Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 22

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 932

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Jacob Tribolet, the honored father of our subject, was a native of Switzerland, and

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the date of his birth was December 22, 1822. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker in his native land, and while he was still a young man he emigrated to America, in com- pany with his brother, Adolph, and located in Lebanon, Ohio, where he was for a num- ber of years engaged in business at his trade. In 1853 he removed with his family to Bluff- ton, Indiana, and about eight years later he here engaged in the grocery business, con- tinuing operations successfully in this line for a full decade, after which he retired, on account of impaired health. He was a man of marked individuality and strong mentality; and such was the scrupulous honor and in- tegrity which characterized every act of his life that he gained and retained the confi- dence and respect of the community and en- joyed a notable popularity. He was a zeal- ous adherent of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he held official preferment for many years. The death of this able and honored man occurred on the ist of Septem- ber, 1892. The maiden name of our sub- ject's mother was Margaret Wilch, and she is a native of Germany, the date of her birth having been November 8, 1822. She accompanied her parents on their emigration to the United States, being a child of eight years at the time, and the family located near Baltimore, Maryland, whence they soon afterwards removed to Hancock county, Ohio. The marriage of Jacob Tribolet and Margaret Wilch was solemnized in Findlay, Ohio, in the year 1847. They became the parents of two sons: John W., the immedi- ate subject of this review; and Adolph J., who is associated with his brother in business.

John W. Tribolet, was born in Ohio, on the 10th of April, 1849, and was five years of age when his parents removed to Bluffton. His educational discipline was received in

the public schools, and after he had attained the age of thirteen years he began his active business career. This was at the time the late war was in progress, and he rented half of a store and began operations for himself as proprietor of a quick-lunch counter, his mother furnishing him the requisite aid by baking cookies, ginger-bread, etc., and pre- paring the attractive lemonade which he offered to his customers. Although he was but a mere boy he managed the little busi- ness with tact and ability, and reaped a gen- erous reward from his efforts, securing an excellent patronage. He finally closed his business and secured employment in a gen- cral merchandise establishment at Ossian and subsequently holding a position in a dry- goods store in Bluffton. At the age of six- teen years he became an apprentice of O. C. Mitchell, in Bluffton, and devoted his at- tention with interest and ability to acquiring the trade of harness-maker. After he had been thus engaged for a short time Mr. Mitchell was drafted for service in the late war, and J. Borden became the owner of the business. Under the direction of this gen- tleman our subject completed his apprentice- ship, and in 1868 he was thus qualified to go forth as a skilled workman, capable of do- ing the highest grade of work in the line of his trade. He started out as a journeyman and found employment in turn at various points, having worked at his trade in Colum- bia City, Fort Wayne and Monroeville.

In 1869 Mr. Tribolet returned to Bluff- ton, and after a time accepted a clerical po- sition in the establishment of J. L. Hum- phrey, dealer in clothing, boots and shoes. After one year of service in this capacity he was admitted to partnership in the business, whereupon the firm name of Humphrey & Tribolet was adopted. This association con-

6.M. Garson. 1

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tinued for four and one-half years, after which our subject effected the purchase of his partner's interest in the business, which he continued individually for a short time and then admitted his brother Adolph to partnership, under the title of Tribolet Broth- ers. After a few years Mr. Tribolet again became sole proprietor of the enterprise, but there was but a comparatively short interim before the brothers were again associated in business, the firm being designated as J. W. Tribolet & Company. The original char- acter of the business has been radically changed, the lines handled now comprising clothing, hats, caps and men's furnishings. The premises occupied are eligibly located on one of the best corners in the business por- tion of the town, and the fine brick building owned by our subject is three stories in height and 24 x 80 feet in dimensions. The salesrooms are spacious and the appoint- ments and accessories of the most attractive order, while the stock carried is comprehen- sive and admirably selected, the establish- ment being one that would do credit to a city of much greater population. The policy of the firm has been progressive and yet duly conservative, and the fair and honorable business methods brought to bear have re- sulted in the holding of a large and represen- tative patronage, begotten of popular con- fidence and esteem.

Mr. Tribolet has ever maintained a lively interest in all that has tended to conserve the growth and development of Bluffton, and he is recognized as one of her most pub- lic-spirited business men. He was a mem- ber of the City Council at the time of the building of the attractive city hall, and within his service in this capacity was se- cured to Bluffton its first apparatus and equipment for fire protection. He has been

a member of the Board of Education for the long period of twelve years, within which time was erected the fine high-school build - ing, which is an ornament and a credit to the city. In his political adherency Mr. Tribolet is identified with the Democratic party, and fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Knights of Honor.

The domestic chapters in the life history of our subject bespeak happiness and ut- most harmony. September 17, 1872, he was united in marriage to Mary M. Bayha, daughter of George Bayha, of Bluffton, one of the representative men of the place. Mr. and Mrs. Tribolet are the parents of six children, namely: William Henry, born February 24, 1874, is a graduate of the Bluffton high school and is now a student in De Pauw University; Annie B., born Jan- uary 22, 1876, is also a graduate of the Bluffton high school; Maude, born Novem- ber 28, 1877, has also completed the high- school course; George F. was born Septem- ber 24, 1879; Maggie, born August 21, 1883; and Charlotte, July 24, 1885.

Mr. and Mrs. Tribolet are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and both are prominent and zealous workers in the cause of the Master, being honored and es- teemed in the community where their friends are practically in number as their acquaint- ances.

J OHN W. DAWSON .-- In the his- tory of the legal profession of north- eastern Indiana one specially deserv- ing of mention as an eminent mem- ber of the bar of Allen county is Mr. Daw- son of this review. In the essential qualities of a successful lawyer there are

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manifest those traits of character which he possesses in a high degree.

Mr. Dawson was born October 1, 1820, and is a son of John Dawson, an early set- tler of Cambridge, Indiana. In 1838 the son became a clerk in the office of his brother-in-law, Colonel Spencer, receiver of public moneys. In 1840 he became a student in Wabash College, where he pur- sued his studies for two years, and then en- tered the law office of his brother-in-law, Thomas Johnson. In 1843 he was admit- ted to the bar and embarked in practice at Angusta, the old county seat of Noble coun- ty, Indiana. Subsequently he practiced in Fort Wayne, and attended law school in Kentucky, but his health failing about this time he did not again locate in Fort Wayne until 1843. In that year he began his con- nection with journalistic work, when, in company with T. H. Hood, he leased the Fort Wayne Times, a Whig paper, then owned by G. W. Wood & Company. In 1854 he bought out his partner and devoted his journal to the interest of the " anti-Ne- braska " party. This party nominated him Secretary of State, and he made a vigorous canvass.

Mr. Dawson at this time became prominent in political affairs, and shortly after the inau- guration of President Lincoln was appoint- ed Governor of Utah. He was untiring in his efforts to compel obedience to the laws, and in this so incurred the hatred of the " Saints" that on his return from Salt Lake he was waylaid, robbed and so maltreated that he never fully recovered from the effects of the outrage. He never swerved from the path of right as he saw it and was fear- less in maintaining his convictions. This honorable course caused his death, and he passed away September 10, 1877.

The Dawson family has long been prom- inently connected with the history of north- ern Indiana, and one of its leading represen- tatives is Hon. Reuben Jackson Dawson, who was born on the 13th of March, 1811, six miles west of Lawrenceburg, Dearborn county, Indiana. In early life he engaged in breaking and clearing land and in farming, and about the time he attained manhood he taught one term of school. His mind tended toward mathematics, and as far as possible he acquired a good mathematical education. About 1831 he learned surveying of Samuel Morrison, and to a very different calling then turned his attention, reading law in the office of the Hon. George H. Dunn. In May, 1832, he became a resident of Fort Wayne, coming to this place to accept the clerkship in the office of his brother-in-law, Colonel John C. Spencer, who had been ap- pointed receiver of public moneys. Not long afterward Mr. Dawson was appointed Surveyor of Allen county, and about 1833 was awarded the contract by the Govern- ment for subdividing and platting a large body of wild land, now a part of the coun- ties of Elkhart, Kosciusko and Noble, which he completed early in 1834. The next un- dertaking to which Mr. Dawson devoted his energies was real-estate speculating, in which he was engaged for several years. In 1837 he again took up the study of law in the office of another brother-in-law, Thomas Johnson, being admitted to the bar in the spring of 1838, after which he entered into partnership with his preceptor and won a high reputation as a member of the legal fraternity.

That the public recognized his ability was shown by his appointment, February 1, 1840, to the office of County Judge, which had been left vacant by the resignation of

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Hon. Lucian P. Ferry, and he served until the following November. In the meantime he has extended his business operations along various other lines, having become owner of a large estate, a sawmill and gristmill and a dry-goods store in DeKalb county. These demanding his attention, in 1841 he re- moved to that place, platting the town of Spencerville, which he made his home until his death, looking after his large and lucra- tive business interests.

In January, 1846, Reuben Jackson Daw- son married Minerva Catlin, of Spencerville, who after his death became the wife of S. Cary Evans, formerly a banker of Fort Wayne, and later one of the proprietors of Riverside, California. Then came public honors, for his fellow citizens called him to office and in 1849 was elected to represent De Kalb and Steuben counties in the State Leg- islature, while the following year he was the Senator from the district composed of De- kalb, Noble and Steuben counties. In

January, 1852, Judge Dawson was placed on the Democratic ticket as Elector for Frank- lin Pierce, and soon afterward was Prosecu- ting Attorney for the county, but in a short time resigned that position.

He was appointed by Governor Willard as Circuit Judge in January, 1858, on the resignation of Hon. J. L. Worden, and in February, at Bluffton, entered upon his first term of court, which continued until June of that year with but one week's rest. During this time a crisis arose which tested his nerve and judicial skill. Northern Indiana had long been infested with horse-thieves, coun- terfeiters, etc., and the public mind was aroused to a degree unparalleled in the his- tory of this State. When the La Grange Circuit Court opened many were in custody charged with these crimes, and many citi-

zens were present determined to see law and order prevail or else take the enforcement of the laws into their own hands. The laws and their friends soon found that they had a Judge who could not be intimidated from do- ing his duty, and by his prompt and fearless rulings on the side of law and order all dan- ger of lynching was averted. Again, in Noble county, when court opened at Albion, a few weeks later, an intense feeling was manifested. One McDougall had been hung by the " Regulators" a short time before and a number were waiting trial for crimes of that kind and had employed the best legal talent in northeastern Indiana to defend them. Their plan was to challenge the array of grand and petit jurors and by other dilatory motions and pleas so embarass the judge that there would result errors in the record; but Judge Dawson proved equal to the emergency, and the excited people soon found that law and order was the best course and remained satisfied.

He continued faithfully to perform his duty until illness compelled him to resign, in November, 1858. In August of that year he had been nominated by the Democratic party for Congress, but died May 14, 1859, at his residence in Spencerville. All who knew him respected him for his honorable, upright life, and his unswerving fidelity to duty. The resolutions of respect passed by the court on the announcement of his death contained the following : " He as a lawyer was faithful, conscientious and energetic; as a legislator, honest, disinterested and pa- triotic; as a judge, pure, impartial and effi- cient; as a partisan, 'he never gave up to party what was meant for mankind.'"

Charles M. Dawson has sustained the high reputation of the family as a jurist, and his past successes at the bar and on the

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bench argue well for future greatness in the line of his chosen calling. He was born in De Kalb county, Indiana, February 22, 1848, and is a son of Hon. Reuben Jackson Dawson, and belongs to an early Colonial family, which was founded on American soil in 1685, when his ancestors located on the eastern coast of Maryland. His great-grand- father came to Indiana in 1798 from Ken- tucky, and brought with him six slaves, which he freed on his arrival.

Charles Dawson was afforded liberal educational privileges, and was graduated at Pennsylvania College with the class of 1869. He has since been a resident of Fort Wayne, and entered upon his business career as cashier in the Merchants' National Bank, filling that position for three years. His family was noted for the high legal attain- ment of its members, and this ability he seemed to have inherited. Resolving to en- ter the legal profession, in 1876 he became a student in the Albany (New York) Law School, at which he was graduated the fol- lowing year, and was then admitted to prac- tice in the New York Supreme Court. Im- mediately thereafter he opened an office in Fort Wayne, and in his chosen calling has met with marked success. Added to his thorough knowledge of the law are keen dis- crimination, quick perception and sound judgment, and by these qualities he has at- tained to an eminent position in the legal fraternity.

In 1879 Mr. Dawson was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the Thirty-eighth Judicial Circuit by Governor Williams, and was re-elected in 1880, 1882 and 1884. His service in this capacity was unexcelled for efficiency and fearlessness, and he suc- ceeded in bringing to justice many law- breakers who are now filling life sentences

in the penitentiary. In argument he is clear, concise and logical, and holds the hearer's attention by a power of thought and feeling that has made him one of the strong- est members of the bar of Allen county. He possesses good oratorical powers, and upon the stump is often heard in defense of the Democracy, where he is not only a fluent speaker but is also entertaining and instructive. In 1890 he was elected Judge of the Superior Court, and re-elected in 1894, so that he is now serving in that posi- tion.

In 1870 was celebrated the marriage of Charles Dawson and Elizabeth Maier, of Fort Wayne. They have two children, -- Ronald and Hadjie. He is a prominent and valued member of the Masonic fraternity, a thirty-second-degree Mason, and a member of the Mystic Shrine.

ASHINGTON JONES, of Etna township, Whitley county, is a na- tive of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Wayne county, on the 8th of December, 1816, one mile north of Centerville, three days before the Territory was admitted into the Union. He has been prominently identified with the development of certain sections of the State, and his name is inseparably connected with the his- tory of northeastern Indiana.

He descended from a family that origina- ted in Wales, and the great-grandfather of our subject was its founder in America. He located in Culpeper county, Virginia, where he lived for many years. The grandfather, John Jones, was born there, and throughout the war for the independence of the nation he valiantly aided the Colonies. His death occurred in Kanawha county, Virginia,

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about 1841, at the advanced age of eighty- five years. In 1797 he emigrated to that county, which was then an unbroken wilder- ness, and at the time of his death he owned large tracts of land-including the present site of Grafton-and about forty slaves. He married Frances Morris, daughter of Levi Morris, of Virginia and a descendant of one of the old and noted families of that State. They became the parents of several children, including Gabriel, William, Levi Morris, Thomas, Hillary, Edmund, John, Benjamin, Mrs. Frances Shelton and Mrs. Funk. Of the above named, William, Edmund, Thomas, John and Levi M. located in Wayne county, Indiana. John later repre- sented his county in the Legislature for three or four terms and was a prominent and highly respected citizen.

The maternal grandfather of our subject, Joseph Thomas, was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, on the 3d of August, 1759, and emigrated to Kanawha county, in Octo- ber, 1797. In 1781 he married Rebecca Tindal, who was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, November 5, 1763. The children born of this union were : Lewis, born Au- gust 21, 1782; Mary, born February 7, 1784; Washington, for whom our subject was named, born May 8, 1786; Henry, born October 13, 1789; Thomas Matthews, born November 3, 1791; Rebecca Tyndal, who became the wife of Julius Wood; Sarah, who died in childhood; Elizabeth H .; Dolly H., wife of William Wood; Janie Pleasant, wife of Valentine Wood; Norburn; and Helena A., wife of Robert Thomas. This family is a very interesting one and in the localities where its various members settled they became prominent and respected citi- zens. At the age of sixty-six Lewis Thomas started alone across the plains to California,

attracted by the discovery of gold, and died while on the way. He was a typical pio- neer. Washington was reputed to be the best developed man physically in the State. Joseph Thomas, the father of this family, died in 1839, at his residence by the upper falls of Coal river, one of the principal trib- utaries of the Great Kanawha. He was a Revolutionary soldier and was directly un- der the command of General Washington throughout that struggle. His father, Henry Thomas, was born in Wales, Eng- land, in 1728, and shortly after his marriage, when still a young man, emigrated to the New World, locating in Buckingham coun- ty, Virginia, where he reared his family, and died in 1789. John Jones, the grandfather of our subject, participated in the great In- dian battle fought at the "Point," where the Great Kanawha and Ohio rivers unite, and where Point Pleasant is now located. The Indians surprised them ere the break of day, and Mr. Jones fought all day in his night clothes.

Levi Morris Jones, the father of our sub- ject, was born on a farm in Culpeper coun- ty, Virginia, October 10, 1785, and ac- companied his father on the removal to West Virginia in 1797. He was an own cousin of Bishop Thomas A. Morris, of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. In Kanawha coun- ty, he wedded Mary Thomas, who was born in Buckingham county, Virginia, February 7, 1784, and in October, 1797, removed with her parents to Kanawha county, where Mr. and Mrs. Jones were married in 1806. There the father of our subject carried on farming until March, 1815, when he started with his family to Wayne county, Indiana. He journeyed down the Ohio river on a flat- boat to Cincinnati, which was then but a mere village, and drove across the country

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to Wayne county, through an almost un- broken forest. He first located at old Sal- isbury, and a year later purchased 160 acres of land in Center township. Wayne county, which became the old homestead. Ile bought this of John Garrett, and it lies just across the pike from the residence of the late Oliver T. Jones, one mile north of Center- ville. After two years he sold that property to George Cornelius and purchased some lots on Main street in Centerville, where he built and opened a hotel or tavern. He moved to the place in the spring of 1817, and afterward purchased another lot imme- diately across the street, and in 1819 built the first brick house in thetown. The erec- tion of this house is within the memory of our subject, although he was not then quite four years of age. It is still standing. It was first occupied by Elias Willet, one of Wayne county's first sheriffs, during whose term Pitt, a negro, was executed for the murder of another negro, the second exe- cution to take place in Wayne county. Oli- ver T. Jones, a brother of our subject, lived with the sheriff at that time and drove the wagon that conveyed the condemned to and from the scaffold.

Levi Morris Jones was prominently iden- tified with the early history of this locality. He took the first contract for carrying the mail to Indianapolis, which was taken from Centerville, Wayne county. His son Lewis carried the mail over a route of sixty-five miles without any stops, making the jour- ney on horseback, this being the first mail taken to Indianapolis. The father was a very liberal and generous man, a friend to the poor and needy, and it seemed that he could not refuse assistance to any one who asked for it. This led him to go security for a number of persons, and he thereby lost

much of his estate. He died October 5, 1823, and was buried in the old cemetery at Centerville. The family was left in strait- ened circumstances, but the mother man- aged to keep her children together and to pay off the indebtedness. The older chil- dren, in order to help, raised corn, shelled it and sold it, sometimes as low as five cents per bushel, and then they had to deliver it two and a half miles distant! Pork sold at seventy-five cents per hundred pounds net, and this hard-earned money went to pay a security debt. The noble woman who kept her children together, cared for them and payed off the indebtedness, is deserving the deepest love and gratitude of her family. Speaking of her our subject says:

"Thinking over the past and of the early history of my mother's family, my mind runs back nearly sixty-one years, and sees the town of Centerville, Wayne county, Indiana. I fancy I see a little group of ten children and a mother and other relatives mourning over the loss of a dear father and a loving companion. The prospects for keeping the family together and rearing those children seemed to be a very gloomy one, under the circumstances, to my moth- er's friends. After a consultation about the matter, the friends advised my mother to put the children 'out,' that they did not think it possible for her to keep them to- gether and raise them. She listened to and thanked her friends for their advice, but to them she said, .Nay, as long as I have a finger to scratch, these children shall never be separated.' And they never were separated, except as they reached maturity and were married. The last thing we chil- dren would hear at night when we went to bed was the wheel or loom, and it was the first thing in the morning. It seemed as

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though she never slept. Oh, for such courage, for such a will to do and for such economy as she used in rearing her children. I would that there were more mothers at this present day who possessed the will and courage that she did. I will venture the as- sertion that in the first ten years after my father's death there was not a bill of $10 run by the family at any store. If ever a mother did her whole duty in raising a fam- ily of fatherless children my mother was such a one. After living to see them all grown and married except one (Levi M.) she departed this life for a better home. Peace be to her ashes! " Mrs. Jones passed away December 20, 1848.

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Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 22

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 932

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 932