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 56
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When the Oakdale Improvement Company, of which he was the originator, was organized in 1905, he gave up his other active employ- ment and took over the management of that company. At about the same time he became interested in several enterprises, the most of which were allied with the Oakdale movement and all of which indeed he was largely instrumental in bringing to his home city. He became secretary- treasurer of the Peru Canning Company and now he is president of the Elmwood Land and Improvement Company, the vice-president and man- ager of the Chute & Butler Piano Manufacturing Company and vice- president of the Peru Chair Company. IIe is also a director of the Peru Commercial Club with which he has been identified in a like capacity ever since its organization. In politics he is a Democrat but he has never aspired to political preferment.
Mr. Bouslog has been twice married. The children of his first wife are Bessie R., who is married to B. D. Horton, a successful manufacturer of Detroit, Michigan; Miriam A. Bouslog who resides in New York City, and S. A. Bouslog who is in the insurance business in Peru. Some years after these children had been reared to manhood and womanhood Mr. Bouslog was married a second time, his bride being Mrs. Caroline L. Stowe whom he wedded in October, 1910. They live in one of the hand- some homes of Peru and enjoy the acquaintance and society of a large number of Peru's estimable people.
Mr. Bouslog has been identified with the First Baptist church of Peru since 1871. He has been clerk, treasurer, trustee and deacon and modera- tor of the church. When the present handsome church edifice was erected he was chairman of the building committee which had the construction in charge. For two years he was president of the State Baptist Brother- hood and for the past three years has been on the advisory board of the National Baptist Brotherhood.
In practically every movement having for its aim the prosperity and progress of the city of Peru, Mr. Bouslog has been prominently identified. In promotion projects his acquaintances regard him as a genius and his ability along this line has many times proved valuable to the community.
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HUGH MCCAFFREY, of this sketch, is the leading business man of Peru, and is a self made man. He is possessed, in a remarkable degrec, of the qualities of the true merchant, having the insight, judgment, and execu- tive ability which are the vital factors for every successful business man. It has become almost a byword amongst his associates that when Hugh McCaffrey is connected with any particular undertaking its success can no longer remain doubtful; hence he is now regarded as one of the most prosperous men in Northern Indiana. He began his career in this coun- try forty-four years ago as a poor boy newly landed from Ireland and with nothing to advance him on the high road to success except his own ability and industry and his native intelligence.
IIugh McCaffrey was born in the County Armagh which is about half way between Dublin and Belfast, Ireland. He was raised on a farm, his father, James McCaffrey, was both a farmer and a dealer in cattle. and his early education was received in the National Schools of Ireland. When about eighteen years of age he left his native country, crossing the Atlantic and having to borrow money to take him on this long jour- ney to the country where his ambition and energy might have full scope. He came to Logansport, Indiana, where his Uncle Michael McCaffrey had a very modest grocery store and went to work for him. In two years he had displayed such business ability that the management of the store was given to him completely, and during the nine years he was manager the business of the store grew to such proportions that it was necessary to start a branch store on another street, the net profits at the end of his period netted over One Hundred and Ten Thousand Dollars. ($110,000.00.)
In February, 1879, he started the present business in Peru on the corner of Broadway and Second streets. In January, 1881, he purchased the building on East Main street and moved the business there. In 1886 he purchased the present building and established the flourishing branch business in Huntington, Indiana. In 1889 he purchased the present building and established the prosperous branch business in Kokomo. In 1892 he purchased the Peru Milling Company and after running it a few years finding it was not up-to-date he decided to build and in 1895 he built the present three hundred barrel mill using the former build- ing for an elevator. In 1900 he erected the present building and estab- lished the Peru Wholesale Grocery Company, which has done so much to make Peru a wholesale center, and it now ranks among the best whole- sale business houses in Indiana. In 1905 he erected the very handsome Department Store Building which would be a credit to any city in the country. He now occupies it with an immense stock.
Mr. McCaffrey was married January, 1885, to Miss Caroline Frances Sullivan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Florence Sullivan, well known and highly respected citizens of Peru. Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey have reared a large family, eight sons and seven daughters, and all are living except two sons. A handsomer family you could not find anywhere, one better looking than the other, but how could it be otherwise, as there is not a finer looking couple in Peru than Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey. Mrs. McCaffrey after rearing fifteen children is a remarkably well preserved woman and is extremely youthful in appearance. She received her educa- tion at the Loretto Academy in Denver, Colorado, where she completed special courses in studies, languages, and music, and later was grad- uated from St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, receiving two gold medals. She belongs to the Alumnae of that noted institution. Today she is an active member of the Peru Drama League Club, of the Dramatic Club, and the Matinee Musical Club. Mr. McCaffrey has always taken a very active interest in the building up of the city which has been his
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home for the past thirty-three years. He is now serving his fourth term as president of the Commercial Club and during that time has assisted in the locating of eight factories, and the shops of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and many other things, in fact there is no improvement that came to the city since he made it his home but always found him in the front rank, as one of the leaders. And while he loves his adopted country and its flag, he is still loyal to the land of his birth and has always subscribed liberally to assist her in all her 'difficulties, hoping that she may yet enjoy Home Rule and Liberty. Mr. and Mrs. McCaffrey and family are devout members of the Catholic Church.
ETHAN T. REASONER. At the time of his death on July 16, 1913, Ethan T. Reasoner had for thirty-five years practiced as a member of the Peru bar. Not only by reason of his long practice, but also for his thorough and well tested ability he was one of the leaders in his profes- sion, had enjoyed a large practice and had received important honors conferred upon him by his home county. Like many other successful men of the law, Mr. Reasoner entered his profession through the avenue of school teaching, and it was by long and hard application and much self-denial that he got firmly established in the ranks of the leading professional men of Indiana.
Ethan T. Reasoner at the time of his death was senior member of the firm of Reasoner & Ward, regarded as one of the strongest legal firms in Miami county. He was born in Grant county, this state, September 21, 1851, a son of Washington F. and Rachel (Slater) Reasoner. His boy- hood days were spent upon his father's farm in Grant county, and dur- ing that period he attended each winter the district schools. He subse- ' quently was a student in the Muncie high school, and also spent two years at college. During seven years of his early life he presided over a school room and directed the first step of his scholars in the road of learning. For three years he was a student of law in the office of Templar & Gregory at Muncie. In July, 1877, he moved to Peru, where he had his residence until his death, and where for thirty-six years he continued in the active and successful practice of law.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Reasoner was for six years deputy prosecuting attorney of the old Twenty-Seventh Judicial circuit, which was composed of Wabash and Miami counties. In 1887 he was elected prosecuting attorney, and was reelected to the same office from the newly created fifty-first circuit, composed of Miami county alone. His next service in larger official capacity was as a member of the lower house of the state legislature to which he was elected in 1904. While in the legislature he was often a leader in the work of productive legislation, and succeeded in having enacted the automobile law, the first effective measure passed regulating motor cars in the state ; and he was also author of the law safeguarding the various inland lakes of the State of Indiana. As an official of the Judicial System, and as a legislator, his record was one of efficiency and fidelity to his duties.
Mr. Reasoner in 1880 married Miss Florence L. Meranda, and to their marriage was born one son Mark Howard. Fraternally the late Mr. Reasoner was well known in the Masonic Order. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
LEROY A. SHIVELY. The career of Mr. Shively, now probably the best known and the ablest auctioneer in Miami county, has many points of interest. He is a native of Miami county, who in his young manhood left his home surroundings and began his practical adventures in the west. After a number of years of more or less successful enterprises in west-
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ern states, he returned to his old county, and now for twenty years has been actively identified with the farming and general business affairs of this locality. Mr. Shively was born on a farm in Pipe Creek township on July 26, 1869.
His father was the late Daniel P. Shively, whose career and character are worthy of long remembrance in the community which was his home for so many years, and to which he contributed so many uplifting and substantial influences. Daniel P. Shively was born near Dayton, Ohio, was reared on a farm in the discipline of hard work and when a boy received only limited educational advantages. As he grew up he began to appreciate his lack of schooling, and at every opportunity that was offered he studied and read with consuming ardor the most instructive literature. His family were strong in the faith of the German-Baptist church and he was reared in that faith. In his community in Miami county he came in time to exercise the influence of one of the leading citizens, and with his intense energy and religious zeal almost naturally took a place as local preacher among the adherents of his own faith. He was known as a keen reasoner, a profound student of the bible, and in every relation of life his influence was for morality and practical good. His death occurred in July, 1900. An immense concourse of sorrow- ing friends followed his body to its last resting place, and on that day were paid many heartfelt tributes to his noble nature and the many worthy deeds of his lifetime,
LeRoy A. Shively spent his boyhood in the old community of Pipe Creek township. He attended the district school which was nearest the old home and trained his body by the vigorous work of the farm and the sports and diversions which country boys usually follow. When twenty years of age he started out for himself and chose the west as a field for his early enterprise. He was in Kansas and Colorado for some time. Among the work which he did in Kansas was as engineer for the Great Bend Milling Company. His experience in running an engine was practically nothing, but the company wanted an engineer, and he wanted work, so they arranged matters to their mutual satisfaction. He con- tinued in his place as engineer for about eighteen months, and when he left it was on his own volition and not because the company requested it. During the following year he was engaged in carpentering ing and contracting, and for two years was engaged in prospecting and work in the mines at Galena, Kansas.
On returning to Miami county in 1893, Mr. Shively established himself on a farm and began the breeding of Hereford cattle, an enterprise which he continued for six years. Selling out, he then associated himself with the late Col. Allie Powell in live stock auction- eering. During three years of this association he made his home at Wabash. After the death of Col. Powell in 1906, Mr. Shively con- tinued his vocation as auctioneer on his own responsibility, and has had a large business in that calling. For three years he was engaged in the management of the farm known as the Jerry Hardwick farm for the Shirk estate.
Mr. Shively is in politics a Democrat, and a good citizen without participating in practical party affairs. On August 2, 1899, he mar- ried Miss Carrie B. Jacobs, of Pipe Creek township. Their two chil- dren are Ralph D. and Dorris E. Mrs. Shively is a member of the Methodist church.
EDWARD L. MILLER. Much of the business life of Edward L. Miller has been passed in Peru, and during the years of his residence here he has been prominently concerned with some of the telling enterprises
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of the city. The financial institutions of the eity have come in for an unusual share of his attention, and eertain of them owe their existenee to his enterprise and ability in organization. He is a man of especial talent along the line of finance, and that quality, eombined with his splendid character, have made him a dominant foree for good in the community.
Born in Cass eounty, Indiana, on February 23, 1848, Edward Living- ston Miller came to Miami county in his young boyhood and his life thereafter, until he reached years of manhood, was passed in either of these counties. He attended the public schools of Peru and when about sixteen found it ineumbent upon him to make his own way in the world. His first independent work was that of a farm laborer. Upon the organ- ization of the firm of Kilgore and Shirk in Peru, he began clerking and continued with that firm until 1871.
In that year he gave up this work and carried out a long cherished plan of adding something to his general education by entering Franklin College. However, before the close of his first year there, he found it necessary to go to Cincinnati where he entered a business that eventually led him through the South. Having spent most of his time for seven years in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, he returned to Peru in 1881 and once more took up his clerkship in the store in which he had formerly been employed, but which was now known as the storc of Shirk and Miller.
In 1891 Mr. Miller organized the Miami County Loan and Savings Association, whiel, so far as is known, is the only. strictly Building and Loan Association that ever sueeessfully did a general banking business in eonneetion with its regular routine work. During the thirteen years of its existenee, Mr. Miller was its secretary and general manager. In January, 1904, this concern was merged into the Peru Trust Company of which he has since been the secretary, and the greater portion of the time, its general manager.
Mr. Miller is Progressive in his polities and was once a Demoerat. Hc is a member of the Baptist church of Peru and has been, without inter- mission, an active member of its Sunday Sehool since 1881.
On January 18, 1883, he married Miss Kate A. Leonard, the daughter of Rev. Geo. E. Leonard, D. D., for eleven years pastor of the Baptist church in Peru and who had at this time just completed his first of many years' work as superintendent of mission work in Ohio, being the secre- tary of the Ohio Baptist Convention. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have one son, Leonard Edward Miller, who was born February 2, 1892, and married Miss Marcia A. Tarleton of Franklin, Indiana, August 4, 1913, and is now living in Chicago.
SCHUYLER W. GALLAHAN, of Miami eounty, Indiana, belongs to that splendid class of men who mean so much to this country today and in the future are going to mean mueh more, the farmer of education, ambi- tion and a knowledge of his power in the world of modern business. Mr. Gallahan has been engaged in farming in this seetion of the state for many years and has made a sueeess of his life's work. He has taken an active part in the publie affairs of the county, always willing and anxious to do anything in his power to further the interests of the community.
Sehuyler W. Gallahan is a native of Cass eounty, Indiana, where he was born on a farm near New Waverly, on the 24th of August, 1863. He is a son of Watson Clark Gallahan and Martha (Arnout) Gallahan. Watson Clark Gallahan was born in Ohio, of Irish parentage and when he was a boy of about seven years his parents left Ohio and made their way westward. They settled in Miami eounty, Indiana, passing their first night in this county near the present site of the Eel River Christian
S.M.GALLALAN
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"BIRCHI LANE FARM" RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. SCHUYLER W. GALLAHAN
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church in Jefferson township of Miami county. They built a shelter in the shape of a lean-to made of brush which they cut along side the road. Unfortunately a heavy snow fell during the night and the flimsy shelter might just as well have been built of tissue paper. Here on section 11, in the northeast part of Jefferson township, the family established themselves. The father of Watson Clark Gallahan spent only a year of his life in Miami county as a farmer, dying during the following year. He left a widow and a large family of children and the privations and hardships which this little band endured were many, but to them Mr. Gallahan owed much that was strong in his character. It was in his mother's home that the first Christian church in Jefferson township was organized. After attaining his majority Watson Clark Gallahan moved to Cass county and there married. He became a pros- perous farmer and spent most of his life near New Waverly where both he and his wife died.
Schuyler W. Gallahan was reared on his father's farm near New Waverly and after attending the district schools in this vicinity he went to Logansport, Indiana, where he entered a normal school. After some time spent there he became a student at the Northern Indiana Normal School in Valparaiso, Indiana. After his education was completed he became a teacher and for seven or eight years followed this profession. He then determined that farming was after all the best and most inde- pendent life that a man could lead. It was about this time that he married Miss Nellie J. Myers, a daughter of Isaac Myers, the ceremony taking place on the 16th of September, 1890. After his marriage he lived on the Myers farm for three years and then moved to his present property, located on section 28, in Jefferson township, near Denver. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gallahan, all living, namely, L. Milton, R. Vernon, and Glenn ; L. Milton resides with his father and is an agriculturist ; R. Vernon resides in Minnesota and is a farmer ; Glenn is a resident of Cass county, of Clinton township. Mrs. Gallahan died and on the 16th of April, 1903, Mr. Gallahan married again, his wife being Miss Nan Stephen. Mr. and Mrs. Gallahan have taken a little girl to rear and educate and to give her the benfits of good Christian teaching and upright training. After living on his farm on section 28 for three years, Mr. Gallahan removed to a farın on section 21, and here he has since lived. He owns altogether 213 acres of land in Jefferson township.
Mr. Gallahan in his political affiliations is a member of the Democratic party. He is at present a member of the Advisory Board of Jefferson township. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church and for many years Mr. Gallahan has been a teacher and the superin- tendent of the Sunday school of this church. The pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Gallahan is known as "The Birch Lane Farm," and the estate just across the highway is called "The South Side Lodge."
MARSHALL SMITH. Among Amboy merchants, one of the most suc- cessful and enterprising is Marshall Smith. Mr. Smith began business here about ten years ago, and with very little credit or experience in mercantile affairs. He applied energy and the most scrupulous busi- ness methods to his business, and since then has been progressing each year to a higher point in the scale of success and in the esteem of a large circle of friends and admirers.
Marshall Smith was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, July 21, 1875, a son of Sylvanus Gale and Margaret (O'Neill) Smith. His paternal grandfather was James H. Smith, and his maternal grandfather was Henry O'Neill. When Mr. Smith was twelve years old his mother died and his father married the second time. The seven children in the
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father's family were as follows: Frank, who married Mary Taylor, a daughter of Jacob Taylor, and is father of two children, namely : Gladys J., born April 4, 1894, and Oscar Gale, born August 26, 1898; Sallie, who died in infancy ; Hannah J. who married Arthur J. Hellings ; Claude, who married J. Ness; William Otis, who died at the age of twenty-one; Henry M., who married Gertrude Wilson; and Marshall. Mr. Marshall Smith has been a resident of Miami county since 1903. He was reared on a farm in Jefferson county, and during his boyhood never saw a railroad train, his advantages in school and otherwise corresponding in nature to this experience. He went from Jefferson to Cass county, where for about ten years he was in the employ of others, and gradually got ahead a little bit in the world. Mr. Smith had charge of the first interurban car ever run into Greentown. For some time he was engaged in the grocery business at Kokomo. When he established himself at Amboy he had no financial resources of his own to speak of and has never received any financial aid from any other source. He established his present business nine years ago and had a working capital of $215. He sold goods on consignment, and paid for them as he sold them. He gradually by degrees increased his business until at the present time he carries a stock valued at $1,700 and does not confine his business to Amboy alone, but trades in various parts of this vicinity. Fraternally Mr. Smith is affiliated with the Kokomo Lodge of Masonry No. 93, and the Council No. 60, and with the Chapter of Knights Templar No. 104. He attends the Methodist church.
On June 23, 1895, Mr. Smith married Minnie L. Wertz, a daughter of Levi and Cordelia (Gilbert) Wertz. The two children born of their marriage were: Victor, born December 18, 1899; and Pauline, born March 23, 1909, and died January 15, 1912.
W. P. MILLER. The career of W. P. Miller, one of Amboy's most substantial business men, is eloquently illustrative of the success that may be gained through persevering effort and untiring industry. It proves that neither capital nor influential friends are necessary to the youth of ambition and determination and that persistence and integ- rity, if properly directed, will, in the end, eventually result in success. Starting upon his career handicapped by lack of early educational ad- vantages, Mr. Miller courageously fought his way up, step by step, until today he is recognized as one of his community's leading men, a worthy representative of honorable self-made manhood. W. P. Miller was born on a farm in Jackson township, Miami county, Indiana, December 22, 1859, and is a son of Jesse W. and Louise Anna (Parks) Miller.
John D. Miller, the paternal grandfather of W. P. Miller, was born in Germany, and in young manhood left the Fatherland and crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, arriving in New York after a voyage that consumed thirteen weeks. From the Empire State he subsequently made his way to Henry county, Indiana, and in 1840, brought his family to Miami county, where the remaining years of his life were passed in clearing and cultivating a farm. Jesse W. Miller was born in Henry county, Indiana, and was still a youth when he accompanied his par- ents to Miami county. Here he was married to Louisa Anna Parks, daughter of William P. Parks, and they settled on a farm in Harrison township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, Mrs. Miller passing away in 1886 and her husband following her to the grave in 1907.
W. P. Miller received but few advantages of an educational nature in his youth, these being limited to a few months in the district schools
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of Harrison township. He was a bright, ambitious and intelligent lad, however, and made the most of his chances, thus being better schooled than many of his fellows who had better opportunities but were not of such an observant nature. Later, with money he had managed to save during his boyhood, he was able to take a course in the Valparaiso Uni- versity, although this was when he had reached the age of twenty-four years. At that time he left the parental roof, and for a time thereafter was engaged in farming, but gave up the life of an agriculturist to enter mercantile pursuits, becoming a clerk in the general store of Alexander Kiese, at Amboy. Two years later he was made a partner in the business, and on selling his interests went with Thomas Kiese and W. H. Zimmerman, of Peru. While there he served four years in the capacity of postmaster. When Mr. Miller disposed of his interests at Peru, he came to Amboy, and for seven or eight years conducted a general store under the style of W. P. Miller, but subsequently reorgan- ized his business, changed the name of the concern to the Amboy De- partment Store, and immediately began doing business on a consider- ably larger scale. Since that time he has doubled the stock, and his trade has increased proportionately, the establishment now being known as one of the largest of its kind in Miami county. Mr. Miller is an excellent business man, possessing the ability to see an opportunity, the courage to grasp it, and the capacity to carry it through to a successful conclusion. He has studied the needs of his trade and selected his stock accordingly', and his courteous treatment of customers has made him a general favorite. While he has been busy with his own enter- prises, he has not been neglectful of the duties of citizenship, as for fifteen years he has served as a member of the school board, and has given his support to various movements calculated to advance his com- munity. His religious connection is with the Friends Church, of which he has been treasurer, as well as a member of the building committee. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he numbers many friends in the local lodge.
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