USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 42
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Mr. Foresman is also interested in the Odell Telephone Company and the McCarthy hat store of Lafayette, both doing a nice business. He still retains his coal and lumber interests, before mentioned, at West Point. All of these extensive interests consume the major part of his time, for he de- votes his attention very carefully to whatever he has in hand, hence his suc- cess in whatever he undertakes.
On January 3, 1909, Mr. Foresman was married to Mrs. Mary L. Heston, a native of Tiffin, Ohio, a lady of culture and refinement and the representative of an old and highly respected family.
Mr. Foresman is a consistent member of the Methodist church at Shade- land, and Mrs. Foresman of the Episcopal church. Fraternally, the former is identified with Shawnee Lodge, No. 129, Free and Accepted Masons; Lafayette Commandery, No. 3, Knights Templar ; the Scottish Rite and Murat Temple Mystic Shrine at Indianapolis. He also belongs to the Lafayette
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Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he is treasurer and state trustee. He is prominent in all these orders and takes a very active interest in their affairs.
Mr. and Mrs. Foresman are frequently hosts to the best people of Lafayette in their beautiful modern home in the best residential district of this city, and their many friends always find them genial, pleasant and entertaining.
FRANK D. KERN.
Iowa, perhaps the ideal agricultural commonwealth of all the union, has done much to educate farmers along scientific lines. From this state there came to Purdue a young man who, though scarcely past his twenty- sixth year, has already done some valuable work in a difficult department of agriculture. His father, W. S. Kern, was a New Yorker who found his way West in early manhood and became a farmer and stock raiser in the rich prairie country beyond the Mississippi. He married Emma Dunn, a native of Wisconsin, by whom he had four children, among them a son who at an early age indicated possession of unusual talents and energy. Frank D. Kern was born at Reinbeck, Iowa, June 29, 1883, and as he grew up he attended the public schools of Grundy county. In due time he entered the high school, mastered its courses and was graduated therefrom in 1900. He went almost immediately to the University of Iowa, and applied himself so diligently to his studies that we find him one of the graduating class a few years later and possessor of the degree of Bachelor of Science. As an under-graduate he acted as assistant in biology at Iowa University from 1902 to 1904, in which latter year he came to Purdue University. During the year following he was special agent of the bureau of plant industry of the United States department of agriculture, after which he assumed his present position as associate botanist in the experiment station of Purdue University. He is also collaborator in the United States bureau of plant industry and during the months of January in 1906, 1907 and 1908, he did research work in the botanical gardens of New York. As Mr. Kern's life is still before him and few of his age have made so promising a beginning, his friends predict for him a brilliant and useful career in the great field to which he is devoting his energies. He is a member of the American Breeders' Associa- tion, the Indiana Academy of Sciences, the American Foresters' Association, tht Torrey Botanical Club, affiliated with the New York Academy of Sciences,
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and fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences. Already, Mr. Kern has distinguished himself as the author of bulletins on Indi- ana plant diseases, published in 1905 and 1906, and papers which embody the results of his researches on the plant rusts. He has made valuable con- tributions to Science, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, and the Journal of Mycology, which relates to that branch of botanical science treating of mushroom and other microscopical fungi.
August 21, 1907, Mr. Kern was married to Miss Jess 2, daughter of J. L. and Susan Bell (Daily) Adair, of Frankfort, Indiana, where the father is a machinist in the railroad shops. Sue Emma Kern, born Aug- ust 4, 1908, is the only child of this union. The family attend the Con- gregational church, of which Mr. Kern has been a member for some years. Personally, Mr. Kern has the equipment essential to success, both in pos- sessing a strong, muscular build and a strong constitution capable of much endurance. He is enthusiastic over his work, painstaking in pursuit of the expert knowledge required for success in this line and optimistic as to the great future awaiting the future development of botanical science. His dis- position is affable, his temperament sanguine, and his whole manner such as to inspire confidence. Honest, open and frank, both in countenance and speech, he is always an agreeable as well as an instructive companion. He is a valuable acquisition to the staff of Purdue, which includes many of the most progressive and best equipped scientists of the country, devoted to the growth and development of the vitally important industry of agriculture.
STANLEY COULTER.
January 1, 1848, Moses S. Coulter, a native of West Virginia and a minister of the gospel, was married to Caroline Crowe, of Indiana, and by this union two sons were born, who have attained high distinction in the educational world. John Merle Coulter, the eldest, became president of Indiana University and also Lake Forest University and is at present head professor of botany in Chicago University. Stanley Coulter, the younger of these talented brothers, was born June 2, 1855, and received his early train- ing in the schools of Madison, Indiana. When quite young he entered Han- over College and mastered branches that entitled him to the degree con- ferred on the class of 1873. His first business venture was as a teacher at
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Franklin, Indiana, where he remained a year and found more advantageous employment at Logansport, in the high school of which city he spent eight years as principal. Temporarily surrendering the teacher's chair, he took up the practice of law in 1882, followed it for three years and then returned to his first love as professor in Coates College for Women at Terre Haute. He retained this position until 1887, when he came to Purdue University as professor of biology in the scientific department and director of the bio- logical laboratory. In 1907 he became dean of the school of science and for years he has been recognized as an authority in the branch of knowledge to which he has devoted his studies. Professor Coulter is much in demand as a lecturer and is one of the most popular of the platform speakers. In 1893 he was the lecturer on botany in the summer school of the University of Wisconsin and lectured on plant life at the summer sessions of Cornell University from 1903 to 1907. He has been highly honored by degrees from various schools of learning and as the head of various associations devoted to scientific subjects. Professor Coulter received the de- gree of Doctor of Laws in 1909. From Hanover College in 1871 he re- ceived the degree of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts in 1874 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1879. He is a fellow of the American Associa- tion for the Advancement of Science, director of the National Society for the Protection of Wild Plants and member of the Indiana state board of forestry. In 1897 he was president of the Indiana Academy of Science and is a member of the State College Association devoted to the same object. He is a member of the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Northwest, and in 1901-2 was president of the State Audubon Society. He is prominent as a member of the Central Botanists' Association, of which he was chairman in 1904, and was the first president of the Science Teach- ers' Association. He is also a member of the Association for the Promotion of Engineering Education. From this list will be seen how wide have been Professor Coulter's activities, how great the esteem held for him by learned bodies and how useful his word in educating the masses along the lines of popular science. Professor Coulter is a man of deep convictions, indomi- table perseverance, and thorough in his investigations. He is not easily discouraged, brushes away trifles and goes directly for the heart of his subject. With all his learning and distinction, he is modest in his claims, kind and patient in dealing either with people or problems, open and candid in manner, and of the well poised, equable temperament which renders him proof against discouragements.
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January 21, 1879, Professor Coulter was married to Lucy, daughter of Martin M. Post, D. D., of Logansport. Their only daughter, Miss Mabel, who was born in October, 1880, became the wife of Albert Smith, at present a professor in Purdue University.
JACOB DIENHART.
A native of Germany, and seeking the land of liberty and opportunity, Jacob Dienhart, now an honored citizen of the city of Lafayette, Indiana, came to America in 1881, when he was eleven years of age. He was a son of Peter Dienhart, who was a linen weaver in the Fatherland and who was industrious and thrifty and inculcated such principles into his family. He died in 1892 and his wife four years later.
Young Dienhart received a sound education in the schools of Germany and after his arrival here he commenced to work for himself, being employed as a "bell boy" at the Lahr Hotel where he performed his services well and was encouraged by his employer. Between times he attempted to obtain a business education and attended a commercial college, which better fitted him for clerical work. By honest endeavor and keen perception, and mind- ful of details, he was promoted through the various positions to chief clerk. He continued his hard work and by painstaking effort and thriftiness accumu- lated a little competence. He was made secretary and treasurer of a hat company, in which he now owns one-half interest. The concern is incor- porated for ten thousand dollars.
Later in life Mr. Dienhart wooed and won Margaret Kennedy, a daugh- ter of Professor Kennedy, who is at the head of the commercial school where he graduated some years before. The marriage took place in 1893 and to them six children were born, as follows, all of whom live at home: Marie, Gertrude, Francis, Lucile, Joseph, Ignatius. His attention to business and rugged honesty came under the attention of his political friends and Jacob Dienhart was asked to make the race for city councilman from the first ward. He was elected and later re-elected for a term of four years more. As a tribute to his energy he was made a member of several important committees and, among other notable achievements, he has been instrumental in obtain- ing cheap lighting for the city. He has always been in favor of justice and economy in the administration of municipal affairs and is always found work-
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ing for the best interests of the citizens and for those things most conducive to the welfare of the city in general.
Jacob Dienhart is a member of the Catholic church, the Knights of St. Paul and the Knights of Pythias. By political preferment he is a Democrat and is trusted by his party and the people who know him.
WILLIAM B. HUDLOW.
One of the prominent and influential farmers of Wea township and a scion of an old and honorable Southern family, whose history traces back to the chivalry of the Old South, and who is himself a man of unusual charm of demeanor, is William B. Hudlow, who was born in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, February 2, 1858. He is the son of Jacob and Frances (Jones) Hudlow, both natives of Rockingham county, Virginia, where they grew up and mar- ried, the former having been educated in the home schools. In 1872 he came to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, locating in Randolph township, where he lived until 1890, when he moved to Lafayette and retired. His death occurred June 22, 1900, his wife having preceded him to the grave on August 4, 1892. She was a member of the Presbyterian church, while Jacob Hudlow supported the German Baptist denomination, being a member of that church. He was a very successful man and bore an exemplary reputation. To Jacob and Frances Hudlow thirteen children were born, namely: Samuel, a farmer and beet grower at Ordway, Colorado; William B .; Lemuel J. married first Emma Roundebush, and second, Jennie Kessinger; he is a farmer in Wea township; R. J. is an engineer on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad at Eldon, Missouri; he married Anna Youch; Charles E., who is an engineer on the Cloverleaf railroad, at Charleston, Illinois, married Daisy Jones; Luther, who remained single, was a brakeman on the Monon railroad, and was killed at Cloverdale, Indiana, in 1893: Russell, a conductor on the Monon railroad at Lafayette, Indiana, married Lulu Hendress; James, who was the fifth child in order of birth, was a fireman on the Monon railroad and was killed August 7, 1900. at South Raub, Indiana; he married Mary Gott; Anna, the ninth child, is the wife of J. L. Lamb, of Randolph township, this county ; Blanche married B. T. Boyer, of Lafayette; Frances, who died in 1902, married first, Harvey Mulhollan, and second, Frank Lane; George is deceased, as is also De Wood, the youngest child.
William B. Hudlow was educated in the old log school houses in his native community, receiving a very limited schooling. He remained at home
Dr. B. Hwdlow
Columbia Hudlow-
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until 1882. On March 11, 1883, he married Columbia L. Boyer, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, the daughter of Jacob and Frances Boyer, both natives of the same community. Jacob Boyer was killed in the battle of the Wilderness, May 4, 1864, and his widow is still living at the age of eighty-one years in Rockingham county, Virginia. Mr. Boyer was a harnessmaker by trade. He and his wife were the parents of seven chil- dren, namely: Samuel P., a contractor in Lafayette, Indiana, who married ยท Amanda Riddleberger; Julia is deceased; Noah J. is a carpenter in Augusta county, Virginia ; he married Euphrazia Hunter; Columbia L., wife of Wil- liam B. Hudlow; Joseph is a farmer near Dexter, Missouri; he. married Sadie Hathaway; B. T. is a street car conductor in Lafayette; he married Blanche Hudlow ; Robert is deceased.
To Mr. and Mrs. William B. Hudlow two children have been born, namely : Lelia Frances, who married Dr. Ora McCoy, of Romney, Tippeca- noe county ; Maude H. married John W. Cosby, who farms with William B. Hudlow.
After his marriage Mr. Hudlow and wife located in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, where they remained for four years, then he bought sixty acres in section 33, Wea township, to which he has added other land until he has one of the finest farms in the township, consisting of four hundred and eleven acres. It is well improved and on it stand an attractive and com- fortable dwelling and good barns and abundant farming machinery. He and his wife started in life in a very small way; they worked hard, have been economical and have succeeded. General farming is carried on by Mr. Hud- low, who raises large crops of wheat, oats and corn, and his place is well stocked with horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, also poultry. His fine home, which was built in 1903, is an attractive one and a place where the many friends of the family delight to gather. Mr. Hudlow operated a threshing machine for eighteen years in a very successful manner. He is a Republican in politics, but has never aspired to public office. He attends Spring Grove Presbyterian church, and he and his wife hold high rank in their community, numbering scores of friends throughout the county.
EVERETT B. VAWTER.
Everett B. Vawter, civil engineer and contractor. is a son of Philemon and Silvia Vawter, whose sketch appears elsewhere, and dates his birth from August 23, 1859. He first saw the light of day at the family homestead in
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Jennings county, Indiana, but at the age of four years was brought by his parents to Lafayette, with which city his life and interests have since been very closely identified. He received his preliminary education in the schools of West Lafayette, graduating from the high school at the age of eighteen, and in the meantime did considerable work on his father's farm near the city and in various ways made himself useful to his parents.
Mr. Vawter's first practical experience for himself was as an employe of the firm of Murphy & Comstock, manufacturers of boots and shoes, in Lafayette, with which he remained two years, and then became associated with his father in the construction and superintending of gravel roads in various parts of Tippecanoe county, to which kind of work he devoted his attention from 1882 to 1884 inclusive. In the latter year he was elected county surveyor and so ably and satisfactorily were his official duties dis- charged that he was twice re-elected, filling the position three terms of two years each and proving one of the most capable men of the county thus honored.
In 1891 Mr. Vawter became a member of the Lafayette Bridge Com- pany and continued with the same for a period of nine years, during which time he superintended the construction of a large number of bridges in var- ious states and acquired great efficiency and skill in the line of mechanical engineering. By reason of the ill health of his family he severed his con- nection with the company at the expiration of the time indicated and moved to Colorado, where he accepted a position with the American Bridge Com- pany, which he represented during the ensuing three years in all the western states and territories, doing a very extensive business and achieving an hon- orable reputation as an energetic and remarkably successful salesman. Re- turning to Lafayette in 1903, he again became associated with his former partners of the Lafayette Engineering Company, and during the five years following labored earnestly for the enterprise and contributed greatly to its success. In 1903 he was made president of the company, which responsible office he held for several years, disposing of his entire interest in 1908 in order to devote all of his attention to the water-works company and his profession. In addition to the large and important work in process of con- struction in Lafayette, the company did an extensive business in the building of concrete and steel bridges in many other counties and cities, the superior order of their work creating a wide demand, which at times it is impossible to meet.
Mr. Vawter was the originator of the West Lafayette Water Works Company, and in 1893 took an active interest in its organization and the con-
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struction of the plant. Under his able management the enterprise was pushed to completion and thus far the work has added to his already well- earned honors as a master of his craft and the inaugurator of large and im- important undertakings. He has been at the head of this company as presi- dent since its organization.
The domestic life of Mr. Vawter dates from May 3, 1893, when he contracted a matrimonial alliance with Helen Eugene Read, of Wilmington, Delaware, a daughter of James S. and Frances M. Read, the union being blessed with one child, Wallace Read Vawter, whose birth occurred on the 19th of October, 1902. In all that makes for the good of the city materially or otherwise, Mr. Vawter has always taken an active part. He was at the head of the Local Option League, and a fearless champion of the cause in the attempt to rid Lafayette of the liquor traffic. He has ever stood for law and order and a high standard of citizenship and proposes to continue the contest for the purity of the home and the salvation of young manhood until the curse of intemperance shall be forever driven from a city on which it has so long been a festering plague spot. His work along this and other lines is in accord with his convictions of duty, and what he has already ac- complished for a higher order of living is but an earnest of still greater achievements in the future. In his religious belief, Mr. Vawter is a Baptist and one of the leading members of the church in West Lafayette, also a liberal contributor to its support as well as to the maintenance of various charities and good works. Personally he is of commanding presence, tall, well formed, and he moves among his fellows as one born to leadership. Affable and refined in conversation, genial in manner and a favorite in the social circle, he has many warm friends in Lafayette and Tippecanoe county, and stands high in the confidence and esteem of the public.
PHILEMON C. VAWTER.
Seventy-nine years have dissolved in the mists of the past since the birth of the honored subject of this review. He springs from an old and highly esteemed pioneer family whose first representatives in the West settled in Jefferson county, Indiana, as early as 1806, migrating to this state from Kentucky, though originally from Virginia. These early comers were Wil- liam Vawter and Frances, his wife, who located on the hill near Madison, where Mr. Vawter secured a tract of land which he cleared and improved
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and in due time became one of the leading farmers and representative citizens of his part of the county. He was made captain of a militia company soon after his arrival and took an active part defending settlers against the In- dians during the troublous times which marked the pioneer history of south- ern Indiana. Later, in 1829, the family located in Jennings county.
William and Frances Vawter were the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters, only two of whom survive, a daughter who has reached the ripe old age of eighty-eight years and the subject of this sketch, who is the youngest of the family and the only one born in Jennings county. Sev- eral of the children lived to be quite old, one dying in his ninety-fourth year, and the majority were past the half century mark when called from the scenes of their struggles and triumphis.
Philemon C. Vawter was born in Jennings county, Indiana, November 7, 1830, and spent his childhood and- youth on the home farm near Vernon. While still a mere lad he attended a three-months subscription school taught in a small log building furnished with slab benches, the writing desk a rough board resting on pegs driven in the wall, the room being warmed by means of a large fireplace with clay chimney and lighted by two long narrow win- dows, one containing oiled paper, the other filled with glass. In this back- woods college young Vawter obtained a knowledge of the rudimentary branches, reading, arithmetic and geography, and learned to write with a goose quill pen, using the juice of pokeberries for ink. By diligent appli- cation, however, he soon mastered the common branches and in due time was sufficiently advanced to enter Franklin College, which he attended at intervals for about five years, completing the prescribed course during that time and leaving the institution with a high standing in all of his classes.
In 1855 Mr. Vawter came to Lafayette, and during the ensuing three years taught in the schools of the town, discontinuing the work in 1858 on account of the public funds being cut off by the supreme court. Returning to Jennings county, he worked on the farm in the summer time and taught in the country schools during the winter months until 1860, when he went to Decatur county where he had charge of a school for one year and earned an honorable reputation as a capable instructor and successful disciplinarian. Meantime he accepted a position in a dry goods store and between clerking and teaching he spent the time until 1863, when he returned to Tippecanoe county and took up the profession of civil engineering, to which he devoted his attention for a number of years thereafter, serving eighteen years as county surveyor, five years as deputy in the office, five years as city engineer
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and ten years as engineer of West Lafayette, besides doing a great deal of private work the meanwhile in his own and other counties and cities.
Mr. Vawter has seen West Lafayette grow from a wooded tract into a flourishing city of five thousand inhabitants, much of the progress of the place being due to his interest and energy in inaugurating and carrying for- ward many important improvements. The city is modern in all the term implies, and with its excellent streets and sidewalks, electric lights and water- works, street railway, etc., has taken on not a few metropolitan airs and compares favorably with any other city of its size in the state.
Mr. Vawter's long and honorable career as a civil engineer has kept him prominently before the public and there are today in the county of Tippecanoe few men as well known and highly esteemed. As a matter of his profession he has rendered valuable service in a number of important public enterprises and as a citizen his influence has ever been on the right side of every moral issue. Of noble aims and high ideals, he has always had the good of his fellowmen in view and to this end all movements for the advancement of the community along social, moral and religious as well as material lines have found in him a willing and generous helper.
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