USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 33
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 33
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Mr. Grubbs was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, October 5. 1844.
MR. AND MRS. PHILIP B. GRUBBS.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COURTIER GIAN %
He is the son of John M. and Eliza ( Langer) Grabde. The mother lewing been a native of Indiana. The paternal grandiflor, Fortwand Greifer came to this state from New Jersey in 1832, and in the year enteret hand in Miller township, Dearborn county, thus being one of i. curly settler, and there he carved the permanent home of the family from the primeval forests, and there hi- son. John M. Grubbs, father of the subject, grew up and. in fact, spent the major part of his life. He lived in lowa two years, then returned to Dearborn county He always followed farming and was well and favorably known throughout his native county. Ilis death occurred in 1856. his widow surviving until 1858.
Philip B. Grubbs grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the common schools. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Company K, Seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1861, soon after the first call for troops was issued and this was the first regiment to leave the state. He served over three years in the Army of the Potomac under Rosecrans and other distinguished commanders, and was in many of the leading battles of the great campaign in the East, and according to his comrades he was a most faithful and gallant soldier. He was honorably discharged on September 20, 1864. He fought until nine o'clock the preceding day on the Weldon rail- road near Richmond, Virginia.
After his career in the army Mr. Grubbs returned to Dearborn county. In 1865 he came to Fountain county and located on a farm on the Wabash river, later purchasing a farm in Wabash township where he lived for a period of thirty-six years. during which time he became one of the leading general farmers of this part of the county and enjoyed continuous success. He made a specialty of thoroughbred Poland-China hogs, which, owing to their su- perior quality, always found a very ready sale.
Having accumulated a competency through the able management of his fine farm, Mr. Grubbs in 1910 moved to Covington and bought an attractive modern home in Washington street, the former home of the late Doctor Mock. Mr. Grubbs and wife are the owners of a splendid farm of two hundred and ten acres of very productive land in Wabash township.
Mr. Grubbs was married in December, 1866, to Frances Horbart, whose death occurred in October, 1867. In 1868 the subject was united in marriage with Nancy (White) Furgeson, widow of a Union soldier who died in 1862 while in the army. To Mr. and Mrs. Grubbs have been born four children, namely : Lulu M .; Thomas J., who died when twenty-three years of age ; Alex is living on the home place, which he operates ; Edgar died when eigh- teen months old.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Mrs. Grubbs first husband, Benton Furgeson, was born in Fountain county ou September 13, 1839. and became a successful farmer in Fulton township. On August 30, 1862, he enlisted in Compan. F. Sixty-third Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served with the Army of the South. He died during the service. To Benton and Nancy Furgeron were born two children. Charles V., a referee in bankruptcy, and Lewis B., deceased.
Politically. Mr. Grubbs is a Republican, and he had the honer of casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has always taken an hiding interest in public affairs, and for six years he served as county assessor. He is a mem- ber of John C. Fremont Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic. He be- longs to the Baptist church and is a liberal supporter of the same. Mr. Grubbs is deserving of a great deal of credit for what he has accomplished, having started out to work by the month when only thirteen years of age, and stop by step le has forged his way to the front unaided.
EARL D. ROBISON.
Among Fountain county's best known citizens and leading men of affairs. the name of Earl D. Robison has long been prom. it. Of keen, practical intelligence and rare foresight, he has been a forcetul factor in the sines. circles of Attica, to the material advancement of which city he has contributed more perhaps than any of his contemporaries, while in matters of public policy bearing upon the best interests of the community his counsel and advice have ever carried weight and influence. A strong mentality, invincible courage and a determined individuality have so combined in his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and director of opinion and what he has accom- plished in the recent development and progress of his adopted city has gained for him a prestige among his fellow citizens such as few much okler in years attain.
Mr. Robison is a native of Carroll county, Indiana, born in the city of Delphi on August 17, 1876. His father, Samuel M. Robison, moved from near Hamilton, Ohio, to Delphi, a number of years ago and after a residence of some years in that time transferred his residence to Fountain county, where he still resides. After attending the public schools until acquiring a knowl- edge of the branches taught, he decided to devote his life to business pursuits, accordingly, in 1892, while still quite young, he engaged in the gents' furnish- ing trade at Attica, which line he has continued ever since, his establishment at
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FOUNTAIN ARP WARREN GAUSTIES, INDIANA.
this time being the largest and must extensively patronized of the kind in the city. By diligent appli ation and judicion- management, together with this. personal qualities which i've cualded him to win and retain warm friend hip, he has built up a lucrative trade and his success thus far be-peaks for lum a prosperous future and a prominent place not only in business circles but in esteem and confidence of his fellow men as well.
As already indicated, Mr. Robison is public spirited and to him is Attiva very largely indebted for the enterprise and prosperity for which its recent growth has been noted. In the language of another, "He has been one of the city's most successful 'boosters'," it being a fact worthy of note that no move- ment having for its object the material progress of the municipality has been undertaken without his advice or leadership. He was a leading spirit in es- tablishing the Merchants' Association in 1904 and four years later he was elected secretary of the organization, which position he has since acceptably filled and through the medium of which he has been instrumental in promot- ing the commercial interests of the city and locating various enterprises and utilities which have tended greatly to its material advancement and welfare. Not the least of All. Robison's good work for Attica was the establishing of the Chautauqua Assembly, which, under his direction and management, has become one of the most flourishing organizations of the kind in Indiana, being a close rival of the one at Winona and the equal of that noted assembly in many features. It is impossible to estimate the good accomplished through the agency of this important educational movement, no plans nor expenses hay- ing been spared to make it accomplish the ends the projectors have in view. Some lea of the way it has been patronized may be learned from the fact that on the occasion of Mr. Bryan's lecture there were over eight hundred paid admissions at the gate in addition to the large number of season tickets pre- viously sold. Mr. Robison deserves great credit for his deep interest in this and other enterprises for the intellectual and moral benefit of the public, to say nothing of what has been accomplished through his efforts for the city's material growth and progress. His life has been a very active and strenuous one and, being still a young man in the prime of his physical and mental powers, he bids fair to continue in the future as in the past an influential fac- tor in the affairs of the community honored by his citizenship. In politics he is a Republican, but not a partisan, although well informed on matters of public import and abreast of the times in current thought and events. Frater- nally, he holds membership with the Masonic and Pythian orders, being an active and influential worker in the lodges of both organizations at .Attica.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREY COL NTHE INDIANA.
HORACE GRAY.
The population and enterprising business man whos rame furnished the heading of this review needs no formal introduction to the people of New town and Fountain county. For many years identified with the material and vancement of the town and always taking an active part in promoting in. welfare of the public, he has risen to a high place in business circles and has long held distinctive prestige a one of the county's progressive men i af- fair .. Paternally, he is descended from an old Pennsylvania family, in which state his grandfather, Daniel Gray, was born and reared. This ancestor in an early day migrated to Michigan, where he worked for some years as a stone mason, and it was there that he spent the remainde of his life. Among the children of Daniel Gray was a son. William M., whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania in 1825, and who when a young man married Sarah Persing. who was born in 1827 in the same state.
By occupation William M. Gray was a carpenter. He early displayed unusual mechanical skill and while still a mere youth earned such a reputa- tion at his trade that there was always a great demand for his services. In 1852 he moved to Fountain county. Indiana, and located at Newtown, where he soon became the leading mechanic in the town and urrounding country and where there are still many buildings, dwellings, barns. business houses and public edifices which bear witness to his efficiency and skill. He was the first carpenter in this part of the country who could build a winding stairway and for many years he had little competition in work requiring a high degree of mechanical art, as many specimens of his handicraft abundantly attest.
Politically, he was an influential Republican and ever manifested a lively interest in the success of his party and he also kept in touch with the terms on all matters of local and public import. His name appears as a charter mem- ber of Newtown Lodge No. 205, Free and Accepted Masons, and in religion he subscribed to the Presbyterian creed, having been a zealous and consistent communicant of the church in Newtown until his death, which occurred in 1908. Mrs. Gray departed this life in 1888. She was a woman of excellent character, popular in the social and religious circles of Newtown and left to mourn her loss a husband and five children, to say nothing of the many friends by whom she was so greatly estcemed. The following are the names of the children of William M. and Sarah Gray : John H .; Horace, of this review ; Clara, wife of Thomas Shultz, a retired farmer; Edith, who married Charles Kerr, and Mrs. Mabel Ogle, all honored residents of Newtown.
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FOUNTAIN AND WHOO- COUNTIES, PENA.
Horace Gras, whose birth occured on the path che of August. 8551. was reared under the parental roof at Negotown and after you doing the pel. lic school centres jumsned his studies for the your at the Wave ml Nvown . with the object in way of entering Wala h College. Or une lotus ausreise being required at home he was of liged, greatly to his regret. i doks MU sertle educational work although he by no means neglected his sirdies moj generi reading, both of which he prosecuted at his leis ure until becoming moder- hour one of the most intelligent and best informed young men of me gustaPlay During his youth he worked at carpentry under his father's divo Gon unnl after becoming proficient at the trade followed the same during the spring and summer seasons for a period of five years, devoting the winter month- to teaching in the public schools. At the expiration of the time indicated he pil - chased a wagon-making and repair shop in Newtown, which he operated with gratifying success for some years, when he discontinued this line of work and started a hardware store, the first establishment of the kind in the town. Mr. Gray cominenced the latter business with a large and complete stock and within a short time built up quite a lucrative busines .. which he continued with en- couraging financial results for fifteen years, when he sold out to F. M. Bever, the present proprietor. Since disposing of the above business Mr. Gray has devoted his attentions to the organizing and prosecution of a number of enter- prises and utilities of a public nature, in all of which he has manifested ability of a highi order and an interest in the material progress of his town that has placed him in the front ranks of the county's public benefactors and represent- ative men. He was the controlling spirit in organizing the telephone system of Newtown and making it answer the purpose for which intended. also took the lead in establishing the building and loan association and was the prime mover in founding the Newtown Bank, of which institution he has been presi- dent ever since its organization in the year 1904. He has filled all the offices in the telephone system and for some time past has been the efficient manager of the same, besides holding various positions in the loan association, the suc- cess of which is largely due to his oversight and judicious business methods. By reference to the enterprises with which he is identified it will at once seem that the subject has been and is still a very busy man. He has done much for the material advancement of the community and at the same time has not been unmindful of his own interests, as his solid financial standing abundantly in- dicates.
Mr. Gray possesses sound judgment, keen discernment in matters of busi- ness and his various enterprises have been uniformly successful. In addition to his interests in Newtown he owns a valuable tract of land in Richland town-
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTYIC, INDIAN 1.
ship, consisting of two hundred forty-five acres. Which he lease - althomely Off - nishing all the explements and managing the faint. He is one of ily sucres ful stock raisers of the county and has on his place a large immillor aflope graded cattle and a superior breed of hogy, for which there is always at great demand. In the improvement of his farm he has not been sparsi vitidin n time or money, having spent large sums in drainage. fertilizing Telling und buildings, and it is needless to state that there are few if any more kemotiful or valuable farms in Fountain county than the one he owns.
Mr. Gray has not only been interested in promoting his own antwith ml the welfare of ine community. but for many years he has been an influential factor iu political matters, both local and general, being one of the leading Republicans of the county and a judicious advisor in the councils of his party. He has served two terms as a member of the county council, the first by ap pointment, the second by election, and discharged the duties of the position in the same careful business-like manner that he manifests in his own affairs. In his religious faitli he is a devout member of 'e Presbyterian church. in which for a number of years he has held the off of clder ; in his fraternal relations he belongs to Newtown Lodge No. 433, 1.nights of Pythias, at Neu - town, which he helped organize.
Mr. Gray, in the year 1881, was united in marriage to Emma McChire, daughter of James and Phoebe (Dagger) McClure, the union resulting in the birth of four children, namely: Jessie, wife of Ira Ewart: Clara, wife of H. V. Witt: Willa J., a teacher in the Hillsboro high school, and Daniel B., a student of Wabash College, who will complete his educational course in the year 1913. All of Mr. Gray's children are well educated, being high school graduates and of much more than ordinary culture.
DR. JOHN T. RICE.
In the present review is briefly sketched the life work of one who is now among the oldest residents of Fountain county, and certainly one of its oldest physicians, both in point of years and length of service. For more than forty years Dr. John T. Rice has followed the practice of his profession in this county, entering upon it after a valuable experience gained in the armies of the country and the city hospitals, and during that time he has been ever faith- ful to the great trust which mankind bestows upon the physician, the healer of diseases, than whose there is no greater responsibility.
FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COY NDES, FADIANA.
John T. Rice was born in Waveland, Montgomery comix Indian non 18:3, the son of Esque send Marci sa (Aller) King Isth, Rice Was Born in Pennsylvania, near the wild Rice fort, and, a- a young firm, wood To k tricky, where he was married, then later came 16 Mlumigonor; connie to diana, and there entered land near Waveland, where In renting having My lifetime. He was the father of nine children, H. J., a physic m at Wackyill. Indiana. Jane, James, William, Margaret, Thomas, Vexander, John Tyand Robert, who died in infancy. Isaac Rice was an earnest, God-icarmig imin. citizen of sterling worth and character, and a true Christian, who carried into practice in his every action the tenets of his religion. For 1. years he wa- an elder in the Presbyterian church. In politics he was a W
John T. Rice received his education in the common schools and the Waveland Academy, and after graduating from the latter followed the path so common to ambitious country boys, and taught school for a few terms, after which he went to Rockville and studied medicine with his brother, Dr. H. J. Rice, and began to practice at Alamo, Montgomery county, then went to West Lebanon, where he remained for about six months. In 1862 he enlisted in che Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was a part of the Army of the Cumberland, and went to Kentucky, where he was transferred to the Sixtieth Indiana as hospital steward. A few days later lie was captured at Mumfor Isville, Kentucky, but was paroled in two days and went to Branden- burg, whence he later returned to Indianapoli . After his discharge from the army he went to Louisville, and there was superintendent of a ward in the hospital until the consolidation of the two hospitals. He then removed to Ross- ville, Illinois, and began practicing again, but after fourteen months returned to Rockville and formed a partnership with his brother, H. J. Rice. On March 29, 1867, he came to Attica and opened practice there, which became very wide, and which extended over a period of forty-two years, until his re- tirement in 1909. During sixteen years of this time he was surgeon for the Wabash railroad. His professional career was such as to gain for him the esteem and confidence of other members of his profession and to command the admiration of his patients.
On September 27, 1866, Dr. Rice was married to Loania E. Brown, the daughter of Friend and Minerva Brown, who were early settlers near Rose- dale, Parke county, Indiana. To this union were born four children : Clara M., who married Claude Howard, a jeweler of Frankfort, Indiana; Friend Thomas, of Long Beach, California; Victoria, the wife of L. E. Baker, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Leyman Thompson, who died in infancy. In politics, Dr. Rice is a Democrat, though he has not been very active, but all
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FOUNTAIN AND WARRES COUNTUS, INDIANA.
his life until 1883 ha wa a Republican For years he was city son came to- his ward in the city of Stica, in which capacity In- cam- wen along , haracterized by his zeal for the god of the community He jat number of the Methodist church. Dr. Rice has spent more years ains lie thatfaite al lotted to many of us, and he can look back over them with the reali alan phan although, like all men, he has made some mistakes and would, if he Gibt change some things, his life has been filled with useful work, and has lev such that he can feel the assurance that he can leave to posterity no inhernanry better than the example he set in living.
JOHN A. WILT.
One of the fascinating features of the farming industry is the oppor tunity it affords for individual effort and experiment. One can not only till the soil in raising the usual routine of crops, but he can also specialize along certain lines and thus broaden his own knowledge by experiment and in this way contribute to the knowledge and advancement in such . pecific fi Ids. We make mention in this connection of the name of John A. Wilt, a life-long resident of Fountain county. He has not only farmed, but has devoted special attention to the raising of fine horses, giving this subject much thought and study. As a result he has become horoughly familiar with the business and is a recognized authority on the vations phases of the industry and one of the best known and successful horsemen in western Indiana, owning at this writ- ing some of the finest horses of the famed Wabash valley. He is one of the most representative citizens of his county in every respect, an industrious, public-spirited, honorable gentleman who has the interest of his county at heart. He is a plain, straightforward, unassuming man who merits the high respect in which he is universally held.
Mr. Wilt was born in Jackson township, Fountain county, Indiana, Feb- ruary 23, 1871. Hc is a son of David and Salina (Bailey) Wilt, natives of Pennsylvania and Fountain county, Indiana, respectively. David Wilt came to Montgomery county, Indiana, with his parents when he was seven years of age, subsequently moving to Jackson township, Fountain county, where he learned the blacksmithi's trade, which he followed through life, having been located in the village of Hillsboro for a period of thirty years, during which time he was known as the most skilled blacksmith of this section of the state and his services were in great demand. His death occurred in 1908,
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JOHN A. WILT.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA
at the age of sixty-three years. His widow still reside in Hierro Thes Icame the parents of eleven children, six of whom are still living nesly E. I., a hardware dealer of Hillsboro; John A., subject of this Both; Han and Charles, both of Hill-boro; Kate, who married John Walker. Susam married Frank Small; a ton of Susan died unnamed; Namie, also de ceased; Ott is deceased ; the two youngest, twins, died in mfaucy.
David Wilt was a veteran of the Civil war, having served his country faithfully as a member of the Sixteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Politi- cally, he was a Democrat.
John A. Wih, of this sketch, grew to manhood in Hillsboro and re ceived his education in the public schools there, and he has always lived in that town. He first clerked in a grocery and dry goods store, then went into business for himself, operating a grocery, dry goods store and a butcher shop, enjoying a large trade in all these lines with the surrounding country. Having always been fond of horses and by nature an excellent judge of them, lie abandoned mercantile pursuits and since 1897 has been engaged in han- dling horses, dealing in and breeding fine draft horses He has long been the owner of good fast horses, his stock being greatly admired by all. At one til e he was the owner of the fastest stallion in Fountain county, "Leland Onward," with a record of 2:041/2. He also owns "Leland W.," with a mark of 2:1374. and "Lela W.," with a mark of 2:1572. Ile has a large barn
which he built especially for his needs and which is equipped with every mod- ern appliance for the successful handling of his excellent stock, which has carried his name all over this part of the country and brings him in a neat annual income. He employs about his barn about twelve men all the year.
John A. Wilt was married on October 20, 1894, to Susie Napier, daugh- ter of James Napier, a well known citizen of Covington, and to this union one child has been born, James Napier David Wilt, who assists his father with his stock.
The subject is the owner of a well improved and productive farm of one hundred and thirty-eight acres in Fountain county, and he also owns a valuable tract of four hundred acres of land in the state of Arkansas. He has been very successful in a business way and is one of the substantial men of this part of the county. Fraternally, he is a thirty-second-degree Mason. was formerly a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Mac cabees, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Elza Isaiah Wilt, brother of the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Jackson township, Fountain county, January 8, 1867. He grew up in the village of Hillsboro and there received his education in the common
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FOUNTAIN ARE WARREN COUNTIES. . INBE ANE
schools Early in life he began learning the blade mith'- tools voules hn father, and he became quin proficient in the same. nul folloved no line w endeavor for a period of twelve years, with pronamel dere Then he er caged in the hardware and implement business, along for the cells, the took in as a partner James H. Laird, under the fim name of Wat & Landi They have continued the business to the present time, enjoying A large auf growing trade with a wide territory about Hillsboro, and they handle a large and up-to-date stock of hardware, farming tools and all kinds of implement-
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