USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 12
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In 1885 Dr. Griffith was united in marriage to Miss Isabella Dishman, who was born in Marshall county, Kentucky, and was a daughter of B. and Rachel (Lackey) Dishman. Mr. Dishman is a well known farmer, and is now living retired. He is president of the State Road Company, and also of the Ballard Gravel Road Company. Four children were born to Dr. and Mrs. Griffith : Carrie Soule, who is the wife of H. A. Martin, of Paducah; Benjamin B., now in the employ of Albert Pick & Company, of Chicago; and Mary Bell and Rachel Grace, both at home, the former twelve and the latter nine years of age. Mrs. Griffith departed this life in 1907, and our subject was again married in February, 1909, the lady of his choice being Miss Cora Maude Medlin, of Harrisburg, Illinois.
Dr. Griffith was one of the early members of the Southwestern Ken- tucky Medical Society, and he was also a charter member of the Mc- Cracken County Medical Society and of the Old Paducah Medical and Surgical Society. He is now a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation, the Kentucky State Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the Knox County Medical Society. He is held in high respect by his brother practitioners and has gained an enviable reputation by con- scientious application to his calling. Believing in the authority of the Bible, he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and socially he is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of
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Elks. Being a gentleman of fine social qualities, he meets with a cordial greeting, not only among his brethren of the fraternal orders, but in the best homes of the city.
Dr. Griffith began in his career with high ideals. He has closely ad- hered to the standard he then set and he has found no cause to regret the selection of Vincennes as his permanent home. He cheerfully gives his aid to philanthropic work and as a patriotic citizen assists to the extent of his ability in the permanent upbuilding of the community.
LOUIS W. JACKMAN.
Among the citizens of Vincennes well known in both professional and business circles is Louis W. Jackman, who was born in Lawrence county, Illinois, February 3, 1862, a son of Aaron R. and Mary E. (Courter) Jackman. His father was also born in Lawrence county, Illinois, June 18, 1839, and was a mechanic by trade, but spent the most of his life upon a farm. He served in Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-fourth Regi- ment Illinois Infantry, in the Civil war, enlisting at Olney, Illinois, and becoming chief musician of the regiment, which was stationed at different times at Nashville, Murfreesboro and Tullahoma, Tennessee. The mother of our subject was born in Wabash county, Illinois, in 1841, and was a daughter of Elder William Courter, a leading evangelist in southern Illi- nois in his day. He was a pioneer preacher of the Christian church and the family have been actively identified with that church ever since its organization in this country. John Wood, an early ancestor on the ma- ternal side, came to America from England about 1770. He enlisted in the Revolutionary war from New Jersey and the records show that he was an ensign and served for a time on General Washington's staff. After the close of the war he was given a land grant in what is now known as Barren county, Kentucky, and descendants of his oldest daughter are now living there. In 1807 he disposed of his holdings in that state and settled in Wabash county, Illinois, being identified with the organization of that county and serving for several terms as county judge. His son, Alexan- der, was the father of Melinda (Wood) Courter, the mother of Mary E. Courter, who became the mother of Louis W. Jackman. The descent is thus traced from the time of the Revolution. Mr. Jackman's great-great- grandfather on the paternal side came to Knox county, Indiana, early in 1800 and another ancestor, Allen Ramsey, located in this county as far back as 1787. The grandfather, Basil Jackman, and his brother, William R. Jackman, served side by side in the Black Hawk war, the latter being a sergeant in Spy's battalion of mounted infantry. William R. Jackman and his father, Richard Jackman, were in the war with Tecumseh partici- pating in the battle of Tippecanoe.
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Six children were born to Aaron R. and Mary E. (Courter) Jack- man, five of whom are living: Louis W., the subject of this review ; Wil- liam C., a conductor on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad with head- quarters at Enid, Oklahoma; Emma H., the wife of Oscar E. Hollowell, of St. Louis; Clara F., the wife of John W. Williamson, of St. Louis; and Della, the wife of Marion Pickering, of Vincennes.
Louis W. Jackman received his early education in the common schools of Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. He later attended the Na- tional Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio, and also the Southern In- diana Normal College of Mitchell, Indiana. In the meantime he taught school to secure the necessary funds for further education. He began the study of law under the preceptorship of Hon. S. Z. Landes, of Mount Carmel, Illinois, and continued it under the guidance of W. C. Johnson, of Vincennes, Indiana, and W. F. Schoch, of Mound Valley, Kansas. He was admitted to the bar in Kansas in June, 1887, in Illinois in 1889, and at Vincennes in January, 1890, since which time he has devoted his atten- tion principally to the law, but on November 1, 1909, he acquired posses- sion of the Vincennes Agency Company, of which he is manager. He was prime mover and organizer of the Denison Building & Loan Association at St. Francisville, Illinois, the St. Francisville Canning Company, and also one of the organizers of the First National Bank of St. Francisville, be- ing attorney and director of each of these organizations. He served as mayor one term and city attorney of St. Francisville five terms, and as city attorney of Cedarvale, Kansas, one term. He has been a Mason since 1883, and was initiated, passed and raised in Allendale Lodge, No. 752, of Allendale, Illinois, serving as secretary of the lodge for two terms and master for the same length of time. After moving to St. Francisville, desiring a lodge at that place, he petitioned the grand lodge of the state of Illinois for a dispensation, but found the petition barred on account of the grand lodge by-laws. Being a delegate to the grand lodge, he intro- duced and secured the passage of two amendments to the by-laws, whereby the territory became available for a new Masonic lodge. Application for a dispensation, however, was again refused by the grand master, neces- sitating a personal interview with that officer, which resulted in the issuance of the desired dispensation. Mr. Jackman is also a member of the Modern Americans and of the Tribe of Ben Hur.
In 1889, at Vincennes, Mr. Jackman was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Collison, a native of Lawrence county, Illinois. Her father, James M. Collison, was born in the same county and served for four and a half years in the Civil war under General Grant in the Vicksburg cam- paign, and under W. T. Sherman at Chattanooga, and at the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge, and was in the division that marched to the relief of Knoxville. He then marched with Sherman to the sea and back to Washington, D. C., and participated in twenty-seven hard-fought battles and eighteen skir- mishes on land and water. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
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Jackman, three of whom are now living: James Bruce, born August 22, 1890; Ruth E., born January 13, 1892; and S. Roy, born September 26, 1894. The oldest son served in the band of the Eighth United States In- fantry at San Francisco and Monterey, California, for one and one-half years. He then bought his release in order to return home and assist his father in the insurance business, which he is now doing.
Mr. Jackman is a member of the Christian church and was an elder of that church and chairman of the board of trustees for fifteen years at St. Francisville. He has always been an active worker in the church and Sunday school, and was president of the Lawrence County Sunday School Association two terms. In the various responsibilities of citizenship he has always attempted to perform his part with fidelity and has always been actively identified with the democratic party. As is to be seen by the above record, Mr. Jackman is a man of unusual energy and perseverance, and when he undertakes anything he generally carries it through to a success- ful issue. These traits have been handed down from worthy ancestors, and wherever we find them we may expect a sturdy character and a repu- tation for solid and enduring worth.
CHARLES LEWIS HAUGHTON.
A well known business man of Vincennes, Charles Lewis Haughton, has an established reputation as an upright citizen and a public officer, who regards a public position as a position of honor to be administered with the same interest and effectiveness that is shown in one's private affairs. For ten years past Mr. Haughton has been actively identified with the in- terests of the city, and he is today one of its best known and most honored citizens, the passage of years having increased the confidence in which he is held by the entire community.
He is a native of Niagara county, New York, and was born within sound of Niagara Falls, November 14, 1848. He is a son of Hiram and Eliza- beth (Potter) Haughton, the former born in Cortland county, New York, about 1804, and the latter in the same county in 1808. The father devoted his attention to farming and departed this life at Wilson, New York, in 1862. Upon the maternal side Mr. Haughton is of English descent. His grandfather, Stephen Potter, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and was a son of Nathaniel Potter, also of Providence, who was a son of Na- thaniel Potter, the emigrant ancestor. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Haughton : Andrew, now deceased, who was a physician and prac- ticed in New York, Ohio and Knox county, this state; Edward P., who became a member of Company C, Twenty-eighth New York Volunteer Riflemen, in the Civil war and was killed in the battle of Cedar Mountain,
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Virginia, in August, 1862; Harriet, who became the wife of John Crofts and died at Oaktown, this county; Mary, of Vincennes; Hannah, now the widow of Alpheus Hill and living at Oaktown; and Charles, our subject.
The subject of this review was educated in the common schools of New York state and at the Collegiate Institute at Wilson, New York. Having at the age of fourteen years lost his father, he early began his active career and, coming west, was engaged with an engineering corps in Iowa and Arkansas. However, he was attracted to mercantile lines and in 1872 entered the general mercantile business at Oaktown, this county, where he continued with increasing success for twenty-eight years and gained a well established reputation as one of the highly competent busi- ness men of the county. In 1900, seeking a wider field, he removed to Vincennes and became identified with the business interests of this city as member of the firm of Gimbel, Haughton & Bond, at 202 to 206 Main street. The firm is one of the important mercantile houses of Vincennes, carrying a large and well selected line of dry goods, cloaks, carpets and shoes, and is one of the substantial business concerns, which attracts patrons from a wide region outside of the city.
In June, 1875, Mr. Haughton was united in marriage to Miss Emma C. Pugh, of Oaktown, a daughter of Dr. J. W. and Margaret (McCor- mick) Pugh. Mr. and Mrs. Haughton have been the parents of five chil- dren : Daisy, the wife of J. Rupert Gregory, county surveyor of Warren county, Indiana ; Mary, the wife of L. T. Dorste, member of the firm of Powell & Dorste, of Anderson, Indiana; Charles A., who married Eloise Kruse and is connected with the firm of which his father is a member; Margaret E., at home; and a son who died in infancy.
Mr. Haughton has been for many years affiliated with the democratic party and is an earnest advocate of its principles. He has served in a number of responsible official positions, occupying for two years the office of county commissioner, and at the present time he is serving as council- man-at-large for the city and is chairman of the sewer committee and mem- ber of the ways and means committee of the council. He is an active mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and is identified with the church officially as member of the board of trustees and also of the official board. Socially he is connected with a number of fraternal organizations, his name being upon the rolls of the Masonic order, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree, and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Pastime Club and the Country Club, and has many warm friends in those organizations as well as throughout Knox county.
The success of Mr. Haughton, in the various responsibilities with which he has been identified, has been due to a native ability for the discharge of important affairs and many years of practical experience under the guidance of worthy ideals. Prompt, conscientious and efficient in a high
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degree in anything he undertakes, his career has demonstrated the success that may be accomplished by energy, foresight and good management and is a striking illustration of the possibilities which are available in America for any ambitious young man who is actuated by noble principles.
D. FRANK CULBERTSON.
The records contained in this volume are of inestimable worth when studied with the object of learning the secret that led to that condition expressed by the magic word "success." In the life of every successful man there is the keynote which can be discerned by the listening ear. That note, as can be discovered in the career of D. F. Culbertson, a promising young attorney of Vincennes and at the present time serving a second term as prosecuting attorney of the county, is in the cultivation of an up- right character and the development of constructive powers, inherent in ail but brought into active use only by those who are willing to pay the price. The price in the case of Mr. Culbertson was years of conscientious preparation and the ability to make practical application of correct prin- ciples when the happy moment arrived.
Mr. Culbertson was born at Edwardsport, Knox county, August 6, 1879. At the age of thirty-one he has accomplished more than ordinarily falls to the lot of the young practitioner at the bar, but his advancement has been by no means due to luck or chance. Such words have little mean- ing to the ambitious and deserving young man. He was fortunate, how- ever, in being born of parents who recognized the advantage of a fair start in a race which is each year becoming more vehement and calls for all the knowledge and skill that the modern world can bestow. His parents were James Lowry and Anna (Sylvester ) Culbertson. The son was given the ad- vantages of a public school education and attendance at De Pauw Univer- sity. He was graduated from the law department of that university in the class of 1904 with the coveted degree of LL. B. He was then twenty- five years of age, and by mental training and experience was well qualified to make a good showing in anything he should undertake. He began prac- tice at Vincennes in 1905 and has been alone up to the present time. He was successful from the beginning and gained such popularity that in the fall of 1906 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Knox county, being reelected in 1908 to an office in which he has shown abilities of a high order and scored a pronounced success. Although one of the young mem- bers of the bar, he is a favorite public speaker and the circle of his ac- quaintance and influence is constantly widening. He has from the time of reaching voting age been identified with the democratic party and an ardent supporter of its principles. All his addresses are characterized by an enthusiasm and energy that in many instances has carried conviction
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where before was opposition or doubt. He is alert and able in the dis- charge of his official responsibilities, and is generally regarded as one of the forces in Knox county that as time passes is to be carefully considered in forecasting the political possibilities. He was made a Mason before removing to Vincennes and is a member of Edwardsport Lodge, No. 428. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Pastime and Country Clubs of Vincennes.
In March, 1909, occurred the marriage of Mr. Culbertson and Miss Riba Eleanor Curry of Vincennes. In this as in other important matters, Mr. Culbertson made a wise choice and has as a life companion one of the most charming ladies of the city. The ability which Mr. Culbertson has displayed in discharging thus far the duties and responsibilities of an active life, lead to the opinion that there is nothing to fear on account of larger duties and responsibilities in the years to come. Bringing to his profession a handsome appearance, graceful manners, a mind well stored with a knowledge of the principles and practice of law, and what is of equal importance-a fixed determination to win, tempered by a laudable ambition to win by fair means-taking these qualities into consideration, it is prac- tically a foregone conclusion that he will gain and hold the confidence and respect of people over a wide region and attain what every aspiring mind should desire-an honorable and enduring place in the estimation of all to whom his name is known.
R. M. ROBINSON.
In business circles of Vincennes the name of R. M. Robinson is well and favorably known. A native of Knox county, where he has lived for more than forty-five years, his career has been noted with pride by early friends and acquaintances and his advancement in public and private life has been a matter of general congratulation. His success has been the direct result of his own exertions-of faith in himself, which he inherits from brave parents, and the application of sound principles of life and action that are bound to accomplish gratifying results regardless of the business or occupation, the conditions, high or low, in which they are applied. The avenues to all of the worthy ambitions of life are opened and there is no prophesying where the adventure will end.
Mr. Robinson first saw the light of day in Steen township, on a farm near Wheatland. Like most of the wide-awake and enterprising men of the county, he was reard to agricultural pursuits and never contracted habits of idleness or dissipation too often prevalent among the younger generation in the populous communities. His natal day was July 6, 1864. He is the son of Richard Robinson, a native of Ohio, whose parents removed to western Indiana when Richard was a child and settled on a fertile spot in Steen
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township. Richard Robinson grew up with the country and was educated mainly at home, as the schools of those days in the rural districts of Indiana were few and teachers scarce. He died amid the scenes with which his life had been familiar and was buried in Wheatland cemetery. The mother of our subject was Frances (Stevenson) Robinson, who was born in Ireland and came with her parents to Indiana, the family also locating in Steen town- ship. It was an old-fashioned family that gathered around the fireside of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson and of ten children born to them, nine are now living in Knox county and one only has sought fortune elsewhere.
R. M. Robinson was educated in the "big university"-the university that has produced many of the noblest names of modern times-the com- mon schools. Here children of both sexes and all classes meet and out of this "melting pot" have come many of the men and women who have proven of untold benefit to the race. For some years, until his father's death, Mr. Robinson farmed on the home place with his father and later with a brother. He became known as a good agriculturist whose crops compared favorably with those of any other in the region and for five years he served as trustee of the Steen township. He removed to Vincennes in May, 1901, and became associated with G. W. Donaldson, a sketch of whom appears else- where in this volume, purchasing the McJimsey Buggy Company. The name of the company was changed to the Robinson & Donaldson Buggy Company, doing a large business as wholesale and retail dealers in automobiles, car- riages, buggies, farm wagons, harness, pianos and sewing machines. A large share of the credit for the success of the firm is due to the energy and ability of Mr. Robinson. However, in 1904 he was called away from the active management of the company by being chosen by the voters of this county as county treasurer. To this office he was reelected, serving for four years in a position whose capable discharge calls for good business ex- perience and knowledge of finance not possessed by the ordinary man. At the expiration of his second term as a county official he resumed his business duties. He also owns a beautiful farm of more than four hundred acres, including the old homestead, which he hopes to hand down as a valuable heritage of the family. He has not lost his interest in politics and is now chairman of the county democratic committee and a man whose advice is sought by many who are personally identified with political affairs. He is an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
In February, 1892, Mr. Robinson was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Donahue, also a native of Knox county, who was born in Vincennes of Irish parentage. She has proven a constant support and comfort to her husband, who is a busy man but one who fully appreciates the advantages and blessings of a peaceful home. Six children have been born of this union : Richard G., Anna C., Frances A., Margaret E., Katherine D. and Charles Donahue.
It is doubtful whether there is to be found in Knox county a more worthy name in business and financial circles than that which stands at the head of
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this sketch. From a lad whose fortune from the start, owing to a large number of brothers and sisters, depended mainly upon his own exertions, he has become one of the respected citizens of one of the most prosperous and progressive counties of a great state. Surely this is success.
JOHN B. LA PLANTE.
A history of the La Plante family in Vincennes takes us back to that early and romantic period in the annals of this city when the French set- tled here as a convenient point for trading with the Indians. In all the intervening years representatives of the name have remained in this dis- trict, carrying forward the work of development and progress, and the same spirit of enterprise found expression in the life of John Baptist La Plante, who for many years was a well known manufacturer of this city, while his later days were devoted to the supervision of the investments which he had made.
He was born February 3, 1833, and was the third child of Pierre and Elizabeth (Gamelin) La Plante, the latter a native of Vincennes. Pierre La Plante was a son of John Baptist and Dorcas (O'Connell) La Plante. The former was a native of France, and in 1798 came with his wife, who was a native of Ireland, and family to Vincennes, then a small French town. He established a distillery on the Illinois side of the Wabash river and continued in business until after the outbreak of the war of 1812, when he enlisted as a soldier in defense of American interests, acting as guide and scout for General Harrison in the battle of Tippecanoe and in his military operations in this section of the country. He reared a family of four sons and three daughters, all of whom spent their lives in Knox county. The sons were Pierre, John B., Hyacinthe and Joseph.
Pierre La Plante also served in the second war with England in con- nection with his father, John Baptist La Plante, and at an early age learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed during the greater part of his life. He was also the owner of a trading post at Fort Harrison and was moderately successful in the accumulation of property, being a poor man. However, he figured prominently in connection with many events which have left their impress upon the history of this part of the state. He acted as a guide for General Tipton at the time of the removal of the Pottawatomie Indians from the neighborhood of Logansport to a reser- vation in Missouri in 1837. His political allegiance was given to the whig party, and at one time he filled the office of commissioner of Knox county. He married Elizabeth Gamelin, of Vincennes, a representative of a very prominent family here, and unto them were born eight children, seven sons and one daughter.
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