USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 4
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"His parents moved from Ohio to Cambridge City, Indiana, in 1826. He worked on his father's farm until he was nineteen years old, and then went to Logansport, Indiana, being gone two years before his parents knew where he was. When they had located him they sent G. W. Miller on horse- back all that distance to learn of his condition-to know what he was doing. Mr. Miller arrived there September 6, 1848, just two days before Patriarch Miller was married to Sophia Potts, with whom he lived a little over thirty- five years. To them five sons and two daughters were born. All the sons became Odd Fellows. Can a stronger proof be offered of his devotion to the Order than that he led five sons into its fold? He lived in Crawfords- ville forty years-long enough that all might be able to measure his good or bad qualities. He was a positive man; when he saw wrong he did not hesitate to condemn it in the most positive terms, and when he saw good, he was ready to praise it-thus he was a man whom everyone knew where to find. He was not a friend to your face and an enemy to your back; he did not hide his light under a bushel to please the public; but he did what he thought was best for the individual and community, regardless of what might be said about him. Oh, how much better would the world be, if all men could be so easily found-could be relied on to stand by their convictions. When he formed a friendship, or entered into an alliance with anyone, he was never knewn to betray it, but he stood on the full measure of his promise.
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What a happy, contented life he must have lived! Is it not worthy our emulation ?
"In trying to find out when Patriarch Miller was initiated into Odd Fellowship, and when he joined the encampment, I wrote to the secretary of Wayne Lodge, No. 17, Cambridge City, Indiana, also to the scribe of Hormah Encampment, No. 11, at that place. Both of these informed me that their records had been burned up in 1876, and that they had no way of telling when he joined either the Subordinate Lodge or the Encampment there, but they added that old members said that he was a member of the Subordinate Lodge and Encampment before the records were burned. The secretary of Wayne Lodge added, 'But, from all to whom I have talked, I learn that he was a good and true Odd Fellow.'
"Can I say more than this-that he was a good and true Odd Fellow? Can you think of a higher tribute to any man, than that he was a good and true Odd Fellow? If a man lives up to the teachings of Odd Fellowship, he must be one of God's noblest sons. After much investigation, I have ascertained from reliable authority, Patriarch Miller joined Wayne Lodge, No. 17, 1855, and that he affiliated with Hormah Encampment. No. 11, 1857. Patriarch Miller was admitted to Bethesda Encampment, No. 15, at Crawfordsville, December 15, 1868, and was mustered into Canton Fidelity, No. 50, September 8, 1901. He was a member of Martha Washington Re- bekah Lodge, No. 13. He was a Past Grand and a Past Chief Patriarch, having received all the honors that a Subordinate Lodge and Encampment could confer on him.
"He placed his foot on the first round of the ladder of Odd Fellowship in Wayne Lodge, No. 17, where man was represented as in darkness and in chains ; he gazed there on the emblem of the last resting place of man, and was restored to light and liberty. He was taught to faithfully regard the mysteries of the Order as sacred-he learned the lessons of the Past Grand. Then he journeyed on, and the love of Jonathan and David was exhibited, and he learned the lesson which he never forgot. He traveled down the road to Jerico-oh, how many of us travel that road, and how many are beaten and robbed on the way! He saw the Israelite wounded and bleeding on the highway; he saw the Priest and Levite pass by on the other side; he saw the Good Samaritan pour balm into his wounds, take him to the inn and pay for his care. He learned that the true priest was not of the temple, and the true Levite not of the altar. As a good Samaritan he went about doing good. No Odd Fellow was ever sick within his reach, that he did not visit almost daily. The principles of truth, as taught in our Order, were
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ever regarded by him in all his dealings with his fellow men. Truth with him was an imperial virtue.
"When he had learned the lessons of friendship, love and truth, as taught in the Subordinate branch of the Order, he longed to know more, and entered the Encampment, serving his time as a herdsman, visiting Abraham's tent, partaking of the symbol of hospitality. He passed to the Golden Rule, where he was instructed in the principles of toleration and had impressed on his mind the beautiful lesson, 'Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you.' He was exalted to the Royal Purple Degree, traveling across the wilderness of Paran, meeting and overcoming the difficulties on the way, and learning that the evil reports so often circulated against men. are not always true. Thus faith, hope and charity were added to his store of knowledge-the greatest of which charity, which was his guiding star throughout his life.
"He was mustered into Canton Fidelity, No. 50, September 8, 1901, and was an honored Chevalier at the time of his death. Thus he had ad- vanced, step by step, through all the gradations of Odd Fellowship, until he has fully attained a knowledge of its intrinsic excellencies, of its adaptation for the promotion of good will among men, and of its fitness as a minister in the trials and adversities which are inseparable from human life, and that it thus presented a broad platform upon which mankind could unite in offices of human benefaction.
"On the evening of January 29, 1902, it being the forty-first anniver- sary of Crawfordsville Lodge, No. 223, brother Abraham Miller was pre- sented with a 'Veteran Jewel', which emblematical of twenty-five years or more of continuous membership in the Order. During all these twenty-five years and more, he had been in good standing, had paid his tithe to assist his brothers in all the adversities that fall to human life. This is the best evi- dence we have that he learned well the lessons of friendship, love and truth- three cardinal virtues that go to make up the sum of human life, that bind up the wounds of distress, soothe the weary heart, and make life worth the living. No more constant friend could anyone have than he was. His love for his fellow man should be to us a guiding star for our actions along the journey of life. He was one of the most regular attendants at lodge in all the branches. If he was not there, the first question was, 'Is he sick?' To visit the sick and relieve distress was his great aim in life. Even in his old days the weather was never too bad for him to visit a sick brother almost every day. His constant looking after the sick became so well known that, when there was any doubt as to a sick brother's condition, every member
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instinctively would say, 'Brother Abraham Miller will know.' He was always busy; he was industrious; he never loafed when there was anything to do; and let me say, in passing, that an industrious man has no time to gossip about his neighbors or to meddle with their business. I have not the talent of a Raphael, or might have painted a picture more pleasing to the eye-I have not the oratory of a Demosthenes, or I might have done him more justice in words. But I have said enough, and said it truthfully, that those who knew him can fill in between the lines, and thus finish the story of this grand and useful life devoted to amelioration of his fellow men.
"Although a peace-loving man, he never forgot the injunction that 'you can not become an Odd Fellow in spirit and in truth, unless you are grateful to your Creator, faithful to your country, and fraternal to your fellow man.' In the late war, he gave his service for the cause of the Union, enlisting in Company H, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged at the end of that bloody conflict. As Odd Fellows, we are taught 'To be faithful to the country in which we live.' How well he learned the lesson recited above, was proven by his offering his life for his country.
"The life and labors of Patriarch Miller should be a talisman to point out to us the way we should go. He has crossed over the great sea that divides the now from the future: Our feeble eulogies can not make him better or worse-now. But what lessons can we, as Odd Fellows, learn from his life! One is that we should recognize the good qualities of a brother while he lives-should give him praise for what he does; this will make him know his efforts are appreciated by us. Another is that we should emulate his example and 'do unto others as we would that others should do unto us.' If his life-work taught us only this one thing, he did not live in vain. When the spark of life had fled from him and he was but inanimate clay, we cast flowers on his bier. Oh, how much more happy would he have been if we had scattered flowers along his pathway while he lived-flowers of gratitude and appreciation for what he was doing. How much more would all of us do for humanity, if only our brothers would show that they realized our worth. But how silent they are, till the clods of the valley cover us from the sight of human eyes. Let us, as Odd Fellows, adopt a new tablet on which shall be written, 'the good that each member does'-while he lives."
Leroy L. Miller, the immediate subject of this sketch, was seven years old when his parents brought him to Crawfordsville in 1867. Here he grew to manhood, received a common school education, and here he has spent most of his life ever since. He began in the printing business in 1875, remaining
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thus engaged until 1883, mastering the ins and outs of the same and getting a good start in life. He then entered the same field of endeavor for himself in 1884, but soon he went to Peru, Indiana, where, with a partner, he started The Peru Daily Journal, but returned to Crawfordsville in the spring of 1885 and purchased the business he formerly owned. In 1888 his business was christened the New Indiana Printing Company. It is a private business, Mr. Miller being the sole manager and his energy and good judgment has re- sulted in building up a very large and rapidly growing business. His plant is well equipped with all modern presses, styles of type and other necessary ap- paratus found in an up-to-date printing house, insuring prompt and high- grade work, and only skilled help is employed. Besides his large printing establishment he owns a comfortable home in Crawfordsville.
Mr. Miller was married on Apri 30, 1885, to Harriet A. Binford. She was born on February 17, 1863, in Montgomery county. She is a daughter of Caleb and Emily Jane (Allen) Binford. The father was born on April 22, 1834, and the mother was born on October 30, 1835. The death of Caleb Binford occurred on January 11, 1879, and his wife followed him to the grave a few months later, dying on August 18, 1879.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, namely: Bin- ford R., born February 20, 1887, received his education in the public schools and Wabash College, and he is now associated with his father in the man- agement of the Indiana Printing Company : Agnes Emily, born October 17, 1890, is a graduate of the high school; Hugh H., born March 12, 1893, is a graduate of the high school and a student in Wabash College at this writing.
Politically, Mr. Miller is a Republican, and fraternally he belongs to the Masonic Order, Montgomery Lodge, No. 50, also the Council, Chapter and Commandery and is a Shriner; he is also a member of the Tribe of Ben-Hur and the Modern Woodmen. He holds membership with the Center Presby- terian church in Crawfordsville.
DAVID H. REMLEY.
It is a matter of doubt which is the greater heritage, a distinguished name or a goodly estate. Some persons would choose one and some the other, depending wholly on their feelings and judgment combined. But when the two are sent down to descendants together, the permanent standing of such descendants in the community will never be questioned, so far as the heritage is concerned. The average citizen of the United States can hand
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down no greater heritage to his children than an unblemished reputation, as has been done in the Remley family, one of the best known, oldest, and most highly honored in Montgomery county. David H. Remley, the immediate subject of this sketch, was fortunate in being the son of such a worthy char- acter as John Remley, who, for a long stretch of years was one of the most representative citizens of this county, a man whom to know was to trust and admire, for he was enterprising, genial, neighborly, kind and public-spirited, never failing to lend such aid as was possible in furthering any principles of good. The subject of this sketch, one of our worthiest native sons, most substantial agriculturists, and widely known citizens, has long ranked among the leading men of affairs here, and it is to such enterprising spirits as he, his father, and brothers, that this locality is indebted for its marked and con- tinuous growth and for the high position it occupies as a center of agricul- ture, live stock and industrial activity. He has always been held in the high- est esteem by the people of this locality owing to his life of industry, public spirit and exemplary habits, and thus for many reasons he is eminently entitled to a conspicuous place in the pages of the present biographical com- pendium.
David H. Remley was born in Union township, Montgomery county, Indiana, December 21. 1844. He is a son of John and Sarah ( McCain ) Rem- ley. In view of the fact that a complete sketch of John Remley and family appears on other pages of this volume, it is not deemed necessary to repeat same here.
David H. Remley was reared on the home farm and here he has always resided, never caring to follow the wanderlust spirit to unexplored fields or much less to the false allurements of the city. When a boy he assisted with the general work on the farm and he received his education in the district schools. On March 10, 1870 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth A. Busenbark. She was a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, where her people have long been well known, and here she grew to womanhood and received her educational training.
To our subject and wife one child has been born, James E. Remley.
Mr. Remley has kept the old homestead well improved and under a high state of cultivation, so skilfully managing the same that it has retained its original strength and fertility of soil. He carries on general farming on an extensive scale and has paid special attention to handling livestock, of which he is a good judge. Everything about the place denotes good management and good taste. He is one of the leading members of the local Presbyterian church.
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SAMUEL N. WARBRITTON.
One of the venerable agriculturists of Montgomery county and one of her worthiest native born sons is Samuel N. Warbritton, of Scott township, a man who has lived to see and take part in the great development that has characterized this nature-favored Wabash Valley country, he having come down to us from the pioneer period, his life of eighty-two years being fraught with blessings to those with whom he has come into contact, for he has sought to live uprightly and honorably and faithfully discharge his every duty as a public-spirited citizen. In the development and upbuilding of the community in which is situated his home, Mr. Warbritton has ever borne his part, and his faithful performance of the duties of citizenship deserve all credit. It has often been said that the farmers are the backbone and strength of a country's prosperity, and this has been proven to be true time and again in the history of nations. In the person of the subject we see one of those who, following that peaceful vocation, have "builded wiser than they knew," and have left to their children and country the benefits accruing from their years of well-spent toil and effort, and are therefore eligible to representation in the pages of the histories of their country.
Mr. Warbritton was born on December 3, 1831, in Scott township, Montgomery county, Indiana, and is therefore one of the oldest native born citizens in this township or even the county. He is a son of Peter and Phoebe (Nelson) Warbritton. The father was born in Virginia, from which state he came to Kentucky when four years old and there grew to manhood. The date of his birth was February 13, 1804. His death occurred in 1897. The mother of our subject was born in Kentucky in the year 1814, and her death occurred in 1886. These parents spent their lives engaged in agricultural pursuits, and by hard work and persistency established a good home. They were the parents of thirteen children, nine of whom are still living, including all the sons, eight in number. These children were named as follows: Martha J., who married a Mr. Grimes, is deceased; Samuel N., of this sketch; John, Reuben, Charles; Sarah Frances is the only surviving daugh- ter; Henry, Andrew J., Minnie, Cynthia Ann, and Mahala are all three de- ceased : Daniel and George are the two youngest.
Samuel N. Warbritton grew to manhood in his native community and when a boy he assisted with the general work on the home place. His educa- tion was limited to the common schools in his district and to one term in the graded school at Ladoga. The home school he attended was in a log cabin,
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with split logs for benches, greased paper for window panes and a wide fire- place in one end of the room, logs six feet long being used in building fires. There were no free schools in those days, only subscription schools, each pupil paying a small tuition fee.
On December 20, 1855, Mr. Warbritton was united in marriage to Amelia Ann Seaman, who was born in Brown township, Montgomery county, November 12, 1836. She was a daughter of Benjamin F. and Winifred (Jones) Seaman. Her education was also obtained in the log school houses of her native community. Ten children were born to our subject and wife, four of whom are still living, namely: Mary is deceased; Emma, born October 22, 1857, married W. C. Kern, and they live in New Market, this county ; Allilia L. is deceased; Lula was next in order; John F. and Albert are both living; Bertha, Pearl, Stella and Mabel are all deceased.
Mr. Warbritton began farming for himself early in life, and this con- tinued to be his vocation until 1910, when he retired. He was a hard worker and good manager, and a large measure of success as a general farmer and stock raiser attended his efforts. He farmed in Parke county a few years, living in the city of Rockville. He became the owner of one hundred and seven acres of valuable and productive land in Scott township, adjoining the town of New Market, every foot of which is tillable. He sold this farm in 1910. In connection with general farming and stock raising, Mr. Warbritton bought and shipped live stock for a period of twenty years, becoming one of the best known stock men in this part of the country. He owns a comfort- able home in New Market, also three acres of valuable land within the limits of the town.
Religiously, he is a member of the Christian church, and was a trustee in the same for a period of thirty years. He has always been a Republican until the fall of 1912, when he allied himself with the new Progressive move- ment. He feels that he has always been on the right side religiously and politically. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party back in the fifties. He has long been influential in local political affairs, and has served seventeen years in Montgomery county as justice of the peace, having been elected in 1862. He has served in this capacity in both Scott and Brown townships. He gave eminent satisfaction in this office, his decisions being noted for their fairness and comprehensive knowledge of the basic principles of jurisprudence, and few of them ever met with reversal at the hands of a higher tribunal. He regrets to say that he feels he has seen the beginning and the end of the great Republican party. He has always been a great reader
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and is exceptionally well posted on current events. He says he has read everything from "Peck's Bad Boy" up. He has an excellent library, and he is an intelligent and interesting conversationalist. Notwithstanding their advanced ages, the subject and wife in the summer of 1912 traveled through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa alone, and very much enjoyed the trip. They have comparatively good health, are alert and active in both mind and body, and they are often visited in their cozy home in New Market by their many friends, their home being one of the best, largest and neatly furnished in this town. It is a nine-roomed, two-story home in a large, well-kept lawn and with a fine barn in the rear of the well-located lot. They are a fine old couple, and it is a pleasure to know them and share their hospitality.
CLYDE HARVEY HUNTER.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a town or community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. Clyde Harvey Hunter, formerly a hotel man, now engaged in the lumber business at the town of Wingate, Montgomery county, is one of the enterprising spirits to whom is due the recent substantial growth of the town whose interests he has at heart. With a mind capable of plan- ning, he has a will strong enough to execute his well-formulated purposes and his great energy, keen discrimination, and sticktoitiveness have resulted in material success. Many of these commendable qualities he seems to have inherited from his worthy father, who has also long been one of the substan- tial citizens of Paxton, Illinois.
Clyde H. Hunter was born in Belle Rive, Illinois, December 5, 1883. He is a son of William Harrison Hunter, who was born in Rush county, Indi- ana, in 1847. He has for many years been one of the enterprising business men of Paxton, Illinois, where he is living a retired life.
The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Olive Rot- ramel, and she was born in Illinois in 1855. These parents are now living in the town of Paxton, Illinois. William H. Hunter has always followed the lumber business and is one of the best known lumber men in this section of the state. During the Civil war he enlisted in 1861 in the Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was later transferred to the Ninety-fourth
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Infantry. He saw nearly three years of active service, proving to be a gallant and faithful defender of the Union.
Three children were born to William H. Hunter, two of whom are de- ceased, namely : Clyde Harvey of this review ; Harry, and Fred H., deceased.
Clyde H. Hunter received a good common school education, later at- tending the Culver Military College, then spent a year in the University of Wisconsin at Madison, also one year in the University of Illinois at Cham- paign. Thus well equipped for life's duties he took charge of the Inn Hotel at Wawasee, Indiana, which he conducted successfully for a period of two years. On January 1, 1912 he came to Wingate and took charge of his father's lumber yard, which position he still holds, and is doing much to further the prestige and business of the same, being in partnership with his father. They own the only lumber yard in Wingate. They own a large, substantial brick building, and they handle on an average fifteen thousand feet of lumber. This yard was purchased by the father of our subject in 1909.
Clyde H. Wingate is a Republican politically. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic Order.
BASIL TRACEY MERRELL.
There is no positive rule for achieving success, and yet in the life of the successful man there are always lessons which might well be followed. The man who gains prosperity is he who can see and utilize the opportunity that comes in his path. The essential conditions of human life are ever the same, the surroundings of individuals differing but slightly, and when one man passes another on the highway of life to reach the goal of prosperity before others who perhaps started out in life before him, it is because he has the power to use advantages which probably encompass the whole human race. Today among the prominent and successful agriculturists and business men of Union township, Montgomery county, is Basil Tracey Merrell, who maintains his pleasant home in Crawfordsville. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability enter very largely into his makeup and have been contributing elements to the material success which has come to him.
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