USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery county, Indiana; with personal sketches of representative citizens, Volume II > Part 45
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The union of our subject and wife resulted in the birth of one child, Violet, who was born on December 24, 1888. She received a good high school education, later attending DePauw University. She married Lee La Follette, of Darlington, this county, he being a promising young banker of that place.
Mr. Bundy made his start in life on the farm in Boone county, where he resided a number of years, finally selling out and moving back to Union township, Montgomery county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres, which he operated with his usual success for some time, then sold out and purchased the one hundred and sixty acres of valuable and well improved land where he now resides, having owned this since 1910. It is all tillable, well tiled and otherwise well improved.
Politically, Mr. Bundy is a Democrat, and has been loyal in his support
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of the party. He was elected county commissioner in 1911, and he dis- charged the duties of this office in such a highly commendable manner that he was re-elected in 1913 for two more years. He has been very popular as a commissioner. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic Order.
LESLIE M. McLOED.
The success that Leslie M. McLoed, of Brown's Valley, Montgomery county, has attained as a general farmer and stock raiser has been due to his persistent and close application and the exercise of sound judgment in the management of his affairs. He has always done his work well and has studied advancing methods, thus keeping abreast of the times, which, all of a contemplative turn of mind will admit, is as necessary in agriculture as any other division of human endeavor. He is also widely known as a busi- ness man and is a public-spirited citizen, doing much for the upbuilding of the community in many ways.
Mr. McLoed was born in this county on October 3, 1862, and here he has been contented to spend his life. He is a son of Oliver and Charlotte (Penn) McLoed. The father was a native of Kentucky, coming from that state to Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1843, settling in Brown's Valley, he having made the trip from the Blue Grass state on a boat on the Ohio and thence up the Wabash river to Terre Haute, Indiana, and from there drove a wagon through to Brown's Valley. The country was wild, but he was of the true pioneer type and never quailed at hardships. He developed a good farm here and also followed his trade of cabinet making, alternating the two all his life, and was successful in a business way. His family consisted of nine children, namely: Martha A. and Mary, twins, are both deceased; Ellen E., Sophronia F., William J., Emma J., Oliver C., Leslie M., and David P., the latter being deceased.
Leslie M. McLoed grew to manhood on the home farm in Brown's Valley, where he worked hard when a boy, and he received his education in the common schools of this county, later studying at the Normal School at Danville, Indiana, then began life by teaching school, but not taking very kindly to this line of endeavor he gave it up after one term and took up farm- ing and has been a successful general and mixed farmer and stock raiser ever since, having met with a larger measure of success than falls to the average agriculturist, owning a productive and well improved farm and an
L. M. McLOED
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attractive home. He has also been prominent in numerous lines of busi- ness, and was one of the organizers of the Brown's Valley Bank, of which he was the first cashier, serving in that capacity from March 2, 1905, until July 10, 1912, following, when he retired to his farm, where he has since remained. His labor in placing this popular institution on a sound basis is worthy of praise, and it is rapidly taking its place among the financial insti- tutions of this locality. Mr. McLoed was also one of the organizers and prime movers of the local elevator company, which is doing a large and growing business.
Mr. McLoed was married in 1897 to Agnes Jones, daughter of Lewis H. and Millie A. (Crawford) Jones, early settlers of Decatur county, both being now deceased. He died there and she died in Boone county.
The union of our subject and wife has been without issue, but our subject has a stepson, and is also raising a nephew-LeRoy O. and Kenneth Jones.
Politically, Mr. McLoed is a Republican, and has long been more or less active in local affairs. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously, he is a Methodist, was one of the organizers of the local church and he is at present one of the trustees. He has been one of the pillars of the same, contributing largely to its support. He was also one of the organizers of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias at Brown's Valley ; in fact, he has long been a leader in the affairs of Montgomery county and is one of the useful, successful and most representative citizens of the same.
CAPT. WILLIAM P. HERRON.
In a brief sketch of any living citizen it is difficult to do him exact and impartial justice, not so much, however, for lack of space or words to set forth the familiar and passing events of his personal history, as for want of the perfect and well rounded conception of his whole life, which grows, de- velops and ripens, like fruit, to disclose its true and best flavor only when it is mellowed by time. Daily contact with the man so familiarizes us with his many virtues that we ordinarily overlook them and commonly underestimate their possessor. Nevertheless, while the man passes away, his deeds of vir- tue live. on, and will in due time bear fruit and do him the justice which our
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pen fails to record. There are however, a number of elements in the life record of Capt. William P. Herron, one of the most substantial and repre- sentative citizens of Crawfordsville and western Indiana, that even now serve as eamples well worthy of emulation, and his fellow townsmen are not unappreciative of these. He is one of the progressive men of this section of the state, having spent his life in his native county of Montgomery where his forebears were early pioneers, his family having been prominent in the growth and civilization of the locality for the past three quarters of a century or more. He has done much toward the general development of his chosen city and has won and retained the confidence and good will of all who know hin1. He is a splendid example of the virile, progressive, self-made man, of keen discernment and sound judgment, and at the same time a follower of the principles embodied in the Golden Rule in all his relations with his fellow men, and therefore he has ever enjoyed their confidence and good will. Thus for many reasons the name of Captain Herron is eminently deserving of per- petuation on the pages of this history, not the least of which is the fact that he is an honored veteran of the greatest civil conflict the world has ever known, for none of our citizens could wear a greater badge of honor than the distinction of having served the government in the memorable four years of war between the states.
Captain Herron, banker, widely known business man and enterprising citizen, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, June 17, 1843, and is a son of James D. and Rebecca (Young) Herron. The father was born on January 26, 1798 in South Carolina and at an early age removed to Ohio. In 1825 he came as an early pioneer to Montgomery county, Indiana, and entered land from the government, establishing the family home thereon, and by hard work developed a good farm and became a very influential citizen among the early pioneers, and here he continued to reside until his death on October 21, 1874. His wife, Rebecca Young, was born November 2, 1802, in Ohio. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania. The paternal grand- parents of the Captain were Scotch people and they emigrated to America prior to the Revolutionary war, and the grandfather fought in that conflict of the colonies with Great Britain. He was taken prisoner by the English and was held by them for a period of two years. After his release he settled in South Carolina.
Capt. Herron grew to manhood in his native county and received a good education in the common school. He was a student in Wabash College when in 1862 he laid aside his text-books and espoused the Union cause, having
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then been a student in that historic institution for a period of three years. He enlisted in Company B, Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but after the battle of Stone's River, Tennessee, he was transferred to Wilder's Brigade of Mounted Infantry and was made captain of his company. He participated in many important campaigns and hard-fought battles, proving, according to his comrades, to be a faithful and fearless soldier. He was severely wounded at the great battle of Chickamauga, by a piece of shell. He was also wounded in the engagement at Farmington, Tennessee. For a period of six months and during Wilson's raid he acted as major, and at the close of the war was made a provost marshal of Macon, Georgia, his division capturing the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis. He recalls many interesting reminiscences of his military career. Thus after an enviable rec- ord as a soldier in defense of the stars and stripes he was honorably dis- charged in 1865. Mr. Herron is a member of McPherson Post, No. 7, Grand Army of the Republic, and a Past Senior Vice Commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Department of Indiana. His rough life had undermined his health, and for a period of three years thereafter he resided in the northwest, which at that time was very little developed, and there he recuperated his energy. Returning to Crawfordsville in 1870 he engaged as a bookkeeper for a period of three years. In 1873 he was elected treasurer of Montgomery county, serving with satisfaction to the people until 1875, when he launched out into a business career, becoming president of the local gas company. His success as a business man has been continuous from that time until the present, and he has become one of the financially strong men in this section of the state and is widely known as a progressive and alert, broad-minded man of affairs. He is at this time president of the First National Bank of Crawfordsville, and president and treasurer of the Wire Nail Company. In these great industries he has been the principal motive force, his able management and wise counsel insuring success, and a large and rapidly growing business is carried on in each. He is, at the pres- ent time, secretary of the Board of Trustees of the State School for the Deaf, and a member of the Military Park Commission. Having been known as a man of exemplary habits from his youth he has ever enjoyed the confidence and good will of all who have come into contact with him and is universally respected as a business man and citizen.
Captain Herron was married on January 20, 1875, to Ada Patton, a lady of culture and the representative of an excellent family of Lafayette, Indi- ana, of which she was a native and where she grew to womanhood and re-
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ceived a good education. This union has been blessed by the birth of six children, namely : Charles, who is a captain in the Twenty-third United States Infantry, now stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison; Jessie is the wife of J. B. Stutzman, of Washington, D. C .; William P., Florence, Fred L. and Austin H.
The Captain is a man of pleasing personal address, unassuming, chari- table and obliging in his impulses, and is uniformly courteous.
EDGAR ASHBY.
That "man lives not to himself alone" is an assurance that is amply veri- fied in all the affairs of life, but its pertinence is the more patent in those instances where persons have so employed their inherent talents, so improved their opportunities and so marshaled their forces as to gain prestige which finds its angle of influence ever broadening in practical beneficence and human helpfulness. He whose productive activities are directed along legitimate and normal lines is by very virtue of that fact exerting a force which con- serves human progress and prosperity, and the man of capacity for business affairs of importance finds himself an involuntary steward upon whom de- volves large responsibilities. To the extent that he appreciates these duties and responsibilities and proves faithful in his stewardship does he also con- tribute to the well-being of the world in which he moves. One of the men of Montgomery county who may consistently be placed in the category of those who "do things," essentially a man of affairs in the truest sense of the term is Edgar Ashby, of Ladoga. And this accomplishment has been altogether worthy in all the lines in which he has directed his energies. As a man of ability, sturdy integrity and usefulness, and as a citizen representative of the utmost loyalty he merits consideration by his fellow men, and his life record is deserving of a place in this publication, which touches those who have given to and sustained the material and civic prosperity and precedence of Mont- gomery county, thus rendering it one of the foremost in the Hoosier com- monwealth.
Edgar Ashby was born September 5, 1867, two miles southeast of Ladoga, this county. He is a son of Silas F. and Ellen (McNary) Ashby and a brother of Eugene Ashby, a sketch of whom, which also gives the par- ents' history, is found on other pages of this work.
When Edgar Ashby was eleven years old the family moved into the
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village of Ladoga and there he grew to manhood and attended the public schools, later he was a student in Wabash College until in 1888, when he returned to Ladoga and went into the grocery business with George Reed with whom he remained two years then formed a partnership with Harvey Wilson for an equal length of time. He then went to Chicago and engaged in the produce business, later in the real estate business, remaining there for a period of five years, then returned to Ladoga and was connected with the drygoods firm of Kyle & Mayhall for a year, after which he bought the cloth- ing store of Thomas McGinnis and was in that business two years when the building was destroyed by a fire that started in Case's furniture store on Hallowe'en night, in 1899. The stock was moved across the street into vari- ous stores and afterwards was assembled in the room east of the livery stable, now occupied by McIntire's restaurant. John N. Brown who was then run- ning a shoe store here went into partnership with Mr. Ashby, uniting the two stocks and they took two rooms in the Central Block and were there for five years, at the end of which time they joined with the New York store which handled dry goods and clothing in the building now occupied by Bischofs' Store. In less than two years they sold out the stock and Mr. Ashby retired from the dry goods and clothing business, having been very successful as a merchant in all his ventures.
In 1903 the Ladoga Canning Company was formed while Mr. Ashby was still in the clothing and shoe business. He took a leading hand in the organization and was elected secretary and treasurer of the company. The business grew under his able counsel and management and finally occupied all his time and he has continued to hold these positions ever since. James Knox was president of the company and among the stockholders were M. M. Batcheldor, now an attorney at Indianapolis; Foster M. Scott. George W. Havens, Harry Daugherty, and Eugene Ashby. Mr. Knox died in 1907 and his wife has been president of the company ever since. Messrs. Scott and Daugherty sold their stock to the remaining stockholders in 1905 and Eugene C. Ashby and George W. Havens did likewise in 1907. Mr. Stout died January 11, 1913, leaving Edgar Ashby and Mr. Batcheldor as the only two original stockholders. In 1907 they bought the plant at Brownsburg and still operate it with great success. In 1909 they purchased the Clay City Packing Company, at Clay City, Indiana, which they still run on a large scale. At Ladoga they have one hundred and five acres of valuable land and they generally have from fifty to one hundred acres more on which to raise crops to can. The capital stock of this company was originally six
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thousand dollars and the first year's business was seventeen thousand one hundred and thirty-five dollars, but it has now grown to over a quarter of a million dollars annually. Its capital stock was diminished to four thousand dollars, face value, when the old stockholders sold out, but they probably do the largest business on that amount of capital stock of any corporation in Indiana. Its stock is certainly not "watered" but kiln dried. The output of this plant is enormous and its goods are sent all over the United States, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, from New York to Montana, having big markets in Terre Haute, St. Louis and Milwaukee. Owing to the superior quality of their goods they are in great demand. Their plant is equipped with every modern device for high grade and rapid work, and dur- ing the regular canning season scores of people are employed.
Mr. Ashby is not a politician, but he takes a patriotic pride and a good citizen's interest in public affairs and in 1896 was an alternate delegate to the national convention of gold Democrats in St. Louis. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic Order, having attained the Knights Templar degree in the same; he belongs to the Knights Templars at Crawfordsville, and the Blue Lodge at Ladoga. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Ashby was married in 1891 to Minnie Kyle, daughter of Silas Kyle, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.
MAURICE JOHN LEE.
The biographies of successful men are instructive as guides and incen- tives to those whose careers are yet to be achieved. The examples they fur- nish of patient purpose and consecutive endeavor strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, if he is willing to press forward in the face of all opposition, refusing to be downed by untoward circumstances, thus making stepping-stones of what some would find to be insurmountable stumbling blocks. The gentleman whose life history herewith is, we hope, accurately and succinctly set forth, is a conspicuous example of one who has lived to good purpose and achieved a definite degree of success in the special spheres of endeavor to which his talents and energies have been devoted. Mr. Lee is one of the best known business men of Montgomery county, where he has resided for more than fifty years, during which period he has witnessed a great material development, in which he has played no in- conspicuous part. He has led a life of honor and has shown himself to be
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heartily in sympathy with all movements looking toward the general good of his locality, and, having inherited many of the winning personal traits of his sterling ancestors of the Keystone state, he has ever enjoyed the good will and esteem of the people of Montgomery county.
Maurice John Lee, well known and extensive tile manufacturer of Crawfordsville, was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, February 17, 1837, and was a son of Maurice and Cecelia (Runey) Lee. These parents were mar- ried in Pennsylvania, and from that state they removed to Kentucky, where they spent the rest of their lives.
Maurice J. Lee grew to manhood in Kentucky, and there received his early education. He remained in the Blue Grass state until he was twenty- five years old, coming to Montgomery county in September, 1862, and soon thereafter established a brick factory on his present home place, and soon had built up a good business in this line, continuing to make brick until 1876, when he began the manufacture of drain tile, which he has continued for a period of thirty-six years, supplying tile to Montgomery and several surrounding counties, building up a very large and lucrative industry, and becoming one of the financially strong men of the community, ranking among our leaders in a business way. In 1902 he moved his factory to Colfax, Indiana, and he has three others located in various places, all of them doing a thriving business under his able and energetic management. He has two large kilns. He burns about seven kilns a month, during nine months of the year, doing an annual business of about ten thousand dollars. He has lived to see the tile industry grow from its infancy to its present gigantic proportions and has been principally responsible for this growth in this part of the Hoosier state.
Politically, Mr .. Lee is a Democrat, and while he has always been deeply interested in public affairs he has never sought public office. He is a mem- ber of the Catholic church and faithful in his support of the same. Fra- ternally, he belongs to the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Lee was married in Frankfort, Kentucky, on April 4, 1864, to Margaret Keenan, a native of Scotland, from which country she emigrated to the United States when four years of age.
To our subject and wife one child has been born, Henry Keenan Lee, who lives at New Richmond, Indiana. The wife and mother was called to her rest on November 16, 1866. On January 29, 1870, Mr. Lee was united in marriage to Katherine Alice Crow, a daughter of Michael and Dorothy (Beard) Crow. To this second union six children were born, four of whom
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are still living, namely: Walter John, who lives in Chicago; Catherine Helen, wife of Dr. Chester J. Brittan; Maurice J., who lives in Colfax, In- diana ; and Ruth Beard, who is at home.
ROBERT D. JEFFRIES.
One of the successful agriculturists of Montgomery county who, having accumulated a competency by his years of strenuous endeavor, is now living in honorable retirement, is Robert D. Jeffries, of Crawfordsville. He is a practical farmer, and made a success of his various ventures, his well-tiled, fertile fields yielding to him an abundant income in return for the care and attention he bestowed upon them. He has been enthusiastic in all his un- dertakings, and has, while advancing his own interests never neglected his duties as a citizen, but has been liberal in his support of all measures making for the upbuilding and general progress of Crawfordsville and Montgomery county, and he is esteemed and respected by all who know him.
Mr. Jeffries was born in Putnam county, Indiana, on January 19, 1851. He is a son of Harvey and Melinda (King) Jeffries. The father was a native of Kentucky, as was also the mother, and they grew to maturity, were educated and married and in the year 1820 they removed from. the "dark and bloody ground" country to Putnam county, Indiana, locating there when the country was practically a wilderness and sparsely settled, and there they developed a home from the virgin country by hard work and close application, and there they spent the rest of their lives successfully en- gaged in general farming pursuits.
Ten children were born to Harvey Jeffries and wife, namely: William, George and Harriett are all deceased; John, Elizabeth, James, Robert D., of this sketch, Nanny, Joseph, and Kate.
The death of the father of the above named children occurred on the home farm in Putnam county in 1907, his wife having preceded him to the grave in 1903, each having reached advanced ages.
Robert D. Jeffries, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm in Putnam county, and there he worked hard when a boy. During the win- ter months he attended the common schools in his neighborhood, and when a young man he took up farming for his life work and this he continued to follow with ever increasing success until he became one of the leading gen- eral farmers and stock raisers in this part of the country. Accumulating a
MR. AND MRS. ROBERT D. JEFFRIES
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comfortable competency through his close application and sound judgment he retired from the active duties of life in 1912 and removed to Craw- fordsville, where he owns a pleasant and attractive residence, modernly and neatly furnished, at 316 South Green street.
Mr. Jeffries is a Democrat in politics, but he has never been especially active in party affairs and has never sought or held public office of any kind. He belongs to the Horse Thief Detective Association, and is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Alamo.
Mr. Jeffries was married on February 8, 1875, to Harriet P. Ballard, the daughter of William S. and Patience M. (Brown) Ballard. (See sketch of Emmerson Ballard.)
Five children have been born to Robert D. Jeffries and wife, namely : Prudy, Patience, deceased, Charles, Queen, deceased, and Ina.
M. E. FOLEY.
In the constant and laborious struggle for an honorable competence and a creditable name on the part of business or professional men, there is little to attract the reader in search of a sensational chapter, but to a mind thor- oughly awake to the true meaning of life and its responsibilities there are noble and imperishable lessons in the career of any individual who wins a position in the world's affairs through individual effort and persistence. Such a man is M. E. Foley, a native of Montgomery county, who is now residing in Indianapolis, where he is engaged as one of the attorneys of the Indian- apolis Traction and Terminal Company and the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company.
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