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 45
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 45
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
479
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
ship followed them through evil as well as good report, and these in return never forgot him.
He was fashioned on a large pattern. Nature was prodigal when she built James T. Johnston. He fitted into big occasions, and he quite naturally and with ease took his place with prominent men nationally, and without . apology. But there was another trait in his character as marked as any-his tender heartedness. Serious sickness in his family unmanned him and mis- fortune to his friends greatly disturbed him. He was elemental, and his fine traits of character, his commendable record as a soldier. his useful public career, his worthy characteristics as a private citizen, neighbor, friend, hus- band and father, so impressed his personality upon all that his memory will linger with the wide circle of friends left to deplore his loss for many years to come.
On July 15, 1909, Mr. Johnston was summoned to his eternal rest, at his beautiful Rockville home, at the age of sixty-five years and six months, his passing away being regarded as a distinct loss to the county and state.
WILLIAM M. THOMSON.
The life record of William M. Thomson, of Rockville, is too well known to the people of Parke and Vermillion counties to need any extended eulogy here, for his career speaks for itself. He was born in Waveland, Montgom- ery county, Indiana, November 27, 1833, and is the son of John S. and Mary (Wilson) Thomson, both natives of the state of Ohio, the father born in the city of Springfield and the mother in Hamilton county. John S. Thomson grew to manhood in his native state, and removed to Crawfordsville, Indiana, in January, 1834. He had received a high education for those days and was an educator of note in this part of the country. He came to Indiana as pro- fessor of Latin and mathematics in Wabash College, and he spent the rest of his life in Crawfordsville, dying there in 1843. His widow survived many years, dying in Rockville, at the advanced age of ninety years, having been called to her rest only a few years ago.
Five children were born to John S. Thomson and wife, all now deceased but William M., of this review.
Mr. Thomson, of this sketch, received a common school education. He came to Rockville on November 7, 1847, with his mother and P. E. Harris, who was a merchant here for many years. In 1849 Mr. Thomson took a
480
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
position in the store of Mr. Harris. Ten years later he went to Pike's Peak, Colorado, and remained in the West about a year. Returning to Rockville, he went into the dry goods business under the firm name of Nichols, Thom- son & Company. They also operated a grist-mill, which continued until 1864, when this firm erected the woolen mills. Mr. Thomson continued in business under the firm name of Thompson, McEwen & Bryant, general mer- chants, until 1884. During the last mentioned year the firm went out of business, and Mr. Thomson bought his present grocery store from Firman Allen and has remained on the present site ever since. He is the oldest busi- ness man in Rockville, both in years and in point of business.
Mr. Thomson was married on June 11, 1866, to Emily J. Bryant, daugh- ter of Judge W. T. Bryant and Maria Bryant. Judge Bryant was judge of his judicial district for many years and afterwards was chief justice of Ore- gon Territory, having been appointed by President James K. Polk. Mrs. Thompson was born in Rockville, Parke county, in the house in which she is now living, and here they have lived since their marriage. They have the following children: William B., who is associated with his father in the store ; Mary P. is the wife of A. H. Stark, president of the Parke State Bank at Rockville; Jennie P., wife of Howard Maxwell, a leading attorney of Rockville.
Politically, Mr. Thomson is a Republican, having been loyal to its prin- ciples from the time of its organization in 1856 to the present.
ISAAC R. STROUSE.
There is no nobler profession in all the world than that of journalism, if it be honest and if it be free. The privilege to tell the truth, and the privi- lege to be kind; the high and unquestioned right to be just, and the joy of championing all good causes and all right things-in these elements jour- nalism has no superior and scarcely an equal among the vocations which belong to man. The modern country newspaper presents to the mind most vividly the vast strides that have been made in mechanics, in political morals, in social relations, in religious tenets,-in fact, along the entire gamut of human endeavor. It marks with peculiar stamp the civilization of the present day.
A journalist of more than local renown is Isaac R. Strouse, editor of the Rockville Tribune, a country newspaper of no ignoble type. Mr. Stronse.
A
MRS. JULIET V. STROUSE.
ISAAC R. STROUSE.
481
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
who is a fine type of a citizen and a man of state-wide reputation, is a native of Rockville, Indiana, born on December 12, 1859, and is the son of Samuel and Mary Frances ( Baker) Strouse, the father a native of Bavaria, Ger- many, and the mother of Shelbyville, Kentucky.
Samuel Strouse came to Rockville in 1843 and engaged in the live stock and livery business, remaining here until his death, which occurred in 1898. His wife had died in 1878. They were the parents of seven children, four of whom are now living, the other three being David Strouse, Mrs. Ared F. White and Mrs. E. A. Puett, the latter of Long Beach, California.
Isaac R. Strouse received a public school education in Rockville until sixteen years of age, when he left school and entered the office of the Indiana Patriot to learn the "art preservative." Joseph B. Cheadle soon afterwards bought this paper and changed its name to the Rockville Tribune. Mr. Strouse set the first type and printed the first edition of the new paper on an old hand press, and, with the exception of one year, when he was employed as a rail- road fireman, he has been connected with the Tribune ever since. In 1882 he purchased of John H. Beadle a half interest in the paper, prior to which time he had for two years served the paper as local editor and printer. In 1889 Mr. Strouse purchased his partner's interest in the plant and since has been in full control. Under Mr. Beadle's management the paper had been an independent journal, but when Mr. Strouse secured the paper he made it Democratic, and few papers in Indiana can point to so consistent an editorial record as that of the Tribune. Since that day it has been a steadfast advo- cate of the undying principles of Democracy as formulated by Thomas Jef- ferson and enunciated by William Jennings Bryan. It has consistently ad- vocated free trade since 1882 and it claims that it has lived to see many of its early predictions come true, such as the formation of great industrial combinations which, it predicted, would be the inevitable outgrowth of the protective tariff. The Tribune is especially vigilant in its championship of progressive Democracy as advocated by Mr. Bryan, to whose political tenets it has, in season and out of season, given uncompromising allegiance and un- swerving devotion. Its discussion of all issues upon which men and parties divide has been such as to make it a potent factor in the local body politic. and few newspapers in western Indiana are more often quoted. But, faithful and discriminating as may have been its characterization of public virtues and public discrepancies, fearless as may have been its presentations of its politi- cal creed, perhaps its greatest claim to local renown is as a local newspaper.
(31)
482
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
for there are no better in the Wabash country. For over a quarter of a cen- tury the Tribune has made its weekly visits into hundreds of the best homes of Parke county. Manifold have been its pulse throbs of passing events during these years. It has rejoiced with the people in their hours of victory and consoled with them in their hours of sorrow. To serve such a clientele is no slight responsibility, for even the humble and unpretending newspaper that goes regularly into the home contributes, imperceptibly perhaps, but none the less surely, to the intellectual growth of all the people therein.
Isaac R. Strouse was married on December 22, 1881, to Juliet Virginia Humphreys, a native of Rockville and a daughter of William and Susan Marcia (King) Humphreys, the latter a woman of rare talent and education, gifted with a finely developed mind and a taste for the finer and better things in literature and art. Mrs. Strouse doubtless inherited from her gifted mother man of these traits, for she is herself a woman of decided literary accomplishments, and enjoying a national reputation. For over twenty years she has regularly conducted a department in the Tribune. For over ten years she has conducted a department in the Indianapolis News under the heading of "The Country Contributor," and for over six years she has had a special department in the Ladies' Home Journal under the caption of "Ideas of a Plain Country Woman." She has also contributed short stories and special articles to the magazine and periodical press of the country. "The Ideas of a .Plain Country Woman" was published in book form by Doubleday. Page & Company and was reprinted in England. Mrs. Strouse's writings are strik- ingly original, possess a wholesome charm and breathe a homespun philosophy that makes them an interesting and distinctive feature of any publication in which they appear.
To the home of Mr. and Mrs. Strouse have been born two children. namely : Marcia Frances, the wife of Claude Ott, of Rockville, and Sarah Katharine, the deceased wife of Harold A. Henderson, of Rockville.
In 1893 Mr. Strouse was appointed by Governor Matthews a trustee of the Indiana Institute for the Blind, in which position he served two years. In 1898 Governor Mount appointed him a major in the Indiana National Guard, but he declined the appointment. In 1907 Governor Hanly appointed him a member of the commission to select and purchase a site and erect the buildings for the Indiana Tuberculosis Hospital. Mr. Strouse was secretary of the commission, which spent one hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the purpose designated. It is a noteworthy fact that Mr. Strouse's accounts
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA. - 483
tallied to a cent with those of the auditor of state. It was partly through his efforts, in co-operation with the citizens of Rockville, that the hospital was located at that place. On the completion of the hospital Governor Marshall appointed Mr. Strouse a member of the board of three trustees to manage the same, in which capacity he is now ably serving the state.
It is needless to say that Mr. Strouse is a progressive and influential citizen of Rockville, a community which has long been noted for the high order of its citizenship. He is interested in every movement that has for its object the betterment of the civic and moral forces of the community and no citizen stands higher in the estimation of those who know the worth of a man.
ALLAN T. BROCKWAY.
The subject of this sketch is not the example of a man whom the in- scrutable caprice of fortune or fate has suddenly placed in an important and successful position in the business world, but he has attained to the same through long years of persistent toil and unflagging endeavor, for he realized early in his career that success comes to the deserving, and that to be deserv- ing one must be industrious and persistent, honorable and straightforward; so he forged ahead, surmounting obstacles that would have daunted and di- verted the course of less courageous spirits.
Allan T. Brockway, the present able and popular cashier of the Rock- ville National Bank, Rockville, Parke county, was born in Greencastle, In- diana, December 30, 1872, and is a son of Alva and Sarah E. (McCarty) Brockway. The father was a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, and he came to Greencastle, Indiana, about 1858 and there began the manufacture of wooden pumps, in which he met with much success and which business he finally sold to Cale Brothers. The elder Brockway became one of the leading business men of Greencastle and there he spent the rest of his life, dying in Septem- ber, 1908. The mother of the subject still lives in Greencastle. Two children were born to these parents, Allan T., of this review, and Edwin, who lives in Greencastle.
Allan T. Brockway grew to manhood in Greencastle and there he re- ceived a good common school education, later spending three years in De Pauw University, at that place. He began life for himself by accepting a posi- tion in the Central National Bank of Greencastle, where he remained five
484
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
years, giving eminent satisfaction and mastering the basic principles of the banking business. He came to Rockville in April, 1899, to accept a position as assistant cashier of the Rockville National Bank, and in 1908 he became cashier, which position he is still holding to the eminent satisfaction of the stockholders and patrons of the bank, being well posted on every phase of modern banking methods, scrupulously honest and courteous to all patrons.
Mr. Brockway was married on June 22, 1899, to Frank M. McCune, daughter of Samuel M. and Evaline K. ( Kirkpatrick) McCune, her father having at one time been president of the Rockville National Bank, and for many years a prominent citizen there.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brockway, namely: Eva- line is twelve years of age; Louise is ten years old; Frances has passed her seventh birthday ; and Marian is an infant.
Fraternally, Mr. Brockway is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order and, religiously, he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church. Politically, he is a Republican. He was a member of the local school board for a period of five years, and he takes a deep interest in the affairs of his town and county generally.
RAYMOND E. SWOPE, M. D.
Concentration of purpose and persistently applied energy rarely fail of success in the accomplishment of any task, however great, and in tracing the career of Dr. Raymond E. Swope, one of the best known of the younger phy- sicians of Parke and Vermillion, counties, it is plainly seen that these things have been the secrets of his rise to a position of prominence and respectability. Moreover, he possesses genuine love for his work and regards it as a privilege to carry comfort and aid to the sick and suffering.
Dr. Swope was born in Stilesville, Hendricks county, Indiana, November 25, 1872. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth A. (Brown) Swope, the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Indiana. They are both now deceased. Samuel Swope devoted his life to the undertaking business. He and his wife became the parents of four children, all still living.
Dr. Swope received a common school education at Stilesville, also at- tended the high school at Crawfordsville. Indiana. He then for a time worked at the undertaking business with his father. In the fall of 1896 he entered Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, where he made an excellent
485
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
record for scholarship, and he was graduated from that institution with the class of 1900, having been a member of the first class to graduate under the four-year ruling. He began the practice of his profession in Putnam county. but remained there only a short time, coming to Rockville, Parke county, in April. 1907, and here he has since remained and has built up a very satisfac- tory and rapidly growing practice, his past success auguring much promise for the future.
Dr. Swope was married on June 30, 1909. to Elizabeth A. Ott. of Rock- ville, a daughter of Baxter Ott, one of the excellent old families of this place.
Fraternally, Dr. Swope belongs to the Masonic order and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically, he is a Republican, and he and his wife belong to the Presbyterian church. He holds membership in the Parke County Medical Society and the State Medical Association. He is secretary of the local pension board, of the United States board of examining surgeons and in this capacity is giving eminent satisfaction. He is also first lieutenant in Battery C, Indiana National Guard, at Rockville. He takes a deep interest in the affairs of his town and county and is a young man of fine character.
PETER PENCE.
It will inevitably be found. if an examination be made into the records of self-made men, that untiring industry forms the basis of their success. It is true that many other elements enter in, such as fortitude, perseverance, keen discernment and honesty of purpose which enable one to recognize business opportunities ; but the foundation of all worthy achievement is earnest, per- sistent labor. The gentleman whose name forms the caption of this article recognized these facts early in life and did not seek to gain any short or magical method to the goal of prosperity. On the contrary he began to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself along laudable lines and from an Imumble beginning he became one of the leading agriculturists and stock raisers in Parke county. Mr. Pence is one of the venerable and highly esteemed citizens of this locality, now living in quiet retirement at his cozy home in Rockville, enjoying the respite due a long and strenuous career. He is one of the veterans of what is universally conceded to be the greatest war of all history, having served his country most faithfully during her darkest hours.
486
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Peter Pence was born in Florida township, Parke county, Indiana, Sep- tember 3, 1844, the son of Andrew and Sarah ( Bloomhuff ) Pence. The father was born in Adams county, Ohio, May 27, 1811, and the mother was born in Brown county, Ohio, on August 18, 1811. They grew to maturity in their native state and were married there, and about 1840 they came to Parke county, Indiana, locating in Florida township, where they became well estab- lished through their industry and were well known and highly respected. They spent their lives engaged in general farming. In 1878 they removed to Nodaway county, Missouri, where they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, the mother having preceded him to the grave five years. They were the parents of twelve children, four of whom are now living, namely: William, who resides in Nodaway county, Missouri, where John also makes his home; Andrew B. lives in Nowater, Oklahoma ; and Peter, of this sketch.
The Pence family is of Dutch descent.
Peter Pence grew to manhood on the home farm and there he assisted with the general work about the place when of proper age, and he received a good practical country school education. About this period the great Civil war commenced, and, although but eighteen years of age, he enlisted, in 1863, in the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment, and served two years or until the close of the war, seeing consid- erable hard service in a number of important campaigns and battles, including the sanguinary engagements at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, also many skirmishes, in all of which he conducted himself as becomes a gallant Ameri- can soldier.
After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Pence returned to his home in Parke county and took up farming on his own account in Wabash and Florida townships, and later in Adams township.
Mr. Pence was married on October 22, 1871, to Catherine Hixon, who was born in Parke county, Indiana, April 23, 1850, a native of Wabash town- ship, where her people were well known and influential, her parents being James and Eliza (Wannamaugher ) Hixon, the father a native of Parke county, Indiana, born August 31, 1824, and her mother was born in Ohio, April 20, 1825. James Hixon was accidentally killed at Mecca bridge, Sep- tember 30, 1892. Mrs. Eliza Hixon died in Terre Haute, Indiana, December 29, 1909, at the advanced age of eighty-four years, eight months and nine days. The Hixon family is of Dutch extraction on the mother's side, and of
487
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Scotch-Irish descent on the paternal side. Mrs. Pence is one of five children living, five others having died in childhood.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pence went to housekeeping in Florida township, this county, and they soon ranked among the leading farm- ers of the same, laying by a comfortable competency as the years ad- vanced. They lived in Wabash township from 1878 to 1903, when they re- tired from active life and removed to their commodious home in Rockville, where they have since lived, enjoying the fruits of their former years of toil and endeavor, but retaining their fine farm in Wabash township.
One child has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Pence, Ellis Pence, who lives on the home farm in Wabash township, where he is making a pro- nounced success as a farmer and stock raiser. He married Mollie Hardin, who was born in Montgomery county, Indiana. They have had eight chil- dren, seven of whom are now living, namely: Helen, Madge Marie, Murl Eliza, Catherine, Margaret (deceased), Maynard Hardin, Alice Lavear, and Marie Louise.
Mr. and Mrs. Pence belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which they are liberal supporters. Politically, he is a stanch Republican, but has never sought public honors, though he was trustee of Wabash township for two terms, giving eminent satisfaction to all concerned in this capacity. Fra- ternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythias. He is a man of scrupulous honesty, public spirit, hospitable and a pleasant man to know, always plain and unassuming.
SAMUEL THOMAS CATLIN.
Parke county is rich in honored sons, but none is more worthy of his- torical record than the late Samuel T. Catlin, a man who was content to spend his long, useful and honorable life right here at home, and he did much to further the material, civic and moral interests of the county and in his day and generation no citizen of Parke was better or more favorably known. He was a successful man in business affairs, accumulating a large and valuable estate through his own efforts, by his industry, thrift and able management and he was a public servant against whose record there never was a shadow of suspicion. And now that he has, like a sheaf fully ripened, been gathered in by "the reaper whose name is Death." his influence still survives, making better and brighter the lives of those who came in close contact with him, for
488
PARKE AND VERMILLION COUNTIES, INDIANA.
his life was led along a noble plan of endeavor, and he left behind him a record of which his family and friends may well be proud and cause his memory to long be revered.
Mr. Catlin was horn in Florida township. Parke county, Indiana, June 25, 1836, and was a son of Hiram and Mary (Gentle) Catlin, a sterling old pioneer family. He was reared on the old home farm, where he continued to reside, carrying on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale and in a successful manner until 1886, when he removed to Rockville, where he spent the latter years of his life, his death occurring here on De- cember 7. 1908. in his seventy-third year.
Mr. Catlin was educated in the public schools of his native community and at Bloomingdale Academy. Preparing himself for a teacher, he followed that line of endeavor in a most successful manner for several years. Had he continued in that vocation he doubtless would have become one of our leading educators. He, however, liked an outdoor life best and abandoned the school room to engage in farming and stock raising near the town of Catlin and in due course of time became one of the substantial and successful agriculturists of that part of the county.
Mr. Catlin always took an active and prominent part in public affairs. and in 1886 was elected auditor of Parke county, which office he filled in a manner that reflected much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfac- tion of all concerned for a period of eight years, and he is remembered today as one of the best county officers Parke has ever had. In 1897 he was elected president of the Rockville National Bank, which responsible position he held until his death, and the large success of this popular institution was due in no small measure to his able management, wise counsel and sound judgment.
Mr. Catlin was married on March 24. 1862, to Elizabeth Harshman, a woman of many commendable traits and the representative of a fine old family. To this union two sons were born. Hiram Wesley Catlin, whose death occurred on May 15, 1873. and Thomas H. Catlin, of Dana and Rockville.
Mr. Catlin was a man of highest probity, an energetic, painstaking busi- ness man, a man of the most attractive and entertaining social qualities, a great lover of nature, who was fond of youth and who was admired by young men : a man of vast information, being widely read. He was for many years a member of the Methodist church, and a most liheral supporter of the same. Fraternally, he belonged to Catlin Lodge and Parke Chapter, Free and Ac- cepted Masons. In his death Parke county lost one of her foremost citizens, one who helped make its best history, and a man whose memory coming gen- erations will ever honor.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.