USA > Indiana > Indiana and Indianans : a history of aboriginal and territorial Indiana and the century of statehood, Volume V > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
In July, 1908, Mr. Augur was elected a member of the National Association of Civil War Musicians, Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Augur was born at Laurel in Frank- lin County, Indiana, December 22, 1850, one of the eleven children of William S. and Jane (McKown) Augur, the former a native of New York and the latter of Penn- sylvania. His father was a butcher by trade and died in 1855. The mother passed away forty years later, in 1895. Both were born in 1810.
William H. Augur lived in his native county until fifteen years of age. He at- tended the public schools and was eleven years old when the Civil war broke out. His native village of Laurel organized a martial band, which became famous throughout the entire country. As a lad Mr. Augur learned to perform on a fife, and he became a member of this band, which escorted the troops raised from Franklin County to their place of starting for the front. Mr. Augur continued to keep up his practice on the fife, and for
2056
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
years in Miami County whenever martial music was presented he participated as the regular fifer and has attended old settlers meetings, Grand Army of the Republic re- unions and similar ceremonies without number. He has served as national fife major of the National Association of Civil War Musicians.
To complete his education Mr. Augur attended the Kuhn and Curran's Academy at Cincinnati for about five terms. In 1865 he and a brother came to Peru and engaged in the butchering business, this employ- ment being interrupted somewhat by his school attendance and also by some work as a railroad man. However, he continued in the active ranks of local butchers until 1891, and for many years has been a mem- ber at large of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butchers Workmen of North America. Through his musicianship he is also a member of Peru Local No. 225, American Federation of Musicians. Other fraternal associations are with the Masons, Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum and the Royal Fellowship.
Mr. Augur is best known in Miami County through his long and effective pub- lie service. From March, 1891, to 1895 he served as city editor of the Miami County Sentinel, an office which by its nature was practically a public position. In 1895 he became deputy county clerk to Charles R. Hughes, and held that office until June 6, 1903. In 1902 he was elected county clerk, the term to begin January 1, 1904, because of the new law making all official terms of county officers begin at the first of the year. The term of Mr. Hughes had ex- pired June 6, 1903, and in the vacancy thus created Mr. Augur was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners to serve until his own regular term of four years began. He was re-elected for a second term, and for eight years and seven months was clerk of courts of Miami County. By special election he was chosen city clerk of Peru in 1882, and was reelected in the spring of 1883, serving two years. On March 28, 1914, Mr. Augur was appointed postmaster at Pern, and took over the du- ties and responsibilities of that office on April 21, 1914. Thus the office has been under his administration for over four years. Mr. Augur has been very active as a democrat, having been elected chairman
of the Democratic Central Committee in 1910 and again in 1912.
December 22, 1873, he married Miss Eva Josephine Mason, of Mattoon, Illinois. They have four children: Ruby Louise, Charles J., Frederick O. and Josephine T. Ruby Louise married William A. Alex- ander, of Peru, Indiana, June 11, 1913. Josephine married J. Omer Cole, and they have two children, James Omer and Mary Josephine.
ALFRED M. GLOSSBRENNER. When the Glossbrenner family moved to Indianapolis in January, 1882, from Jeffersonville, Al- fred M. Glossbrenner who was born in the latter town August 15, 1869, was a few months past twelve years of age. At Jef- fersonville he had been in school for six years. His association with formal institu- tions of learning practically ended with his removal to Indianapolis.
The first occupation which he dignified and made a source of living income in In- dianapolis was selling newspapers. He also worked as a cash boy in a large store. A year later he became an office employe of humble status and with a vague routine of duties. In these days much is heard of vocational education, by which boys are furnished a training fitted into the practi- cal affairs of business and life. Led by ambition and energy Alfred Glossbrenner figured out a system of vocational training for himself while he was working for a liv- ing in stores and offices. As opportunity offered he applied himself to the study of bookkeeping, arithmetic and various other branches, the mastery of which he realized as a necessity to his continued advance- ment. While in the office he spent five nights a week in the study of commercial law.
The door of opportunity opened to him at the age of eighteen when he was taken in as bookkeeper and general office man with the printing house of Levey Brothers & Company. This business had recently moved from Madison to Indianapolis. It was not one of the biggest concerns of In- dianapolis when Mr. Glossbrenner became identified with it. But he proved himself superior to his normal functions and was soon supplying some of the energy and ideas which promoted the upbuilding and broadening out of the concern. With the
2057
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
growing success of the company his own position became one of larger responsibili- ties, and in the course of promotion he was made secretary and treasurer, and sub- sequently vice president and manager. Levey Brothers & Company is now one of the largest firms in the general printing and stationery business in Indiana, and much of the success of the house is credited to Mr. Glossbrenner.
In other ways he has proved himself a man of usefulness in his home city. He has always taken an active part in republi- can politics, and in 1898 accepted the nomi- nation for state representative at a consid- erable sacrifice to his personal business af- fairs. During the Sixty-first General As- sembly he made his influence felt in the promotion of many good measures. Mr. Glossbrenner is credited with having first formally brought the name of Albert J. Beveridge to the attention of the people of Indiana in connection with the honor of United States senator. He helped organize and largely directed the campaign which finally elected Mr. Beveridge to a seat in the Upper House of Congress April 28, 1906. In October, 1908, Mayor Charles A. Bookwalter appointed Mr. Glossbrenner member of the City Sinking Fund Com- mission.
He is well known in social and fraternal affairs, was treasurer of the Marion Club four years, is a member of the Columbia and other republican clubs, has been on the governing committee of the Board of Trade, is a member of the Commercial Club, is a Knight Templar Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.
November 14, 1894, he married Miss Min- nie M. Stroup, of Waldron, Indiana. Three sons were born to them, Daniel Independ- ence Glossbrenner, born July 4, 1896; Al- fred Stroup, born June 6, 1901 ; and George Levey, born September 15, 1904.
CHARLES H. WINTERSTEEN is a business man of Newcastle who has come gradually and through hard working energy and sound ability to his present position of pros- perity. Mr. Wintersteen has a well estab- lished business as harness maker and dealer in automobile specialties and hardware, and his service in these lines is taken advantage of by patrons all over Henry and adjoining counties.
Mr. Wintersteen was born on a farm near Seven Mile in Butler County, Ohio, No- vember 21, 1869, son of Daniel Y. and Han- mah (Conover) Wintersteen. His paternal ancestors have been in this country four generations. His great-grandfather, Dan- iel Wintersteen, came from Germany and was a colonial settler in America. Most of the Wintersteens have been farmers, and that was the occupation of Daniel Y. Win- tersteen. Charles H. Wintersteen attended public schools at Strawn in Henry County, where his parents located when he was a year and a half old. As was customary, he attended school in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer. At the age of seventeen an accidental injury kept him on crutches for nineteen months. Dur- ing that time he began planning for some other career than farming, and in the spring of 1889 went to work to learn the harness making trade at Louisville in Henry County. In the fall of 1891 he went to Jay County, and for several years was associated with his father in farming a small place. Up to the fall of 1895 he continued farming, and between crops worked at his trade, walking seven miles from his home to Red Key to the shop. In April, 1896, Mr. Wintersteen opened a har- ness making shop at Louisville, Indiana, having a cash capital of only $16 when he embarked on that enterprise. His business prospered from the start, and he had built it up to considerable proportions, when on August 14, 1890, he sold out to his former employe, R. Mellvaine. After that he was again in business at Louisville, but on De- cember 13, 1905, came to Newcastle and a few days later opened a new shop across the street from his present location. In 1908 he moved to an adjoining building and in 1914 came to his present headquar- ters at 1411 East Rice Street. He handles a large line of general harness goods, also makes and repairs harness, and has also developed an important department in sup- plying automobile specialties and hardware.
Mr. Wintersteen married April 27, 1897, Hattie Cherry, of Dublin, Indiana. They have one son, Paul Homer, who is now a junior in the Civil and Electric Engineer- ing Department of Purdue University. He graduated with honors from the Newcastle High School. While at Purdue he is also taking the regularly prescribed course of military training, and is thus getting ready
2058
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
to serve his country in the way that his abilities and training best fit him. Mr. Wintersteen has been affiliated with the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Eagles. He is a member of the First Chris- tian Church of Newcastle and in politics is a republican.
JOSEPH N. TILLETT. The soldier receives his "honorable discharge" to signify that his term of service has been faithfully ful- filled. The civilian goes on working to the end, or merely retires, without any special mark or recognition of the fact. Many men fairly win "honorable retirement" even if they do not have a certificate to that effect.
One of these who can now enjoy dignity and ease is Hon. Joseph N. Tillett of Peru, who has practiced law in Miami County nearly thirty years and has to his credit two terms of faithful service as a circuit judge. Since leaving the bench in 1914 Judge Tillett has given some attention to his private practice as member of the firm Tillett & Lawrence, but as a matter of personal enjoyment he takes more pleasure and pride in looking after his farm of 350 acres adjoining Peru and raising corn and wheat than in the law.
That farm means the more to Judge Til- lett because it was the scene of his birth. He was born November 27, 1865, youngest of the seven children of William and Eliza- beth (Grimes) Tillett. His grandparents were James and Susannah (Buck) Tillett, natives of Virginia and representatives of old Virginia families. William Tillett was also a native of Virginia. James Tillett brought his family to Indiana in the early years of the last century, first locating in Wayne County, and in 1834 coming to the fringe of settlements along the Wabash Valley in Miami County. He acquired a tract of wild land in Peru Township and put up with the inconveniences of log cabin existence for several years. James Tillett and wife both died in Miami County. He was a Jacksonian democrat, and both his son and grandson have followed him in those political principles. James Tillett was one of the early county commissioners of Miami County.
William Tillett, father of Judge Tillett, was still a boy when brought to Miami County. The schools of his day by no means measured up to those of his mature years, but what he failed to gain in the
way of thorough book learning he made up in practical knowledge of all the secrets and mysteries of the forest which sur- rounded him. He was distinguished as a skillful hunter, and gained his share of the honors of the chase in times when the woods of Miami County were filled with deer, wild turkey and other game. As a farmer and good citizen he was equally successful and lived a life of usefulness and honor, though without specially dramatic events. He died February 6, 1903. His wife, a native of Ohio, died March 30, 1901. She was for many years a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.
It was on the old homestead near Peru that Joseph Newton Tillett spent his boy- hood, attending the district schools, the public schools of Peru two years, and in 1883 entering old Wabash College at Craw- fordsville. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from that institution in 1888 and during the next two years studied law at the University of Michigan. His law degree was granted with the class of 1890.
Admitted to the Indiana bar, Judge Til- let at once began practice at Peru, being associated with Nott N. Antrim under the name Antrim & Tillett until 1894. In that year Judge Tillett was elected prosecuting attorney, and was re-elected and served two consecutive terms. In that office he made a record as a thoroughly capable, dili- gent, efficient and impartial official, a record which followed him when he left office to resume private practice and brought him in 1902 the well merited hon- ors of election as judge of the Fifty-First Judicial Circuit. Judge Tillett presided over the bench for six years, and was re- elected for a second term in 1908.
Judge Tillett has given his political alle- giance to the same party which commanded the support of his father and grandfather. He and his wife are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church at Peru. On August 10, 1893, he married Miss Elizabeth Bald- win, of Washington, Indiana. They have two children, Lois Elizabeth and Robert Baldwin.
EDWARD R. THOMPSON for many years has enacted the role of a merchant in Rich- mond, and is now senior partner of Thomp- son & Borton, dealers in men's and boy's clothing and furnishings.
Mr. Thompson, who has spent practically
2059
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
all his life in Wayne County, Indiana, was born at Webster in that county in October, 1862. He is a son of John M. and Mary Charlotta (Davis) Thompson. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His ancestors first settled in North Carolina. His grandfather was Robert Thompson. John M. Thomp- son, his father, settled at Washington, now Greens Fork, Wayne County. He served as a Union soldier in the One Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Infantry during 1863-65.
Edward R. Thompson was the next to the youngest in a family of eight children, and received his early education in the public schools of Webster and the old Friends Academy. At the age of twenty he was a country school teacher, and followed that work for three years in Wayne and Grant counties, Indiana. He acquired his first mercantile training as a salesman for the Richmond clothing merchant Sam Fox at wages of $4.50 a week. He was with Mr. Fox for five years and then continued at the same location with the firm of Beal & Gregg for five years. He had worked hard, had made the best use of his opportunities and experience, and with a modest capital he formed a partnership with William Widup under the name Widup & Thomp- son at 803 Main Street. This firm con- tinned and prospered for ten years, after which the partnership was dissolved. Then on account of his wife's health Mr. Thomp- son went South and was retired from busi- ness for about seven years. In 1916, after the death of his wife, he returned to Rich- mond and opened a store at 625 Main Street. After a year and a half Mr. Fred R. Borton bought the interest of his part- ner and since July, 1917, the business has been conducted as Thompson and Borton.
In 1895 Mr. Thompson married Adah Heard, daughter of Dr. George and Emma (Borton) Heard of Richmond. She died February 19, 1915, the mother of one daughter, Ardath S. Mr. Thompson is an independent republican and is affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
HORACE G. HARDY. Several Indiana communities have known Horace G. Hardy as a successful and enterprising business man and citizen. He is now proprietor of the H. G. Hardy Hardware, Plumbing, Tinware and Farming Implement business, the largest of its kind at Pendleton.
Mr. Hardy was born at Markleville in Madison County, Indiana, in 1874, son of S. F. and Rebecca (James) Hardy. He is of Scotch ancestry. The Hardys settled in Pennsylvania in colonial times. His grand- father, Neal Hardy, in early days walked the entire distance from Pennsylvania to Indiana, and for a time did farm labor in this state. He then went back to Pennsyl- vania to claim his bride, Miss Roberts, and brought her to his chosen home in Indiana in a two horse vehicle. They located two miles east of Pendleton, where Neal Hardy cleared up a farm from the wilderness. He had eighty acres, and he lived there, a pros- perous and highly respected citizen, until his death on December 4, 1860.
S. F. Hardy, one of six children, grew up on the home farm in Madison County. He was a man of somewhat adventurous disposition and made two trips to the min- ing regions around Denver, Colorado. On these trips, made before the days of trans- continental railroads, he traveled by ox team from St. Louis. He was quite suc- cessful as a miner and invested his proceeds in lots in the new Town of Denver. This property had he retained it would have made him very well to do. After his min- ing experience he worked on a farm in Indiana until 1861, when he enlisted in the Sixteenth Indiana Infantry as a sergeant. He was all through the war, was twice wounded, and made a most creditable record as a soldier that is a matter of spe- cial pride to his descendants. He was not mustered out until 1865. After the war he engaged in general merchandising at Markleville, and in 1904 retired and moved to Pendleton, where he died in 1908. He retained his interest in the business at Markleville until his death. His widow is still living at Pendleton.
Horace G. Hardy was third in a family of eight children, six of whom are still liv- ing. He got his early education in the public schools at Markleville, also attended the noted Spiceland Academy in Henry County, and from 1895 to 1897 was a stu- dent in Indiana State University. On leav- ing college he returned to Markleville, and was associated with his father in the store antil 1905. He then engaged in business for himself, handling buggies, hardware and implements. After five years he re- moved to Tipton, Indiana, and as a stock- holder and director in the Binkley Buggy
2060
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
Company was its traveling representative over Indiana and Illinois for a year and a half. Selling out these interests, Mr. Hardy returned to Pendleton in 1910 and bought the old established hardware busi- ness at J. B. Rickey on Pendleton Avenue. Two years later he moved to his present location and has kept expanding and in- creasing his business until he now handles all classes of general hardware, has facili- ties for tin, plumbing, heating and other services, and also has a department devoted to harness goods. Mr. Hardy is a stock- holder in the Pendleton Trust Company and has various other interests, including a good eighty-acre farm a mile and a half east of town.
This company also respects his record of public service. He has been township trustee since 1914, and was president of the Town Board in 1910. From 1907 to 1910 he was president of the Pendleton Gas Company. He is a member of the Pendleton School Board and president of the Library Board, and everything that concerns the welfare of the community is certain to enlist his hearty and active co- operation. Mr. Hardy has filled all the chairs of his Masonic Lodge and is also a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Markleville, with the Sons of Veterans, and is a member of the Sigma Nu College fraternity of Indiana University. Mr. Hardy comes of a long line of Hicksite Quakers and is himself a member of the same faith.
MYRON G. REYNOLDS. In Indiana's great industrial history few names of more importance will be found than that of the late Myron G. Reynolds of Anderson. Mr. Reynolds possessed the genius of the inven- tor. the persistence of the true and tried business man, had faith in his dreams and his ability, and in the course of his lifetime was able to translate his visions into effective realities and was regarded as one of the most fortunate as well as one of the most useful men of the state.
He represented an old and prominent family of Wayne County, Indiana, where he was born June 16, 1853. Mr. Reynolds elosed his useful life at the age of only sixty-four years. His parents were Brazila and Lydia (Layton) Reynolds. They were both born in New Jersey and were early
settlers in Wayne County, Indiana. Bra- zila Reynolds was a millwright by trade and followed that occupation for many years at Williamsburg.
With only a common school education Myron G. Reynolds perfected himself in the blacksmith's trade in his father's car- riage works at Williamsburg. He remained with his father, working steadily year after year until he was twenty-five years old. He and a brother then conducted a plan- ing mill, and his experience continued in the routine of mechanical trade and indus- try for a number of years. Myron G. Rey- nolds rendered his greatest service to the world when he invented a gas governor. That was in 1890. There was no question of its effectiveness and its perfection judged by every requirement of service. However, as is usually the case capital was shy of a practically unknown inventor and untested invention. Mr. Reynolds lo- cated in Anderson in 1890, and after much persistent work and effort secured a backer for his invention. The market came practically as soon as the product was ready for it and for a quarter of a century the Reynolds Gas Governor has stood every test of utility and service and has been dis- tributed in practical use all around the world. The corporation to manufacture it was known as the Reynolds Gas Regulator Company, and it was one of the primary industries of Anderson. Mr. Reynolds was its president and general manager for a number of years, and afterward became sole owner.
The Reynolds Gas Regulator Company, of which Mrs. C. B. Reynolds is now sec- retary and treasurer, are manufacturers of artificial gas governors and natural gas regulators for all kinds of pressure reduc- tion, the present output being based on the original inventions of Mr. Reynolds. Those inventions made possible the control of artificial as well as natural gas, and the sys- tem and processes are now used in all the large cities, such as Chicago and St. Louis. In working out the invention and in build- ing np the industry hased upon it Mr. Rey- nolds expressed the best of his genius and character. He had that pride which is an essential quality of the true manufacturer, and felt that his regulator industry was to be his real monument in the world and his contribution to the welfare of humanity. It was characteristic of him that he showed
2061
INDIANA AND INDIANANS
an intense loyalty to his business as well as to his fellow men. He possessed faith, enthusiasm and tremendous energy to back up all his plans and ideals. Happy is the man who has a work to do, and not merely a job. The primary consideration with Mr. Reynolds was his work, and he never thought of measuring his success by the ac- cumulation of wealth. He felt that his work was worthy and the world has judged it according to his own ideals, and in get- ting the work done he considered no cost, labor nor pains sufficient to deter him from the end in view. Needless to say, he always enjoyed the confidence of his associates, and while the first and final test of his suc- cess was proved by his own conscience, he was not lacking in a sincere appreciation of the esteem paid him by his fellow men. He was broad and liberal in his sympathies, and had an unusual ability to value the finer things of life.
He also lent his capital and judgment to the promotion and management of several other important industries at Anderson. He was one of the stockholders of the Cen- tral Heating Company and president of that corporation. He was vice president and a large stockholder in the Indiana Silo Company, the largest enterprise of its kind in the United States. With all his success he remained essentially democratic, and never lost that good humor, that poise and fellowship which enabled him to move as easily in the higher circles of society as among his own workmen. He was one of the most honored residents of Anderson. He lived in that city twenty-five years, and in 1910 built one of the finest homes there. In 1892 he married Miss Carrie B. Bous- man. Her only child is Myron B. Reynolds.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.