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 9
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 9
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 9
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MONTGOMERY, PARKE AND
FOUNTAIN COUNTIES,
INDIANA.
5
INTRODUCTORY.
HE time has arrived when it becomes the duty of the people of this county to per- petuate the names of their pioneers, to furnish a record of their early settlement, and relate the story of their progress. The civilization of our day, the enlightenment of the age and the duty that men of the pres- ent time owe to their ancestors, to themselves and to their posterity, demand that a record of their lives and deeds should be made. In bio- graphical history is found a power to instruct man by precedent, to enliven the mental faculties, and to waft down the river of time a safe vessel in which the names and actions of the people who contributed to raise this country from its primitive state may be preserved. Surely and rapidly the great and aged men, who in their prime entered the wilderness and claimed the virgin soil as their heritage, are passing to their graves. The number re- maining who can relate the incidents of the first days of settlement is becoming small indeed, so that an actual necessity exists for the collection and preser- vation of events without delay, before all the early settlers are cut down by the scythe of Time.
To be forgotten has been the great dread of mankind from remotest ages. All will be forgotten soon enough, in spite of their best works and the most earnest efforts of their friends to perserve the memory of their lives. The means employed to prevent oblivion and to perpetuate their memory has been in propor- tion to the amount of intelligence they possessed. The pyramids of Egypt were built to perpetuate the names and deeds of their great rulers. The exhu- mations made by the archeologists of Egypt from buried Memphis indicate a desire of those people
to perpetuate the memory of their achievements The erection of the great obelisks were for the same purpose. Coming down to a later period, we find the Greeks and Romans erecting mausoleums and monu- ments, and carving out statues to chronicle their great achievements and carry them down the ages. It is also evident that the Mound-builders, in piling up their great mounds of earth, had but this idea- to leave something to show that they had lived. All these works, though many of them costly in the ex- treme, give but a faint idea of the lives and charac- ters of those whose memory they were intended to perpetuate, and scarcely anything of the masses of the people that then lived. . The great pyramids and some of the obelisks remain objects only of curiosity ; the mausoleums, monuments and statues are crum- bling into dust.
It was left to modern ages to establish an intelli- gent, undecaying, immutable method of perpetuating a full history-immutable in that it is almost un- limited in extent and perpetual in its action ; and this is through the art of printing.
To the present generation, however, we are in- debted for the introduction of the admirable system of local biography. By this system every man, though he has not achieved what the world calls greatness, has the means to perpetuate his life, his history, through the coming ages.
The scythe of Time cuts down all ; nothing of the physical man is left. The monument which his chil- dren or friends may erect to his memory in the ceme. tery will crumble into dust and pass away; but his life, his achievements, the work he has accomplished, which otherwise would be forgotten, is perpetuated by a record of this kind.
To preserve the lineaments of our companions we engrave their portraits, for the same reason we col- lect the attainable facts of their history. Nor do we think it necessary, as we speak only truth of them, to wait until they are dead, or until those who know them are gone: to do this we are ashamed only to publish to the world the history of those whose lives are unworthy of public record.
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I am Respectfully M. D. Manson
BIOGRAPHICAL.
G EN. MAHLON D. MANSON. The life and character of the gentleman whose well- known name opens this article may be studied with profit by the young, contemplated with satisfaction by the patriotie, and referred to with pride by his kindred and friends. His name is honorably mentioned on many pages of the his- tory of the late war, and in the political life of the State of Indiana he has taken a prominent part. In private life he has sustained an unsullied reputation, and has deserved the confidence and good-will of his fellow-men.
Gen. Manson was born near Piqua, Miami County, Ohio, February 18, 1818. His Christian name was given him as a mark of regard for Gov. Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey, who was Secre- tary of War under Gen. Jackson. The father of our subject died when he was but three years old, and he early became the support of his mother. After some years of his boyhood had been spent in mechanical pursuits, he became a druggist's clerk, and soon after set up for himself in that business. In October, 1842, he removed to Indi- ana and taught school in Montgomery County. He studied medicine and attended a course of lec- tures at the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, and a partial second course in New Orleans. How- ever, he did not practice medicine in Crawfords- ville, but continued as a druggist.
Upon the commencement of the war with Mex- ico Gen. Manson entered the service as Captain of Company I, Fifth Indiana Regiment, Col. James H. Lane commanding, with which he participated in the campaign with Gen. Scott from Vera Cruz to the Capital. Upon his return to Crawfords-
ville at the close of the war he resumed his busi- ness as a druggist, and in 1851 was elected Repre- sentative from Montgomery County to the General Assembly. Ile served during the important ses- sions of 1851-52, in which the laws of the State were revised, and which adopted the new consti- tution. In 1856 he was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention which nominated Bu- chanan and Breckenridge. In 1860 he was an ar- dent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, and when the war broke out he placed himself in the ranks of the Union and took an active part in the re- cruiting of the first company raised in Montgom- ery County, under Gen. Lew Wallace. Two days afterward, in five hours be raised a company, with which he marched to Indianapolis. From the men he brought into camp, two companies of the Tenth Indiana Regiment were formed, and Company G elected Mr. Manson Captain.
Upon the organization of the regiment Mr. Manson was commissioned Major, and within ten days afterward was promoted to be Colonel. Early in June his regiment was ordered to West Virginia, and participated in the battle of Rich Mountain. Hlis regiment was placed in advance with Gen. Rosecrans, and on the 19th of .Jannary, 1862, Col. Manson and his brigade participated in the bat- tle of Mill Spring. After that battle the Union forces returned to Louisville, and the ladies of that city presented the Tenth Indiana with a beau- tiful flag, which was received by Col. Manson in behalf of his regiment. March 24, 1862, Col. Man- son was appointed Brigadier-General by President Lincoln, and this promotion was valued, as it came to him without solicitation. To give the war
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record of this brave general would include the most brilliant and effective portion of the army's movements during those years.
On the 14th of May, 1864, the army corps with which Gen. Manson was connected moved upon the Confederate works at Resaca, and it was at this place that this brave officer made one of those displays of courage which make patriots' hearts glow with pride. To show Gen. Haskell how he might best avoid the enemy's fire, Gen. Manson sprang upon the works, when he was struck by a piece of shell upon the right shoulder, and his arm was thereby disabled forever. Although he was carried off the field insensible, in a few days he resumed command, but he was finally obliged to enter the hospital at Nashville. He was there at the time of the battle of Franklin, but was later removed to Louisville, where he remained for eighty-five days, and here, after having an opera- tion performed, he became satisfied that he would not be able to again take his command, and so De- cember 21, 1864, he resigned.
During his career Gen. Manson was never known to complain of any duty assigned to him, and he was distinguished for accuracy of judg- ment and promptness in action, and was respected by his equals and loved by his men. Gen. Man- son was nominated by the Democratic party in 1864 as their candidate for Lientenant-Governor, on a ticket headed by the late Joseph E. McDon- ald, but while he ran ahead of his ticket, he was defeated. In 1866 he was nominated for Sec- retary of State, but was defeated, and in 1868 he was nominated as a candidate for Congress in the Ninth District, but the district was largely Repub- liean and he was defeated. In 1870 he was again the Democratic candidate for Congress, and was elected over Gen. Lew Wallace, and served in the Forty-second Congress.
Gen. Manson was a member of the Committee on Invalid Pensions and performed a great amount of labor, rendering great service to his disabled companions. In 1873 he was appointed and served as a member of the Democratic State Central Com- mittee, and in 1875 he was made its Chairman, in which capacity he served during the memorable campaign of 1876; he represented the State at
large in the convention at St. Louis, and supported the candidaey of Thomas A. Hendricks for the nomination for President. He was one of the number who went to New Orleans after the elec- tion in 1876 to represent Mr. Tilden, and in that year he was elected to be Auditor of the State with a plurality of votes amounting to fourteen thou- sand. In 1884 he was elected Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, but resigned to accept the office of Collec- tor of Internal Revenue in the Terre Haute Dis- triet. In 1886 President Cleveland appointed Thomas Hanlon Collector of Internal Revenue, but as he was not confirmed, Gen. Manson received the appointment the same year.
Our distinguished subject is a member of the commission in charge of building the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument at Indianapolis, and by the organization of the Mexican War veterans of In- diana was unanimously seleeted to represent the period of the Mexican War on the monument. He has long been a prominent member of the Grand Army, and became a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity in 1841, in which he has taken all of the degrees, including the thirty-second, and has filled the offices in the subordinate as well as the Grand Lodge of the State. He was Deputy Grand Master for two years.
Gen. Manson was united in marriage on the 24th of May, 1850, with Miss Caroline Mitchell, a daughter of Joseph Mitchell, of Crawfordsville, Ind. Mrs. Manson was born at Camden, Preble County, Ohio. Gen. and Mrs. Manson have had born to them six children, three sons and three daughters, the eldest child and daughter being now deceased. Mrs. Manson for many years has heen a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Gen. Manson is a man of commanding presence, and, until disabled by his wound, a man of strong constitution. His manner is frank and engaging, and he has an invaluable faculty, springing from the kindness of his heart and goodness of motive, of making men feel at home when in his presence. An eloquent orator, he commands the attention, convinees the reason, arouses the enthusiasm, and awakens the zeal of his hearers. A brave and gallant soldier, a prudent and conscientions states- man, a public-spirited citizen, a faithful friend, an
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
honest man in business, and a true man in all the relations of life, it is not surprising that he holds a high position in the esteem and affection of the people of the State. He rose from poverty to justly deserved eminence, and the bright light which beats upon his life discovers no flaw in his character. Not by accident or aid of others, but by earnest toil, constant perseverance, through smoke and blood of battle, he has attained success in life, military glory, political and social popu- larity and the love and honor of his fellow-citizens. Such men as he make all men their debtors.
ON. JOSEPH MILLIGAN, the gentleman of whom this sketch is written, has been one of the stanch, stable men connected with the financial, social, educational and political world. of the State of Indiana.
Joseph Milligan was born in Perry, then Cum- berland, County, Pa., near Harrisburg, March 3, 1814, and was the son of David and Sarah (Wal- lace) Milligan. The father of our subject was from Ireland, and came to the United States when young- The mother was a native of Bucks County, Pa., and came of Scotch-Irish ancestry, who settled in this country about 1765. When Joseph was but a .baby his father settled at Braddock's Fields, the old battleground near Pittsburgh. Here he reared his family of eight children, of whom Joseph was the seventh child and the only one living. A sis- ter, Mrs. Graham of Kansas, died February 17 1892, aged eighty-four years, and one brother, Robert Milligan, died about 1887. Ilis brother Thomas was a graduate of Wabash College in the second class from that college, iu 1839, and for many years was a Trustee of the college. He be- came a minister and officiated principally in Owen County, Ind., where he died in 1876, and there his parents both passed away. The old homestead still remains in the family.
Joseph remained on the farm until he was nine- teen years old, and in 1833 he emigrated to Mont-
gomery County, where his elder brother, Jolin, had settled in 1830. The latter was the projector of the town of Waveland, as he owned the land and laid out the village. Joseph soon secured a posi- tion in a store at Crawfordsville, but remained there only a short time, owing to the proprietor wishing him to handle whisky, and this lie re- fused to do, and thus early showed those right principles which have marked his career through life.
With only $10 in his pocket, but with the happy disposition and faith in himself which character- ize the Irish blood the world over, Joseph started down the Ohio. He had a deck passage to Cin- einnati, and from Crawfordsville he went as far as "The Narrows" of Sugar Creek, a trading-point on the creek, and here he spent one year in charge of a store for John Mitchell, who during this time went to New Orleans with two flatboats of pork; he died of cholera while on the trip, on board of the steamer, and was buried on the banks of the river. After closing up these affairs Joseph took one term in Wabash College and then be- came a merchant.
The brother of our subject was engaged in mer- cantile pursuits near where Joseph lived, and of- fered his young brother a partnership. This was accepted and he went into the store at Jackson- ville, where he remained about four years and did well, as it was the first store there. On his return to Waveland he and a brother formed a partner- ship in a store and there he continued until about 1845. During this time he was also buying pork at the "Narrows," which was the head of navigation, and making trips with it to New Orleans.
In 1845 our subject went into the same business for himself at Waveland, and kept on enlarging until 1856, when his business had assumed extens- ive proportions. Ile then bought goods in New York and Cincinnati and carried on a large trade. At this time he bought a farm in Fountain County and went into partnership with other parties in general merchandising, he supplying the means, and in 1869 he changed his residence to Craw- fordsville.
During the war Mr. Milligan bought the Rock- port Mills and assisted in furnishing supplies to
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the soldiers, donated through the Sanitary Com- mission. At the organization of the First National Bank he became a Director for two years, and prior to 1890 he was its President, and still holds his connection as Director. He was the first Presi- dent of the Crawfordsville & Southwestern Rail- road, now purchased by the Vandalia. flis influ- ence secured the right of way and the perfeet or- ganization of the road.
Mr. Milligan made a trip through Iowa and Kansas and bought thousands of acres in those States, and has since been selling them with great profit. In 1839 he rode over the country on horse- back and visited lowa City and St. Joseph, Mo., then Milligan's Landing, and picked out valuable traets; he has also handled lands in this State. In 1864 he was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket and served for two terms, and although not a speaker has made his mark upon the history of the State. His connection with his party has been very active in the past, and he was a strong supporter of the war movement.
Mr. Milligan was married April 5, 1846, to Miss Janie M. Hawkins, the danghter of Col. Ilawkins, of Braddock, Pa., but her death occurred January 25, 1852, when she left one daughter, India J., who died at the age of twenty-four years. Mr. Milligan was married a second time, in September, 1853, to Miss Harriet N. Fullinwider, the daughter of Eleazer and Lavina (Allen) Fullinwider, who had settled near Waveland about 1834. 'The father was a Kentuckian, although his parents had come from Pennsylvania, and the mother's from Virginia, and both parents died in this county in 1870 and 1879, respectively. Mrs. Milligan has one sister, Mrs. llannah Taylor, the widow of Rev. Samuel Taylor, a Presbyterian minister of Frankfort and Waveland. Mrs. Milligan was born March 13, 1825, in Shelby County, Ky., and the children of the family are Harry J., who is now an attorney at Indianapolis, and a graduate of Wabash College; and Anna Al- len, a talented young lady, who is her father's most valued assistant.
Mr. Milligan in early life was a Methodist, but for the past thirty years has been an Ekler in the Presbyterian Church. He has been a delegate to the General Assemblies at St. Louis and Saratoga.
When the Rev. Thomas Milligan resigned as Trustee of Wabash College, Mr. Joseph Milligan was appointed to succeed him, and he has given the college interests much attention. Another im- portant post held by Mr. Milligan was that of President of the Orphans' Home, a county institu- tion, and in all of the relations of life he has filled the measure. He is a man of whom the peo- ple of the county are proud, for he reflects the best that is in it.
ARVEY ADAMS. The vast agricultural resources of the United States enable thou- sands of men to gain a maintenance and secure a competence by tilling the soil. Parke County is not without her share of these en- terprising workers, and among those in Adams Township who own and occupy excellent estates is the gentleman aboved named, who is numbered among the snecessful men of the county. His property is well improved, and the owner not only raises the cereals for which this State is so well adapted, but also devotes considerable attention to the various domestic animals, breeding them in considerable numbers.
The father of our subject, Philip Adams, was born in Virginia, where he was reared to manhood. His father came from England to America in an early day, and Philip, when a young man, went to Ohio, prior to the War of 1812, in which he took an active part. He settled in Ross County, near Chillicothe, and engaged in farming and stock- raising. He there married a Miss Bird, and to them were born three children. A sad oceurrence hap- pened in the death of his wife, and some time af- ter he married Mary L. Chestnut, a daughter of Daniel Chestnut, who was of Irish descent. Mrs. -
Adams was born and reared in Ross County, Ohio, 'and by her umon with Mr. Adams became the mother of four children, our subject being the first-born. Those living are our subject, and David, who is a physician in Edinburgh, Ind. The
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PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
deceased are James, who died in Gentry County, Mo., and Marion, who was a lawyer. In 1830 Philip Adams moved to Indiana and located within seven miles of Terre Haute, where he pursued farming four years, at the end of which time he moved to the place where he now lives. This farm consists of eighty acres, fifteen acres of which were cleared at the time of purchase. From time to time he added to his possessions, until at his death he owned two hundred and forty acres of land in this vicinity. In politics he was a Whig. He died June 14, 1845, his wife following him to the life beyond eighteen years later.
Our subject was born in Ross County, Ohio, July 6, 1825, and was about six years old when his father moved from Ohio to this county. He was educated in the old log schoolhouse, where he pursued his studies with energy, and he added to the knowledge gained therefrom by attendance for two winters in the Rockville school. When a lad he used to walk three miles to and from school each day, thus demonstrating his determination of being a man of a noble character, and althoughi not ambitious, as the world knows ambition, yet he was untiring in his devotion to his school work. Like a good son he remained with his father, as- sisting him in performing the duties of farm life to the best of liis ability, and after the decease of that parent still continued on the farm until his marriage, which occurred August 22, 1849. The lady of his choice was Miss Eliza A. Carothers, a daughter of John Carothers, who was formerly a farmer of Vermilion County, Ill. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Adams located on the farm where they now live happily together. A fam- ily of eight children blessed their union. They are: John W., who is living near Montezuma; Mary A., who was the wife of Josephus Ott, but died February 28, 1891; Joseph, who is a dealer in machinery in Indianapolis; Emma, the wife of S. C. Trueblood, who is engaged in the poultry busi- ness at Indianapolis; Albert M., of Rockville; Lucy O., who married Albert Overman, a promi- nent clothier of Rockville; Lewis E., a farmer in this neighborhood; and Anna L., who died at the age of fifteen years.
Our subject has in his possession twenty-three
hundred acres of land in Parke County, all of which is in Washington, Adams and Jackson Townships. Ile rents a greater part of this land, and is himself chiefly engaged in general farming and stock-raising. On his farm he has erected a beautiful home and commodious barn, and he is the third largest land-owner in Parke County, one of the oldest settlers now living in Adams Town- ship, and one of the most well-to-do citizens therein. The major part of his property he has accumulated by his indomitable will, as his father was enabled to give him only $300 when he started in his life pursuit. He has amassed a fortune, and has always been a cheerful giver, an earnest worker for his fellows, and now enjoys the reward of his good works by securing the confidence of his fellow-citizens. In his political relations our subject is a true-blue Republican, and takes an ac- tive part in all local affairs, although never an as- pirant for office.
S AMUEL D. PUTETT. The legal firm of Pu- ett & Adams, of which the subject of this sketch is the senior member, is one of the most prominent, not only in Rockville, but also throughout this section of the State, where they conduct an extensive and Incrative general practice in all the courts. In the majority of the most important cases ever brought into the courts of Parke County, their names have appeared and they have been successful, almost invariably, in gaining the suit.
Samuel D. Puett was born on a farm located five miles east of Rockville, March 22, 1846. He is a member of a family whose representatives for sev- eral generations have been identified with the de- velopment of Parke County. His father, Johnson Puett, and grandfather, Colman Puett, were num- bered among the very earliest settlers of Indiana, whither they migrated from North Carolina about the year 1820, and first made settlement in Mon- roe County. By occupation Johnson Puett was a
.
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farmer, and he was very successful in his under- takings, acenmulating property, until at one time he was the owner of about seven hundred acres. His death occurred at the old homestead in Parke County in 1891, when he had attained to the good old age of eighty-four. His wife, Patsy Puett, still survives.
At the old Parke County homestead, the subject of this notice was reared to a sturdy manhood, meanwhile receiving the advantages of the district schools. Afterward he attended the Rockville schools, and later entered the Bloomingdale Aead- emy, after which for one year he was a student in the State University of Indiana, at Bloomington. In 1870 he entered Asbury (now known as De Pauw) University, from which institution he was graduated. His literary education completed, he commenced the study of the law, for he had re- solved upon following that profession. At Rock- ville he entered the law office of Judge S. F. Max- well, and was soon afterward admitted to practice law at the Bar of the State.
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