USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Remington > History of the town of Remington and vicinity, Jasper County, Indiana > Part 9
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It will thus . be seen that the liquor traffic has been carried on in this place from the very earliest settlement of the town to the present time. It is not known that any good has ever resulted from the sales of liquor in Reming- ton, but it has been conclusively demonstrated that much harm has resulted therefrom. Besides the money uselessly
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spent in drink, the many drunkards thereby made, the neglect of many wives and little children; there has been one death traceable directly to this curse. We refer to the death of Thomas Watson, which occurred on a very cold winter's night. He had been putting up ice during the day, · and at night he patronized the various saloons in the town quite freely, and it was quite late when he started home, and he was found the next morning, just east of the Rail- way stock yards, near Mr. Hollett's barn; he had been unable to reach his home, and had fallen on the ice, his head being frozen solidly into the ice, which it had melted while he was yet living. This was one of the most horrible spectacles that men are called upon to witness. It was with difficulty that men who had worked with him the day previous, could recognize him. This affair occurred during the winter of 1882. He left a widow and family of small children to mourn his loss. . This family was not the only one in Remington that has severely suffered on account of this demon, King Alcohol. It would appear that men witnessing such scenes, and knowing the suffer- ing caused by intemperance, would forever forswear the use of alcoholic drinks. But they do not. There is per- haps more suffering, and more wrong doing being done in our town to-day, caused by the excessive use of intoxicants than our people ever experienced before, and there is pro- portionately more intoxicating liquors sold here perhaps than ever was sold before. We have confined our record mainly to the saloons of Remington, but it is proper to state, that whisky was sold in some of our earliest grocery stores. Whisky was kept for sale, and given away to customers of the Bolles general merchandise store. Joseph Lewis also kept whisky in his grocery store to accommodate his customers, until he sold out to James A. May. The above of course does not include any of the drug stores of Remington, as it is understood everywhere that whisky is the principal stock in trade of all well regulated drug stores. We presume we would not be far
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wrong, if we should state that the drug stores of Reming- ton have since the incorporation of the town, sold as much whisky as the saloons. Their class of customers, however, is different from the class who patronize the saloons, it being contended that the patrons of the drug stores belong to the upper ten class, whilst the saloon patron is a member of the lower million class. The temperance people, however, have never molested the drug stores, nor interfered in any way with their business.
Following will be found the names of men engaged in the liquor business in saloons and groceries in Remington, with the dates as nearly as it is possible to give them, from our first settlement up to the present time:
George B. 1860
W. B. . 1861
Joseph Lewis 1862-1865
James A. May 1866
Ambrose Ford
1866-1867
Jared H. Fountain
1 869
Timothy O'Connor
1 868-1888
George Clay.
1873
Michael Cassiday
1872
John Eck 1873
Beck Brothers 1874
Jacob Fireizen
1875
Joseph Glosser.
1876
G. Arpin 1877
Alex Stebbins 1878
John Willitts 1879
Thomas Harris
1881
Peter Trudeau.
1878
Albert Ellis 1879
James F. Ellis
1881-1894
Van Buren Hinds 1881-1884
B. P. Dluzak 1888
Joseph Dluzak.
1890-1891
Daniel O'Connor,
1888-1894
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DRUG STORES.
I N 1868, Felix R. Donnelley established the first drug store in Remington. His place of business was at the corner of Ohio and North Railway streets, where Allman & Sheetz' hardware store is now established. His business as a druggist did not continue a great length of time. About this time Dr. S. C. Maxwell also engaged in the druggist business. He sold his store after a short time to Mr. Andrew J. Chambers. This stock of goods was located in the building owned by J. O. B. McDougle on the south side Railway street. Mr. Chambers was a strict and correct business man. Although it may be slightly out of place here, yet we desire to call attention to a brother of Andrew J. Chambers, who was also much of a trader and speculator; his name was John Chambers. About the year 1870 he organized a syndicate or colony of Rem- ington people to invest in real estate in a suburb of Indianapolis, the object being a speculation in town lots there. They bought a tract of land there and laid it out into town lots, which they expected to sell at immense profits. Among the persons to invest in this enterprise and to locate there, we may mention Albert J. Chambers, John Chambers, Lycurgus Rowels, John Nutt, S. C. Maxwell, Robert Parker, and Elias Watts. There were others, also, who took an interest in this specu- lation, whose names we cannot now recall; but the scheme proved a failure, and nearly all of the party were badly damaged financially, some of them being entirely broken up. Mr. A. J. Chambers abandoned his drug business here at that time, and did not return again. James Spen- cer was another of our early druggists. His storeroom was on the second lot west of Indiana and North ;Railway streets, now occupied by George Eck. His business was commenced about the year 1870. His former business had been that of farming, he having owned a farm for
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several years about two miles north of the town. He built a good residence in the west part of town, in what is now known as Major's West addition to the town of Rem- ington, the property being now owned by County Com- missioner O. P. Taber. He built this residence in 1869. Mr. Spencer was, also, during the time he was conducting his drug store, an acting Justice of the Peace, having been elected as the second man to fill the office of Justice of the Peace in Carpenter township. His Constable was Mr. Thomas E. Donnelley, whose residence was also in Rem- ington. Then one John O'Connor was for a time engaged in the drug business, and had his store in D. W. Green's storebuilding where Messrs. Allman & Sheetz' hardware store is situated. This Mr. O'Connor was in business here about the year 1868. His stay was short. Then Jasper Guy and Harvey Hartman went into the drug business, but Mr. Hartman did not remain in it very long; he with- drawing, left Guy as sole proprietor of the store, he having sold his interest to Mr. Guy. Mr. Guy branched out quite extensively in this business. He was a practical pharmacist, and was determined to make some money, which he certainly did very rapidly for a time, for it was estimated that at one time he had amassed several thousand dollars; but eventually misfortunes overtook him as they do many others and finally he was forced to the wall, and then moved from Remington to Goodland, where he again went into the drug business, and while there he had the misfortune to be burned out; from Goodland he went to Kentland, and there he undertook the same busi- ness again, where he met with the same misfortune that overtook him in Goodland, and having no insurance on his property this time he was financially ruined, and he again returned to Remington. During Mr. Guy's career as a druggist in Remington he was the owner of several valuable pieces of residence property, one of which was the two story frame buiding on the corner of Indiana street, and the Goodland and Wolcott road, or Fifth street, known as
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the James Brodie property; Mr. Guy traded this property to Henry Tribby for the fine brick residence now owned by Harry E. Hartley, on Illinois street. This brick structure was built in 1872; and after Mr. Guy sold it, it was occu- pied and owned by Robert Parker for several years, and until he, Mr. Parker, sold it to Mr. Hartley. Mr. Guy's misfortunes growing thicker and coming on faster, he finally sold his drug store to E. H. Briggs. After his return to Remington he was engaged 'for a time in the house painting business, but eventually he turned his atten- tion to the law. He made slow progress at this profession for some time, but after a while his business began to pick up, so that now he has a fair practice, and has secured a very good law library, consisting of standard texts books, the Indiana Reports complete, and nearly all of the North- Eastern Reports. It has been heretofore stated that A. J. Chambers was engaged in conducting a drug store in Rem- ington, but in the year '1869 he sold his store to Mr. Benjamin Butler, who became his successor in this busi- ness; Mr. Butler continued in the druggist business for several years, being located on Ohio street on the south side of the railway track. He built two good brick busi- ness houses with offices and lodge rooms in the second story. He was a thorough business man, and accumulated considerable money while he remained here. Benjamin Butler sold his store to Messrs. Tribby & Patton in the year of 1874, but they only kept charge of the store for about one year when they in turn sold out to P. B. Turpin in 1875. Mr. P. B. Turpin remained in the business for about three years, and in 1878 he sold out to Mr. Walter Railsback, and one year later Railsback sold to Messrs. Patton & Hartman, who in turn sold to Mr. Benjamin Butler in the year 1880. Mr. Butler had a brother inter- ested with him in this store, and the firm was known and recognized as Butler Bros. Butler Brothers remained here in the drug business until the year 1882, when they sold out to Messrs. Traugh & Townsend, and about this time
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Mr. Benjamin Butler located in the city of Chicago, Ill., where he has since continued to reside. Messrs. Traugh & Townsend since the date of their purchase in 1882, have continuously remained in the drug business, and are to be found at their old stand at the present time. We may add that they have been uniformly successful in their enterprise. After the grocery store of Mr. McDougle, in the Exchange Block, was closed, the room was leased to Mr. H. Hazle- rigg in the year 1876, and he at once placed in it a good stock of drugs, etc., and in a short time W. B. Hendricks was taken into the store as a partner. They only contin- ued this business until during the year 1877, when they sold out their store to Mr. William Foster, an old citizen of Gilboa township, Benton county, who was also a lumber dealer of Remington at one time. He concluded that he was not predestined to become a successful druggist, and before a great while he closed the store out to one Dr. H. Z. Leonard, who remained until 1879, and being involved and threatened with vexatious litigation, he left the town in 1879. At this time Jasper Guy moved the remaining portion of his stock into the room abandoned by Dr. Leonard, and in the year 1881 Mr. Guy sold out to E. H. Briggs, as before stated. Briggs remained the sole proprietor of this store until the year 1890, at which time he associated him- self in this business with Mr. Joseph Larsh, who had thoroughly mastered the business, having been for several years previous to this date a clerk in this drug store. Mr. Larsh had also done business in this line in his own name during 1889 and 1890 in Wolcott, White county, Indiana. He then returned to Remington, having sold his Wolcott interests to Frank Hart, who had just prior to the above transaction been a clerk in E. H. Briggs' store in Reming- ton. Mr. George Hart had also been a clerk in Briggs' store, and when Mr. Larsh returned from Wolcott and assumed the partnership with Briggs, he (Briggs) assisted George Hart to establish himself in the drug business in Kentland, Indiana. George Hart still remains in Kentland
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in this line of trade. George and Frank Hart are brothers, and are sons of Mr. Esau Hart, the proprietor of the Rem- ton Hotel. They are both respected citizens and good business men. Mr. Joseph Larsh became a partner with E. H. Briggs in 1890, and in the year 1891 he became sole proprietor of this store, having bought out Mr. Briggs' en- tire interest.
In our record of the druggists here we have overlooked one Dr. Cassell, who purchased the drug store owned by James Spencer in about the year 1873. Dr. Cassell was a very unhealthy and weakly man. Shortly after his arrival here he was married to Miss Ida Babb, being at the time of his marriage barely able to stand upon his feet. He lived but a very few weeks after the marriage ceremony was solemnized.
Mr. Robert Lecklider immediately followed Dr. Cas- sell in the drug store business. In addition to this he kept a millinery store in the front part of the house and whisky in the rear, which was dispensed as his various patrons de- sired, without any regard to a retail license. Some dubbed his place of business a "Sunday Drug Store." The people finally tired of his manner of conducting affairs and had him arrested. Mr. Lecklider agreed to close his saloon if the prosecutors would drop the case, which was finally acceded to. Prior to all this Mr. Lecklider had been a hard laboring man, but had received a stroke of palsy, which deprived him of the use of his lower limbs for a long time, so that he was entirely unable to do work of any kind, hence he concluded that he could assist in making a living for his family by selling whisky. He had previous to his misfortune been engaged in the furniture business, but in this he was not successful, being unable to give the business the physical attention that it demanded. He finally closed out his furniture business at a great sacrifice, bking unable to attend to the trade. After the disposal of his furniture stock, his wife, Mrs. M. E. Licklider, with his assistance, established the millenry and dress making
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business. They then appeared to be doing very well until the fire of October 28, 1888, when they, with many of their neighbors, were burned out, the Lecklider's losing very nearly all the property they owned, which was not insured, and was consequently a total loss. This fire of course de- stroyed their building, which they owned, and left them without a place in which to carry on any business, had they desired to do so. They were unable to rebuild and so they gathered together what few remaining goods that had not been destroyed and removed to Rensselaer, Ind., in the late fall of 1888. Mr. Robert Lecklider was an old soldier, having been a member of the 9th Ind. Vols. Infantry, under General Milroy, when he was colonel of this regiment. His health still continued to fail him. He was finally taken to the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio, in 1890. After remaining there for perhaps six months, he died, and was brought back to Rensselaer, Ind., for interment. As elsewhere stated in this work, the druggists of Remington, without, perhaps, a single exception, kept well supplied with whisky for sale. There has been all told engaged in this drug business, with liquor as a side · line, about seventeen different persons or firms in Reming- ton, one we had inadvertently overlooked being a Mr. J. M. Briggs, father of E. H. Briggs. They were associated together in this business for some time, when J. M. Briggs disposed of his interest to E. H. Briggs. Mr. Briggs, Sr., had been a resident of Remington during the seventies, and was a much respected citizen. After disposing of his inter- ests here he returned to Troy, N. Y., his former home, where he is now engaged as a book store keeper.
Mr. Joseph Larsh, as a business man, is among the best in Remington. He is a jovial, whole-souled man, and while in his presence one always feels at home. His present clerk is Frank Peck, who started in with Mr. Larsh when he returned here from Wolcott and went into this store. He has made rapid progress in mastering his duties in this position and is now considered an excellent clerk.
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He is amply qualified to conduct this business alone, and he often does so, in the absence of Mr. Larsh.
There may be a few errors in the foregoing record of the drug business in Remington, but we are confident there are not many; and if there should be any, they are certainly not very serious. So far as the handling of liquors by our druggists and, perhaps, also by the various saloon keepers, who have done business in Remington, have affected the morals of the town is concerned, we are not entirely prepared to say, only that, perhaps, the morals have not been improved thereby. Yet we sincerely believe that Remington will favorably compare in this regard with any other town in Indiana of like population.
CARPENTER TOWNSHIP
a ARPENTER Township was organized from the south half of Jordan Township during the year 1862, and Thomas Lamborn was elected its first Trustee, in April, 1862, and served two years, or until April, 1864, when Felix R. Donnelley succeeded him, and served one year, or until April, 1865. Thomas Lam- born was then appointed by David T. Halstead, Auditor of Jasper county, to serve out the unexpired term of Mr. Donnelley, and was re-elected in April, 1866, and served until April, 1868, when he was succeeded by William Irwin, who retained the office for only one year, when Mr. Lamborn was appointed by Ira W. Yeoman, County Auditor at that time, to fill out the unexpired term of Mr. Irwin. Thomas Lamborn continued to fill the office until Novem- ber 12, 1870, when his death occurred, and James F. Irwin was appointed by Ira W. Yeoman, Auditor, as Lam- born's successor, to fill out the unexpired term. Mr. Irwin was then elected at the next ensuing election as his own successor, and served until January 17, 1874, when he
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resigned. Dr. S. C. Maxwell was then appointed by the County Auditor, Frank W. Babcock, and served out the unexpired term of a little more than eight months, vacating the office on the 20th day of October, 1874, when James E. Irwin, who had been re-elected again, took the office. Mr. Irwin then served continuously for six years, having been twice re-elected, and vacated the office in April, 1880, when William H. Henkle, who had been elected, assumed the duties of the office. Mr. Henkle served as Trustee two years, vacating the office and turning it over to James F. Irwin, who had again been re-elected. Mr. Irwin held the office until February, 1883, when he resigned the same to accept the office of County Clerk, having been elected to this latter office at the preceding election. Mr. O. M. Vickery was appointed by Ezra Nowels, County Auditor, to fill this vacancy. He was subsequently twice elected Trustee of the township, and served in that capacity until the month of April, 1888. William O. Roadifer was elected Township Trustee as Mr. Vickery's successor. He served for four years, and was re-elected as his own suc- cessor for four more years. Mr. Roadifer is the present Trustee. We now have a period of thirty-two years, from the original organization of Carpenter township.
Following is the names of all the Trustees of Carpen- ter township and length of time each served, in years, months and days:
Thos. Lamborn .. . 6 years, 9 months and 11 days Felix R. Donnelley I year William Irwin . . I year
James F. Irwin .
. . 3 years, 2 months and 5 days
S. C. Maxwell. 8 months and 3 days James F. Irwin .. . 5 years, 4 months and 11 days William H. Henkle .2 years James F. Irwin . 10 months and 15 days O. M. Vickery .... 5 years, I month and 15 days William O. Roadifer. .6 years
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Prior to the year 1862, each township in the State of Indiana was required to have three Township Trustees, one the President, one Secretary and one Treasurer, but during the session of the legislature of Indiana for 1861 and 1862, this law was abolished, and a law passed author- izing the election of only one man in each township as Trustee for such township. This of course was a righteous step in the direction of economy, for one man could per- form the duties of Township Trustee as promptly and efficiently as three, and the fees of the two extra men were thus saved to the several townships throughout the State. From 1861 to 1865, it will be remembered that the war of the great Rebellion was in progress in the United States, and during the latter two years of the war our people were menaced with the prospects of being compelled to submit to a draft in order to raise the necessary quota of troops required to be furnished by Carpenter township. But we believe that all those who were drafted did not go to the front, but furnished substitutes, which cost each from eight hundred to one thousand dollars, the men being assisted to raise this money by their more fortunate neigh- bors.
It is proper to note here that the office of Trustee for Carpenter township has invariably been administered in a prudent and business-like way. That not a man who has thus far held the office has in any manner been found recreant to the duties imposed upon him by law, with the possible exception of William Irwin, who, whilst he was serving as Trustee, very suddenly disappeared and his whereabouts were never discovered. His office was left in a slight muddle, but everything was soon straightened out by his son, James F. Irwin, who was appointed as his suc- cessor. As before stated, each township in the State of Indiana had three Township Trustees prior to the organi- zation of Carpenter Township, but at the time this organi- zation was effected, the law was changed and one Trustee was substituted in lieu of three. Previous to the organiza-
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tion of Carpenter township, Jordan township, of which Carpenter was a part, had three Township Trustees, whose names were as follows: John Jordan, Eleazer Lamson and Thomas Lamborn. When this reorganization was consum- mated, Eleazer Lamson was elected Trustee for Jordan township, and Thomas Lamborn was elected Trustee for Carpenter township.
PHYSICIANS.
HE first physician to locate in Remington was Dr. Albert Irwin, who came here during the year 1862; he was a very unhealthy young man, and died here in 1863. He was a brother of James S. Irwin, who was formerly in the grain business here, but who is now a resident of South Dakota.
The second physician for Remington was Dr. Samuel Miller, who located here soon after the close of the late war. Dr. Miller had been a soldier in the Mexican war, and had also been a Captain of a company during the late war of the Rebellion. After his location here he immedi- ately commenced the practice of medicine. Dr. Miller was well informed in medical science, and thoroughly understood the business of his profession, and it was but a short time until he was in the enjoyment of a good practice, when we take into consideration the sparcely settled con- dition of the country at that time. There were also only a few families residing in the town at that time. In his earlier days Dr. Miller had also learned the wagon maker's trade, and he also worked at that business when not other- wise engaged, whilst he lived in Remington. He also built two fairly good residence houses while he was here, which has been mentioned elsewhere in this work.
Dr. Miller removed from the town in 1868, and relo-
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cated in Winona, Minn., where he died about fifteen years later.
Remington's third physician was Dr. Samuel C. Max- well, who located here on the 18th day of February, 1866. He at once manifested a deep interest in the welfare of Remington, always assisting any enterprise tending to the advancement of the financial and moral standing of the town. He was a very pious man, and an enthusiastic member of and worker for, the Christian church; this church organization built their house of worship in the year 1869. Dr. Maxwell took an active interest in the furtherance of this church building enterprise, and after it was completed it was leased for a portion of the time to the organization known as the "Church of God," styled by some "soul sleepers," who held services here for a time, but some unfortunate misunderstanding transpiring, the so-called "soul sleepers," were ejected from this church, and not permitted to re-enter.
Dr. David H. Patton established himself in Reming- ton, and commenced the practice of medicine here during the year 1867. His home has been in Remington from that date to the present time. He has all this time enjoyed an excellent practice; has always held himself in readiness to attend any and all cases, and has thereby endeared him- self to the people of the community. He made some money in his profession, and was always easy on his credit- ors. He had an excellent medical education, and was fairly successful in restoring his patients to health. He was appointed as one of the Pension Medical Examiners by President Cleveland during his first administration, when the board was located at Remington, and he held this office until the change in the administration was made by the election of President Harrison, when Dr. H. Landon was appointed as Dr. Patton's successor. He became a candidate for Congress in the Tenth Indiana Congressional District in 1890, having received the Democratic nomina- tion for the office at the hands of the Congressional con-
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