USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 4
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After Mr. Hanly's return from congress, he and Senator Wood formed a law partnership, the combination proving to be one of unusual strength, the firm soon taking place in the front rank of the Tippecanoe county bar. This professional association was maintained seven years, or until 1904, when Mr. Hanly was elected governor of Indiana and removed to Indianapolis, since which time Senator Wood has been alone in the practice.
It was in 1896 that the Republican party selected William R. Wood for state senator, and at the ensuing election he received a handsome majority of votes, and he entered at once into his legislative duties with an earnest- ness and zeal that commended him to the voters of his district. He was not in any sense a "grand-stand player," but he accomplished things, and this habit of doing things has stuck to him all through his public and professional life. So strongly did he impress his constituents that they have returned him to the state senate at each subsequent election, so that at the expiration of his present term he will have served fourteen consecutive years as senator. This is a record that has never been equaled in that body in the history of the state and is certainly a marked testimonial to the character of the man. Dur- ing this period Senator Wood has twice served as president pro tem. of the senate. Among the many successful measures introduced and championed by
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him in the state senate was the bill for the appropriation and erection of the handsome monument on the Tippecanoe battlefield.
Senator Wood enjoys a large and lucrative law practice, being one of the leading members of the Tippecanoe county bar, and he has been engaged in many of the most important cases which have been tried here. In dis- cussions of the principles of law, he is noted for clearness of statement and candor and his zeal for a client never leads him to urge an argument which, in his judgment, is not in harmony with the law, and in all the important liti- gation with which he has been connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to bring discredit upon himself or cast a reflection upon his profession. As an effective and forceful speaker, Senator Wood's remarks always demand attention, whether he is in the legislative hall or the court room. He has prospered by reason of his close application to business, and aside from his professional duties he has a number of interests that claim his attention, being a director in the City National Bank, also a director of the Tippecanoe Land and Trust Company, being the attorney for each, and he is one of the principal stockholders in the American National Bank; he is also interested in the Tippecanoe Securities Company, being the general attorney for the same; this is one of the largest insurance agency companies in the state. He is a director and stockholder in the Lafayette Telephone Company ; also the Kern Packing Company and is its attorney.
In 1883 Senator Wood was united in marriage with Mary Elizabeth Geiger, of Lafayette, the daughter of Frederick and Rachael (McCombs) Geiger. Frederick Geiger was the pioneer miller of Lafayette, having oper- ated the old Star City Flouring Mill, the products of which were shipped principally to Toledo, Ohio, and other eastern points by canal. Mrs. Geiger was one of the first white children born in Tippecanoe county, and during her life she witnessed the erection of three court houses in Lafayette, the first one having been built of logs.
Senator Wood takes an abiding interest in fraternal affairs. He is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has taken the degrees up to and including those of Knight Templar, holding the latter relation in Lafayette Commandery, and he is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The Senator possesses a genial disposition and makes friends easily. He enjoys probably the widest acquaintance among the voters of the county of any of our public men, and he is highly esteemed by all who know him, regardless of political or other distinctions. Senator Wood's family on both sides are Methodists in their church relations.
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JOB HAIGH VAN NATTA.
It is a pleasing as well as an interesting task to place on record the career of a man who has been so long and so actively identified with the development and progress of Tippecanoe county as the distinguished citizen whose name introduces this article, and who holds worthy prestige among those to whom this highly famed section of Indiana is so greatly indebted for its advancement and prosperity.
Job Haigh Van Natta is not only widely known and universally esteemed, but ever since becoming an influential factor in civic matters his name has passed current for all that is upright and honorable and he stands today a conspicuous figure in a community long distinguished for the ability, moral worth and successful achievements of its representative men of affairs. A native of Indiana, he was born January 27, 1833, in Tippecanoe county, being a son of John S. and Sarah A. (Haigh) Van Natta, who were among the early settlers near the village of Otterbein and who also ranked high as intel- ligent, enterprising and influential members of the community which they helped establish.
The Van Nattas moved to Indiana from Ohio, but originally lived in New Jersey where, in 1801, John S. Van Natta was born. His father was Gilbert Van Natta, who was born in 1772 and who married in his young manhood a Miss Senteny and who, for a number of years thereafter, resided near the city of Trenton, New Jersey, where he followed the vocation of farming. When their son was quite small, his parents moved to Mays- ville, Kentucky, where the lad spent his boyhood, and later they changed their residence to Ohio where, in due time, John Senteny Van Natta united in marriage with Mrs. Sarah A. Wilson, whose first husband had died a few years previously, leaving her with three children to support. It is worthy of note that all these children grew up to be honorable men and women and dignified their respective stations in life. One of them, Hon. John T. Wilson, a man of high standing and widely known in political circles, represented one of the Ohio districts in congress, and also endowed in Adams county, where he lived, a home for those whom age and infirmity rendered incapable of caring for themselves; Spencer Wilson, another son, became an extensive landowner in Iowa, and a very wealthy man, while a third, a daughter, mar- ried Walter Moore and lived for a number of years in Shelby township, Tip- pecanoe county, where she reared a large family.
The maiden name of Mrs. Wilson was Sarah A. Haigh; she was born
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in England and when six years old came to America with her parents, her father being Job Haigh, an expert cabinetmaker, who was employed for some time on the construction of the capitol building in the city of Washing- ton. The marriage of John Senteny Van Natta and Sarah A. Wilson, which took place about the year 1820, resulted in three children, Aaron, Rachel and Maria, all born while the parents lived in Ohio. In 1829, the family moved overland in a four-horse wagon to Indiana, and settled in Shelby township, Tippecanoe county, where Mr. Van Natta entered two hundred acres of public land. to which he added from time to time until he finally became the possessor of about four hundred acres, the greater part of which he cleared, reduced to cultivation and converted into a fine farm. Three sons, William S., Job H. and James G., were born after the family settled in Tippecanoe county and their early lives were closely interwoven with the community in which they first saw the light of day.
Maria J., the third daughter, first became the wife of John Bigger and later married John W. Fisher, a prosperous farmer near Battle Ground, where she still resides, having reached the advanced age of eighty-two years, and retaining to a marked degree the possession of her bodily and mental powers. Another daughter, Rachel, died at the age of twenty years. William S. Van Natta, who lives at Fowler, is an extensive landowner, an enterprising and wealthy farmer and the head of a large family, all of his children being well-to-do and highly esteemed in their respective places of residence.
Job H. Van Natta, who has spent his entire life of seventy-six years near the place of his birth, is perhaps the oldest native citizen of Tippecanoe county at the present time. He was reared to agricultural pursuits on the family homestead near Otterbein, grew to the full stature of rugged, well- rounded manhood with a proper conception of life and its responsibilities and on attaining his majority purchased a quarter section of land northeast of Otterbein, which he fenced and broke and in due time had the greater part in a successful state of cultivation. There being no sawmills in the locality at that time he was obliged to go to Crawfordsville for the lumber with which to enclose the part of his land intended for tillage. The dealer giving him choice between walnut and poplar at the same price he chose the latter because of its being lighter and more easily hauled, thus saving at least one trip over the long and illy constructed roads, but little realizing the loss he sustained in the transaction.
By dint of hard labor and continuous toil Mr. Van Natta finally suc- ceeded in reclaiming the greater part of his land and making one of the best farms and one of the most beautiful and desirable rural homes in the
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county. No sooner had he gotten his affairs in a condition to live easily and enjoy the fruits of his struggles and toil than the national horizon became overcast by the ominous clouds of impending civil war. A lover of country and loyal in all the term implies, he made ready to take part in the conflict as soon as it should be precipitated. When the clouds finally burst and the stern call came he was among the first men in Tippecanoe county to tender his services to the government, enlisting in September, 1861, in the Tenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and being elected first lieutenant upon the organization of Company D, to which he belonged. Mr. Van Natta was not long in proceeding to the front and during the years which followed he rendered faithful and efficient service in some of the most noted campaigns and many of the bloodiest battles of the war, sharing with his comrades all the vicissitudes in which his command took part, and proving under all cir- cumstances a brave and gallant soldier who shrank from no danger nor hesi- tated to go wherever duty called. Among the first battles in which he was engaged was Mill Springs, Kentucky, where a musket ball passed through his cap ; from there he returned with the army to Louisville preparatory to moving against the enemy farther south. Taking boats at that city, the force pro- ceeded to Nashville, Tennessee, thence marched to Pittsburg Landing in time to participate in the second day's battle, with Buell's command. For brave and meritorious conduct on that bloody field, Mr. Van Natta was promoted captain March 20, 1862, in which capacity he led his men against the enemy at Corinth, where he distinguished himself at the head of six com- panies, four infantry and two of cavalry, and added to his already well-estab- lished reputation as an intrepid though careful and judicious officer. For his conduct in the latter action he was highly praised by his brigade commander, General Steadman, and, for duty ably and gallantly performed, he was made major of the regiment November 18, 1862, which position he held until commissioned lieutenant-colonel September 21, 1863, by Governor Morton, for especially brilliant service at the battle of Chickamauga.
From Corinth the Federal forces marched to Tuscumbia, Alabama, but being threatened in the rear by General Bragg they returned to Louisville, thence proceeded to Perryville in time to take part in the sanguinary engage- ment near that place. From Perryville, the march was continued to Lafayette, Georgia, with a number of skirmishes and several battles on the way, but the movement of Longstreet, whose aim was to move his corps from the Potomac so as to form a junction with the western army under the command of Bragg, caused the Federals to be hurried by a forced march to Chicka- mauga. Arriving at the latter place Colonel Croxton, who commanded the
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brigade, ordered Major Van Natta to take command of the skirmish line and bring on an engagement. which was done in due order. At first it was thought the enemy had but a small force on the opposite side of the river. with a bridge burned behind them, but as Major Van Natta developed their true position it was learned, much to the chagrin of the Union troops, that what was supposed to be a small force was the entire Confederate army in readiness for battle.
The battle of Chickamauga, one of the hardest and bloodiest of the war, need not here be described. Suffice it to state, however, that the regiment to which Major Van Natta belonged displayed the most gallant and determined courage on that awful day, and of his former company fully one-half were killed and wounded, other commands suffering in like manner. The Major and his gallant men performed prodigies of valor against overwhelming odds, and in the leading of a forlorn hope he displayed a brilliancy of leadership and at the same time a wise discretion that, as already indicated, led to his being commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the regiment by the war governor of Indiana, a short time after the battle was fought. The retreat from the field of Chickamauga to Chattanooga, where the Federals took a position with the river behind them on the west, with Lookout mountain rising from the river on the south, a gap of one mile from the mountain to Missionary Ridge, which stretched around the troops north, then northwest to the river; on the mountain and the ridge the Confederate forces in battle array awaited the onset, but the capture of the mountains by strategy and the resistless charge to and up over the ridge, during which thousands of brave men fell a sacri- fice to the awful moloch of war, the precipitate retreat of the Confederates, the shouts of victory by the elated hosts of the North-all have been told and retold until the history of that terrible struggle has become as familiar as a household tale.
In General Thomas' command, fighting with his wounded arm in a sling, Major Van Natta stood for some time facing Missionary Ridge and when the center charged without orders he was among the first to ascend the declivity, in the face of a murderous fire, and to him belongs no little of the credit of inspiring his men in a situation which has no parallel in the annals of warfare. After the capture of Missionary Ridge: the Major marched with Sherman through Georgia to Atlanta and participated in several sanguinary battles which led to the reduction of that noted stronghold, including among others those of Peachtree Creek, Buzzard Roost, and Resaca; in fact, he was under almost continuous fire until the city fell and Georgia passed from Con- federate to Federal control. . At the expiration of his term of service he was
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discharged September 19, 1864. with an honorable record, one of which any brave defender of his country might well feel proud, and returning home he resumed the peaceful pursuits of civil life at Lafayette, with the material interests of which prosperous city he has since been largely identified.
For about twenty years Mr. Van Natta was associated with his brother in the cattle business at Lafayette, buying and shipping to the leading eastern markets, and consigning every week from twenty to thirty car loads and frequently handling considerably in excess of those figures. The enterprise proved successful beyond their most ardent expectations and on retiring from business they each possessed a fortune of sufficient magnitude to make them independent and earn for them prominent positions among the financially strong and reliable men of Lafayette and the county of Tippecanoe.
Mr. Van Natta has large and valuable tracts of land in the county besides real estate in the city of his residence and elsewhere, owning eight hundred acres of fine land north of Battle Ground, the greater part under cultivation and otherwise highly improved. He also has six hundred acres near Otterbein and seven hundred acres in LaGrange county, all very valu- able, and in addition to these interests he is a stockholder and director of the Merchants' National Bank of Lafayette, owns stock in the Lafayette Loan and Trust Company, of which he is also a director, besides holding large interests in the Lafayette Savings Bank, of which he is a trustee, and the First National Bank of Boswell and the State Bank of Otterbein, being presi- dent of the last two institutions.
Mr. Van Natta has always kept pace with the times not only in business matters but in public affairs, and a number of enterprises which have made for the material progress and general welfare of Lafayette and Tippecanoe county have profited by his counsel and advice. For many years he has been a trustee of Purdue University and, like all public-spirited men of the city, he has never permitted his interest in this splendid institution to wane nor been lacking in his duty to other means for the intellectual advancement of the community honored by his citizenship. His heart and hand have been seen and felt in nearly every institution and movement that has for its purpose the benefit and uplift of his fellowmen, and his friendships, always constant, zealous and reliable, have given him an influence such as few exercise.
Mr. Van Natta, on October 10, 1866, contracted a marriage with Harriet Barnes, daughter of Samuel Barnes (see sketch of Thomas J. Barnes), which union has been blessed with six children, viz .: Blanche, wife of Augustus Ruffner, of Chicago, and the mother of a son named Henry Van Natta Ruffner ; J. Lynn Van Natta, present treasurer of Tippecanoe county ; Samuel
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Gilbert, a wealthy cattleman of Texas; Louise, now Mrs. George E. Baldwin, of Seattle, Washington; Jolin W., who is interested with his brother in Texas, and Nancy, who is a member of the home circle. Mr. Van Natta is above the average height, tall and of gentlemanly bearing, courteous in his relations with his fellowmen and generous and kind to all. His tastes are largely domestic and he finds his keenest enjoyment in his home and with his family in whom he manifests a pardonable and well-deserved pride.
ZEBULON BAIRD.
Zebulon Baird was of Scotch descent, born in New Jersey and reared and educated in Ohio; but forty years of his manhood, with their record of honorable achievement, belong to Indiana. His great-grandfather, John Baird, was the Scottish ancestor who came to America in 1683 and, although a lad under the age of twenty, purchased a goodly tract of land at Marlboro, Monmouth county, New Jersey, and proceeded to erect a homestead. This quaint old house is still standing-an interesting structure of the early colonial type. John Baird married, and his descendants were men of large landed inter- ests and social consequence.
The second generation of American Bairds became connected with another of New Jersey's substantial families-one of political prominence in colonial times-by the marriage of James Baird and Deliverance Bowne. These were the parents of the subject, who thus drew directly from two family founts of ability and virtue. Zebulon Baird, one of six children, was born December 21, 1817. Soon after his birth, his parents left their New Jersey home and settled upon a farm in Warren county, Ohio. Here Zebulon grew and studied. His schoolhouse was a log cabin, but his instructor was a man of practical attainments and classical culture, and, like the Bairds, a stanch Scotch Presbyterian. Zebulon was early ready for collegiate work, and duly entered Miami University, of which Robert H. Bishop was then president. His college course completed, he began the study of law under Governor Thomas Corwin at Lebanon, and in the spring of 1838 he was admitted to the bar of Ohio; a few months later he began practice at Lafay- ette, Indiana, in partnership with Judge Ingram, a veteran in the legal field. Mr. Baird was markedly of the student type. To absorb and systematize truth for practical use was with him a natural mental function. His classical knowledge was the wonder, admiration and reference fund of his associates.
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He loved his profession for itself, without regard to the financial rewards of success or political prestige. Yet, still more did he love his country and the cause of liberty, and when the Civil war came on he entered service as captain under General Milroy. During his army experience he met with an adventure which promised to be more serious than it proved. It was at the second battle of Bull Run. Unknown to him, the Union forces had beaten a retreat, he being engaged at the time in carrying orders. Unconscious of his peril, he rode into the picket lines of the enemy where he was quickly captured, and he subsequently was made an inmate of that historic horror, Libby Prison. Unlike the fate of so many of his fellow-victims, he was soon released, on exchange, and the sequel to this prison episode wears a tinge of less gloomy romance. He had at that time a case pending in the United States supreme court, and as the city of Washington lay in the line of his journey from Libby Prison to his new post of duty to which he was assigned, he took advantage of this opportunity to plead his cause. He addressed the court in his officer's uniform, and the interest awakened by the novel appear- ance of the military advocate was deepened into profound attention by the force of his oratory. At the conclusion of his plea, he was the recipient of much gratulation, and one of the justices was led facetiously to wonder what might not be expected of generals when captains could argue so well. The rigors of military life told severely upon the slender constitution of Captain Baird, and a short time before the declaration of peace he was obliged to resign his commission. Returning home, he devoted himself to professional work and in the few remaining years of his life he earned a reputation in Indiana as one of the ablest and most thoroughly equipped lawyers of its bar. His intellectual talents were of the highest order, yet he did not rely upon those talents for his success, as so many similarly gifted would have done. His early mental discipline had been most excellent, and throughout his professional career he was a close and conscientious student of his cases. The philosophy of law was his delight, and in the consideration of legal proposi- tions he dwelt upon principles rather than precedents, but he never neglected to inform himself on the law of his cases, and if precedent became imperative, he was always prepared to apply it with his characteristic skill. His thorough acquaintance with fundamental principles and his acute analytical power made him quick to detect a weakness or fallacy in an argument, and he was a formidable antagonist; yet his self-control was superb and his courtesy to adversaries, as well as to court and jury, unvarying. He was a man of pure- and lofty ideals, to which he was never for a moment oblivious. Joseph E. McDonald, formerly United States senator from Indiana, read law in the
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office of Mr. Baird, and the success which he later won, both as an attorney and politician, he attributed to the splendid training he had received from his legal patron, whom he declared to be one of the ablest lawyers ever produced by the state of Indiana. Nor was he unsupported by the profession in his high estimate of Mr. Baird. In "Sketches of the Old Indiana Supreme Court Bar," by Gen. John Coburn, Zebulon Baird is accredited with his many super- ior abilities, which are finally epitomized in these words: "He was well matched with the best lawyers on the Wabash, and in any English-speaking court would have ranked among the highest." In person, Mr. Baird was a type almost feminine in its delicacy. His features were fine and clearly cut ; his blue eyes mild; his pale face vitalized with thought. He was one of those rare personalities from which all grosser elements seem refined away, until the intellectual and spiritual being stands out in bold relief. The contempla- tion of such men, frail in physique, yet pronounced in character and sensibility, is reassuring to religious faith, making easier the conception of a future state in which the individuality shall appear unchanged, only more clearly and purely defined in its freedom from the mortal clod.
Mr. Baird was married on January 22, 1839, to Martha M. Probasco, whose father was the late Rev. John Probasco, of Lebanon, Ohio. Five chil- dren were born of this union. Mr. Baird died January 29, 1877. and his widow on the 22d of June, 1898.
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