USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 27
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In 1890 Doctor Throckmorton was united in marriage to Rosalie Rein- hardt. She died in October, the following year, leaving one daughter, Georgia R., who is now in the Lafayette high school. He is a member of the Presby- terian church and has been identified with its work. Doctor Throckmorton's specialty is surgery and his fame in this direction is not confined to this locality.
HERMAN H. EVANS.
Born and reared in the city of Lafayette and a son of one of its old-time citizens, Herman Evans started in life surrounded by home influences and
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with friends who had recognized the worth of his father and lent to the son the recognition due him. The young man was born February 26, 1873, and is a son of John and Helen (Kessener) Evans. The elder Evans was one of the first contractors of the city of Lafayette, and many of the buildings now standing in that city are monuments of his ability. He was of German parentage and was a success in his life's work. He had the reputation of being a straight-forward, honest man, and his success was largely due to the honesty of his methods. He was the father of a large family of children, eight of whom are now living. He was a member of the Catholic church, as was his wife, and lived and died well revered by his fellow citizens. His death occurred on January 30, 1893, and his wife's the following year.
Herman Evans followed his father's footsteps, as a contractor, and also added the undertaking business to his line. He was educated in the Catholic schools of the city as well as the public schools. Not caring for a higher learning, the young man started to see the world and soon found himself in the West. He satiated his desire for the wanderlust and about the age of twenty years started into the contracting business. Later he joined forces with his brother, John C., and they have made a success of the business and are among the foremost contractors of the city.
In 1900 Herman Evans entered the undertaking business under the firm name of Evans & Scheffee. However, he gives this business but little of his time, leaving the details to his partner.
Herman Evans has always taken much interest in the political game, being a Democrat by preferment. At one time he was a candidate for city councilman against Dr. John M. Smith and others. Although his ward is largely Republican, he gave his opponents a spectacular race. Later he entered the mayoralty contest and put up a magnificent fight, losing the victory by a heart-breaking finish of two votes. At the time he made the race the city was Republican by five hundred majority. He is now serving as a member of the board of public health.
In 1902 Mr. Evans was united in marriage to Grace Curtiss. They are members of the St. Boniface Catholic church. Aside from being a shrewd business man, Herman Evans is a lover of the great outdoors and spends as much time as he can in hunting and fishing. He takes pride in his ability as a rifle shot and is accredited as one of the best marksmen in the state. His life in the open has given him a powerful physique and he is in the glow of health, affable, jolly and well liked by all who know him.
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SYLVESTER H. JACKSON.
S. H. Jackson, a prominent business man of Lafayette, at the head of one of the largest hardware and implement companies in the city. also pro- prietor of the Jackson livery barn, is a native of Tippecanoe county, Indiana. born in Wabash township on May 28, 1859. His parents, Andrew J. and Mary ( Sparks) Jackson, moved to the county from Pennsylvania, their native state, about 1850, and for some years thereafter the father did a thriving business as a contractor and builder and became one of the enterprising men and representative citizens of the township in which he resided. The family consisted of four children, two sons and two daughters, all living and well settled in life and greatly esteemed in their respective places of abode.
Sylvester H. Jackson was educated in the public schools and Purdue University, and for a period of four years taught in the schools of Wabash township, in connection with which he also farmed for several years, meet- ing with encouraging success as an educator and a tiller of the soil. Later he became a resident of Wabash township, where he served seven years as trustee and at the expiration of that time, or perhaps a little subsequent to that time, he discontinued agricultural pursuits and accepted a position with the hardware firm of Jamison Brothers, Lafayette, in whose employ he re- mained during the ten years ensuing. He then engaged in the hardware trade for himself and during the past nine years has been the executive head and general manager of the Jackson Hardware and Implement Company, of Lafayette, one of the largest and most successful mercantile companies of northern Indiana. The building occupied by the corporation is thirty by one hundred and twenty feet in area. the height five stories and the floor space amounting to twelve thousand square feet. The company handles all kinds of hardware, purchasing the same by car-load lots, farm implements of every variety, besides twine, which is also bought by the car-load, wagons, huggies, harness, etc .- in fact all articles and implements and every kind of machinery for which there is any demand by the agriculturist or the general trade, the rapid growth of the business indicating the intelligence, sound judgment and forethought exercised by the clear-brained and far-seeing man- ager. In connection with this rapidly growing enterprise, Mr. Jackson is also proprietor of a large livery barn at Nos. 10 and II South Third street, where he keeps about fifty fine roadsters and a full line of buggies, carriages. hacks and other vehicles, the establishment being complete in all of its parts, fully equipped to meet the demands of the public, and the already quite ex-
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tensive business is steadily increasing and earning for the proprietor an honorable reputation as a capable, enterprising and popular man of affairs. The livery barn, which is two stories high and sixty by one hundred and twenty feet in area, fronts on Third and South streets and is equipped with everything essential to the successful prosecution of the business, the service both day and night leaving nothing to be desired and every feature of the establishment is in first-class condition, which bespeaks the interest and care with which it is conducted.
Mr. Jackson is a Republican in politics and a member of the Masonic brotherhood, also belonging to the order of Druids and the Sigma Chi college fraternity. He was married in August, 1880, to Miss Nancy M. Jamison, one of the eleven children of John and Prudence (Wright) Jami- son, the union being blessed with four children, namely: Frank B., who was born April 23, 1886, was educated in the schools at Lafayatte and Purdue University and is now associated with his father in the hardware and im- plement business; Mary M., born August 10, 1883, received her education in the city schools and is now the wife of Bernard Bogan, who is connected with a packing company in Lafayette; Prudence, whose birth occurred Oc- tober 1, 1889, was educated in the common and high schools, graduate of Ama Morgan School of Dramatic Art, Chicago, and is now a dramatic reader ; Earl, the oldest member of the family, a bright intelligent lad and a favorite with all who knew him, died when eleven years of age.
Mr. Jackson has long taken an active part in public matters, and during his four years in the city council did much to promote the interests of the municipality. While a member of that body, he was chairman of the finance committee and as such rendered valuable service in maintaining the credit of the city by reducing expenses to the minimum and using his influence wher- ever possible to prevent injudicious legislation. All worthy enterprises, how- ever, have found in him a willing patron, and he has ever stood for those measures having for their object the social, intellectual and moral progress of his community.
Mr. Jackson possesses a forceful personality and. with strong common sense and well balanced judgment, exercises not only an active, but potential influence in the community, and impresses those with whom he has business relations as a man with the well-being of his fellow citizens at heart. Prac- tical rather than theoretical, there runs through his nature a deep undercur- rent of solidity which makes his presence felt among those with whom he comes in contact and the ease with which he manages the large establish- ment, of which he is the head, demonstrates his fitness to manage and to carry to successful conclusion important and far-reaching enterprises.
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COL. JOHN W. WARNER.
If for no other reason, the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch deserves prominent mention in a history of this nature because of his services in behalf of the national Union during the dark days of the sixties, for he fearlessly followed the old flag on many of the sanguinary battlefields of the South, and since that period has taken no small interest in military and public affairs.
Col. John W. Warner belongs to that class of foreign-born citizens who have done so much for the upbuilding of the New World, having been a native of Ireland, in which country he first saw the light of day October 6, 1839, the son of Robert S. and Jane ( Ross-Wright) Warner, his mother having been a widow when she married Robert S. Warner. This couple came to the United States, locating in Lafayette, Indiana, as early as 1849, and they played no small part in the subsequent development of the place. They later moved ten miles northwest of the city, where Mr. Warner devoted his attention to the quiet pursuits of a husbandman. He passed to his rest in 1891, his good wife having preceded him to the other world twenty years earlier, in 1871. They were the parents of seven children, three of whom are living, in 1909.
When John W. Warner was a boy he assisted his father with the work on the farm, gaining in the winter time what education he could from the primitive schools of those early days, which was necessarily limited in its scope. In 1861 he married, and when he heard the call for troops from his adopted country to suppress the hosts of rebellion he was one of the first to heed the call, and he left his bride and the quiet environments of home to take up the hardships of camp and field, enlisting in Company A, of the famous Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, which was assigned to duty with the army of the Cumberland, and it did duty in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Mr. Warner was in the service two years, performing his work so faithfully that he was commissioned orderly sergeant. He was in the hospital a short time. At the close of the war he received an honorable dis- charge and, returning to Lafayette, resumed farming, but in 1870 moved into the city. He served one year, 1870-1871, as deputy sheriff, then he went on the police force where he remained for two years. After engaging in other things for two years, he again became a member of the force on which he re- mained for a period of seven years, giving excellent service. He served as court bailiff for eight years, beginning in 1882. He has long been a very active worker in the Republican party and by reason of his services he was
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elected justice of the peace in 1894. having served continuously ever since in a manner that has won the hearty approval of his constituents. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
To Mr. and Mrs. Warner six children were born, all living. They are Robert E., who is a city mail carrier; William J., a railway mail clerk ; Harry C. and Edward T. live in Indianapolis and are expert polishers ; Robert E. also lives in Indianapolis; Clara, the only daughter, is the wife of a Mr. Freshouer.
In his fraternal relations the subject belongs to Lafayette Lodge, No. 51. Knights of Pythias: Lafayette Lodge, No. 15, Independent Order of Odd Fellows: also a member of the Lafayette Lodge, No. I, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias. He is past commander of the John A. Logan Post. Grand Army of the Republic, and he is at this writing colonel of the Eightlı Regiment. Indiana National Guard, being regarded as a very able and efficient commander. He is serving on his second term, having been elected in 1903. He is very proud of his regiment, and well he may be, for it is always in a high state of efficiency, largely due to his efforts.
At the unveiling of the Tippecanoe monument. Colonel Warner was appointed marshal. The Tenth United States Regiment of the Regular army was present and its commander. Lieutenant-Colonel Ciecel, complimented Colonel Warner very highly on his work that day. The Colonel is a man whom everybody likes and trusts, and few men in the country are better known than he.
JOHN W. GAY.
The mention of this name carries the local historian back to the period of struggle, when a mighty army of sturdy pioneers were engaged in con- quering the West. The search of the genealogical tree takes us to England, where we find John Gay migrating to the United States prior to the Revolu- tionary war, establishing a home in Pennsylvania and dying in Ohio at the remarkable age of one hundred and three years. His son Jacob, born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, followed the tide of emigration to Ohio, married Amy Herbert, a native of New Jersey and daughter of Thomas Herbert, one of the first settlers of Ohio. Jacob Gay died in 1848, at the age of fifty-seven years, and his wife died in 1867. Samuel Gay, his only son, was one of five children, all long since deceased. He was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 28, 1812, emigrated to Indiana in youth and became one of the early settlers of Tippecanoe county. He came here
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with his parents in 1834, when his father bought three hundred acres of partly improved land in Wayne township. The old people are buried in the Sherry cemetery, nearby the homestead. Samuel Gay grew up like all other pioneer farm boys with little time for schooling, but much for hard work. On October 11, 1837. he married Eliza, daughter of William and Nancy Reed, of Ross county, Ohio, and by this union there were seven children : John W. and Emeline, who lives with him; Josephine, wife of Alonzo Bos- well, of Wayne township; Seymour: James Madison, of Wayne township; Sanford, of Oklahoma, and Samuel, also of Wayne township. The father of this family became an extensive landowner, as he added to his father's original purchase until he had some seven hundred acres. He was a very liberal man, always ready to contribute to public enterprises and to help his fellowman in distress. Though a stanch Whig and Republican, he would never accept office, his heart being set on agricultural pursuits. He be- longed to no orders and showed little disposition to join any organization that required him to be away from home. He died in September. 1902, after completing his ninetieth year. His wife, who has always been a devout Methodist, survives him and reached the end of her eighty-ninth year on July 1, 1909. He is buried in Sherry cemetery, which contains the bones of several generations of the family.
John W. Gay, the eldest son of Samuel, was born in Wayne township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, October 14, 1840. He went through all the rough experiences of a pioneer boy on an Indiana farm, which consisted of hard licks from morning until night, few amusements and only such' edu- cation as could be picked up by short winter attendance in the poor schools of those days. He grew up on a farm, learned all about farming and in the end owned a farm of his own, which he managed with skill and industry. He has long been one of the largest landowners of Wayne township, at one time having one thousand one hundred acres, which, however, have been reduced to nine hundred. He is highly respected, as, indeed, are his broth- ers and sisters and all the connection of Gays, who stand for the oldest and best the county has to show in agricultural developments, their lives being the connecting link between the pioneer past and the progressive present.
CAPT. WILLIAM C. MITCHELL.
In every community are to be found individuals who by reason of pro- nounced ability and forceful personality rise superior to the majority and command the homage of their fellows; who, by revealing to the world the
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two resplendent virtues, perseverance in purpose and directing spirit, never fail to attain positions of honor and trust and become in the full sense of the term leaders of men. Of this class is the well-known gentleman whose name appears above, a man who ranks among the leading citizens of Tippe- canoe county and who for a number of years has borne an influential part in shaping and directing the affairs of the city in which he resides.
Capt. William C. Mitchell, attorney at law and president of the Mitchell Abstract Company, is one of Indiana's native sons and comes of good old Revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather, Robert Mitchell, having been a hero of the colonial struggle for independence, serving in a Virginia regi- ment and achieving an honorable record for duty bravely and faithfully per- formed. He lived for a number of years to enjoy the liberty for which he so gallantly fought, dying on the 26th day of July, 1827. Other members of the family also served the country in a military capacity, several of the name having taken part in the war of 1812 and earned records of which their descendants feel deservedly proud. Joseph Mitchell, the subject's father, was born March 4, 1817, in Champaign county, Ohio, came to Indiana in 1832, and after living in Montgomery county for twenty-four years moved to Clark's Hill in Tippecanoe county, where he resided until his removal to the Tippecanoe Battle Ground, two years later. He followed at different times farming, merchandising and railroad contracting, and was enterprising in all of his undertakings and prosperous. He married Louisa M. Kendall, of Champaign county, Ohio, reared a family of ten children, eight of whom survive, and departed this life on March 8, 1880, his wife dying in Feb- ruary. 1891.
Capt. William C. Mitchell was born July 9, 1854, in Montgomery county, Indiana, and when about two years of age was brought to Tippe- canoe county, with the interests of which his subsequent life has been very closely interwoven. He was greatly a debtor to the influences of birth and early training, and it may be added that he fully appreciated these and other advantages which he enjoyed during his childhood and youth, and met the responsibilities that fell to him as he grew to manhood's estate in a manner befitting one who while still young determined to rise above the mediocrity and become of some use in the world. After acquiring a good education in the schools of Battle Ground, he began his independent career in' 1874 as deputy county recorder and two years later became deputy clerk, which posi- tion he held until his election in 1882 to the important office of clerk of Tippe- canoe county. Mr. Mitchell entered upon his duties in the latter capacity and discharged the same in an eminently able and satisfactory manner until the close of his term in 1886, when he retired from the office and the fol-
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lowing year, in partnership with J. M. Dresser, engaged in the real estate, insurance, loan and abstract business, which he has since followed. His partner dying in 1894, Mr. Mitchell conducted the business alone until 1902, when the Mitchell Abstract Company was organized and incorporated, since which time the enterprise has grown rapidly in public favor, and now does a much larger business in the various lines represented than any other man or firm in Lafayette similarly engaged. As president and general manager of the above corporation, Mr. Mitchell has demonstrated ability and acumen of a high order and his familiarity with the business which he conducts makes him an authority upon all matters pertaining thereto. In connection with the large and growing patronage in real estate, insurance, abstract convey- ancing and loans, he also has a lucrative law practice, having fitted himself for the profession when a young man, and since his admission to the bar, in 1886, he has built up an extensive legal business, devoting especial at- tention to laws relating to real estate and probate matters. He has achieved marked success both in the enterprise of which he is executive head and as a financier. In all public affairs affecting his city and county he has ever mani- fested a lively interest, doing his share towards progress and advancement and making his influence felt in bettering the social and moral condition of his fellowmen. He gives his allegiance to the Republican party, with which he has been identified since becoming a voter, and it was his activity and popularity as a politician that led to his nomination and election to the im- portant office of clerk of the courts which he so ably and worthily filled.
Mr. Mitchell, on April 4, 1883, was united in marriage with Amelia Schweizer, of Lafayette, the union being blessed with one daughter, Roe, whose birth cccurred in Lafayette and who is still with her parents. This young lady has been educated in the Lafayette high school and in Dr. Gardner's School, a female seminary in New York city.
Captain Mitchell is a thirty-second-degree Mason and active in the sub- ordinate branches of the order, in nearly all of which he has been honored from time to time with important official positions; he is also prominent in the Knights of Pythias and was the first captain of Division No. 1, Uniform Rank, in Lafayette, in addition to which societies he holds membership with the Druids and the Lincoln Club and takes an active part in the deliberations of the same. He has always taken an active part in military affairs, and served for several years as captain of De Hart Light Infantry. In his religious belief he holds to the Episcopal faith, being a vestryman of the church with which he is identified, and to him belongs the honor of being one of the few members of the Sons of the American Revolution in the city of Lafayette.
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THOMAS H. WHALEN, M. D.
This popular physician of Lafayette has an interesting story to tell of a neglected boyhood, hardships of a friendless child, persistence against great odds, and final triumph over all difficulties. It is a tale that might be told to the credit of any man, and it involves the exercise of the sterner virtues out of which we get the best of our citizenship. It is instructive and beneficial, as it points the way for others, and shows that however great the discouragements, however biting the poverty, everything will come out all right if the materials are there for the making of a real man. Thomas H. Whalen was born in Pennsylvania, May 17. 1863. under circumstances that the old astrologers would have pronounced an "unlucky star." His parents, Thomas and Delia (Linket) Whalen, were miserably poor. the father being a common railroad laborer, who had difficulty in earning the support for his family. Even this frail reliance was taken away from their child by the untimely death of both father and mother, and he found him- self orphaned at an age so young as to render him an object of charity. He met what is probably the worst fate that can befall a child. that of being bound out to work for strangers. He fell to the care of one Thomas Earl, for whom he did chores and light work in summer, while attending school desultorily in winter. When eight years old he ran away and, boy-like, he had no idea as to where he was going. He found refuge with another farmer in the adjoining neighborhood, but, after a brief residence, again took leave and trusted his keeping for a short time with one Benjamin Bowers, At length he reached more solid ground, when he obtained employment with William Cullim, a well-to-do farmer of Sheffield township. Tippecanoe county. He remained here until he reached his majority and meantime had saved some money, as well as acquiring sufficient education to qualify him to teach. Securing charge of a country school, he followed the occupation of a pedagogue for fourteen years, taking advantage of the interludes to ground himself in the elements of medicine. After a course of reading, which gave him the necessary qualifications, he became a student in the Illinois Medical College and obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine from that institution in the class of 1898. In November of that year he located at Lafayette and has ever since been one of the fixtures of the city, gaining friends as well as clients in numbers sufficient to make him prosperous. Being energetic. well qualified for his profession and a natural maker of friends, his ten years' residence in Lafayette has yielded results that should gratify any
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