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 42
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 42
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On November 30. 1893. Mr. Bishop was married to Jennie A. Ringo, a (29)
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native of Paris, Edgar county, Illinois, and the daughter of George and Elizabetlı (Mann) Ringo. To Mr. and Mrs. Bishop have been born two children, Mary Elizabeth and Henry George, both of whom are in school.
Politically, Mr. Bishop is a Democrat and in 1893 was appointed post- master of Clinton by President Cleveland, serving over three years to the entire satisfaction of both the patrons of the office and the government.
GEORGE W. SPENCER, JR.
Among the progressive and enterprising citizens of Parke county who have achieved a definite measure of success in a diversity of vocations and have at the same time assisted materially in the upbuilding and development of the county, is George W. Spencer, Jr., the present able and popular in- cumbent of the office of county treasurer, who was for many years one of the most successful and best liked educators and later one of Parke county's en- terprising merchants. He is deserving of mention in a work of the province assigned to the one in hand along with the other leading citizens of Parke and Vermillion counties, because he has led a life that is highly commendable in every respect.
Mr. Spencer was born in Greene township, Parke county, Indiana, July 12, 1871, on a farm which his grandfather entered from the government in 1831. His parents were George W., Sr., and Mary (Clark) Spencer. The father also was a native of Parke county, born on the farm on which his father, John Spencer, settled in 1831, and he has continued to reside there throughout his life, and has kept the old place well cultivated and well im- proved. The mother of the subject was born at Judson, Parke county, and died at her home October 3. 1912. To these parents ten children have been born, nine of whom are still living, namely: John, living at Russellville, Put- nam county, this state; Jesse lives on the home farm; Allen also has remained on the homestead; William died when thirteen years old; George W., Jr., of this review ; Frank lives near Parkeville, this county, on a farm; Elsie is the wife of Elmer M. Mccutcheon, of Milligan, Parke county; Aria lives with her father at the home place; Wilbur lives near Waveland, Montgomery county, Indiana ; Fred is farming in Parke county.
George W. Spencer, Sr., was born November 14, 1840. He has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and at one time he served as trustee of Greene township.
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George W. Spencer, Jr., spent his boyhood days on the home farm and there assisted with the general work during crop seasons, and in the winter time he attended the rural schools in his neighborhood. After graduating from the common schools, he attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute for two years, then began teaching in Greene township of his native county, and continued to teach there for four years, then taught one year in Mecca and four terms at Milligan, all in Parke county. He gave eminent satisfac- tion as a teacher and his services were in great demand. Finally tiring of the school room, he purchased a general store at the town of Milligan before fin- ishing his last term of school. He was in partnership with his brother; this was in 1901 and they conducted that enterprise with much success for a period of seven years, or until 1908; his brother, however, had sold out his interest two years previously to another man.
The subject was elected trustee of Greene township in 1904, and served in that capacity most faithfully until the fall of 1908, when he resigned to accept the office of county treasurer, to which he had been elected on the Democratic ticket that year, and he made such a commendable showing in that capacity that he was re-elected in 1910. He is regarded as one of the best treasurers the county has ever had, being a hard worker, careful and honest.
Mr. Spencer was the nominee of his party for representative to the Legislature in 1912. The county is nominally Republican by about six hun- dred votes, but owing to our subject's prominence with all classes he was again elected to the office sought. He enjoys the distinction of being the only Democratic representative from his county in fifty years, except the Hon. Dick Miller, elected in 1896 by a fusion of Democrats and Populists.
Mr. Spencer was married on June 3. 1896, to Cora A. Stuart, daughter of Zeno and Jane (Hadley) Stuart, a prominent family of Hendricks county, Indiana. She was formerly a teacher, having taught two or three years in her native county and one year in Henry county, this state. Herfather was a na- tive of North Carolina. He and his wife are both now deceased. They became the parents of seven children, four of whom are now' living, namely : Melvin, who makes his home in Hendricks county, Indiana: Cora A., wife of Mr. Spencer; Tillie, deceased; Osie is the wife of John W. Figg, ex-county super- intendent of Hendricks county, but now teaching at Plainfield. Indiana : Olie is the wife of Frank McCormick, a merchant of Danville, Indiana.
To Mr. and Mrs. Spencer six children have been born, namely : Hoyt S., born April 14, 1897, was graduated from the common schools and is now in high school: Gladys, born October 16, 1898, is also in high school; Dwight,
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born January 27, 1901 ; Olive, born September 22, 1902; Kieth, born Decem- ber II, 1905; Kent, born October 8, 1907.
Fraternally, Mr. Spencer belongs to the Modern Woodmen at Wave- land, Montgomery county, Indiana, since 1908. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Rockville. The family attends the Christian church and are faithful in their support of the same.
ROBERT HENRY NIXON.
The two most strongly marked characteristics of both the East and the West are combined in the residents of Vermillion and Parke counties. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigorous middle West is here tempered by the stable and more careful policy that we have borrowed from our Eastern neighbors, and the combination is one of peculiar force and power. It has been a means of placing this section on a par with the older East, at the same time producing a reliability and certainty in business affairs which is frequently lacking in the West. This happy combination of characteristics is possessed to a notable degree by Robert Henry Nixon, well known banker and business man of Newport, one of the worthiest of Vermillion county's native sons, whose influence during a very industrious and useful life has made for the general progress of the locality of which this volume deals. He is too well known to the readers of this work to need any formal introduction here, his career having conferred credit on the state and his marked abilities and sterling qualities having won for him more than local repute. Strong mental powers, invincible courage and a determined purpose that hesitates at no op- position have so entered into liis composition as to render him a dominant fac- tor in the business world and a leader of men. He is essentially a man of affairs, of sound judgment, keen discernment and rare acumen, far-seeing in what he undertakes, and every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has been successful. His success in life has been the legitimate fruitage of consecutive effort, directed and controlled by good judgment and correct prin- ciples.
Mr. Nixon is the scion of a sterling old pioneer family that was popular and influential in this locality in the days of the early settlers. He was born at Newport, Indiana, May 24, 1842, and the major part of his three score and ten years have been spent in his native community. He is a son of Joshua
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and Margaret (Lovejoy ) Nixon, both natives of Adams county, Ohio, where they spent their earlier years, and there the father learned the trade of cabinet- maker and a flat-boat builder, also operated a flat boat on the Mississippi river, making twenty-one trips from Ohio to New Orleans. He built a house boat at Ripley, Ohio, on which he floated down the Ohio river to the mouth of the Wabash, ascending the latter, and located at the frontier village of New- port, Indiana, in 1831. He here continued to follow his trade of cabinet- maker and flat-boat builder, establishing the permanent home' of the family here, and his death occurred at this home at the age of sixty-four years. He had but one child, Robert Henry, of this review. Religiously, the former was a Methodist, and in politics a Whig, later a Republican, and allying himself with the Know-Nothing party when it was launched. He was known for his honesty, hospitality and industry and was popular with rivermen over the country and the early settlers of Newport.
Robert H. Nixon was born in a log house in Newport, and here he grew to manhood and was educated. Upon the commencement of the war of the states he enlisted for service with the national troops, Company C. Eighteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, on July 20, 1861, at Camp Morton, Indianapolis, and he saw considerable hard service in Missouri and Arkansas, being under fire at Paw Paw, in the former state, and for meritorious conduct he was pro- moted to the rank of sergeant. He was discharged on March 29, 1862, at Cross Timber, Arkansas, on account of disability. After recovering his health he entered the drug business on February 11, 1863, and continued suc- cessfully in the same until 1893, or a period of thirty years, during which his was one of the best known and most popular drug stores in this part of the Wabash valley. In that year he was burned out. He then entered the banking business, which he still follows. He had organized the bank of R. H. Nixon at his home town, Newport, on January 1, 1872, with a capital stock of five thousand dollars, which succeeded from the start under his able management and gradually grew with advancing years until it is now one of the most popular, sound and conservative banking institutions in western Indiana. Its officers at present are : R. H. Nixon, president ; H. V. Nixon, cashier ; B. R. Nixon, assistant cashier. The stockholders are: Ida Nixon Galloway, of South Bend ; Mary Nixon Davis, of Terre Haute: Lena Nixon Travis, of Fort Wayne; R. H. Nixon. H. V. Nixon, B. R. Nixon and Marie Nixon, all of Newport. The capital stock is now thirty thousand dollars, with a surplus of fifteen thousand dollars. They carry on a general banking business, under the firm name of R. H. Nixon & Company, Bankers. They have a substantial
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and attractive bank building, and the safe and other fixtures and furnishings are up-to-date in every respect. The bank owns two valuable, productive and well improved farms in this locality, one of two hundred and thirty-nine acres and the other of two hundred and eighty acres. Robert H. Nixon owns per- sonally one thousand three hundred thirty-five and one-half acres, all tillable but one hundred acres. It is all well improved and fertile. He is also a stock- holder in the State Bank of West Terre Haute, a director in the Union Trust Company of Indianapolis, also a stockholder in the McKeen National Bank and the United States Trust Company, both of Terre Haute. He has been very successful in a financial way and is one of the substantial men of this section of the state, wielding a potent and wide influence in financial and business circles.
Politically, Mr. Nixon is a Republican and is a leader in local party affairs. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1888. He was a member and treasurer of the Newport school board for a period of twenty-four years. Fraternally, he is a Mason.
The domestic life of Mr. Nixon began on October 16, 1865, when he led to the hymeneal altar a lady of culture and refinement, known in her maiden- hood as Maria Hefflerman, who was born in Vermillion township, Vermillion county, Indiana, and is a daughter of Elias Hefflerman and wife, a highly esteemed family of that section. The union of Mr. Nixon and wife has been graced by the birth of seven children, named as follows: Blanche, who mar- ried Fred Collett, is deceased; Ida is the wife of Dr. U. G. Galloway, of South Bend; Mary married O. D. Davis, of Terre Haute: Lena is the wife of Claude E. Travis, of Fort Wayne : Bertha died when eight years old: H. V. and B. R. are assisting their father in the bank.
Personally, Mr. Nixon is a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet, unassuming, genial, obliging, a man of public spirit, unusual business ability and industry and a man of scrupulous honesty and high ideals, progressive in his thought and wholesome in his private and business life.
ALFRED H. STARK.
Energy, sound judgment and persistency of effort will always win the goal sought in the sphere of human endeavor, no matter what the environ- ment may be or what obstacles are met with, for they who are endowed with such characteristics make of their adversities stepping stones to higher things. These reflections are suggested by the career of Alfred H. Stark, president of
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the Parke State Bank, at Rockville, and a man who has long ranked as one of the leading financiers and representative citizens of Parke and Vermillion counties, having forged his way to the front ranks of men of affairs through his own efforts. He has been for many years an important factor in business circles of the thriving little city of which he is native and where he has been pleased to spend his life, and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unswerving honesty and public spirit that never flags.
Alfred H. Stark was born on July 16, 1866, in Rockville, Indiana, and is the son of Alfred K. and Sarah (Harris) Stark, both natives of Rockville and each representing prominent pioneer families. Alfred K. Stark, who was born on February 14, 1840, has been a lifelong resident of Rockville. In 1855, at the age of fifteen years, he entered business as a clerk in the drug store of Coffin & Davis. In 1862 he purchased a half interest in the business and 1864 bought the remaining interest. A year later he sold an interest in the store to his brother, D. W. Stark, and, under the name of Stark Brothers, the business was continued until their stock was destroyed by fire, on Septem- ber 17, 1870. In 1873 Alfred K. Stark became associated with Messrs. Tate and Coulter as original proprietors of the Parke Banking Company. Later he became president of the bank, which became known as the Parke State Bank, its present name. Mr. Stårk has been an influential business man for a half century and at present he is chairman of the board of directors of the bank. Alfred K. Stark was twice in the military service of his country during the Civil war, having served as a private in Company C, Seventy-eighth In- diana Volunteer Infantry, and as an orderly sergeant in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Regiment.
Alfred H. Stark, the immediate subject of this review, grew to man- hood in Rockville and received a public school education there, which has been supplemented by close home reading of a miscellaneous nature and by wide observation and actual experience in the business world. When twenty years of age he began his business career by taking a position in the Parke State Bank. From the beginning he exhibited unusual ability in this line of ef- fort, consequently his rise was rapid, and in 1886 he was made assistant cash- ier. About 1889 he became cashier and in 1908 he was elected to the presidency of the institution, the duties of which responsible position he has continued to discharge to the present time in a manner that reflects much credit upon himn- self and to the eminent satisfaction of the stockholders and patrons. The ex- cellent prestige of this sound and popular institution, which has long wielded a potent influence in financial and commercial affairs in this and adjoining
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counties, has been due in no small measure to his energy, wise counsel and able management.
Mr. Stark was married on October 18, 1892, to Mary Thomson, daugh- ter of William M. Thomson, a well known merchant of Rockville, in which city Mrs. Stark grew to womanhood and received her education and where she has always been popular with a large circle of friends. This union has been without issue.
Fraternally, Mr. Stark is a thirty-second-degree Mason and has long been active in that order. He belongs to the Memorial Presbyterian church of Rockville and is a liberal supporter of the same, being one of its trustees and most influential workers. Politically, he is a Republican, but not a biased partisan or active in the ranks ; however, his support may always be depended upon in furthering any movement looking to the betterment of his town or county in any way. He has been very successful in a business way, and in connection with the bank he is the owner of a valuable and well improved farm, in which he takes much interest. He is a fine type of the progressive, far-seeing, obliging and genteel business man of the twentieth century.
JOHN A. LINEBARGER.
The men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and in giving character to the times in which they live are two classes-the men of study and the men of action. Whether we are not more indebted for the im- provement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of honest dif- ference of opinion ; neither can be spared and both should be encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence zealously and without mutual distrust. In the following paragraphs are briefly outlined the leading facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who combines in his make-up the elements of the scholar and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs. Devoted to the noble and humane work of teaching, Prof. John A. Linebarger, the efficient and popular superintendent of the Rockville public schools, Parke county, Indiana, has made his influence felt in a most potent manner in the locality of which this history treats. All who come within range of his influence are profuse in their praise of his admirable qualities, and the high regard in which he is held, not only profesionally but socially, indicates the possession of attributes and characteristics that fully entitle him to the respect and consideration of his fellow men.
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John A. Linebarger was born in West Union, Reserve township, Parke county, Indiana, on February 28, 1876, and he is the son of George and Mariah (Hocker) Linebarger, both also natives of Parke county. George Linebarger, who still lives at West Union, is a farmer by vocation and pos- sesses those sterling qualities which have gained for him a high standing among the best men in his community. The subject's paternal grandfather, Andrew Linebarger, was a native of North Carolina, and came to Parke county in 1822, being numbered among the pioneers of this section of the state. He settled at West Union, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying on April 28, 1907, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. He was married twice, first to Elizabeth Burton and then to Mary Warner, and be- came the father of fifteen children. To George and Mariah Linebarger were born six children, of whom four are living, those besides the subject being Mary and Melvina, at home, and Mrs. Ivah Scott, of Santiago, Chile, whose husband is a teacher of mathematics in a boys' institute there. Both of the subject's parents taught in the schools of Parke county prior to their marriage.
John A. Linebarger received his elementary education in the common schools of Reserve township, following which he entered De Pauw Univer- sity, at Greencastle, where he spent seven years, three years in the preparatory department and four years in the college proper. He was graduated in June, 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts and took the Phi Beta Kappa honors. He was also a tutor in Greek for two years in the university while a student. Following his graduation, Professor Linebarger was for two years engaged in teaching school in his home township, following which he gave two years' service as principal of the high school at Fowler, Indiana. He then became superintendent of the public schools at Montezuma, this county, re- maining there for four years and establishing a record for efficiency and abil- ity that was bound to receive larger recognition. Seven years ago he was of- fered and accepted the position of superintendent of the schools at Rockville. in which position he has been retained from year to year, his administration of the schools being eminently satisfactory to both board and patrons. He has brought the schools up to a standard of efficiency that ranks them with any in this section of the state, due to his force of character, ability as an organizer and the results of his professional experience. He has shown himself to be a man of progressive ideas, broad-minded, and he keeps fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession. His work is character- istically practical and in teaching or in superintending and arranging the course of study, he possesses to a notable degree the sense of proportion and fitness. Although a school man in the broadest and best sense of the term,
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Professor Linebarger has never become narrow or pedantic, but is a well- rounded, symmetrically-developed man, fully alive to the demands of the times, thoroughly informed on the leading questions before the public and takes broad views of men and things.
His abilities have been recognized by his professional brethren through the state and he is a prominent member of the Southern Indiana Teachers' As- sociation, comprising three thousand members, being the present chairman of that body.
Religiously, Professor Linebarger is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, in the activities of which he is deeply interested, especially in the Sunday school, where he is the teacher of the men's Bible class of one hun- dred and thirty-five members. Fraternally, he is member of the Free and Accepted Masons, while his social affiliation is with the Shakespeare Club, a leading literary club of Rockville. As president of the Rockville Chautauqua Association, Professor Linebarger has been an important factor in the suc- cess which has attended the institution, for in this, as in everything to which he bends his energies, he gives the very best that is in him. His support may always be counted upon in favor of every movement having for its object the advancement of the city's best interests.
On November 22, 1905, John A. Linebarger was married to Iva Blue, of Montezuma, the daughter of James M. and Mary A. (Brown) Blue, a well known Parke county family. Mr. Blue died on December 28. 1907, being sur- vived by his widow.
JOSEPH WILBOURN AMIS.
Success in what are popularly termed the learned professions is the legitimate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial life one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but professional advancement is gained only by critical study and consecutive research long continued. Proper intellectual discipline, thorough professional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attributes essential to success have made Joseph W. Amis, of Clinton, Indiana, eminent in his chosen calling, and he now stands among the scholarly and able lawyers in a community long distinguished for the high order of its legal talent. His professional life has been characterized by not only the most adroit ability, but also by a broad human sympathy and an innate sense of actual justice, for when a youth he realized that there is no honor not founded on genuine
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worth, there is a vital purpose in life and that the best and highest accom- plishment must come from a well-trained mind and an altruistic heart.
Joseph W. Amis was born in Clinton township, Vermillion county, In- diana, on February 18, 1868, and is the only child of Garret and Jane (Clover) Amis, both of whom also were natives of Clinton township. The subject is the descendant in the sixth generation from the noted French Huguenot, John Amis, whose son, Thomas Amis, was the progenitor of the family in America. The subject's paternal great-grandfather was John Amis, of the same name as his noted French ancestor. In an early day, and while still a youth, John Amis emigrated to Kentucky, locating on Goose creek, where he acquired a large tract of land, becoming one of the most prominent and influential men of the eastern part of that state. He met a tragic death by assassination in 1808. His son, Wilbourn Amis, who was born in 1798, was, after the death of his father, taken to Rogersville, Tennessee, where he received his educa- tion and was reared to manhood. Among his children was Garret Amis, father of the subject of this sketch, who was born on July 23. 1838, and who is now an honored resident of New Goshen, Vigo county, Indiana, having for many years been successfully engaged as a farmer and stock man. When the subject was but two years old, his mother died, and subsequently his father married Elizabeth Pinson, a representative of one of the prominent and well- known pioneer families of Vigo county, and whose death occurred on July 13. 1908. To this second union were born two children, Nettie, of New Goshen, Indiana, and James T., of Wallace, Kansas.
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