USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 3
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eight hundred miles. He has won the confidence and good will of all the farmers because of his honest dealings with them, and is regarded by all as a man of unquestioned integrity and honesty of purpose. He makes trips with live stock to Chicago, Indianapolis and East Buffalo, New York.
Politically, Mr. Harwood is a progressive Republican. He is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he belongs to the United Brethren church.
Mr. Harwood was married in April, 1892 to Alice Wright, a native of Tennessee.
HON. JOHN L. WILSON.
In the largest and best sense of the term, the late John Lockwood Wilson, United States Senator from the state of Washington, proprietor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, one of the greatest of American newspapers, and for many years one of the most prominent and useful citizens of Mont- gomery county, Indiana, was distinctively one of the notable men of his day and generation, and as such his life record is entitled to a conspicuous place in history, both local and national. As a citizen he was public spirited and enterprising to an unwonted degree; as a friend and neighbor, he combined the qualities of head and heart that won confidence and commanded respect ; as a newspaper proprietor he had a comprehensive grasp upon the philosophy of journalism, and he brought honor and dignity to the public positions he filled with distinguished success; he was easily the peer of his professional brethren throughout the Union, and as a servant of the people in high places of honor he had no superiors.
Hon. John L. Wilson was born August 7, 1850. He was the son of James Wilson, who was the son of John Wilson, for whom the Senator was named. The grandfather came from Kentucky to Montgomery county, Indiana, when this section of the state was a wilderness and sparsely settled, and here James Wilson grew to manhood, and after his marriage he built a home in Crawfordsville on the north half of the quarter of the block which skirts the west side of Grant avenue between Wabash avenue and Pike street. It was a one-story house which later was purchased and repaired and which is now the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. Here Senator Wilson was born. Later his father built a house on West Wabash avenue. It is asserted by some of the older citizens that James Wilson was the first white child born in Crawfordsville. When James Wilson grew to manhood
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he became one of the leading lawyers and most powerful speakers in west- ern Indiana. He was the associate and practiced his profession at the same bar with Daniel W. Voorhees, Benjamin Harrison and Joseph McDonald, and was the peer of any of these distinguished citizens. In a race for Con- gress, Mr. Wilson defeated Mr. Voorhees. This campaign was a hotly contested one and the joint debates of these candidates is still a subject of interest to the older citizens of the country. James Wilson was later ap- pointed minister to Venezuela, South America, by President Andrew Jolin- son, and while living there he died, and was buried there, but his remains were later removed to Oak Hill cemetery, in Crawfordsville.
John L. Wilson grew to manhood in Crawfordsville, and here received his educational training in the public schools and Wabash College, taking the classical course in the latter and was graduated with the class of 1874. He was a stanch supporter of his alma mater ever afterward. He never forgot Crawfordsville, and he told a friend just before his departure for Washing- ton City of his plans to purchase a suburban home near the city of his birth and spend his declining years in it. He had even carried the plan so far as to have the place he wanted to buy selected.
In October, 1880, Mr. Wilson entered upon his political career when he was elected to the legislature of the state of Indiana. He there met the late Benjamin Harrison and a strong friendship grew out of this acquaintance. It was through the influence of Mr. Harrison when he was a United States senator that Mr. Wilson was named land agent at Colfax, which was then a frontier village in the territory of Washington. When our subject received this appointment he was in the abstract business in Crawfordsville and he fully expected to return when he left. But he failed to do so. He was sent to Congress as a delegate from Washington and was elected to Congress when that state was first admitted into the Union. Later he was chosen United States senator and held his office for four years, giving eminent sat- isfaction to his constituents and winning a national reputation as an inelli- gent, far-seeing, honorable statesman, who had the welfare of the people at heart. He discharged his duties with an ability and fidelity that won the admiration and confidence of all classes. In 1910 he started on a trip to Europe, but was recalled when he reached Crawfordsville, Indiana, by an urgent telegram from some of his influential political friends in Seattle, who insisted that he make the race for senator again. He reluctantly consented to sacrifice his personal comfort and give up the trip and went back to make
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the race for the nomination, but was defeated by a narrow margin. This ended his personal political activities.
The Senator's domestic life began when he married Edna Hamilton Sweet, a lady of talent and culture, and a daughter of Samuel Hartman, a well known Crawfordsville business man. She survives as does one daugh- ter, Mrs. H. Clay Goodloe of Lexington, Kentucky. Henry Lane Wilson is the only brother surviving. Howard Wilson, another brother, died in Crawfordsville about twenty years ago. Henry Lane Wilson is the present ambassador to Mexico.
Senator Wilson and the Post-Intelligencer, the great newspaper he built up in Seattle, were a power in the formation of the northwest. He was abso- lutely fearless in conducting his paper and many a man unworthy of the political preferment he sought felt the sharp sting of the editorial lash in that influential journal. Senator Wilson and his wife had started on a trip around the world, and they spent several days in Crawfordsville, visiting old friends, early in November, 1912, and from here they proceeded to Washing- ton, D. C., where the Senator was suddenly stricken and died with little warn- ing on Wednesday morning, November 6, 1912, at the age of sixty-two years. The body was brought back to Crawfordsville, Indiana, for interment in Oak Hill cemetery besides the graves of his father and mother. The funeral was one of the largest ever seen in this section of the state, and the floral tributes were never surpassed in either number or beauty, many of them coming from Seattle, Spokane, and other parts of the nation where the Senator was held in high esteem. Among the distinguished men attending the obsequies were Gov. Thomas R. Marshall and Charles W .. Fairbanks, ex-Vice-President of the United States. Of the deceased the latter said: "We have learned with inexpressible sorrow of the death of Senator Wilson. This comes as a dis- tinct shock to me for it was only a few days ago that I had the pleasure of chatting with him in this city. He was one of the best men I ever knew- a friend whom I esteemed in the very highest degree."
President and Mrs. Taft were among those who sent elaborate floral tributes, in memory of the great man who reached the highest office in the gift of the American people save one, a man who had a mind and a love for public affairs. His was an extraordinary series of achievements, made in competition with bright and ambitious minds in a community not exceeded in the world for enterprise and enthusiasm for success. We must ascribe to the man who did so much in thirty years certain qualities which differentiate him from the ordinary man. He climbed with dauntless persistence from comparative obscurity to large and honorable publicity.
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In the course of his funeral oration, Dr. George Lewes Mackintosh, president of Wabash College, said, among other things :
"Senator Wilson was sincere and devoted in friendship. To him a friend, even a political friend, was not a mere stepping-stone. He hated in- gratitude and avoided it. In the most passionate and selfish game known to men he came through with the heart whole and the hands clean. Even when out of office and apart from direct political influence, no man was more sought by those desiring advice and help. The people of the country in which he lived and wrought for thirty years believed in him. No one could ask for a greater reward.
"We would expect a man of Mr. Wilson's temperament to be of gener- ous disposition. Here we shall not be disappointed. He believed in the great human right, a decent living. He urged that a fair day's work de- manded fair pay. But what is far more important he illustrated his theory in every-day life. In the great publication enterprise he helped to fashion and perfect in the city of Seattle every man he paid to the limit of his earn- ing, and every bit of machinery is the latest and most efficient type. But this is mere justice to employes and the public. Generosity is something finer and of a more subtle beauty, even than justice. It is akin, if not iden- tical, with mercy and mercy is the crowning quality of God himself. It is a great good fortune to those who are nearest our departed friends that they can think of him as one who loved much, who forgave much and was kind. God is merciful and far down the highway which all humans must travel and beyond that turn in the way which we call death we confidently hope to find those whom we have loved and lost. In parting with Senator Wilson, one who labored much, loved much and was generous, though he doubt- less failed some, we say goodbye, but not farewell."
In private and political life Senator Wilson was a man of the strictest integrity, a bitter opponent of dishonesty, both public and private, a militant apostle of the Republican party which his father helped to found, died as he had lived, fighting for the principles he had espoused. The son of a father who had devoted his life to public service and helped to form the greatest political party of the United States, Senator Wilson will long be remembered as a man of fearless honesty, one who performed great services for the young state which he represented at the national capitol, a fighter for all that was just and helpful to the commonwealth. In 1894 when he appeared before the state convention at Spokane, he said of the trust reposed in him as Con- gressman from the state, 'You have clothed me with honors and authority,
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and now I return the trust to you, unblemished, just as you gave it to me.' The utterance characterized his life.
Pending formal action by the board of trustees of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, of which Senator Wilson was an active member, the commit- tee on state legislation of which the former Senator was chairman, and the committee on national affairs, of which he was acting chairman, together with the offices of the chamber met and adopted the following resolutions :
"In the death of Senator Wilson the state of Washington and the Chamber of Commerce sustained a loss which in many ways is irreparable. Since his retirement from active participation in politics two years ago, Sen- ator Wilson had devoted practically all of his talents, time and indomitable energy toward the promotion and upbuilding of this state, and the territory of Alaska. He spent the whole of last winter and the preceding fall as the agent of this chamber, in organizing and combining the commercial bodies , of the entire Pacific coast in behalf of Alaska and pressing that territory's claims for relief before the various Congressional committees in Washington City. It is the simple truth to say that in three months Senator Wilson spent at the nation's capital in behalf of the measures in which the city of Seattle and the territory of Alaska are vitally concerned, he accomplished more in the way of actual results than all other efforts combined in the past five years. He wielded an influence at a time when he was an active mem- ber of the upper body.
"His intense loyalty to this city, state and the entire Pacific coast is exemplified by such monuments as the Puget Sound navy yard, Seattle assay office and other government institutions, the existence of which are due either wholly or largely to the influence, resourcefulness and persistence , wielded by him in the halls of Congress.
"All his public utterances in the past two years have been an appeal to the patriotism of the people of this nation, and particularly to the younger men. The lofty sentiments which he expressed in recent addresses in this city, par- ticularly at times when disloyalty and disrespect to the American flag was being evidenced in some quarters proved an inspiration to all patriotic men. His reverence for the constitution and its underlying principles as the foundation upon which the liberties of the American people rest, was breathed in his every public and private utterance."
The following appeared editorially in the Post-Intelligencer, and is from the pen of Scott C. Bone, present editor of that great daily, he having form- erly been a resident of Indiana, and a man who knew the lamented Senator very intimately :
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"To write of Senator Wilson today is more than heart can bear. So many memories of him crowd clear and fast; so many visions of him as he was last among us, that words lag, thoughts grow dim, wavering in tear mists, and the hand, hardened to the play of life and death wants courage for the task. We in this office knew him best and loved him best. Here he was father, brother, comrade, friend, and now, when grief is heavy on us, when silent sorrow is sweet with consolation, we must treat, who was so dear, as a part of the dark day's work.
"He is gone. This we know. Never will he be with us again. All the machinery of this newspaper, which was a part of him, his pride and his am- bition, will move today, tomorrow, and the next day. But 'the Senator' will be no more. The nation has lost a patriot, the state a loyal, tireless servant and the city an eager friend, but the Post-Intelligencer has lost a heart and soul, a big, warm heart and a fine, clean soul. We cannot stop to mourn him, we to whom he was so very dear in life. We can but go on as he would have wished us, telling the news of the day, the big and the little things of life, making a newspaper. And so, though dulled with pain, we will.
"No man in this state heard the news that John L. Wilson was dead but to pause and pay a tribute to him who had marked himself so deeply in the history of this common-wealth. Yet how idle to say that he will be missed and mourned. How futile any computation of the widespread regret! How empty-sounding the generalities of encomiums! Every person in this state knows what manner of man John L. Wilson was, some better and more truly than others, perhaps, but all know him as a big, honest, fearless citizen, and can appraise their own loss.
"John L. Wilson loved his God, his country and his fellow man. He was true to himself, and of consequence to all else was true. The old strain of Nonconformist blood that ran in his veins held him fast to his ideals. Right to him was a thing to be fought for without compromise, and friend- ship was a duty, holy and enduring. It was for what he held to be right and in the cause of friendship that he fell and died as he himself would have wished, amid the clash of big events. Warned long since that his heart could stand no strain, certain only of defeat. Senator Wilson, weak and weary though he was, against all pleas and advice went into the national con- test undaunted. And now like a good soldier he lies, taking his rest.
"To make any adequate summing up of his life would need be the work of a biographer less hurried than a newspaper writer. To even enumerate his services to state and city is beyond newspaper limitations. Time will do
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him full justice and his name will loom large among the men of Washington.
"Just now there is small solace in that thought to those in whose lives he played a daily part. We can't forget that he will not come, bantering and genial, into the editorial rooms at night, with a playful word for a copy boy, an anecdote for a reporter, or a mock anger to tease some editor. 'The easy boss' has said his last 'Good-night, boys,' and has gone out into the long darkness, and we hope he hears us when we say, 'Good-night, Senator.'"
WILLIAM BRYANT.
Whether the elements of success are innate attributes of the individual, or whether they are bred by the force, and progress of circumstances, it is impossible to clearly decide ; this much is certain-a great deal depends upon the person. In the person of the worthy old pioneer, now deceased, whose name heads this sketch, we have a sample of the race of people to whom this country is indebted for its development and progress. To such as William Bryant, Indiana owes much. Here and there, scattered over the broad acres of untilled and unbroken land, he and his people toiled- cleared, grubbed, ditched, burnt, and hewed-gradually opening the way, the result of which we see today in the broad and fertile farms of Montgomery county. Such were the pioneer farmers. They did not care for public gaze or appro- bation : their lot was an unpretentious one, and so they lived, quietly, happily, and in the love of their Master who guided their destinies.
William Bryant was born in Ross county, Ohio, on March 28, 1824, the son of William and Catherine ( Lancisco) Bryant, who came to Ohio from the state of Virginia in a very early day. William Bryant, the subject of our sketch, came to Montgomery county, Indiana, as a boy from Ohio. At the age of twenty-one years his father gave him a team of horses and five hun- dred dollars cash. With this nucleus he built up an estate valued at two hundred thousand dollars. Starting in a log cabin hewn from the forest ad- joining the prairie to which he came, he started the unequal struggle for the mastery of a new country. His energy and perseverance, always rewarded with substantial profit, gave courage to others and facilitated the settlement of this part of Indiana.
The first purchase that Mr. Bryant made was of forty acres of land. From his childhood days Mr. Bryant had been acquainted with the cattle business and when he came to the Hoosier state the whole land was a pasture
Wan Bryant
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selected for he possesses the proper attributes, and is a good mixer, thus en- joying the friendship and good will of a vast acquaintance.
Colonel Hamilton was born on May 7, 1852, in Montgomery county, Indiana. He is a son of Nathaniel and Jane (Keeney) Hamilton. The father was born in Ohio, and the mother was born in Kentucky. The father was a carpenter by trade. Politically, he was a Republican, but was not a public man .. He was twice married.
Colonel Haniliton received a good education in the common schools. He was married first to Lizzie Barnett, a native of Montgomery county. She is now deceased. Our subject was married the second time, his last wife being Rose Ballard, born in Montgomery county. Mrs. Hamilton was educated in the public schools.
Eight children were born to Colonel Hamilton and his first wife, six of whom are still living, namely : Mabel, Jennie, Albert, Hector B., Jessie and Wallace. To the last marriage one child was born, Walter.
Our subject made his start in life on the farm and this work has claimed his chief attention through life until today, having prospered with advancing years he is the owner of several good farms in Montgomery county, and he spends his summers in the country and his winters at his commodious home in Crawfordsville. He started as an auctioneer in 1878, having had a great deal of natural ability in that direction, as all must have who make a success, and he soon had quite a reputation here in his native county, and his reputa- tion continued to grow, covering surrounding territory, and soon he found that his services were in great demand in Indianapolis, and he has been a suc- cessful and popular auctioneer in that city for the past twenty years, and he is well known throughout the state. One of his finest farms is that of three hundred and fifty acres in the western part of the county which is well im- proved and under a high state of cultivation. He believes in adopting all modern methods, wherein they are applicable to farming in this section of the country, and he studied modern methods of all k ids. He is a lover of fine live stock and some excellent grades are always to be seen on his farms.
Colonel Hamilton was reared in the faith of the Methodist church. Fraternally, he belongs to Lodge No. 223, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and to the Tribe of Ben-Hur, also the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically, he is a Progressive, and he made the race for sheriff of Montgomery county on that ticket in the campaign of 1912, but was de- feated with the rest of the ticket, although making a splendid race. -
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LEROY L. MILLER.
All credit is due a man who succeeds in this untoward world of ours in spite of obstacles and by persistency and energy gains a competence and a position of honor as a man and citizen. The record of Leroy L. Miller, widely known to the publishing world of western Indiana, where he has for decades been regarded as an exceptionally adroit printer, is that of such a man, for he came to Montgomery county in the days when she was beginning her rapid growth following the pioneer period, and here worked out his way to definite success. He quickly adapted himself to changing conditions, and has labored so consecutively and effectively that in due course of time he be- came proprietor of a thriving business in Crawfordsville.
Mr. Miller was born on November 7, 1860 at Cambridge City, Wayne county, Indiana. He is a son of Abraham and Sophia (Potts) Miller. The mother was born in October, 1834, in Chillicothe, Ohio, and when a young girl she moved with her parents to Logansport, Indiana, where she grew to womanhood, received her education and there she and Abraham Miller were married in the year 1848. The mother of the subject died on July 12, 1883, in Crawfordsville.
Seven children were born to Abraham Miller and wife, named as fol- lows; five of them still living: Mary died in Logansport; Charles A. died in Indianapolis; Nora, Leroy L. (subject), Isaac Newton, living in South Bend; Otis is in the grocery business at Frankfort; William R., born Febru- ary 3, 1879, is in the office with his brother, Leroy L.
The father, Abraham Miller, was a contractor and builder by occupa- tion and became well known in this section of the state. Fraternally, he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, the Knights of Pythias, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a charter member of the Knights of Pythias here. During the Civil war he enlisted in an Indiana regiment in 1864, and served very faithfully.
In view of the prominence of Abraham Miller in this locality and of the good he did as an Odd Fellow and the splendid example he set as a citizen, the biographer deems it entirely appropriate to here reproduce the memorial address delivered by J. R. Etter before Bethesda Encampment No. 15, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, at Mount Zion church, Crawfordsville, June 24, 1906. He said :
"By the courtesy of Bethesda Encampment No. 15, I have been re- quested to prepare a few brief remarks on the life work of Patriarch and
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Brother Abraham Miller, deceased. I accepted the charge, feeling sensibly my inability to render to his memory even a tithe of the excellencies which his noble, self- sacrificing life deserves. I feel that honor should have been assigned to older and wiser heads than mine-to some of the old and true patriarchs who had so long labored side by side with him in the cause of humanity, practicing friendship, love and truth,-faith, hope and charity.
"Patriarch Miller . was born in Germantown, Hamilton county, Ohio, April 21, 1905, being at the time of his death a few days over eighty-four years old. Though old in years, in his happy and joyous nature, he was ever a boy when with the young, feeling that it was his duty to mingle with them on their own level, to joke and have fun with them, to cheer them on to better and nobler lives, to make them feel that they need no fear of him on account of his gray hairs, but that he was their friend and counselor at all times. By virtue of this one trait in his character, he was enabled to do much good among the rising generation. He was never too busy to give a smile or kind word to a child, to a youth or to one of mature years-no one spoke to him that they did not get a kind and courteous answer.
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