USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with an extended history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the state of Indiana > Part 39
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EDWARD T. GRAY, Sheriff of Miami County, is a native of Markham, Canada, and the son of Thomas and Margaret (Hines) Gray, the father born in Canada and the mother in Southampton, England. Mr. Gray was born on the 24th of May, 1836, and at the age of sixteen commenced to learn the blacksmithing and carriage making trades, at Norwich, Canada. At the age of twenty-five he came to Miami County, Indiana, and began working at his trade in the city of Peru, where he has since resided. In 1872 he purchased an interest in the firm of H. Armantrout & Co., manufacturers of carriages, after which the name was changed to that of Armantrout & Gray, under which title they continued business until 1878. In that year Mr. Gray purchased the entire interest, and under his efficient man- agement, the concern soon became one of the leading manufac- turing establishments of its kind in the city. Mr. Gray has always taken an active interest in local politics, and in 1884 was elected on the Democratic ticket Sheriff of Miami County, the duties of which position he has since discharged, having been re-elected in 1886. As a citizen Mr. Gray has the respect and confidence of all who know him, and as an official he is faithful and diligent discharging the duties of his position in a manner highly satisfactory to all concerned. He is a man of conscien- cious scruples and is ever ready to do what he can to promote the interest of the public welfare. He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal Arch Mason, and in religion holds to the creed of the Episcopal church. On the
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3Ist of December, 1863, he married Miss Kate M. Wilson, of Peru, who has borne him three children, viz .: Alice, Nellie and Lewis Gray.
WILLARD GRISWOLD, of the firm of Griswold & Geves, livery stable, was born in Watertown, New York, August 8, 1833, the third son of Daniel and Sarah (Barry) Griswold; parents natives of Vermont and of English ancestry. Daniel Griswold moved to Miami County in 1844 and settled at the village of Mexico, where he followed the plasterer's trade a number of years and later engaged in the mercantile business. He was a man of considerable local prominence; took an active part in the early growth of his adopted town, and departed this life in the year 1858. Mrs. Griswold survived her husband fourteen years, dying in 1872. Willard Griswold received the advantages of a common school education in his native State, and shortly after coming to Indiana engaged as salesman in a store at Mexico, where he remained for a number of years. At the breaking out of the war he tendered his service to his country, and in Septem- ber, 1861, enlisted in Co. B, 40th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until honorably discharged on the 21st day of December, 1865. He shared with his regiment the vicissitudes of war in many of the bloodiest battles of the southwestern cam- paigns, and was twice severely wounded, the first time at Stone River and later near Kenesaw Mountain. He entered the service as private, at the time of his discharge was adjutant of his regi- ment, and a short time after being mustered out was commis- sioned captain. Mr. Griswold's military record is one of which he feels justly proud, and in all the battles where his command was engaged he took an active and gallant part. His military career thus being completed he returned to Mexico, and engaged in the general goods business, which he continued until his election to the office of Sheriff, in 1872, when he moved to the county seat. He discharged his official duties in a manner highly cred- itable to the people, who in 1874 re-elected him by a decided vote, a fact which showed his popularity in the county, which had previously given decided Democratic majorities, he being a Republican. In 1878, in partnership with R. H. Segar, he en- gaged in the livery business, which he has since successfully continued, being at this time a partner with H. Geves, in the largest stable in the city. Mr. Griswold is a public spirited citizen, and deserves mention as one of the representative business en of Miami County. He belongs to the G. A. R. and Masonic fraternities, is a decided Republican in politics, and as such has rendered valuable service to his party. He was married in 1867 to Miss Harriet Graft, daughter of Benjamin Graft, of Mexico, a union blessed with the birth of one child, Charles Griswold.
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HENRY HAUPT, foreman wood machine department, Indiana Manufacturing Company, is a native of Germany and dates his birth from the 19th day of May, 1835. He was . raised on a farm, received in the schools of his native country the advantages of a good education, and at the age of fifteen commenced to learn the saddler's trade at the town of Barken, where he served a three years' apprenticeship. After becoming proficient in his chosen vocation he worked at the same at dif- ferent places in Germany until 1856, at which time thinking the new world offered a more remunerative field, sailed to the United States and located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Here he worked at his trade until 1861, where being infected with the war spirit he enlisted in the First Connecticut Infantry, with which he served until August of the same year. He then rein- tered the service, volunteering in the Sixth Connecticut regi- ment, with which he shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of war until honorably dischared in 1865. He participated in a number of bloody battles in one of which, Fort Fisher, North Carolina, he received a severe wound. At the expiration of his term of service Mr. Haupt returned to Bridgeport, and engaged with the Howe Machine Company in that city, where he remained until sent by the company to Peru, Indiana, where for sometime he acted in the capacity of contractor and later as foreman. He subsequently severed his connection with the company and from 1880 until 1883 was superintendent of Muhlfield's variety works. He engaged the latter year with the Indiana Manufac- turing Company, and at this time holds the position of foreman of the wood machine department. Mr. Haupt's marriage on the Ist of May, 1873, with Anna M. E. Kranzman, of Germany, has been blessed with the birth of two children, both deceased. JOHN H. HELM, M. D., of Peru, is one of the ablest phy- sicians in Northern Indiana. His early life was not like that of many here chronicled-a struggle with poverty-but was char- acterized by the possession of ample means, and for some years by travel and adventure. Having previously acquired a literary and professional education, he was able to improve his opportu- nities for travel by intelligent observation. Both physical and mental, he bears evidence of descent from superior stock. His paternal grandfather was a well educated German, who having settled in America, helped in the Revolutionary war to defend the land of his adoption. His father, Dr. John C. Helm, an early settler of Miami County, and one of its most wealthy and influ- ential citizens, was a man of vigorous intellect and iron will, and his mother, Amy (Hampton) Helm, was the daughter of Major John Hampton, of South Carolina, who served with General Jackson in the war of 1812, and a second cousin of the noted
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Wade Hampton of the present day. Dr. John C. Helm was born at Charleston, in what is now West Virginia, November 7, 1800. Two years later the family removed to Washington County, Tennessee. At eleven years of age he entered Washington Col- lege, and during the course walked every day to and from school, a distance of three and-a-half miles. He embraced the medical profession, and pursuing it with characteristic zeal and energy, became a well qualified physician. In 1821 he married Amy Hampton, above mentioned, by whom he had eight children. In 1835 he removed to Preble County, Ohio, and there practiced medicine until 1844, when he came to Miami County, Indiana, built a large flouring mill at Peru, and afterward another at Peoria, in the same county, where he finally established his home. There he continued the duties of his profession, and so invested the receipts as to amass a fortune. In 1865 occurred the death of his intelligent and devoted wife. After this severe affliction he divided most of his real estate among his three sons, giving to each property of much value. These sons are John H., Henry T., a prominent lawyer of Chicago, and David B., a farmer, who are respected wherever known. Sometime after making this liberal provision for his children, Doctor Helm married in Chicago, his son Henry's mother-in-law, an estimable lady, but she soon died, and he did not long survive her. On the 7th of September, 1847, the strong man, who had never known weak- ness or defeat, yielded to the resistless enemy, death. He was a man of wonderful energy and tenacity of purpose. He had made and lost fortune after fortune, but no adversity could wholly overcome him, and finally, as if victorious over adverse fate, he died in the possession of wealth. His son, Doctor John H. Helm, the principal subject of this sketch, was born at Elizabethtown, Carter County, Tennessee, April 23, 1826. His education was gained chiefly through private instruction. Having inherited in some respects his father's tastes, he studied medicine, first under Doctor Pliny M. Crume, at Eaton, Ohio, and with Doctor Charles L. Avery. In 1844 he entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincin- nati, from which he graduated in 1847 and immediately commenced practice in partnership with Doctor Crume, at Eaton. In the mean- time, in the spring of 1846, he was mustered into the United States service under General Wool, and served one year in the war with Mexico. The years 1848-'49 and 1850 were spent in traveling through California, Oregon, Mexico, the West Indies and Central America, and a portion of South America. In 1851 he married Mary Henkle, daughter of Rev. Andrew Henkle, of Germantown, Ohio, but she died only about a year later. Having resumed the duties of his profession with Doctor Crume, he remained at Eaton until 1860, when he removed to Peru, Indiana. There he soon
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established himself in the confidence and esteem of the people and gained a large and lucrative practice. In 1854 he married his second wife, Margaret Ridenour, of Preble County, Ohio. They have three children, one daughter and two sons, living. He still resides in Peru and intends to abide there the remainder of his days. Be- sides attending to his patients Doctor Helm directs the management of his farms in Miami County, Indiana, and Champaign County, Illinois. Though he possesses good business qualifications and has acquired considerable wealth, his chief ambition has been to excel in the medical profession, and he has lent his best energies in that direction. In this laudable purpose he has not failed, as shown in part by the honors conferred upon him by various medical societies. The Indiana State Medical Society, of which he is a member, made him in 1876 their president. In 1872 he was elected president of the Miami County Medical Society. He organized the Peru Board of Health and has ever since been its president. He is a member also of the American Medical Association. Dr. Helm has contrib- uted various able articles to these societies and to medical journals. He was one of the company of 173 physicians who crossed the continent to San Francisco to attend the meeting of the American Association in that city in 1871, and an honorary membership in the California Medical was there conferred upon him. Having been absorbed in the labors of his profession, Dr. Helm has neither sought nor accepted any political distinction, though his talents and acquire- ments would have enabled him to succeed in that field. He was a Democrat in early life, but in later years he has voted for those candidates he deemed most eligible, regardless of their party con- nection. He is a member of the Catholic church. Tall, powerful and possessing much personal magnetism, Dr. Helm is fitted to in- fluence men by these qualities alone, and, uniting with them talent, culture and experience, he cannot fail to be a leader in every enter- prise he undertakes. His lot seems enviable, and it is hoped he may long live in the enjoyment of his family, his medical reputation and the material blessings with which he is surrounded.
COLEMAN HENTON came to Miami County in 1837, and is a native of Washington, Fayette County, Ohio,. He was born March 7, 1822, and is the eldest son of Benjamin and Rachel (Stinson) Henton, natives of Rockingham County, Vir- ginia, and Ross County, Ohio, respectively, the former being born in 1793 and the latter in 1801. They came to Peru in 1837, where the husband followed the practice of medicine until March, 1863, when his death occurred. He was elected to the Legislature in 1846 and to the State Senate in 1852, serving one term in each house. The subject was reared principally in Peru where he secured a very good education, He was elected Sher- iff on the Democratic ticket in 1847 and served two terms, and
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was a mail agent from 1856 to 1860, running over the I., P. & C. route. In 1854 he held the responsible position of cashier of the State Stock Bank of Peru, which he held for one year, and he then moved on a farm of 120 acres a short distance north of Peru. His marriage to Miss Caroline Skinner was sol- emnized November 1, 1855, she being a daughter of Corsen C. Skinner (deceased), of this county. Three children were born as the result of this union. Mr. Henton's political views are Democratic. CARTER B. HIGGINS, M. D., is a native of Preble County, Ohio, born December 15, 1843, being the eldest of the family. of Jesse and Ann M. (Rodebaugh) Higgins, natives respectively of Montgomery County, Ohio, and Albany, New York. The family is of English extraction. The father of our subject came to Miami County in 1846 and settled in Peru. He first took charge of the Peru Mills and subsequently dealt in real estate. From 1858 to to 1860, he was Deputy Treasurer of Miami County. Later he was Mayor of Peru. He was a prominent man and held many posi- tions of trust with credit to himself. His death took place January 17, 1879, having been born in 1806. His marriage was solemnized December 27, 1841. Of five children born, only two survive; Harriet M. Logue, of Chicago, and the subject of this biography, who was educated at the Peru High School and Earlham College. At eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine in the office of Drs. Constant and Walker, of this city, and in October, 1865, he entered the Rush Medical College at Chicago and gradu- ated from that institution in 1866, and then returned to Peru, and engaged in the practice of his profession in partnership with Dr. Walker, one of his preceptors. This union practice continued until 1869, when Dr. Higgins removed to Rochester, Indiana, where he remained a short time and then returned to Peru and this has since been his residence. He still continues the active prac- tice and is one of the leading physicians of Miami County. He was married January 22, 1868, to Miss Sarah E. Jay, of Miami County, daughter of Thomas Jay, deceased. To this issue are three children; Clara, Jesse and Alice. Dr. Higgins is Secretary of the Miami Medical Society, and Treasurer of the State Society and a member of the American Association. He also holds the position of consulting surgeon of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Hospital located at Peru. He is a Mason and a man of promi- nence and honor.
JOSEPH HOLMAN. Prominent among the pioneers of Miami County was Joseph Holman, a name familiar to all the early residents of the city of Peru. He was a native of Ken- tucky and son of George Holman, who figured conspicuously in the early annals of the "Dark and Bloody Ground," locating there many years ago when the country was in the possession
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of the Indians. When quite young he was stolen by the sav- ages who kept him a prisoner until his seventeenth year, in the meantime becoming habituated to all the modes and customs of the tribe, with the majority of which he appears to have been on terms of greatest friendship. He left Kentucky in an early day emigrating to Indiana and settling in Wayne County, where his death occurred a number of years ago at the advanced age of one hundred and seven years. Joseph Holman came to Indiana about the year 1820 and located in Wayne County, where he continued to reside until 1836. In the latter year removed to Miami County and settling in Miamisport, purchased a tract of 640 acres of land on the Wabash, upon the eastern half of which the original plat of Peru was subsequently laid out by William N. Hood. A large portion of the western half is in- cluded in the city limits, and the entire tract now represents a value of several million dollars. Mr. Holman traded extensively in lands and all kinds of real estate and was prominently asso- ciated with the early growth of Peru and Miami County. He was land commissioner at Fort Wayne, during the administration of John Quincy Adams, but soon after the inauguration of Andrew Jackson was relieved of the office for political reasons. He was a man of recognized ability in the various spheres of life, an active politician, and took part in the convention which framed the present constitution of Indiana, having been elected a delegate to the same. He married Lydia Overman by whom he had the following children: Mary, Soloman, Martha and Elizabeth, deceased, and Rachel, Margaret, William and George, living. In about the year 1839 he disposed of his interests in Miami County and returned to Wayne County, where his death occurred in 1872 at the age of eighty-four years.
SOLOMON HOLMAN, second child and oldest son of Jos. Holman, was born 1813 in Wayne County. In early life he learned civil engineering and assisted on many public works of Indiana, having been for sometime employed in surveying the White Water Canal, and subsequently was assistant superintendent under Jesse Williams in the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal. He located permanently in Miami County in 1836, and in addition to his duties as civil engineer, carried on a farm west of Peru, now in the corporation limits of the city. He was a prominent citizen of Miami County, a leading Mason, and his funeral in August, 1852, was the occasion of one of the largest Masonic pageants ever wit- nessed in Peru. He married about the year 1835 Mary Forgy, daughter of Stewart and Margaret Forgy, of Ohio, but early set- tlers of this county, moving here early in the thirties. The follow- ing are the names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Holman, viz .: Margaret, wife of N. Black; Lewis P., Lydia J., wife of John
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Melcher; William, Emma (deceased), wife of N. Balantine; Joseph and Edgar (deceased).
LEWIS P. HOLMAN, the gentleman whose biographical sketch is herewith presented, is the eldest son of Solomon and Mary E. (Forgy) Holman, natives respectively of Indiana, and Ohio. The father was a pioneer of Miami County, emigrating here as early as the year 1836 and settling a short distance from the City of Peru, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits which he carried on for a number of years in connection with his profession of civil engineer. He bore a a conspicuous part in the early development of the county, was a man of much more than ordinary powers of mind, and departed this life about the year 1852. Lewis P. Holman was born on the paternal homestead, in Miami County, on the 24th day of May 1841. He spent the greater portion of his early life as a farmer securing in the public schools an education, which, although not of the highest scholastic order, was of a character that has since enabled him to participate successfully in the details of an active business life. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion, when but little more than twenty years of age, with the spirit that actuated the movements of all patriotic young men and old, throughout the entire North, he volunteered in the service of his country to do battle for the maintenance of her rights. In October, 1861, he enlisted in company G, 5Ist Indiana infantry and shared the vicissitudes and fortunes of war with the same until honorably discharged from the service on the 13th day of January, 1866. His military record is one of which he feels justly proud, and during his term of service, he participated in many of the bloodiest battles of the war, among which were Perrysville, Stone River, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nash- ville and numbers of lesser engagements. Immediately after enlistment he was promoted corporal, later to 4th duty sergeant and from that to orderly sergeant. On the 2d day of April, 1865, he was promoted to 2d lieutenant, which commission he held until the close of the war. Having thus completed his military career, he returned to Miami County and engaged in the pursuit of agriculture which he carried on successfully until 1878, at which time he abandoned the farm and began the lum- ber business in the City of Indianapolis where he remained until 1882. In the latter year he again returned to Miami County and engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Peru, which he has since continued successfully and with financial profit. Mr. Holman is a man of liberal views, and while taking an active part in political affairs has never been a partisan in the sense of seeking official position. He votes the Republican ticket and is an active member of the G. A. R. and the Masonic
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fraternities. On the 20th of February, 1866, was solemnized his marriage with Miss Emily Blake, daughter of Samuel Blake, one of the early settlers of Miami County. Mr. and Mrs. Hol- man have two children, namely: Roxella and Lou Emma.
WILLIAM N. HOOD, one of the original proprietors of of Peru, was a native of Ohio, born about the year 1791 or '92. His father, Andrew Hood, emigrated from Kentucky in an early day and was one of the first residents in the vicinity of Dayton, near which city the subject of this biography passed his youth and early manhood. In 1819 William Hood came to Indi- ana and located in Fort Wayne, where, for a number of years, he carried on a successful mercantile business, dealing extensively with the Indians during the period of his residence there. He moved to Miami County in 1831 and purchased of Mr. Holman a large tract of land on the Wabash River, including that upon which the City of Peru now stands. In 1834, in partnership with Richard L. Britton and Hon. Jesse L. Williams, he laid out the original plat of the city for the ostensible purpose of securing the county seat. After locating the town Mr. Hood engaged in speculating in lands and real estate, which he fol- lowed until his death, and in which he was very successful, accu- mulating a valuable property and becoming quite wealthy. While a resident of Fort Wayne he became acquainted with and married Sophia C. Ewing, daughter of Alexander and Charlotte E. Ewing, who were among the early prominent residents of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Hood raised a family of five children, viz: Andrew A. (deceased), Richard B. (deceased), William E., David B., liv- ing at this time in Peru, and Susan W., wife of Howard Hug- gins, of New York City. Mr. Hood was a man of fine abilities, and in 1836 was elected to represent Miami County in the State Legislature. He served one term and in 1838 was re-elected to the same position, but did not live to enter the second time upon the discharge of his official duties, dying on the 9th day of July of the latter year. Mrs. Hood survived her husband about thirty-one years, dying in 1869.
MICHAEL HORAN is a native of the County of Roscom- mon, Ireland, and was born September 22, 1841. His parents are Michael and Margaret (Byrne) Horan, also natives of Ireland, who emigrated to the United States in 1847 and located in San- dusky City, Ohio. The subject was reared in Hamilton, Ohio, where he received a common school education. He came to Miami County in 1861, where he has since resided. He was elected County Surveyor in 1880 on the Democratic ticket, and was the candidate for the fourth time. Previous to his election he was engaged at his trade-painting-which he learned when
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a boy. On the 23d of September, 1886, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Campbell.
JACOB HOSTETLER came to Miami County in the year 1847 from Tuscarawas County, Ohio, where he was born January 8, 1826, the youngest son of twelve children born to Benjamin and Catharine (Miller) Hostetler, natives of Penn- sylvania and of German descent. Our subject was reared on a farm in his native county, and then settled on a farm in Erie Township, where he remained until 1883, when he came to Peru Township. He has held the offices of Assessor and Trustee of Erie Township, and is the possessor of 280 acres of fine land situated in these townships. June 25, 1846, he and Miss Elizabeth Shetler were united in holy matrimonial bonds, and to them eleven children have been born, ten of whom are living: Mary E., Benjamin, John, Caro- line, Gideon, Frank, Jacob H., Elizabeth, Ulysses G., Edward and Laura, He and family are members of the U. B. Church, and in politics he is a Democrat.
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