USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 50
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James Omar Cole was born at Zanesville, Ohio, December 23, 1828. He is a son of Judge Albert Cole, whose history is so closely interwoven with that of Miami county, and whose career with considerable other data about this notable family may be found in other paragraphs. James O. Cole was six years of age when the family came to Peru, and in this pioneer community, in the little village along the banks of the Wabash and amid the stirring activities which the canal era brought to this locality, he grew up to manhood. When a boy he attended one of the early subscription schools, his parents paying $2.50 per quarter for his tuition. From this source of learning he acquired the ability to read, write and cipher, and acquired that general knowledge of other common branches. As soon as old enough to work he spent his summers on the farm, and at about the age of twenty became clerk in one of the earliest stores of Peru. In April, 1850, about a year after the country had been startled by the great California gold discoveries, he joined in the general exodus to the new eldorado, and was one of the successful few who laid the basis of their fortunes on the Pacific slope. From Peru he took passage on a canal boat as far as Defiance, Ohio, thence went by canal to Cincinnati, and thence by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. There he embarked on a sailing vessel which landed him on the Isthmus of Panama. He went up the Chagres river as far as Cruces, where it was necessary to disembark and tramp the remaining distance Vol. II-22
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over the Isthmus to the Pacific side. A skipper about that time received him as a passenger and eighty-two days later landed him at San Fran- cisco, in July, 1850. There were no docks yet constructed in the harbor of San Francisco, and the passengers climbed over the banks and de- parted on their several missions. Mr. Cole had enough money to pay his way as far as Sacramento, and from there walked to Maryville, about forty miles farther, where he joined a party bound for the mines. In the mines he helped to build a dam at $8.00 per day, and continued to work as a laborer for some six months. Then having a little capital of his own, he engaged in independent venture as a miner for that same period. In this way he managed to accumulate some six or seven hun- dred dollars and after a short experience as a clerk in a store he estab- lished himself in the mercantile business at Oak Valley in Yuba county.
In 1867, after seventeen years of life in California, most of which was spent in mercantile business, he returned to the east with a modest fortune of about $30,000. He came home by way of the Isthmus of Pan- ama and on reaching Peru established a brewery in this city. From that time forward Mr. Cole's name is associated with many of the larger enterprises of this city. He was engaged in the brewing business until about 1908. For twenty-five years or more much of his resources and energy had been devoted to the lumber business, and it is in that indus- try probably that he is best known for his business achievements. For many years he has been connected with the First National Bank of Peru as stockholder, director, and executive official. He is also owner of an ice and cold storage company in Peru and owns some five hundred acres of land in Miami county which he farms with the aid of tenants, and in association with other parties owns large timber tracts and coal proper- ties in West Virginia.
Mr. Cole's career has been one of ceaseless activities and considering his native ability as a business man, and his remarkable energy it is not surprising that he has built up one of the largest fortunes possessed by any individual in Miami county. Yet at the beginning of his career he was dependent entirely upon himself, and has never made a dollar which he has not earned by his own industry or as the results of his early thrift and business management. With it all he has ever retained a reputation for sterling integrity, and has enjoyed the thorough respect as well as admiration of his associates and friends in this community.
Mr. Cole has been twice married. In 1860 he married Miss Rachel Henton, a daughter of Sylvester Henton, and a member of one of the oldest and best known of Miami county's earliest families. She died July 2, 1890, and was the mother of two children: Kate, who is now Mrs. S. F. Porter, and Lewis, who died about 1907, leaving a widow and four children. In 1892 Mr. Cole married Miss Bessie La Bonte.
CHARLES C. HAAG. The career of Charles C. Haag, lawyer and pro- prietor of the Miami Abstract Company, has been typical of much that is best in the character of American manhood. He is a man of self- achievements having begun his career and responsibility when a boy, and gaining his education and his every step of advancement as a result of his own efforts, and self-sacrificing labors.
Charles C. Haag was born in Marshall county, Indiana, September 12, 1875, a son of John C. and Elizabeth (Warner) Haag, the father being now deceased. He came from Wurtemburg, Germany, at the age of two years and the original spelling of the name was "Haak." Reared on his father's farm in Marshall county, Charles C. Haag attended the country and later the village schools and attained his first higher education at the Rochester Normal College of this state, where he was a student for one
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year. For three years he was a student at the Northern Indiana Normal College at Valparaiso. It was during his attendance at these two latter institutions, his career as a student at both being intermittent, that he taught and followed several other occupations in order to pay his expenses as a student. Finally by the alternate process of study and hard work he graduated at Valparaiso with the degree of Bachelor of Science in the fall of 1899, having also taken special instructions in law during that time. After leaving college, Mr. Haag become principal of the public school at Carbonado, Montana, where he was employed for one year. During the winter of that year he completed a course in bookkeeping with the Inter- national Correspondence Schools of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and after the school session was ended he took a place as bookkeeper with the Carbonado Mining Company. Subsequently for one year he was a student in the University of Montana, where he prepared himself espe- cially for the superintendency of the Livingston schools, a position which had been offered him and for which he made preparation by his University work. About this time, however, he was induced to give up his proposed work in Montana and return to his native state and be- come a partner with his brother, Henry M. Haag, in the practice of law at Peru. Thus, in January, 1902, Mr. Haag located at Peru, and for several years the firm of Haag Brothers was prominent as law- yers. In 1905 the partnership was dissolved, and at that time Mr. Charles C. Haag undertook the organization of the Miami County Ab- stract Company. He had associates in this enterprise at first, but has since become the sole owner and is thus proprietor of a very large and important business. Though the management of the Abstract Company requires most of his time and energies he has never fully retired from the practice of law, especially in probate work. To the abstract busi- ness he has since added departments of fire insurance and loans, and his. offices are now the medium for the transaction of a very large patron- age.
Mr. Haag is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Presbyte- rian church. His fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose. On June 12, 1907, he married Miss Georgia E. Dice of Peru. One son, Charles Russell, was born to their marriage on September 18, 1909. The mother died ten days after the birth of her son on September 28. On September 14, 1912, Mr. Haag married his present wife, Marie Cox, who for a number of years had been assistant superintendent of the Peru public schools. Mrs. Haag is a native of Miami county and was educated in Peru city schools. She was also a student of the State University, and was a teacher in the city. She is a daughter of William H. and Elizabeth (Brooks) Cox, both of whom are residents of the city of Peru, Indiana. Mr. Haag and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. .
BENJAMIN F. BARGERHUFF is proving through experience and suc- cessful operation that the same methods that make for prosperity in other lines can be profitably applied in the conduct of farming. The good business man does not rest content with a single purchase of land, provided he sees opportunities for further investment. With an eye to the future, he buys, makes improvements, disposes of his property, and invests the proceeds in other lands of larger extent upon which he can make his experience avail him a profit. It takes keen insight into existing conditions, a realization of future possibilities, a thorough knowledge of realty values, and a willingness to work industriously and faithfully to accomplish a full measure of success along these lines, but the reward is commensurate with the labor expended. Mr. Bargerhuff
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is now known as one of the substantial agriculturists of Clay township, where he has spent his entire life having been born in this township, August 29, 1854, a son of John and Sarah (Biggs) Bargerhuff, and a grandson of John Bargerhuff and John Biggs.
The father of Mr. Bargerhuff came to Miami county, Indiana, in 1837, from West Virginia, and settled first in Washington township. He subsequently made several changes, and during his lifetime took up three claims and cleared them all from the timber. He was a good and successful agriculturist and passed his entire life in the cultivation of the soil. Benjamin F. Bargerhuff received his education in the public schools, and was reared to the work of the farm, being thoroughly trained in the numerous duties so necessary to be known by the agri- culturist who would get the best results from his land. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-two years of age, at which time his father, in recognition of his faithful services, deeded him twenty acres of land, on which the young man erected a small house and log barn, as well as several outhouses, and cleared, drained and ditched the property. Afterwards he sold this twenty acres at a hand- some profit and purchased eighty acres of land, and after clearing it and putting it under cultivation, purchased twenty-five acres adjoining it on the south, but of this he subsequently disposed, and purchased eighty acres more. He now has an excellent property of 160 acres, all under cultivation, with a modern home, a large and commodious barn, and substantial outbuildings, while his machinery is of the most modern manufacture, and everything about the property bespcaks the pres- ence of thrift, industry and good management. Among his associates Mr. Bargerhuff enjoys the reputation of being an honorable man of busi- ness, whose success has been achieved through honorable and straight- forward methods. He has given the greater part of his attention to his farming operations, but has not been unmindful of the duties of cit- izenship, and was elected supervisor of Clay township on the Democratic ticket. His fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Pythias, and, with his family, he attends the Universalist Church.
In 1876 Mr. Bargerhuff was married to Miss Ellen Sherick, daugh- ter of David and Louise (Fishtoon) Sherick, the former born in Penn- sylvania, and the latter in Dayton, Ohio. They came to Miami county at an early date, and here reared a family of nine children. Mr. and Mrs. Bargerhuff have had five children, namely: John F., born in 1881, an engineer living at Peru, Indiana, who married Bertha Ellars; George, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Benjamin E., who married Saidie King, and has one child; Viola Belle, who married John Holcomb; and Grover A., who is single and resides with his parents.
CLEMENT GRAVES. In a community where farming and stock men are successful and prosperous in the great majority of instances, Cle- ment Graves holds a foremost position in Bunker Hill as a capable man of business. His farm is not an extensive one, but it is a highly culti- vated and well kept place, and yields an abundant return to its owner, from season to season. Mr. Graves is known for a man of excellent judgment in all matters pertaining to agriculture, and has long been a member of the Board of Agriculture,-one of the leading organizations of the county. He comes of a family that settled in Cass county and Miami county two generations ago, and men of his name have been foremost in the farming business for many years.
Clement Graves is a son of George and Samantha (Fickle) Graves. The father, who is a son of Joseph Graves, was born in Decatur county, Indiana, and from there he moved into Cass county when he had entered upon independent farm life, still later entering Miami county and here
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locating permanently. The year 1856 marked their settlement in Miami county, and the father still makes his home on the place he began to occupy there. The land was covered with a dense growth of timber at the time when George Graves took possession, and he experienced every hardship with his family that is known to primitive life in the wilderness. He built a log house and there the family continued until 1866, when they built a fine farm house. This was the finest place of its kind in the county at that time, and was built of the very best material to be found, a high order of workmanship entering into the makeup of the place, and the whole being well worthy of the energy and thought that the owner put into the work. It stood until a year ago when it was burned to the ground. The farm, which was cighty acres in extent, was located by Joseph Graves, the grandfather, many years prior to the time when George Graves settled upon it, and he and his sons labored long and faithfully to reclaim the land and make possible the gathering of a yearly crop from its fertile soil. Of the five children of George and Samantha Graves, Clement is the youngest of four boys, the others being A. E. Graves, W. P. Graves and O. L. Graves, while a sister, Pearl, is unmarried and is still at the old home place.
Clem Graves continued at home until about 1888, when he launched out into independent farming and stock-raising. From the start he centered his attention upon the breeding of Hereford cattle, and he was the owner of the celebrated Dale, the Hereford bull that held the cham- pionship over all breeds for five years, and finally sold for ten thou- sand dollars. He was also the owner of Dollie Fifth, for three years champion, and selling for thirty-one hundred and fifty dollars. He has ever manifested the greatest pride in the products of his stables, and is known widely in Indiana for the character of his stock and as a care- ful and successful breeder. Long a member of the Board of Agricul- ture, he was on January 1, 1913, elected president of the board, and his standing in agricultural circles in the state is of a high order.
It was in about 1895 that Mr. Graves bought his present place, but he has bought and sold a number of fine farms in the interim. He is no longer so extensively interested in cattle breeding as he was in former years, although he still keeps up the work to some degree, and may still be reckoned with the successful breeders of the community.
In 1891 Mr. Graves was married to Hattie Bennett, the daughter of James and Ella (Sharp) Bennett. Mr. Graves is a Mason of Bunker Hill lodge, a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Peru and of the Knights of Pythias at Bunker Hill, in all of which he is popular and prominent. The aged parents of Mr. Hill still reside on their old home place, and arc highly esteemcd and held in sincere friend- ship by many who have long known them and are cognizant of their many excellent qualities of heart and mind. They, too, have seen suc- cess and gained a pleasing measure of the prosperity that must ever attend the honest and sturdy efforts of those who look to the soil for the fruits of their labors and they are enjoying in their later years the re- wards of well spent lives.
AVERY P. TUDOR. As general manager, secretary and treasurer of the Peru Mercantile Company, Mr. Tudor has one of the most respon- sible and prominent positions in the business affairs of the mercantile district of Peru. Among his fellow merchants and in all classes of local citizenship, he is regarded as a man of the strictest integrity, and of an ability which has brought him up from the first grade of business serv- ice to a place where he has no cause to envy any of his associates. Among local business men there is probably no better example of a career which
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has been one of self-advancement rather than due to influence and fam- ily connection, his own industry and ambition having been entirely re- sponsible for his successive promotion in business life.
· Avery P. Tudor was born in Butler township of this county, Feb- ruary 4, 1861, being one of the three children, two of whom are now liv- ing, born to Joshua C. and Rachel A. (Lieurance) Tudor. On the paternal side the ancestry is English, and the Tudor family have been residents in America since the early years of the seventeenth century. The maternal ancestry is French. Joshua C. Tudor, the father, was a carpenter by trade, and was for many years engaged in farming. He moved from Licking county, Ohio, to Miami county in 1855, and became a settler in the southeast corner of Butler township. The first home of the family in that vicinity was a cabin which had been erected some years before, and to a large degree they experienced the pioneer con- ditions which still prevailed in this section. The family came to Peru in 1871 and in this city the father followed his trade of carpenter until his death in 1877. His wife had died in 1876.
Avery P. Tudor was left an orphan at the age of fifteen but even before that time had begun to work in order to procure means to buy his clothing and to pay for his tuition in school. He attained prac- tically all his education in the Peru schools and was graduated from the high school of this city in June, 1878. With this equipment of school training, in September, 1878, at the age of seventeen, he was given a position by George C. Miller in the hardware department of what was then the leading store of Kilgore, Shirk & Company. In January of the fol- lowing year he was transferred to the dry goods department and con- tinued in this employment until he had become second in authority in the dry goods department, the manager of which was then Henry Mein- hardt. When Mr. Meinhardt resigned in 1885, going into business for himself, Mr. Tudor succeeded him as manager and buyer of the dry goods department. His close attention to business, and a ready ability in every service demanded of him, kept Mr. Tudor in the constant path of progress. He was manager of the dry goods department of this store until January 1, 1902, at which date the firm was reorganized. The business was then incorporated under the present title of the Peru Mer- cantile Company, of which Mr. Tudor was elected secretary, treasurer and general manager. Mr. Miller had disposed of his holdings in this establishment, and Mr. Tudor had since then been the executive head and real spirit of the entire business.
In politics Mr. Tudor is a Republican, without any aspirations for office, but has always lent his cordial cooperation to every movement for local improvement and good government. Fraternally he is affiliated with Peru Miami Lodge No. 67, F. & A. M., and with the R. A. M. No. 62 of Peru, Indiana. He and his wife are both members of the Baptist church.
On February 9, 1881, Mr. Tudor married Miss Leona May Mercer. They are the parents of two daughters, named as follows: Elizabeth Ann, who was born December 21, 1861, and who died at the age of 21 on May 23, 1902; and Mary Elinor, now the wife of Charles Spurgeon Morris of Indianapolis.
WILLIAM E. MOWBRAY. To this honored citizen and native son of Miami county is given the distinction of being the dean of the bar of the city of Peru, and he is also one of the oldest of the native citizens still resident of the county, where, as may well be inferred, he stands as a representative of a sterling pioneer family. Mr. Mowbray has long held prestige as one of the able and prominent members of the bar of this
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section of the state and has been engaged in the active practice of his profession for nearly half a century, within which he has not only been concerned in much important litigation and general law business but has also stood exponent of the most liberal and loyal citizenship, with deep and abiding interest in all that touches the civic and material welfare of his native county. He was one of the gallant sons of Miami county who went forth in defense of the Union when the integrity of the nation was thrown into jeopardy through armed rebellion, and in the "piping times of peace" he has shown the same fidelity and earnestness of pur- pose which gave him high honors as a valiant soldier of the republic in the Civil war.
Mr. Mowbray was born in Peru, judicial center of Miami county, on the 10th of September, 1841, and the memories of his boyhood days recall Peru as a pioneer village in the midst of a district in which the march of development was advancing slowly but surely. His father, William R. Mowbray, was a native of Ross county, Ohio, where he was born on the 1st of October, 1806, only a few years after the admission of the fine old Buckeye state to the Union, and his parents were num- bered among the early settlers of Ross county, where he himself was reared amidst the conditions and influences of the pioneer days. He was afforded the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period and there learned the trade of shoemaker. In 1834 he came to Peru, Indiana, to which place he was attracted by the reading of an advertisement for the sale of village lots in the spring of that year. Believing that the new town would offer a good field for work at his trade, he came to Peru in the autumn of that year, and in the little shop which he here established he manufactured the first pair of shoes ever made in Peru, the work, as a matter of course, having all been done by hand. He thus became one of the pioneer business men of the town and here he continued to follow the work of his trade until 1845, when he removed to a tract of land which he had secured from the govern- ment, in Harrison township. To the reclamation and improvement of this farm he gave his close attention during the residue of his active career, within which he developed one of the valuable farm properties of the county. He continued to reside on his old homestead until his death, which occurred on the 29th of January, 1881, and he made his life count for good in its every relation. He was a man of superior intel- lectual powers, of broad views and mature judgment, and his impregna- ble integrity of character combined with his unvarying kindliness and consideration to give him secure vantage-place in the confidence and high regard of all who knew him. He contributed his quota to the social and industrial development and upbuilding of Miami county and his name merits enduring place on the roster of its honored pioneers.
Prior to his removal from Ohio to Indiana William R. Mowbray was united in marriage to Miss Harriet S. Fenimore, who likewise was a representative of a sterling pioneer family of Ohio, and she proved a true helpmeet, as well as a devoted mother. She was summoned to eternal rest on the 17th of June, 1889, and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle influence. Of the ten chil- dren only two are now living-William E., of this review, and an older sister, Marie H. Woolpert, wife of Charles Woolpert, of Kalkaska, Mich- igan. In politics William R. Mowbray was originally an old-line Whig, but he gave his allegiance to the Republican party from virtually the time of its organization until the close of his long and useful life. He was one of the first to serve as treasurer of Miami county and held this responsible office at a time when the incidental salary was but one hun- dred dollars a year. He was later elected justice of the peace, and of
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this office he continued the able and valued incumbent for many years. He was a man of medium height, alert and energetic, and of equable temperament. Strong in his convictions, he was never intolerant of the opinions of others, and his judgment was mature and marked by sin- cerity, so that in his long service as justice of the peace he made the office justify its title. His advice was sought by his neighbors in con- nection with personal and public affairs, and he wielded much influence in the community that long represented his home and that figured as the stage of his earnest and well ordered endeavors. In the early days he was a prominent member of a militia company raised in the county, and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they were prominently identified with the organization of the church of that denomination in Peru.
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