USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 44
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On April 1, 1841, Captain Kirkpatrick was united in mar- riage to Margaret J. Baldwin, who was born January 27, 1824, the daughter of William A. and Amy (Crooks) Baldwin. Her death occurred on February 28, 1888, after an invalidism of many years. On December 20, 1888, the Captain married Hattie Foster, who was born in Fayette county, Indiana, the daughter of John Foster, a farmer, who afterwards moved to Fayette county, this state, and is now retired from active life, having been successful in his business affairs. Mrs. Kirkpatrick is the eldest of the five living children born to her parents, the others being as follows: Edward, of Fayette county, Indiana; Charles, a farmer in Rush county, Indiana; James, a farmer near Rushville, Indiana, who is now employed in an express office there; Ruel, who is the regis- try clerk in the postoffice at Marion, Indiana. Mrs. Kirkpatrick's mother bore the maiden name of Martha MeConnell. She was born in Fayette county, Indiana, December 25, 1841, and died in February, 1907. To Captain and Hattie Kirkpatrick was born a daughter, Jennie, who is the wife of Oscar Gross, of Tipton coun-
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ty, Indiana, and they have two children, Harriet and Thomas Ed- ward.
Religiously, Captain Kirkpatrick was a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, while, fraternally, he was an appreciative member of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the workings of which he took a deep interest.
Capi. Thomas M. Kinhpatiich dosed his eyes in the dream- less sleep that knows no waking on Sunday morning, September 6, 1891. He had been in failing health for some weeks prior to his last illness, the hardships and privations of his army life, to- gether with the natural impairments of age, contributing to a general breaking down. His death was universally mourned, not only in his immediate community, but far and wide, for he en- joyed an acquaintance in many parts of the country. Many tender messages of sympathy were received by the family and many expressions of appreciation of the Captain's life were made by those who knew him and appreciated him at his true worth. Among these, the following are reproduced here:
"Cape May, N. J., September 7, 1891.
"To Mrs. Thomas Kirkpatrick:
"I have heard with great regret of the death of your lius- band, my old comrade and friend, Captain Thomas Kirkpatrick, and beg to extend to you and his family my sincere sympathy.
"BENJ. HARRISON."
Hon. James A. Wildman, in a letter to the Kokomo Gazette Tribune, had the following to say: "It was with deep sorrow that I read the dispatch in the morning papers announcing the death of Capt. T. M. Kirkpatrick. I had known the Captain for over thirty years-as a thrifty, hard-working farmer, as an officer in the army, county commissioner and legislator. In all the var- ious walks of life he was a modest, honest, true and noble man. I remember well in April, 1861, when he asked me to attend to some business for him and said that he was going to enlist, and he did enlist, as a private. The question of rank or pay never entered his mind. It was with him purely a question of patriot- ism, and no truer, better soldier ever wore the army blue than Captain Kirkpatrick. He was indeed a true hero. Howard coun- ty has lost one among her very best citizens, the county a patriot and hero. He deserves a monument as a pioneer and brave sol- dier."
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The Gazette Tribune had the following to say editorially: "In the death of Capt. T. M. Kirkpatrick there is lost to this city and county a conspicuous and worthy citizen, widely known and universally esteemed. Howard county gladly honored him in the years of his vigorous manhood and his country, which he served so loyally and well, gave to him some measure of reward for his efficient service and valued citizenship. He was one of the earliest pioneers of this vicinity and touched every condition of life from the hardship of those primitive days up to comfort and plenty, then back again to poverty because of a generosity that, knowing no limit, invited imposition and betrayal. At every stage of his career he was the same honest, cheerful, generous soul, living not for himself, but for others, unknown to selfishness, a stranger to dishonor, unacquainted with the grosser elements of human na- ture and heedless of their sway over others less worthy than he. "He was a valiant soldier. Ile was every inch a fighter, true to every trust, loyal to every duty, precisely the sort of a man this country owes far more to than can ever be paid. Modesty was a ruling trait of his character and those who knew him best have never heard him boast or even willing to admit that his friends were in any measure correct in the high praise and exalted esteem they held for him. * * * A discriminat- ing and patriotic publie must never fail and can never fail to ac- cord to such soldiering as his the highest meed of praise and honor. He was a patriot and a fighter fit to rank with the bravest and best that ever battled for our country.
"In his business relations Captain Kirkpatrick was a model of integrity. In the domestie circle he was exemplary. To his friends he was constant and loyal, to his enemies generous and just. * *
* Captain Kirkpatrick was an intimate personal friend of President Harrison and he was well known by all the prominent soldiers of the state. All held him in the highest es- teem and many hearts will yield a measure of sorrow for the grand good man whom Howard county deeply mourns today."
As a matter of historie interest, it is worthy of note that Cap- tain Kirkpatrick was one of the two last survivors of the first grand jury which ever sat in Howard county. The first court convened in November, 1844, and the grand jury, which con- sisted of fifteen citizens, indicted twenty-five persons at the first sitting, charging them with various crimes. The court was held at the residence of John Harrison, eight miles west of where Kokomo now stands.
LOUIS RASTETTER.
In the death of Louis Rostotter in 1898, there was removed another of those prominent business men of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who have made their way in life by force of their own merit and industry from small beginnings to great successes, and his mem- ory will long be revered and his influence for good felt in this sec- tion of our great commonwealth, for he belonged to that class of worthy and noble citizens who leave behind them mich that is deathless. Although he had the advantage of an education above that of the average boy of his day, he came early in life to this country and, where the language and customs were strange and obstacles were innumerable, he made his way without relatives or friends, but in due course of time he had plenty of the latter, for he was of a turn to win the confidence and good will of those with whom he came into contact and to retain their estecm and friend- ship without effort. He was a man of absolute honesty, always on the advance and managed his extensive manufacturing busi- ness with a skill and prudence which came of a practical knowl- edge of every branch of the business. His rise in the world was at the expense of no one, and in his death Fort Wayne and Allen county sustained a great loss and a very wide circle of friends was left to deplore his passing away. For he was universally regarded as one of Fort Wayne's most useful and enterprising men of affairs, of which city he had been an active and influential citizen for more than forty years. His record might well be studied by the young man, for, beginning at the bottom of the ladder with in- dustry and perseverance, he soon reached the point where he was recognized as one of the city's most substantial citizens.
Louis Rastetter was born in Baden, Germany, May 31, 1834. IIc was the son of Andrew and Mary (Sutter) Rastetter, who were well-to-do people and intended to educate their son for a teacher. Before the preparations for this profession were com- pleted it was seen that the natural bent of Louis was towards mechanics and as his talent in this line was unmistakable, he learned the trade and became skilled before leaving his native
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country. When he was twenty years old he decided to emigrate to America, believing that the advantages to young men were superior to those in Europe. Ile landed on our shores in the year 1854, unaccompanied by any of his relatives, to make his way alone in a strange land. He soon obtained employment in Roch- ester, New York, where he remained for two years. He then went to Buffalo, where he was employed at his trade for a year longer.
It was September 27, 1857, that Mr. Rastetter first entered the city of Fort Wayne, destined to be the scene of his future suc- cess. He obtained work in the Wabash shops, where he remained until 1859, when he made a trip to Germany to visit his parents. A year later he returned to his old position in the Wabash shops, and shortly thereafter was married. He remained for four years in the machine shops. It was then that Mr. Rastetter first went into business for himself, setting up a small machine shop on West Jefferson street near the corner of Harrison, which he conducted with growing success for the next ten years and it was in this shop that he made the clock for the Allen county court house, for the building which was a few years ago torn down to be replaced by the present magnificent structure. In 1870 he sold out his ma- chine shop on West Jefferson street, and took the position of mas- ter mechanic in the wheel works of N. G. Olds, remaining with that concern until the fall of 1876, when with two associates he went to Lima, Ohio, to engage in the manufacture of hubs, spokes and buggy bows, under the name of the Lima Wheel Company. After four years and a half in Lima, where he achieved consider- able success, Mr. Rastetter sold his interests to his partners and returned to Fort Wayne with sufficient capital to establish a fac- tory of his own for the manufacture of like articles. This factory was established in 1882 and was located at the corner of Calhoun and Jefferson streets. It became too small to accommodate his growing business and was moved to Broadway at the crossing of Pennsylvania railroad in 1886, where he had erected a much larger plant. The business continued to grow under his able manage- ment and in 1895 it was again moved into still larger quarters at Wall, Nelson and Garden streets where it is at present located. About 1892 Mr. Rastetter added the manufacture of bicycle rims to the other lines of goods which were shipped to all parts of the world.
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One of the feats of which the elder Rastetter was very proud was the manufacture of the old town clock which he made and placed in position in 1869 and which rendered excellent service until 1897, when it was removed from the court house tower. Mr. Rastetter purchased the clock when the court house was torn down and intended to place it in his works. At the time he built the Fort Wayne clock, he also built elooks for St Louis and Charleston, Illinois.
Mr. Rastetter was married August 4, 1860, to Elizabeth Hauenstein, daughter of John and Mary Hauenstein, both natives of Switzerland, where they spent their earlier years, coming to the United States and locating in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the carly days and here they became well known and well established, being highly respected. Here the wife of the subject grew to woman- hood, received a good education and here she has spent her life, her birth having occurred here on March 27, 1841. She is a woman of many commendable characteristics, and, like her husband be- fore her, has always had a wide cirele of warm friends.
To Mr. and Mrs. Rastetter seven children were born, four of whom are living at this writing, namely: William C., who is in charge of the manufacturing business established by his father and which he has managed in a successful and capable manner, now ranking among the leading young business men of Fort Wayne, the firm name Louis Rastetter & Son still remaining. William C. Rastetter married Edith Howenstein, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and they have three children, Helen Elizabeth, Will- iam C., Jr., and Louis. This family has a fine home at No. 1226 Wall street, Fort Wayne. Helen Rastetter, daughter of the sub- ject, married John H. Wilkins, of Fort Wayne, and they have three children, Alice Rastetter Wilkins, Louis Christian Wilkins and Dorothy Wilkins. Charles Rastetter, second son of the sub- ject of this memoir, lives at home and is successfully engaged in the real estate business. Mary Rastetter, the other surviving daughter of the subject, lives in the old home with her aged mother, gladly looking after her every wish. She is an accom- plished, estimable young lady, has traveled extensively, having at this writing just returned from a sojourn in Yellowstone Park. She is popular with the best social set of Fort Wayne. These children have all received every advantage as to education and wholesome home training, the results of which they reflect in their every day lives.
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Louis Rastetter was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a great home man, was best contented when at his pietnresque old residence at No. 1620 Broadway, where he enjoyed walking through his well-kept and attractive grounds and among his fine fruit trees. He made considerable study of horti- culture and left a very valuable orchard which was his hobby. The death of Louis Rastetter occurred on February 9, 1898, after a short illnes. , at the age of sixty-four years.
JESSE REAGAN, M. D.
JESSE REAGAN, M. D.
In giving the life record of the late Dr. Jesse Reagan, of Plainfield, Indiana, the publishers of this work believe that it will be an incentive to the young who may peruse it to lead nobler lives, have higher ambitions and accomplish more for their fellow men, for his life was always led along a plane of high endeavor, always consistent with the truth in its higher forms and ever in keeping with honorable principles, and he had an altruistic spirit -a broad and abiding love for suffering humanity-and for over a half century he put forth every effort to alleviate the same, and his name deserves to go down in the history of his state as one of our worthiest and most faithful and efficient pioneer physicians. He was the scion of a sterling ancestry who played well their parts in the first settlement of eastern Indiana, and the Doctor proved to be a worthy descendant of his forebears; thus, for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he was one of the patriotic sons of the North who, when the terrible tocsin of war sounded in the early sixties, unhesitatingly gave up the pleasures of home and the pursuits of a profitable profession to do what he could in behalf of the Federal Union, the biographer is glad to herein set forth the salient facts concerning his long, useful and honorable career.
Dr. Jesse Reagan was born in Wayne county, near Richmond, Indiana, January 21, 1826, and he was a son of Ruel and Mary (Mills) Reagan, both natives of South Carolina, from which state they came to Indiana when children, their parents being among the very early settlers of Wayne county, when the country was sparsely settled and was covered with vast forests, and there Ruel Reagan devoted himself to agricultural pursuits for many years, but spent the last years of his life in retirement at Moores- ville, Indiana, where his death occurred, his wife having preceded him to the grave. They were the parents of the following children: Lihugh, Mrs. Mary Barker, Mrs. Leanna Myers, Patience, Lydia, .Huston, and Dr. Jesse, of this sketch. These children are all now deceased, the subject, the youngest, being the last to pass away. He spent his early boyhood on the farm of his father, where he was
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born, and moved from there with the family to Mooresville when he was young, and there he attended the public schools, and when eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. Jesse Heiner, of Mooresville, later entering the Ohio State Medical College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1856, and when twenty-one years old he began practicing medicine at Spring Valley, on White river, nine miles south of Indianapolis. In a short time he located at Monrovia, Morgan county, this state, where he remained several years. In 1880 lic took up his residence in Plainfield, where he continued to practice practically the rest of his life, having continued thus in his chosen profession for a period of fifty-seven years, not only healing hun- dreds of people of their physical ailments, but at the same time receiving a warm place in their hearts as a kind, sympathetic friend and benefactor. For the first ten or twelve years of his practice his visits to his patients were made on horseback, buggies being unknown at that time, and if they had been, could not have been used on account of the condition of the roads. His first case of typhoid fever was in 1853, and while he felt sure it was typhoid, was almost afraid to say it, but after a still more careful diagnosis and after consulting Dr. George B. Wood's celebrated book, he made the announcement, and physicians for many miles came to see the patient.
At the commencement of the Civil war, Doctor Reagan of- fered his services and was appointed to hospital service in the typhoid ward, and he was surgeon for some time in the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky. After the battle of Nashville, in Decem- ber, 1864, Doctor Reagan was sent among the many physicians and surgeons, to relieve the suffering at that place. He was sur- geon of the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry at the elose of the war, and he received an honorable dis- charge. His practical experience while in the army did much to insure his future success.
Doctor Reagan was married on January 10, 1850, to Nancy Kime, the daughter of a highly respected old family, David Kime and wife. Her father came from Germany to this country in an early day with his parents when he was a child. He was married first in South Carolina to Nancy Coats, with whom he came to Marion county, Indiana, when this country was a wilderness, making the long journey in wagons up the White river, when wild game was plentiful and Indians were still numerous. David Kime's
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first wife died in Marion county, and he subsequently married Rachael Beryman. She was a native of Pennsylvania and was a daughter of Yankee parents. Her death occurred in Marion county, Indiana, where the death of David Kime also occurred at a later date. To the first union four children were born, all now deceased, namely: Alfred, Michael, Susan and Elizabeth; to the second union the following children worn hope to David Kime: Nancy, who married Doctor Reagan, of this memoir, her birth having occurred in Marion county in a log cabin, on May 5, 1828; Mary Ann, who became the wife of James Ritter; Rebecca was next in order of birth; Lucinda, who married Isaac DeWeese; Kate married Thomas Mendenhall; and Ellen, the wife of Thomas Wilhoit.
To Doctor Reagan and wife were born: Flora, second in order of birth, died in infancy, and Dr. John Wesley Reagan, who read medicine with his father at Monrovia, later attending lectures in Cincinnati, Ohio, became a successful physician, practicing with his father at Plainfield, until his deatlı, on July 1, 1881, at the age of thirty-one years, his birth having occurred in 1850; he married Lula Ballard.
Dr. Jesse Reagan and wife traversed through the sunshine and shadow of life's pathway together for a period of sixty-two years, each being mutually helpful to the other. Mrs. Reagan survives, making her home at the old homestead in Plainfield and she has long been known for lier charitable instincts and hospital- ity, and she has a host of friends throughout the county. Living with her is her adopted daughter, Lena Wilson, daughter of John and Rebecca (Peirson) Wilson, she having been in the home of Doctor Reagan since the death of her mother, which occurred when Lena was an infant. The daughter grew up in the home of the subject, and married Robert Lewis, and they are the parents of the following children: Reagan Wilson, Mary Rebecca and Josephine. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis take a delight in ministering to every want of Mrs. Reagan in her old age.
Dr. Jesse Reagan was a member of the Masonic order, also of the Grand Army of the Republic, also held membership with the Monrovia Christian church. His parents were Quakers and he was thus reared in this faith, from which he never departed.
In speaking of the death of Dr. Jesse Reagan, which occurred on November 11, 1911, the Friday Caller, in its issue of Novem- ber 17th following, said, in part: "Dr. Jesse Reagan, the second
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oldest eitizen of Plainfield, and for a quarter of a century the lead- ing medical practitioner of this place, died at his home here last Friday night at the age of eighty-five years, nine months and fif- teen days. * The familiar form of Doctor Reagan, as he walked up and down our streets, and his genial greetings, will be missed by all. The children, of whom he was especially fond, will realize they have lost a friend."
Funeral corrices were conducted by Mrs. Eliza C. Armstrong, of the Friends church, and interment was made in Maple Hill cemetery.
Doctor Reagan was a close student and a keen observer all his life, and he was a most interesting and instructive conversa- tionalist, telling many reminiscences of the early days, among one of the most interesting being that which he recalled in which President Martin VanBuren, on a campaign tour, was spilled from a stage coach into the mud by a bold driver who sought to impress upon him the need of improvement of the National road, at Plainfield. This of the Doctor's stories appeared, with his photograph and a number of illustrations, in the Indianapolis Star under date of August 25, 1907, and it is deemed worthy of reproduction here.
"The tradition is so old that the memory of the oldest inhabi- tant cannot bring forth the name of the adventurous coach driver who did it. But the story itself, full of human interest and pos- sessed of a certain rough humor that was characteristic of the time the little 'near tragedy' was enacted, lived on and on beyond the memory of the name. And the people of Plainfield, a beautiful little Indiana city, a few miles west of Indianapolis, never tire of telling the fascinating tale and pointing out the memorable spot where the thing happened.
"It is the story of a practical lesson well taught-the tale of how a rough-and-ready stage-coach driver took for his pupil a man who was destined to become President of the United States, and impressed the lesson so deeply that his victim remembered the unhappy incident to his dying day.
"Now Martin VanBuren, though he succeeded in becoming the greatest man of his day in the greatest land since the begin- ning of things, was a man peculiarly unfortunate. He was not a popular President. And what was worse as far as the cause that led up to the dreadful little lesson was concerned, he was not in
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some sections a popular candidate for the high honor which was later bestowed upon him.
"The spring rains of 1836 had been heavier than usual, and the old National road between Indianapolis and Plainfield was in spots a sea of mud and water. Coaching was irksome business at the best and coaching through mud that was hub-deep in places was almost unbearable, so there is little wonder that this rough, bold driver, the most reckless, yet one of the most trusted the com- pany had on its pay roll, craved a change in conditions.
"A New Yorker by birth, a polished man and not accustomed to the rough-and-ready West,-for Indiana was still rough in those days,-VanBuren had nevertheless blazed his own trail, and he had served a term in the United States Senate in addition to having been Vice-President and having served as governor of New York and as minister to England. He had great confidence in his ability as a campaigner. He believed that a tour of the West, by placing him in close touch with the people of this see- tion, would win for him their confidence in his more conservative ideas as to internal improvements. He believed that their views were radical, and he came west to convince them of this. The Seminole war should be ended, and other matters had to be looked after; his position was that these matters should receive the new President's first attention. But the people of the West were im- patient with conditions as they existed. Why, with such pros- perity as had blessed the entire nation, should not the government of the United States improve the National road and make other internal improvements that were so necessary to the comfort of the people? The people who demanded these things could find no answer that seemed to them to be satisfactory, nor could the stage- coach driver, who, during several months of each year, had for his standing jest a story of how the company was planning to con- vert the coach line into a ferry boat line.
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