Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 72

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

USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 72

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

tention far outside of local limitations. As a citizen he is alert and progressive, and the columns of his paper are ever open for the advocacy of any measure which has as its object the advancing of the interests of Bluff- ton or Wells county. Discerning clearly the legitimate province and maximum functions of a local newspaper, he has made the Ban- ner a genuine representative of the city and county, and its influence has been ever in the correct line. In politics Professor Allen is a stalwart supporter of the Democratic party and its principles, and yet in a parti- san sense his policy has been broad and liberal, and he has retained the respect of his political opponents, who have faith in his honesty of purpose and his desire for the public good.

The marriage of our subject was con- summated on the 25th of December, 1884, when he was united to Miss Georgiana Swaim, a native of Troy, Ohio, and the daughter of Tanton Swaim. Professor and Mrs. Allen became the parents of two chil- dren: Forrest, now a bright lad of ten years; and Lucile, who died February 6, 1891, at the age of two years and four months.

In his fraternal relations the Professor is identified with the Masonic order, in which he has advanced to the Royal Arch degrees, and of the Knights of Honor and the Order of the Eastern Star, in which last he held for two years the official preferment as Worthy Patron. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in the local organization of the same our subject is a member of the Board of Trustees and is also Superintendent of the Sunday-school, Mrs. Allen being one of the teachers in the same. They are both ardent and earnest Sunday-school workers, and their efforts have been prolific in good.

680

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

The respect and friendship of a community is theirs and they can not but rejoice that their lives are thus cast in pleasant places.

ILLIAM TROTTER PURVI- ANCE follows farming in Jack- son township, Huntington coun- ty, Indiana, and is a worthy representative of that class of citizens on whom the welfare of a community and the nation so largely depends. True to every public and private trust reposed in hin, he has been an important factor in the county's development. He traces his ancestry back through many generations to an old Irish family that was founded in America during Colonial days. His parents were James and Jane (Ireland) Purviance, natives of Bourbon county, Kentucky. They became the parents of four children, -Andrew I., William T., Elizabeth H. and Jane. Their marriage was celebrated on the 26th of De-

In January, 1844, James Purviance was again married, the lady of his choice being Mrs. Sarah Knox, of Preble county, Ohio. They also hecame the parents of three chil- dren: James M., Charles C., and Margaret,

Since the days when Huntington county was a frontier settlement William Trotter Purviance has been connected with its his- tory. He has reached a position in busi- ness and social circles through his own un- aided efforts that tells of a straightforward, energetic and honorable life. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, on the 19th of Oc- tober, 1829, and when a child of six sum- mers was brought by his parents to Indiana. Three years later he returned to the Buck- cember, 1826, in Preble county, Ohio, , eye State and lived with his grandfather un- where the father had removed with his par- ents when a child of only four years. In 1835 he removed with his family to Indiana, locating near Goshen. He was one of the pioneer settlers of that vicinity and aided in the work of development and progress. There the mother died, on the 29th of Sep- tember, 1838, and three years later Mr. Purviance sold his property in Elkhart county and purchased 160 acres of land in Jackson township, Huntington county, which became his place of residence the fol- lowing year.

deceased wife of William Webb. Not long after his second marriage, Mr. Purviance took up his residence upon what became known as the old homestead and success- fully carried on general farming until his death, which occurred December 8, 1854. He was a man of the highest respectability, and his uniform kindness and courtesy won him the personal friendship of all with whom he came in contact. His wife survived him thirty-one years, passing away on the Ist of September, 1885.

til the spring of 1843, when he removed to his parents' home in Huntington county. Jack- son township has since numbered him among its leading and influential citizens. He was educated in the common schools, and trained to habits of industry and up- rightness. When his father died he assum- ed the management of the old home farm, which is still his place of abode, and his well directed efforts have made it one of the most valuable farm properties of the community. He has since engaged in the cultivation of the cereals adapted to this cli- mate and in stock-raising, and in both branches of business has met with a credita- ble success.

His labors have been uninterrupted save when, prompted by a spirit of patriotism,

681

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

he responded to the country's call for troops in July, 1863, and enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Eighteenth Indiana In- fantry, for six months' service. He was with his regiment under General Burnside in east Tennessee, and on the Ist of March, 1864, was honorably discharged. The Grand Army Post of Roanoke now numbers him among its valued members. He has been highly honored by his fellow citizens and friends, whose every confidence he has, and has represented their interests faithfully and honorably in all matters entrusted to him. For two terms he filled the position of Township Trustee. He is one of the most progressive and public-spirited citizens in the county. Although sixty-six years of age, he does not appear to be more than fifty, and aside from personally superintend- ing his farming interests is now serving as one of the gravel-road supervisors of the county, whose duty it is to look after and keep in repair over 200 miles of as fine a system of turnpikes as can be found in the country. The sixty-six miles to which Mr. Purviance gives his attention is especially well cared for. His home is a delightful and quiet retreat presided over by his sister, and he is a genial, affable gentleman of broad mind and kindly heart, whose circle of friends is very extensive.

EORGE HARRY McLIN, M. D., whose researches in the field of science have given to the world many valuable inventions in the shape of medicines, the beneficial effects of which are now acknowledged throughout the world, makes his home in Huntington, Indiana. A preserver of life and health

may well be called a benefactor of his race, and such a title Dr. McLin justly merits.

He was born near the city of Kalama- zoo, Michigan, June 4, 1843, and is a son of Jacob and Adelia (Gage) McLin. His grand- father, Thomas McLin, was a son of John McLin, the founder of the American branch of the family and a native of Scotland. He owned a line of vessels which plied between the Old and New Worlds in the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries. His last days were spent in Nashville, Tennessee, and he held a Span- ish title to the land on which the city now stands.

The Doctor obtained his education in the public schools of Kalamazoo and the Union high school, and determining to enter the medical profession he became a student in the Occidental Medical College, of Cleve- land, Ohio, where he remained until grad- uation. Success comes from earnest labor in a field for which tastes and inclinations fit one, and certainly the Doctor made a wise choice of a life work. In 1867 he began practice in Buchanan, Michigan, a town of about 3, 000 people, where he remained three years. He then took a two-years course of lectures in the Blockley Hospital, of Phila- delphia, the lecturers being the professors from the Jefferson Medical College and from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania. He also took a degree from the Hahnemann Medical College, of Phila- delphia, and when he had completed his , studies in that city returned to Buchanan, where he practiced until 1878. He then established an office in Detroit, but after a residence there of five months was stricken with paralysis and for twelve days his entire body up to the chin was completely para- lyzed. The stroke then began to pass grad-

682

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

ually away, but the right arm was not re- lieved for eighteen months. He now spent some time traveling in the South, partially for the purpose of restoring his shattered health.

On the ist of January, 1880, Dr. McLin came to Huntington and the following month opened an office, having since suc- cessfully continued the practice of his pro- fession. Not content with mediocrity in any line of endeavor, he has done all in his power to perfect himself in his chosen call- ing, and to this end has made several trips to Europe. In 1887 he went abroad, at- tending medical lectures in some of the old- world capitals and thus becoming more thoroughly equipped for the practice of his specialties. He first visited Edinburg, Scotland, attending the lectures at the Royal Infirmary, and afterward went to London, then under the instruction of Dr. Bantock, in a course of abdominal surgery, and of Dr. Lennox Brown, also of London, a throat and ear specialist. At Paris he at- tended the lectures of Dr. Guyon on genito- urinary surgery: of Dr. Pean on abdominal surgery at the Sante Hospital, and of Drs. Charcot and Vigorous at the Salpatre Hos- pital, who made a specialty of electro- therapeutics. The Doctor now returned to London and Edinburg for the purpose of reviewing the subject, to which he had now been giving special attention, and after vis- iting on the Emerald Isle for a time returned to his home.

In 1889 Dr. McLin made another visit to Europe for the purpose of study. At the Royal Infirmary in Edinburg his attention was given to the diseases of the eye under the specialists Dr. Argyle Robinson and Dr. George A. Berry. At the Middlesex Hospital College, of London, he pursued | tain only lithium, manganese and a trace of

the same line of investigation and at the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, where he Ilstened to the lectures of Dr. Lang. On the completion of the course, after visiting in Scotland and Ireland, he once more crossed the Atlantic to his native land, and in 1894 made a third visit to Europe, this time mainly for the purpose of putting his own medicines on the English market.

After much study, deep research and thorough investigation, Dr. McLin had be- gun the manufacture of a number of patent medicines and nutritious foods, whose health- fulness and beneficial influences had already been widely acknowledged in America. He now desired to introduce them in Europe, and was successful in getting a market for the pepsin oatmeal, forming a partnership with a gentleman abroad who will manufac- ture the commodity and place it on sale in the British Isles. He did not, however, succeed in introducing the onion syrup, which he manufactures, for the duty de- manded by the English government was so high that it would destroy all profit.

On this trip it was also the Doctor's in- tention to discover, if possible, certain prop- erties of the kola nut, a nut native in Africa, but which is also largely cultivated in Japan and Corea. He had determined to go to Africa if he could not obtain the informa- tion needed in Europe, but he succeeded in gaining the desired knowledge and there- fore abandoned his Oriental trip. The Doc- tor was the first to introduce to civilized humanity the kola nut in the form of a car- bonized drink. The liquid which he manu- factures is known as Kolatona, and is a non- alcoholic beverage, made from the carbonized kola nut and mineral water taken from springs found near Huntington, which con-

683

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

sulphur. The beverage is chemically pure, containing no alcohol or yeast, and is a con- centrated form of nourishment. Its effects as a medicine are remarkable, being invigor- ating and rejuvenating, while acting upon the general health, and improves every part of the system. If taken with liquor it coun - teracts the effects of the alcohol, at the same time not destroying the pleasure of the palate. It is equally good for adults and infants and supplies a long felt want in the medical world. The Doctor speaks of it as the "elixir vitae " and says that after all it is only a "happy combination of the choicest products of nature,-the queen of waters and the king of the world's forest, - the African kola nut."

The Doctor has given to the world another valuable remedy, in the shape of his onion syrup, whose wonderful healing powers are well demonstrated by the bene- fits which follow its use. He speaks of it as "an embodiment of allopathy and homœopathy," and says further that adults are only older " babies," and while it is a great "nursery " remedy it is equally effica- cious when given to adults in larger quan- tities. It acts as a splendid specific for la grippe and chorea, or St. Vitus' dance, which latter disease had long baffled the skill of the most eminent physicians. The " McLin's Fluid," which also was invented and is manufactured by the Doctor, is used as a disinfectant in hospitals, sick rooms and all places of public meetings, where the congregation of many people is apt to spread disease. It prevents the contagion of all microbe diseases by destroying noxious gases which arise from sewers or other sources of contamination. It is non-poisonous and has a pleasant and agreeable odor, which is strengthening to the lungs. These medi-

cines are manufactured by the Doctor in his fine laboratory in Huntington, but are mainly distributed from his wholesale house at 325 Dearborn street, Chicago, and he also has a retail stand at the Maze, 268 Wabash avenue.

The Doctor has been three times mar- ried. He wedded Belle Galligan, and their only child, Cleo, became the wife of Edwin Borden, but is now deceased. By his second wife, whose maiden name was Nellie Hull, he had a daughter, Evangeline, now the wife of William Christman, of Huntington. The present Mrs. McLin was in her maidenhood Hadassa Simons, by whom he has two chil- dren,-Ileene and De Forest. A lithograph picture of the little daughter appears as part of the trademark on the beverage Kolatona, and has been distributed by the thousands throughout the world.

In politics, the Doctor is a Republican, and socially is connected with Huntington Lodge, K. P. He also belongs to Kilwin- ning Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M., of Edin- burg, Scotland, which is with one exception the oldest lodge in that country.

J ACOB MARTIN, a loyal citizen of the United States, was born in Ger- many, November 25, 1853, the oldest of a family of nine children of Frank and Elizabeth (Baltes) Martin. The father was born in Germany, near the river Rhine, in 1820, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Thiel) Martin. Jacob Martin died in the Fatherland, in 1886, aged eighty-six years. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1845, at the age of forty-five years. They were the parents of the following children: John, born in 1815, died in 1887; he married Elizabeth Miller, and to them were born two children, Lizzie

6×1

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

and Katie; his second wife, Mary Alice, was the mother of two children, John and Mary; Jacob, born in 1817; Frank is the father of the subject of this biography; Peter, born in 1830, married Elizabeth Keller; Anton, born in 1835, married Mary Altis, and is the father of five children, Jacob, Katy, Mary, Lilly and Anton.

Frank and Elizabeth . Baltes) Martin are the parents of nine children: Jacob, the sub- ject of this biographical sketch; Peter, born August 7, 1855; Margarita, born June 18, 1857, died at the age of six years; Elizabeth, born in 1859, died at the age of four years; Frank, born in March, 1863, died at the age of seven years; Matthias, born August 5, 1865; Michael, born March 14, 1868; Kath- I rina, born in August, 1870, died when eight days old; Elizabeth, born March 19, 1872. Jacob Martin had the advantage of the superior training of the common schools of his native land until thirteen years of age. At the age of fourteen years he became ap- prenticed to a carpenter, and worked at the trade four and a half years. The family emigrated to America in 1872, and imme- diately after settling in Huntington county he secured employment at the lime-kilns. He found this industry profitable, and finally formed a partnership in the business with his father, the firm name being Frank Martin & Company. About 1888 the firm of Baltes & Martin was formed, and is still in exist- ence; they have established a large trade, drawing their patronage from the best dealers.

Mr. Martin was united in marriage, No- vember 18, 1884. to Amelia Anna Lisman, daughter of Frank and Theresa Hubrich Lisman. She was born in the State of New York, October 1, 1865. They are the par- ents of five children, born and named as

follows: Clara Anna, August 22, 1885; Frank John, December 18, 1888; Joseph Andy, April 25. 1890; Mary Elizabeth, July 25, 1892; and Theresa Lena, January 24, 1895. They are members of the Roman Catholic Church, and in politics our subject supports the issues of the Democratic party.

Frank Lisman, father of Mrs. Martin, was born June 8, 1838, in Prussia, Ger- many. His wife, Theresa Hubrich, was born February 2, 1832; she died in the city of Huntington, Indiana, May 29, 1894. They were united in marriage May 15, 1860, in Steuben county, New York, and to them were born three children: Mary, the wife of Martin Mindnich, was born October 10, 1861; Amelia Anna, the wife of Mr. Martin; Josephine, born January 1, 1867, married Christopher Kauff. John Lisman, father of Frank Lisman, was born January 1, 1801, and died in Steuben county, New York; he married Mary Schav, born in 1811, and they were the parents of eight children: John, Frank, Mary, Helen, Elizabeth, Matthias, William and Maggie.

ENRY DINIUS has long been prom- inently identified with the history of Huntington county, and is well worthy the space that has been ac- corded him in this volume. He is a native of Stark county, Ohio, born April 14, 1833. a son of John and Margaret (Koch) Dinius. The father was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 23, 1797, and died November 10, 1860; his wife was born in Pennsylvania, July 15, 1795, and died April 28, 1858. They were the parents of the following children: Peter, born January 10, 1816, is a resident of Jackson township; Elizabeth, the wife of Jacob Sicafoos, was

685

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

born April 22, 1819, and died October 24, 1864; Alfred, born December 11, 1820, died in July, 1880; his wife's maiden name was Susan Bash; Hiram, born August 8, 1823, married Hester Fribley; he died Oc- tober 27, 1893; Levi, born October 8, 1825, died March 30, 1879; he had married Sophronia Alerton; Josiah, born March 8, 1827, married Eva Sicafoos; he died in De- cember, 1883; Mary, the wife of Jacob Hover, was born January 23, 1829, and died November 10, 1894; Paulina, wife of Philip Sicafoos, was born March 20, 1831, and died in January, 1884; Henry, the next in order of birth, is the subject of this bi- ography; Uriah, born April 5, 1835, resides in Jackson township; John Adams, born May 27, 1837, was twice married, his first wife being Martha Sicafoos, and his second wife Marget Souders; he died July 21, 1895; Sarah Ann, the wife of Jacob Long, was born January 28, 1840, and died in July, 1875. John Dinius, the father of this family, removed to Stark county, Ohio, at the age of fifteen years. His father, Sam- uel Dinius, died in that county, in 1828, having emigrated thither in 1812. His wife's maiden name was Margaret Pretze. Adam Koch, maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of the Keystone State, a soldier in the Revolutionary war and died in 1842, at the advanced age of ninety years.

In 1846 the father of our subject had made a visit to Huntington county and pur- chased several tracts of land in Jackson township, paying therefor $3.25 per acre. Upon removing to the State in the spring of 1848 he bought land in Clear Creek town- ship, Huntington county, and in Jefferson township, Whitley county, for which he paid $4 an acre.

Henry Dinius, the subject of this bi- ographical sketch, inherited his father's farm upon the death of the latter. He was married December 16, 1858, to Miss Bar- bara Long, a daughter of Henry and Eliza- beth (France) Long; she was born July 29, 1834, in Wayne county, Ohio, and came with her parents to Huntington county, Indi- ana, in 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Dinius are the parents of six children: Edwin Stanton, born January 9, 1862, married Alice Haw- kinsmith and now resides on his father's farm north of Roanoke; Minnie Elizabeth, born January 17, 1864, is the wife of John Hartman, and the mother of four children, -Raymond Henry, Erma Ethel, Elma Belle and Maynard Dinius; Clara Agnes, born June 24, 1868, married Clinton Mayne, a citizen of Lancaster township, Huntington county; they have two children, Lillian Frances and Esther May; Lillie May was born March 13, 1871; Sumner Morton, Feb- ruary 2, 1874; and Boyd Sherman, April 1, 1879.

Mr. Dinius has always given a loyal sup- port to the principles of the Republican party, and is reckoned as one of the wheel- horses of that body in this county. From December, 1885, until 1891, he served on the board of County Commissioners, guard- ing with praiseworthy zeal the interests of his constituents and winning the approval of all classes of citizens. Upright in all his dealings he is worthy of the confidence re- posed in him.

J AMES S. FRAZER, deceased. - Few men possessed more eminently than Judge Frazer that quality of mind essential to the making of a great judge, and he is one of the very few men

686

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

who have occupied a seat on the Supreme Court bench that has attained a reputation beyond the boundaries of this State worthy of note. His opinions are models of judi- cial writing, devoid of all unnecessary language and free from a straining to display erudition and breadth of reading. The copies of his opinions on file in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court show that he prepared thern with the greatest care and after a most careful consideration. Though usually short, they contain all that was es- sential to the disposal of the case.

Mr. Frazer was born at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1824, and died at Warsaw, Indiana, February 20, 1893. His parents were of Scotch descent, and, being possessed of more than the ordinary amount of this world's goods, they gave their son a good education. In 1837 they moved to Wayne county, this State. Three years later their son, though but sixteen years of age, entered the office of Honorable Moor- man Way, of Winchester, and began read- ing law, teaching school during the winter months. In March, 1845, he was admitted to the bar, though lacking nearly four months of having attained his majority. In the following month he opened an office at Warsaw, and there continued to reside the remainder of his life.

In political matters, Mr. Frazer was a Whig in his early days, and when that party dissolved he became a Republican. In 1847 8 and 1854 he was elected a member of the lower house of the State Legislature. The Legislature of 1855 was confronted with a task of great importance. The school law had been declared unconstitu- tional, and the State was left without pub- lic schools. Judge Frazer took a great in- terest in public education, and set about

drafting a new school law, the result being the school law of 1855, which, though clipped and changed (often without proper consideration and attention to the existing law), is substantially the school law of to- day. In 1852 Judge Frazer served as Pros- ecuting Attorney, and ten years later was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue, re- tiring from the latter position in 1864. In the same year he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, taking his seat January 3, 1865, and served until January 3, 1871. After retiring from the bench he was ap- pointed by President Grant as one of the three commissioners under the treaty of the United States with Great Britain, dated May 8, 1871. By the laws of this treaty three commissioners, one for this country, another from Great Britain and a third from Italy, were appointed to adjust claims against the United States held by English sub- jects, and those held by citizens of the United States against Great Britain, arising out of the Civil war. The English commissioner was Right Honorable Russell Gurney and the Italian, Count Louis Corti. The claims passed upon amounted to at least $220,- 000,000, and occupied the attention of the commissioners during the years of 1873, 1874 and 1875. During this period Judge Frazer resided in Washington.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 72

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