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 39
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Walter R. Werking was a small lad when brought to Anderson by his parents, and his education was secured in the public and high schools of this city. On graduating from the latter he secured employ- ment with the Nicholson File Company, in 1893, in the capacity of shipping clerk, and has continued to remain with this company to the present time, repeated promotions having advanced him to the posi- tion of office manager. He is thoroughly familiar with every detail of the business, and his good judgment, sagacity and executive ability have done much to extend the trade of his firm.
On October 10, 1900, Mr. Werking was united in marriage with Miss Dinnie E. Palmer, of Anderson, a daughter of Clarkson Palmer. an old and highly esteemed resident of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Werk- ing have one child. They have a neat modern residence at No. 1826 Meridian street. Mr. Werking is a prominent Mason, belonging to Fellowship Lodge, No. 65, F. & A. M., to Anderson Royal Arch Chap- ter, to Anderson Commandery, and to Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Indianapolis, and is also a Scottish Rite Mason. He is also well known to the members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, holding membership in Anderson Lodge, No. 131, and Star Encamp- ment, No. 84. During his long residence in Anderson he has ever shown himself willing to co-operate with earnest publie-spirited citizens in forwarding movements for the benefit of the city and its people, although his participation in politics has been confined to that of any good citizen interested in his community's growth and development. He has a wide acquaintance among business men and many warm friends throughout the city.
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FRED T. BARBER. It is to a large degree to the self-made men of Madison county that this section owes its present prosperity; to those men who, starting life without financial assistance or influential friends, have worked their own way to the front, placing themselves by the sheer force of their energy and perseverance among the successful men of their communities. An example of self-made manhood is found in the career of Fred T. Barber, president and general manager of the Barber Manufacturing Company, at Anderson. Embarking upon his struggle with life when a lad of sixteen years, he has steadily fought his way upward, overcoming such obstacles as have presented them- selves, always with a well-defined course in view, until today. he is recognized as one of the substantial and influential business men of his adopted city and a force to be reckoned with in matters of a commercial nature. While he has been busily engrossed with the duties pertaining to the management of a rapidly-growing enterprise, Mr. Barber has found time also to discharge the responsibilities which every large com- munity places upon its influential men, and in positions of public trust has ably and conscientiously served his fellow-citizens, thus materially advancing the public welfare.
Fred T. Barber was born upon a farm in Hunterdon county, New Jersey, October 1, 1859, and is a son of George II. and Jane ( VanCamp) Barber. His father died when Fred T. was but eighteen months of age, but the mother managed to keep her family together and to give her children good common school advantages. Fred T. Barber spent a part of his boyhood in working on the farm, in the meantime attending the public schools, and when sixteen years of age found employment as a clerk in a general store located on the banks of the Delaware river. There he continued four years, thus earning the means whereby be could pursue a supplementary course in the Capitol City Commercial College, Trenton, New Jersey, and so thoroughly did he master the details of the curriculum that after two years he was employed as a teacher in that institution. Following this, he re-entered business life as an employe of a wholesale grocery concern at Trenton, where he remained four years, and resigned to take a position with the Trenton Spring Mattress Co., as manager in their New York office, and from there was transferred to Chicago to take charge of their branch factory located there, where he gained experience that proved of great value to him in later years. In 1894 Mr. Barber made his advent in Ander- son, where he became the organizer and promoter of a concern known as the Barber Manufacturing Company, which was incorporated under the same name during the following year, with Mr. Barber as presi- dent and general manager. This company manufactures bed, daven- port, chair and carriage springs, and all kinds of springs used in seats of any kind. The output of the factory is shipped to all points in the United States, and meets with a large sale in Australia, under special order. Mr. Barber has been the directing head of this large enter- prise since its inception, and his management of its affairs places him in an acknowledged position among his adopted city's most able busi- ness men. He has so directed its policies that the concern has the high- est commercial standing, while his own known integrity has added to its prestige.
In 1895 Mr. Barber was married to Miss Ida Wilson, of Trenton, . New Jersey, a daughter of Capt. John A. Wilson, who has been a Dela- ware river captain for the past thirty-six years .. One son has been born
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to this union: Wilson, a student of the Anderson High school, aged sixteen years. Mr. Barber has ever shown a commendable interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of Anderson, and has not hesi- tated to perform the duties of citizenship. At different times a mem- ber of the Democratic Central Committee, he has been active in the suc- cess of his party in this city, and is now representing the Second Ward in the city council, of which body he is president, and is a member of the board of public works. His influence has always been on the side of progress and improvement, and his services to his city have been untiring. Fraternally, he is connected with Anderson Lodge, No. 209, B. P. O. E., of which he is exalted ruler.
CHESTER H. ANDERSON. One of the young citizens of Madison county who are exponents of the modern science of farming, and who have applied business methods and science to their industry is Chester H. Anderson of Fall Creek township. He is a young man of less than thirty years, but in his ability and in the quality of his work ranks among the leaders of agriculture and live stock producers in his section of the county. Chester II. Anderson was born on a farm in Fall Creek township on November 25, 1885, and is a son of A. C. and Caroline J. (Heacock) Anderson. There were two children in the family; his sister Stella is the wife of E. D. Allen, a resident of Pendleton. Mr. Anderson spent his boyhood on a farm, and graduated first from the district schools, and then from the Pendleton High School with the ' class of 1904, being then eighteen years of age. He became a student at Purdue University, where he was in the Agricultural Department, and thus well equipped, returned to his home county to begin his practical career as a farmer. On December 19, 1906, he married Lulu B. Clark, who was born in Pendleton, October 20, 1886, a daughter of Albert and Mary (McKee) Clark, who received her education in the common schools, being a graduate from the high school in the same class with Mr. Anderson. After their marriage he moved to a farm one mile west of Pendleton and with the aid of his thrifty and ambitious young wife he began his practical career. Two children have been born to their marriage, Mary E., on May 4, 1910, and Paul C., on July 22, 1913. Mr. Anderson is a member of the Friends church, while his wife belongs to the Methodist denomination. He is affiliated with Pendleton Lodge, No. 88, I. O. O. F., and in polities is an Independent. Mr. Ander- son in his farming operations makes a specialty of Registered Duroe Jer- sey hogs and Jersey cattle and raises them for the market and also for breeding purposes. He also has some Percheron horses. He uses good judgment in all his work, and has made profit where many farmers have succeeded only in making a living. Mr. Anderson is one of the young energetic farmers of Madison county whose impress will be left behind him in the agricultural world.
EDWIN LUKENS. Beginning his career as a farmer, Edwin Lukens spent ten years as a prosperous street contractor in Anderson, from which he eventually reverted to the farm and has since continued in the successful operation of one of the attractive places in Anderson township. His place today shows the care and eultivation of a man who understands the business of farming in its every detail, and is undeniably one of the fine farm spots of the community. Three genera- tions of Lukenses have farmed in Madison county, the first of the family
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to establish his home hereabout being William Lukens, the father of Benjamin Lukens and the grandfather of Edwin Lukens. The name is thus in no wise an unfamiliar one to the old residents of the county, and is one that has long been honored and esteemed among the best citizenship of the distriet.
Edwin Lukens was born on October 15, 1864, on the old Shaul farm near the town of Pendleton, and he is the son of Benjamin and Susan (Haines) Lukens. The father was a native son of Madison county and was here reared and passed his life. Edwin Lukens was his first born child, the others being as follows: William A., a resident of Fall Creek township; Mrs. Mattie Darlington, and Benjamin N. Lukens, of Indianapolis.
As a boy in his home community Edwin Lukens attended the dis- trict school in Stony Creek township, as well as the Boot Jack school, so called because of its unfortunate location in a swamp of so exceed- ingly hungry a nature that when the boys plunged into it upon what- ever pretext the suction was great enough to pull their boots from their feet in their efforts to disentangle themselves. School conditions there were in common with those existing in other parts of the country in the early years following the war, and it may readily be understood that his education was not of the higliest order. However, Mr. Lukens as a boy was well versed in the matter of farm work, and was continu- ously employed upon the home farm until he reached the age of twenty- one, when he established himself upon a forty acre tract in Fall Creek township. He spent three years there, and in 1892 came to Anderson where he became interested in the business of street contracting, cement work at that time just beginning to come into use. For ten years he continued successfully, but at the end of that time he decided to return to the farm. He accordingly bought his present place, con- sisting of one hundred aeres of fertile soil on the Muncie road, about one mile distant from the limits of Anderson. Here Mr. Lukens has occupied himself with farming, and his place has reached a high degree of productiveness with the passing years. The place is one that is well kept up, with suitable buildings of every kind, and a first class silo attests the progressive ideas of the proprietor at the same time. A practical farmer in the main, Mr. Lukens is one who is ever willing to embrace a new idea in farming, when the same is supported by rea- sonable arguments, and he is deeply interested in the Farmers' Institute. As a stock man, he is one who is quoted widely in Madison county, and his success in that branch is worthy of commendation.
On February 23, 1886, Mr. Lukens married Mary Rogers, the daugh- ter of Levi and Emily (Dobson) Rogers. Levi Rogers, it may be said at this point, was a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and was a farmer and carpenter. After he settled in Pendleton, Indiana, he devoted himself for the most part to the building business, and there ended his days. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers,- Mary, the wife of Mr. Lukens; Fannie Boorman and Edwin, who is deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Lukens became the parents of four children. Alice, the first born, married Frank Rodeeap; Myron, the second, is unmar- ried; Herman married Eva Ray; and Hortense married Ellsworth Rodecap.
The family were at one time members of the Friends church, but
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have in later years been identified with the Christian church, in whose activities they have borne praiseworthy parts.
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WASHINGTON B. KNOPP. It is the province of biography to treat with those busy toilers in the affairs of life who form the true strength of communities and of nations, for it is the men who are successful and enterprising in agriculture and commerce that bring advancement and prosperity to their country. A large proportion of this class of men appreciate the value of their success the more in that it has been gained by their own efforts. In Madison county are found many citizens who have been the architects of their own fortunes, but it is doubtful if there can be discovered many instances where this has been so strikingly true as in the career of Washington B. Knopp, who is now the owner of a valuable tract of 162 acres on the Wesley Chapel Road, about eight miles from Anderson in Richland township. A brief review of his career will show that he has at all times been industrious and perse- vering, and that true success may be gained without the initial advan- tages of wealth or influential friends.
Washington B. Knopp was born in 1862, in Roan county, West Virginia, a son of Jesse and May J. (Wiblin) Knopp. He was but a child when his father brought the family to Madison county, and here the elder man continued to carry on operations near Perkinsville, on a valuable farm, during the remainder of his career. He had a family of thirteen children, of whom eight are still living, as follows: Victoria, Josie, Matilda, William, Washington, Gideon, Jesse, and Charles. Wash- ington B. Knopp secured his education in the district schools of Madi- son county, and during his entire school period assisted his father in the work of the home farm, as he did also after completing his studies. On attaining manhood, he started to work on neighboring farms for a salary of fifteen dollars per month, but after about six months entered a grocery store as clerk, a position which he filled but a short time. He also had some experience in railroad work, but eventually returned to the occupation of his forefathers, the tilling of the soil, satisfied that in that line lay his best opportunity for success. During all this time he had thriftily saved his earnings, and in 1885, with soute money bor- rowed from his father, he bought a tract of eighty acres of land in Boone township. This property was in poor condition, but Mr. Knopp improved it in various ways, put it in a good state of cultivation, and eventually traded it for the property formerly owned by James Fork- ner. Here he has added to his property from time to time, until he at present is the owner of one of the best properties in the township, boast- ing of modern improvements of every kind and buildings of handsome architectual design and substantial character. In one piece he has put in 1,540 rods of tiling, in itself a task of no mean size, and his fine new two-story home is a credit to his industry and to the community in which he lives. His general farming and stock raising operations have been successful, but that has been no more than was expected, for he has labored faithfully and assiduously and his labors have been intelligently directed. Among his neighbors and business associates, he is known as a man who is to be relied upon in business matters, who is loyal as a friend, and who is at all times ready to assist his fellow- citizens in movements tending to advance his community. It is such men that form the bone and sinew of a township or a state and who are representative of the best type of American agriculturist.
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On August 26, 1886, Mr. Knopp was married to Miss Angeline Dyson, daughter of Richard and Martha (Gaither) Dyson, natives of North Carolina, the former of whom is deceased, while the latter makes her home with her daughter and son-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Knopp have had eight children: Estella, who married Orliffe Hunt, and has two children,-Lester and Otis; Frank, educated in Richland and Boone townships, and now manager of the home farm, who married Rose Hirschel and has one son,-Marvin ; John, who is deceased; and Walter, Mattie, William, Edna and Ruth, all of whom reside at home with their parents. The family attends the Church of God.
OLIVER BROADBENT, M. D. In the death of Dr. Oliver Broadbent, which occurred at his home, six and one-half miles northeast of the city of Anderson, Indiana, June 3, 1910, the Anderson township medi- cal fraternity lost one of its pioneer members, a man who for forty- five years had been a worthy representative of all that was best in his noble calling. His was a life full of usefulness to his fellow-men, a career which covered more than four decades of administering to the ills of mankind, and although his labors have ceased the memory of his deeds remains, for numerous residents of his former scene of endeavor have ample reason to keep him in grateful remembrance. Dr. Broad- bent was born in Union county, Indiana, July 23, 1841, a son of Robert and Lucy (Preston) Broadbent. His father came to the United States from England as a boy and was for years engaged in the woolen mill business. There were seven children in the family: Robert, Stephen, Elizabeth, John, Cyrus, Charles and Oliver, all now being deceased. Of these Stephen Broadbent was the operator of a wool factory at Broad- bent's ford about a quarter of a century ago.
Oliver Broadbent received his early education in the common schools, and early manifested a desire to enter the medical profession. As a means to this end he became an employe in his father's woolen mill, and after carefully saving his earnings for several years was able to enter Miami University, at Oxford, where he was duly graduated. Fol- lowing this he studied medicine for some time at Cincinnati, and then entered upon the praetiee of his profession at Marion, Indiana, later removing to Chesterfield, where for some years he was engaged in prac- tice in partnership with Dr. Dunham. About the year 1865, Doctor Broadbent located in Richland township, and in connection with his medical practice commeneed farming, adding to his land from time to time until he had aceumulated two hundred acres of valuable property and developed one of the finest country homes in this section.
Doctor Broadbent was married to Miss Sarah I. Nelson, daughter of I. and Leah (Wigner) Nelson, prominent people of Madison county, and to this union there were born seven children : Clara, who is deceased, also one who died in infancy; Hattie, who married Will Vermillion; Merta, who became the wife of Homer Eshelman; Effie, who is the wife of John Walters; Mary, who married Gideon Johns; and Chester, who married Miss Whelchel, and resides on his farm in Richland town- ship. Mrs. Broadbent survives her husband and resides on the home- stead, on Anderson Rural Route No. 1.
Doctor Broadbent was a Republican in his political views, but his interest therein was only that taken by every good citizen. With his family, he attended the Methodist Episcopal church, while his fraternal connections were limited to the organizations of his profession, in the
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work of which he took an active and intelligent interest. Until by the illness that eventually brought about his death, Doctor bent was ever ready to answer the call of suffering mankind. was too late or too early ; no weather was too inclement; all tho self or personal interests was at once thrust aside when his were needed. Doubtless the strain incurred by this abandon hastened his final sickness. As a business man he was as succe in his profession. He evidenced his versatility by becoming a perous in agriculture as in medicine, while as a citizen none ] welfare of the community more thoroughly at heart. Ile left children not only material wealth, but the priceless heritage of orable and honored name.
The following extract is copied from an Anderson newspaper the day following his death : "Dr. Oliver Broadbent, one of the physicians of this county, and a resident of Richland township past forty-five years, died yesterday afternoon at two o'clock home, six and one-half miles northeast of this city. Death was heart disease, from which he has been a sufferer for the past five years. He was sitting in his chair yesterday when he rec severe and final attack. He was found in the chair in a sort of by Mrs. Broadbent some minutes later, the wife having just r from a trip to this city. Dr. Lee Hunt was summoned but before arrived Dr. Broadbent had breathed his last. He had been pra bedfast for the past year but his death came as a surprise to his and relatives. The funeral will be held Monday at ten o'clo services in the Bethany church. Burial will occur in the cemetery."
GEORGE HARTZELL. Madison county is largely agricultural, thriving towns, its numerous manufactories, its schools and (! prove that a vigorous life underlies any activity, although here, where, dependence is necessarily placed upon the products of t and the labors of those who develop it. No matter how men may how much they may achieve in any direction, they must all be it is the farmer, in the background, who turns the wheels, who s seas, who fights the battles, and who provides for the survival - in "the passing of the torch." Happily, there are in Madison contented owners of land who intelligently and willingly carry peaceful pursuits of agriculture and, although they do not seek term of approbation, are, nevertheless, benefactors of mankind are often men of wide information on many subjects, usually a qualified for offices of public service, for the proper cultivation soil and a realization of its utmost yield, require knowledge o subjects. It is in this class of public-spirited and intelligent that is found George Hartzell, of Anderson township, the owr finely-cultivated tract of sixty acres located on the Main stre about two miles from the city of Anderson, and a resident of county for upwards of sixty years. Mr. Hartzell was born i: gomery county, Ohio, in 1846, and is the oldest of the children of and Harriet (Wertz) Hartzell.
Joseph Hartzell was born, reared, educated and married i and there followed farming until 1852, in which year he brou family to Madison county, locating in Anderson township, n city, where he passed the remaining years of his active career in
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suits of agriculture. George Hartzell was a child of but six years when he accompanied his parents to Anderson township, and here he received his education in the district schools during the winter terms, which were usually about three months in duration, and with the commencement of spring again took up his duties on the home farm, which he continued until the following winter. Thus he passed his whole school period, and on completing his studies he took up the work of an agriculturist, which he has followed to the present time, with the exception of twelve years when he was engaged in conducting a tile factory. He now has a finely cultivated property, with excellent buildings and modern improvements of all kinds, and his farm shows what honest, persistent effort can accomplish, for it is due to his own industry and good management that his operations have met with such success.
In 1871 Mr. Hartzell was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Brown, and to this union there have been born four children, namely : Laura, Joseph, Carrie, who married a Mr. Huetzinger, and Sarah, who became the wife of Mr. Jarrett. Mr. Hartzell's second marriage occurred March 12, 1881, when he was united with Miss Eliza A. Perkins, and they have two sons: Hurston and Howard. Mr. Hartzell is a Democrat in his political views, although he has never cared for public office. He has taken some interest in fraternal work, and at this time is a popular member of the Improved Order of Red Men, the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Wise Guys and the Haymakers. With the members of his family, he attends the Methodist Episcopal Church at Anderson, the movements of which he has liberally supported.
JOHN LUTHER HANCOCK. Another of the well-to-do retired farm- ers of Madison county whose accomplishments justly entitle them to mention in this historical and biographical work is John Luther Han- cock, now residing on an eleven acre traet near the city of Anderson. . Here he built him a fine seven room house, suited in every detail to the demands of his family, and he is passing his remaining years caring for his property interests and enjoying the fruits of his years of toil. Sue- cess attended Mr. Hancock in his efforts, and he today owns a number of farms in Madison county, all of which combine to yield him a suffi- cient income and place him among the ranks of the independent farm- ing men of the county.
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