USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Remington > History of the town of Remington and vicinity, Jasper County, Indiana > Part 11
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Mrs. Larsh was raised in Remington, and was also given a fair education in our public schools at this place. She was particularly friendly with all her school mates. She was of a very lively temperament, a little bit wild, and always a leader in the girlish sports, with her female friends and school mates. Messrs. Briggs and Larsh always entertained implicit confidence in each other so far as is known, from the time Mr. Larsh commenced as a clerk for Mr. Briggs, on through their partnership relations, and until Mr. Larsh bought Mr. Briggs interest in the drug store in 1891. Mr. Larsh is a gentleman and has many friends. Mrs. Larsh has not been heard from, and her fate or whereabouts is unknown.
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REMINGTON FIRES.
HE first fire that ever visited Remington was the burning of a small barn, the property of Joseph Lewis, which stood on the corner of First North and Indiana streets, on the property now owned by Messrs. Snell and Graham. This occurred in 1863. The loss was small. The next was the destruction of a brick residence, the property of one Merrill Mead, a former resident of Remington. This house was located on Illinois street, and adjoining the brick residence owned at present by Harry Hartley. This house was built by Joseph Lewis in 1864, and was the first brick building ever erected in Remington. This fire was the result of an accident, and the loss was considerable for those times
The next visitation from the fire fiend, was in 1874, when the Wm. Bolles store was destroyed, including stock of goods and the building. It was generally believed that this fire was of incendiary origin, but the deed could be traced to no particular person. The loss, however, was not great, as the stock of goods had been considerably reduced, and a great part of the business of the town was located in other localities, and the property was fully covered by insurance
The next visitation by fire was in 1875, when the dwelling house of Adam Coover was destroyed. This dwell- ing was located on the east side of South Ohio street, and the loss was quite severe.
In 1882, the store and buildings known as the Hatha- way buildings, were destroyed by fire. This was considered by some as a purely accidental fire, and by others it was thought to have been the work of an incendiary, but noth- ing was ever definitely learned as to its origin. It was a very destructive fire, the loss being great for a small town like Remington to sustain. The upper story of the build- ing was occupied by offices, among them being the law
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office of Mr. Harper Snyder, which was entirely destroyed, including a good law library. This fire destroyed also three large lower business rooms.
In 1883, a fire occurred in Remington, of far greater magnitude than any fire that had hitherto preceded it, the estimated loss of property being five thousand dollars, and only partially insured.
The fire known as the Stittz fire, occurrig on the 28th day of April, 1884, was also a very destructive one, the loss being from three to four thousand dollars. This was on South Railway street.
Again in 1888, Remington had a very destructive fire, which consumed six or seven business buildings on the north side of Railway street, and extending from the south- east corner on Indiana street, westward to the alley between the Babb House and the Heilig restaurant and bakery. This fire originated in the rear part of what was known as the Peter Ochs building, the lower part where the fire is supposed to have been started, being unoccupied. "The upper part of the building was occupied by Mr. Jerome H. Harmon, a newly married man, who had just prior to this conflagration commenced housekeeping in this building. Mr. Harmon lost nearly all of his household effects in this fire. The building adjoining this on the east was occupied by B. P. Dluzak as a saloon, who had been doing business there about eight months preceding. His building was entirely destroyed, as was also the corner building east of him owned by Alfred Thompson, of Rensselaer, in which Thomas Harris kept his billiard and pool tables. Mr. Harris succeeded in removing his tables from the building before it was destroyed. The first building west of the Ochs house was that occupied by the family of Mr. Robert Lecklider. The family resided up stairs, and the first floor was occupied by Mrs. Lecklider as a millinery and dress making establishment. They lost their building complete and a great deal of their millinery goods and household effects. The family was financially ruined, and not being
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able to secure another place of business in Remington they removed to Rensselaer, where Mrs. Lecklider again estab- lished herself in the millinery and dress making business, her husband later having died in the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio.
The next building west of the Lecklider property was the Babb hotel, which went down with the balance. It had escaped several close calls prior to this time, but this settled the fate of the Babb House. This building at this time was occupied by Smith Payne as a barber shop and . also his family, and Joseph Vogel also occupied one of the lower rooms as a shoe store and shop. There had also been a family to move in and occupy a part of the upper story, about one week prior to this fire, by the name of Edward Royalty. The total loss occasioned by this fire was probably about five thousand dollars, and there was not one dollar of available insurance on any of it. The parties disturbed by this conflagration were Thomas Harris, B. P. Dluzak, Mrs. M. E. Lecklider, .Ed Royalty, Joseph Vogel, Jerome Harmon and Smith Payne. Reverting to the Hathaway fire, it would have been proper to have added then that Attorney Harper W. Snyder was at that time the town clerk of Remington. Dr. Patton and George B. Chappell, an insurance agent, also occupied upstairs rooms in this building for their offices. The Hathaway firm had dissolved partnership prior to this fire, Giles Hathaway having passed away.
In the Ochs fire, which occurred on the 28th day of October, 1888, mention should have been made of another small one-story room in this row of buildings, which was also destroyed along with the balance of the property at the time. This room was situated between the Ochs building and the Dluzak saloon, and it had been occupied by Charles R. McCulley, who had all his house- hold effects in it when the fire occurred, nearly all of which were destroyed. Mr. McCulley, not being here at the time, his interests were overlooked by the excited crowd.
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WILLIAM GREEN.
(See page 265.)
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Smith Payne moved his barber shop to South Ohio street, in the building owned by J. O. B. McDougle. Mr. Esan Hart was the owner of the Babb House, which was destroyed, and in a short time he moved another building onto the site for the use of Mr. Joseph Vogel for a boot and shoe store. Mr. Vogel came here in 1889, and has been in the boot and shoe business since that time. He has been fairly successful in his business. Thomas Harris remained out of business for quite a long time, but he finally engaged the building of Mr. McDougle, which had recently been occupied by Mr. Smith Payne as a barber shop, into which he moved his billiard and pool tables, where he remained for a few months, Mr. Payne having in the meantime built himself a good shop on the north side of Railway street, into which he had just recently moved. Some years previous to this latter fire there had occurred a very destructive one on the same side of the street and just west of the alley. It was a wooden row of buildings, and it was thought that the fire originated in the saloon owned by the Ellis Brothers. A Mr. Rahiley owned a restaurant and bakery in this row, which was a total loss, and he was obliged to quit business. His former clerk, Mr. George W. Heilig, then went into the business and made a success of it. The adjoining building to Mr. Rahiley had previously been occupied by Martin Pefley as a restaurant, but he had just a short time previous to this moved his stock of goods to the south side of the railway, and at this time the place was vacant. The next building, being the one on the corner next to the alley, was at this time occupied by Smith Payne as a barber shop. This was a two-story building, and his family occupied the upper part as a residence. Mr. Payne was now, as he thought, well equipped for business. But "the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglee," as Mr. Payne found out to his sorrow. When these people were thus invited to vacate by the raging element, "they did not stand on the order of going, but they went at once," and with commend- 8
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able alacrity. Our people were not prepared to fight fire advantageously, the only thing at hand being buckets and water, which had to be carried some distance, and as the fire had a good headway when the people were aroused, and in a row of dry wooden buildings, it was soon discov- ered that all attempts to suppress it were futile, so it was allowed to run its course, and it burned out all the build- ings between the brick and stone building on the corner of Ohio and Railway streets and the alley on the east, which separated this row from the Babb House. By dint of extra- ordinary exertions the fire was here checked, although the Babb House had caught several times, but it was finally saved from total destruction. The property destroyed was the greatest that ever occurred at any one time in the town of Remington, this being at the time the principal business part of the town, and the buildings were generally good ones; although some of them were old, they answered very well the purposes for which they were designed. There were five different firms doing business at that time, and the estimated damages resulting from this fire to them was several thousand dollars. The majority of the build- ings were occupied by renters, so it will be seen that the losses fell upon several different parties-the owners of the buildings and those doing business in them. Mr. Alfred Thompson, of Rensselaer, was the owner of the building occupied by the Ellis Brothers; Messrs. Brodie & Kirk owned their own buildings, and Mr. J. O. B. McDougle owned the other three store room buildings. This was quite a loss to our town, and it took several years to recover from it.
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The next fire following the last one mentioned oc- curred on the south side of Railway street, and this also proved to be a very disastrous one, as it destroyed six bus- iness buildings, and among them being the post-office. This was an incendiary fire, and the party accused being arrested and tried for this crime, was found guilty and given a short term in the penitentiary. He was afterward
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given a new trial and was then allowed to go free. This fire occurred on the 28th day of April, 1884. Among the business affected by this fire was Charles L. Wilson, a harness maker, who lost an excellent stock of goods in his line, and this loss was total to him, as he was not pro- tected by any insurance. The building next to Mr. Wil- son's was Stittz's butcher shop or meat market, where the fire originated. The room east was occupied by Thomas Harris as a billiard and pool room, which adjoined the alley. Here it was attempted to suppress the fire, but without avail, as the wind was against the firemen, which carried the flames across the alley and caught in the large two-story frame building owned by Mr. McDougle, which was entirely destroyed. The next building to go up in smoke was the post-office, which was owned by George B. Clark, the postmaster, and still another small building, occupied by Mrs. Hoose as a millinery store, immediately east of the post-office, was also consumed. This fire proved to be quite another serious blow to the prosperity of Rem- ington, and it again took several years to overcome this misfortune. The largest building, owned by Mr. Mc- Dougle, had been built in 1868, and contained a large hall upstairs, which had at one time been used as a school room. It had a fine business room below, and had always been occupied for moral and legitimate purposes. Mr. San- ford A. Morgan was the builder and original owner. In one side of the post-office Mr. H. Witman had his jewelry store. He had been here but a short time, but his brother- in-law, a Mr. James Thompson, had assisted him to get nicely started in business when he met with the misfortune to have his place of business destroyed. Remington, at the present time, is better prepared to combat this fiery ele- ment, our town having recently invested in a good fire engine and equipments, and organized an excellent com- pany of firemen.
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LAWYERS.
HE first man to engage in the. practice of law in the town of Remington was Wiley H. Pierce, during the year 1872. Mr. Pierce had been raised on a farm near Remington, and had only the advantage of a common school education. He was a son of Dr. Pierce, who resided a few miles northwest of Rem- ington. Wiley H. Pierce, prior to his engaging in the practice of the law, had been elected to the office of Constable for Carpenter township, and without other preparation than what he picked up during his term of service as such Constable, he entered on the practice and continued a few years only, when he removed to Kansas. He was followed in this profession by Mr. Charles Jouve- nat, who remained here in the practice of his profession for four or five years, when he, too, removed from Remington to the city of Chicago, Ill., where he is at present engaged in the real estate business, in which he has been fairly successful. Mr. Jouvenat had formerly been a school teacher and newspaper man, and was much respected by the citizens of Remington. Among the former attorneys of Remington was Mr. Harper Snyder. He came to our town in the seventies, and at once entered into the prac- tice of the law and collecting business. He was a great lover of good horses, and formed a partnership in the horse business with James Lock, also of Remington. Mr. Snyder was of a social disposition, friendly with all, and was a very fair lawyer, having had practical training before he entered the business in his own behalf. He was especially liked by the sporting fraternity. He held the office of Town Clerk of Remington for a considerable time, and he had also been the secretary of the "Remington Fair Asso- ciation" for a considerable time. Without any premonition or warning of any kind Mr. Snyder died very suddenly, during the month of June, 1886. He left a widow and
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three small children, who were, however, fairly provided for, as Mr. Snyder at the time of his death carried three thousand and five hundred dollars life insurance, which his family received.
Ira W. Yeoman, formerly of Rensselaer, and later of Goodland, Ind., located in Remington, Ind., on the 21st of March, 1887, and he at once established his law office in an upper room of D. W. Green's building. He remained there about three years, when he removed his office to South Ohio street in an upper room of the building recently con- structed by Charles L. Wilson, where he can be found at this time. Mr. Yeoman is an expert in the preparation of legal papers of any character, but he has made specialties of the notarial, collection and pension business. He has been extraordinarily successful in his pension practice before the Pension and other Government Departments at Washington, D. C., as many of his soldier clients at Rensselaer, Goodland and Remington will testify. Mr. Yeoman has been successful in his profession since he came to Remington. He built himself a good residence on North Ohio street in 1892. He was Auditor of Jasper county, having been elected in October, 1867, serving four years; his term expired November 7, 1871. He is a genial gentleman, and has an extraordinary faculty of making friends of all with whom he becomes acquainted. He was admitted to practice law at the January term of the Jasper Circuit Court, 1872.
Mr. Jasper Guy was admitted to the bar in May, 1888, at Kentland, Ind. He made the law his choice as a pro- fession, without ever having had any training or legal edu- cation, and at a time of life when men do not usually undertake any professional career, but Mr. Guy, by hard study and close attention to the affairs of his clients, has been quite successful. He had been a resident of our town for many years prior to this undertaking, having been engaged in the drug business here. He had an excellent record as a druggist, having spent probably fifteen years at
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the business in Remington prior to his engaging in the practice of law. He is at this time in the enjoyment of a good clientage and a lucrative practice.
Charles E. Mills came to Carpenter township from the State of Illinois in the year 1885, and he then bought the Bliss farm, one mile west of Remington. Mr. Mills con- tinued to farm until the winter and spring of 1892, when he sold the same and removed to Rensselaer, Ind., the county seat of Jasper county. Mr. Mills had, however, read law to some extent in Illinois before coming to Indi- ana, and in the month of October, 1888, he was admitted to the practice of law at the Rensselaer bar. He received the appointment of County Assessor by the Board of County Commissioners of Jasper county in the spring of 1892, and accordingly moved to Rensselaer, that he might give attention to the duties of his office as Assessor, he having been elected to the same since his appointment, and also to the practice of law. While in Remington his law practice was not very extensive. Mr. Mills is a good citizen and is held in the highest esteem by the citizens of Remington.
The early lawyers of Remington did not make great fortunes in their law practice, nor in their line as collectors, although in this latter line there was plenty to do, nearly every one being deeply involved in debt, but were without money or property with which to pay their indebtedness; so it will be readily seen that it was practically impossible to enforce collections, their clients, therefore, failed to receive their dues and the attorneys failed to receive their collection fees.
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JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
HE first Justice of the Peace for Carpenter Town- ship was Mr. J. H. Miller who was elected to this office in 1863, but he only served one year and was succeeded by George W. Hascall, who was elected in 1864. He only served two years and he was succeeded by Benj. B. Jeffries who was elected in 1866. Mr. Jeffries served as Justice of the Peace for Carpenter Township for about twelve years when he moved away and located in the south part of the State of Indiana. Upon his removal George W. Hascall was again elected as Justice and served in this capacity until during the year 1883, when he received an appointment in the Pension Department at Washington, D. C., when he resigned his office as Justice of the Peace and removed to Washington, D. C., where he took charge of his more lucrative position.
Charles E. Harlacher had been elected as one of the Justices of the Peace for Carpenter Township in the year 1882 and he served his term out, being four years. Mr. Henry C. Phelps also served one term as Justice of the Peace for this Township during the eighties. After the removal of Geo. W. Hascall to Washington, William Tharp was elected a Justice of the Peace for Carpenter Township, and he served continuously for about six years, or until his death, which occured in the latter part of the year 1889. After the death of Esq. Wm. Tharp, Charles E Harlacher was again elected as a Justice of the Peace for this Township, and retained the office until 1892, when he resigned it to accept the office as one of the mem- bers of the Board of School Trustees of the Town of Rem- ington, which office he only held for a short time, being ousted from there through a legal process on constitutional grounds. James D. Mason served as Justice from 1887 to 1891, when his term of office expired, and he then formed a law partnership with Jasper Guy. Charles Bonner was
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elected a Justice for this Township in 1892. He is a farmer living three and one-half miles northwest of Rem- ington and he kept his office at his residence. We have omitted at the proper place the name of James Spencer, and will here state that he was elected a Justice of the Peace for Carpenter Township in 1871 or 1872, and served about four years, when he removed from this place, finally locating near Buffalo, in White County, Indiana, where he is at present officiating in the capacity of a Justice of the Peace. The present incumbent is Geo. B. Chappell.
CONSTABLES.
OMMENCING with 1863 and naming the consta- bles in succession we find the names of William Irvine, Thomas E. Donnelly, Willey H. Pierce, Patrick H. Lalley, George Shaull, Henry Court- right, .William Draper, Willis Love, and the various Remington Marshals, who have acted in this capacity.
SHOE SHOPS.
HE first shoemaker to locate in Remington was Charles Crompton, who established himself here in this business in the year 1863. He kept his shop in Joseph Lewis' house, better known as the Henry Downing house, which stood on the present site of Snell & Graham's mill and feed store. Crompton only remained here about two years, when he left, and Vinal Williams established another shoe shop here in a house that then stood on the lot now occupied by John E. Hol- lett's coal bins, on the south side of the railway. He established this shop in 1865. ' His wife was a daguerreo- type artist, having the necessary outfit, and she also estab-
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lished herself in this picture business, which was the first ever undertaken in Remington. Her art gallery was located in the same building in which her husband had his shoe shop. Major Burkett also established himself in the shoe- makers' business in this town during the year 1865. He had been a volunteer soldier during the late war and had been, prior to his service in the army, a practical shoemaker. He was an acquaintance of the Haver family, and after coming here he married one of the Misses Haver, and soon after this he purchased the shoe store and tools of Mr. Williams and established himself here for a time. Mrs. Williams also sold out her art gallery and she and her hus- band then departed from Remington.
In 1868 a Mr. Middlesworth, who had lived on the north side of the Iroquois river in Newton County, came to Remington and bought out Major Burkett's interest in the shoemakers' trade and established himself here. He was a good workman and continued at his trade until during the year 1870, when he sickened and died.
Prior to his death a young man by the name of John K. Bingman arrived in Remington. He was a practical shoemaker and found employment with Mr. Middlesworth. After the death of Mr. Middlesworth Mr. Bingman carried on this shoemakers business and in due course of time he was married to the widow of Mr. Middlesworth. Mr. Bingman has carried on the business since then to the present time. He has done fairly well and has built a good residence on Main, or Range Line Street, north of the rail- way. He has a small shop which he has moved two or three times to suit the convenience of trade. He had a slight fire in his shop in 1891, but the damage did not exceed twenty-five dollars. His shop is now located on the McDougle lot adjoining the post-office. There was also a firm of La Rue & Co., who built the Lecklider building and established therein a shoestore and shop in 1872. They only did business here a short time when they sold ont and returned to Renssalaer, Indiana.
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Mr. Joseph Vogel established himself here with a shoe store and shoemakers' shop about 1888. He was located at first in the Babb house which was destroyed by fire in 1888, and a short time afterwards, another house having been moved on the site where he had previously had his store, he went into business there again and remained there for about two years, when, he having bought property on Ohio Street, south of the railway, and built him a nice and commodious shoe store thereon, he moved his stock of goods into it, where he is at present located. Mr. Vogel is an excellent shoemaker, and by strict attention to his business he has made considerable money since coming to Remington.
WAREHOUSES.
HE first warehouse built in Remington was known as the Roberts warehouse, mention having been made of it elsewhere in this work. It was built in 1860 by Jesse H. Fordyce, the founder of Rem- ington. It was first bought and operated by Mr. Roberts, who sold it soon afterwards to Hathaway Brothers, who greatly improved and enlarged the building. They then leased it to James S. Irwin in 1871. Mr. Irwin at once engaged in the grain business. He made a success of this business for several years, when he became able to build a warehouse and elevators of his own, which he did in the year 1875. This warehouse is now known as and called the "middle warehouse." After Irwin gave up the Hath- away warehouse, it fell into the hands of and was operated by Messrs. Church & Hartley, who held control of it for a time, when it then fell into the hands of Oliver B. McIn- tire, in the year 1884. McIntire operated it for a short time, when he turned it over to Samuel Solomon, who in course of time leased it to Hon. Anson Wolcott. This building was eventually sold to Hon. Robert Parker, and
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