USA > Indiana > Daviess County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 19
USA > Indiana > Martin County > Living leaders, an encyclopedia of biography : special edition for Daviess and Martin counties, Indiana > Part 19
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David M. Gardiner was born August 24, 1788, and died March 25, 1861. In mid- dle life he moved into Central New York and settled on a farm, and it was there our subject was born January 18, 1837. His mother was Susan Andrews, who died June 3, 1857, leaving thirteen children, seven of whom still survive, and of whom William R. is the youngest. She was born Febru- ary 4, 1796.
His boyhood up to his sixteenth year, Mr. Gardiner spent in the district schools of his native State. He set in at this age to learn the carpenter trade, but gave it up to enter Dundee Academy. He spent some time there and later was enrolled as a stu- dent in Starkey Seminary. Between sev- enteen and eighteen he taught one term of school in the village of Hopeton, near the west shore of Seneca Lake. At the con- clusion of that term he returned to the farm and spent the summer, and in the fall came west to Ohio to study medicine. He read with the late Dr. S. H. DeForest, of Bourneville, and took lectures at the ('in- cinnati and Cleveland medical colleges. After engaging in the practice for a brief period and not being pleased with it, he 1
came to Indiana and began railroading on the B. & O., then the (). & M., as a bridge carpenter in the fall of 1857. He was em- ployed in that department two or three years and gave this up also, turning his attention to school work. He taught at Shoals, Martin County, and at Plainville and Washington, Daviess County, and while teaching at this last point we find him poring over Blackstone and spending his spare hours generally in the careful prep- aration for that profession in which he has for the past quarter of a century achieved both fame and honors
Mr. Gardiner read law under the direc- tion of the late Judge Matthew F. Burke, and was also a student in the office of Jesse W. Burton, of Washington, beginning with the fall of 1862. During this time he tried a few eases in the justice and circuit courts and the common pleas court of Daviess County, having been admitted to the bar near the close of the above year.
In the fall of 1863 Judge Gardiner opened a law office at Dover Hill, then the county seat of Martin County, but at the end of one year returned to Washington and opened an office with the late William Thompson. February 14, 1865, he married at Loogootee, and soon after moved there and opened a law office. During his resi- denec at Loogootce he was honored by Governor O. P. Morton with the appoint- ment of Prosecuting Attorney for the ju- dicial circnit composed of the counties of Knox, Gibson, Daviess, Pike, Martin and Dubois, to fill a vacancy ; and subsequently, in 1867, was appointed by the late Gov. Con- rad Baker, Judge of the common pleas court to fill a vacancy. In the spring of 1869, Judge Gardiner moved to Vincennes and formed a partnership with the late Colonel Cyrus M. Allen and Hon. Nathaniel Usher,
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which was dissolved in 1872, and then Judge Gardiner returned to Washington, where he has since resided.
In his profession Judge Gardiner is a careful, skillful and able practitioner. He is exceptionally strong in his ability to de- tect the vulnerable points in the trial of a case and is most happy in the application of a remedy to supply any defect. He is courteous to his opponents, but unyielding in behalf of his clients. His manner of handling a witness is wonderfully smooth, easy and variable, and on cross-examination he ean extort much evidence from a wit- ness. His speeches are pleasing, convincing and powerful. He has been associated with the best lawyers in the State in the trial of some of Indiana's noted cases and has shown himself to be the peer of any. In verification of this last reference an in- cident is related of him in the trial of the famous Wise will ease in Sullivan, Ind .; that applies with particular force. In this case Judge Gardiner had for his colleagues Hon. Benj. Harrison and Hon. Joseph E. McDonald.
This case was tried twice, the first time resulting in a disagreement of the jury. It was suggested by one of the jury that if the order of the attorneys had been re- versed in the presentation of the case to the jury by the three gentlemen above named, a favorable verdict might have been had. Following out this suggestion the clients and Counsels Harrison and MeDonald held a consultation, with the result that Judge Gardiner was given the place of honor, the closing speech to the jury, with Harri- son to open the case. This rearrangement had the effect that was predicted, for in the second trial of the case the jury gave Gar- diner, Harrison and MeDonald a verdict.
Judge Gardiner's practice has been con- stant in Daviess and Martin Counties, but during this time he has tried many import- ant cases in the courts of other parts of Indiana, and in Illinois and in the Federal courts.
In politics, during his early life, Judge Gardiner was a Democrat. He became a Republican in 1864 with two prominent reasons for the change. During that year -1864-he was a candidate for his party's nomination to the office of prosecuting attorney for the cirenit previously referred to herein. On the day set for making the
nomination a committee of the convention waited on Mr. Gardner and inquired of him whether it was true, as was reported, that in case he did not receive the nomina- tion, he intended accepting a commission from the Governor and enter the army. In reply Judge Gardiner inquired of the committee whether the acceptance of such an offer from the Governor would dis- qualify him or in any way prejudice his claims upon the convention for a nomina- tion, and, being informed that it would, he promptly declined to be considered a can- didate, and stated that he would not accept a nomination if tendered him ; and, further- more, if the convention voiced the senti- ments of the Democratic party on the issues of the war, he was then and there done with the organization, at the same time stating to the committee that he had no offer of a commission from the Gov- ernor, nor had he an understanding with the Chief Exeentive of any character touch- ing that subject.
Following this incident some weeks came the National Democratic convention that nominated MeClellan for President and declared the war a failure. This plank in their platform was a further disappoint- ment to Judge Gardiner and strengthened anew his determination to secede from a a party that seemed pledged to a disgrace- ful settlement of the great war then being carried on by the Government.
Judge Gardiner has been active in poli- ties ever since the war. He has been an active participant in local, district, State and National conventions. He was a dele- gate to the National convention of 1884. He has had no personal ambition to gratify and his activity has been on behalf of others or the party generally. During all these years he has been a candidate for but one office-Representative to the Legisla- ture in 1886-and this nomination he was forced to accept, and while the county went 200 Democratic on the State ticket he was elected by more than 300 votes.
Judge Gardiner has repeatedly been ap- pealed to to become a candidate for Circuit Judge or for Congress, and has frequently been mentioned by the press as a suitable person for a position on the State ticket, especially during the late campaign in con- nection with the nomination for Governor.
In his professional and political career
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Judge Gardner has been brought into close contact with many men of National repu- tation and distinguished members of the bar, and politicians of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.
Judge Gardiner's family consists of his wife and three children, three others having died in infancy. Those living are : Charles G., born at Loogootee, educated in Wash- ington at the State University, and at Cornell University, of New York. He is a graduate of the Cincinnati Law School, and is a partner with his father in the prac- tice of law. He is married to Miss Jene W. Aikman.
William R., Jr., was born at Loogootec, and passed through the same schools as his brother, except the Cincinnati Law School. He is a member of the firm of Gardiner & Gardiner, and married Miss Helen Corliss, of Troy, N. Y.
Miss Susan Gardiner is the third child.
Mrs. Gardiner was Laura, the daughter of the late Thomas M. Gibson, of Loogoo- tee, who was for many years a leading merchant and prominent citizen of Martin County. He was popular and possessed sterling and positive qualities. He was warm hearted and affectionate, and both his friends and his enemies always knew where to find him. He was born in Mason County, Ky .. and his wife, nec Sarah J. MeFee, was born in Winchester, Va.
Mrs. Gardiner inherited all the sterling qualities of brain and heart possessed by her father. She is a graduate of the Spring- field, O., Female College, and upon the completion of her education she taught school in Shoals, where her husband had performed similar duties only a few years before.
The years spent in Martin County Judge Gardiner remembers as among the most pleasant of his whole life. The memory of his associates clings the closer to him as time goes on, and when he reflects upon the past and recalls the scenes of his young manhood in and about Loogootee the pain- ful thought comes to him that those scenes are gone forever.
Judge Gardiner has been the attorney for the O. & M. R'y Co., (the B. & O. S. W.,) for twenty-four years ; and for the E. & I. and E. & R. R'y Co.'s since their construction through Daviess County, but he has made no specialty of corporation business. His practice has been general,
and has included everything pertaining to the practice of law.
During the war Judge Gardiner was a war Democrat, and in support of his posi- tion he wrote many artieles, under a nom de plume, for publication in Washington papers ..
JOHN A. SCUDDER, M. D .- The parent- tree of the Scudder family in America was Thomas Seudder, who came from London, England, and settled in Salem, Mass., in 1635. He was the father of Thomas Seud- der, who removed to Huntington, Long Island, and became the father of Benjamin Scudder, who became the father of Col. Nathaniel Scudder, of the Revolution, who removed to Princeton, New Jersey, and who graduated from Princeton College in 1751. He was appointed colonel of a regi- ment that was organized in Monmouth County, by the New Jersey Legislature, at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. He was killed at the battle of Black Point near Shrewsbury, October 16, 1781, at the age of forty-eight years.
Col. Scudder married Isabella Anderson, whose father, Kenneth Anderson, was also a colonel in the Revolution. Dr. John Anderson Sendder, son of Col. Nathaniel Sendder, also participated in the war of In- dependence; also a member of Congress from New Jersey in 1810; afterward re- moved to Mason County, Kentucky, thence- to Daviess County, Indiana. He was sur- geon of the regiment of which his father was colonel. His son, Jacob F. Scudder, eame with him to Daviess County ; married Matilda Arrell, and became the father of John A. Scudder, the immediate subject of this review. The Scudder family is of Scotch origin, and can be traced back to the same family to which belonged the Rev. Henry Seudder, of Colingborn, Seot- land, whose brother, Thomas Scudder, was the first representative of the family in America. Rev. Henry Scudder was a member of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, which framed and signed (in 1643) the articles of confession of faith at Westminster.
Dr. John A. Scudder, whose name in- troduces this sketch, was born five miles south of Washington, Ind., on the 2nd day of November, 1832. Here on the home- stead of his parents he grew to manhood. In 1850-51 he attended Hanover College,
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and then took up the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. S. W. Peck, of Washington. In 1857 he graduated from the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati, and then located at Washington, where he continued to reside and to practice medi- cine till he passed to his final rest; on the 3rd day of February, 1896. He rose to prominence in the medical profession, and at the time of his death was a member of both the county and state medical societies. He served as pension examiner for twenty- five years ; was a republican in polities and a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. February 18, 1859, he married Helen Van Trees, native of Washington, and the following children are the issue of the marriage: Charles P'., Tilla F., Laura G., Anna V., John A., deceased; William F., deceased; David 1.
Dr. Scudder enlisted in the civil war August 8, 1863, and served thereafter till the close of the war as an assistant surgeon of the Sixty-fifth Indiana Regiment. He was an able physician, a loyal citizen, a be- loved husband and father, and an esteemed friend.
CHARLES P. SCUDDER, M. D., is a son of Dr. John A. Scudder, whose personal sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. He was born and reared in Washington, Ind. His birth oceurred November 8, 1859. He received a high school educa- tion, graduating from the high schools of Washington in 1870. He began the study of medicine under the guidance of his father, and in March of 1881 graduated from the Miami Medical College of Cincinnati. Be- ginning the practice of his profession in Washington, he soon rose to prominence in the medical profession of Daviess County, and is to-day among the representative physicians of this section of the State.
Dr. Scudder is a Roval Arch Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Ancient Essenic Order.
In 1895 the Doctor led to the marriage altar Miss Louise J. Stamper, of Louisville, Ky. They haveone child, a son, Charles P.
ROBERT RUSSELL, Auditor of Daviess County, was born in New York City April 27, 1846. His father, Robert R. Russell, moved into Gallatin County, Ky., soon after this event, and there our subject was reared and educated. Robert R. Russell was born in Ireland seventy-two years ago.
He learned the trade of silversmith and followed it all his life. He married C'ath- erine Cochran, an Irish lady, who died in 1867, and was the mother of nine children, four of whom are living: Robert, John, of Pana, Ill .; Kate, wife of John Tomey, and Lulu, wife of Wm. Cornett, of Omaha, Neb.
Robert Russell learned the carpenter's trade in his youth and made that his busi- ness till 1888, when he was elected Trustee of Washington Township, Daviess County, having come among the people of this county in 1870. His service in this capac- ity was so efficient as to justify the people in keeping him in the office as long as his services could be had, and when he did finally retire from it it was to enter the Auditor's office, to which his election had been effected in November, 1894. Ilis majority in this election was in the neigh- borhood of 600, which is exceptionally heavy for a Republican candidate. It is not necessary to dwell upon the efficiency of his administration-that goes without say- ing. The people have already discovered that they made no mistake in electing him.
Mr. Russell was married in this county in 1872, November 20, to Mary S., daughter of Squire B. Meredith, one of the early characters of the county. The children of this union are: Cora, wife of William Botting, of Paducah, Ky .; Ella, Harry, Charley, Ruby and Edith.
Mr. Russell's first public service was as a member of the town council. He was elected to that body in 1878, and was con- sequently among the first to deal with the city's affairs. He has helped to bear the burdens of his party as well as to share in the honors of office. He has frequently been a delegate to state conventions and is regarded as a safe counsellor in party mat- ters.
Mr. Russell is Past Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge ; is Past High Priest of the Chapter, Past Eminent Commander of the Commandery, and at various times for the past fifteen years has been a member of the Grand Lodge.
HON. JOSIAH G. ALLEN, one of the youngest and most prominent members of the Daviess County bar, is a production of this county, in which he was born Deeem- ber 3, 1861. He was reared on a farm, and to him fell the usual duties of a farm
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lad. His early scholastic training was con- fined to the distriet schools of his neigh- borhood. After completing the course of study preseribed in the high school of Washington, Mr. Allen then became a country school teacher, and for four years numbered among the best teachers of Da- viess County. Meanwhile he studied law, and in 1885 was admitted to the bar. The following year Mr. Allen and Mr. M. S. Hastings became partners in the practice of law, and they have remained associated in the practice of their profession, and gained a large and representative clientage.
From an early date Mr. Allen has been active in political circles as a Republican. In 1892 he became the candidate of his party for the office of County Representa- tive in the House of Representatives of Indiana. He was a successful candidate, and such was his services as to merit a re- election in 1894. Upon the organization of the lower house of the Legislature in the session of 1895, Mr. Allen was a prominent candidate for Speaker of the House, but before the contest for the honors of this po- sition was concluded, he withdrew and gave his support to another candidate, who was elected. As a just appreciation of his abil- ity as a legislator, Mr. Allen was made chairman of the important committee of ways and means during that session. In 1896 he was renominated by his party for a third term, but went down with his party in its deteat of that year.
In the year 1888 Mr. Allen led to the marriage altar Miss Sallie A. Wright. Unto them have been born three children.
Both Mr. Allen and his wife are com- mnieants in the Baptist Church, and they are prominent in social circles.
Fraternally he is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias order, belongs to the uniform rank of that fraternity, and for the past four years has been captain of the uniform rank.
Notwithstanding the many obstacles that have appeared in Mr. Allen's course of life, he has by means of perseverance and su- perior ability surmounted them, and has achieved success. His snecess in life has been due to his individual effort, and hence he is what is often termed a self-made man.
RICHARD C. DAVIS, of Washington, is connected with one of the strongest financial institutions in the Second Con-
gressional District as cashier, and has demonstrated beyond question that no bank in Southern Indiana has a more competent official. By nature and long training he has acquired those qualities always discov- ered in a genial, carefal, shrewd and ac- commodating official. After completing his education he began that preparation, under the guidance and direction of a sue- eessful father, that has rendered him capa- ble of filling the most responsible position in any institution with which he shall he- come connected. He is regarded by those best acquainted with his record as a financier as especially gifted with the ability to distinguish between wildcat schemes and legitimate business, and is an ever present barrier in the protection of his institution from promoters of such schemes.
Mr. Davis is in direet sympathy with the interests of his adopted city, and his time, energy and capital have been devoted to the promotion of whatever would benefit it. He is progressive and public spirited and stands the peer of any in the estimation of the public.
Davis is an historic and honored name in this county. It stands proverbial for intelligence, honor and independence. They inhabit every state and territory and contribute their just portion to society and government. This branch of the family settled in Owen County, Ky., in the fore- part of this century. James Davis, our subjeet's paternal grandfather, was a farmer and died in the above county. His son, our subject's father, was born on a farm in 1735. He made a success of his farming venture, and in later life engaged in bank- ing in Owenton. He was president of the Farmers' National Bank of that eity till his death in 1894. He married Lucinda Oliver, who died in 1872, leaving Richard C., John O, cashier of the Pike County State Bank, at Petersburg, and Mrs. Birdie Stamper, of Owenton. Mr. Davis' second wife was Mollie Scott. whose two children are Harry and Mary, both of Owenton.
R. C. Davis was educated in the city schools of his native town, and upon the completion of the same entered his father's bank as clerk and in due time was pro- moted to assistant cashier. Upon the or- ganization of the People's National Bank of Washington, eight years ago, he was made its cashier.
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Mr. Davis was married in this county November 12, 1890, to Annie, a daughter of the late Dr. John A. Scudder. The children of this nnion are Seudder and Richard (., Jr.
Mr. Davis is a Democrat in politics, but is in no sense a politician. He is a Knight of the Ancient Essenie Order, and as a citi- zen holds high rank.
HION. DAVID J. HEFRON .- In recording the events that have transpired to mark the rise of a citizen in public life, it is import- ant that the narrator should inform him- self fully, from competent and unprejudiced sources, and gather those faets which will enable the reader to form a just conception of the individual. This method has been adhered to in the compilation of this brief biography of Judge David J. Hefron.
Judge Hefron was born of Irish parents in Jennings County, Ind., February 17, 1842. His father was the late Lawrence Hefron, of County Mayo birth, who came to America in 1831, disembarked at Mon- treal, Canada; took up his residence in Erie, Pa., and three years later came to Jennings County, Ind. He married Bridget Diekson in the old country, and with his family of small children he settled upon a farm in Barr Township, Daviess County, in 1843. He died there in 1851, at the age of fifty-one years. His widow still sur- vives and is spending her remaining days (for she is past ninety-three) with her hon- ored son. Her children were: Stephen ; Catherine, wife of James M. Graves ; John, deceased ; David J., and Lawrence, de- ceased.
Judge Hefron remained upon the farm till he was twenty-five years of age, having up to that time had access, as a student, to the schools of his district and to the high school at Mitchell. He became able to teach in time, and the funds earned at this occupation and at farming when not other- wise employed aided him very materially in defraying his expenses in securing a higher education and equipping himself generally for the profession for which he is so eminently adapted. He was a student in the state university of Indiana in 1866-67, and again in 1868-69, and during that winter attended the law department of that institution. Upon his return to Washington he entered the law office of Hon. John H. O'Neall and was admitted
to the bar the next year before Judge Malott. The same year a partnership was entered into between himself and his worthy tutor for the practice of law, thus bringing into existence a firm which be- came a power in the court practice to this cirenit.
As a lawyer Judge Hefron was careful, painstaking and successful. He possessed many of the powers of an advocate. His arguments were both pleasing and convine- ing, and while he was conspicuous in his sphere as a practitioner, it was after his ap- pointment to the bench that he developed the high qualities of a prompt, learned, courageous and just jurist. He possesses, in a marked degree, the quality of correctly judging facts as they come from witnesses. He is a speedy trial judge, never having to suspend court to consult some authority to sustain some notion that he may have about this or that thing as we frequently find judges doing; on the contrary, he has his decision ready the moment a point is sub- mitted to him. While discussing this point it was remarked by Judge Gardiner that he would rather practice law in the court of Judge Hefron than in the court of any other judge he ever knew.
The partnership between O'Neall & Hef- ron existed, with the exception of a short interval, from its inception down to 1885, when the Forty-ninth Judicial Circuit was created by the Legislature, comprising Martin and Daviess Counties, and Gov. Gray appointed Judge Hefron to preside over it.
In 1871 the town of Washington became a city, and Judge Hefron was elected its first Mayor. He was re-elected in 1873, and while in this office displayed executive ability and accurate judgment in a marked degree.
During his political career Judge Hefron was an able and faithful expounder of the tenets of Democracy, and for this reason he was the party nominee for the State Senate in 1876, was elected and served out the unexpired term of Hon. Andrew Hum- phries, who had been elected to Congress. In 1878 he was elected to succeed himself in the Senate for a term of four years. He was regarded as one of the leaders of the Democracy. He was conspicnous in his opposition to the proposed amendment to the State constitution providing for woman's
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