USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume I > Part 20
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CLARENCE J. ROBERTS, a prom- ising young attorney, of Madison, Ind., was born on a farm in Jefferson county, Oct. 21, 1873. He is a son of Daniel A. and Perintha (Robinson) Roberts, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. The family came originally from Lancashire, England, some of its mem- bers being among the early settlers of Southern Indiana. Daniel A. Roberts has always been a farmer and still re- sides on his farm a few miles from Mad- ison. He has held the offices of town- ship trustee and county commissioner and was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. Clarence acquired his early education in the common schools, after which he attended college at Hope, and at Mitchell, Ind. At the age of sixteen he began teaching in the com- mon schools. Three years later he began the study of law at Madi- son and in 1894 he was admitted to the bar. In 1896 he was elected prosecuting attorney, holding the office for one term, and is at the present time the county attorney. He has a high standing in the pro- fession for one so young, and he enjoys the respect of both bench and
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bar in Jefferson and the surrounding counties. Mr. Roberts is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Improved Order of Red Men. He was married May 2, 1897, to Miss Eliza E. Stewart, a native of Jennings county, Ind., and they have two chil- dren: Albert S., aged five years, and Bernard S., who is still in his infancy. Mrs. Roberts is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
DANIEL W. FISHER was born in Sinking Valley, Blair county, Pa., Jan. 17, 1838. After a common school education he prepared for college partly at Milnwood and partly at Airy View academy in Cen- tral Pennsylvania. He entered the sophomore class in Jefferson col- lege, in the autumn of 1854, and graduated in the summer of 1857, receiving one of the honors of his class. He then entered the Western theological seminary of the Presbyterian church at Allegheny, Pa., and completed the course in the spring of 1860. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Huntingdon in the spring of 1859, and spent the summer as a missionary in Jackson county, in what is now West Virginia. In the spring of 1860 he was ordained by the same Presbytery as a missionary to Siam. Providential circumstances hin- dered his sailing and in the autumn he with his wife whom he had married in the spring, went to New Orleans, where he became the pastor of what is now the Memorial Presbyterian church. The war coming on, about the last of June of 1861 he voluntarily and contrary to the wishes of his people returned to the North. In August he was invited to become the regular supply of the First Presbyterian church of Wheeling, Va., and in January he became the pastor. Here he continued until April, 1876, when he resigned and went abroad for some months. On his return, after some time he temporarily took charge of the Second Presbyterian church of Madison, Ind. In July, 1879, he was elected president of Hanover college, and has ever since continued in that office. Dr. Fisher while a pastor at Wheeling received from Muskingum college the degree of D.D. and he has twice been honored with an LL.D. since he became a college presi- dent,-once by the University of Wooster and once by Washington and Jefferson. President Harrison appointed him a member of the commission to examine the United States Mint. He was a member of the committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church which prepared the way for the revision of the Confession of Faith, and also a member of the commission which revised the Confession. He has frequently been a member of the General Assembly of his
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church, and as such has held important chairmanships. He was the chairman of the special committee which secured the organization of united Presbyterian bodies on foreign mission fields; has been the moderator of the synods of Wheeling, Pittsburg and Indiana, and was in one Assembly a prominent candidate for the moderatorship. Dr. Fisher has written and published much, mainly in the line of his church and college work, and for the newspapers and higher periodicals open to such discussions. He has also published many sermons. He has three times gone abroad, the last time having with him his wife and daughter and going as far east as Palestine. His wife was Amanda D. Kouns of Ravenswood, W. Va. They have three children. The eldest, W. L. Fisher, of Chicago, is well known as the secretary of the Reform League of that city. The second, Dr. Howard Fisher, is a physician practicing in Washington, D. C. The third is Edith Fisher, the only daughter.
WALTER HENRY BRIMSON, of Cincinnati, Ohio, general superintendent of the B. & O. Southwestern, was born at Norwalk in that state. His early edu- cation was received in the common schools at Norwalk and later at Norwalk academy, from which he graduated in 1870. Immediately after graduation he entered the railway service with the Cleveland & Toledo Railway Company as a messenger in the telegraph depart- ment. He served successively as tele- graph operator and chief operator on that road; secretary to the superintendent; train despatcher; train master, superintendent of telegraph and superintendent on the Cincinnati, Sandusky & Cleveland; chief despatcher of the Lake Erie & Western; train master and superintendent of telegraph of the Chicago & In- diana Coal Railway; superintendent of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad; despatcher on the Minnesota division of the Northern Pacific; assistant superintendent of the Pacific division of the same road and from 1892 to Aug. 1, 1895, was superintendent of the Rocky Mountain division of that road at Missoula, Montana. On Nov. I, 1895, he was appointed superintendent of the Brainerd & Northern Minnesota railroad, resigning that position in June, 1896. On May I, 1897, he went to the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern at Chillicothe,
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O., from which position he was promoted to that of general super- intendent at Cincinnati on Feb. 1, 1898. On Oct. 16, 1872, he married Frances D. Drake of Sandusky, O.
JOHN S. PERNETT, of Jeffersonville, Ind., sheriff of Clark county, is a son of Samuel and Naomi (Bowman) Pernett, both natives of Indiana. The father was porn in Switzerland county, April 5, 1837, and was in later life engaged in merchandizing at Bethlehem in Clark county. He died there on Oct. 25, 1873. The mother was born in Clark county, Sept. 9, 1840, and is still living. They had six children, viz .: Edward S., Eman- uel, Emma, Charles E., John S. and Eva. After the death of her first husband the mother married a Mr. Jackson, and one daughter, Goldie Jackson, has been born to this second marriage. On the paternal side Mr. Per- nett is of Swiss extraction, his grandfather, David Emanuel Pernett, having been born in that country, March 2, 1797. While still a young man he came to America and died at Bethlehem, April 26, 1858, being associated with his son in mercantile pursuits at the time of his death. The maternal grandfather was John Bowman, a native of Hamilton county, Ohio, born Oct. 25, 1814, and died Aug. 31, 1889. The grandmother, Isabella Bowman, was born Jan. 24, 1818, and died Dec. 10, 1898. John S. Pernett was born at Bethlehem, Sept. 26, 1869. He attended the common schools of his native township, then in succession the normal school at New Washington; the Borden in- stitute; the Bryant & Stratton business college of Louisville, Ky .; DePauw university at Greencastle, Ind .; and in 1893-94 was a student in the law department of the State university at Bloomington. In 1894, soon after leaving college, he was appointed trustee of his town- ship to fill out an unexpired term, and afterward taught for two seasons in the common schools. Shortly after Herman Rave took charge of the sheriff's office he appointed Mr. Pernett to the position of deputy, and in 1902 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to succeed Mr. Rave, though he did not assume the duties of the office until January, 1904. He was elected to a second term in 1904. Mr. Pernett was married on Nov. 12, 1899, to Miss Lotta, daughter of Charles W. and Mildred Vaughn, of Louisville.
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GEORGE W. STONER, recorder of Clark county, Jeffersonville, Ind., is a descendant of one of the oldest families in that section of the state. His great- grandfather, Valentine Stoner, was one of four brothers who came from Germany prior to the Revolutionary war. Upon reaching this country they separated, each settling in a different colony. Val- enune served in the Continental army during the Revolution, being at the bat- tle of Lexington, the first outbreak of the war. After the war was over he came West and settled in what is now Clark county. His son, Jacob Stoner, the grandfather of George W., was born after the family came to the county. During his infancy he was hidden in a hollow log to escape the Indians the time of the Pigeon Roost massacre. At the time of his death he owned nine farms of eighty acres each-one for each of his children. Alfred Stoner, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Clark county in 1829 and died there in 1900. There are now some of the sixth generation from Valentine Stoner living in the county. George W. Stoner is of the fourth generation and was born on his father's farm, Oct. 9, 1862. He received his education in the public schools and after leaving school engaged in farming and buying timber, continuing in these occupations until elected recorder of the county in 1902. Mr. Stoner has been actively identified with the Democratic party ever since he attained his ma- jority and his election to the office of recorder was but the well merited reward of a faithful supporter of Democratic principles. He took charge of the office in 1903 and is now serving the second year of his four years' term. In 1881 he was married to Miss Maggie B. Dismore, the daughter of one of Scott county's representative citizens. Her father, Richard Dismore, is a son of Nathaniel Dismore, who came over from Ireland in 1798 and settled near Clark's Fort on the Ohio river. There are now some of the fifth generation of his descendants living in the counties of Scott and Clark. To Mr. and Mrs. Stoner there have been born the following children: Elmer, Arthur, Ethel, Bertha, George Dewey, Mattie and Maggie B.
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CAPT. EDWARD CLEGG, chief of police, Jeffersonville, Ind., was born on a farm in Clark county, of that state, July 23, 1870. His parents, William Harrison and Mary Clegg, were both natives of Scott county, the father born June 20, 1842, and the mother, April 8, 1845. They had a family of six daughters and three sons. Edward Clegg was educated in the common schools and after leaving school entered the employ. of the Ohio Falls Car Works, where he remained for ten years. At the end of that time he was appointed a patrolman on the Jeffersonville police force, and has ever since been connected with the police department of the city. As a patrolman he made a model officer, which led to his promotion in the force. On Jan. 1, 1903, he was appointed chief, a fitting recog- nition of his fidelity and efficiency in subordinate positions. Politically Captain Clegg is a Republican and in 1902 he received the nomination of his party for the office of sheriff, but was defeated with the rest of the ticket. He is a member of several fraternal organizations, chief among them being the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Captain Clegg married Maggie Roster, a daughter of John and Ellen Roster. Both her parents, now deceased, were natives of Ireland. To this marriage there have been born four sons: Joseph H., Eugene A., John W., and Franklin E. Captain Clegg has passed his entire life in the county where he was born. He is interested in promoting the general welfare of Jeffersonville and Clark county and realizes that an orderly community is necessary to the industrial and commercial prosperity of the people. Consequently he has introduced various reforms since becoming chief of police that tend to improve the moral conditions of the city and give better protection to person and property.
BERNARD A. COLL, of Jeffersonville, Ind., treasurer of Clark county, was born in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., Oct. 22, 1862. He is a son of Maurice and Maria (Herron) Coll, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of New Orleans, La. Maurice Coll came to America in his early manhood and located at Pittsburg, where he was for many years associated with the foundry and machine works of Maffett, Coll & Nold. In 1869 he came to Indiana as a machinist
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in the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad company. Bernard at that time was but seven years of age. Soon after coming to Jeffer- sonville he entered the parochial school of St. Augustine's church and attended that institution until he was about sixteen, receiving a good practical education. He began his business career as a retail grocer in Jeffersonville, and continued in that vocation for twenty years. He then took a position as traveling salesman for the wholesale grocery house of H. C. Armstrong, of Louisville, Ky., but after three years returned to the retail grocery business. Two years later he was elected treasurer of Clark county on the Democratic ticket. At the close of his first term he was honored with a triumphant re-election and is now serving his second term. Mr. Coll is a genial gentleman, who owes his political success largely to his "mixing" qualities. As a public official he has won the reputation of a careful, efficient, and conscientious officer-one who realizes that in his public capacity he is the servant of the people, rather than their master. Conse- quently his treatment of all who have business with the treasurer's office is uniformly courteous, which has added materially to his popularity. He was married on Feb. 22, 1892, to Miss Carrie A., daughter of Galen and Bridget Meadows, of Clark county. Mrs. Coll died on Aug. 16, 1902, leaving one daughter, Edna K., now twelve years of age.
CAPT. JOHN E. COLE, chief of the fire department of the city of Jeffersonville, Ind., was born in the State of Maryland, Aug. 5, 1857, his parents being Godfrey G. and Mary (Sweeney) Cole. The father was a native of Vermont, a stone cutter by trade, and died in 1857. The mother was born in Ireland, and is still living at the age of seventy-five years, having been born in 1829. Their family con- sisted of two sons and one daughter. John E. Cole was educated in the Jeffersonville city schools. After leaving school he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in March, 1874, and remained with that company until 1883, when he was elected city marshal of Jeffersonville. He served as marshal for eight years, when he returned to railroading as yard master for the Illinois Central until June 23, 1902, at which time he was appointed to a position as pipeman in the Jeffersonville fire department. His promptness, his aptitude and his fidelity won for him the approbation of his superiors, which naturally led to his promotion, and in 1904 he was elected chief of the department. Some years ago Mr. Cole was married to Miss Catherine, daughter of Patrick and Mary Carroll, and to this mar-
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riage there have been born the following children: Marie, aged twenty-three years; Amy, aged twenty-one; John, aged nineteen; Edwin, aged seventeen; Harold, aged fifteen, and Clarence, aged thirteen.
HON. HARRY C. MONTGOMERY, judge of the Fourth judicial circuit of Indiana, which is composed of Clark county, was born in Jeffersonville, the county seat of that county, April 9, 1870. His father was Capt. John R. Montgomery, for many years a pilot on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, a native of Kentucky, who removed with his par- ents to Clark county in 1840, and served during the Civil war as a captain in the United States navy attached to the Mis- sissippi river gunboat flotilla. After the close of the war he was a pilot in the Cincinnati and New Orleans passenger trade, dying in 1873 of yellow fever, contracted while in that service. Captain Montgomery married Miss Mary L. Mauzy, who was born May 10, 1840, near Salem in Washington county, Ind. Mrs. Montgomery resides with Judge Montgomery in Jeffersonville. He has no brothers; his sisters are Miss Sadie L. Montgomery, prin- cipal of the training school for teachers of Springfield, Ill., Mrs. Jessie L. Abbott, and Mrs. May L. Wear of San Angelo, Texas. Judge Montgomery was educated in the public schools of Jefferson- ville, at DePauw university, Greencastle, Ind., and at the university of Louisville, Ky., from the legal department of which last named uni- versity he graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar in Clark county in 1895, since which time he has practiced his profession in Jeffersonville. He was elected prose- cuting attorney of the Clark circuit court in 1896 and re-elected in 1898, serving as such until 1900. In 1904 he was elected to the posi- tion of circuit judge which he now holds. He has probably a larger acquaintance and more sincere friends than any other man in Clark county. As a man his character is above reproach, as a lawyer he has enjoyed the confidence of all who have had dealings with him, as a judge he has neither friends nor enemies, and cares not whether litigants are weak or powerful, rich or poor, nor what their station in life may be; they have all the same privileges before him, and their
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causes are decided strictly according to the law. He is a good law- yer, a conscientious judge and an affable gentleman, who has for his friends all law abiding citizens.
VICTOR W. LYON, city en- gineer of Jeffersonville, Ind., was born in that city, June 26, 1853, his parents being Maj. Sidney S. and Honora (Vin- cent) Lyon. The father was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the year 1807. He was a geologist, paleontologist, civil engineer and artist of some note. In 1848 he located at Jeffersonville, where he passed the remainder of his life. He was prominent in the Ma- sonic fraternity and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, 1 and was always interested in the promotion of the public wel- fare. He died June 24, 1872. The mother of Victor W. Lyon was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1818, and died Feb. 22, 1900. Victor was educated in the public schools of his native city, after which he attended the Union College at Ann Arbor, Mich. He began his business career as a clerk in a pork packing establishment at Jeffer- sonville. In 1880 he was elected surveyor of Clark county and served by re-election for fourteen consecutive years. From 1891 to 1894 he was city engineer of Jeffersonville, and again from 1898 to 1902. He was then appointed railroad surveyor for the Louisville city railroad and served in that capacity until June 3, 1903, when he was again elected city engineer of Jeffersonville, for the term ending in 1905. Mr. Lyon is a member of Myrtle Lodge, Knights of Pythias, to which he has belonged ever since 1880, and he was for some years active in the Uniform Rank of the same order. He is also a member of the First Presbyterian church of Jeffersonville, with which he united in 1892. He was married on Nov. 25, 1886, to Miss Gertrude Pettit, daughter of Thomas and Mary Pettit, of Clark county, and they have two daughters and a son, viz: Mary, aged fifteen years; Mildred, aged thirteen, and Sidney, aged ten.
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FRANK M. MAYFIELD, a promising young lawyer of Jefferson- ville, Ind., and prosecuting attorney for the Fourth judicial circuit, composed of Clark county, was born at Little York, Washington county, Ind., July 21, 1870. He is a son of James H. and Mary (Hartley) Mayfield. His father was a native of Tennessee, and was for many years a well known farmer of Washington county, where he died in 1891, his wife having died in 1874. The subject of this sketch ยท was educated in the public schools of Jeffersonville, after which he graduated from the New Albany business college. In 1896 he entered the Indianapolis law school, from which he graduated in 1898. The same year he was admitted to the bar in Clark county, where he practiced his profession until 1900, when he was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney. Being young and ambitious as well as a close student of everything pertaining to his profession, he made an efficient prosecutor during his term of two years. His work received the approval of a re-election in 1902 and he is now serving his second term. Admitted to the bar only six years ago, and having four years of public service to his credit, is a record of which any young lawyer might feel proud. In his practice Mr. Mayfield has won the respect of his brother attorneys by his dignified demeanor and his knowledge of the law, and a successful future is predicted for him by those who know him best. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On Nov. 16, 1900, he was married to Miss Julia L., daughter of George W. and Lucretia Felker, of Clark county, and to this marriage there has been born onc daughter.
THOMAS W. PERRY, city treasurer, Jeffersonville, Ind., was born at Utica, in the same county, Sept. 7, 1860. His parents, William R. and Letitia (Robinson) Perry, were both natives of Clark county, the former having been born at Utica in 1832, and the latter at Bethlehem. The father was for a number of years engaged in the lime business at Utica. He died in 1889, and the mother in 1896. They had nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch and Samuel R. are the only ones now living. Thomas W. Perry received his primary education in the Jeffersonville public schools. In 1887 he entered the Cincinnati school of pharmacy and graduated two years later. In 1891 he embarked in the drug business in Jeffersonville, and continued in that line until 1902, after which he was the local agent of the Standard Oil Company for some time. From 1897 to
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1901 he served with distinction in the city council, and in 1902 was elected school trustee. In these official capacities he made friends by his straightforward course in public matters, which led to his elec- tion to the office of city treasurer in May, 1904. Mr. Perry is a prominent Knight of Pythias, being a member of both the Lodge and the Uniform Rank. He is also a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Royal Arcanum. He was married in 1882 to Miss Rosa, daughter of Selby and Anna Bennett, of Prather, Ind. She died in 1890, leaving three children: Ethel, Irvin and Halbert. In 1891 Mr. Perry was married to Cora A. Swartz, of Utica, and to this second marriage there has been born one daughter, Letitia.
HENRY F. DILGER, city attorney of Jeffersonville, Ind., was born in Perry county of that state, Feb. 26, 1865. His parents, Joseph and Rosina Dilger, were both natives of Germany. They moved to Southern Michigan in March, 1865, and remained there until the fall of 1871, when they moved to Spencer county, Ind. The mother died in 1884 and the father in 1891. Henry F. Dilger, the subject of this sketch, attended the country schools of Spencer county until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to work in a saw- mill. In 1884, seeing the needs of an education, he started to school again, beginning work where he left off five years before. After two years, during which time he worked as a farm hand in summer, to earn money to carry him through school in winter, he be- gan teaching in the public schools of Crawford county, Ind. After teaching two years in this county he taught one year in Kentucky, and after that two years in Clark county, Ind. In 1892 he began the study of law in the office of H. D. McMullen & Son of Aurora, Ind., and during the school year of 1892-93 was a student in the law school at Danville. He was prevented from completing the course of study on account of friends to whom he had loaned his earnings having become bankrupt. He therefore came to Jeffersonville and entered the law office of George H. Voigt, one of the leading attorneys of the Clark county bar, and in 1894 was admitted to the bar. In 1897 he returned to the school room and taught until 1900. He then resumed the practice of law in Jeffersonville, and May, 1904, was elected to the office of city attorney. Mr. Dilger is a fine example of a self made man. Beginning his career as a helper in a sawmill when only fourteen, he has steadily climbed the ladder to his present position. His success has not made him vain, however, and to his friends he is the same genial gentleman under all circumstances. The only fra-
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