History of Vigo county, Indiana, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, Henry C
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : S.B. Nelson & co.
Number of Pages: 1032

USA > Indiana > Vigo County > History of Vigo county, Indiana, with biographical selections > Part 102

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JESSE TRYON, Pierson township, P. O. Soonover, a well- known citizen and representative farmer, is a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, born February 28, 1833, and is a son of Jeremiah and Thurzy (Quick) Tryon, former born in one of the Carolinas, latter in New York; both died in Vigo county, he in 1861 in his sixty-first year, and she September 2, 1889, at the age of eighty-six. When a young man Jeremiah went to Ohio, where he married, and in 1840 he immigrated to Montgomery county, Ind., where he resided until 1844, when he removed to Pierson township, this county, and here spent the remainder of his days. When he first came to the township there were only a few fields in cultivation. He was a Republican in politics, but never aspired to any office, and he and his wife were members of the U. B. Church. There were born of their marriage twelve children, Jesse being the seventh in order of birth, and five of the children are living. Jesse spent his school days in Vigo county, and at the age of twenty-one began farming for himself. He now has 179 acres of as good land as there is in the county, all of which he has earned by economy and industry. January 22, 1855, Mr. Tryon married Miss Harriet Beggs, of

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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.

Indiana, who was born August 27, 1835, a daughter of Robert Beggs. This marriage has been blessed with three children, as follows: Jeremiah F., Cenia and Jesse A., all at home. Cenia is a member of the U. B. Church. Mr. Tryon is a member of the F. M. B. A., and is president of Vaughn Lodge; in politics he is a Repub- lican. He is a highly respected and useful citizen.

JEFF M. TUCKER, farmer and stock-grower, Fayette town- ship, P. O. New Goshen, was born September 11, 1855, on the farm he owns and where he now resides, and is a son of Franklin and Anna (Richardson) Tucker, natives of Kentucky, and of English descent. The father, who was a cabinet-maker by trade, came to Vigo county in 1831, settling on a farm in Fayette township, where he died in 1883. He reared a family of four children, Jeff M. be- ing the third in order of birth. He (Jeff M. ) was reared on the farm, attending the district school here and in Illinois. He has made farming and dealing in stock his business. For several years he devoted his entire time exclusively to the stock business, and for three years carried on that business in Terre Haute. ] In 1880 he went to Pennsylvania and New York, where he dealt in horses for the Fargo, Dak., and western market until he returned to the farm in Fayette township, in 1884, and bought his present farm home. Mr. Tucker was united in marriage in 1885 to Miss Isadora, daugh- ter of William A. Joseph. Mrs. Tucker is of English descent, and was born and reared in Vigo county, Ind. They have two children: Pliny and Prella. In politics Mr. Tucker is a Republican.

JAMES H. TURNER, Terre Haute. This gentleman has been a prominent resident of Terre Haute since 1836, and is one of the oldest settlers now living here. He is a native of Fleming county, Ky., born January 18, 1818, and is a son of Joel and Anna (De Bell) Turner, natives of Kentucky, and of English descent. The father, who was a respectable farmer, died in Kentucky. Our subject, who is the second in a family of eight children, received his education in the subscription schools of his native place, and early in life found employment as a clerk in a store. In 1836 he came to Terre Haute, where he was employed as a salesman several years, and then embarked in trade in a general dry-goods store, which he car- ried on ten years, when he sold out. After a short time he again commenced merchandising, this time as a grocer, which he contin- ued until 1880, when he closed out his store and has since been employed in the office of Josephus Collett, Terre Haute. Mr. Tur- ner was married in Terre Haute to Maranda, daughter of John Danaldson, an early settler of the county, and this union was blessed with eight children, viz .: Annie A., wife of W. B. Shelatoe; Florence, wife of Jolin G. Williams, an attorney in Terre Haute;

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James (deceased) ; Mary E., wife of George Farrington; Mattie, wife of David P. Cox, a druggist, Terre Haute; Scott C. (deceased) ; Samuel M., now employed by the railroad company in the West; and George J., in the employ of R. R. West. Mr. Turner is a Repub- lican, and has served as county assessor, also as member of the city council.

WILLIAM TURNER, farmer and stock-grower, Otter Creek township, P. O. Burnett, was born in Butler county, Ohio, July 24, 1817, and is a son of John and Sarah (Coon) Turner, natives of New Jersey and of Irish and German descent, John Coon's father having been born in Ireland. William, who is the fifth in a family of nine children, received a limited education in a log school-house in Ohio, and has made his own way in the world. His wife, who was Julia Ames Rector, daughter of John Rector, was born in this county, and died in 1874, the same year in which he came to Indi- ana. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Turner had been married thirty-four years. He is a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have one son living in this county, James B. Turner, who is also a farmer. He was born in Clay county, Ind., March 7, 1856, the seventh in a family of ten children, and received his education in the common schools of Clay county, where he spent his childhood and youth. His first work for himself was on the railroad, and sub- sequently he worked in a rolling-mill, finally settling on a farm. He was married December 25, 1876, to Miss Alma, daughter of A. H. and I. B. (Martin) Christy, and they have six children: Char- lotte, Julia Ann, George E., Lulu Josephine, Susie May and Ray Fredric. Mrs. Turner is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Turner is a Democrat.

JAMES P. TUTWILER, owner and manager of a general store at Libertyville, Fayette township, was born in Rockingham county, Va., July 6, 1848, and is a son of Leander and Debla (Royer) Tutwiler, who were of German descent, the father being a farmer. James P., who is the youngest in a family of ten chil- dren, was reared on his father's farm, attending the common schools in Virginia, and became a farmer, which occupation he followed un- til 1875, when he came to Vigo county and embarked in mercantile trade at Libertyville, where he has since carried on a general store, and has met with more than average success. Mr. Tutwiler was married in Vigo county, Ind., May 10, 1877, to Miss Alice E., daugh- ter of Daniel and Martha (Rush) Higgins, who were of Scotch- Irish origin. Mr. and Mrs. Tutwiler have four children living, viz .: B. F., Daniel B., B. C. and Theo. E. The mother is a mem- ber of the Christian Church. The father is a Democrat in politics,

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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.

and is postmaster at Libertyville, having had the management of the post-office in this place for fourteen years. Mr. and Mrs. Tut- wiler have many friends.

THOMAS M. VANCE, pump manufacturer, Terre Haute, is a native of Brown county, Ohio, and was born November 19, 1831. He is a son of James S. and Jane M. (Cumberland) Vance, former of whom was born in Brown county, Ohio, March 10, 1810, and died in his native place August 8, 1850; latter was born in West- moreland county, Penn., February 8, 1808, and died in Brown county, Ohio, September 11, 1850. The father of James S. Vance was born in Winchester, Va., in 1777, and died in Brown county, Ohio. His father was a soldier in the Revolution. The Vance family were all farmers, and were among the earliest settlers of Kentucky, whence they removed to Ohio. Thomas M. is the eldest in a family of ten children, and at the death of his parents became the head of the family. In 1851 he commenced for himself as a farmer. In 1857 he came to Terre Haute, where he permanently located, and em- barked in the manufacture of pumps, in which business he has since been engaged. July 4, 1854, he married Miss Mary Ann Agnes Dorkas, who was born in Clermont county, Ohio, December 15, 1834. Elizabeth I. Dorkas, the mother of Mrs. Vance, was a na- tive of Pennsylvania, and died in Maryland at the extreme old age of ninety-six years. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Vance have been born two children: Isabella L., who was born in Highland county, Ohio, April 18, 1855, and died in Terre Haute, February 8, 1884; and Miriam J., who was born July 26, 1857, and died on the 27th of the following month. Mr. Vance is a Knight Templar; in politics he is a Republican.

ANGUS VANHOUTIN, farmer and stock-grower, Fayette township, P. O. Libertyville, was born in Edgar county, Ill., Octo- ber 11, 1844, a son of Alfred and Julia (Jarred) Vanhoutin, and is of German descent. The father, who was born in the State of New York, and had been a farmer all his life, died in Illinois in 1868. The mother was a native of Kentucky. Their family con- sisted of nine children-seven daughters and two sons-Angus being the elder of the sons. Alfred Vanhoutin was married, the second time, to Miss Ellen Gray, by whom he had two children: Alfred M. and Laura Glendora. Our subject was reared on the farm, attended the common school, and, choosing farming as a business, is now the owner of a well-improved farm of 211 acres. He has made his own way in the world. He was married in Edgar county, Ill., in 1868, to Miss Cedelia, daughter of Calvin and Mary (Johnson) Johnson, which union has been blessed with a family of four children, viz. : Mary B., Julia, Emma and Mirta. In politics Mr. Vanhoutin is a

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Republican. He enlisted in 1863 in the Eleventh Indiana Cav- alry, and served to the close of the war.

DAVID E. VANHOUTEN, P. O. New Goshen. This gentle- man is among those who have made their own way in the world, and has been successful financially. He is a farmer and stock-grower, owning a fine farm near New Goshen, in Fayette township, where he now resides. He was born in Edgar county, Ill., September 1, 1829, and is a son of Benjamin and Hannah ( Morrison) Vanhouten. His mother was born in Kentucky, of Irish descent; his father was born in New Jersey, in 1801, was a farmer, and now resides in Illi- nois, being in his eighty-ninth year. David E., who is the eldest in a family of nine children, of whom seven are now living, was reared in Illinois, attending the common school, and has made farm- ing the business of his life. He started in life a poor boy, and is an example of what industry, perseverance and economy will pro- duce. In the spring of 1865 he came to this county, and pur- chased land, making this his home ever since. Mr. Vanhouten was married in Indiana, in 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Shirley, who is of Dutch origin. She is a member of the Christian Church; he is past master of the Masonic fraternity.

ROBERT W. VANVALZAH, D. D. S., Terre Haute, is a native of Aaronsburg, Penn., born May 8, 1856, and is a son of Robert F. Vanvalzah ; his parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and of Dutch and English descent. The father, who was a physician, one of a family whose history shows that a large number of them were engaged in that profession, was a resident of Spring Mills, Penn., at the time of his death, which occurred in 1873. Robert W., the youngest in a family of four children, obtained his education in Massachusetts, at the Willison Academy, where he graduated in the regular classical course. He commenced the study of dentistry in 1876, in Terre Haute, afterward attended the Indiana Dental College, at Indianap- olis, where he received the degree of D. D. S., in 1880, and then opened his office in Terre Haute, where he has met with marked suc- cess. He has been secretary of the Indiana State Dental Association for ten years. In 1881 Dr. Vanvalzah was married to Miss Martha, daughter of Nimrod Sparks, and a native of Indiana, born of En- glish descent. They have one child, Thaddeus, and are members of the Presbyterian Church. The Doctor is a Republican, as was his father and three brothers, and he has served as a member of the city council, from the Second ward. He is an active Odd Fellow, a member of the Grand Lodge, and a major in the Army of the Patri- archs Militant, I. O. O. F.

GEORGE VERMILION, farmer and stock-grower, Fayette township, P. O. St. Mary's, is descended from one of the pioneer

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settlers of Fayette township. He was born in Mercer county, Ky., September 9, 1823, a son of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Sandford) Vermilion, natives of Virginia and of French and German origin. The father, who was a farmer, settled, in 1826, in the wilderness with his family, in what is now Fayette township, where he spent the remaining portion of his life, dying September 3, 1845. He en- tered 320 acres of land, which is still in the possession of the family. He was twice married, and raised ten children, George being the second child by the last marriage. Our subject has spent most of his life in Fayette township on the farm he now owns, and where he resides on Section 26. He grew to his majority in this sparsely settled county, but had no school advantages, excepting in a subscription school, and but very little of that. He worked by the month and day, making his own start in the world. His pos- sessions in land now number 560 acres-326 in Fayette township, where he resides. He has been twice married, the first time, in 1849, to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick Groves, and of Ger- man origin. She was born June 18, 1828, and died in 1874. The fruits of this union were thirteen boys, of whom seven are now living, viz .: Frederick, who is engaged in the saw-mill business; Reason, a carpenter; John and William (twins), farmers; George W., also a farmer; Joel and Robert, at home. Mr. Vermilion's present wife, whom he married March 19, 1885, is the daughter of William and Amanda (Smuck) Vermilion, and she was born in this county September 3, 1845, of German and French origin. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Vermilion is a Democrat, but has never aspired to any office. What he owns he has made by close attention to business and hard work. He has many friends in this county.

HON. D. W. VOORHEES, United States Senator, Indiana. " The tall sycamore of the Wabash " is the expressive term of ad- miration that has been applied to Mr. Voorhees by his many ad- mirers. Nearly every American statesman who came to be in close touch with the people-the masses, so to speak-has had some ex- pressive name or phrase applied that is used in common with his proper name, and he comes to be equally known by either. There are few spots between the two oceans, but what you would be as readily understood in the use of the term, "The tall Sycamore of the Wabash," as in the use of the other even more frequent and familiar apellation, " Dan " Voorhees. In American democracy the people maintain much of their social equality of intercourse by these affectionate familiarities with their most eminent statesman. There are many people who best know Abraham Lincoln as "Uncle Abe," and in truest affection thus speak of him. This manner of

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Americans is not an index of rudeness, but is the evidence that the person to whom it is applied has always maintained that close rela- tion of the brotherhood of all mankind. Of all our prominent men there are none of whom this is more nearly the truth of the matter than of this man. He came from the body of the people, and is of and with them still, and would so remain regardless of any and all circumstances. He and they understand each other as do enthusias- tic school boys-seeing each other's faults plain enough, but are drawn together by these indiscriminately with the greater virtues that each well know the other possesses. A perfect people would soon, it may well be believed, grow very monotonous. The austere and self-great man is soon known even to the children as entirely too great and perfect, in his own reckoning, to be either a real close friend or companion. The very air he breathes has to be made to order, and the tender children would mostly pronounce it hartshorn or some other pungent salts. Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson were political opponents, yet both were the true types of the great American commoners. Neither ever got beyond the reach of the intense affection of their followers, and, though both are long since in their peaceful graves, they are still objects of adoration, and alas, too, of the vituperation of their political ene- mies. In political life, the man who has the most intense friends is just as certain to have the most unrelenting enemies, and their faults and their virtues are equally magnified.

When the grave has closed over all now living, then only will there be the true history of our times and men. The historian will not be influenced by any of our present declamations, eulo- gies or denunciations, any more than we are by the hieroglyphics on the dried papyrus of the most ancient mummies that are being dragged from their burial places. Where there are facts obtain- able they will sift them out, and all pompous adjectives of praise or blame they will treat as mere rubbish. What did this or that man do for his fellow-man, for the common weal, and this must include his race and not simply his party or sect, will be their only care. If nothing, in fact, they will adjudge him as noth- ing, though they might find the earth covered with his lying monuments. .

Of all the men of history that Indiana has produced, who is there that has been so close to the people, in his sympathy and in their respect, as Daniel W. Voorhees ? It is doubtful, at least, if there has been one. The evidences of this are the extremes-the totally op- posite of those who admire and those who, is it too strong to say, hate him? Even these dislike him, it seems, for his politics only. His head has been bared to about as fierce a storm of abuse for his

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political opinions as any other man we have ever had. His promi- nence before the public and the troublous times of internecine war .- the maddening hours when even good men confused patriotism and party into synonymous terms-came together. His patriotism was questioned by madmen, and his tracks were dogged by slan- der, his motives misunderstood, and both sincerely and maliciously misrepresented. He came to the front of a forlorn minority, and received the assailants in chivalric defiance. He believed he was championing the cause of the people, and with knightly fervor he lowered his visor and set his lance and drove at full speed upon every usurpation. In the stormiest of times he breasted the wind's fiercest blast, and in receiving these assaults, these combined at- tacks from every quarter, it is now enough to say that no dishonor- able public act has ever been laid at his door by his most virulent political enemies.

Senator Voorhees has his faults. He knows this as well as do his closest friends. He has made mistakes, those that he should not have made. He has been maligned and grievously slandered. It was the ignorance of his enemies that have pursued him with falsehoods, because such attacks in the end are harmless; indeed, they often react as they should, and make just men forget faults and mistakes that otherwise they would not overlook. He was never a panderer-a trimmer who sets his sails for the popular breeze, or a cunning designer, living a double life and "crooking the pregnant hinges of the knee that thrift might follow fawning." Here he has the perfect poise-pre-eminently the courage of his convictions-of the unconquerable order that in the darkest hour caused his friends to look to him in confident hope. No man has ever drawn about himself such a following, such friends as come of considerations outside of all selfish interests and benefits, save those whose im- pulses are for the right, and whose integrity of friendship is high above the understanding of the mean and sordid of the human fam- ily. This has been his distinguished characteristic. The other good fortune that has come has been the folly of those who fain would stab him, and who in their madness answered the despair of Job when he exclaimed, "Oh, that mine enemy would write a book!" They have writ a book of slander, and have made the peo- ple forget that he, like all of us, is very human and frail. This is not written in the spirit of vindication, because it is not believed that unjust attacks have permanently hurt their intended victim. But it is said more to show ignorance that it has unwittingly helped where it hoped to give the deadliest thrust. There is therefore in this case nothing needing a defense. Nor is a word written in the spirit of party or sect, or as a personal expression where the writer

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may have feelings and prejudices, for he came here clean of all local questions, prejudices, quarrels, rivalries and bickerings, with no other purpose in all that he may touch save the simple and una- dorned truth. With Mr. Voorhees he has had neither personal ac- quaintance nor social contact, but has simply overheard men talk. He only knew of the man in his political and public capacity and that he was a Democrat, and for a closer knowledge of him has gone, not to his admirers and political friends, but to leading and intelli- gent Republicans-his neighbors and those who have known him as a citizen and social companion all their lives-in all things avoiding the folly of extravagant praise, and has put down naught in malice.

Daniel W. Voorhees is a native of Ohio, born in Butler county, September 26, 1827. He was but two months old when his parents removed to Fountain county, Ind., where his widowed mother now resides. He is the son of the late Stephen Voorhees, who was a na- tive of Mercer county, Ky., born in 1798, and removed to Ohio when a young man, and in December, 1827, to the farm in Foun- tain county where he died. The father of Stephen was Peter Voor- hees, a native of New Jersey, who went to Kentucky soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. Peter Voorhees' wife was a Vanars- dale, born at Bryant's Station (then a fort). Her father, Luke Vanarsdale, was a soldier in the battle of Blue Licks, where he greatly distinguished himself, as well as in other places with the Indians, under Daniel Boone. His grandfather, Peter Voorhees, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and partook of the battles of Princeton, Monmouth, and on other historic fields. The Voorheeses originally were from Holland, where the name was Van Voorhees. This was a fitting representative from the Dutch Republic, who did valiant service in establishing our noble Republic. The mother of Mr. Voorhees was Rachel (Elliott) Voorhees, a native of Maryland, of Irish origin. The marriage of the parents was in 1821. Of their children Daniel W., who was the third in the order of birth, was a farmer boy on a farm about ten miles from Covington, Ind., where he remained until 1845. His young life was exactly like that of the average boy on the farm of his day, where the chief les- son was industry and frugality. His first lessons were among the sons of toil, a simple, rural people, and through life it is from this home-life that he can so well draw the pictures it has sunken deeply in his mind. It is probably from this fact that to this day he re- tains a strong hold upon this class of people.

In 1845 he entered Asbury University, Greencastle, whence he graduated in 1849. It was while a student here that he found and won his wife. In school he won his laurels as an orator of unusual

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promise for a lad. It was old Prof. Larabee, of that faculty, who had no hesitation in predicting that he would some day be America's distinguished orator. Soon after graduation he entered the law office of Lane & Wilson, Crawfordsville, and the next spring opened his law office in Covington, Fountain county. In 1852 we find him associated in the practice with Ex-United States Senator Hon. E. A. Hanagan, who had heard the young man deliver a Fourth of July oration, and was so delighted that he offered him a partner- ship. In June, 1853, he was appointed, by Gov. Wright, pros- secuting attorney of the circuit court, in which he had at once a wide reputation as a criminal lawyer. In 1856 he was nominated by acclamation as the Democratic candidate for congress, and was defeated by 230 votes in a district that had previously given 2,000 Republican majority. In November, 1857, he removed to Terre Haute, and in the spring of 1858 was appointed United States dis- trict attorney by President Buchanan. In 1860-62-64, he was el ected to congress, but in his last election his majority of over 600 was contested by his opponent, Hon. Henry D. Washburn, and as Thad Stephens, the then leader of the house informed Voorhees, this seat was necessary in order to give congress a two-thirds vote to wield against President Johnson; he was turned out and the seat

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History of Vigo county, Indiana, with biographical selections, Part 102

Author: Bradsby, Henry C Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Chicago : S.B. Nelson & co. Number of Pages: 1032

Author: Bradsby, Henry C
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Chicago : S.B. Nelson & co.
Number of Pages: 1032