He was born October 12, 1855, and his father, Edmund D, Laughlin, was also a member of the medical profession. His father was born in Ohio, and began his medical studies in books loaned him by Doctor Cannon, father of the famous Illinois statesman, former Speaker Joe Cannon. He graduated from a Michigan medical college, practiced six years in Parke County, Indiana, and then moved to Orange County, where he carried on his professional work until his death in 1915, at the age of eighty-eight. Dr. Edmund Laughlin married Sarah Anna Trueblood, who died in 1915, at the age of eighty. Her grandmother was a noted Quaker minister, Deborah Chambers. Dr. Edmund Laughlin and wife had four children: Theodore, Charles Edmund, Martha and Luella. Theodore was a railway conductor for the Southern Railway Company nearly forty years, married Nellie Thurman and had two children, Grace and Eugene. Martha was married to William Compton, of Indianapolis, and had four children, and Luella is the wife of George Sear, of Orleans, Indiana, and has one child.
Charles Edmund Laughlin attended school in Orange County, the Orleans Academy, began the reading of medicine with his father and in 1875 entered Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. in 1878. Doctor Laughlin has been a qualified physician for over half a century and for twenty-five years his home and work were at Orleans in Orange County.
On January 1, 1903, Doctor Laughlin was called to his duties as superintendent of the Evansville State Hospital at Evansville. To this work he has brought a sound knowledge of medicine, especial skill in handling mental diseases, but most of all a kindly and sympathetic understanding and administrative ability. The institution itself is a record of his work, and there is much more to be said than mere routine administration. The institution itself has greatly grown and developed, in keeping with the increase of population and material wealth of the state. When he took charge the hospital had a tract of 159 acres. Since then the grounds have been increased to 880 acres, and the hospital now has a model farm with 500 acres in cultivation, permitting the growing of practically all the best fruits, poultry, hogs and cattle, supplying the greater part of the food used by the inmates. Doctor Laughlin has practically put the institution on a self-supporting basis. By judicious selection of those fitted for different kinds of work he has been able to eliminate most of the paid employees, and the work indoors, the cultivation of the fields, the operators in the laundry, the various shops and other departments are practically all from persons committed to the institution. Doctor Laughlin has not neglected the entertainment side, and has provided facilities for picture shows and other entertainment, and dances are a regular feature. The dining rooms seat 1,100 persons. Doctor Laughlin has always kept in personal contact with the patients and knows all of them by their first names. Many of the patients show so much affection for the superintendent and the institution itself that even when cases have been cured there is much disinclination shown to leaving the institution. Doctor Laughlin has made almost a record of holding a political job for twenty-eight years, in the face of various changes in state government. He is himself a Democrat. There are approximately 1,100 patients under his charge at the present time. Doctor Laughlin is a member of the Vanderbilt County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations and the American Psychiatric Association.
He married, January 26, 1878, Miss E. M. Brown, daughter of Rice M. and Emily Brown, natives of Lawrence County, Indiana. They have three children: Ruth, born July 18, 1879; Edmund, born September 2, 1881, and Genevieve, born October 24, 1884. Ruth is the wife of Michael Mayer and has three children, Charles, Margaret and Michael. Edmund, a dentist by profession and a lieutenant in the United States Navy, married Elizabeth Hogan. Genevieve has practically grown up with the institution under her father. Since 1903 she has been bookkeeper, and when her father is absent she practically takes charge of the institution.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
EDWARD MILLS owns and resides upon one of the fine farm estates of Hendricks County, this property being near the Marion County line and a few miles from Bridgeport, which is in the latter county. This valuable estate of 300 acres comprises land of exceptional fertility and it has been the stage of notably successful agricultural and livestock enterprise under the vital and progressive management of Mr. Mills, who is one of the sterling and influential citizens of his native county.
In a log house that is still standing and that is one of the oldest landmarks of this kind in Washington Township, Hendricks County, the birth of Edward Mills occurred March 15, 1858, and he is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this section of the Hoosier State. He is a son of James and Ruth (Walton) Mills, his father having come from Greene County, Ohio, and made settlement on a farm in Washington Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, in 1850. James Mills was reared and educated in the old Buckeye State and there his marriage occurred in the year 1845. He and his wife had two children at the time of the family removal to Indiana and both of these sons, Samuel W. and William A., are deceased. On the old home farm in Hendricks County were thereafter born the other three children of the family: Jane, who died April 21, 1862; Edward, who is the immediate subject of this review; and Elwood, who is deceased. James Mills was a son of William and Diana (Hawkins) Mills, his father having been born in South Carolina and having been a child of about one year when his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Mills, moved from Charleston, that state, and became pioneer settlers in Ohio, William Mills, Sr., having come from England to America in the Colonial period of our national history.
Edward Mills was reared on the old home farm that was the place of his birth and his initial education was acquired in a little log schoolhouse of the neighborhood, he having later attended another school of the locality and his final schooling having been acquired at Bridgeport, Marion County. In the meanwhile he continued his active association with the operations of the home farm, upon which he established a dairy and upon which he remained until the time of his marriage, in 1881.
In his long continued and independent activities as an exponent of agricultural and live stock industry in his native county Mr. Mills has always been progressive and alert, and his success has been cumulative and substantial during the passing years. In addition to his direct operations on the farm he has been a successful dealer in horses and mules, and in this connection it may be noted that he was long an active member and served as captain of the local Horse-thief Protective Association. He is a Republican in politics, and he has served as a member of the township council, the county council and the precinct committee.
On the 13th of October, 1881, occurred, the marriage of Mr. Mills to Miss Clara J. Chadwick, who was born in Genoa, Wayne County, Iowa, a daughter of James and Mary (Carter) Chadwick. Mr. Chadwick was born in Kentucky, a son of Israel and Hannah (Thompson) Chadwick, who were born in Virginia, later resided in Kentucky and who came from the latter state and became early settlers in Indiana. James Chadwick obtained land in Hendricks County, later removed to Wayne County, but eventually the family home was again established in Hendricks County. Maude L., eldest of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Mills, became the wife of Clyde Thomas and is now deceased. Her daughter Juanita is the wife of Lowell Carter and her other two surviving children are Dorothy and Edward E. Carmen, next younger of the children of Mr. Mills is the wife of Charles Medsker, and they have four children: Jeanette, Alice, Catherine and Elizabeth L. Helen O., youngest of the children, is the wife of Eugene Osborn, and they have a son, William M.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
LEVI J. CARSON is one of the venerable native sons of Marion County, where he still resides on the old homestead farm, in Decatur Township, that was the place of his birth. He has made the passing years count in worthy achievement as an agriculturist and stock grower, and now that he is retired from the active labors that were long his portion he finds the old home place a pleasing abode, as it is endeared to him by many gracious memories and associations. The summer of 1930 recorded the eighty-fifth birthday anniversary of this sterling citizen, and he has witnessed and participated in the march of development and progress that has marked the advancement of the county in which he was born and reared and in which is situated the beautiful capital city of Indiana.
Levi J. Carson was born on his present farm, as previously stated, and the date of his nativity was June 22, 1845. The house in which he was born was a pioneer log structure of the type common to the locality and period, and his memory touches many of the conditions and incidents of the early period in the history of this now opulent section of the Hoosier State. He is a son of the late Josiah and Hannah (Jessup) Carson.
Josiah Carson was born at Guilford Court House, South Carolina, and from his native state he eventually moved to Ohio, where he became a resident of Highland County and where his marriage occurred. In 1818 he thence came to Indiana and settled in Wayne County, and after his years of pioneer experience in that county he finally transferred the family home to Marion County, in 1830. Here he obtained Government land and instituted the reclamation of a farm from the forest wilds, Andrew Jackson having at that time been President of the United States and claim to the Marion County land having been made under his administration. It is specially interesting to record that in the long intervening years there has been but one transfer of this land, the original Government deed to Josiah Carson having remained in force with the one to whom it was executed until the property passed into the possession, of the son Levi J., who has continued the owner to the present time and who still resides on the historic old homestead, the farm now having an area of sixty acres. Josiah Carson was a son of Jacob and Martha (Horton) Carson, who likewise came eventually to Marion County and who here remained until their death, their mortal bodies having found resting place in the cemetery at West Newton. Jacob Carson was a son of Uriah and Mary (Cook) Carson, who continued to reside in South Carolina until their death. Uriah Carson came from the North of Ireland and became a Colonial settler in South Carolina, he having there been long prominent as a minister of the Society of Friends.
In the year 1850 Levi J. Carson became a pupil in a little log schoolhouse near his present home farm, later he continued his studies in the village schools of Valley Mills, and in advancing his education he had the advantages of the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, and the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. He gave three years of successful service as a teacher in the public schools of rural districts, but the major part of his active career was marked by his close and successful association with farm industry, which has found him a progressive exponent in his native county during the course of many years and with which he still has alliance, though he is now living retired. He still gives a general supervision to his farm, and is glad to feel that he knows how and what to do in directing its varied departments of work, though his service now is mainly in an advisory capacity.
Mr. Carson has ever proved loyal and zealous as a citizen, has taken lively interest in community affairs, has supported progressive measures and enterprises, and while never ambitious for political preferment he has given active support to the principles and cause of Republican party. Mr. Carson is a birth-right member of the Society of Friends and has long been zealous and influential in the affairs of the local church of this earnest Christian organization.
On December 25, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Carson to Miss Areadna Long, who was born in North Carolina and who is a daughter of John and Sarah (Williams) Long. John Long was born in Georgia, was a boy at the time of the family removal to North Carolina, and in the latter state he continued his residence until 1871, when he came with his family to Indiana and established his home on a farm near Mooresville, Marion County. Of the three children of Mr. and Mrs. Carson the eldest is Pauline G., who is the wife of Harry Williams, Virginia, Julia and Rowena being their three children; Rowena, next younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carson, is the wife of Everett Antrim, and they have three children, Sarah, Joseph and Everett C.; Ralph, only son of the honored subject of this review, is now a resident of California.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
EDWIN MAURICE FITZROY, librarian of the Indiana State Teachers College at Terre Haute, was born at Hecla, South Dakota, March 20, 1890. His parents, Frederick and Eliza (Evensen) Pfutzenreuter, were pioneers of Dakota Territory, taking up and developing a homestead near Hecla. On that farm Edwin Maurice Fitzroy grew up, and was graduated with the A. B. degree from the Northern Normal and Industrial School at Aberdeen, South Dakota. He received the degree Bachelor of Library Science from the University of Minnesota in 1919, and before coming to Indiana was librarian of the public library at Greeley, Colorado.
Mr. Fitzroy since February, 1929, has been librarian and professor of library science at the Teachers College at Terre Haute. He is author of an illustrated pamphlet edition of high school classics. He married, on June 8, 1929, Florence Latham, of Purcell, Colorado, and they have one daughter, Shirley Jean.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
W. A. FULWIDER, retired business man of Bloomington, has lived a long life, one of more than ordinary activities and experiences. He is held in especial honor as being one of the last surviving veterans of the Civil war.
Mr. Fulwider was born at Staunton, Virginia, April 7, 1844. His parents were John and Lucinda (Craig) Fulwider. His mother died at Staunton. John Fulwider, a wagon maker by trade, moved to Indiana in 1858 and settled in Parke County, where he was in the saw mill business for a number of years. Later he removed to Nebraska, becoming a pioneer in that state and lived on a farm until his death.
W. A. Fulwider was fourteen years of age when brought to Indiana. His education was confined to the opportunities of the common schools and he was employed as an assistant in his father's saw mill when the Civil war broke out. In 1861 he enlisted in Company K of the Forty-third Indiana Regiment, under Captain Calander. He was first assigned to the Army of the Southwest and participated in some of the spectacular operations for the opening of the Mississippi River, including the siege of Island No. 10, the battles of New Madrid, Fort Pillam, and in the early operations around Memphis and Helena. He was in many subsequent battles and campaigns.
After the war Mr. Fulwider located at Rockville and engaged in the lumber business. That was the center of his operations until 1891, when he moved to Bloomington and built up here one of the largest lumber companies in Monroe County. Later he turned the business over to his son Oscar M., but subsequently resumed control and gave the business to his two other children, Mrs. Ida M. Hottle and Jesse H. Fulwider. Mr. Fulwider for many years was active in banking, being president of the Monroe County State Bank until he retired from that office in 1925 and is still on the board of directors. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is affiliated with the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Rockville and the Encampment at Bloomington.
On September 15, 1866, Mr. Fulwider married Miss Sarah Alvis, daughter of John and Lavena Alvis, and to them were born three children: Oscar M.; Ida, wife of W. E. Hottle, and Jesse H., who married Florence Robinson. Jesse Fulwider has three children, William H., Lawrence and Edmund. After a happy married life of more than sixty-four years, Mrs. Sarah Fulwider passed to eternal rest, December 30, 1930.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
DR. JOHN F. DILLMAN is a resident of Rockville, Parke County, and since locating there has built up a very wide and successful practice, specializing in nervous disorders.
Doctor Dillman was born in Pekin, Illinois, September 24, 1892, but both of his parents were natives of Indiana. His father, Cline Dillman, was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, son of John Dillman, who was born near Battle Ground in Tippecanoe County, and served as a Union soldier in the Civil war. He lived to be ninety-six years of age. Cline Dillman married Kathryn Critzer, who was born in Posey County, Indiana, in 1869. Doctor Dillman had one sister, Maymie, now Mrs. W. Jonas, of Hammond, Indiana.
John F. Dillman was educated in Catholic parochial schools, and for fifteen years was identified with the undertaking and embalming business and profession. After a course of study in the Weltmer Institute at Nevada, Missouri, he was graduated in 1927, and for a short time located at Attica, Indiana, but since the latter part of 1927 has practiced at Rockville. Doctor Dillman is an independent voter.
He married, August 1, 1913, Miss Belle Johnson, of Stockwell, Indiana. They have four children, Mary, Robert, Catherine and Margaret. The two older children are in high school.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
MITCHELL O. DEVANEY was a very capable Indianapolis physician and surgeon, where he had practiced his profession for nearly twenty years prior to his death on December 31, 1919.
Doctor Devaney was born on a farm in Hamilton County, Indiana, April 13, 1879, son of Henry and Olive (Small) Devaney and a grandson of Thomas Devaney. The family moved to Indiana from North Carolina, and Henry Devaney was a substantial farmer in Hamilton County, took a deep interest in civic and political affairs and served as town trustee.
Dr. Mitchell O. Devaney during his boyhood had the training in wholesome work which is found on every farm. He attended schools regularly, was graduated from the Sheridan High School and later entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, graduating M. D. in 1901. He remained in the capital city to practice, and handled his work with a rare degree of skill and efficiency. For several years he was a medical director of the Indianapolis Life Insurance Company. He also sought the opportunity to do his bit for the Government during the World war. He enlisted June 10, 1918, and served until discharged on January 10, 1919. He was sent to the Mexican border, ranking as a lieutenant in the Medical Corps. Doctor Devaney was a member of the Marion Club and the Chamber of Commerce, was affiliated with the B. P. O. Elks and belonged to all the medical organizations. He was a man of fine character, capable, trusted by his patients and deserving of their trust.
He married, August 6, 1902, Miss Lulu Myers, who survives him and resides at 3970 Broadway in Indianapolis. Mrs. Devaney has three children: Henry E., who married Mary Larmore, Kathryn, wife of Herman C. Eryde, and Marjory.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CLYDE F. COOPER, county recorder of Vigo County, is an Indiana ex-service man and has had an interesting career of participation in public affairs since the war.
Mr. Cooper was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, May 12, 1895, son of Frank P. and Mary E. (Ellis) Cooper. His grandfather moved to Eastern Illinois from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Frank P. Cooper brought the family from Hoopston, Illinois, to Terre Haute about 1893 and for many years was in the grocery business. He died at Terre Haute in 1923.
Clyde F. Cooper attended the common schools at Terre Haute, and after graduating from the Wiley High School entered Rose Polytechnic Institute, where he was a student for three years. In April, 1917, soon after America declared war on the Central Powers, he enlisted in Company H of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Infantry, Thirty-eighth Division, was in training at Indianapolis and later at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. After the armistice he returned to Terre Haute and completed a course in the Brown's Business College. He taught in the commercial department of the schools at Marion, Illinois, and had charge of the commercial work in the schools of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a time. He then returned to Terre Haute and was cost accountant at the American Car & Foundry Company. In the meantime he had interested himself in politics and in 1924 was elected a member of the Indiana State Legislature from Vigo County on the Republican ticket, serving during the term 1925-26. In the year of 1928 he was elected on the Republican ticket to the office of county recorder of Vigo County for a term of four years. Mr. Cooper married at Indianapolis, June 5, 1928, Miss Elisle L. Cooper, of the same name but of an unrelated family. She was one of the five children of Edwin and Ammildo (Riggs) Cooper. Mr. Cooper is a member of the Blue Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, Council and Knights Templar Commandery, Scottish Rite, and the Grotto of Masonry, the Improved Order of Red Men and the Loyal Order of Moose. He belongs also to the American Legion, Fort Harrison Post No. 40, a past vice commander and in 1925 served as state historian of the Indiana Department of the American Legion, and to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He is a member of the Central Presbyterian church and is active in the work of the Republican party.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CARL MAITLAND KITSELMAN, Indiana manufacturer, was one of the men who developed at Muncie the extensive plants devoted to the manufacture of fencing and other wire and steel products, the output of which has been sold and used practically round the world.
Carl Maitland Kitselman's oldest brother, A. L., is still living and active in the business. Carl M. Kitselman died at his home in Muncie November 27, 1930, at the age of sixty-five. He was born at Ridgeville, Indiana, August 15, 1865, son of Davis S. and Mahala (Starbuck) Kitselman. He attended public school in Ridgeville, also Ridgeville College, and at the age of fifteen had qualified for a position in handling the telegraph key. His attitude toward life was always one of serious purpose, and to his every undertaking he devoted himself wholeheartedly. He was a telegrapher for five years, and then became a general merchant at Redkey, where for eight years he sold goods over the county to the local trade of the countryside.
During the decade of the '90s the industrial age came to Eastern Indiana, transforming many rural villages into manufacturing towns and presenting special opportunities for the ambitious, the enterprising, the far-seeing. Among them were the Kitselman brothers, Alva L., David M., Edwin Fay and Carl Maitland. Kitselman Brothers as an organization put up a small factory at Ridgeville, where they manufactured roller skates. The roller skating craze was then at its height. They developed a fairly prosperous business as long as the craze lasted, but a single specialty was not enough for a permanent industry. In 1900 the Kitselman brothers moved to Muncie, already coming into prominence as a manufacturing center, and there put up a plant to make wire fencing. Kitselman brothers developed their business on a two-fold basis, as wholesale manufacturers and also as mail order dealers. They were judicious and extensive advertisers, and during the past quarter of a century Kitselman fencing material has enjoyed a well deserved reputation and a sale to all parts of the United States and in foreign countries as well. Their enterprise came to be represented by two large plants, employing hundreds of men and women. There were two business organizations, the Kitselman Brothers Company and the Indiana Steel & Wire Company. The late Carl Maitland Kitselman was treasurer of both companies. The late C. M. Kitselman was also a director of the Merchants National Bank and of the Muncie Oil Engine Company.
He was a member of the Exchange Club of Muncie, the High Street Methodist Episcopal Church, the Muncie Garden Club, and one of his hobbies was the culture of flowers, illustrated in his efforts at his beautiful home which he erected in 1926 and also in a public way in the beautifying of Muncie's parks. Mr. Kitselman was never active in politics.
Aside from his business his chief interests centered in his home and family. He was devoted to his brothers, particularly his brother Fay, who preceded him in death only a few days; passing away November 10, 1930. Mr. Carl Maitland Kitselman married in 1892, at Redkey, Indiana, Miss Irene Orr, who survives him. There were two children, a much beloved son, Fred Davis, who died when seventeen years old, and a daughter, Mildred Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Fred M. Crapo. Mr. Crapo has for several years been associated with the Kitselman interests in Muncie. There are also three grandchildren, Catherine Elizabeth, Mildred Ann and Janet Carrell Crapo.
One of the friends whose knowledge enabled him to go beneath the superficialities of a busy life wrote of him as "the gentle, kindly, human, loving personality of C. M. Kitselman. None who knew him but must have had a deep affection for him. The troubles of others touched him as if they were his own. His griefs were deep, too deep for his own welfare. The loss of his son affected gravely his whole life afterward; that of his brother Fay, for whom he felt a love that was more than brotherly and rather like that of a father for a son, although the two were nearly of an age, appeared to him almost unbearable and it cannot be doubted that it had an effect that may have hastened his own end. To appreciate the character that was Mait Kitselman one should not only have known him, but also should have known the men and women with which he was associated daily throughout the years. To them his death is not that alone of a beloved employer or business associate, but rather that of a member of their intimate families. The monument to his memory is in their hearts. No such life as his can go unrewarded; no such good influence as his can ever die."
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ALBERT R. MORGAN, the present county recorder of Clay County, is a native of Indiana, was with the colors at the time of the World war, and his business training and experience added other qualifications to his popularity with the voters of the county.
Mr. Morgan was born at Staunton, Indiana, December 14, 1894, son of John T. and Margaret (Bolin) Morgan. His grandfather, Preston Morgan, was a native of Kentucky and when a young man came to Indiana and entered land in Clay County. John T. Morgan was a child when brought from Kentucky. He learned the trade of wagon maker and for a number of years conducted a shop near Brazil. He and his wife had six children: Fred, who married Anna Swindie; Kathrine, who became the wife of Samuel Plumer and had three children, Margaret, Clara and Kathrine; Miss Flora, a teacher; Eugene, who married Grace Wells; Miss Nell, at home; and Albert R.
Albert R. Morgan attended the grade school near Harmony, had a business college course in Brazil and after leaving school was in the rural mail carriers service until the outbreak of the war.
In April, 1917, he enlisted and was sent for training to Purdue University. Later he was put in the Ordnance Corps and was at the great training and testing grounds near Aberdeen, Maryland. Afterwards he was assigned duty traveling in the recruiting service, and after the armistice received his honorable discharge at New York.
Mr. Morgan then returned to Brazil, and for a time was employed in the local post- office. He was a collector for the T. H. I. & E. T. Company when he entered upon his campaign for the election to the office of county recorder, November, 1928, and was elected on the Republican ticket for a term of four years. Mr. Morgan is a member of the American Legion, Clay County Post No.2, is affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Improved Order of Red Men, and is very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His hobby is music and he is a member of the noted Harmony Quartette, which has frequently been heard over the WBOW radio broadcasting station.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
SAMUEL PLUMER, a retired business man who has lived for many years at Brazil, came to Indiana from the East. Mr. Plumer represents one of the oldest of American families, of New England ancestry. In every generation the Plumers have been substantial citizens, good business men, practical farmers, soldiers in the various wars of the nation, and frequently in public office.
Mr. Plumer is a descendant of Francis and Ruth Plumer, both natives of England. Francis Plumer was a boy when his parents came to America, landing in New England May 14, 1634. The Plumers were among the earliest Colonial settlers of Newbury, Massachusetts, where generation after generation of the name continued to reside. A son of Francis and Ruth was James Plumer, who married Sarah Cheney, and their son, Jonathan Plumer, married Sarah Pearson. John, son of Jonathan, grew up at Newbury and about 1750 moved into the settled portions of Eastern Pennsylvania. He married Rebecca Wheeler. Their son, Jonathan Plumer, was one of the Pennsylvania volunteers who followed General Forbes in the expedition that cut its way through Western Pennsylvania, partly over the route followed by General Braddock a few years earlier, and by the capture of Fort Duquesne permanently dispossessed the French from the control of the Forks of the Ohio country. For his services Jonathan Plumer acquired a grant of land and settled in the valley of the Allegheny River in Western Pennsylvania. This Jonathan Plumer, the soldier, married Mehitable Herriman. They were the parents of Nathaniel Plumer. Samuel Plumer, the son of Nathaniel Plumer, married Patty Adams, and was a large land owner in Western Pennsylvania. Arnold Plumer, son of Samuel and Patty (Adams) Plumer, was a man of wealth and also of much political prominence. He represented his Pennsylvania district in Congress, served as state treasurer and refused a position in the cabinet of President Van Buren. Arnold Plumer married Margaret McClellan, and their son, Samuel Plumer, married Mary Mytinger. Their son, Lewis Mytinger Plumer, is a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where for many years he carried on a successful law practice. Lewis Mytinger Plumer married Clara M. Bradley, and their son, Samuel Plumer, of Brazil, was born in Pittsburgh June 18, 1876.
Mr. Plumer was liberally educated, attending a private school in Pittsburgh, a military academy in Eastern Pennsylvania, and in 1897 was graduated from Trinity College, of Hartford, Connecticut. During the following five years he was in the iron business and for a time was connected with the Pressed Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh. He was also interested in the automobile business while at Pittsburgh. After moving to Indiana, in 1915, he located at Brazil and was in the egg business on a commercial scale, and continued in that line until he retired, in 1926. He and his family enjoy the comforts of a beautiful home which he built near Brazil, on the National Highway No. 40, midway to Terre Haute.
Mr. Plumer married, June 27, 1901, at Brazil, Indiana, Miss Kathrine Morgan, daughter of John T. and Margaret (Bolin) Morgan, of Clay County. The Morgan family are early pioneer settlers of Clay County. Preston Morgan, the founder of the Morgan family in Clay County, came from Kentucky long prior to the Civil war. The old Morgan estate is three miles east of Harmony, in Clay County. The three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Plumer are Margaret M., Clara B. and Kathryn M. Margaret M. attended St. Mary of the Woods at Terre Haute, Clara B. is a senior in Purdue University and Kathryn M. is a member of the class of 1932 in the Brazil High School. The family are members of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Plumer is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi college fraternity and is a thirty- second degree Scottish Rite Mason. In political faith he is a Republican.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WILLIAM DOYLE, a resident of Terre Haute for nearly forty years, has been a well known figure in business and public affairs, and at the present time is serving as superintendent of the Fairbanks Municipal Swimming Pool, one of the finest and most modern in the state.
Mr. Doyle was born in Parke County, Indiana, June 2, 1872, son of Michael and Anna (Weldon) Doyle. His father was from County Ireland, came to America when a young man and after some time in New York came on to Indiana. He worked in the pork packing business in Indiana and shipped his product through the canal system to the New Orleans market. He and his wife are buried in Parke County. They had nine children, James, Joseph, Anna, Bridgett, John, William, Katie, Mike and Sylvester. Of these only three are now living, William, Sylvester and Katie.
William Doyle received all his educational advantages in Parke County. While he was in school he was given an assignment of the duties on the home farm, and he also drove a mail wagon for a time. When, at the age of twenty-one he came to Terre Haute he was employed in a grocery store and for several -years was in the insurance business and later was employed in a bakery. For a quarter of a century Mr. Doyle was identified with one of the prominent liquor dealers of Terre Haute. All the time he has been very active in politics, a leader in the local Democratic party. He served a year in the office of justice of the peace and on leaving that office moved to a farm. He sold the farm and after returning to Terre Haute conducted a grocery business for several years. In 1930 Mr. Doyle was appointed superintendent of the Fairbanks Municipal Swimming Pool at Terre Haute.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 4
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
