USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 69
USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 69
USA > Indiana > Parke County > Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens : together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States > Part 69
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Edward, our subject, grew up near Xenia, work- ing on a farm and attending the district schools until October, 1861, when he enlisted at Xenia, in Company E, Seventy-fourth Regiment, under Col. Granville Moody, a Methodist minister, and under Capt. Fisher, and in the Army of the Cumberland he served for three years and eleven months. He was one of the valiant men who braved the enemy's bullets at Stone River, Chickamaagua, Jonesboro and Bentonville, N. C. Twice was he wounded; once a bullet struck him in the thigh at Stone River, and again at Bentonville, and be was for eight weeks in the hospital. At Stone River he was captured about three hours after he was wounded, having been assisted back by his brother,
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George A. Snyder, to the place where surgical treatment could be given him. After capture he was marched to Murfreesboro under a detail, traveling a distance of three miles with the assist- ance of the prisoners, but he was only kept three days before being paroled.
Soon after he returned to camp, and, understand- ing that he had been exchanged, he took part in the battle of Chickamauga, and was exchanged on the second day of the fight. When the war was over he participated in the Grand Review at Washington City and was honorably discharged July 5, 1865. Ile then returned to Ohio and re- mained there for two years when he came to Montgomery County, Ind., where his half-brother, Jacob M. Troutman, was then living. Ile found work in the mills at Darlington and remained for more than a year, and then returned to his old home in Ohio and spent two years as a clerk iu a store and warehouse. Returning to Indiana, he went with his brother, Mr. Troutman, into a mill three and one-half miles west of Crawfordsville, and this business was continued for about two years.
At the end of that time our subject came to Crawfordsville and entered the office of M. D. White in 1872, read law and was admitted to the Bar after one year of reading, Byron R. Russel be- coming his partner. In 1884 he was elected Cir- cuit Judge of the Twenty-second Circuit of Mont- gomery and Parke Counties by the Republican party, over George D. Hurley. After serving for six years he was defeated at the election of 1890. Ile has recently formed a partnership with William T. Brush, and the firm is Brush & Snyder.
Judge Snyder presided on the famous Pettit will case in the Superior Court, and has been very active in party matters. He is one of the Direc- tors of the Dovetail Body Company. His family has consisted of himself and three sisters, Mary A., Catherine E. and Anna M. Perrin, and all have been teachers. Ile is a Royal Arch Mason and has passed all of the chairs in the Knights of Pythias, and also is a valued member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was first Junior Vice-Commander in the Indiana Department and has been Post Commander.
No member of the Bar has a clearer conception of the law than has Judge Snyder, and he is logi- cal and analytical, a clear, earnest and eloquent speaker. Combining the talents of these gentle- men of the firm of Brush & Snyder, no legal gentle- men at the Montgomery Bar hold a higher degree of public confidence and patronage.
OIIN PETERSON resides on section 18, Sugar Creek Township, Montgomery Coun- ty, and receives his mail at Potato Creek. His father was a native of Hardy County, Va., where he was engaged in the plow works and wagon mannfactory. He was married four times, having by his first wife the following chil- dren: William, born in Greene County, Ohio, who followed farming up to the time of his death; Samuel, who was also a native of Greene County, and followed the pursuit of his brother; Mary, who was born in Greene County, and was married in Iowa to a farmer who is now deceased; and Mau- rice, who was born in Iowa, where he is engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Martin Peterson, the father of our subject, re- sided in Missouri in his early life, afterward re- moving to California, thence to Oregon, where . he preached the Gospel in the Christian Church until the time of his death. His second wife's chil- dren were: Silas, who was born in Greene County, Ohio, where he was a farmer and also a represent- ative of that State for two terms in the State Legislature; Phobe, who was born in Bedford County, Ohio, and is now deceased; and John, who is a farmer in Greene County, and was born in 1839. Mr. Peterson's third wife's children were Solomon, who was born in Montgomery County, Ind., and is at the present time following the oc- cupation of a farmer in Sugar Creek Township, this State; David, who is a native of Sugar Creek Township, Montgomery County; and Martha, who was also born in Montgomery County, and is now deceased.
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The great-grandfather of our subject was taken prisoner by the Indians in Virginia, and at the same time his sister was captured and held by the red men for fourteen years. She was adopted by the Indian chief as his own child, and was rcared a lady, receiving much attention from her adopted parents, who formed a strong attach- ment for her. Their camp was not far from Day- ton, Ohio. The great-grandfather was a member of the church for fifty-six years. Ilis mother, whose maiden name was Esther Burrows, was a na- tive of Ohio, as was also her husband,
Our subject's wife's grandfather and grand- mother were born in New Jersey, and emigrated to Missouri at an early day. There the grandparents passed away in 1845, at the advanced age of eighty-six years. Of the brothers and sisters of our subject's wife, Rosanna, who was born in Ohio, is married and resides in Illinois, her husband being a retired farmer; Lorinda is married to a prominent farmer of this county; Washington was born in Ohio, and is now living retired at Col- fax; and Marion, who was born in Meigs County, Ohio, was a soldier in the late war and is now de- ceased.
Mr. Peterson of this sketch is the father of five children, all of whom are now living, viz .: Ilattie, who was born in Montgomery County, is now the wife of the Rev. J. E. Steel, a resident of New Albany, and has one son; Albert K. is a farmer and was born in Montgomery County in 1860; L. W., a resident of this county, was born in 1863; Charley B., a native of this county, is now Assistant Professor in the school at LaFay- ctte, Ind .; and James A., born in this county, is Bookkeeper and Assistant Cashier of the People's Bank, of Darlington, Ind.
Our subject and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church for ten years. The former is one of the Trustees of the church, and he was also instrumental in the erection of the edifice in Potato Creek Township that was built in 1870. He always takes a great deal of interest in religious affairs, and his wife is a teacher in the Sunday-school. Mr. Peterson is a County Commissioner, having been elected to that position in 1888; his term will expire in Decem-
ber. He was united in marriage in 1855, at which time he had only one hundred acres of land, on which he erected a log cabin and settled down to a quiet life. In 1860 he built a modern house of ten rooms, with all the improvements and conven- niences of that time, and the timber used in this building was cut from his own farm and sawed at the Peterson Mills. He is quite well-to-do, and his pleasant manner, social qualities and high character have attracted to him a host of warm friends.
C HARLES M. BERRY is a young editor of marked enterprise, who has already made himself known through his well-conducted paper, the Veedersburgh News, which is devoted to the interests of Fountain County, and is an im- portant factor in the upbuilding of this town. Hle also has a job-printing office, in which he car- ries on a good business.
Our subject is a son of the late Dr. James A. Berry, who during his life was one of the most prominent and successful physicians in Mont- gomery County, and at his death was considered at the head of his chosen profession over the en- tire western part of Indiana. His mother, whose maiden name was Nancy A. Murray, is a member of one of the most popular and respected fam- ilies in this county. Mr. Berry entered the news- paper field when quite young, even in his school days being connected with the local papers, and since then has had charge and been an assistant on some of the best papers in Montgomery, his native county. Ile has shown his ability by entering an apparently discouraging field, because there had been no predecessor who had made a success in the town, and by "hustle," grit, perseverance and wis- dom has succeeded, in two years and a-half, in se- curing a list of sixteen hundred and eighty actual subscribers, and placing his paper in the front ranks in the county.
Our subject is well educated and has a practical
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knowledge of the art of printing. Ile also has a taste for literary work. A short time since he came to Veedersburgh, believing that there was a fair opening for a job-printing office and for a lively village newspaper. Ile is now operating his print- ing establishment with good profit, and his busi- ness is rapidly increasing. He entered upon the publication of his paper under discouraging cir- cumstances. But he bravely pursued the even tenor of his way, being well fitted by tenacity of purpose, and having a good degree of execu- tive ability, and he has won recognition as an edi- tor who is well up in his profession and under- stands how to edit a readable, newsy, well-printed paper, in which the events of the day are set forth in good form, and political, social and other topics of general interest are discussed in a discriminating and dispassionate manner; while all enterprises that will in any way further the development of the town and county meet with hearty encourage- ment in its columns. Mr. Berry particularly in- terests himself in the welfare of Veedersburgh, and among other schemes for promoting its growthi which have emanated from his fertile brain is the publication of several copper-plate maps, showing the rare advantages of the location of the village as a manufacturing and commercial centre in the county. Under no circumstances will he leave a stone unturned to show the many advantages that are offered for every enterprise by the loca- tion of the town, which he has named "The Hub," it being in the centre of the county.
ACKSON ALLEN, a representative citizen of Reserve Township, Parke County, Ind., belongs to the number who are to-day among its most enlightened and enterpris- ing farmers. He is the son of Solomon Allen, who was born in 1796 in the Old Dominion, coming to Ohio with his parents, where he received his lim- ited education, attending school but five months.
In the fall of 1826 he came to Reserve Township, Parke County, and located on section 33, on eighty acres of land, which he entered and im- proved. Ile was a zealous worker in church affairs and held the important offices of Elder and Exhorter nearly all his life. At the time of his death, November 11, 1890, he was the possessor of ninety acres of arable land.
The first wife of Solomon Allen bore him six children: Emily Woodard, who married Jesse Kemp; Samuel, deceased; Jackson; Sarah J. Mor- rison; Joseph and Harmony Henderson. The mo- ther was born in 1794 and died in the spring of 1871. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Allen was married to Mrs. Peggy Lewis, the widow of Eli Lewis, and a daughter of William Morris. She died in January, 1889. The grandfather of our subject was named Jackson, and went to Ohio in 1807, where he lived for thirty-three years. At the end of that time he came to Indiana, where he lived until his death in 1845. His wife followed him five years later, dying in 1850. He was a supporter of the Whig body and was devoted to the unpretentious sect of Friends. To himself and wife were born the following children: Edward Joseph, Solomon, Wesley, Benjamin, Ruth, Mary, Anice, Rebecca, Sallie and Harmony.
Jackson Allen was born March 12, 1826, in Clarke County, Ohio, received a common district- school education and taught two winters. When he had attained the age of twenty-one years he be- gan work on the farm for himself, and a year later he became the owner of his first farm of forty acres on section 32, which he improved, subse- quently adding to it thirty-five acres. In the spring of 1860 he sold his farin and bought one hundred and thirty-three acres on section 33, which is now in splendid condition. Starting in life with a capital of $400, by persistent efforts and untiring energy, he has made for himself a competency as a rich reward for his labors. He now owns one hundred and eighty-eight acres of finely cultivated land. He is a Republican in pol- itics and, like his father, in religious views, is a Friend.
On the 13th of September, 1848, Mr. Allen was wedded to Catherine Morris, daughter of Exum
RESIDENCE OF JACKSON ALLEN, SEC.33. RESERVE TP. PARKE CO. IND.
RESIDENCE OF AQUILA LAVERTY, SEC. 25. WABASH TP. PARKE CO. IND.
.
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and Eleanor (Newlin) Morris, who came from North Carolina about 1824. Her grandfather was Jeremiah, the son of Zacharialı Morris. Mrs. Allen was born in Vermilion County, III. Our subject and wife have become the worthy parents of six children, all of whom, with the exception of one, grew to maturity. Eunice, the wife of Cyrus Cox, died, leaving two sons, Edgar C. and Seaborn J. Eleanor, who married Jeremiah H. Siler, died leaving one child, Clara. The remaining ones are: Clarkson T .; William E .; and Alida, the wife of Franklin M. Smith. Mr. Allen afforded his children a good education, knowing the necessity for this and feeling his responsibility in preparing them for an independent life. Having always been a politician of good standing and influence, he was sent as a delegate to the State convention in 1880 at Crawfordsville. Mr. Allen has made for him- self a warm place in the hearts of the people with whom he has been so long associated, and they have always found him true to his word, honor- able in thought and act, and faithful in his friend- ships.
QUILA LAVERTY, a worthy and lead- ing farmer of Wabash Township, Parke County, was born on section 25 of this same township, October 3, 1822. During the war he was in service, taking part in several important battles, and assisting with his own means to raise Company A, Thirty-first Indiana In- fantry. He has been the architect of his own for- tune and has accumulated a large and valuable estate. Altogether he owns upward of five thou- sand acres of good land in Wabash and Florida Townships of this county, and one hundred and sixty aeres in Missouri. Moreover, he owns a gristmill at Armiesburgh.
Aquila is the son of James and Margaret (Guffey) Laverty, the former a native of Penn- sylvania, who removed to Kentucky and later to
Columbus, Ohio, on the site of which city he as- sisted in erecting the first buildings. In the winter of 1817-18 he came by wagon to Parke County, settling on sixty acres on section 25, which he ob- tained of his brother John, who, with another brother, Samuel, had come to the State a year earlier and entered land. James Laverty was one of eight children, the others being Alexander, Samuel, Jolin, Polly, Mary, Rachel and Margaret. They all removed to Indiana about the same time, where they settled and made homes for them- selves.
The death of our subject's father occurred in 1861, at which time he was over eighty years of age. He served in the War of 1812, and was twice married. By his first union he had nine children. Jane, deceased, was the wife of William Brockway; Cynthia first married Thomas Melvin, after whose death she became the wife of Joshua Fisher; Samuel died on Powder River, Ore .; John was accidentally killed at the raising of a schoolhouse in 1832; Mary was twice married, being first the wife of John Bronson, and later Mrs. James McNutt; In- diana is the wife of Hiram' Brockway; Lucy A. is deceased; Aquila, and Alexander, who died about the year 1823, completed the number. The mo- ther of these children was called from this life about the year 1851, after which event James Laverty married Saracida Woods, nee Luster, to whom were born two children: James, a resident of Kansas, and Emily, wife of Albert Griffin.
Our subject's mother was born in Pennsylvania and was a daughter of Henry and Margaret (Mc- Dowell) Guffey. The former was a Captain in the War of 1812, in which he did valuable service. IIe was killed while plowing on his farm in Pennsyl- vania, though he had his gun strapped to the plow, being shot by Indians in ambush. The Guffey family, who are of Scotch descent, come from an old and thoroughly respected clan in the land of Burns. Our subject's father had accumulated four hundred acres of land, having lived in the West for ten or fifteen years, but lost his property be- fore his deathı.
Aquila Laverty received only a limited educa- tion in the log schoolhouse of early days, it being a building of 16x18 feet in dimensions. He is
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largely self educated, therefore, having made the best of such opportunities as have been within his reach. At the age of nineteen he began work- ing for himself, receiving $10 a month for three months. Next, for some time, with his two brothers, he began farming on rented land, on which he raised three crops and made considerable money. lle took $100, and in company with his brother Alexander went to Galena, Ill., prospect- ing for five months in the lead mines of that lo- cality. He doubled his money several times and returned to Wabash Township. He next proceeded to build flatboats to run to New Orleans, to which city he made about nineteen trips.
In the year 1847 Mr. Laverty purchased his first farm of one hundred and thirty acres on section 25, Wabash Township, which he cleared and greatly improved. He accumulated five thousand acres in the course of time and has been very successful in his various enterprises and undertakings. About the time of the war Mr. Laverty ran a steamboat on the Wabash River. In the fall of 1861 he was very influential in raising a company, of winch he was offered the captaincy, but refused, choosing rather to go as a private soldier, but later, as there was dissatisfaction in the election, our subject went in order to get the company to go. He took part in the battle of Ft. Donelson, and in company with another private soldier gave orders to his captain to retreat three times, until reinforced. In this case the private soldiers were really the com- manders. In the battle of Shiloh, during the first day's fight, our subject was wounded in the left thigh and was granted a thirty-days furlough. He went to Terre Haute and Evansville, and was examined at the end of this time, but found that he was unable to resume the duties, and was con- sequently discharged at Indianapolis as a Corporal. In politics he was a Whig before the war, and has been a Republican since the organization of the party.
A marriage ceremony was performed September 12, 1851, by which Miss Elizabeth Justus became the wife of our subject. She was born in Wabash Township in 1869, and is the daughter of Aquila and Mary (Gormely) Justus, who emigrated from Ohio to Parke County, Ind., in 1824. The union
of Mr. and Mrs. Laverty has been blessed with a number of children, as follows: Mary, who is de- ceased; Henry, who died at the age of fourteen; George, who is the third in order of birth; Irena, who is the wife of J. C. Casto; Erminie and Kit- tie C., at home; and Jessie F., who died in infancy. The mother, who was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was called to the home beyond on August 2, 1890.
M ARTHA E. GRIFFITH, M. D., was born near Madison, Jefferson County, Ind., her parents being John W. and Eliza- beth (Craven) Hutchings. She received the advantages of a fair education at the Vernon Academy, and when about twenty-one began to read medicine with Dr. N. Richardson, an old friend of the family and one of the best-known physicians in southern Indiana. She has always been of a lively nature and was a general favorite with both sexes of those near her own age, but her de- termination to read medicine was such an unusual and unheard of thing that it was not long before her former friends had deserted her, and she was given to understand that some of them could not accept as a companion a girl who would so break away from all tradition as to enter the practice of medicine. She was shunned by some of her former companions, and everything was done to dissuade her from her intention.
Although she was almost ostracised, she was of a determined mind and had a strong will, and she became more determined than ever to carry out her plans; therefore she continued her studies and became more and more interested as she searched the depths of the science. At this time there were but two lady physicians in regular practice in the State. One of these was a woman who has been very closely connected with the history of " Crawfordsville, Mrs. Dr. Mary Wilhitt, and the other was Dr. Mary Thomas, of Richmond.
When prepared, Miss Hutchings'repaired to the
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Philadelphia Woman's Medical College and mat- riculated at the opening of the school in 1866. She continued her attendance there until she grad- uated in March, 1870, having spent some time in special hospital work and study at the New Eng- land Hospital for Women at Boston. She was the first woman to enter a medical school from Indiana, and her classmates were earnest women, with similar views of woman's ability and fitness for the duties of a physician's life. Among these were many who have attained more than local prominence in medical life.
Miss Hutchings returned to her old home in 1870 opened an office in Madison and entered upon a general practice. A lady physician was still something strange to the people, and as she had expected her practice grew slowly. She real- ized that time and time only could overcome the old-established predjudices, but her ever gentle manner, guided by the heart of a true woman, brought her friends and practice. She met with success in her treatment of cases from the start, and in no long time was widely known as a suc- cessful practitioner.
Miss Hutchings remained at Madison until her union for life with Dr. Griffith and she has since kept up her practice at Darlington and Crawfords- ville. Since the death of her predecessor and friend, Mrs. Wilhitt, who has but recently been called higher, Mrs. Griffith is the only lady phy- sician in Montgomery County. She is highly respected by the members of the profession, who for some years made her Vice-President of the Medical Society, in which she is an active and in- fluential worker. Her practice in recent years has grown more toward the diseases of women and children, and in these she is considered emi- nently successful in her treatments. She is a lady of wide information, and while she keeps abreast with the advances made in her profession, she also finds time to keep familiar with the efforts made by other as earnest women who are working for the advancement of the sex. Dr. Griffith is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and has frequently attended the State con- ventions as a delegate. The demands of a practice and a family preclude her engaging more fully in
the great work, yet every move meets with her sympathy, and she takes much pleasure in the fact that a time has come, when in the eyes of the world a woman may be a doctor and still retain her refinement and tenderness. In her, woman suffrage finds a supporter, and the venerable mother (now deceased) of Frances E. Willard cast- ing her vote at Evanston was to her a sight worthy of imitation. She is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps, and also of the Woman's Aid So- ciety of the Christian Church.
Mrs. Griffith has been the mother of two chil- dren: Helen, who died at the age of two and one- half years; and James Barton, a student in the Sophomore class at- Wabash College. Mrs. Griffith is a member of the Indiana State Medical Society.
E XUM NEWLIN. The citizens of Parke County are all familiar with the name of this prominent contractor and builder, who is also one of the most active workers in the Society of Friends. He is the owner of fifteen acres within the corporate limits of Bloomingdale, and is himself a resident of Penn Township. A man of great ability, he has won considerable local reputation as a poetical writer, and his writ- ings have been widely published and read.
The ancestry of our subject is traced to distin- guished residents of England. Nicholas Newlin, who emigrated to America in 1682, was a descend- ant of Nicholas Newlin, of Canterbury, England, who was born about the year 1580. He was descended from Sir Randolph de la Newlandee, landlord of Newlandee Hall, of Essex Manor. The first representative of the family in the United States brought with him a pack of hounds and about twenty horses, which would lead one to sup- pose that he must have been an English fox-hunt- ing squire. At his request, he received a certificate from the Society of Friends at Cork, Ireland, which gave him permission to emigrate to America.
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