USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 51
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gregate endeavor of loyal citizenship of the vast majority, and in this re- spect Indiana has been fortunate, for her representatives have been resolute, enterprising men, who have striven with natural conditions until they have made the country bloom and blossom as the rose, and have carried on the work of improvement and progress until Indiana occupies a leading posi- tion in the great galaxy of the Union. Mr. McClure, of this review, is num- bered among the wide-awake, alert men of Tippecanoe county, and today is successfully carrying on agricultural pursuits in section 12, Wabash town- ship.
Lawrence J. McClure was born in the township in which he now re- sides, Wabash, on the 18th day of September, 1856, and has never lived outside the township. He is a son of James L. and Emma J. (Rosser) Mc- Clure. early residents of this county. James L. McClure was born at Chilli- cothe, Ohio, in 1820, and came to Tippecanoe county in 1837, when seven- teen years of age. He located at Lafayette and for a while was employed at the carpenter trade. Subsequently he went into the confectionery busi- ness and was the first person to make ice cream here and also the first to put up ice in winter for the summer use. His place of business was where the Coleman Bank is now situated. Mr. McClure eventually sold the con- fectionery business to Bemis Brothers and purchased from Godlove Orth a farm in section 12, Wabash township, the land being that now occupied by the subject of this sketch. With the exception of about six years, Mr. Mc- Clure remained thereafter on this place until his death, which occurred in 1904. He was a good business man and a successful farmer, and stood high in general esteem. Mr. McClure was a Republican in his political procliv- ities, though he did not take an active part in public affairs. In his religious views he was a Presbyterian, while his wife was an equally devoted mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a member of Lodge No. 55. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, one of the first lodges of this order to be established in Tippecanoe county. The subject's mother, who bore the maiden name of Emma J. Rosser, was born at London, Ohio. Her father died when she was a very young girl and the mother brought her family, consisting of three girls and two boys, to Tippecanoe county in an early day, the trip being made in ox wagons. To James and Emma McClure were born the following children: John Rosser lives at Fort Wayne, Indiana; Alice Kirkpatrick lives in West Lafayette; Lawrence J., the subject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; the others, Lizzie J., Augusta, Eddie, William and an unnamed baby, are deceased.
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The subject of this sketch received his early education in the Castor school, in Wabash township, where he made splendid progress in his stud- ies, so that at the end of the common school course he was enabled to enter Purdue College, being one of the first twenty-five students who were en- rolled at that college. He remained a student in that institution three years, and then, returning to the farm, took up agricultural work, to which he has ever since applied his energies. He follows a general line of farming, which he has found more profitable than specializing, and he has also given much attention to the breeding and raising of livestock. He raises large num- bers of cattle, hogs and sheep and formerly gave some attention to horses, but has of late years not paid much attention to the latter.
On November 15, 1893, Mr. McClure was wedded to Eliza Parker, the daughter of Francis Parker, who at one time owned the ground on which now stands the plant of the Taylor Lumber Company at Lafayette. To this union were born two children, Emma J., now fourteen years old, and Frank James, twelve years old. Mrs. McClure died in 1897, and subse- quently Mr. McClure married Bella Adams. Mr. and Mrs. McClure have a comfortable home, which is the center of a large social circle. They are well liked by their associates and enjoy the esteem of all who know them. In politics, Mr. McClure is a Republican, and Mrs. McClure is a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, Mr. McClure is a member of the Ancient Order of Druids.
ARTHUR BESSEY SMITH.
The subject of this sketch, who is the assistant professor of telephone engineering at Purdue University, was born at Altoona, Iowa, near the city of Des Moines, on the 10th day of August, 1875. His father, Rev. Cyrus Smith, for many years a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, was of German extraction and sprang from a family that came to America in colonial times, and furnished several soldiers to the cause of independence during the Revolutionary struggle. Not a few of his antecedents were mechanics of a high grade, notably locksmiths, toolmakers, and other pur- suits requiring much more than ordinary efficiency and skill. The Smith family settled in Ohio many years ago, and it was in that state that the Pro- fessor's father was born and reared. At the breaking out of the late Civil war, Cyrus Smith joined Company K, Sixteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer
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Infantry, and for three years rendered valiant service for the Union, his regiment serving under Grant in the siege of Vicksburg and taking part in many other important campaigns and battles. After the war, he entered a tract of land in Michigan, where in due time he cleared and developed a good farm, which he subsequently sold and moved to Iowa. He began his ministerial labors in the latter state as an exhorter, but exhibiting rare pow- ers as a speaker he was afterwards assigned regular work by the Des Moines conference and continued the pastoral relation until his death, at the age of fifty-six years. Amanda Bessey, wife of Rev. Cyrus Smith and mother of the subject, was descended from German-French ancestry and was also a native of Ohio. She was married while the Civil war was in progress and bore her husband three children, i. e., Elva Pearl, wife of C. H. Brake, of Warnerville, Nebraska; Minnie Susan, wife of H. A. Kinney, principal of the Normal School of Woodbine, Iowa, also manager of the telephone ex- change of that town and a director of the Woodbine Savings Bank.
Arthur Bessey Smith received his preliminary education in the schools of Dow City, which he began attending when seven years of age. Later he was graduated from the Woodbine Normal School, in which he took the English course and during the four terms ensuing taught in the district schools, keeping up his studies in electricity in the meantime. He early manifested a decided taste for mechanical pursuits and while still a mere lad operated engines in a printing office and a laundry ; and when but little older took charge of the engine in the pump house at Carroll City, Iowa. His pred- ilection for engines and other machinery, in fact for all kinds of mechanics, was almost akin to mania, and when not engaged in his regular work he devoted his attention to his favorite pastime, constructing a number of me- chanical devices, besides making repairs for the neighbors. In due time he became deeply interested in electricity and for some months carried on his studies and investigations without the aid of an instructor. While teaching school he utilized his knowledge and skill in such practical ways as repair- ing telephones and installing same, putting in door bells, electric lights, and various other work of a like character, his success in which, with his en- thusiasm for the pursuit, finally induced him to become an electric engineer. With this object in view he entered the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln, where he addressed himself so resolutely to his favorite study that it was not long until he led his class and took very high rank as an untiring student and painstaking investigator.
When Professor Smith entered the above institution the sum total of his capital amounted to only twenty dollars, but his uncle, Dr. Charles E.
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Bessey, the dean of the school of engineering and professor of botany, let him have a room for keeping the latter's lawn and premises in order, and he met his other expenses by waiting tables in a public dining room. By reason of his lack of funds he was five years completing his university course, during a part of which time he was assistant in the weather bureau, having previously learned typesetting, which he now utilized in publishing the reports of the department, in addition to which he took observations and made many of the maps that were issued. While prosecuting his studies and researches the future professor did considerable electrical work in the lab- oratory of the university, and also made free use of the public library, where he found such periodicals as the "Scientific American," "The Stationary Engineer." "The Brotherhood Journal," and various other magazines bear- ing upon his work, all of which he read with absorbing interest and profit and to which he attributes much of his subsequent success in his chosen calling.
Professor Smith was graduated from the University of Nebraska in June, 1901, and immediately thereafter accepted a position with the Mis- souri Valley Telephone Company, which he held for ten months, then entered the employ of the Nebraska (Bell) Telephone Company, at Omaha, of which he was later made district inspector, and in August of the following year became manager of the company with headquarters at Tecumseh. Resign- ing his position in January, 1903. he became assistant manager of the Wood- bine Telephone Company, at Woodbine, Iowa; later was made electrical engineer of the company, and after remaining at that place until 1905 sev- ered his connection with the enterprise and accepted the position of wire chief with the Automatic Telephone Company at Amsterdam, New York.
Professor Smith's long period of service and valuable practical experi- ence in telephony led to his appointment, on September 15, 1905, to the position in Purdue University which he now holds, and in which he has achieved a reputation second to that of no other electrician in the United States similarly engaged. Since entering upon his duties in the university he has developed the laboratory in many important respects, besides doing much practical work, which with his teaching has made him one of the busi- est men connected with the institution. In 1907 the university conferred upon him the degree of Electrical Engineer, since which time he has been al- lowed one assistant, the work which he has built up from the ground being quite heavy and onerous, and requiring nearly all of the time at his com- mand.
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In the fall of 1907, Professor Smith began publishing a series of articles on the "History of the Automatic Telephone," which bear evidence of pro- found study and research, and which have been widely read and quoted. He has contributed to various scientific magazines, among which were "Sound Waves," since merged with "The American Telephone Journal." "The Tele- phone Siftings," and other periodicals, being an easy and graceful writer and a recognized authority on all matters pertaining to his profession. Profes- sor Smith is an associate member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and is also identified with the Sigma Xi fraternity, and the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows.
On June 18, 1901, the subject was united in marriage with Cora Eliza- beth Hill, at Lincoln, Nebraska, their union being blessed with two children, Howard Hill, born April 24. 1902, and Jeanette H., whose birth occurred on April 30. 1908. Professor Smith and family occupy a beautiful and pleasant home at No. 439 University avenue, West Lafayette, and are com- fortably situated and highly esteemed by their large number of friends in the city and elsewhere. They are consistent members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, active in the discharge of their religious duties and demon- strate the beauty and worth of a live Christian faith in their daily walk and conversation.
JACOB M. TAYLOR.
Tippecanoe county was decidedly wild and sparsely settled when the first of the Taylor family appeared upon the scene. As yet, practically nothing of the wonderful development which eventually made Indiana so great a state had been brought about. It was the roughest of the pioneer period, no good roads, no schools of any consequence, nearly everything for- est and swamp. Such were the conditions when William and Sarah Ann (Bonnett) Taylor, poor, friendless and unknown, came into the county. They were both Virginians, the former born December 12. 1796, of Irish stock, and the latter in June, 1797, of German descent. In youth they migrated to Ohio, married in Pike county, February 3, 1820, and in 1824 removed to northwestern Indiana in the wake of the extensive emigration then prevailing. In 1826 William Taylor entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 34, Wayne township, which was part prairie and part timber. He built a log cabin and entered upon the arduous task of whip- ping his wild land into shape. Although in limited circumstances on arrival he worked hard, exercised economy and in time found himself the owner
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of a handsome property, besides six hundred acres in Illinois. He died October 30, 1857, and his wife in 1871. Of his eleven children the only survivors are Jacob, Jr., and Henry H., who lives in Texas.
Jacob M. Taylor, youngest of the surviving sons, was born in Wayne township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, September 12, 1839. He remained at home until of age, and in the fall of 1861 enlisted in Company G, Fortieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until January, 1865. His command was attached to the Army of the Cumberland and participated in the battles of Shiloh, Stone River, Mission Ridge and many other historic engagements of the Civil war. After leaving the army with a first-class record as a soldier, Mr. Taylor returned home and entered upon the life of a farmer, which has continued unto the present time. He has been successful and now owns three hundred and seventy-eight acres of valuable farming land, which is kept in good state of cultivation. He is one of the prominent farmers of the county and stands high as a citizen, neigh- bor and business man. He was made a Mason in 1870, and is a member of Shawnee Lodge, No. 129, Free and Accepted Masons, at O'Dell's Corners, of which he is a past worshipful master.
In early manhood Mr. Taylor married Matilda, daughter of John and Matilda (Emerson) Kennedy, by whom he has four children. Charles S., who married Margaret Olive Glunt, resides in Wayne township .Ind has two children, George Willard and Charles Lawrence; Alonzo married Jennie May Duncan, resides in Jackson township and has five children, Lloyd Leslie, Clarence Otis, Hazel Lydia, Nellie May and Gladys. Almeda Lula Bell is Mr. Taylor's third child and Almedia O. is the youngest. Mrs. Taylor and her daughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
DENNY BOYD SIMISON.
The gentleman whose name introduces this biographical record was widely known to the people of the section of which this book treats, for during a long and influential career his name had become familiar with all classes as standing for upright citizenship and general progress. He was the son of John and Harriet Eliza (Agnew) Simison, the former a native of Portage county, Ohio, and the latter of the state of Pennsylvania. They both came to Indiana when quite young and were married in Parke county in 1851 and came to Tippecanoe county, settling in the town of Romney. The father having been previously educated for a doctor, he at once began
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the practice of medicine in Romney, which he continued until his death, hav- ing been known as one of the leading physicians of his day in that locality. The date of his death was August 17, 1902, being at the time of his death nearly seventy-eight years old, having been born in 1824. He is buried at Romney. His wife was born September 30, 1832, and still survives him at the age of seventy-seven years, making her home in Romney. She is a woman of fine Christian attributes and it is interesting to hear her tell of the early days of the career of Doctor Simison when he made the rounds of his practice principally on horseback for many years, enduring many of the great hardships of pioneer times. This worthy couple were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters, Denny Boyd, of this review, being the second in order of birth. All these children are still living in 1909 excepting the subject of this sketch, whose sudden and accidental death oc- curred October 15, 1909.
Denny Boyd Simison was born in Randolph township, at the town of Romney, Tippecanoe county, March 17, 1854. He passed all the grades in the Romney city schools, later graduating from Ford's high school. He was also a freshman in DePauw University, after which he returned home and took up farming, having received a fine education and winning a reputa- tion for excellent scholarship. He worked for his father on the home place, continuing agricultural pursuits in a successful manner until he was thirty- five years old.
The domestic life of Mr. Simison dates from March 9, 1893, when, in the city of Lafayette, he was united in marriage with Anna Perkins, who was born near Wingate, Montgomery county, Indiana, April 15, 1857, the daughter of Frank Luster and Emma (Webb) Perkins. Both parents were natives of Ohio, but migrated to Indiana where they were married and became the parents of three children, two girls and one boy, Anna being the oldest in order of birth; the other two were James William and Mary Jane; the son is deceased. The father of these children was one of the patriotic men of the North who offered up his life like many another hero in the dark days of the sixties in defense of the national union, having en- listed in Company A, Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and died while in the service, November 13, 1863, at Leavenworth, Ken- tucky, having contracted the measles with other complications. He was buried at the above named town, but shortly afterwards his remains were taken up, brought home and interred in the Romney cemetery. He was a devout Christian and a member of the Methodist faith nearly all his life. His widow still survives, having some time afterward married John Brunton,
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and she now resides in Lafayette. She became the mother of two children by her second marriage, Ida MI. and Bertha E. Brunton. Three children, two boys and one girl, have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Denny Boyd Simi- son, namely : John P., Frank L. and Mary B .. all yet members of the fam- ily circle.
The subject and wife continued to reside upon their fine farm of about five hundred acres in Randolph township, which, under the careful manage- ment of Mr. Simison, became one of the model farms of the county, being well improved in every respect, and on which general farming is en- gaged in with very gratifying results. Livestock of various kinds is to be found on the place, Mr. Simison having been regarded by his neighbors as an excellent judge of stock and no small part of his annual income was derived" from this source. On the place is a commodious and nicely furnished dwell- ing, and which is surrounded by outbuildings adequate to the various needs. He was also the owner of additional land. amounting to four hundred and twenty acres, a part of which is in Montgomery county. Mr. Simison was a very successful man in his business life, always attending strictly to his own affairs and managing whatever he had in hand with that discretion and soundness of judgment that stamped him as a man of unusual business acumen and foresight. Although a loyal Republican, he never held nor aspired to positions of public trust, and was a strong advocate of the temperance movement which is at this writing sweeping over the state of Indiana like an incoming tide. John F. Simison, brother of the subject, has long been an active worker in the Republican party and he is at present representative to the legislature from Montgomery county. He assisted in the special session called by Governor Hanly to pass the county local option bill, Mr. Simison standing firm in its favor.
Denny Boyd Simison was a member of Romney Lodge, No. 441, Free and Accepted Masons, and he believed in carrying out the sublime precepts of the same in his daily life before his fellowmen. His widow, a woman of culture and refinement. is a member of the Methodist church at Romney. of which Mr. Simison was a regular attendant and a liberal supporter.
THOMAS SEYMOUR MOTTER, M. D.
Dr. Thomas S. Motter, well-known physician of Dayton, this county, was born three miles southwest of Lafayette, Indiana, on a farm which stretched along the banks of Wea creek, February 5, 1837. the son of Jacob
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and Deborah A. (Shultz) Motter, both of German descent. Andrew Mot- ter, father of Jacob, came to America, accompanied by his wife and seven children about 1796, and settled in Fairfax county, Virginia, where he be- came a man of wealth and distinction, being noted for his old-fashioned hospitality. He owned a large tract of valuable land, and always had a fine stable of the best horses and a large pack of hounds, being a great hunter and a lover of sport, especially outdoor recreations. After a few years he left Virginia, locating near Hagerstown, Maryland, and later moved to Chil- licothe, Ohio, finally migrating to Indiana, spending his last days with his children in Carroll county, where he died at about the age of eighty-four years. He was a sterling pioncer, brave, industrious and loyal to the in- stitutions of his adopted country, and when he heeded the summons calling him from his earthly labors a sincere regret was expressed by a wide circle of acquaintances and friends who recognized in him a gentleman of the highest address. His good wife Elizabeth was born in Germany, June 17. 1772, and she passed to her rest about 1855 at the home of her son, David Motter. in Wisconsin. She was the mother of ten children, seven only of whom can be recalled. Their names are Jonathan, George, William, An- drew ; Jacob, the father of the subject ; Samuel and David. Jacob Motter was born in Virginia, March 9, 1805. He moved from place to place with his parents until he reached Chillicothe, where he learned the trade of black- smith. In 1825 he made a trip on horseback to Indiana. When he reached a place about four miles north of Lafayette he saw a band of Indians stand- ing on a mound by the river, and when he asked them about fording the stream one of them waded out in the river and showed him the way. When Mr. Motter gave him a silver coin, the red man seemed to be greatly pleased. Mr. Motter came on to Lafayette and located on Third street, erecting a shop opposite the Bramble House, and here he followed his trade of black- smithing until 1835, becoming known throughout this locality as a very skilled workman. In the year just referred to he traded his city property for a one-fourth section of land on Wea creek. He cleared the land and engaged in farming, at the same time maintaining a blacksmith shop on his place. In 1849 he moved to White county, Indiana, and purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land which was unimproved. It was located near Monticello and it became a very valuable piece of property under Mr. Mot- ter's skillful management. In February, 1864. he went to Bloomington, Il- linois, and engaged in the bakery and confectionery business. He also pur- chased a farm adjacent to the city and during the latter part of that year he moved to this farm, where, on May 2. 1856, he passed away after a life of
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honor and industry. He was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an old-line Whig. He enjoyed the friendship of all who knew him.
Deborah Shultz, who married Jacob Motter in the year 1836, was born September 29, 1815, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Dunbar) Shultz, natives of Germany and Kentucky respectively. Mr. Shultz came to Amer- ica when fourteen years of age, and, adopting our institutions as freely as if they had been fostered by his Fatherland, he gallantly served in the war of 1812. He resided near Connersville, Indiana, as early as 1823, for it is known that a Methodist campmeeting was held on his farm that year. During the latter part of his life he owned and operated a gristmill in the northern part of Carroll county, Indiana, and it was there that he died when about sixty years old, honored by all, especially by the members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the deliberations of which he took a de- light. He was the father of nine children, as follows: Caroline, Isabella, Sarah, Elizabeth, Angeline, James, Francis A., John B. and Deborah, mother of the subject.
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