USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 73
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In 1879 the Legislature of the State en- acted a law for the revision of the statutes of the State, providing for the appointment of three commissioners. It was the duty of these commissioners to prepare such laws as they deemed necessary, and to present them to the Legislature of 1881. The Su- preme Court appointed Honorable John H. Stolzenburg, Honorable David Turpie and Judge Frazer. As a result of their labors we have the revised civil code of 1881, the re-
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vised criminal code and the offensive act of the same year, together with many other statutes. After the Legislature of 1881 adjourned, the commissioners prepared the Revised Statutes of that year, the most sat- isfactory statutes this State ever had. Judge Frazer gave the publication of these statutes his closest attention, spending many months at the capitol in their preparation, giving special attention to the publication of the revision. In 1889 Judge Frazer was ap- pointed by Governor Hovey as Judge of the Kosciusko Circuit Court, serving in that po- sition about one year.
In his social relations, the Judge took an active interest in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a charter member of the Kosciusko Lodge, No. 62. Although not a member, he attended the Presbyterian Church.
October 28, 1848, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Caroline Defrees at Goshen. She is a daughter of James Defrees, and a sister of John D. Defrees, at one time printer for the United States. Another brother, Joseph H. Defrees, represented the Tenth Congressional District of this State in Con- gress. For many years Judge Frazer and his son, William D. Frazer, were partners in the practice of law.
DAM L. BECK is one of the na- tive sons of Huntington, and is to-day one of her leading and rep- resentative business men who has been the promoter of various enterprises in this city that have been of benefit not only to himself but to the general public as well.
His birth occurred on the 9th of May, 1862, and he is a son of Adam and Magda- lena (Stetzel) Beck, prominent and respected
residents of this city. Under the parental roof the days of his boyhood and youth were passed, and the public schools of the neigh- borhood afforded him his educational privi- leges. He also spent one year in the high school of Huntington and later pursued a year's course of study in the business college of Naperville, Illinois, and was then given a diploma.
As soon as he had attained a sufficient age, Mr. Beck began work in his father's stone quarry, and his thorough knowledge of the business and efficiency secured hini the position of foreman at the early age of eighteen years. After about two years, however, he turned his attention to other pursuits and has since been successfully en- gaged in contracting along various lines of work, constructing bridge abutments, paving streets and placing sewers. In January, 1888, he aided in the organization of the Huntington White Lime Company, and en- tered upon the discharge of the duties of bookkeeper for that concern. In January, 1889, he was elected secretary of the com- pany, and on its consolidation with the Western Lime Company the following year he again accepted the position of bookkeeper, in which capacity he served for two years. He is now quite extensively interested in the lime trade, and his untiring devotion to the interest of his business has won him signal success. In December, 1894, he purchased forty acres of land in another county of this State, putting in his lime plant, with a capacity of 1,200 bushels per day, and is there carrying on operations under the firm name of the Mitchell Lime Com- pany, holding the responsible position of general manager. This company was in- corporated on the Ist of August. 1895, and is now enjoying a large and constantly in-
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creasing patronage. Mr. Beck still does contracting along various lines and his sev- eral business interests yield to him a hand- some income.
On the 17th of June, 1887, was cele- brated the marriage of Adam L. Beck and Miss Lizzie Purviance, a daughter of S. H. Purviance. Their home is now blessed by the presence of two interesting children: Marshall, who was born May 17, 1888; and Magdalena, born November 9, 1893.
In the spring of 1893 Mr. Beck purchased the old Purviance home, which was erected in 1860. It is one of the finest residence prop- erties in the city. He has recently remodel- a part of the interior and has one of the finest furnished residences in northern Indiana. The home on all sides shows evidence of the culture of the inmates. Socially, Mr. Beck is connected with the Knights of Pythias fraternity and in politics is a Republican; but public office has never had for him any attraction. He is still a young man and has won a success that might well be regarded as a fitting reward for a lifetime of toil. His abilities are of a superior order and he has a high reputation as a straightforward, honorable business man, deserving the con- fidence reposed in him and the respect in which he is held.
Giblin, Jacob Boos, J. W. Ford, Henry Ar- nold, J. N. Arnold, W. W. Hawley, David Hawley, W. T. Whitelock, T. G. Smith, C. E. Briant and E. B. Ayers. Mr. Ayers. was made vice-president in January, 1892. He is a director of the Huntington Home- stead Loan & Trust Association, and is the president of the organization.
Mr. Ayers was born in the city of Hunt- ington, Indiana, August 28, 1845, and is the eldest son of Porter and Catharina (Kenower) Ayers. He was a pupil in the common schools of his native city until sixteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to John Kenower to learn the cabinet-maker's trade. At the age of eighteen years he left his bench to take up a musket, and bore it to the front in defense of the nation's flag, having enlisted in Company F, Forty-seventh Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry. The most important en- gagement in which he had participated was the siege of Mobile, and he was mustered out of the service at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in October, 1865.
After his return home, he worked four or five months as a journeyman, and in the spring of 1866, entered the employ of John Ken- ower, with whom he continued until January, 1876, as bookkeeper and lumber inspector. He then entered the firm of Thorne, Slack & Company, engaged in the lumber busi- ness, and in running a planing-mill. S. T. Bagley, of this firm, retiring, C. L. Thorne went out five years after and the business was continued by Slack & Ayers until January, 1888; E. B. Ayers at that time retired from the firm.
DWIN BUCK AYERS, vice-presi- dent of the Huntington County Bank, has long been connected with the leading commercial interests of the county, to which he has given unwaver- ing loyalty. The Huntington County Bank Mr. Ayers was united in marriage, April 23 1868, to Emma Belle Leonard, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, January 16, 1850. They are the parents of five children: was organized in October, 1887, with J. W. Ford, president; W. K. Wendel, vice-presi- dent; and H. C. Emley, cashier. The origi- nal stockholders were W. K. Wendel, John | Eva Belle, Luella, Kate, Horace Leonard
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and Edwin Porter. Horace Leonard died at the age of three years and one-half. Mr. Ayers is a member of the G. A. R., -James R. Slack Post, No. 37; and of the I. O. O. F.
Porter Ayers, the father of Edwin Buck Ayers, was a carpenter by trade, and was one of the pioneers of Indiana, giving zeal- ous aid to those movements that pushed the frontier always farther toward the setting sun. He was born at Ganges, Richmond county, Ohio, November 4, 1816. His parents, Daniel and Parmelia (Buck) Ayers, were natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. In his youth his time was divided between the duties of his father's farm and mastering the trade which in after life was his chief occupation. He was united in marriage, March 4, 1838, to Mary Newcomer, and in the fall of the same year he removed to Missouri, and she died in January, 1843. In November, following, he came to Huntington county and re- mained here until March, 1850, when he was carried in the sweep of Western emigration to the Pacific coast, where he was engaged in mining for eight years, returning at the end of that time to Indiana.
He was elected Recorder of Huntington county in 1878, and in 1882 was again elected to this office. In politics he ad- hered to the principles of the Democratic party.
There were three children born to Mr. Ayers by his first wife, two of whom were: Amelia, who married Reuben Wilcox and is now deceased; and Elizabeth, wife of Mil- ton Taylor and a resident of Huntington. Mr. Ayers was married a second time in October, 1844, to Catherine Kenower, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Wise) Kenower. Edwin Buck Ayers is the only
child of this marriage that is living; Horace Greeley died at the age of sixteen, and Florence Lucy at the age of two years. Porter Ayers died November 11, 1889, leaving a home in which his posterity may justly take pride.
APTAIN JACOB M. WELLS, Township Trustee of Center town- ship, Grant county, Indiana, and a resident of Marion, is one of the substantial and respected citizens of the county. He won the title of Captain in the Civil war, and as a veteran of that war, a representative citizen of the county, and a trusted and able official, he is entitled to specific mention in this work. The follow- ing is a resume of his life:
Captain Wells is a native of Clark county, Indiana, born February 24, 1835. Looking at his ancestry along the agnatic line, we find that his father, 'Squire Wells, was a native of Cynthiana, Kentucky, and was a participant in the war of 1812. Frank Wells, his grandfather, was an early settler of Kentucky, while his great-grandfather Wells, a pioneer of the Western Reserve, was killed in Ohio by the Indians. The Captain's mother, nee Joanna Mikesell, also was a native of Kentucky. In the year 1813 'Squire Wells went to Ross county, Ohio, as a boy with his parents, and fol- lowed trading on the Ohio river. He was married to Joanna Mikesell in Indiana. He died in 1841, and she the following year. They were the parents of six children, viz. : Andrew J., a resident of Indianapolis; John F., now in Missouri; Jacob M., whose name appears at the head of this article; Charles P., a resident of Missouri; Mary A., Kan- sas; and Samuel L., Metropolis, Illinois.
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All of the sons were in the late war and the two eldest were Mexican veterans. Andrew J. was Adjutant of the Twenty-sixth Ken- tucky Regiment and was wounded at Shiloh. John F. was Quartermaster Sergeant of the Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry. Samuel L. was in the Twenty-second Indiana Regiment and was for ten months held a captive in Andersonville prison.
At the time his parents died the subject of our sketch was a small boy. He was reared by relatives and lived about from place to place, receiving a common-school education and spending a few years in work at the trade of gunsmith. In 1853 he enlisted in the Fourth United States Artillery, and remained in the service five years, operating through Indian Territory, Kansas, Wyoming and Nebraska. He was in battle at Ash Hollow. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted, in April, 1861, in Company K, Eighth Indiana Regiment, for three months, and was made Second Lieutenant of the command, as such taking part in the battle of Rich Mountain. At the end of the three months he re-enlisted and was transferred to the Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteers, as First Lieutenant and Adjutant. He was then appointed muster- ing officer, and organized the Thirty-fourth Regiment at Anderson, Indiana, and drilled the same at Camp Wyckliff, Kentucky. After the siege of Island No. 10, in which he participated, he resigned his commission and returned home. For a time he was Assistant Provost Marshal of the Eleventh District. Subsequently he again enlisted, this time as a private in the same regiment, the Thirty-fourth Indiana, and still later he went before an examining board at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he passed as a Captain of the first class. He was then commissioned
Captain of Company B, Twenty-eighth Reg- iment, United States Colored Troops; re- ported at Washington, District of Columbia, and immediately thereafter took charge of his command; was at White House Land- ing, Chickahominy river, Prince George Court House, and in front of Petersburg, remaining at the last named place until after the surrender of General Lee. Besides the engagements already named he participated in many others. He made many narrow escapes, and at the mine explosion at Petersburg he received severe injury. After the surrender of Lee, Captain Wells was sent to Corpus Christi, Texas, and it was not until the following year that he was dis- charged from the service. His discharge was given at Indianapolis, January 6, 1866. Thus is it seen that his army life extended over the whole of the war and for some time before and after.
Captain Wells had first come to Marion, Indiana, in 1859, and it was here that he enlisted in the Union army. At the close of the war and after his discharge from the service he returned to Marion and engaged in contracting, which he has followed more or less ever since when not in office. He is now interested, with a partner, in an auto- matic wood-turning lathe.
In January, 1865, he married Miss Josephine McIlhenny, daughter of Dr. Sam McIlhenny, of Greene county, Ohio, and a native of Ohio. They have one child, Gil- berta. He and his family attend the Chris- tian Church.
Fraternally, the Captain is identified with the Masonic order and the G. A. R., and politically he is an ardent Republican. He has served acceptably as a member of the Town Board; was Postmaster of Marion during President Garfield's administration,
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filling this office four years and two weeks; and in August, 1890, was elected Trustee of Center township, his term to expire in August of the present year, 1895. Much more might be said of his active and useful life, but enough already has been given to serve as an index to his character.
H. ROTHINGHOUSE, the popu- lar druggist of Jonesboro, although yet a young man, has had a re- markably successful career, he hav- ing started out in business life without a dol- lar and now owning valuable property and figuring prominently in the business circles of his town. As such it is especially de- manded that a particular mention should be made of him in the volume which has for its object a portrayal of the lives of the repre- sentative citizens of the county.
Mr. Rothinghouse is a native of Ander- son, Indiana, born May 30, 1865, a son of A. B. and Ernestine (Rozelle) Rothinghouse, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Yorktown, Indiana. Our subject has, however, spent nearly the whole of his life in Jonesboro, having come here with his parents in 1868, the journey from Anderson to this place being made by stage. Here he was reared and educated. In 1877 he started out on his own responsibility, at that time entering upon a clerkship in the drug store of B. F. Burk. He proved himself a faith- ful and competent employee, gained a thorough knowledge of the business, care- fully saved his earnings, and in 1885 pur- chased a half interest in the store; two years later he purchased the other half, and has since conducted the business under his own name.
When Gas City sprang into existence
and afforded an excellent business opening, Mr. Rothinghouse and his brothers took ad- vantage of the opportunity and opened a fine drug store at that place, which is now conducted under the firm name of Rothing- house Brothers. Mr. Rothinghouse has also other interests, being a stockholder and di- rector in the Jonesboro Bank, and the An- derson Window-glass Works at Anderson, Indiana, a stockholder in the Gas City Land Company and in the Marion Brick Works, and has an interest in the Jonesboro Mining Company.
He was married January 23, 1883, to Miss Carrie A. Livengood, and they have had two children, one of whom, Porter C., is deceased; and the other, Ernest, was born May 28, 1889. Mrs. Rothinghouse is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
The father of Mr. Rothinghouse was a participant in the late Civil war, and the subject of this sketch now has a membership in the organization known as the Sons of Veterans; also he is identified with both the I. O. O. F. and the K. of P. of this place. Politically he is a stanch Republican and an active and reliable worker in the interests of the party. He is now serving his second term as a member of the Jonesboro School Board, and deserves great credit for the service he has performed in the cause of public education. During his incumbency of this office Jonesboro has erected one of the finest school buildings in this part of the State, -a building of which its citizens are justly proud. It was erected at a cost of $22,000, contains eight school-rooms, and two large play-rooms in the basement, and is fitted and furnished throughout with the latest improvements It was built, too, at a time of special financial depression and when the board had less than $2,000 with which
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to begin the work; but they pushed forward with their characteristic enterprise and have had the pleasure of seeing the handsome structure completed. For three years Mr. Rothinghouse was secretary of the board, and at this writing is its president. With- out entering into further particulars, we simply state that too much cannot be said in praise of his faithful and efficient service on this board.
ILLIAM JAMES BLACKBURN, the efficient and popular Re- corder of Huntington county, In- diana, was born in Covington, Kentucky, on the corner of Fourth and Greenup streets, January 24, 1850, and is a son of Thomas and Matilda (Branyan) Blackburn. The grandfather, Hugh Black- burn, was a native of county Monaghan, Ireland, and by occupation is a miller. He married Sarah Houghey, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: James, Mrs. Margaret Armstrong, Thomas, the father of our subject, William, Robert, Jane and Mrs. Mary Shouse, all of whom came to America; but James is the only one now living, and makes his home in Mon- treal, Canada. The father of this family was brought by his son to America in the spring of 1851.
In Scottstown, county Monaghan, Ire- land, the father of our subject was born, November 30, 1810, and in his native land learned the baker's trade. In 1836 he landed in America, first locating at Kings- ton, Canada, but later became a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, and from there went to Covington, Kentucky, where he remained four years, and ran the first bread wagon in that city. In 1853 he took his family to
Peru, Indiana, where he worked as a journeyman baker, and for one year made his home in La Gro, Wabash county. The year 1855 witnessed his arrival in Hunting- ington, purchasing the property where Frash's store now stands, and started a bakery and grocery store, which he con- ducted until 1868. He passed away on the 9th of July, 1870, his death being caused by dropsy of the heart.
In Dayton, Ohio, on the 22d of January, 1849, Thomas Blackburn wedded Matilda Branyan, and they became the parents of the following children: William James, whose name introduces this review; Thomas Davidson, who was born October 13, 1851; Robert Francis, who was born May 6, 1856; Charles Edward, who was born August 25, 1857; Anna Reed, who was born May 6, 1860, and died June 2, 1875, and one who died in infancy. The mother of this family was born in Liverpool, England, March 31, 1830, and is a daughter of James and Martha (Reed) Branyan, and granddaughter of Thomas Reed, all natives of Ireland. The father, who was born in county Monaghan, died in his native land in 1836, at the age of sixty-six, but the mother, whose birth occurred in Scottstown, county Monaghan, departed this life in Huntington county, Indiana, on the 25th of January, 1850, at the age of seventy years. Their children were as follows: Sarah, deceased, married James Chatterton, and never came to the New World; Ann, deceased, married Thomas McCrum; John wedded Nancy Black, and both died in Huntington, Indiana; Andrew died in childhood; Martha became the wife of Charles Jeggings and both died in the Old World; Eliza wedded William Black, of Huntington county, and both are now de- ceased; Margaret died unmarried; Jane is
Compton.
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the wife of James Clark and makes her home in Wilmington, Ohio; Mary is the wife of John Buchanan, of Indianapolis; Andrew married Sarah Kingsbury and both have passed away; Ellen died at the age of seven years; and Matilda is the mother of our subject. At the time of Mr. Branyan's death there were five of the children still under the parental roof. Previously John had located in Montreal, Canada, and later Andrew came to the New World, but re- turned to Ireland, bringing the remainder of the family to this country in 1841. They located in Dayton, Ohio, where Mrs. Black- burn remained until her marriage.
Until 1869 Mr. Blackburn of this sketch remained at home, devoting his earnings to the support of the family, but in that year went to La Gro, where he clerked for John Watkins for nearly five years. Then he went to Warsaw, Indiana, becoming bookkeeper for James White, district agent for the Howe Sewing Machine Company. On leaving that employ he came to Huntington, where for a time he worked as a general laborer, but later began clerking, which he continued until he became Deputy Recorder in 1887, serving under M. W. Little for four years. He then entered the real-estate, loan and insurance business with I. D. Reed, under the firm name of Reed & Blackburn, which connection continued for about four years.
On the 12th of August, 1875. was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. Blackburn and Miss Eva Lalla Martin, who was born in Delphos, Ohio, May 18, 1855, and is a daughter of John S. and Nancy T. (Bret- ney) Martin, who were also the parents of four other children: E. Linden, a twin brother of Mrs. Blackburn, William Wag- ner, John Henry and Nanny Kate. Four children have come to bless the union of
our subject and his wife: Mary Agnes, born January 15, 1877; Charles Thomas, born January 14, 1879; Kate, born November 25, 1882; and Robert Edwin, born February 14, 1884.
Mr. Blackburn is numbered among the prominent and representative citizens of Huntington county, where he was elected Recorder in the fall of 1894, with a major- ity of 589, and has for his deputies Ralph Brandt, and his daughter, Mary Agnes. In politics he is a stalwart supporter of the Re- publican party. He takes quite an active interest in the welfare of his county and State, and wins the confidence and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
AMES COMPTON was born in New Jersey in 1815, and when a boy he moved to Muskingum county, Ohio. In 1842 he removed to Richland township, Whitley county, Indiana. After eight years he removed to Columbia town- ship, where he died February 16, 1866.
He was married to Orpha Mossman, who died April 15, 1850. They had five children, two of whom survive. Mr. Compton after- ward married Mrs. C. M. Ormsby, nee Ham- ilton, who survives him, and to this union three children were born, two of whom pre- ceded him to the "Spirit Land," the other one following four years later.
Nearly all the mature years of his life Mr. Compton lived a consistent Christian. At the time of his death he was a member of the Church of God, at the place now known as Oak Grove Bethel, in which body he held the office of Elder for a number of years. In politics, he was a stanch Republican and a firm advocate of the abolition of slavery. The Northern States had no man that was
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more loyal to his country during the Rebel- lion. His health would not permit him to enter the service, but to the young men who went to the front from his neighborhood, on bidding them good-bye, he would say: " If you are unfortunate and return crippled, while I live you shall have a home."
By hard work, keen foresight and fru- gality he was enabled to amass a comfort- able fortune, he having at his death about Soo acres of valuable land, well improved and stocked.
Two daughters, Mrs. Mary A. Schrader and Mrs. Miranda Beeson, yet survive him.
He died thirty years ago, but on account of his integrity, sterling worth, kindness and Christian benevolence, he yet lives in the memory of those with whom he lived.
ENRY DROVER, deceased .- - The life history of him whose name heads this sketch most happily illustrates what may be attained by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose. It is the story of a life whose success was measured by its use- fulness,-a life that made the world better and brighter. His career was manly, his ae- tions sincere, his manner unaffected and his speech from the heart. He was one of the pioneer settlers of northeastern Indiana and one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Huntington. Practically all of the Third Ward of that city, which was for- merly known as Drovertown, was owned by him, he having purchased it ere the prime- val forest had fallen before the ax of the frontiersman.
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