities he was Republican, and had served one term as a member of the County Council. He was a member of the State Committee, and chair- man of the Eighth District at the time of his death. The Lilly home is at 416 West Twelfth Street.
Many tributes were paid by friends and business associates to the character and achievements of Mr. Lilly, but concerning his most inti- mate character, the most noteworthy was a brief discourse delivered by his pastor. Many of the more beautiful things of the intellectual and spiritual realın had been translated by Mr. Lilly into his practical rela- tions with his fellow men and he was ever an upright kindly gentleman, whether on the street or in the factory or in his own home.
"He was a citizen of the great business world, with spotless integ- rity. With him a good name was rather to be chosen than great riches, .and through these years, with the ebb or flow of fortune, he was truly a man of God. Books were his passion. How eagerly he sought the most perfect specimens of the printer's art! How he demanded that the page should be illuminant with the mark of merit, and his splendid library was collected with the most splendid culture and taste.
"His heart, in the midst of all this, went out in such outpouring of love in those ways which lead up to books. What great care he bestowed upon that office to which he was called as trustee of one of our finest schools, Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio, and one of the last visits I had with him he was seeking a man worthy to be trusted to be
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placed at its head. To his church he gave of himself and of his means. He cast his bread upon the water. He was a consecrated man and in his church he was truly a man sent from God.
"Then the love that abideth is the love that endureth. The love that for thirty years and more transformed the four walls into a paradise; beautiful and absorbing in its beginning it seemed that each new day added sweetness to the sparkling cup of the new wine of passion in his household. These beautiful years ended with a sorrow like the great world's altar stairs, that slope through darkness up to God. There are intense moments when it is like this-' Oh for the touch of a vanished hand, and the sound of a voice that is stilled.' The good, the true, the pure, the just, take the charm for ever from them and they crumble into dust. The love that planned this home and for thirty years and more kept it holy is as eternal, and by far more imperishable, than the encaustic tile shapen and put on the market under his directing care. "Death came to him as it will come to all men, but death came as the fruition of his life-as the dewdrop finds the heart of the rose. And when life's infinite summons came, it was with the sense of the Ever- lasting arms that were underneath, and that the eternal God is our abiding place."
CHANCEY VERMILLION. On the first day of January, 1910, Chancey Vermillion, a pioneer resident of Richland township, and Madison county, died at his home, full of years and leaving behind him a record for useful living that will be an honor to his memory far into the future. For seventy-six years he was a resident of Madison county, and few there are who won a more secure position in the hearts and minds of the people than did he. A farmer of the most prosperous order, he was long known to be a man of means, and he retained to his last years an active interest in farms and farming in and about the county.
A son of Jesse and Catherine (Justice) Vermillion, he was born on the 12th of May, 1834, on the home farm in Monroe township, where the family settled when they migrated from Lawrence county, Ohio. Jesse Vermillion was then a young man, just launching out into independent life, and he gained a foothold in the new country in 1835 by entering a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Monroe township, where the family home was maintained for years. There the children were reared, and there Chaneey Vermillion passed the early years when charaeter was being firmly moulded and habits of integrity and industry formed that were destined to direct the course of his future life. When Jesse Vermillion died he left a family of six children. Chancey was the oldest, and the others were Elizabeth, Cynthia, Colum- bus. Samuel and Sarah.
The schooling of Chancey Vermillion was limited to a few months in a most inadequate and inefficient log-cabin school peculiar to that early day, but it is a significant fact that he did not permit himself to be restricted in the matter of improving his knowledge. He showed himself in many ways to be a man of ambition, but not the least of these was his application to books all through his life. He came to be thoroughly familiar with the world's best literature, and was ever a close student and withal an intelligent and understanding one, of Biblical history. When a boy at home he worked for his father, and later, when the elder man opened a store at Fairmount, he went into the
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