Mr. Deffendall was born December 19, 1873, a son of James Deffendall, also a native of Pike County, in which locality his father, a native of Germany, settled upon coming to the United States in young manhood, at which time he accompanied two brothers. James Deffendall was a farmer all his life, and was a highly esteemed citizen, whose death occurred in February, 1904. He married Susan Hoover, whose father was a second cousin to President Herbert Hoover. Mrs. Deffendall died in November, 1913, having borne her husband fourteen children, one of whom died in infancy, and John, Sarah, Mary, Marion, Abraham and William died later on in life. The others were: Lucy, who married George Blaiza, of Pike County, has three children; Elizabeth, who married Newton E. Carr, of Pike County, has seven children; Loren, who lives in Pike County, married Rose Robling, and they have two children; Julia, who married Morton Trusler, has two children, and lives at Oakland City, Indiana; George W.; Ida, who married Lawrence Skinner, has four children, and lives in Pike County; and Prentice, who lives at Saint Louis, Missouri, married Miss Wallace, and they have no children.
George W. Deffendall attended the schools of Pike County, and when he secured a certificate, taught school for ten years. Leaving the educational field, he entered that of business, and owned and conducted a grocery store at Hosmer, Indiana, for twenty years. When he sold it was at a substantial profit, and in 1918 he began selling insurance, which work occupied him for two years. He then became bookkeeper and accountant, and was so engaged until 1925, when he was elected mayor of Petersburg, taking office January 4, 1926, and which office he held until January, 1930. He is now practicing law at Petersburg. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in December, 1929.
In December, 1894, Mr. Deffendall was married to Elizabeth De Jarnett, a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Quiggins) De Jarnett, natives of Pike County. Mr. and Mrs. Deffendall have four children, namely: Leona, who is a school teacher at Evansville, is a graduate of Blaker's Teachers College, Indianapolis, and is unmarried; Grace, who is also a teacher in the Petersburg High School, lives at home, is unmarried, and a graduate of the Indiana State Normal School; Denver, who lives at Indianapolis, married Miss Dorothy Lentze, and they have two children, Robert and Richard; and Hugh, who is at home.
In political faith Mr. Deffendall is, and always has been, a Republican, as his father before him. He has been advanced through all of the bodies of the York Rite in Masonry, and also belongs to the Shrine at Evansville, being now its oldest member in point of membership. He is a director in the Petersburg Building & Loan Association. While, aside from a patriotic participation in local war work, Mr. Deffendall has had no military experience, two of his father's brothers and three of his mother's brothers served in the war between the states as Union soldiers, and rendered an excellent account of themselves.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WILLIAM DIXON CROW. Although he commenced his career as a lawyer and still retains a knowledge of that calling which is of inestimable value to him in his present vocations, it is as a newspaper man that William Dixon Crow is best known to the present and rising generation at Petersburg. Since 1907 he has been owner, editor and publisher of the Petersburg Press; a Republican weekly newspaper which has a large circulation in Pike and the surrounding counties and which wields a strong influence in the molding of public opinion as to movements of general importance. He has likewise born his full share of responsibility as a citizen, and on various occasions has served his community capably in public offices.
William Dixon Crow was born May 23, 1871, at Petersburg, Pike County, Indiana, and is a son of John and Tennessee (Traylor) Crow. He was graduated from Petersburg High School in 1890, and then entered Indiana University, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1894, being the recipient of the degree of Master of Arts. Even thus early he displayed a predilection for the profession of journalism and during the terms of 1893 and 1894 served in the capacity of editor-in-chief of the Indiana Student, the university students' paper. During the next three years Mr. Crow was variously employed, principally in the study of law, and then returned to the University of Indiana for a one-year legal course. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of his profession in 1898, and not long thereafter was elected city and county attorney and continued to act in these capacities until 1907. Although he had an excellent and remunerative practice and was acknowledged to be a capable and thoroughly informed lawyer, the urge toward a journalistic career was too great to withstand, and in the year above mentioned he purchased the Petersburg Press, a Republican weekly, which he has published continuously since that time. He is giving his readers a well-printed, attractive and well-edited newspaper, handling news of a national as well as a local character, timely editorials and features. A stanch Republican in his political views, Mr. Crow served as supervisor of the census for the First Congressional District in 1910, and occupied the position of postmaster of Petersburg from 1922 until 1927. He was a member of the advisory committee of the state Republican committee during the campaign of 1928, and always has wielded a strong influence in his party. Mr. Crow belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Kiwanis Club of Petersburg, and formerly was a member of the Indiana Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
In 1900 Mr. Crow was united in marriage with Miss Lula May Harris, daughter of Doctor and Sarah (Brown) Harris. Two children have been born to this union: Miss Elizabeth Von der Lehr, of Chicago, who has one son, William N.; and Mrs. Margaret Meinerding, of Columbus, Ohio. Mrs. Crow has long been prominent in civic and social circles and in church work, and is secretary of the Southwestern Historical Society and a member of the Daughters of Veterans of Wars.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
EMERY VIRGIL COUTS, A. B. Not only is Pike County a leading section of Indiana in industry and commerce, but it can lay claim also to being one of the foremost in encouraging and maintaining excellent public schools, many of which, at the present time, are under the capable direction of her native sons. One of these, Prof. Emery Virgil Couts, county superintendent of schools, is widely known as a man of real scholarship and an experienced teacher, and belongs to Pike County’s honored group of overseas veterans of the World War. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm while attending the country schools. Collegiate advantages awaited him when he left the local high school, and perhaps his future career had already been determined upon, as immediately after his graduation and winning of his degree of Bachelor of Arts he entered the educational field. As a matter of choice he remained in Pike County for a number of years, giving his best efforts to build up a high educational standard in the schools. In 1925 he was called into public life as county superintendent of schools, and is still serving in this important office, for which he is so well qualified.
Superintendent Couts was born in Pike County, November 3, 1893, a son of James M. And Mary E. (Connor) Couts, the latter of whom was born in New York City, where her parents had settled upon coming to this country from Ireland. James M. Couts was born in Pike County, Indiana, and has spent his life in farming. Both he and his wife are living. Nine children have been born to them, namely: James A., who resides in Gibson County, Indiana; John E., who lives in Pike County; Mary, who lives in Ohio; Emery V., of this review; William C., who resides in Pike County; Wilford, who is a teacher in Illinois; Cecil T., who is a teacher in the Pike County schools; George H., who is a teacher in Pike County; and Edith, who lives at home. All are graduates of the Oakland City College.
Superintendent Couts took his degree of Bachelor of Arts from Oakland City College, after which he was a student of Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute for two terms, or one year. He has also studied at the Indiana State University and expects to receive his M. A. Degree in 1932, along with his brothers, Wilford and Cecil. His period of service as a public-school teacher in Pike County covered fourteen years, and he is continuing his fine work upon a wider scale in his present office.
On November 24, 1920, Superintendent Couts was married to Miss Agnes Hyneman, a daughter of Robert and Lillie (Thornton) Hyneman, of Pike County. Their one child died in infancy. In politics he is a Democrat. While a man of high moral character, he does not affiliate with any church. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the American Legion.
In October, 1917, Superintendent Couts was inducted into the United States Army, was sent to France after due training, as a member of the Three Hundred and Thirty-fifth Infantry, Eighty-fourth Division, and after eleven months overseas was returned to the United States, and honorably discharged in July, 1919. With his return to civilian life he resumed his educational work both of teaching and studying. Truly it may be said that teachers, like poets, "are not made, but born.” This truism may be properly quoted with reference to Superintendent Couts, for few men of his profession in Pike County can be said to possess in higher degree the qualities which combine to make the successful educator. The best recognition of his ability in this respect was shown in his election to the office of county superintendent of schools, in which he has served with marked efficiency, proving himself to be not only an advanced scholar and profound student and thinker, but an executive of superior talents.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
HOWARD A. BOENDER, Hammond insurance man, well known for his constructive thought and action, is a native of Holland, in which country he was born May 4, 1888.
The Boender family have lived in Holland for many generations, where they have been active in commercial life. His parents, K. J. and Anna (Baunch) Boender, were both born in Holland. His father was a flax buyer with his father on the Board of Trade. K. J. Boender was also educated for the profession of veterinarian. When he brought his family to America he settled at Harvey, Illinois, in 1895, and for about ten years was in the dairy business. He lived for several years at Galveston, Texas, and then moved to the far Northwest, locating at Wenatchee, Washington, where he and his wife reside. He and his sons have engaged extensively in the fruit growing business, making a specialty of the famous Delicious apples. The parents are members of the Dutch Reformed Church. The children are: Howard A.; Lizzie, wife of George Heyen, of Wenatchee; K. J. Boender, Jr., who has two large apple orchards at Wenatchee; Anna, wife of Carl Anderson, of Wenatchee; Richard, an apple rancher at Wenatchee; and John A., a newspaper man at Baltimore, Maryland. One son, John, lost his life in 1900, following the Galveston tidal wave.
Howard A. Boender received his early advantages in private schools in Holland, afterwards attended public school at Harvey, Illinois, and when he left school he became a clerk in the contract department of the New York Central lines, where he remained five years, three years at Kankakee, Illinois, and two years at Gibson, Indiana, his home being at Hammond. Since 1913 he has been in the insurance and real estate business. His business is conducted under his individual name, with offices in the First Trust Building.
Mr. Boender is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a Republican in national politics, but votes independently in local affairs. In 1917 he enlisted and became a member of the Ambulance Corps of the American Red Cross. He was stationed at Camp King, Sound Beach, Connecticut, until after the armistice. He held the rank of sergeant. Mr. Boender is a member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hammond.
He married at Kankakee, Illinois, February 22, 1910, Miss Anna Radzom, daughter of Robert and Adeline (Radzom) Radzom. Her father for many years was with the car department of the Illinois Central Railway. The Radzom family came from Germany. There were five children, Carl, Anna, Ernest, Lizzie and Lillian, all of whom were born at Kankakee. Mrs. Boender attended public and parochial schools at Kankakee. She is a member of the Ladies Aid of the St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Mr. Boender while not a native American has been an ardent student of American history, and has been a great admirer of the famous statesmen of this nation, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and others. He has delivered many patriotic addresses and recently he was a speaker before the Chamber of Commerce at Lansing, Illinois, in the course of which he declared: "Our great republic means nothing unless it means triumph of a real democracy, popular government, and an economic system under which each man shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the central feature of the history of the world, and all nations look for hope to our democracy."
Mr. Boender has especially interested himself in constructive measures to relieve the great employment depression of 1930-31. He helped organize the Municipal Tax Payers League of Hammond and secured a working cooperation between the taxpayers of the Calumet district with a view to lightening the burdens of government charges and a greater efficiency in expenditures. Mr. Boender gained national recognition for his proposal early in 1931 that the resources of the states and nation be employed to construct a magnificent super-highway eighty feet wide from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts, with an intersecting highway from Canada to the Gulf; a project which he estimated would require five years to complete, would employ 100,000 men directly in the labor of construction and many others in the supply of material, and would not only supply transportation arteries which sooner or later must be built, but would stimulate business activities throughout the nation.
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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
JOHN THOMAS KIME, M. D. For many years the family name of Kime has been a familiar and honored one of the medical profession in Pike County, and the line has been unbroken. A present worthy bearer of the name and title is Dr. John Thomas Kime, physician and surgeon at Petersburg, successor of his prominent father, the late Dr. John Kime, who came early to the county and spent his life in the work of his noble profession.
Dr. John Thomas Kime was born at Union, October 27, 1866, and had excellent early school advantages, supplemented later on by a university course at Bloomington and a thorough medical education in the University of Louisville, Kentucky, Medical College, Louisville. He came back to Petersburg after graduating and has continued in medical practice here ever since. He commands the confidence and enjoys the esteem of his fellow citizens and is favorably known professionally all over and beyond Pike County.
The elder Doctor Kime continued in practice at Union, Indiana, until his death in 1886, when he was but fifty-five years old. He married Cassandra Jones, and they had six children: Gardner, who is in the real estate business, married Jennie Thompson, and they have two children; Dr. John Thomas was the second; Azel F. is a merchant living in Union, Indiana, who married Ada Lindsey, and they have one child; William M., who lives at Saint Cloud, is married and has four children; Marshall M.. who is deceased, married Grace Stuckey, and they had two children; and Laura E., who died in 1918, was the wife of James Billings and the mother of three children. There were two children by a former marriage: R. R. Kime, M. D., deceased, and James F. Kime, of Pasadena, California.
Graduated in medicine March 1, 1889, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and, returning to Petersburg, Dr. John T. Kime has built up a practice in his native city that is not only large and valuable, but one that is constantly augmenting.
On October 30, 1894, Doctor Kime was married to Miss Effa Posey, a daughter of Richard and Jennie (Gray) Posey, all natives of Pike County and descendants of an old Revolutionary family and of one of the oldest families in Southern Indiana, after whom a county was named. Mrs. Kime is a member of the D. A. R., in which she has held several offices. Doctor and Mrs. Kime have four children: Posey T., who is an attorney of Evansville, Indiana, and now judge of Indiana Appellate Court, married Margaret Bollenbacker, and they have one child, Helen Aileen; Harold R., who is a graduate of Northwestern College, is a realtor of South Bend, Indiana, and is unmarried; Aileen, who is deceased; and Allen, who resides at Petersburg, is engaged in the ice business. He married Edith B. Colvin, and they have one child, Carolyn C. Doctor Kime is a Democrat in his views and has been honored by his party. For two terms he was county health officer, and for two terms more he was coroner. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church holds his membership, and he is highly valued in that body. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, the Pike County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
LEWIS JOHNSON EARLY. Among the citizens of marked enterprise and public spirit at Petersburg stands Lewis Johnson Early, owner and publisher of the Pike County Democrat, a leading Democratic newspaper of Southern Indiana. Mr. Early is a native of Kentucky and received his early education in Ohio County, that state, and later was graduated from the Western Kentucky College, in which he subsequently was an instructor for some years, in the meanwhile having learned the printing business. The educational field as a permanency did not altogether satisfy Mr. Early's ambition, however; in fact even then he found himself best contented when engaged in newspaper work, and after considerable experience in various city offices in Kentucky he purchased a newspaper, The Cannelton Telephone, at Cannelton, Indiana, and conducted it for thirty years, 1892 to 1922, during which long period he became well and favorably known in journalism in this state. On becoming a citizen of Petersburg he bought the Pike County Democrat, the oldest newspaper in Pike County and this part of the state. As an earnest citizen and seasoned newspaper man he has conducted his publication most efficiently, and, in association with his eldest son as publisher, has made it not only a convincing exponent of the principles of the Democratic political party, but also a world-wide news visitor into homes all over the state.
Lewis Johnson Early was born in Ohio County, Kentucky, February 2, 1865, and is a son James and Sarah A. (Miller) Early. His father, who was born at Hardinsburg, Kentucky, passed his entire life in the occupation of farming and stock raising in Ohio County, where he died in 1889, while his mother, a native of Davis County, Kentucky, still survives at Los Angeles, California, aged ninety-one years. There were six children in the family: Emmett, deceased; Alice, deceased; Walter, a resident of Los Angeles, California; Clara, the wife of J. W. Dillon, of Terre Haute, Indiana; and Mrs. L. B. Evans, deceased.
Lewis Johnson Early, as noted above, received his early education in the rural and high schools of Kentucky, following which he took a business course at the Western Kentucky College, and also attended the Danville (Illinois) Normal School and Valparaiso (Indiana) College. During this period he had taught school for one year, and after leaving Valparaiso College he taught in the Western Kentucky College for five years. Giving up educational work, he entered the newspaper field and worked in offices at Lewisport, Hawsville and Owensboro Kentucky and in 1892 went to Cannelton, Indiana, where he purchased a newspaper, of which he was the proprietor for thirty years, during which time he gained recognition and prosperity. In 1922 he disposed of his interests and went to Los Angeles, but after remaining in California for one year returned to Indiana and settled at Petersburg, where he purchased the Pike County Democrat. This, is the oldest paper in the county, having been established in 1856, and is one of the oldest in the southern part of the state. The paper is modern in every respect, has a wide circulation, and connected therewith is an up-to-date job printing department which is fully equipped to turn out the highest grade of work. Mr. Early has always been a Democrat, is public-spirited and possessed of civic pride, and gives his unswerving aid to beneficial civic movements. He holds membership in the Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club, but has no fraternal connections, while his religious affiliation is with the Methodist Church.
In 1895 Mr. Early was united in marriage with Miss M. Baker, of Hawesville, Kentucky, who died in 1905. In October, 1906, Mr. Early married Miss Margaret Blake. Mr. Early is the father of three sons: Justin Lee, of Petersburg, who is publisher of the Pike County Democrat and married Muriel McLellan, October 13, 1930; Shannon Bruce, assistant general manager for a paper mill at Monroe Bridge, Massachusetts; and Robert, who is a graduate of Bosse High School at Evansville and is now associated with his brother Shannon in the paper mill at Monroe Bridge.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
SYLVANUS RICHARD CLARK, M. D. A prominent and substantial citizen of Pike County, Indiana, and one of the leading medical practitioners, was Dr. Sylvanus R. Clark, physician and surgeon at Petersburg, secretary of the board of health and president of the Petersburg school board. He was a native of Ohio, but his home had been in Indiana practically all his life and Pike County claimed him, for it was here in his infancy that his soldier father settled after the close of the war between the states, of which he was a veteran. Doctor Clark's medical education was secured in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in 1890, and immediately afterwards he returned to Indiana, being anxious to begin his practice in familiar and friendly surroundings. It was not until 1912, however, that the advantages of Petersburg so impressed him that he came to this city to establish a permanent home. He had also studied at the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville and took post-graduate work in surgery in Saint Louis.
Doctor Clark was born in Vinton County, Ohio, February 25, 1864, a son of John F. and Margaret (Gardner) Clark, the latter of whom died in February, 1902, the former in April, 1898. During the war of the sixties John F. Clark served in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after the close of the war and his honorable discharge he located on the farm in Pike County, Indiana, on which he subsequently died. He and his wife had twelve children, four of whom died in infancy, the others being: Mary, Isaac, Oliver, Doctor Clark, Newton and his twin sister, Alice, Ellen and John.
Graduated from medical college in 1890, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, Doctor Clark went to Otwell, where he remained for twelve years. He was at Union for five years, at Glezen for five years and from 1912 he practiced at Petersburg until his death by automobile accident, on October 5, 1929. During the World war Doctor Clark was appointed examiner of the draft board, and when he was through with its work he enlisted in the Medical Corps, was commissioned a captain, and served with that rank at Fort Harrison Base Hospital Number 25, and at Camp McLellan, Alabama, to which he was transferred on November 11, 1918, the day the armistice was signed.
In November, 1896, Doctor Clark was married to Miss Sarah V. Elliott, a daughter of James and Nancy (Ball) Elliott, of Connersville, Indiana. There are three children: Margaret, who, married Thomas Ogden, of Petersburg and has three children, Thomasina Louise, Richard Gene and Lola Faye; Myrtle, who married Ernest Brown, has no children and lives at Lewistown, Montana; and Helen, who married George McLellan, lives at Dallas, Texas, and has one child, Kathryn Mary. Doctor Clark was a Republican. The Presbyterian Church held his membership. He was a Scottish Rite Mason, and he also belonged to the American Legion, the Pike County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He was also a member of the Odd Fellows for thirty-five years and of the Modern Woodmen for about thirty years. In addition to his practice, with which a large and valuable one, Doctor Clark owned the post office building at Petersburg and other valuable real estate in the city of which he was so valued a factor. He also owned and operated the only hospital of the town, which was the result of a life long dream.
To give a truer picture of Doctor Clark's life we quote from an editorial in the Winslow Dispatch written by one who knew him well: "The love and esteem in which Doctor Clark was held has been manifested since his death by the constant stream of people from all stages of society who have filed past his casket.
"A good man has gone to his reward. The torch of life has been snuffed out just when the dreams of a lifetime were being realized and a philanthropic venture to which he had dedicated his life was reaching consummation.
"The passing. of Doctor Clark is a great loss to Petersburg and Pike County. He was one of the county's foremost citizens."
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 5
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
