USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 43
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Mr. DePew was married in 1841 to Jan- etta E. Paige, who was born in New York State, September 21, 1821, daughter of Rufus W. A. Paige. In 1852, after eleven years of happy married life, she passed away. She was the mother of two children, one of whom is living -- Mrs. Mary M. Steele, who has two children, Ida and Winnie. For his second wife Mr. DePew wedded Rebecca Winget, a native of Ohio, born August 10, 1821. She is a daughter of Robert Winget who came to Whitley county in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. PePew are the parents of three children, namely: Francis Eugene, who married Jane McCoy and lives in this town- ship; Ann, wife of John Bixler, lives near Kokomo, Indiana; and Isa Binda, wife of
Daniel Harshbarger, Union township, has one child.
Mr. DePew has always taken an interest in having good local schools and has given his children the advantage of good educa- tions. He affiliates with the Democratic party, and at one time he was a member of the Grange.
WV. GARRETT, M. D .- In the subject of this review we have one who has attained to distinction in the line of his profession, who has been an earnest and discriminating student and who holds a position of due relative pre- cedence among the medical practitioners of Wells county, Indiana, his base of operations being the thriving village of Liberty Center. The Doctor is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Ashland county, Ohio, on the 27th of June, 1855. His father, Jo- seph Garrett, a native of Maryland, was born January 7, 1814, and was united in marriage, in Ashland county, to Elizabeth Cyphers, who was born in Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, August 31, 1824, and removed with her parents to Ashland county, Ohio, when but eleven years of age. The offspring of this union was three children, namely: Orin D., a grain dealer and stock-buyer at Lib- erty Center; Frank W., the immediate sub- ject of this review; and Amanda, the wife of Dr. Isaac A. Smith, of Huntington coun- ty, Indiana.
Our subject was but six years of age when his parents removed from Ohio to Wells county, Indiana, and took up their abode on a farm in Liberty township. Thus it eventuated that our subject grew to ma- turity under the sturdy discipline of pastoral life, imbibing copious draughts of the spirit
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of self-reliance, which is ever of nature's be- getting, and gaining that appreciation of the dignity of honest toil which can come only to those who have been practically identi- fied with the same. His educational ad- vantages in his adolescent days were such as were afforded in the district schools, and that he duly profited thereby is shown in the fact that, at the age of twenty years, he was qualified to teach school, and to this vo- cation devoted his attention for three years. Prior to this his ambition had been quick- ened and had defined the line along which effort should be directed as soon as oppor- tunity presented. He determined to pre- pare himself for the practice of medicine, and thus we find that in 1878 he was finally enabled to enter upon that technical study which should fit him for the practice of the profession which he desired to follow. He entered the office of Dr. John A. Morrison, of Liberty Center, and while thus engaged in prosecuting his studies, he entered into partnership with his preceptor and engaged in the drug business in the town noted, thus acquiring his initial experience in a mercan- tile line.
Not satisfied with the results that could be attained in a private course of study, and wishing to avail himself of the best possible advantages in the matter of gaining a thorough knowledge of his profession, Dr. Garret became a student in the medical de- partment of Butler University, at Indian- apolis, and there continued during the win- ter of 1880 81, and taking a second course of lectures in the same institution the suc- ceeding winter, and graduating March 1. 1882, with the coveted degree of Doctor of Medicine.
After his graduation Dr. Garrett returned to his home and here formed a professional
association with his former preceptor, this partnership continuing two years, after which Dr. Morrison withdrew and removed from the village, leaving our subject as the only physician in the place. Dr. Garrett's early training now stood him well in hand, for his constitution was one of marked vigor and strength, and he was thus able to bear the added burden thus imposed upon him, and for years he was the only physician to minister to the afflicted of Liberty Center and the contignous sections of country, never failing to heed the calls upon his time and attention and showing a spirit of self-abne- gation that gained him the confidence and affection of those who could appreciate his kindly offices. His practice soon reached large proportions and was duly lucrative, and as his resources increased he made va- rious investments, which have yielded him excellent returns. For some years he has devoted considerable attention to farming and stock-raising, and in these lines has been very successful. In November, 1893, in partnership with Martin L. Funk, he began the operation of the Rock Creek Val- ley Rolling Mills, at Liberty Center, and this investment has also proved a profitable one, notwithstanding the stringency of the time since the financial panic of 1893. The Doctor is the owner of one-half of this val- uable enterprise. He has ever been signally alive to the interests of the village and county, and has not withheld aid and in- fluence in furthering all such enterprises and projects as had for their object the conserv- ing of public prosperity and the substantial avancement of the locality along legitimate lines. In his political adherency he is a stalwart Republican, and in national and State affairs votes his party ticket, while in local matters he exercises his franchise in an
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independent way and renders support to such men and measures as he deems will best advance and protect local interests. The Doctor is a member of the various med- ical societies of the county, State and na- tion, and in 1895 he was a delegate from Indiana to the convention of the American Medical Association, at Baltimore, Mary- land. He maintains an abiding interest in and familiarity with the advances made in the sciences of medicine and surgery, and his pro- fessional attainments are of high order, while as a citizen he is held in the highest respect and confidence and enjoys a marked popularity throughout a wide radius of country.
On the 5th of April, 1882, was solem- nized the marriage of Dr. Garrett to Miss Susie Funk, daughter of Absalom Funk, and they are the parents of two children: Joseph P., who was born June 10, 1883. and Orin Chase, born September 20, 1892. The Doctor and his estimable wife are devoted members of the Baptist Church, to whose support they contribute liberally, both in a tangible way and in the matter of vigorous influence.
B ENJAMIN GOOD, one of the old and respected pioneers of Hunting- ton county, Indiana, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1791, and died at Warren, Indi- ana, August 16, 1872. His great-grandfather emigrated to this country from Germany, accompanied by two brothers, and from these three are sprung all the families bearing the name of Good, and also Goode. In 1816 Benjamin Good was united in marriage to Nancy Griffith, a native of Rockingham
county, Virginia, who died at Warren, Indi- ana, August 19, 1865. He removed from Pennsylvania to Perry county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming until 1847; he then came to Warren, Indiana, and settled on what is known as the Good farm. He was the father of eleven children, born and named as follows: John, July 19, 1817; Rebecca, February 28, 1820; George, Feb- ruary 15, 1822; Joseph, December 26, 1823; Susan, February 4, 1826; Mary, August 10, 1828; Jemima, September 15, 1830; Jonas, December 22, 1832; Samuel, October 4, 1834; Sarah, September 16, 1836; and Amorata, April 8, 1839. Rebecca and Amor- ata died in childhood; John died at the age of seventy years, and George lived to the age of sixty-nine years; Susan is the wife of John Kariger, and is living at Warren, Indi- ana; Sarah married E. R. Smethurst, and is also living at Warren; Mary is the wife of D. K. Slife, and resides at Milford, Illinois; Jemima, the widow of Ephraim Walters, resides at Watseka, Illinois; and Joseph lives at Stillwater, Oklahoma Territory.
Samuel Good was married to Mary Thompson, and to them were born five chil- dren, two of whom died in infancy: Belle is the wife of L. S. Jones; Julia married I. L. Priddy, and George married Lilly, the daughter of Captain S. A. Pulse. As mer- chant, farmer, stock-raiser, grain-buyer, and banker, Mr. Good has been the foremost citizen of his town for forty years. In 1883 the bank was established by himself and brother-in-law, G. H. Thompson, Jr., and is now managed by their sons; it is recog- nized as one of the solid financial institu- tions of northern Indiana. He is a member of King Lodge No. 246, A. F. & A. M., and is a consistent member of the Christian Church. He has always been liberal in his
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support of public enterprises and is regarded as one of the leading men of the country.
Jonas Good chose the profession of med- icine for his avocation in life, and did his first reading under the preceptorship of Dr. Daniel Palmer. In 1859 he took a course of lectures at Rush Medical College, Chi- cago, and after that was engaged in practice until 1868, when he returned to Chicago and entered the Chicago Medical College, which institution conferred upon him the degree of M. D. For twenty-five years he was the leading physician of his neighborhood. From 1872 until 1880 he was in part- nership with Dr. J. S. Sprowl. In 1883 he retired from active practice, his son-in- law, Dr. Sprowl, and his son, Dr. C. H. Good, succeeding him. Since that time he has devoted his attention to agriculture. He is a member of King Lodge No. 246, A. F. & A. M., and belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. For years he was presi- dent of the Warren Tri-county Fair, and has always supported with zeal and energy every movement that has tended to advance the county's interests.
He was married in 1859 to Margaret A. Plummer, who was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1841. They have three children living: Charles H., Mary L. and James F .; Robleys died at the age of two years.
ILLIAM SIMPSON STITT, Wa- bash, Indiana, is a gentleman in whose upright life is incorpor- ated an honorable war record; and he is a son of one of the early pioneers of Indiana, all of which facts render him a fit subject for biographical mention in this work.
William S. Stitt was born in Noble
township, Wabash county, Indiana, Sep- tember 5, 1843, one of a family of ten chil- dren of Archibald and Catharine (Simpson) Stitt. Five of this family are now living, the other four being Alexander, Columbus, Ohio; Jane D., wife of T. W. King, Wabash, Indiana; James E. and A. N., both of Wa- bash. Archibald Stitt, the father, was a native of county Down, Ireland, born in the year 1801, and in 1809 came to America. For a number of years he lived in Hunting- don county, Pennsylvania, where he ran a blast furnace. Coming west in 1832, he settled in Tippecanoe county east of LaFay- ette and soon afterward came to Wabash, where he was engaged in contract work on the Wabash & Erie canal, being thus employed several years. He was for a long time superintendent of the Fort Wayne and Lo- gansport division on the canal after its com- pletion, and continued his identity with the enterprise until 1850, when he was elected Treasurer of Wabash county, in which ca- pacity he served four years. In 1856 he bought the old Indiana Hotel, and from that date up to the time of his death he continued in the hotel business on that spot. He was ever a public-spirited and enterprising man, deeply interested in the development of this part of Indiana. A Democrat in early life, after the opening of the war he became an earnest adherent of the Republican party. He raised the first flag in Wabash when Fort Sumter was fired upon, and that flag floated over his hotel until the close of the war. From the first he took a deep interest in the Union cause, and during and after the war he was noted for his liberality to the soldiers, many of them at different times having been enter- tained at his house "without money and without price;" and his wife was in full
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sympathy with him in devotion to the cause. She was president of the Woman's Sanitary Commission during the war. He was one of the charter members of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Wabash. Every organization and movement, which in his opinion was for the advancement of the best interests of the town, found in him a hearty supporter. At the time of his death he was serving as Street Commissioner. Exposure in extreme heat brought on sunstroke, from the effects of which he died October 13, 1867, at the age of sixty-six years. Of his widow, we record that she survived him until Novem- ber 19, 1893, when she passed away at the age of eighty-three years.
William S., whose name graces this ar- ticle, started out in life for himself when eighteen years of age. The Hon. Will Cum- back says: " To see a young man having a sound mind in a healthy body step over the threshold of his home, and enter alone and for himself the contest of life, is a sight of mcst intense interest; and in view of all that is around and within him, we cannot help but ask: 'Will he win or lose: succeed or fail ?' He knows nothing of the contest before him; and what he learns must be in the hard school of experience. His ideal of life is one thing, the reality is quite another."
At this period in the history of Mr. Stitt our country was on the eve of a great war, the North and South being arrayed against each other. He was not long in proving his devotion to the Union cause, and as a pri- vate in Company A, Seventy-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, went to the front. The first service of his regiment was against Mor- gan in Kentucky, and later, at the reor- ganization in November, 1862, at Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Seventy-fifth Indiana became a part of the Fourteenth Army
Corps, under General G. H. Thomas, and remained as such until mustered out of the service. He was engaged in the battles of Hartsville, Hoover's Gap, Tullahoma, Chick- amauga, Resaca, Rocky Face Ridge, Ring- gold, Kenesaw Mountain, and all the en- gagements of the Atlanta campaign, and on the march with Sherman to the sea, and the march through the Carolinas, finally partici- pating in the Grand Review at Washington. He was severely wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863, a ball entering the left hip and shattering the bone at the joint. From the effects of this wound he was unable to walk without support until the January following, and from it to this day he suffers great inconvenience. For gal- lant conduct at the battle of Chickamauga he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company A of his regiment. In April, 1864, he was promoted as First Lieutenant of the same company, having thus received two commissions for gallant conduct before he was twenty-one years of age. June 19, 1865, he was honorably discharged, at In- dianapolis, and from there returned to his home a veteran and a victor.
The exposures of army life told heavily on our subject, and upon his return home he was greatly broken in health, so much so, indeed, that for two years thereafter he was unable for any kind of work. Later he engaged in the grocery business in Wabash, in which he continued eight years, at the end of which time he was elected County Auditor, and served in that capacity eight years. On retiring from office, he resumed the grocery business, which he continued two years and a half longer. In 1887 he ac- cepted the superintendency of the City Water Works Company, which position he has held continuously up to the present time, having
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the entire management of the affairs of the company ; and he has for the same number of years been engaged in the plumbing busi- ness. His whole business career in this city has been such as to entitle him to a high rank among the leading and most progres- sive citizens of the place. He is a member of James H. Emmett Post, G. A. R., De- partment of Indiana, and is also a member of the Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion. In politics, he has ever been a Republican of pronounced views.
Mr. Stitt was married September, 1867, to Miss Mary A. Lutz, daughter of Ruben and Anna (Major) Lutz, she being a native of Ohio and one of a family of eight chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Stitt have three chil- dren, namely: Eva, wife of H. C. Pettit, and Thomas Lutz and Marie, -all of Wabash. Thomas Lutz Stitt entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, when he was fifteen, and after spending four years there was for two years in active service afloat, and was an officer attached to the Kearsarge when she was wrecked on Ron- cador Reef. He left the naval service in June, 1894, has since been admitted to the bar, and is now engaged in the practice of law at Wabash.
ENRY COLERICK, son of David H. and Elizabeth Colerick, was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1847, where he has resided ever since. Upon arriving at age, he, like his three older brothers, entered upon the prac- tice of law, which profession he has ever since followed. In his earlier practice he was principally engaged in either the prose- cution or defense of criminal causes, and during the years of his practice in the courts
of northeastern Indiana he has been engaged as counsel, either prosecuting or defending, in twenty-six cases where the charge was murder.
Mr. Colerick has always been a Demo- crat, and as such has ever taken a zealous part in political affairs. He has failed to attend only two Democratic State conven- tions within the last twenty-six years. In 1 884 he was selected in the State convention as a delegate from the Twelfth district of Indiana to the National Democratic conven- tion, that being the convention which first nominated Grover Cleveland for President. In 1877 Mr. Colerick was elected City At- torney, and was re-elected six consecutive times thereafter, making fourteen years in all that he served as such.
ILLIAM A. ELWARD, grain dealer, is one of the business men and popular gentlemen of Wabash, and is numbered among the native sons of Wabash county. He was born in La Gro township, September 8, 1838, and is a son of James and Ellen (Driscoll) Elward, who were natives of Ire- land, the former born in county Kilkenny, the latter in county Cork. The paternal grandfather is a farmer, and spent his entire life on the Emerald Isle, where he died at an advanced age. His family numbered five sons and one daughter. The maternal grandfather died when Mrs. Elward was a small child, and she crossed the Atlantic when a maiden of about twelve summers. James Elward came to America in 1830 and after a few years' residence in New York he removed to Indiana, in 1833. He located three miles north of the village of La Gro, where he purchased land, improved a farm,
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and reared his family. He died in 1891, at the age of eighty-four, and his wife died in February, 1893, at the age of seventy- eight. Both were devout members of the Catholic Church. Of their three sons and ten daughters, ten are now living, and in order of birth they are as follows: Richard; William A .; Mary, wife of Nicholas Hub- bard; Margaret, wife of John Coughlin; Sarah, wife of William Green; James; Bridget; Nancy, wife of John Sweeney; Kate, wife of John Sullivan, of Anderson, In- diana; and Clara.
In presenting to our readers the life rec- ord of William A. Elward we give the sketch of one who has always lived in northeastern Indiana and has been prominently identified with its development and progress. He spent his childhood and youth upon the home farm in La Gro township, obtaining a good English education in the common schools, and then teaching school for two terms. At the age of twenty he left the parental roof to enter upon a mercantile career and se- cured a clerkship in the store of James H. Britton, of La Gro, where he continued for three years, when he accepted a position as bookkeeper for the station agent at that place, who also was a grain dealer. His service in that capacity continued for three years, during which time he was appointed United States Express agent, holding that office until 1865, when he became station agent at Wabash for the Wabash Railroad Company. For twenty-six years he held that position, and his long continuance in the office well indicates his fidelity to duty and the trust reposed in him by the com- pany, whose confidence is justly merited. In 1875 he took possession of the grain ele- vator, and is still engaged in the purchase and sale of grain. He is operating three
elevators, one at La Gro, one at Wabash, and a third at Keller's, or Rich Valley. In 1884 Mr. Elward formed a partnership with Frank Lynn, and they have one elevator at Lafontaine and another at Fox.
In 1868 Mr. Elward was united in mar- riage with Miss Ella Fougeres, and to them have been born four daughters: Deborah, wife of Louis Duret; Nellie, Leah and Ade- laide, at home. The parents are both mem- bers of the Catholic Church. Their home is a beautiful brick residence located on East Hill street, and in addition Mr. Elward owns a fine faim in Hancock county, Illinois. He has been a resident of Wabash county, In- diana, for fifty-seven years, and has wit- nessed its entire development from the days when Indians still roamed through the woods and when the forests were the haunt of deer, turkeys and other wild game. He is actively interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community, its ad- vancement and upbuilding, and is a pleas- ant, genial gentleman who has a host of warm friends. In politics he is a Democrat.
RANK T. WARING .- The task of writing the biographies of the liv- ing representative men of any com- munity is an exceedingly difficult one, because of the prevailing modesty of the successful business man, who almost in- variably manifests a certain repugnance to anything that smacks of personal notoriety or prominence and thus discourages even friendly attempts to uncover the secret of his success. Genuine success is not likely to be the result of mere chance or fortune, but is something to be labored for and sought out with consecutive effort. Ours is a utilitarian age, and the life of every
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successful man bears its lesson, and as told in contemporary narration perhaps is pro- ductive of the greatest good. Thus there is a due measure of satisfaction in presenting even a brief resume of the life and accom- plishments of such a man. The subject of this review is known as one of the repre- sentative and most successful business men of the thriving city of Bluffton, Wells coun- ty, has occupied a position of no little prominence in connection with the political affairs of the county, and is one well deserv- ing of biographic honors.
A native of Greenville, Ohio, Mr. War- ing was born on the 4th of December, 1843, being the son of James L. Waring, who was born near Alexandria, Maryland, in Jan- uary, 1818, and who, at the age of twenty- two years, left his native State and emi- grated to the Ohio frontier, locating at old Fort Greenville, -represented in the present city of Greenville, Darke county, -where he engaged in the general mercantile trade and there remained until 1867, when he went to the South, having been advised to make this change by reason of failing health. After a somewhat extended sojourn through the South, he finally selected Columbus, Mis- sissippi, as a place of abode. He there pur- chased a plantation and engaged quite ex- tensively in the cultivation of cotton, with which industry he is identified. He had been united in marriage, in Greenville, Ohio, to Miss Patience Cleary, who was born at Fort Greenville in 1827, and who is still living at Columbus, Mississippi, vig- orous in both mind and body. Of their eight children seven are still living, and of the entire number we incorporate a brief record as follows: Frank T., the immedi- ate subject of this review; Lucy, who died in childhood; Edward W., now residing at
Columbus, Mississippi; Elizabeth E., a res- ident of the same city; Louise, wife of W. H Lce, cashier of the Columbus Banking and Insurance Company, at Columbus, Mississippi; William E., who is a con- ductor on the Georgia Pacific Railroad, with which he has been connected since the time of its organization; Lawrence C., freight agent of the Clover Leaf Railroad, at Bluffton, Indiana; and Daniel P., who is bookkeeper for the Columbus Banking and Insurance Company. previously mentioned.
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