USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 41
USA > Indiana > Parke County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 41
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to the slothful. but only to such determined spirits as that of Prof. Skeeters. It is an arduous, exacting, discouraging profession to one who is unwilling to subordinate other interests to its demands, but to the true and earnest dev- otee it offers a sphere of action whose attractions are equal to any and whose rewards are unstinted. That the gentleman whose name initiates this review possesses the qualities enumerated is undoubted, owing to the success he has achieved while yet young in years and the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.
Homer J. Skeeters was born April 28, 1884, at Montezuma, Parke county, Indiana, the son of W. J. and Susan M. (Ware) Skeeters, the latter having been the daughter of James P. Ware, one of the original settlers of this county, who came from the blue grass region of Kentucky and began life here in typical pioneer fashion when this portion of Indiana was practically a wilderness. The mother of the subject was called to her eternal rest on Decem- ber 28, 1910. W. J. Skeeters, a highly respected citizen, lives at Blooming- dale, this county, on a farm, being regarded as one of the progressive agricul- turists of that community.
The Skeeters family is of German origin on the father's side. The ma- ternal side of the subject's family is of old colonial stock, the Wares having lived in Virginia in the early history of America. Both parents of the Pro- fessor had been previously married, and the subject has a half-brother and a half-sister.
Prof. Skeeters grew to manhood in his native locality and he received his primary education in the common and high schools of the village of Mar- shall, Parke county, later attending the Friends Academy at Bloomingdale, Indiana. His professional training was received at the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. He had given such great promise in his work that before he had completed his course in the Normal he was elected county su- perintendent of schools of Parke county, in February, 1911, to fill out an unexpired term, and he made such a splendid record in this capacity that he was re-elected to the office in June. 1912, for a term of four years, and is still discharging the duties of this important office in a manner that reflects much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned, irrespective of party alignment. He has his own ideas of school policy, which are modern and progressive, and which he seeks to maintain. He found the schools in good shape when he came in office, but he began at once to secure a better organization, especially in the rural schools, and this has received his close attention ever since. He hopes to have all eight schools commissioned as high schools before his term of office expires. The rural school problem-
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that of making it more efficient-is one of his vital aims during his adminis- tration. He has done a most commendable work in strengthening the schools of the county and much better work is being done than ever before.
Prof. Skeeters began teaching in 1901 and was teaching his eleventh year when he was elected county superintendent. He began in Washington town- ship, where he taught one year, also spent one year in Greene township, then taught in Montezuma three years and for six years was principal of the Bloomingdale schools, giving the utmost satisfaction in all to both pupil and patron, for he is regarded a painstaking, careful instructor, and as an enter- tainer at the same time.
Prof. Skeeters was married to Madge K. Harrison, daughter of O. S. and Mary (Bates) Harrison, a highly respected family of Rosedale, Indiana, the wedding occurring in 1902. Her family from both sides came from Clin- ton, this state. O. S. Harrison started the first bank at Marshall, Indiana, and later established the bank at Rosedale. He is a man of much business ability and an influential citizen in this community. Mrs. Skeeters received a good education in the schools of her native town and is in every way a fit helpmate for a man of the type of the subject. This union has been graced by the birth of three children, namely: Maxwell James, Harold Harrison and Warren Ware.
Prof. Skeeters belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Masons and the Modern Woodmen in his fraternal relations, and he holds membership in the Baptist church. Mrs. Skeeters is a member of the Christian church. Mr. Skeeters was formerly superintendent of the Sunday school at Bloomingdale, and has long been identified with church work. Politically, the Professor is a Democrat and loyal to its principles, Personally, he is a young man of pleas- ing address, kind, obliging, genial and uniformly courteous, being popular with all classes.
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JOSEPH W. STRAIN.
Joseph W. Strain, president of the First National Bank of Clinton, is the scion of the two of the honored old pioneer families of this section of the state. He was born in this county on June 22, 1867, and he is the son of Daniel E. and Mary J. (Helt) Strain, the father born near Findlay, Ohio, from which state he came to Indiana very early and settled in Helt township, Vermillion county. The Helt family were among the very earliest settlers here, coming as early as 1818, when the country was a wilderness and the
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abode of all manner of wild beasts and red men. They settled on what has since been known as Helt prairie, Helt township, both having been named in their honor.
Daniel E. Strain devoted his life to general farming and stock raising in Vermillion county, becoming well established through his industry, and he was married in this county. His death occurred in 1903, at the age of seventy- nine years. His widow is still living, being now advanced in years, making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Frances A. Southard. She is a woman of gracious personality and, like her worthy husband before her, has always had a large number of warm friends throughout Vermillion county.
Six children were born to Daniel E. Strain and wife, namely: Isaac H., who lives in Greencastle, Indiana; Frances A., who married Eura Southard, of Vermillion county; Charles H., who lives in Helt township; Elizabeth married Victor Reichwald, of Chicago; James died when twenty years of age; Joseph W., of this review, being the youngest.
Joseph W. Strain grew to manhood in his native county and was edu- cated in the common schools here, later entering the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, from which he was graduated with the class of 1893. He also attended Indiana University and Chicago University. After leaving school he began life for himself by teaching, which he continued with success for a period of fifteen years. For seven years he was principal of the high school at Clinton, during which he brought the same up to a very high order of efficiency, discharging the duties of this responsible position in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of both pupils and patrons. As a teacher he kept fully abreast of the times in all that pertained to that vocation and introduced many helpful reforms, placing the local schools on an equal footing with any in the state and winning a reputation as an instructor and manager second to none. Finally tiring of the school room and perceiving a broader field for the exercise of his talents in another direction, Mr. Strain gave up his work as principal of the Clinton high school to take a position in the First National Bank of Clinton, of which he has become president, the important duties of which exacting position he has filled in a most able and commendable manner, giving eminent satisfaction to the stockholders and all concerned, his able management and wise counsel resulting in greatly increasing the prestige of this popular and sound insti- tution, one of the most conservative and safe banks in the state, according to those who have investigated its standing. Its other officers are: Edward Shirkie, vice-president; O. F. Houston, cashier; board of directors, F. L. Swinehart, John R. Newton, Edward Shirkie, B. H. Morgan, H. K. Morgan
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and H. R. McClelland. This bank was organized in 1902, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars, and its present surplus is eleven thousand dollars. The stock is all held by local business men.
Mr. Strain was married in 1908 to Grace Little, daughter of Rufus and Emily (Noyes) Little, a highly respected family of Vermillion county. Mrs. Strain was born and reared in Vermillion county, and received a good edu- cation in the local schools and is a graduate of the Chicago Art Institute.
Religiously, Mr. Strain is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is treasurer of the board of stewards of the same. Politically, he is a Progressive.
JAMES E. ELDER.
A man of marked individuality, James E. Elder, the present able and popular incumbent of the office of county auditor of Parke county, is a typical representative of that large and enterprising class of men of affairs to whom Parke and Vermillion counties, or indeed the entire commonwealth of Indiana, owe much of their prosperity and development, and his record, whether as a private citizen or as a public servant, shows him to have been faithful in the performance of his duty in his native Wabash county whose interests he has ever had at heart and sought to promote and he has therefore always enjoyed the good will and confidence of all classes.
Mr. Elder was born on November 8, 1868, in Washington township, Parke county, Indiana, on a farm. He is the son of James M. and Sarah A. (Burford) Elder. The father was a native of Madison county, Kentucky, from which state he came to Parke county, Indiana, in 1825 and settled on a farm, which became the old homestead. He began life in typical pioneer fashion and was one of the influential early settlers here. He was an honest, hospitable, hard-working man, who followed farming all his life and lived continuously on the same farm. No man was better or morefavorably known in this section of the state during his day and generation. He enjoyed an unusually large circle of friends, although the country was at that early period sparsely settled, and he deserved the esteem in which he was univer- sally held. He was an advocate of all that was best for his community and his fellow men. He was a stanch Democrat, having first voted for James K. Polk for President. When seventy-four years old he had the misfortune to lose his right arm. He was a faithful member of the old school Baptist church. His death occurred on April 29, 1905, at the advanced age of eighty-three
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years, having been born March 25, 1822. The mother of the immediate sub- ject of this sketch was the daughter of William B. Burford, who was one of the pioneers of the county. She was a woman of many commendable traits of character, and she had a host of friends. Mrs. Elder had a marked natural love for literature and music. To those who knew her best her appreciation of these things seemed unusual in one having the limited educational advan- tages of her early life. Her death occurred on June 17, 1908, at the age of seventy-nine years, her birth having occurred in April, 1829.
Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. James M. Elder, namely : Eliza- beth, wife of J. D. Overman, of Rockville; Dora, deceased, was the wife of Dudley McWilliams, of Washington township, this county; William A. is deceased: Anna is the wife of J. D. Adams, of Indianapolis; Emma is the wife of W. W. Cummings, of Marshall, Parke county ; Ella is the wife of W. F. Blue. of Montezuma, Parke county ; David died in infancy; Lucy is the wife of Dr. G. W. Farver, of Seymour, Indiana: James E., of this sketch, is the youngest of the family.
James E. Elder was reared on the old homestead in this county and there he assisted with the general work when old enough, and he received his pri- mary education in the rural schools of his community. He subsequently at- tended Bloomingdale Academy. from which institution he was graduated with the class of 1888; he then took a course at Earlham College, Richmond, In- diana, making an excellent record as a student, and he was graduated from that institution with the class of 1891, earning by his college record, a scholar- ship to Haverford College, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Elder began life for himself by spending one year in newspaper work after he left college, and was employed at different places, his last work having been on the old Indianapolis Journal. He returned to Parke county in the fall of 1893 and resumed farming on the home place, and on account of his natural love of country life and also on account of the infirmity of his aged father he afterwards decided to remain permanently on the farm. He con- tinted successfully on the farm until elected county auditor in 1910 on the Democratic ticket. Something of his popularity with all classes may be gained from the fact that he is the second Democratic county auditor of Parke county since the Civil war. He has discharged the duties of this office in a manner that has reflected much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned, his selection justifying the wisdom of his con- stituents in every respect.
Mr. Elder was married on June 13, 1901, to Mell Newlin, daughter of Harlan B. and Jane (Hadley) Newlin, of Bloomingdale, Indiana, a promi-
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nent pioneer family of Friends in Parke county. Mrs. Elder's mother was a daughter of Alfred Hadley, a prominent abolitionist of Parke county before the war. To the subject and wife have been born three sons, named as fol- lows: James Harlan, born September 24, 1902; William Alfred, born Octo- ber 19, 1903; Joseph Addison, born April 13, 1908.
Mr. Elder is a member of the Masonic order at Marshall, Parke county Politically, he is a faithful supporter of the Democratic party.
Mr. Elder has been very successful in a business way and he is the owner of the home farm, pleasantly located five miles north of Rockville and con- taining three hundred and forty acres. He has kept the old place well im- proved and carefully cultivated so that it has retained its original fertility and strength of soil, and here he has carried on general farming on a large and modern scale, being regarded as one of the successful and substantial agricul- turists and stock men of the county. He has long been active in politics and influential in the councils of his party, though he is not a politician in a strict sense, merely desiring to aid his party and work for the general development of his county and state, aspiring to be merely a good citizen in the best sense of the term. He is an excellent judge of live stock, and until recently was a breeder of short-horn cattle, which, owing to their superior quality, always found a very ready market when offered for sale. He and his wife are great lovers of farm life, fully appreciating its freedom, healthfulness and diversity of charms.
HARRISON T. PAYNE.
That life is the most useful and desirable that results in the greatest good to the greatest number and, though all do not reach the goal of which they are ambitious of attaining. yet in some measure each can win success and make life a blessing to others. It is not necessary for one to occupy emi- nent public positions to do so, for in the humbler walks of life there remains much good to be accomplished and many opportunities for the exercise of our powers and influence which in some way will touch others with whom we come into contact, making them better and brighter. In the list of worthy citizens of Vermillion county occurs the names of Harrison T. Payne, for- merly a well known educator and business man, and who has for the past eight years discharged the duties of county auditor in a manner as to bring forth the praise of all concerned. In his career there is much that is commendable and his life forcibly illustrates what one can accomplish, even in the face of obsta-
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cles, if one's plans are wisely laid and his actions governed by right princi- ples, noble aims and high ideals.
Mr. Payne was born near Pimento, Vigo county, Indiana, on May 4. 1868. He is a son of Thomas J. and Adeline (Jewell) Payne, natives of Vigo county and Kentucky, respectively. The father spent his active life in agri- cultural pursuits. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company C, Eighty- fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Six brothers of the subject's mother were soldiers in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion.
To Thomas J. Payne and wife were born the following children : Frank B. is engaged in railroad construction work at Weiser, Idaho; Martha J. mar- ried John H. Richey, a farmer of Eureka, Kansas; Nancy J. married Daniel B. Stark, and they live in Colorado; Riley is farming at Howard, Kansas; Sarah J. married Thomas Forster, of Vermillion, Illinois; Harrison T. of this review ; Felix B. is a merchant of Clovis, New Mexico.
Politically, Thomas J. Payne is a Republican. For some time he was justice of the peace in Edgar county, Illinois. He is a member of the Christ- ian church and is a deacon in the same.
Harrison T. Payne was educated in the common schools of Indiana and Illinois. Thereafter he taught school for a period of fifteen years in a most successful manner, his services being in great demand. Finally tiring of the school room, he entered the business arena and was local agent for the Inter- national Harvester Company, at Clinton, Indiana, for some time, and he also engaged in the general mercantile business there. Taking an interest in pub- lic affairs, he was elected assessor of Clinton township, which position he held in an acceptable manner for six years. He was treasurer of the school board at Clinton for a year. For two years he was secretary of the Clinton Home Loan & Savings Association. He taught for some time in the Clinton schools, and in 1904 was elected auditor of Vermillion county, and, making a most commendable record, he was re-elected in 1908, serving eight years in all, his term expiring December 31, 1912. He was conceded by all to be one of the best officials the county has ever had, and he discharged his duties so ably, honorably and conscientiously that he ever enjoyed the confidence and good will of all.
Mr. Payne was married on April 12, 1896, to Carrie B. Fuqua, daugh- ter of Marshall D. Fuqua, of Sandford, Indiana, and to this union three chil- dren have been born, namely: Rheocus T., Lucille, and Mabel.
Mr. Payne is a member of the Christian church. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically, he is a loyal Republican and is chairman of the Republican county committee.
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After the subject was twenty-one years old he paid tuition to attend a country school during the winter and summer months, which was conducted by his sister west of Sandford, Indiana, just over the line in Illinois. When Mr. Payne was seventeen years old he went to Kansas, where he remained for two years and seven months, and engaged in carrying a star mail route, in the employ of his brother-in-law, who held the government contract, carrying the mail between Climax and Nealville, Kansas. He was one of the first rural mail carriers in the country, leaving mail for farmers, charging them fifty cents per month.
FRANK H. BEELER, M. D.
Though the young man whose name heads this sketch can not claim long experience, he has shown by the purposes which have thus far guided his life, and the ideals which have actuated him, that he is one whose influence in the community will ever be for right and progress, and who will always continue to deserve the esteem of his fellows while he pursues his present course. The son of a successful farmer and business man, he early felt a call- ing to the profession of medicine and began its study at the earliest opportun- ity. No man can do more for the advancement of his community than the phy- sician of intellect, heart and courage, who lives true to the ethics of this pro- fession which comes closer to the majority of mankind than any other.
Frank H. Becler, the son of John B. and Sarah (McHarry) Beeler, was born in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on August 30, 1885. Frank L. McHarry, maternal grandfather, built the canal at the falls at Louisville, Kentucky, and was owner of a line of steam and ferry boats, and was a well-known and prominent man, especially among steamboat men. Grandfather John Henry Beeler passed the greater portion of his life in Kentucky, and there was laid away to his final rest. John B. Beeler was born in Kentucky in 1846, and lives at New Albany, Indiana. He is a gravel road contractor, owns several farms, and has made a success of business undertakings, as well as accumu- lating even greater wealth in the number of strong friendships which he has made wherever he goes. Sarah McHarry was born in Kentucky on August 18, 1860. As a result of her marriage to John B. Beeler there were born twelve children, eight of whom survived their father.
The father of the subject is a believer in education, and offered his chil- dren all reasonable opportunities to obtain it. Frank H. graduated at a small town high school, and later at the Manual Training High School at Louisville,
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Kentucky. He then attended the Kentucky Medical University at Louisville, graduating from it, and was for some time connected with St. Edward's Hos- pital at New Albany, Indiana. In 1908 he started.practicing at Boswell, Wis- consin, later removed to Terre Haute, Indiana, and on March 30, 1911, came to Clinton, where he bought town property and took up the practice of his profession. Though success was at first slow, he now has a good and in- creasing practice and stands well with the members of his profession.
Doctor Beeler adheres to the Catholic faith of his mother .. In politics he is a Democrat. He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus, and a man of influence in the local branch of that organization.
LUCIUS OWEN BISHOP.
The most elaborate history is necessarily an abridgement, the historian being compelled to select his facts and materials from a multitude of details. So in every life of honor and usefulness the biographer finds no dearth of incident, and yet in summing up the career of any man the writer needs touch only the most salient points, giving only the keynote of his character, and eliminating much that is superfluous. Consequently in calling the reader's attention to the life record of Lucius Owen Bishop no attempt will be made to recount all the important acts in his useful life, for it is deemed that only a few of them will show him to be worthy of a place in this volume along with his fellows of high standing and recognized worth, men who have figured in the growth and prosperity of the section of the state with which they are identified.
Lucius Owen Bishop, editor and publisher of the Clinton Argus, one of the best known and most popular newspapers of Vermillion county, is a native of the city of Clinton, where he was born on April 17. 1859. He is a son of Francis Marion and Malinda (Anderson) Bishop, the father a native of Massachusetts and the mother of Virginia. The subject's paternal grand- father, Hiram Bishop, who came to Clinton county in 1852, was a well known contractor and builder. Among his public works was the construc- tion of a massive timber bridge across the Wabash river at Clinton in 1852-3. He married Sabrina Chapman and they became the parents of four children, of whom the eldest was Francis M .. the subject's father. Hiram Bishop made Clinton his home until his death, which occurred in the spring
L.O. Bishop
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of 1874. Francis M. Bishop accompanied his father to Clinton in 1852 and here followed the vocations of architect and decorator, in which he acquired a good reputation. He made Clinton his residence from the time he came here until his death, in 1905. In 1858 he married Malinda Anderson, who bore him three children, the subject of this sketch being the eldest. The other two are Edwin Anderson Bishop, of Libertyville, Illinois, and Sarah Bishop, of Clinton. The mother of these children died in 1871, and in 1874 Mr. Bishop married Jennie Highill, of Newport, by whom he had three children, of whom only one is living, Ethel Bishop.
Lucius O. Bishop secured his elementary education in the public schools of Clinton, and in 1877 he took up the study of law under the preceptorage of Henry A. White, of Clinton. He made good headway in mastering the principles of law and in a small way he began the practice before he attained his majority. But his legal ambitions were laid aside in 1879 when he en- tered the field of journalism, as one of the publishers of the Clinton Herald. In 1882 the partnership which had been formed was dissolved and Mr. Bishop founded the Clinton Argus in August of that year, and he has since remained in sole control of the paper. The Argus is a weekly newspaper and was established as an independent Republican paper, but in 1884 its political faith was changed to that of radical Democracy, advocating the single-tax. free-trade democracy of Henry George. Mr. Bishop was the first man in Indiana to volunteer with Henry George and the Argus was the first single tax paper in the country east of San Francisco. Typographically, the Argus is the equal of any of its contemporaries, while as a dispenser of current local news it is all that could be desired, its efficiency being attested by the splendid subscription list which sends it into homes in all parts of Ver- million and Parke counties. Its editorial utterances are forceful and exert a definite influence in moulding public thought and opinion. Mr. Bishop takes no half-way ground on the great questions on which men and parties differ and his support may always be counted upon in favor of all movements hav- ing for their object the upbuilding of the community in every right way. Personally. Mr. Bishop is a man of strong character and positive opinions : possesses excellent business qualifications, and, though he has met with a notable success in the field of journalism, he is very unassuming and genial. and because of his excellent worth he enjoys the good will of all who know him.
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