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 61
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 61
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Mr. Aikman devotes his undivided attention to his fast-growing legal practice. He is a stanch Republican, and he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Kappa Sigma and the Phi Delta Phi, college fraternities. He is a young man of pleasing personality and is popular with all classes.
ROBERT IRVIN STONE.
One of the worthy native sons of Parke county who has not cared to follow the beckonings of the wanderlust spirit that tries to lure away all youths from their native haunts into some unknown region, is Robert Irvin Stone, he having been content to spend his life in this locality where his people have been well and favorably known since the pioneer epoch, and here he has labored to successful ends in his chosen field of endeavor.
Mr. Stone was born on a farm east of Rosedale, Parke county, Indiana,
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October 18, 1864, his parents having been living at that time on what is commonly known at present as the Doty farm. He is a son of Cass M. and Laticia (Gott) Stone. The father was born in Trimble county, Kentucky, where he spent his boyhood and he was a young man when he came to In- diana, his father, Henry H. Stone, coming later on to this state and estab- lishing his residence with his children, seven sons and daughters having been born to him, named as follows: Mrs. : Julia Nicholas, who lives in Terre Haute, Indiana; Mrs. Jennie A. Stoner, of Boone county, Indiana; William H. is deceased; Robert Irvin, of this sketch; Cora A., who married a Mr. Griffin; Mrs. Mamie M. Johnson was next in order; and Clarence G., who was the youngest.
Robert I. Stone grew to manhood in Parke county and here he received a public school education, working on the home farm during his boyhood days, and when twenty-one years of age he started out for himself. He lived in Montgomery county, this state, for a period of three years, but this was not many miles from his birthplace. He worked on a farm there, and, saving his money, soon had a start, and is now owner of ninety-two acres of very productive and well improved land in Parke county, and is also inter- ested in the place where his brother, Clarence Stone, lives. He has been very successful.
Mr. Stone was married on April 28, 1889, to Mamie M. Montgomery, and to this minion two children were born: Homer, who married Hazel Grimes, a native of Parke county, and they have one child, Rachael; Herman, second child of the subject, is at home.
Mr. Stone is a Democrat, but is not active in public affairs. Religiously. the Stone family are Baptists.
GEORGE L. LANEY.
Among the strong and influential citizens of Parke county the record of whose lives have become an essential part of the history of this section of the far-famed Wabash country, the gentleman whose name appears above occu- „pies a prominent place, and for many years has exerted a beneficial influence in the community in which he resides, being a man of progressive ideas and high ideals, public spirited and unselfish motives. Mr. Laney is a wide- awake, energetic man of affairs, of sound judgment and modern business principles, and he has always succeeded at whatever he undertook.
GEO. L. LANEY.
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George L. Laney, who is the present able and popular incumbent of the office of county clerk of Parke county, was born on April 8, 1863, in Mc- Donough county, Illinois. His parents were Levi D. and Mary (Devlin) Laney. The father was born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, February 14, 1814, and the mother was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, March 12, 1832. Levi D. Laney was a minister in the Baptist church, also a farmer, a good and influential man. He came to Parke county, Indiana, as early as 1829 and located on a farm in Florida township, section 29, with his father, James Laney. (The name was originally DeLaney.) They began life there in typical pioneer fashion, the country being practically a wilderness and neigh- bors few. Levi D. Laney remained in Florida township until 1852, when he removed to McDonough county, Illinois, where he lived until 1870, when he removed to Decatur county, Iowa, and lived there until July 23, 1872, when he came back to Indiana, locating again in Parke county, August 23, 1872, in the same section and township where he had previously lived, and there he remained until his death, February 22, 1892, at the age of seventy- eight years. The mother of the subject spent her early girlhood in Ireland, from which country she came to America in 1837 with her parents, who lo- cated at Fairfield, Vermont. She was educated in the convent at Montreal, Canada, from which she was graduated with the class of 1850. Her mother died in 1838 in Vermont, and her father came to Galesburg, McDonough county, Illinois, soon afterwards. Mrs. Laney was the youngest of five chil- dren, and she and Levi D. Laney were married in McDonough county on July 3, 1863. The death of the mother of the subject occurred on March 22, 1890. Besides the subject one other child, Andrew J. Laney, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was born to Levi D. Laney and wife.
George L. Laney grew to manhood on the home farm and he has spent the major portion of his life on a farm. He assisted his father with the gen- eral work about the place when a boy and received his early education in the country schools of Florida township, being nine years old when his parents came to Parke county. He later attended the Central Indiana Normal at Ladoga. He began life by teaching school, which he followed for a period of eight years in Florida township, in country schools, having the utmost success. He worked in the coal mines six years. All this time he was living on the small home farm and did more or less farming. He also worked as a builder and contractor later. From 1900 to 1904 he was traveling for the Meridian Life & Trust Company as state supervisor of agents, having started
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in as a solicitor and being rapidly promoted. In 1900 he made the race for trustee of Florida township on the Democratic ticket, but was defeated by one vote, but the candidate for president was defeated by three hundred votes in that township. This would indicate Mr. Laney's popularity in his home community. In 1904 he was again nominated for trustee and was elected by seventy-eight votes. He served three years, ten months and twelve days, resigning to accept the office of county clerk, as he was nomi- nated July 11, 1908, for that office and elected the following November by ninety-three plurality. The county is nominally Republican. In 1904 the Republicans carried Parke county by twelve hundred votes, in 1906, by seven hundred and sixty-three. Mr. Laney took office November 23, 1908. He re- fused to accept renomination, although he could have unquestionably re- ceived it and been elected a second time. As a public servant he has ever given the utmost satisfaction to all concerned, irrespective of party align- ment.
Mr. Laney seems to have inherited from his ancestors many of the quali- ties that win, for they were people of exceptional traits of character on both sides of the house. James Laney, his paternal grandfather, was born January 7, 1792, in North Carolina, and the paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Davis, was born in Virginia in 1796. The great-grandfather on the paternal side was born in Ireland. John Devlin, the great-grandfather on the maternal side, was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, and the maternal great-grandmother, Katharine Allen, was also a native of county Tyrone. The mother of the subject was a prodigy in mathematics, having remarkable ability in this line and a good memory. She spoke four languages fluently, English, French, Italian and German.
Fraternally, George L. Laney, is a thirty-second-degree Mason, belong- ing to Parke Lodge No. 8 at Rockville, also the Royal Arch Masons, Chapter No. 8, Rockville, the Scottish Rite at Indianapolis and the Murat Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Indianapolis. He was a member of a class of seventy-eight persons and at its organization was elected class treasurer, which position he still holds. He is a member of Rosedale Lodge No. 698, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Rosedale, Rockville Encampment No. 85, also belongs to the Rebekahs, Mary Lodge No. 35, of Rosedale. Also Rosedale Lodge No. 224, Knights of Pythias, and Bethel Temple No. 85, of Pythian Sisters, at Rosedale. He has long been prominent in fraternal circles.
Mr. Laney was married on October 9, 1888, to Roseanna Parker, daugh-
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ter of Henry S. and Mary ( Boatman) Parker, a highly respected family of Florida township, Parke county. To this union two children have been born, namely : Frances E., born October 26, 1889, and Calvin D., born February 17, 1891. The latter is engaged in the automobile business in Rockville. He is probably the youngest Mason in the state, surely the youngest in Parke county. He holds membership in Parke Lodge No. 8.
Mr. Laney is not a member of the church, but his family holds member- ship in the Christian church. He is a member of the Bible class of the Methodist Episcopal church and attends Sunday school.
The subject was one of the promoters of the new opera house at Rock- ville and secretary of the company. He is one of the most progressive men in Parke county and also one of the most popular, his popularity extending to all classes, for everyone has found him to be always straightforward, honest, sincere and dependable. He is a man who would go a long way and fight hard for his friends. There is nothing ostentatious about him, plain and un- assuming in everything, of a fine morality and generous disposition. He wants to help every good cause for the community and everybody in need of help. He is a fine type of the successful, useful, progressive, self-made man and is eminently deserving in every way of the high esteem in which he is universally held wherever he is known.
I. M. CASEBEER, M. D.
The writer of biography in the personal history of men engaged in the various affairs of every-day life, occasionally finds a subject whose record commands exceptional interest and admiration, and especially is this true when he has achieved more than ordinary success or made his influence felt as a leader of thought and benefactor of his kind. Dr. I. M. Casebeer, of Newport, is eminently of that class who earn the indisputable right to rank in the van of the army of progressive men and by reason of a strenuous career devoted to the good of his fellows, to the alleviation of their physical suffer- ings, he occupies a position of wide influence in the hearts and affections of the people, and his name is becoming a household word throughout Vermillion county.
Dr. Casebeer was born in Hillsdale, Vermillion county, Indiana, October 29, 1869, and he is a son of John Wesley and Martha (Rush) Casebeer, na- tives of Mansfield, Ohio, and of this county, respectively. The father spent
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his life in farming, and he came to Vermillion county in 1848 and farmed land entered by the subject's maternal grandfather, Samuel Rush, when there were only four families living in this locality, and he followed farming here the rest of his life, becoming well known and influential among the pioneers. John Wesley Casebeer was born in 1831 and he is still living in the town of Hillsdale. His wife passed away on March 24, 1912, at the age of seventy- two years and eleven days. " They were the parents of the following children : Samuel died of sunstroke when eighteen years old; Alvin B., who is farming in Vermillion county ;Ella, who married George W. James, of Hillsdale, died in 1891; John Wesley, Jr., died March 30, 1910; Dana V. died in in- fancy ; I. M., subject of this review.
The father of the above named children is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has been class leader for forty years and a pillar in the local congregation. He is a Democrat and Prohibitionist. He was married for a period of fifty-seven years, and it must stand to his credit to say that he never took a drink of intoxicating liquor in his life.
Dr. Casebeer was educated in the common schools of his native locality, and spent one year in the Central Indiana Normal School, then three years in DePauw University. He then entered Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1890 and was graduated from that institution in 1893 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He began practicing his profession at Hillsdale and soon had an excellent start, remaining there until 1899, when he established his office at Mentone and was there until the spring of 1903, and since then he has been in the practice at Newport. He has a large and rapidly growing patronage and has been most successful as a general practitioner. He has re- mained a student of all that pertains to his profession, and has kept abreast of the times in every respect. He stands high among his professional brethren in western Indiana.
Dr. Casebeer was married on October 31, 1893, to Daisy A. Smith, daughter of John W. Smith, well known attorney-at-law at Rochester, In- diana, and to this union two children have been born, Paul Bevin and John Smith.
Dr. Casebeer is a loyal Republican and a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He is at this writing health officer of Newport, is president of the town board and trustee, and he was appointed United States examining surgeon in 1898, which position he held until he left the county, and upon his return was re-appointed in 1903. He has given eminent satisfaction as a public servant. He is medical examiner for all the old-line insurance com- panies in this locality. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of
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Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Vigo County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, the Fifth District Indiana Medical Society, and the Esculapians. The Doctor has been very successful in a financial way, and he is the owner of an excellent farm of sixty-five acres on which are located some valuable shale beds.
JAMES W. ADAMS.
One of the influential men of affairs in Parke county, both in business and civic circles, is James W. Adams, the well known president and manager of the Rosedale Creamery Company, whose indomitable courage, persistent and aggressive efforts and whose excellent management have brought to him the prosperity which is to-day his. He has ever been ready to do what he could in pushing forward the wheels of progress and advancing commercial prosperity in this vicinity, and his career, both public and private, has been one worthy of the high esteem and praise which those who know him so freely accord.
Mr. Adams was born November 24, 1853, in Raccoon township, Parke county, Indiana, on a farm, and he is a son of James W. and Minerva (Snow) Adams. The father was a well educated man, having been a graduate of De Pauw University, and he devoted his life to school teaching and farming, making a success of each. He was also a native of Parke county, being a son of Samuel and (McGinnis) Adams, who were among the early settlers of this county, and here they spent their lives engaged in farming; thus the Adams family has been well known in this locality during all its development, in which they took a leading part.
James W. Adams, of this sketch, grew to manhood on the home farm, and he received his early education in the common schools of his native county. He prepared for college, but never took a collegiate course. He was twenty-one years old when he left his step-father and went out into the world to make his own fortune, working at farm work for some time. He learned harness-making in his youth, also carpentering, and he worked at both for many years, then took up farming again and became the owner of a fine farmı north of Rosedale in Florida township, which consists of one hundred and twenty acres, well improved and very productive. This he now rents, devoting his attention exclusively to the large creamery of which he is the head and which does a very extensive business, its products being in great
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demand owing to their superior quality. Fraternally, he belongs to the Khights of Pythias, and he is a member and trustee of the Methodist church.
Mr. Adams was married to Hannah Myer, of Indianapolis, and they have three children : Lottie, a high school graduate, married Charles Rukes; Fred E. married Anna Dean, of Preble county, Ohio; Gilbert E. is in Purdue University, taking the course in electric engineering.
. THOMAS BINGHAM.
It may be true, as once stated, that some of the countries of Europe have not sent their best citizens to America, that those who belonged to the thriftiest and best classes have remained in their own native lands. This may be true of some nations, but it is certainly not true of Scotland, for all will agree that from the earlier years of our national history Scotchmen of the very best type have been coming to our shores and here they have benefited alike themselves and us. And we have ever welcomed them, for they are, almost without exception, law-abiding, thrifty and honorable and they do well in this land of the free. There are many of this desirable race in the locality of which this volume treats. One to whom we desire to call especial attention is Thomas Bingham, the able and popular superintendent of mines for the Parke County Coal Company. He was born in Scotland on May 13, 1860, and he is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Holden) Bingham, both natives of Scotland, where they grew up and were married, and there Thomas Bingham followed the mines, never leaving his native country. He met with an accident which cost him his life, after which the family came to America, the widow bringing her three children here, passed the residue of her days in the United States, . dying some time ago. The family consisted of May, David and Thomas the subject, who was about five years old when he crossed the Atlantic to our shores.
The Bingahm family located at Brazil, Indiana, and there Thomas grew to manhood and was educated in the common schools, though his education was interrupted, for he was compelled to help support his mother and the rest of the family and he went into the mines when only ten years of age, he hav- ing been a thrifty youngster. He started as a trapper boy and, being indus- trious and learning rapidly, he was promoted from time to time, always giv- ing his employers satisfaction. Finally he came to Parke county, Indiana, and became superintendent for the Parke County Coal Company, which posi-
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tion he has filled to the present time with much credit to himself and satisfac- tion to all.
Mr. Bingham was married on October 21, 1880, to Miriah Johnston, from Pennsylvania, and to this union three children were born, namely: Sallie, Anna and Nellie, the last named being deceased.
Fraternally, Mr. Bingham belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men.
E. E. NEEL.
It cannot be other than interesting to note in the series of personal sketches appearing in this biographical compendium the varying conditions that have compassed those whose careers are outlined, and an effort has been made in each case to throw well focused light on the individuality and to bring into proper perspective the scheme of each representative character. Each man who strives to fulfill his part in connection with human life and human activities is deserving of recognition, whatever may be or have been the field of his endeavor, and it is the function of the works of this nature to perpetuate for future generations an authentic record concerning those repre- sented in its pages, and the value of such publication is certain to be cumula- tive for all time to come, showing forth the individual and specific accom- plishments of which generic history is ever engendered. The record of such a man as he whose name initiates this review is well worthy of preservation, for it shows what may be accomplished early in life if one has the courage, grit, perseverance and honesty of purpose to press forward despite obstacles.
E. E. Neel, of Newport, one of the most successful and popular attor- neys-at-law in Vermillion and Parke counties, was born near Gessie, High- land township, Vermillion county, Indiana, November 15, 1870. He is a son of John W. and Mary Jane (Jackson) Neel, natives of Virginia, where they spent their earlier years. From that state John W. Neel moved with his parents to Kentucky when a boy and there received his education. Louis Jackson, the subject's maternal grandfather, came to this country from Vir- ginia, bought land in Highland township and here followed farming the rest of his life, becoming well known throughout Vermillion county. The paternal grandfather, William Neel, died in Kentucky, where he had spent the latter years of his life. John W. Neel, father of the subject removed from the old home in the Blue Grass state in 1836, coming to Vermillion county, Indiana,
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and locating in Eugene township, where for some time he worked on the flat boats on the Wabash river and also at pork packing. When twenty-five years of age he began farming, which vocation he followed here with success the rest of his life. He married, first, Elizabeth Sanders, and to them the follow- ing children were born: Lucy, deceased; Nettie, deceased, and James, who is farming in Kansas. The wife and mother passed away in early life, and John W. Neel was then married to Mary Jane Jackson, who bore him the following children: George Milton, who is engaged in the well drilling busi- ness ; Charles S. and Albert G., who have followed various lines of work in this locality ; William S. is a school teacher and farmer; Francis Marion died in infancy ; E. E., subject of this sketch; Clara E. married Charles Peck, a farmer : Belle married William H. Alderson, a farmer. The death of the father, John W. Neel, occurred in 1892, at the age of sixty-seven years. The mother, who was born in 1834, and who is a devout Methodist, is still living, being now seventy-eight years old.
E. E. Neel worked on a farm in his boyhood until he was sixteen years old, then attended high school at Perrysville. In 1887 he entered the Dan- ville Normal School, remaining two years, then spent one year in the State Normal School at Terre Haute, and one year at Valparaiso, Indiana, in the well known institution there. He then took up the study of law, entering the University of Indiana at Bloomington, and was graduated from the law' department, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in 1900. He had made an excellent record for scholarship in all the above named institutions. During the time that he was obtaining his education he taught school from time to time. Since June 27, 1900, he has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Newport, enjoying a large and constantly growing clientele, and taking a prominent part in the important cases in the local courts since that time. He is a profound student and keeps fully abreast of the times in all that pertains to his chosen vocation.
Mr. Neel was married on April 16, 1905, to Ola Sager, daughter of Isaac M. and Lelia (DeVoss) Sager, a highly respected family. Mrs. Neel is well educated.
While Mr. Neel devotes all his attention to his extensive legal practice, he is nevertheless active in local affairs pertaining to the betterment of his town and county. He is a Republican in politics, is a member of the Meth- dist church and a Sunday school teacher. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order.
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JAMES A. CHANEY.
Among those who came to Parke county, Indiana, when the country was in its primitive wildness, infested by animals, numerous and fero- cious, and when had scarcely disappeared tribes of scarcely less wild and more savage red men, when neighbors were few and far remote, and when roads were mere rails and no streams were bridged, was the venerable far- mer, James A. Chaney, one of the few remaining links which connects that remote period with the present. He has passed his eighty-third milestone, and most of his long years have been spent in this county, during which time he has taken a part in the great transformation here, for he and his parents were among the earliest settlers, and the members of this family have done their full share in the work of progress here. And they, together with the other actors in the great drama which witnessed the passing of the old and the introduction of the new conditions in which are now the fine farms and thriv- ing towns of this county, are deserving of every consideration. We of today cannot pay such sterling characters too great a meed of praise, in view of the sacrifices they made in order that their descendants and others of a later day should enjoy the blessings of life, only a few of which they were permitted to have. Therefore, we are glad to give the subject of this sketch a conspicuous position in the present volume along with other deserving men who have played well their parts in the history of Parke and Vermillion counties.
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