Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 23

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

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We here give a brief record of the chil- dren: Lewis, born in Kanawha county, West Virginia, March 26, 1807, was married in April, 1828, to Caroline Level, and the fol- lowing year his wife and their one child died. In 1843 he wedded Ruth Commons, and they had five daughters and a son. His death occurred April 3, 1877. at their home a mile and a half from Centerville. Sallie, born November 6, 1809, in Kanawha county, West Virginia, was married in 1831 to John Boggs, by whom she had one son and six daughters. In 1854 she became the wife of Robert Franklin, and is still living in Wayne county. By her second marriage she had one daughter. Oliver Tindal, born in Kanawha connty, September 19, 1810, was married March 17, 1837, to Mary King, and died at his home a mile north of Center- ville, December 16, 1874. He had four sons and six daughters. He controlled about 640 acres of land in Wayne county, and at the time of his death was cashier of the First National Bank of Centerville. Norris, born in Virginia, August 19, 1811, was married January 8, 1835, to Sabra Jenkins, by whom | ing thereon. The improvements cost $1, 400,

he had three sons and five daughters. A retired farmer, he died in Connersville, Indiana, March 22, 1881. Harrison, born in Virginia, May 10, 1813, was married in 1834, to Eliza Bundy, and had one son and two daughters. He was a harness-maker by trade, and died in Centerville, Indiana, August 13, 1844. Rebecca, born in Vir- ginia, March 15, 1815, was married July 3, 1834, to Daniel S. Shank, and died in Wayne county, August 7, 1866; she had four sons and four daughters; her husband is a farmer and is still living. Washington is the next of the family. Eli Reynolds, born in Wayne county, March 17, 1818, was married Oc- tober 29, 1840, to Ann Crowe, by whom he has ten children, and he resides in Whit- ley county. Mary Jane, born in Wayne county, June 14, 1821, was married Sep- tember 29, 1844, to Stephen Crowe, and died at her home in Indianapolis, November 21, 1883. She had three sons, but Charles is the only one now living. Levi Morris, born in Wayne county, April 4, 1823, mar- ried Matilda Jane Brown, June 15, 1851, and died on his farm four miles southwest of Centerville, May 13, 1876. He had two sons and two daughters.

The gentleman whose name begins this sketch worked at home until eighteen years of age under the direction of his three older brothers, who were managing the farm. He then purchased 160 acres of land of his brothers in Madison county, for $280, pay- ing for it at the rate of $9 per month, and he lost but two days' work until it was paid for. He later purchased of Eli Walters eighty acres of land in Cicero township, Tipton county, Indiana, for $200, paying at the rate of $11 per month. He also im- proved a lot in Centerville, erecting a dwell-

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but needing some ready money he sold this property for $900 and invested two-thirds of it in 160 acres of wild land on section 28, Aetna township, Whitley county. The property is now valued at $6,000. On the 8th of September, 1848, he moved into a log cabin, 14 x 18 feet, and afterward re- placed it by a better house He improved his place, and from time to time added to it until he had a landed estate of 690 acres, a portion of which he had divided among his children. The home farm contains 200 acres. In the week in which Fort Sumter was fired upon he began the erection of his present residence, which was completed on the 17th of January, 1863. It is one of the best residences in the county, with fine surroundings, and was erected at a cost of about $5,000. The brick used in its con- struction was made upon the ground. The beautiful place is known as Maple Grove. When ten years of age, Mr. Jones began working in brick-yards and was thus em- ployed in Wayne county for twenty sum- mers. He made all the brick for his own house.

The principal timber upon the land, how- ever, was black walnut, and in 1870 he sold about $8,000 worth of that wood. He has also many hard-maple trees, and has a grove of 700 trees, from which he makes about 200 gallons of syrup each year. He has about 400 bearing apple-trees and other fine fruit-trees, and the place is one of the best improved in the county. His barn was erected in 1857.

Mr. Jones has been married three times. On the 20th of January, 1845, he wedded Catherine Hunt, who died November 6, 1852, leaving two children: Mary Jane, who was born February 20, 1846, and died October 18, 1855; and Hannah Eliza, who

was born October 8, 1848. She was mar- ried January 20, 1872, to Jesse Miller, and died April 27, 1874.

Mr. Jones was married October 2, 1853, to Mrs. Frances Mary Hart, widow of Will- iam Hart and a sister of his first wife. Their children were Levi Monroe, who was born July 22, 1854, and is a photographer of Columbia City, Indiana; Washington Thomas, born March 26, 1858, married Sarah Estlick, by whom he had one child, Grace. He afterward wedded Ora Myers, and they had three boys. Oliver Perry, born March 23, 1865, is a farmer of Whit- ley county. The mother of these children died September 6, 1873. On the 8th of October, 1874, Mr. Jones married Mrs. Samantha Caroline Trumbull, widow of Lewis M. Trumbull and a daughter of Sam- uel and Sallie (Palmer) Skinner. She was born August 13, 1823.

Our subject has led a busy and useful life. When he was twenty-one years of age, he attended school day and night, his brother, O. T. Jones, being the teacher, and this was the best educational privilege that he received. In his twenty-second year he taught school for three months for $65, boarding round among his pupils. Later he was employed as a teacher for six winters in Wayne county, Indiana, and among his pupils was Lucinda Burbank, who became the wife of the war Governor, Oliver P. Morton. He early developed a self-reliance and force of character that have proven of incalculable benefit to him in his business career and made him a prosperous citizen. In politics he was first a Whig and has been a Republican since the organiza- tion of that party. He served as Justice of the Peace, Township Assessor and Trustee, and in all the relations of life has discharged

Boll.

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his duties so as to win the highest regard. He holds membership in the Baptist Church. He is honored as a pioneer, recognized as a valued citizen, esteemed for his genuine worth and strict integrity, and this work would be incomplete without the record of his life.

ON. ROBERT C. BELL .- The in- evitable law of destiny accords to tireless energy and industry a suc- cessful career, and in no field of endeavor is there greater opportunity for honorable advancement than in that of law, -a profession whose votaries must, if suc- cessful, be endowed with native talent, sterling rectitude of character and single- ness of purpose, while equally important concomitants are close study, careful appli- cation and broad general knowledge in addi- tion to that of a more purely technical order. No class of American citizens have or will wield a more potent influence upon the advancement and stable prosperity of the nation than the skilled and honorable law- yers, the conservators of the eternal princi- ples of right and justice. The subject of this review is a man of distinguished pro- fessional attainments, holding marked pre- cedence as a member of the Indiana bar and as a representative citizen of Fort Wayne. He has been honored with high preferments in the gift of the people, and his career is one that stands to his credit and to that of his native State, as a loyal son of which he went forth to do his part in defending the nation against the insidious advances of the foe from within a divided Union.

Back to the cradle of our national his- 11

tory, the Old Dominion State, must we go in tracing the genealogy of Robert C. Bell, since his paternal ancestors were descended from old and prominent Virginia families. His grandfather, John Bell, was an active participant in the war of 1812, having been for many years a resident of the State of Virginia and later of Kentucky. The father of our subject was Hiram Bell, who was a native of Maysville, Kentucky, and a farmer by occupation. He came to Indiana in 1842, and for many years was one of the prosperous farmers of Decatur county, hav- ing met his death by an accident, in 1879. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary J. Clark, was a native of Lexington, Kentucky, her father, Woodson Clark, having been the founder of Clarksburg, Indiana, to which point he emigrated about 1820, becoming one of the prominent and influential resi- dents of that section of the State. Mrs. Mary J. (Clark) Bell was born at Richmond, Kentucky, in 1823.

Robert C. Bell, the immediate subject of this review, is the eldest of the family of eleven children, and it is gratifying to note that not one of this number has yet been called from the scene of earthly endeavor. He was born at Clarksburg, Decatur county, Indiana, on the 13th of July, 1844, and was reared on the paternal farmstead, as- sisting in the manifold duties incidental to its cultivation and improvement and receiv- ing his preliminary educational discipline in the common schools, after which he pur- sued an academic course, preparatory to his collegiate studies. He matriculated at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in 1863, and graduated in the literary depart- ment of that famous institution in 1868. He secured the means to complete his educa- tion by personal endeavor, having engaged

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in teaching school and having simultaneous- ly pursued a careful course of legal study, which secured his admission to the bar in 1867. These brief statements clearly indi- cate the dominating energy and ambition which characterized the young man, and it is evident that his idle moments were few and far between, for to have accomplished so much in so brief a length of time implies an unflagging application and determined ef- fort along the course which he had pre- scribed for himself. But there is still another phase of intervention within these years, for prior to his graduation at the university the nation had been precipitated into the great fratricidal conflict of the war of the Rebellion. He was not one to deny an active fealty to the Union, and in February, 1862, he enlisted in the Union army, as a member of the Eighth Indiana, and after six months he was transferred to the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and after a brief service in the field he was assigned to detached duty at Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged.

The young man, now thoroughly equip- ped by natural predilection and thorough technical training, prepared to enter at once upon the practice of that profession which he had determined to make his vocation in life. Locating at Muncie, Indiana, he there formed a professional association with Hon. Alfred Kilgore, and during the time the latter was United States Attorney for Indiana our subject served as his assistant, rendering effective service and securing incidentally much valuable and practical information. In 1871 Mr. Bell took up his abode in Fort Wayne and here formed a partnership with Hon. John Colerick, which association was

maintained until the death of the latter, when the firm of Coombs, Miller & Bell was formed. Upon the removal of Mr. Miller to Indianapolis he was succeeded by Judge John Morris, and when Judge Morris received the appointment as Supreme Court Commissioner the firm of Coombs, Bell & Morris was organized and thus con- tinued until the retirement of Mr. Coombs, since which time an association has been maintained under the title of Bell & Morris, which was succeeded by Morris, Bell, Bar- rett & Morris, and still remains so.

The high reputation which Mr. Bell has won and retained as an attorney indicates his success in the calling to which he has de- voted his best energies. He is a broad- minded man, of marked intellectual force and ripe scholarship, and combines with this professional attainments of high order- having a thorough and exact knowledge of the law and being always sure of his au- thorities and his precedents as quoted. He is quick to discern the strong points in an argument, is never swerved by the subsid- iary or incidental elements, and plans his defense accordingly-taking into considera- tion all the details of a case, but never losing sight of the point at issue or the question upon which decision finally turns. He has served for the past sixteen years as attorney for the county commissioners of Allen coun- ty; is the attorney in Indiana for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, and is general attorney for the Fort Wayne, Chicago & Lake Shore and the Whitewa- ter Railroads-his retention by these impor- tant corporations standing in distinctive evi- dence of his ability.

In his political adherency our subject has followed in the footsteps of his father, who was a zealous supporter of the Democratic

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party and its principles, and he has taken a very prominent part in political affairs in the State and lent most effective aid in di- recting the efforts of his party, of which he is one of the honored counselors. So act- ively concerned in the affairs which touch the public welfare and interests, and with a reputation for signal professional ability and honor, it was but in natural sequence that Mr. Bell should be called upon to serve in high positions of public trust and responsi- bility. He was the incumbent as United States Court Commissioner, but resigned this position upon his election to the State Senate, in 1874. His service in the Senate was one of utmost fidelity to his constituents and the people of the State, and he did much to insure wise and practical legisla- tion. He was again chosen to represent his district in the Senate in 1888, and during this last term he occupied the important position as chairman of the judiciary com- mittee. In 1884 he was delegate at large for the State in the national Democratic convention held in Chicago.

In his fraternal associations Mr. Bell is prominently identified with the Masonic or- der and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, in the former of which he has ad- vanced to the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and to the thirty-second de- gree of the Scottish Rite. He finds in travel a source of much satisfaction and informa- tion, and several years since made an ex- tended trip through the British Isles and continental Europe.

was united to Miss Clara E. Wolfe, daugh- ter of Adam and Elizabeth Wolfe, esteemed residents of Muncie, Indiana.

ICTOR MURRAY HATFIELD, merchant, Ossian, Indiana, is a representative of an honored pio- neer family in Wells county, a family that has had much to do in every way with the development of the industrial, educational and religions growth of the sec- tion of country in which they have lived and operated. The value of the work preformed by those heroic pioneers, and the realization of their toils, dangers and self-sacrifices is not generally understood or appreciated long after they have passed away. Those of Indiana's sons and daughters of to-day who are living in affluence in the homes established by pioneer parents and grand- parents sixty years ago, do not, neither can they, realize all, or even in part, the hard- ships they bore, the trials they endured and the dangers they incurred. They led the way, blazing with their axes a trail through an almost impenetrable forest that others who followed could more easily find the way. To feel gratitude for and to honor the pioneer is no less a duty than for the heroes of the Revolutionary war, for the former made it possible for States, empires in themselves, with increasing millions of population to enjoy the principles of liberty and government which the latter struggled for years to found.

The domestic relations of our subject are of the most satisfactory order, since his home is presided over by a devoted wife, who is a woman of gracious presence and gentle refinement. His marriage was sol- emnized on the 15th of April, 1868, when he | county, Pennsylvania, previous to the open-

Hiram Hatfield, with whom this sketch has particularly to do, was a grandson of Adam Hatfield, a native of England and founder of this family in America, who came to this country and settled in Westmoreland

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ing of hostilities between the Colonies and the mother country that led to our inde- pendence. In the above county, in 1772, he was united in marriage with Margaret Dilworth.

John Hatfield, father of Adam, was also a native of England. He was twice mar- ried, his first wife, Dorotha O'Neal, bearing him the following children: Adam, Andrew, John and Sarah, all of whom came to Amer- ica. The second wife of John Hatfield, Sr., Elizabeth Shippore, died without issue. This John Hatfield went to India, where he engaged in trade and banking, in time be- coming immensely wealthy, and it is sup- posed his large estate was left to his relatives at his death, but was never administered on to his direct lawful heirs.

The children of Adam Hatfield, founder of the family in America, were: Elizabeth, John, Mary, Benjamin, Sarah, Margaret, Robert, Nancy, Joseph and Adam. In 1795 Adam Hatfield with his large family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he died the fol- lowing year. The family then returned to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and in 1815 Mrs. Hatfield, with her sons, Robert, Joseph and Adam, removed to Wayne county, Ohio, settling near Wooster. In 1838 Adam Hatfield, Jr., and family settled in Jefferson township, three miles north of Murray, on a tract of land containing 480 acres, which he had previously entered. Here he entered into preparations for settlement; a rude log cabin was erected, a small clearing was made and thus was life begun.

Adam Hatfield was more or less promi- nent in affairs all his life. He was one of the first officials of Jefferson township. Al- though of limited education, he was a gen- tleman of great usefulness, possessed great force of character, and was a recognized

leader in the community, doing much to mold and direct the Christian and moral sentiments of the people. In political com- plexion he was a Whig and bitterly opposed to slavery. A Presbyterian in religious be- lief, he and his good wife may properly be termed the parents of that faith in Wells county. In their humble home was held the first religious services of that faith in the county, Rev. Isaac A. Ogden of the Miami Ohio) Presbytery officiating. The first church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery, and Rev. John H. Russ was the first pastor.

In 1840 occurred the death of Mrs. Adam Hatfield, whose maiden name was Martha Kirkpatrick. She was a woman of great force of character, well fitted by na- ture to bear the lot of a pioneer husband. Her remains now lie in the Murray cemetery, having been removed from the old Henry Miller cemetery, where they were first in- terred. Mr. Hatfield afterward married Mrs. Elizabeth Steward, with whom he passed the remainder of his days. He died in 1848, aged fifty-five years.

Hiram Hatfield, father of Victor Mur- ray, passed the years of his boyhood amid the pioneer scenes of early Indiana. His advantages for obtaining an education were decidedly limited, being confined to a private school taught by Miss Margaret Hat- field in a log cabin that stood on the Hat- field farm. Miss Hatfield, from tuitions, re- ceived a salary of seventy-five cents a week and boarded around among her pupils. Not- withstanding disadvantages Mr. Hatfield in time became a practical scholar.

In 1850 he was married to Miss Martha A. Egbert, who passed to the better world after two years of happy wedded life. In 1853 Mr. Hatfield was again married, Miss

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Catherine K., daughter of Robert and Ann Donaldson, becoming his wife. In 1852 Mr. Hatfield sold his farm and engaged in the mercantile business at Murray, which he suc- cessfully carried on for sixteen years. In 1867 he purchased a stock in Ossian, where he built up an immense trade, necessitating the building, in 1880, of a large two-story brick structure to accommodate his business, which later assumed proportions easily mak- ing it the largest mercantile establishment in the county.

Mr. Hatfield's life had always been an exemplary one. He was honest to the core, and kind and obliging to a fault. His obli- gations he successfully took care of in all or- dinary times, but when the cyclone of disas- ter swept the country in 1893, it became impossible for him to realize on his securi- ties and outstanding accounts, and he was engulfed with the tide. This could not be other than a heavy blow to a man of his temperament and fine sense of honor. No possible blame could be attached to him, and none was, but the wreck of his fortune, which he had been a life-time in getting to- gether, was more than his sensitive nature could stand, and he succumbed to the shock, lingering until November 30, 1893, when he peacefully passed to that sleep which only has an awakening on the eternal shores of a better world. To him and his devoted wife were born five children: Anna M., Victor M., James C. E., Jennie and Robert A.

In 1861 Mr. Hatfield responded to the call of the President for men to preserve the Union, and enlisted in the Twelfth Indiana, and was honorably discharged at the expira- tion of his term of service. To do so re- quired the sacrifice at his hands of closing his store, but that counted as nothing to his patriotic, loyal soul, and he would willingly

have sacrificed all, even life, for the good of his country. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church, of which for many years he was a Ruling Elder. Soundly or- thodox in his beliefs, he gave liberally of his means for the support of the gospel, and was the champion of every good cause that had as an object the elevation of men to a higher standard of moral and Christian liv- ing. He has left the heritage of a good name to his descendants, a name untar- nished by even a suspicion of bad intent or wrong doing; a name that will long live throughout Wells and adjoining counties without a peer for unvarying integrity and stability of character.

Victor M. Hatfield, the worthy repre- sentative of a worthy sire, was born at Mur- ray February 24, 1859. Until he had at- tained the age of fifteen years he attended the common schools and laid well the foun- dation of a higher education, which he en- tered upon at Elder's Ridge Academy, at Elder's Ridge, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, where he studied one year. He then, in 1876, entered the Wooster University, tak- ing a two-years course, and in 1878 returned to Ossian, his father giving him an interest in the merchandise business at that time carried on under the name of Hatfield & Glass, and later the interest of Mr. Glass was purchased, and the firm became Hat- field & Son.

The failure of 1893 very little discon- certed Mr. Hatfield, the junior member of the firm. He possessed the material that made him equal to the emergency. With his hand at the helm he soon guided affairs back into healthful normal conditions, and fully restored the house of "Hatfield & Son " to its old-time standing. His two brothers, James C. and Robert A., are asso-

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ciated with him, and have been ever since the reconstruction of the business. They are both young inen possessed of a vast amount of energy and business ability, and have rendered valuable aid in placing affairs in the present prosperous condition.

Mr. Hatfield is a Republican in political preferment, and is an active worker in the interest of his party; and is a member of Ossian Lodge, No. 149, A. F. & A. M.

His marriage to Miss Stella, the cultured daughter of Paul T. and Rosanna (Ehret) King, was solemnized June 17, 1880. Three children were born of this union: Adelaide, born June 15, 1882; Anna Claire, born Sep- tember 26, 1885; and Vere, born July 1, 1888. Mr. Hatfield was called upon to mourn the death of his beloved wife, the sad event occurring February 2, 1895. She was a woman of rare attainments in culture of mind and grace of person, being greatly beloved by all who knew her. The refined elegance of her beautiful life left an influence for good that will not soon be forgotten.

Her life carried sunshine with it, and her pleasing personality diffused gladness wherever she went. She was a Christian- a devout follower of the lowly Nazarene, whose standards of righteousness were her standards, and to which she attained as nearly as is possible in this life. She was president of the local branch of the W. C. T. U., and always a leader in the mission- ary work of the Presbyterian Church, of which she was a member.

OBERTSON J. FISHER .- Clearly defined purpose and consecutive ef- fort in the affairs of life will even- tuate in the attaining of a due measure of success, but in following out the

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Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 23

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