He was born in Honey Creek Township, Howard County, March 5, 1861, son of Isaac and Penina (Cosand) Hollingsworth. His father was born in Ohio and came to Indiana as early as 1837, being an early settler of Monroe Township, Howard County. Some of the logs of the cabin where he first lived are in a building on the old homestead and are now almost a hundred years old. Penina Cosand was born at Salem, Washington County, Indiana.
Samuel P. Hollingsworth received his early education in the old Lynn schoolhouse, about two miles east of Russiaville. For a short time he was a student at West Middleton. The first opportunity for regular work came to him in his father’s saw mill. Later he and his brothers owned and operated the mill, and eventually Samuel P. Hollingsworth took over the business and continued it alone, making it the chief factor in his business career. He was in business until the spring of 1929.
Mr. Hollingsworth is a Republican, but has never sought or held any public office. Fraternally he is affiliated with Russiaville Lodge No. 82, A. F. and A. M., is a member of the Knights Templar Commandery at Kokomo, and belongs to Russiaville Lodge No. 195, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr.Hollingsworth is a birthright Friend. All his life he has had membership in the Russiaville Church. The new Friends Church at Russiaville was recently erected in the same block in which is located Mr. Hollingsworth’s home, one of the modern residences of the town.
These brief facts give a general sketch of Mr. Hollingsworth’s business and community relationship. Forty odd years ago he was a well known figure in the world of sports as an expert and champion bicycle rider. As a youth he was interested in mechanics, and, like thousands of boys, was enthusiastic over every new development in the field of transportation. He and his brother Benny had a little blacksmith shop, and among other work they fabricated there was a bicycle, which they not only designed but even made the tools for its construction. Most of the material that went into this primitive bicycle was wood. It was, of course, of the old high wheel or “ordinary” type. Mr. Hollingsworth developed a considerable degree of expertness in the use of the clumsy vehicle, practicing on a track which he built on his father’s farm. With this machine he wond his first race at Middlefork in Clinton County. Bicycling was a popular sport in those days, though comparatively few engaged in it, and it was considerably more hazardous than the bicycle racing of modern times. Mr. Hollingsworth won a good deal of prize money, and in this way he was able to acquire a more expensive model. He did his most famous racing on a high wheel model of the Columbia bicycle, made by the Pope Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts. In 1886 he was crowned world’s champion cyclist, after establishing a record of 283 miles in twenty-four hours. The course over which he won his title and nationwide fame was from the Guyman house in Greenfield to the toll gate east of Cumberland, Maryland, part of the famous old National Road, which in the early years of the last century was laid out and built from Washington through Cumberland, Wheeling, Indianapolis and on west toward Saint Louis. By his racing and road work Mr. Hollingsworth did much to make bicycling popular, and within six or seven years after he had won his great race bicycling was as much a rage as twenty years later was automobiling. For several years he toured the East, racing to new records against crack competitors. During all these eastern tours he carried the colors of the Indianapolis Athletic Club, which he helped organize in 1886. The sporting pages of the Metropolitan Press as well as all the periodicals devoted to bicycling and similar sports during the ‘80s devoted a great deal of space to Mr. Hollingsworth’s fame and achievements. When he gave up racing he returned to the quiet routine of the home farm in Howard County and took over the management of his father’s saw mill.
The Hollingsworth family is a very ancient one. The first mention of the name appears about 1022 A. D. near Motram, Northeastern Cheshire, England. The derivation is form Holly, a tree, while “worth” means a farm or place. The old Hollingsworth estate contained 620 acres and remained in the family from one generation to another until the death of Robert Hollingsworth in 1865. The name was transplanted to America by Valentine Hollingsworth, who came to this country with William Penn in 1684.
Samuel P. Hollingsworth married, May 2, 1888, Miss Lottie Haun, daughter of George and Frances Haun, of Russiaville. To their marriage were born five children, one of whom died in infancy. Tracy Hollingsworth, born March 19, 1889, is cashier of the First National Bank of Russiaville. Lucille, born September 27, 1891, married Raymond Redding, of Russiaville. Teddy, born January 1, 1902, is county superintendent of public highways. Karleen, the youngest, born January 30, 1906, is the wife of Leland Wright, of Russiaville.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
REV. JOSEPH SIMON RYDER. The Cathlic clergy numbers among its members men of broad education, religious enthusiasm and enlightened views, men whose example and teaching exercise an influence for morality that must be counted as one of the great factors in advancing any community. Not alone must a Catholic priest be a spiritual guide to his people, but he also must possess a large measure of the practicality which will help him to advise and teach in the ordinary events of life and protect the interests of his parish while also promoting its temporal affairs. Much, in fact, is demanded of those who choose the unselfish life of the Catholic priest. Not all, as in other walks of life, are fitted by Nature for the same sum of responsibility and perhaps few, under the same conditions, would have so rapidly advanced to the important position now occupied by Rev. Joseph S. Ryder, pastor of St. Mark’s Catholic Chuch of Gary.
Father Ryder was born at Columbia City, Indiana, September 8, 1887, and is a son of Simon J. and Mary E. (Reardon) Ryder. His paternal grandfather, Daniel Ryder, was born in Ireland, where he received a public school education and was apprenticed to the shoe and bootmaker’s trade, which he mastered in every particular. Feeling that greater opportunities awaited him in the United States, he set sail for this country, but on the way over the ship was wrecked. Mr. Ryder not only saved his own life, but that of a young boy, whom he later adopted and named Barney Ryder. Daniel Ryder became one of the pioneer residents of Walkerton, Indiana, where he established himself in business as a boot and shoe maker, and the excellence of his workmanship made him renowned for many miles around. Frequently his boots and shoes brought as high as twenty dollars a pair, which was a phenomenal price in those early days, but his customers always felt that they received full value for their money. He became known as one of the substantial citizens of his community, a man of high character and one who had the universal esteem of his fellow-men. He and his worthy wife died at Walkerton, where they were buried.
Simon J. Ryder was born near Walkerton, where he received a public school education, and as a young man commenced his career as a teacher. For a number of years he followed the vocation of an educator, but turned his attention later to railway matters, and for a number of years was superintendent of the Fort Wayne Traction Company at Fort Wayne and other points in the state. He retired some years ago and he and his wife now reside at Fort Wayne, where he is active in the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Benevolent League. Mr. Ryder married Mary E. Reardon, who was born at Donaldson, Indiana, and educated in the public schools of Donaldson and Plymouth, Indiana. She is a daughter of James Reardon, who came to America from Ireland with his wife, Elizabeth (Leighton) Reardon, early pioneers of Northern Indiana. They passed away at Columbia City, Indiana, where they are buried. To Mr. and Mrs. Ryder there were born five children: one who died in infancy; Rev. Joseph S., of this review; Rev. S. Joachim, of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, at Fort Wayne; George W., auditor for General Motors Corporation, Memphis, Tennessee; and C. Florian, who is connected with the First National Bank of Fort Wayne.
Rev. Joseph S. Ryder attended the Brothers’ School at Fort Wayne, graduating as a member of the class of 1904. In September of that year he entered St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he completed classical and philosophical courses, graduating in 1911. In September, 1911, he entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was ordained to the priesthood in July, 1914, was sent to Holy Angels parish, at Gary, as assistant to Father Jansen. On June 23, 1923, he was appointed pastor of St. Mark’s Church, Gary, which pastorate he still retains. He is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus, belongs to the Catholic Order of Forresters and also is identified with the Cressmore Country Club.
At 10:00 a.m., Sunday, July 13, 1927, the Rt. Rev. Bishop John Francis Noll, dedicated the new St. Mark’s Church, assisted by local clergy. The genesis of St. Mark’s parish may be traced back to the establishment of one of the centers of the Catholic Instruction League, in the latter part of 1921. A flourishing community had gradually been built up south of the river and a goodly number of Catholic families was to be found in the outlying section of the city called the Glen Park district. About 300 Catholic children attended the Glen Park School and as the distance to their respective parishes was over four miles it was hardly to be expected that they could attend the parochial schools. Hence the necessity of establishing a means of imparting religious instruction to the children. A committee was formed with the Rev. J. B. DeVille, director of the League, and it was decided to purchase the old Lutheran Church, situated in Tolleston, which had been closed after the tragic death of the Reverend Kayser, who was murdered during the war. The church, with all its appurtenances, pews, altars, etc., was moved and placed on a foundation which had been built on one of four lots previously acquired at Thirty-ninth Avenue and Broadway. Later on the Rt. Rev. Bishop Alerding permitted the celebration of Holy Mass on Sunday and the structure was formally dedicated as St. Mark’s Church, October 2, 1921, with the Rev. Father DeVille temporarily in charge. Two masses were celebrated every Sunday. Church school was held in the basement. However, the parish grew so rapidly in numbers and importance that an appeal was made to the Bishop to appoint a regular pastor for the parish who could devote all of his time and energy to it, Father DeVille being burdened with the Italian parish and the Settlement House at that time. Accordingly Father Ryder was appointed in June, 1923.
Father Ryder worked faithfully and hard at his new task and the parishoners, who had long and favorably known him when assistant for nine years at Holy Angels Church, responded generously. An attractive rectory was built adjoining the church and Father Ryder moved into it in September, 1923. During his pastorate an addition was build to the old church, with the hope that it might supply the needs for some years to come. However, the community kept on growing by leaps and bounds, and the old church was found no longer adequate to accommodate the people. In 1921 a block of land had been acquired on Ridge Road as a location for a future church, and in 1925 it was definitely decided to build. Both pastor and people enthused over the project of carrying out the splendid plans which had been submitted by C. L. Wallace, architect, of Joliet, Illinois, and accepted, worked incessantly to carry them to completion, and today can look upon the beautiful edifice with justifiable pride and gratification. The school was opened in the following September, with the Dominican Sisters in charge, the Poor Hand Maids of Jesus Christ, who formerly had charge of the children, having played a prominent part in laying the foundation for the school and which became an integral part of the parish.
The church is designed in Italian style of architecture, built of brick, trimmed in stone, with a green tile roof. It is situated on the south side of the Ridge Road between Jackson and Monroe streets. The building is designed in what is known as a combination building, containing a church, school, assembly hall and gymnasium. The central portion of the building is used as a church, with a seating capacity of 750. On each side of the church there are three class rooms, six in all. Across the rear of the building is the assembly hall, provided with a stage which is fully equipped to take care of the school entertainments, under the hall is the gymnasium, and adjacent to the gymnasium is the kitchen, service pantry, stairway, corridors, boiler room, etc., while on the main floor are the toilet rooms, corridors, office, vestibules, etc. The main entrance to the church is through three large double doors which open into a commodious vestibule which opens into the church auditorium. The ceiling of the church is vaulted in pure Italian style, with ribs and groyns supported by pilasters surmounted by ornamental caps. The radiators are recessed into the side walls and directly above these are the stained-glass windows. The sanctuary is extra large and will accommodate about fifty priests; the main altar and the side altars occupy the usual positions as in all Catholic churches, and a priest’s sacristy and a boys’ sacristy, connected by an ambulatory, will give all the necessary accommodations to the priests and acolytes.
The entrances to the schools are back on the sides of the church but facing the front and placed about forty feet from the front, thus keeping the children away from the front of the building. Corridors six feet wide surround the church and the class rooms are located on these corridors, each room being standard size, properly lighted and ventilated. The hall is so arranged that it can be converted into class rooms, the gymnasium is so arranged that it can be converted into a hall, and the stairs are so fixed and the walls so arranged that a second story can be put on the hall, providing four extra class rooms, which will probably be ample for all time. Ample arrangements are made for the organ loft and gallery, and the entrance to the latter is through the two towers.
The church stands on an elevated position on the Ridge with is ten or twelve feet above the Ridge Road. The towers, which are exactly alike in design, occupy the two main corners of the church proper and offer an imposing sight to the passers-by on the Ridge Road. The church is placed well back from the front on an auxiliary street about fifty feet south of the Ridge Road. This affords easy access for automobiles and pedestrians and eliminates all steps except the few at the entrance. Between the Ridge Road and the auxiliary road is a beautiful terrace, and the trees which adorn the ridge offer a beautiful perspective, perhaps none in the United States affording a more picturesque view of a Catholic Church.
The building was designed in true Christian art, the three front doors symbolizing the Trinity, the Rose window and its twelve circles around the outside and the large window in the center symbolizing Christ and the twelve apostles, and the two large towers, exactly alike, symbolizing the divine and human nature of Our Blessed Lord, the crosses surmounting both being the standard of Christianity. The vaulted ceiling represents the dome of heaven, the steps leading up to the front symbolize penance, the vestibule, purgatory, the auditorium of the church, heaven, and the sanctuary, the seat of the beatific vision. Five large windows above the altar in the sanctuary piercing the dome over the sanctuary represent the five wounds of Our Lord which were such an offense that they pierced the dome of heaven. The twelve large pilasters on the sides of the church stand for the twelve apostles, or the pillars of the Church.
Ample space is provided for the confessionals and the baptistarium. In designing the building nothing was lost sight of to make it a complete parish unit. The building is 112x75 feet, exclusive of the steps, and the church auditorium about thirty-seven feet high.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WILLIAM LYNN PARKINSON, who has made his mark as a lawyer and citizen at Lafayette, is a member of a very old and influential family of Western Indiana, his people having been extensive land owners, stock raisers, and closely associated with business affairs and politics.
Mr. Parkinson was born at Attica, Fountain County, Indiana, September 18, 1902. His grandfather was Harvey Edward Parkinson, who was born at Rensselaer in Jasper County, Indiana, where he owned an extensive farm and held the office of township trustee. Harvey Edward Parkinson was a son of William Kenton Parkinson, whose father, John Graham Parkinson, married Matilda Kenton, a daughter of Simon Kenton, the first settler at Rensselaer, who located there about 1830. Many members of the Parkinson family have been especially well known in Jasper County because of their interest in and success with the live stock industry, their farms having been the home of many herds of pure bred cattle.
William Henry Parkinson was born and reared in Jasper County, made a choice of the law as his profession, and has practiced both in Jasper and Tippecanoe counties. He was prosecuting attorney of Jasper County. At the age of forty-three he enlisted for service in the army during the World war and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Tank Corps. He married Emma Linn.
William Lynn Parkinson attended school at Rensselaer, completing his high school education there. He was a student in Purdue University and began his law studies under his father and was qualified for practice when only eighteen years of age, but was not admitted to the bar until he had reached his twenty-first birthday, on September 25, 1923. Prior to that time he had handled the legal work in a number of cases. He is a Republican, the same brand of politics that distinguished his father and grandfather. He was appointed junior chairman of the Tippecanoe County central Republican committee.
Mr. Parkinson married Elsie Ruth Bausman, daughter of Charles C. Bausman and granddaughter of Andrew Bausman, who was a member of the Indiana State Legislature and a pioneer of Tippecanoe County, coming from Pennsylvania in the 1830s. Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson have one son, William L., Jr. Mr. Parkinson is a member of the Tippecanoe County and Indiana State Bar Associations, is affiliated with the B. P. O. Elks, Knights of Pythias, Fraternal Order of Eagles. In 1929 he was president of the Exchange Club and is now district governor of the Exchange Club. He has been much interested in the Phi Delta Kappa and was national president for 1927-28. Mr. Parkinson is an energetic, active and ambitious young attorney, and his attainments so far give promise of a notable career in his profession.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
ESTEN GOODIN, clerk of the Circuit Court of Fountain County, has won a strong hold on the popular confidence and esteem of the people of the county during his four years in office.
Mr. Goodin was born in the picturesque hill country in the northern part of Parke County, Indiana, August 10, 1899. His grandfather, William Goodin, was a Union soldier in the Civil war and participated with Sherman in the march to the sea. John C. Goodin, father of Esten, was born in Fountain County and is still living on his farm there. He has been a man of influence in county politics and is a stanch Democrat. He married Eva Eleanor Sampson, daughter of Thomas Sampson. They had a family of five children. William Thomas, the oldest living child is a merchant at Indianapolis. Charles L. is a farmer at the old homestead in Fountain County and married June Weaver. Susie, the only daughter is the wife of Otto Stonebaker, of Indianapolis, and has two children. Paul, the oldest child, died when but four years of age.
Esten Goodin grew up on a farm and attended public schools in Jackson Township, Fountain County, being two years old when his parents moved to this county. He graduated from grammar school and from the Wallace High School in 1918, after which he spent the summer months in the Central Normal College of Danville, Indiana, and also for a time was a student in the Normal School at Muncie. During the winter he was a teacher in the Wallace School, Jackson Township, beginning in the fall of 1918. Mr. Goodin was a school teacher until 1923 and then engaged in farming, the occupation which he had learned as a boy.
In 1926 he was elected on the Democratic ticket to the office of clerk of the Circuit Court of Fountain County and began his duties in that office in 1927. In 1930 he was reelected to the office of clerk in the Circuit Court by one of the largest majorities ever received by a Democrat in Fountain County. His home has been at Covington since he became clerk. Mr. Goodin is a member of Wallace Lodge No. 495, A. F. and A. M., is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council at Crawfordsville, and of Gao Grotto at Danville, Illinois, and is a member of Tidal Lodge, Knights of Pythias of Covington.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
EVERETT ROY ELLERMAN. The biographies appearing in this work, illustrating the growth and progress of the State of Indiana, are largely those of early settlers or of the founders of great business enterprises, or of leaders in public life or in professional vocations. Such men, through the circumstances of their comming, or the period of their connection with affairs, possess a factitious advantage quite apart from their individual and intrinsic characters. Those following them, while they may possess equal or greater endowments, are in a measure overshadowed by the veneration in which men hold their elders, and are quite submerged in the vaster multitudes who, in a large city or state, compete with one another for prominence, crowding every avenue of business and filling every opening for fame. Nevertheless the life of the state cannot be adequately illustrated without taking into account those who have taken up the work of their fathers and carried it on with success.
To this younger generation belongs Everett R. Ellerman, who has demonstrated himself as being one of the most capable as well as successful young contractors and builders of Fort Wayne. Mr. Ellerman was born at Huntington, Huntington County, Indiana, July 26, 1897, and is a son of Charles J. and Dessie (Stezel) Ellerman. His father was born at Brookville, Indiana, February 4, 1873, and his mother at Huntington, this state, December 12, 1877, and both still are residents of Huntington. Of their three children, all of whom are living, Everett R. is the second in order of birth.
Everett R. Ellerman received his education in the public schools of Huntington and following his graduation from high school became identified with the contracting and building business. He was variously employed by large concerns until November 1, 1923, at which time he located permanently at Fort Wayne, establishing a business of his own, with offices at 4538 South Lafayette Street. Since then he has built up a large and important business, and has risen rapidly to the front rank among the younger members of his vocation. A number of the substantial structures of Fort Wayne give evidence of his expert workmanship, and among the residences and commercial structures which have been constructed by him many have been built according to plans drawn by himself, for he makes a hobby of drawing and possesses considerable ability along architectural lines. Fraternally Mr. Ellerman is a member of the local Blue Lodge of Masonry, and he also belongs to the Fort Wayne Kiwanis Club. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
On April 28, 1917, at Adrian, Michigan, Mr. Ellerman was united in marriage with Miss Mabel L. Lindsay, who was born at Van Buren, La Grange County, Indiana, a daughter of Stephen J. and Maria (Garbet) Lindsay. Mr. Lindsay, who was born near Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana, is deceased. Mrs. Lindsay, a native of Tipton County, this state, resides at Kokomo. Mr. and Mrs. Ellerman are the parents of three children: Mary Maxine, born May 17, 1921; Charlotte June, born October 6, 1922; and Betty Rose, born March 25, 1928. Mr. Ellerman is the owner of an attractive home at 4538 South Lafayette Street.
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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
