USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 65
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On November 23, 1869, Colonel Lilly was married to Maria Cynthia Sloane, who was born at Tiffin, Ohio. August 21 1819 and who survives her husband. She is descended from a sterling line of ancestry, her paternal grandparents having been John Nel- son and Cynthia (Strong) Sloane, both natives of Hagerstown, Maryland, the former born in 1795 and the latter in 1802. They were married in 1818 and became early settlers of Ohio, making the long and tiresome journey on horseback, entering land near
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Tiffin. There they reared a large family of children, one of whom, Edward Wallace Sloane, Mrs. Lilly's father, was born on March 9, 1821, and died in 1891. He was a merchant in New York, but in 1855 became connected with the American Express Company, laying out the routes and establishing offices for that company through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and later became superinten- dent of the business of the company in the state of Indiana, hav- ing his residence in Indianapolis. On November 23, 1843, he was married to Eleanor D. Graff, who was born October 5, 1820, and died in 1905; she was the daughter of Marcus Young and Maria Herstus (Johnson) Graff, of Tiffin, Ohio. The only child born to Edward W. and Eleanor Sloane was she who became Mrs. Lilly. Mrs. Lilly is, in both ancestral lines, eligible to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, though she has never affiliated with that order. She is also related by descent to an eminent official of colonial days, Captain John Cockey, of Mary- land, who was appointed by the King to an office superior to that of governor. Mrs. Lilly is a lady of pleasing presence and pos- sesses those graces of character which have won and retained for her a large cirele of warm personal friends.
HENRY RUDISILL.
To the traveler today, speeding by railway through the fer- tile farms of northern Indiana, it seems all but incredible that three generations ago almost every aere of land was covered with a forest so dense that the light of day could scarcely penetrate. It was within the last seventy-five years that these primeval for- ests were ent down and the timber and land turned to the uses of civilization.
The men who accomplished this were the sturdy pioneers and their immediate descendants, who were following their vis- ions of fertile fields and comfortable homes. The task they had set themselves was an heroic one, stretching through years, and marked not only by trials and privations, but often by the menace of an uncivilized and treacherous enemy. Many of the thriving towns and cities that now dot the landscape sprang from small Indian trading posts that in those days were few and remote from each other.
It was amid such scenes and in face of such exposures that Henry Rudisill cast his lot. He was one of the earliest settlers of Fort Wayne and played a large and conspicuous part in its development. IIe was a business and civic leader of the cominuni- ity in days when white settlers were few, and the silence of the far-stretching forests had seareely been broken by the ring of the woodman's ax. It is needless to say that a man who chose such conditions for himself and children was possessed of courage, persistence, fortitude and prophetic vision that could foresee the magnificent future of the little stockade fort in the wilderness, which at that day was inhabited by one of the powerful and war- like Indian tribes of the Middle West.
Although he has been cleaning more than half a century "the sleep that knows no breaking, days of danger, nights of waking," the influence of his character and life still abides as a moulding influence upon the conditions out of which have sprung the pros- perity and manifold blessings of the heritage into which we have entered. It is just and proper that such heroic characters should have a place and honorable mention in their country's history.
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The Rudisills came to America from Germany four genera- tions ago and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Henry was born in that locality August 8, 1801. He was the oldest of nine children born to Adam and Catherine (Wolf') Rudisill. As a lad, until fourteen years of age, he attended the parochial schools connected with the Lutheran church of the Holy Trinity at Lan- caster, his parents being active members of that congregation. The old church, founded in 1774, still stands as a venerable mon- ment of carly Lutherism. After his confirmation he turned to work on his father's farm, but it soon became apparent that the lad had no heart for agricultural pursuits. Accordingly, with the approval of his parents, he secured a situation as clerk in a dry- goods store in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. He showed himself an efficient and successful clerk, and drew many new customers to the house, because of his familiarity with German and his ability to trade with the immigrants of that nationality, who had settled in large numbers about the village.
But the pioneer spirit was already beginning to stir within him and at seventeen he made his way as far west as Chillicothe, Ohio. With his experience as a salesman, speaking two lan- guages, he found no difficulty in securing a desirable situation. Three years later he became a partner in the house of Barr & MeCorkle, a firm that in those days had established what would now be called a "chain of stores" in the more accessible centers of population throughout the opening West. There was at that time a promising branch at Lancaster, Ohio, and young Henry, who had just passed his majority, was given the opportunity to develop it. The venture proved successful beyond expectation.
In 1829 the firm became the owners of a tract of land which embraced a large portion of the present site of Fort Wayne, In- diana. In accordance with the policy of the firm, a trading post was established and Mr. Rudisill was again chosen to develop the new enterprise. As a partner he also represented the firm in the sale of portions of the newly acquired real estate. He was now a mature man with a family, but ambitious to face the problems and experiences of pioneer life. In December, 1829, he left Lan- caster to make Fort Wayne his home. A great part of the way was little more than a blazed trail. They reached Fort Wayne on Christmas day after a two-weeks journey full of risks and apprehensions.
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Hle lost no time in setting his hand to the work he had come , to undertake. Obstacles and hardships served only to stimulate him to greater effort. Here, with a few of his fellow pioneers, he laid the foundations of a now flourishing eity. His ability and experience in business affairs enabled him, within a compara- tively short time, to aceunnilate a property that in those days was regarded as a fortune. Then came the financial panie of 1837. The Eastern branch of Barr & MeCorkle went down. Mr. Rudi- sill as a partner was personally responsible for the firm's debts, and thus his possessions were swept away. He suffered a com- plete loss.
Ilis father-in-law, Henry Johns, then came to his rescue. The two became associated in the Johns-Rudisill flouring mill, woolen factory, line seed oil and saw mills. He continued in this ยท line of business with increasing suecess until his death, in 1857.
At the time of the construction of the Wabash and Erie canal and the Pennsylvania railroad, Mr. Rudisill was instrumental in bringing many families of German immigrants to Fort Wayne. He was also at the head of a company for the construction of plank roads to encourage trade with neighboring settlements, timber being at that time cheaper than stone, of which there was none in the vicinity. Ilis Hlouring mill was the only one between Fort Wayne and Sturgis, Michigan, and his enstomers came on horseback from points as far east as Lima, Ohio.
The death of Mr. Rudisill, at the age of fifty-six years, was due to hardships and exposures incident to his energetic life in a new country. In politics he was a Democrat and took an active part in the affairs of his party. In 1831 he was appointed post- master of Fort Wayne and served during the administrations of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren, holding the office for ten years. Ile also held important offices in connection with the county and city. Soon after coming to Fort Wayne, he organized the first Lutheran church which was the first Lutheran church in Indiana and always maintained a lively interest in rengious and educational matters. His solicitude for the growth and general welfare of the community never abated. Personally, he was with- out pretense or ostentation; modest and retiring in disposition, vet a man of action who generally accomplished what he under- took to do.
Amid all the distractions and worries of a busy life, he main-
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tained his interest in literature. He was not only a self-made man in the sphere of business, but his intellectual attainments were the outcome of his own persistent efforts. He was familiar with the works of the great German and English authors and could quote extensively from most of them. His library, one of the most complete in the Middle West, evinced the wide range of his tastes and interests. His temperament was poetic. He was especially fond of Robert Burns, largely, perhaps, because of the democratie and humanitarian spirit that pervades his poems. His altruistic spirit put him in sympathy with every man regardless of his station or environment. He was also a great lover of music and imported the first piano that came into the community.
The good that he accomplished and the influence he wielded cannot be computed in terms of economic vahies. It was largely cultural, ethical and religious.
The Rudisill homestead, built in 1832, was regarded as one of the finest and most commodious in this part of the country. It was located on a plat of one hundred and sixty acres fronting the banks of the St. Joe river. It was a centre of hospitality, which was greatly enhanced by the grace and kindliness of his noble wife. Friend or stranger was at once made to feel that he was welcome. Frequently during meetings of religious confer- ences and synods, many guests were lodged and provided for under his wide roof. It was the home of the Rudisill family for seventy-five years. Within recent years it has given place to the immense power house of the Northern Indiana Traction Company.
Mr. Rudisill was married January 15, 1826, to Elizabeth Jolins, of Lancaster, Ohio. She was the only child of Henry and Martha (Gunder) Johns and was born in Lancaster, November 29, 1805. She survived her husband thirty-one years and died at the homestead on May 25, 1891.
There were eleven children, of whom three are living at this writing: Mrs. Julia R. Freeman, Miss Eliza C. Rudisill and Mrs. Mary R. Sturgis, all residing at No. 2000 Spy Run avenue, Fort Wayne.
PROF. SHERIDAN COX.
The life of the scholarly or professional man seldom exhibits any of those striking incidents that seize upon public feeling and attract attention to himself. His character is generally made up of the aggregate qualities and qualifications he may possess, as these may be elicited by the exercise of the duties of his vocation or the particular profession to which he belongs. But when such a man has so impressed his individuality upon his fellow men as to gain their confidence and through that confidence rise to im- portant public trust, he becomes a conspicuous figure in the body politie of the community. The subject of this review was one of the scholarly men of his county, who, not content to hide his tal- ents amid life's sequestered ways, had by the force of will and a laudable ambition, forged to the front in a responsible and exact- ing calling and carned an honorable reputation as the head of one of the most important branches of public service. He was a well educated, symmetrically developed man and, his work as an edu- cator having brought him prominently to the notice of the public, the result was a demand for his services where a high standard of professional excellence was required. He kept abreast of the times in advanced educational methods, and his general knowl- edge was broad and comprehensive. Because of his earnest life, high attainments, well rounded character and large influence, he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of the character of the one in hand.
Sheridan Cox was a native son of the old Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in Harrison county, Ohio, on December 20, 1833. He was reared on a farm and his boyhood days were spent amid conditions which tended to develop him physically and to inculcate in him those lessons of industry, patience and persever- ance which contributed so largely to his success in his subsequent life. His elementary education was secured in the country schools of his neighborhood, where he proved an apt student, developing a marked liking for books and study. He determined to secure a thorough education and, as a preliminary step to the university, he entered the MeNeely Normal School at Hopedale. In due time he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, where he applied himself closely and earned an honorable record as an able and industrious student, standing among the first of his class when he was graduated in the year 1862, with the degree
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of Bachelor of Arts. Prior to and during his university course he devoted considerable time to teaching and, inmuediately after re- ceiving his degree, he accepted a professorship in Marshall Col- lege, Marshall, Illinois. This position he held one year, resigning the position at the end of that time to take charge of the publie schools at Winchester, Indiana. There he earned a creditable record as superintendent and instructor and the school board at Logansport, Indiana, tendered him the superintendency of the schools of that eity. This position he accepted and in it he accom- plished a work of great and far-reaching importance, such as had never before been attempted in the place and as signally success- ful, perhaps, as any of his subsequent efforts. Taking the schools in a thoroughly disorganized condition, he soon evolved order from chaos by reorganizing the entire educational system, estab- lishing it upon a permanent basis. The results of his efforts were soon apparent in the enlarged enrollment of pupils, the adoption of a systematic course of study and the introduction of new and improved methods, together with a full complement of appa- ratus for scientific and other work in the higher grades.
Mrs. Cox was elected principal of the high school, for which position she was eminently fitted both by academie and profes- sional training, and there she so demonstrated her ability that soon the department was crowded with eager students. During the seven years that Mrs. Cox remained at the head of the high school a steady and substantial growth was noticeable, many of the pupils being attracted from out of town, and it is a matter of record that after her resignation there was a noticeable decrease in the latter class of students.
In the year 1873 Prof. and Mrs. Cox resigned their connection with the Logansport schools and accepted similar positions in Kokonio, where they applied themselves with the same earnest- ness and effectiveness that had characterized their work elsewhere. The educational system of that city also was raised to a high standard, so that it was generally considered one of the best in the state. As a superintendent of schools, Professor Cox had no superior. He was a most excellent disciplinarian, the schools under his management being always orderly, while between him- self and his pupils there was a mutual confidence that in itself almost insured success. IIe had the good will and sincere respect of the pupils to a degree that gave him a remarkable influence over them-an influence that was noticeable not only in their school work, but in the private lives of many of them. As to his personality, one who knew him well had the following to say of
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him: "Personally, he was the most affable and companionable of men, possessing to a remarkable degree the qualities that win and retain strong friendships and his high standing as a citizen with the best interests of his fellow men at heart gave him in- fluence such as few in the community exercised. In appearance he was above the average height and compaetly built, a com- manding figure in any crowd or assemblage, a man of calm, digni- fied demeanor, moving among his fellows as one born to leader- ship. Notwithstanding the dignity of his presence, he had a pleasing and attractive personality and was easily approachable. Though modest and unostentations in his relations with the world, he made every other condition subordinate to duty regardless of consequences and lived in harmony with the highest ideals of manhood and citizenship."
After twenty years of service as superintendent of the city schools of Kokomo, Professor Cox resigned his position and estab- lished the Maplewood Classical School, which he, in conjunction with his wife, condneted until his death, and which became a popu- lar and efficient educational institution, receiving a large patron- age. This school was continued by Mrs. Cox until the spring of 1910, when it was discontinued.
Religiously, Professor Cox was a Methodist, holding his mem- bership at the time of his death in the Grave Methodist Episcopal church of Kokomo. In this church he was a leading figure and an influential worker, being known in his denomination throughout the state. Fraternally, he was a member of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons, in which he had taken the degrees up to and in- eluding those of Knight Templar. He was a member of the Grand Lodge of the state of Indiana, having been elected chaplain of that body. The death of Sheridan Cox occurred on May 2, 1900, after an illness of but one week, and the beautiful expressions of love and sorrow bore eloquent testimonial to the position he held in the hearts of the people with whom he had mingled for so many years.
Professor Cox was a man of warm heart and tender sensibil- ities and few unkind words ever escaped his lips. His friendships were ardent, his integrity above reproach and his genial nature won him the permanent friendship of all who became acquainted with him. To know him was to esteem and honor him, for he left the impress of his individuality not only in a general way on his various fields of labor, but in a more specific way on all who came into contact with him.
Professor Cox was married to Miss Bessie Goodbarne, of New
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Philadelphia, Ohio, where she was born in 1839, the oldest of three children and the only daughter born to William Goodbarne, a native of HInll, England. Her two brothers served in the Union army in the war of the Rebellion and gave up their lives on their country's altar. Iler mother, whose maiden name was Esther Towse, was a native of Canterbury, England, and she was married at New Philadelphia, Ohio. They are both deceased. Mrs. Cox received her early education in the public schools of New Phila- delphia, and when between fifteen and sixteen years of age started to teach school. During the same time she continued her studies privately under some of the best teachers in the state, including Rev. L. A. Oerter, Rev. H. M. Bickell and Prof. Joseph Welty, prominent figures in the educational world in that day, the last named having been superintendent of the schools of New Phila- delphia for a quarter of a century. However, Mrs. Cox acknowl- edges her husband as her greatest educator. She taught five years in the grade schools at New Philadelphia and one year in the country schools. Then followed five years in the high school at Canal Dover, Ohio, and while employed there she met and mar- ried Professor Cox. Then followed seven years in the Logansport high school, most of the time as principal, and twenty years in the Kokomo high school. She then, as stated in a preceding para- graph, joined with her husband in instituting the Maplewood Classical School, of which she was the head for seventeen years. Thus Mrs. Cox taught continuously for fifty-five years, thirty- seven years of this time in Kokomo, twenty years as principal or assistant-principal of the high school and nearly as long as the head of her own school, a record probably without a parallel. At the time of her retirement, one who had watched and appreciated her work uttered the following words: "Fifty-five years; think of it-fifty-five golden years in service-fifty-five years without a break. And at the end eyes that are as bright as jewels and a heart that is as fresh as the dawn. She is not old; she has merely come to the golden ripeness of life. She is good and sweet and fine and full of well-earned honors. Yes, it is right that she should rest. And in the hearts of those whom she has helped and led, there is an earnest wish that the evening may be as serene as the mid-day has been busy, and that she may have naught else to do but string beads of happy memories onto the strand of years." Mrs. Cox is yet physically and mentally at her best, the years hav- ing touched her but lightly, and every day brings to her in the joy of living new inspirations and new pleasures.
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Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Cox has been active in a business way, having consummated several large real estate deals, and she is the owner of several valuable properties in Kokomo. Religiously, she is a member of Grace Methodist Epis- copal church, in the various activities of which she takes a deep interest. She is a member of the Country Club, past president of the Woman's Relief Corps, and has held many positions of honor and trust during her busy and eventful life. She is now a inember of the Chautauqua Reading Cirele, the complete reading course of which she is pursuing, and will graduate in 1914.
To Professor and Mrs. Cox no children were born, but many years ago they opened their home and hearts to two boys, their nephews, whom they reared to maturity and to whom they gave all the care and advantages they would have shown to children of their own flesh and blood. The elder, Dr. Edgar Cox, was born March 31, 1869. He received his early education in the Kokomo public schools, after which he attended preparatory schools in Keene, Ohio. He then matriculated in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, where he graduated with honors in 1890. He then spent a year in post-graduate work in the University of Berlin, Germany, and upon his return to Kokomo was associated with Dr. J. H. Ross for eight years. For more than two decades he has ranked as one of the city's leading physicians and surgeons and is now surgeon to most of the factories of the city and to the interurban and steam roads. IIe has also served as city health officer for six years. For eight years he has conducted a private surgical hospital. He is a special lecturer in The Indiana Uni- versity School of Medicine at Indianapolis, Indiana.
Doctor Cox is a member of the County, District, State and Tri-State Medieal Societies. He is also a member of the Ameri- ean Medical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Associa- tion, American Public Health Association, the International Con- gress on Hygiene and Demography, the Clinical Congress of Sur- - geons of North America, and the National Geographic Society.
Doctor Cox has been an active Mason for more than twenty years, having filled all the presiding chairs in the York Rite bodies. He is also a member of the Scottish Rite and a Shriner.
On July 18, 1912, Doctor Cox was married to Miss Elsie E. Snyder, of Peru, Indiana, a registered graduate nurse.
The other nephew, C. Perry Cox, who was born in 1871, is a successful farmer in western Nebraska and is also an artist of some note.
OLIVER PERRY MORTON.
Indiana's great war governor and United States senator, Oliver Perry Morton, was born in Salisbury, Wayne county, Indi- ana, August 4, 1823. The family name was originally Throck- morton, and was so written by the grandfather, who emigrated from England about the beginning of the Revolutionary war and . settled in New Jersey. James T. Morton, father of the subject, was born in New Jersey and in an carly day he moved to Wayne county, Indiana, where he married the mother of Oliver P. Mor- ton, whose maiden name was Sarah Miller. Of the early life of Governor Morton but little is known. When a boy he attended the academy of Professor Hoshur, at Centerville, but, owing to the poverty of the family, he was taken from school, and at the age of fifteen, with an older brother, began learning the hatter's trade. After working at his trade a few years, he determined to fit himself for the legal profession, and with this object in view he entered the Miami University in 1843, where he pursued his studies vigorously for a period of two years. While in college he earned the reputation of being the best debater in the institution, and it was here that he developed those powers of ready analysis and argument which made him so celebrated in after life. He be- gan his professional reading in the office of Judge Newman of Cen- terville, and after his admission to the bar he was not long in rising to an eminent place among the successful lawyers of Indi- ana. In 1852 he was elected circuit judge, but resigned at the end of one year and afterward increased his knowledge of the profession by attendance at a Cincinnati law school. On re- suming the practice the number of his friends and legal cases rapidly increased and his reputation soon extended beyond the limits of his own state. As a lawyer he possessed the faculty of selecting the salient points of a case and getting at the heart of a legal question. His mind was massive and logical, and he could apply great principles to given cases, discard non-essentials and reach decisive points. Mr. Morton's political career was of such a brilliant character that his great achievements in the arena of statesmanship, his wonderful powers as an organizer, won for
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