USA > Indiana > Tipton County > History of Tipton County Indiana > Part 35
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ABRAHAM KIRTLEY
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are in- structive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life, apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate success, if not renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance, with a half chance, can accomplish any object. The life of Abraham Kirtley, well known and successful real estate, loan and insurance man of Tipton, Tipton county, is an example in point, for, by his individual efforts and close adherence to his every duty, he has overcome the obstacles encountered on the highway of life and is now very comfortably fixed regarding this world's affairs and has at the same time won a reputation for right living among his fellow men.
Abraham Kirtley, the son of Lemuel and Mary J. (Covert) Kirtley, was born near Groomsville, Prairie township, Tipton county, Indiana. September 3, 1858. His parents were both natives of Indiana, his father being born in Switzerland county and his mother in Bartholomew county. They had twelve children, ten of whom lived to maturity. Sarah C., wife of Asa Corn, of Huntington county, Indiana; Abraham, of Tipton, Indiana: Martha A., wife of William A. Hannah, of Wildcat township; Daniel, de- ceased; Mary E., wife of George C. Paschal, of Lenox, Iowa; Lewis, of Kokomo, Indiana : Alice E., wife of Alvan Askren. of Madison township: Eva J., wife of Joseph E. Fraser, of Logansport, Indiana; Charles, of Dela- ware county, Indiana; Oliver, of Randolph county, and two who died in infancy.
The father of the subject was raised in Switzerland county, Indiana. and worked at various pursuits. He did flatboating on the Ohio and Missis- sippi rivers, and made frequent trips to New Orleans. He served through- out the Mexican war, and after that he came to Tipton county in 1854. and bought a farm of eighty acres in Prairie township. He bought and sold several tracts of land. and at the time of his death owned seventy acres of well-improved land in the county. He died three miles south of Sharpsville. February 27, 1910, at the ripe old age of eighty-three. His wife died two years later on November 4th, at the age of seventy-three. Religiously, he was a Universalist, and his wife was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church.
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The paternal grandfather of the subject was also named Abraham Kirt- ley. He and his wife, Mary, were natives of Kentucky. 'The ancestors of the Kirtleys came from England and settled in Virginia in the seventeenth century. Abraham was a farmer and came to Tipton county in 1854, settling in Prairie township, where his wife died. They had five children, John, Lemuel, Gideon, Emily and Sarah. The maternal grandfather was Daniel Covert. He and his wife, Catherine C. White, natives of Bartholo- mew county, moved to Tipton county, and spent the remainder of their lives. They had a large family : Mary J., Sarah, William, Lucretia, Nancy Etna, Ann, Alice, Jonah and Daniel.
Abraham Kirtley was raised in Prairie and Liberty townships on his father's farm. He attended the district schools of that neighborhood and finished his schooling there by graduating from the eighth grade. He later attended the Central Normal College, at Danville, Indiana. After taking the course in the normal school, he taught school for sixteen years in his county. In the meantime he engaged in farming in the summer. He bought a farm of forty acres at first and, by exercising good judgment and frugality, succeeded in saving enough money to buy farm after farm, until he now owns two hundred and forty acres of as well improved land as can be found in the county.
Mr. Kirtley was married to Hester Alice Brown, the daughter of James' and Mary (Downhour) Brown, on September 27, 1882. Four children have been born to this union, Walter B., Lulu, Homer A. and Ralph O. Walter, who is in the railroad business in Seattle, Washington, is married and has one daughter, Grace May. Lulu married Hugh Clark, superintendent of the schools at Jonesboro, Indiana. She is a graduate of the State Normal School, as is also her husband. Homer A. and Ralph are in Tipton in partnership with their father. Ralph is a graduate from the Tipton high school and the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. Homer A. attended Butler University and the Danville normal school.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirtley have both been life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Tipton. Mr. Kirtley belongs to Austin Lodge No. 128, Free and Accepted Masons, and also to the Tipton Chapter No. 114, Royal Arch Masons, Tipton Council No. 80, Royal and Select Masters, and Tipton Commandery No. 52, Knights Templar. He is trustee of Austin Lodge. Politi- cally, he has been a life-long Republican, and during the last campaign he aligned himself with the "old standpatters."
Mrs. Kirtley was born in Tipton county, Indiana, in November 13. 1861.
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Her parents were natives of Indiana and early settlers in Tipton county, where her father died in 1862. Her mother lived until 1912, and died at the ripe old age of seventy-two. They had three children, Mary, America J. . and Hester. The mother married again, the second husband being A. J. Heron, and there were three children by the last marriage, Dr. John J., George W. and David J. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Kirtley was Thomas Brown and her maternal grand father was Thomas Downhour.
Mr. Kirtley has lived long enough in this community to stamp his indi- viduality in no uncertain manner upon the locality where he has resided. He is an excellent representative of that type of the American business man, the type that does things, the type of man who has won for himself an enviable place among the leading men of his city and county. He and his two sons, in their real estate, insurance and loan business, have built up a clientele which reaches every corner of the county. The capability and honesty of the father and his two sons have brought them signal success in a calling in which there is a chance for a man to use sound judgment and honesty of purpose. With well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods, they have built up a business which is certainly known in its line in the county.
ALLEN W. GIFFORD, M. D.
It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that have moved a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success : little more can be done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under consideration. In view of this fact. the life of the physician .and public-spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example of well defined purpose, with the ability to make that purpose sub- serve not only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor Gifford has long held prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and thorough mastery of technical knowledge with the skill to apply the same, without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Gifford has achieved a notable success, which has been duly recog- nized and appreciated throughout the section of the state in which he lives. In addition to his long and creditable career in one of the most useful and
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exacting of professions, he has proved an honorable member of the body politic and in every relation of life he has never fallen below the dignity of true manhood nor in any way resorted to methods that have invited censure.
Allen W. Gifford, M. D., was born in Tipton, Tipton county, Indiana, July 31, 1873, the son of Senator George H. and Rachel (Smiley ) Gifford. Senator Gifford, the subject's father, is treated of in a biographical review elsewhere in this work, to which the reader is referred for the genealogy of the Gifford family. The subject of this sketch received a good elementary education in the common schools of his native city, which was supplemented by a course in the high school of that place, the Doctor graduating from the latter institution with the class of 1892. Entering the Indiana State Uni- versity the same year, the subject completed his course there in 1896, re- ceiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Having in view the practice of medicine as his life work, Doctor Gifford matriculated in the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons at Indianapolis, where he studied for one year, at the end of that period accepting the position of principal of the public school at Hobbs, Tipton county.
On the outbreak of the war with Spain in 1898, Mr. Gifford volunteered, and, with the rank of sergeant, was assigned to the medical department at Matanzas, Cuba, where his services were much appreciated and highly com- mended by his superior officers. At the close of the war Doctor Gifford was honorably discharged and resumed his medical education in the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating from that institution in April, 1901.
Doctor Gifford's first professional associates were Doctors Newcomer and Dickey, with whom he entered into partnership immediately on his graduation, and this connection was continued until 1910, when Doctor Dickey withdrew and Doctor Newcomer and the subject continued their pro- fessional association, which has proved both pleasant and profitable, the progressive methods and thorough knowledge of materia medica displayed by the subject being a valuable asset in the building up of a splendid practice.
On October 12, 1904, Doctor Gifford was united in marriage to Pearl Frazee, of Springfield, Missouri, the daughter of Jesse and Mary (Thomas) Frazee, natives of Indiana, but who removed to Missouri and located in Springfield in 1879, where the father died in his forty-sixth year, the mother yet living there. They were the parents of three children: Pearl, the sub- ject's wife, was born December 15, 1877, in Lafontaine, Indiana; Lella and Jessie. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Gifford was Mr. Frazee, and he
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married Miss Case. They. were both natives of Ohio, and settled in Indi- ana in pioneer times, where they reared a large family and lived to ripe old ages, the father's death occurring at Lafontaine. Mrs. Gifford's maternal grandfather was Dr. Alexander Thomas and his wife's family name was Pearson, they having been early settlers in the Hoosier state, coming from Maryland and locating in Lafontaine and later in Winamac, their deaths occurring at the latter place. The subject and wife are the parents of a daughter, Martha.
Mrs. Gifford is a member of the Christian church. The Doctor, in political affairs, has given his support to the Democratic party, while his fraternal relations are with the Free and Accepted Masons and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, he being a member of Austin Lodge No. 128 in the former order and a charter member of the Tipton lodge of the latter.
Although comparatively a young man, Doctor Gifford has filled a large place in the medical profession in his city and county. A close observer and a constant reader, he has kept abreast of the best and most modern ideas in the art of healing, and by conscientious application and fidelity to honorable methods he has reached a position among the members of his profession of which he may well be proud.
ORIS B. NORRIS.
The life of the eminent and successful business man, though filled to repletion with activity and incident. presents fewer salient features to excite the interest of the general reader than the man whose place in the public eye has been won through political or military achievement. But to acquire distinction or great prosperity in the business pursuits which give to the country its financial strength and credit requires ability of as high if not higher order than that which leads to victory at the polls or on the field of battle This will be readily appreciated by all who tread the busy thorough- fares of trade. Eminent business talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry : there must be sound judgment, breadth of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firmness, the foresight to perceive the course of the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them, and, withal, a collection of minor but important qualities to regulate the details of the pursuits which engage attention. The subject of this review affords an exemplification of this
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talent. and, notwithstanding the limited theater of his operations, he has achieved a reputation which places him among the first of central Indiana's successful and prosperous business men.
Oris B. Norris, of the firm of Norris & Company, was born at Frank- fort, Indiana, June 7, 1873, and is the son of Abraham and Sarah M. (Fudge) Norris. They had three children, Emma Luella, deceased, who was the wife of James Lee, of Frankfort ; George L., of Ithaca, Michigan, and Oris B.
The father of the subject came to Indiana when a boy, and settled with his parents at Thorntown, Boone county. Later, they moved to Frankfort where he married and settled on a farm east of that city. He followed farming and carpentry until the day of his death, which occurred at Russia- ville, August 15, 1901. His wife is still living. He served as a private throughout the Civil war in Company F, One Hundred Fifty-fourth Regi- ment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Norris were natives of Germany, who emigrated to this country early in the nineteenth century and settled in Maryland. Soon afterwards they came to Indiana and located in Boone county. They reared a large family of chil- dren : Joseph B., J. Dale. Abraham H .; Phoebe, wife of Edward Ewbank ; Silas David, William H., Mary Wilson, and two deceased daughters, Mrs. Mash and one other.
The maternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Moses Fudge. They were also early settlers in Clinton county and settled on a part of the present site of Frankfort and died there in old age. They reared a large family : John, Mary Brandon, George, Elizabeth Kelly, Sarah M. and Mary.
Oris B. Norris was raised on his father's farm, two miles east of Frankfort. He attended the district school and after he married he lived on his father's place for four years. He then moved to Tipton county, settled on the Shockley farm near Kempton and was there two years. He left this farm and went to Howard county, locating on the Francis farm east of Russiaville, and from there he moved to Russiaville, where he went to work in a hardware store for John L. Woody. After working here for two years he went to Kokomo for a short time, but returned to Russiaville and remained there until 1902, working in the hardware store. Since 1902 he has been in his present business of retailing implements, stoves and heavy machinery of all kinds.
Mr. Norris was married on August 17, 1893, to Minnie O. Frye, daugh- ter of William W. and Elizabeth ( Francis) Frye. They have three children.
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William Ward, Dale Abraham and Karl Francis. Mr. and Mrs. Norris are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Tipton. Politically, Mr. Norris is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Fraternally, he belongs to Austin Lodge No. 128, Free and Accepted Masons; Tipton Chapter No. 114, Royal Arch Masons; Tipton Council No. 80, Royal and Select Masters, and is also a member of the Tipton Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the encampment at Russiaville.
Mrs. Norris was born in Howard county, Indiana, two and one-half niiles east of Russiaville, April 28, 1873. Her mother died when she was seven years old, and her father is still living at Happy, Texas, in the Pan- handle country. They had two children, Minnie O. and Omer L.
The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Norris were Luke and Phoebe (Abram) Frye. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Norris was George H. Francis.
Mr. Norris is a man of good business ability, strict integrity and fine personal qualities, and because of his genuine worth and high character he has long enjoyed a splendid reputation in the community where he lives. He contributes his support to all movements for the benefit of his fellow citizens and today is numbered among the representative men of Tipton county.
SOLOMON D. ADAMS.
It is proper to judge of the success of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in church, hear his views on public questions, observe the opera- tion of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the rela- tions of life and society, and are therefore competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observation, it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know of his worth, for. as has been said, "actions speak louder than words." In this connection it is not too much to say that the subject of this sketch has passed a life of un- usual honor, that he has been industrious and has the confidence of all who have the pleasure of his friendship.
Solomon D. Adams is a native of the county now honored by his citizenship, having been born in Prairie township, on October 23, 1860. He is a son of John G. and Eliza ( Ramseyer) Adams, natives, respectively, of
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Hendricks county and Switzerland county, Indiana. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom lived to maturity, namely: Caleb F., of Prairie township, Tipton county, Indiana; Solomon D., the immediate sub- ject of this sketch : John R., of Prairie township; William J., of Cicero town- ship, this county; Anna, wife of Daniel D. Campbell, of near Kirklin, In- diana; Florence, the wife of Charles Harter, of Lafayette, Indiana; Dulcina, wife of Albert Fenn, of Elwood, Indiana, and Philip C., of Prairie township, this county. The father of these children was reared in Hendricks county, Indiana, and always followed farming pursuits. In 1856 he came to Tipton county, and here he followed his vocation in Prairie township, where he spent his remaining days, his death occurring there in 1893. His wife died in 1874, at the age of forty-nine years. They were members of the Separate Baptist church. The subject's paternal grandparents were Solomon and (Griffith) Adams, natives of Switzerland county, Indiana, but who later removed to Hendricks county, this state, where they died when well along in years. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom the following are remembered : John G., Hall, James, Thomas, Caleb, Thad S., Joshua and Mary. The subject's maternal grandparents were Daniel and Martha (Hawkins) Ransmeyer, natives, respectively, of Germany and of Switzerland county, Indiana. They lived to advanced age, she dying at the age of about ninety-seven. Their children were Frederick, Obediah, John, Philip, Joseph, Peter, Martha, Eliza and Melinda.
Solomon D. Adams was reared on his father's farm in Prairie town- ship, this county, receiving his elementary education in the district schools, supplementing it by attendance at the State Normal Schoool in 1883 and 1884, and in 1889 was a student in Purdue University. He taught seven terms of school, in which way he earned money to pay his way through col- lege. On the completion of his studies he clerked for two years in a general store in Sharpsville, Indiana, and then bought the store, which he operated six months, when the store and contents were destroyed by fire, the insurance amounting to about one-fourth the loss. Mr. Adams then bought another store at Sharpsville, which he ran for two years, and in the meantime was appointed postmaster at that place. In 1896 he was appointed deputy sheriff of Tipton county, under Sheriff J. F. McCleary, serving in this capacity four years, and at the expiration of his official term he returned to farming, which he conducted until the fall of 1912, when he was elected county re- corder and is the present efficient incumbent of that position. His wife is the owner of ninety-one acres of land in Jefferson township. Mr. Adams gives
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to the discharge of his official duties the closest personal attention, and is so managing the affairs of his office as to receive the commendation of all who have business there.
On November 11, 1890, Mr. Adams was united in marriage with Mar- ietta B. King, who was born in Jefferson township, Tipton county, Indiana, on August 8. 1865, the daughter of James and Lucinda ( Hopkins ) King. To this union has been born a daughter, Mildred Jean, who is assistant to her father in the recorder's office. Mrs. Adams' maternal grandfather was James Hopkins.
Politically, Mr. Adanis has, since attaining his majority, given his sup- port to the Democratic party and has taken an active interest in its welfare and advancement in his community. Fraternally, he belongs to Reserve Lodge No. 363, Free and Accepted Masons, at Sharpsville. He also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously, he and his wife are faithful and earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. to which they give substantial support. Mr. Adams is a man of splendid influence in his community, having been a very industrious man and led an honorable career. He is regarded as a public-spirited man and can always be counted on to support the right side of any movement involving the moral. educational, social or material welfare of his fellow citizens.
M. V. B. NEWCOMER, M. D.
The man who devotes his talent and energies to the noble work of ad- ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity pursues a calling which in dignity and importance and beneficial results is second to no other. If true to his profession and earnest in his effort to enlarge his sphere of usefulness he is indeed a benefactor to all of his kind, for to him more than to any other man is entrusted the safety, the comfort and in many instances the lives of those who place themselves under his care. Amongst this class of professional men is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, who has stood for many years with few peers and no superiors among the physicians of Tipton county, Indiana, during which time he has not only gained a wide notoriety in his chosen vocation, but has also established a sound reputation for uprightness and noble character in all the relations of life. He early realized that to those who attain deter- minate success in the medical profession there must be not only given tech-
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nical ability, but also a broad human sympathy which must pass from mere sentiment to be an actuating motive for helpfulness, so he has dignified and honored his profession by noble services in which through long years of close application he has attained unqualified success.
M. V. B. Newcomer, a successful physician and surgeon and well- known citizen of Tipton, Indiana, was born in Cambridge City, this state, on October 30, 1836, the son of Christian and Elizabeth (Hartman) New- comer, both of. whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the father born at Lancaster and the mother at York. They were the parents of thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eighth son in order of birth. These children were named as follows : David, Christian, Abram, Rebecca, the wife of Harvey Bates; Martha, the wife of C. F. Curnutt ; John; Elizabeth, who died young; Jackson, who was drowned in boyhood; Sampson; Franklin, of Mabel, Minnesota; M. V. B., the immediate subject of this sketch : Melissa, the wife of C. W. S. Pettijohn, of near Sheridan, Indiana; and Levi, of near Sheridan, Hamilton county, this state. The subject's grandfathers were, on the paternal side, John Newcomer, and on the maternal side. Nicholas Hartman, both natives of Pennsylvania. The subject's father, Christian Newcomer, was reared in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he received his education and in young manhood engaged in teaching school. He was a captain in the Pennsylvania state militia and was a soldier in the war of 1812, his company being called into active service and he remained in the field until the close of that strug- gle. He was captain of his command and took part in the bombardment of Baltimore. He learned the trade of a tailor, married and, after the birth of four of their children, he and his family came west, locating at Cambridge City, Indiana, about 1825. He afterward entered a tract of land in Hamil- ton county, Indiana, below Sheridan, where he resided for forty years, his death occurring there in 1877, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife died six months prior to his death, at the age of eighty years. While living in Pennsylvania they were identified with the Lutheran church, but after coming to Indiana they joined the Methodist Episcopal church, of which they were ever afterwards faithful adherents.
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