USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 52
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special attention to the breeding of Duroc-Jersey swine of the highest grade, and through his efforts he has done much to raise the local stand- ard in the line of industry with which he is identified, his estate like- wise giving to him excellent returns from diversified agriculture. He is a native of Wabash county and is a member of a family whose name has been long and prominently identified with the civic and industrial his- tory of the county.
Henry Thomas was born on the old family homestead that lies across the road from his present farm, in Liberty township, and the date of his nativity was May 12, 1869. He is a son of Samuel and Mary (Michael) Thomas, both of whom reside at La Fontaine, where the father is liv- ing retired, after long years of earnest and productive endeavor in con- nection with the great basic industry of agriculture. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, and his wife is a native of Cass county, Indiana, where her parents settled in the pioneer days and where her marriage to Samuel Thomas was solemnized. Soon after the close of the Civil war Samuel Thomas removed to Wabash county, and here he became an industrious and successful farmer, the while he had the popular con- fidence and esteem that made him influential in public affairs of a local order. He and his wife are numbered among the venerable and honored citizens of Wabash county, and of their four children three are living,- Albert, who is engaged in the insurance business at Portland, Jay county ; Arthur S., who is a substantial farmer of Wayne township, Huntington county ; and Henry, who is the immediate subject of this review.
Passing the days of his boyhood and youth on the homestead farm which was the place of his birth, Henry Thomas there found ample de- mands upon his time and attention in rendering consistent aid in the work of the homestead, and he continued to attend the local schools dur- ing the winter terms until he had attained to his legal majority. In his independent operations as a farmer and stock-grower he has shown that enterprise and good judgment that inevitably make for success, and he has a landed estate of which he may well be proud, as it gives palpable evidences of thrift and prosperity and is one of the model places of the county. His average herd of pure-bred Duroc-Jersey swine numbers about two hundred head, and at the time of this writing the breeding heads of the herd are the fine registered types bearing the names of "Perfect Professor," "Orian Boy," and "Indiana Volunteer." He sells each year many of this strain of hogs for breeding purposes, and is known as one of the leading breeders of the Duroc-Jerseys in this part of the State.
In politics Mr. Thomas supported the cause of the Republican party from the time of reaching his majority until the national election of 1912, when he transferred his allegiance to the newly organized Progres- sive party. In the primary election in Wabash county in the spring of 1914 he received nomination, on the Progressive ticket, for the office of county commissioner, as representative of the south district of the county. He and his family hold membership in the United Brethren church at Bethlehem, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and
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the Knights of the Maccabees. On February 2, 1893, Mr. Thomas wedded Miss Phoebe Hettler, daughter of Christopher L. Hettler, who is a representative citizen of Marion, judicial center of Grant county, Mrs. Thomas having been reared and educated in that county. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have three children,-Hazel, Paul and Lucille, the two younger children remaining at the parental home, and Hazel, who was graduated in a business college at Marion, being employed as a bookkeeper in that city, where she resides in the home of her maternal grandfather.
S. L. MOHR. Though a resident of his present farm in Noble town- ship only since February, 1910, Mr. S. L. Mohr has already accomplished a great deal as a substantial agriculturist, and has made himself a man of influence in the community. His fine farm shows every evidence of thrift and good management, and his long experience as a practical farmer in Illinois and Indiana was a guarantee of his continued pros- perity in Wabash county.
S. L. Mohr was born in the state of Missouri, a son of John Quincy Adams and Maria (Kunkler) Mohr. Both parents were natives of Ohio, but their parents were born and spent their early years in the state of Pennsylvania. From Ohio John Q. A. Mohr and wife located in Wood- ford county, Illinois, near the town of El Paso, and the vicinity was the birthplace of most of their children, who were eight in number, six daughters and two sons, named as follows: George K .; S. L .; Genevieve and Geneva, twins; Ida; Anna; Salome and Ellen. The parents died in 1888.
Mr. Mohr was reared in Woodford county, Illinois, was trained in the public schools and also by the discipline of the home farm, and in 1881 married Miss Frances C. Kamp. She was the daughter of George and Susan Kamp, also of Woodford county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Mohr became the parents of five children, all of whom were born before they left Illinois. Clarence E. Mohr, the first, married Ola Jones; Harry K. married Rachel Copas; Howard died at the age of three months; Louis and Elsie are the youngest. From Illinois Mr. Mohr moved his family to Benton county, Indiana, and then in 1910 acquired the owner- ship and located on his present farm. It comprises one hundred and sixty acres of fertile land, all well improved and productive of some of the best crops raised in this part of Wabash county. His enterprise and industry has wrought many changes in the farm in four years time. The buildings have all been put in a fine state of repair, some new ones have been added, the fences among the fields are indicative of an energetic management, and when referring to this farm the people in that community speak of it as one of the best in the township. Though with only a brief residence in Noble township, Mr. Mohr is a repre- sentative citizen, has a wide circle of friends, and is highly thought of and respected in the other communities in this state and Illinois where most of his years were spent.
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WARREN BIGLER. For nearly forty years a resident of the city of Wabash, Warren Bigler, in addition to a successful career in business, has made a name for himself in republican politics, is well remembered over the state at large for his capable services in the office of Auditor of State a few years ago, and is a man of broad interests both in practi- cal affairs and in scholarship.
Warren Bigler is a native of Indiana, born in Shelby county, Sep- tember 24, 1851. He is a son of Lewis and Melissa (Bradenburg) Big- ler, early settlers of Shelby county and long residents there. His father was a miller by occupation, and died in the community which was for so many years his home in the year 1870. After his death the mother took up her abode in the city of Wabash, and spent the closing years of her life there, dying October 26, 1902.
The country schools of his native community supplied Warren Big- ler with his early education, and that was followed with a course of study at the famous old Normal Academy at Lebanon conducted by Dr. Alfred Holbrook, an institution which during a period of more than half a century trained hundreds of youths who later took their places as men of light and leading in their generation. In 1873 Mr. Bigler began the study of law in the office of Hord & Blair at Shelbyville, and during six- teen months spent as a student he also compiled a set of abstracts of title to the real estate of the city of Shelbyville. That was Mr. Bigler's first experience in a work with which he has since been almost continu- ously identified. In June, 1875, moving to Wabash, he at once began the compilation of a complete set of abstracts of title to the lands of Wabash county. That undertaking had never been carried out in a thoroughgoing fashion, and Mr. Bigler's set of abstracts was not only the first which could be regarded as complete, but was also a highly creditable accomplishment both to himself and the county. Mr. Bigler was one of the original incorporators of the State Association of Abstract- ors of Title, and honored by election as its first president.
From almost the beginning of his residence in Wabash, Mr. Bigler became identified with politics and good government in the community, and later his name and influence came into prominence over the district and state. He repeatedly served as delegate to county, congressional, district and state conventions, and for many years was closely identified with the active political organizations of the city and the commonwealth, being connected with the state committee in some capacity for eighteen years. For years he has been a member of the Columbia Club of Indiana- polis, the most influential political and social club of the state.
In 1900 Mr. Bigler served as one of the secretaries of the Republican National Convention, held at Philadelphia. In 1905 he was appointed state auditor by Governor Hanley to fill out the unexpired term of David E. Sherrick, and, in that capacity, brought to his official duties a service that reflected a high degree of credit upon himself and the man to whom he owed his appointment. This statement is emphasized by the report of a special examining committee in September, 1913, made, it will be remembered, by a Democratic body-the State Board of Accounts. After
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testifying to the faithfulness and thoroughness of Mr. Bigler's service, eight years before, the committee concluded with the statement that the methods of his department were "beyond criticism."
Mr. Bigler for a number of years was trustee of the Eastern Hospital for the Insane at Richmond. He served for eighteen years on the Wabash Board of School Trustees and for ten years was president of that body. During his identification with the educational affairs of the city, as president of the public system, not only was the handsome high school of the present erected, but three substantial ward structures were built and all the remaining schoolhouses were improved. In other words, the entire machinery of the public school system was expanded and modernized.
In 1901, when the Carnegie Library building was erected, Mr. Bigler was a member of the library board as well as of the building committee, as also of the original board which secured the appropriation from Carnegie which made possible the present elegant library and equipment.
In Wabash Mr. Bigler has been closely identified with the leading business enterprises for a number of years, and few commercial under- takings have originated during his residence in the city without some aid and favor on his part. In this connection he was one of the founders and original officers of the Wabash Board of Trade, which was chiefly instrumental in locating the Wabash Paper Mills, the cabinet factories, the hat works and other enterprises which were given the city a high standing as an industrial center. Further, the establishment and develop- ment of the building and loan associations, which up to a very recent period were such strong agents in the furtherance of local prosperity, were largely due to his honest work and promotion. The record shows that his activities in this field cover a continuous period of nearly thirty years, and that he has been identified with the various organizations of that nature when taken together for an aggregate of half a century. In a word, his energy, his ability and his broad experience have made him a large factor in the extension of all the industrial and financial activities of his home community.
On October 5, 1875, Mr. Bigler married Miss Carrie Major of Shelby- ville, Indiana. They have one son, Herbert Spencer Bigler. Although always a busy man, Mr. Bigler has found time to travel, and has been a visitor not only to the most attractive and famous spots in our own country in Canada and in Mexico, but has traveled extensively in Nor- way, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and the British Isles. He is not a globe trotter, but has been a student and an observer and has acquired an understanding of countries and people among whom he has sojourned to a degree far above that of the mere tourist. In his home county Mr. Bigler is regarded as one of the best read men, and his interests are of exceptional range. His library, selected with the greatest care and discrimination during the last two score years, is without equal in the county as a private collection of read and readable books. Mr. Bigler is a natural lover of books and literature, has chosen his library volume by volume, not merely purchased it in sec-
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tions, and the result is apparent in the library as well as in the man. He has membership in a number of the leading scientific societies, in- cluding the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Anthropological Society, the American Economic Association, American Sociological Society, the American Historical Association, and was for a number of years a contributor to the Babylonian and Egyptian Exploration Fund.
JESSE D. COON. Agricultural industry in Wabash county has an able and successful exponent in the person of the popular citizen whose name introduces this paragraph and who is one of the substantial farm- ers and stock-growers of Liberty township, his progressiveness transcend- ing his individual business operations to touch and influence those meas- ures and enterprises that contribute to the general prosperity and advancement of the community.
Mr. Coon was born in Wayne township, Huntington county, Indiana, on the 28th of September, 1863, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Harrell) Coon, the former of whom was born in Rush county, this state, and the latter in Fayette county. George Coon was a youth at the time of his parents' removal from Rush county to Wayne township, Huntington county, and there he eventually became a representative agriculturist and influential citizen. He continued his residence in Wayne township until his death and his wife, who survived him by a number of years, was a resident of the city of Wabash, Wabash county, at the time when she was summoned to the life eternal. Concerning the children the following brief data are given: Jacob is well upholding the prestige of the family name as one of the substantial farmers of Wayne township, Huntington county; John is employed at Marion, Grant county ; Levi is a prosperous farmer of Liberty township, Wabash county ; Jesse D., of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; Margaret A. is the wife of Albert R. Owens of Wabash county, and George is a resident of Wabash county.
On the old homestead farm in Huntington county Jesse D. Coon remained until he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, and he early began to prove an effective collaborator in the diversified work and management of the farm, the while he was afforded the advantages of the public schools in the little village of Banquo. His father gave him employment at stipulated wages after he reached his majority, and he was twenty-three years of age at the time of his marriage. His career has been one of consecutive industry and close adherence to the principles of integrity and honor, so that he has never lacked the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has come in contact in the varied relations of life. In 1892 Mr. Coon purchased twenty acres of land in Huntington county which he later sold, and in the fall of 1900 pur- chased his present farm comprising 160 acres and which is situated only one-fourth of a mile west of the village of Banquo, in his native county. On his original little farm of forty acres, twenty of which were given him by his father, and the other half being purchased by himself, he put forth such well directed effort that he gained more than ordinary suc-
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cess, the improvements which he has made on the place and the great care that he has given to all details of his enterprise making the farm a model of thrift and prosperity. In politics, though never an aspirant for official preferment or desirious of entering the turbulence of political contest, Mr. Coon accords unswerving allegiance to the Republican party and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church at Banquo.
On the 24th of December, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Coon to Miss Myrtle Sutton, a daughter of Aaron B. Sutton, a well known farmer of Liberty township, where Mrs. Coon was reared and educated. Of the six children of this union the eldest is Effiel, who is the wife of Elmer Shaffer, of Liberty township; Elsie is the wife of Garl M. Stephens, of Banquo, Huntington county; Dessie is the wife of George Brane and they reside in the state of Montana; and Raymond, Mary and Lawrence remain at the parental home.
WILLIAM HIDY. One of the pioneer families of Wabash county, established in Chester township for more than three-quarters of a cen- tury, is that of Hidy, honored representatives of which are found in the persons of the late William Hidy and his son, Hallet B. Hidy, the latter of whom is still engaged in agricultural pursuits in the same township. In business life the men of this family have always been found honorable, as citizens have ever been ready to assist in the advance- ment of their community, in war they have been loyal to their country's flag and eager to protect it.
William Hidy was born in Virginia in the year 1796, and there grew to manhood and married a Miss Yeager, by whom he had three sons who later accompanied him to Indiana. After the death of his first wife, he married Mrs. Catherine (Parrott) Wilson, and they had four sons and four daughters: Mary, who married Robert Sellers and is now deceased; Rev. David, for years a minister of the gospel; Sarah; Matilda; George; Lucinda; Anderson and Hallet B., all of whom are deceased with the exception of the last named. After his second marriage, October 19, 1837, William Hidy migrated to Wabash county and settled on the old Simonton road, where he purchased land of a pioneer settler, John Simonton. He settled in the uncultivated wilderness, cleared his property from the timber, erected a double log house for his family and other buildings for the shelter of his stock, and throughout his life con- tinued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the time of his death, which occurred in January, 1863, he was still the owner of his original eighty acres, although he had added considerable thereto. He was a stalwart Republican and a stanch supporter of the Union, took an interest in all matters of importance and was a man of influence and prominence in his community. His second wife passed away in Septem- ber, 1864, and both are at rest in the Pleasant Grove cemetery. They both died in the faith of the Christian church, of which they had been mem- bers throughout life. All of their sons fought as soldiers during the Civil Vol. II-29
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war, and one son by Mr. Hidy's first marriage was first a Confederate sol- dier and later wore the uniform of the Union.
Hallet B. Hidy was born on the old homestead in Chester town- ship, Wabash county, Indiana, April 2, 1848, and is a son of William and Catherine (Parrott-Wilson) Hidy. He was granted an ordinary educa- tion in the public schools in the country, which he attended during the winter months, while he assisted his father in the farm work during the summers, as was customary with farmers' lads of his day and locality. When the Civil war broke out, he was too young to become a soldier, although he saw his brothers march away one by one to the front to fight under the flag, but finally, May 12, 1864, when he had just passed his sixteenth birthday, he managed to get himself accepted as a private in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth Regiment, Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, in the 100 days' service, and was mustered into his regiment at Indianapolis. He received his honorable discharge in Sep- tember, 1864, and returned to his home, but February 1, 1865, again enlisted, joining Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, being honorably discharged in September, 1865, at Indianapolis. During the greater part of his service he was engaged in picket and scout duty and in watching the numerous guerrillas, and his record was ever that of a brave and faithful soldier, cheerful in the perform- ance of his duty and admired by comrades and respected by officers.
Upon his return home he again assumed the vocation of farmer, and was so employed until the time of his marriage, October 15, 1868, to Miss Sarah F. Howe, daughter of Luke Howe. Mr. and Mrs. Hidy have had the following children: John Wilson, who died in 1891; Emma, who married Clyde Lowe of Warsaw, Indiana; Charley, who died young; Alice, who died at the age of twelve years; Elizabeth, who married Joe Kelley ; Levi, who served as a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, during the Spanish- American war, and died October 31, 1902; Mary, who married Floyd Lewis, of Laud, Whitley county; Minnie, who married Virgil Law- rence; Frank D., who died February 8, 1906; and Bessie, who was married February 25, 1914, to Glenn Perree. The mother of these children died May 19, 1909, and was laid to rest in Pleasant Grove cemetery.
In the spring of 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Hidy located on the farm on which Mr. Hidy now resides, and on which he has continued to be engaged in farming ever since. This is a tract of thirty-eight and one- half acres, located four miles east of, Manchester, in Chester township, and is under a high state of cultivation, due to Mr. Hidy's intelligent efforts. He is possessed of more than ordinary business capacity, and in his various dealings with his fellow-men has shown himself a man of the highest integrity whose word may be relied upon as is his bond. He may well take a pride in his farm, for it has all been cleared by his own labor and the houses and other improvements are of his own construc- tion. Politically Mr. Hidy is a Republican and much interested in
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local affairs. He is a stanch advocate of good roads, and was one of the subscribers for the bettering of the road along the front of his home, working his share out during the next three years. A progressive citizen, thoroughly alert, he is entitled to a place among the men who are making Wabash county one of the most prosperous in the state. He is popular among his comrades in John A. Logan Post, Grand Army of the Republic. In his youth Mr. Hidy joined the Christian church, which was the religious home of his parents. Later with his wife and two or three of the oldest children he united with the United Brethren church in its class in the neighborhood of their home, and continued members of that class until about five years ago, when the organization was abandoned. About four years ago Mr. Hidy and his youngest daughter went into the Methodist church, which was the closest society holding regular services, and Mr. Hidy still worships there, his daughter having since moved away.
DR. A. L. STEPHENSON. For many years Dr. Amos L. Stephenson was successfully engaged in dental practice in Wabash, and was long recognized among the ablest representatives of his profession in the county. He retired from practice in the year 1902, and has since lived a retired life in Wabash, devoting himself to his home and the quiet pursuits of private life. He is a native son of Wabash county, all his life having been practically spent within its confines. His parents were Hugh M. and Maria Jane (Thompson) Stephenson, of Wabash county, and concerning them and their lives in this community it is but fitting and proper that some mention be made.
The late Hugh M. Stephenson, one time sheriff of Wabash county and for many years identified with public affairs of considerable local importance, was a native of Iredell county, North Carolina, born there on December 29, 1818. He early came north and for a time he was located at South Bend, later moving to Marion and still later to Lagro. In the latter place he conducted a general store and while a resident of the community was elected sheriff of Wabash county, gaining the office on the Whig ticket, to which party he was ever an adherent.
In the year 1850, with many another, he became very enthusiastic over the discovery of gold in California, and he joined the band of" wealth seekers who journeyed at all cost to that part of the country. Mr. Stephenson spent three years prospecting in the gold regions, but without very much success at any time, and then returned to Wabash county and located at Wabash. For a time he was occupied as a clerk in a general store, and then he engaged in the sale of farm implements, continuing thus until the year 1878. In that year he removed to Rochester and was thereafter busy for some little time in making an abstract of Fulton county. He passed away there in 1889.
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