JUDGE JOHN U. PETTIT
John U. Pettit came from Logansport soon after his admission at the bar of the Cass County Circuit Court and rose rapidly in the profession. For many years he was associated in practice with Hon. Calvin Cowgill. In 1853 he was appointed judge of the Eighth Circuit, having already served in the State Assembly and as Government consul in Brazil. He resigned the judgeship in 1854 to be elected to Congress, being honored by three successive terms. Then back to the State Legislature. Judge Pettit was in Congress also during the first of the war, and although originally a democrat became a stanch republican and an acknowledged force in the councils of Lincoln and Governor Morton. In many respects he was a great man. In view of his frail physique and almost lifelong sickness, his accomplishments were certainly most remarkable. He died at his home in Wabash, March 21, 1881.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
JUDGE JAMES D. CONNER
James D. Conner, a Fayette County man, located at Wabash in 1840, when he had but just passed his majority, poor but ambitious in the right way. Within a decade he stood among the leading members of the bar. He was a strong whig and in 1856 was sent as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention which nominated Fremont for the presidency of the new party. As a republican he was among the first to serve in both the lower and upper houses of the state Legislature, and although as early as 1861 Lincoln tendered him a judicial appointment, he did not ascend the bench until 1884, when he was elected judge of the Twenty-seventh Circuit, then composed of Wabash and Miami counties. He served in that capacity for six years to the satisfaction of both lawyers and their clients. Judge Conner married a daughter of Col. Hugh Hanna, and was therefore doubly endeared to Wabash County people.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
HON. CALVIN COWGILL
Calvin Cowgill was born in 1819, the same year as Judge Conner, but the former was a native of Ohio. In 1842 he was admitted to the bar at Winchester, Indiana, and before the Supreme Court at Indianapolis, but did not practice much for several years. In 1851 he was elected to the Legislature and in the following year moved to Wabash, where he commenced active practice with John U. Pettit. He was among the pioneer republicans of Wabash County, served for several years as treasurer, was provost marshal during the Civil war, and was subsequently returned to the General Assembly. In the late '70s he was elected to Congress. He was also prominent in connection with the organization and presidency of the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Indiana Railroad, and for several years at the head of the Wabash Natural Gas Company, as well as a leader in other large enterprises.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
GENERAL PARRISH A.ND CAPTAIN WILLIAMS
Gen. Charles S. Parrish was admitted to the bar at Wabash in 1856, served as prosecuting attorney of the circuit for the term commencing 1857, and was for many years after a leader at the bar, as well as one of the most prominent citizens of Wabash. He served throughout the Civil war from captain to brevet brigadier general and no citizen did more for the Union, both at home and at the front. General Parrish was afterward mayor of the city, and, whether in peace or in war, was honored for his faithfulness and ability. Benjamin F. Williams, who had lived in Wabash since he was three years old, studied law under Judge Conner and at Butler University, Indianapolis. In 1859 he graduated from that institution at the head of his class, and immediately commenced practice at Wabash. At the very commencement of his practice, in April, 1861, he enlisted in the first company which left Wabash, commanded by Captain Parrish, re-enlisted in August, 1862, and did not return to his law practice until the war was over. He bravely served as captain of Company K and for many years after the Civil war actively and successfully practiced his profession. Captain Williams is now the oldest lawyer in the county measured by length of professional service, is the father of the beautiful Memorial Hall erected to the soldiers with whom he marched and fought in his younger days, and is among the best-informed men in the county. Every body knows him and has a warm heart for him, as he has for all.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. ISAAC FINLEY
Dr. Finley was one of the first to erect a brick residence on the site of the new town laid out by Colonel Hanna, and was prominent in the movement which secured the county seat at Wabash. He appears to have been a generally-useful all-around citizen, and was not so well known as Dr. Hamilton, who was in position to secure a large practice among the canal laborers and officials and continued in professional work at La Gro for many years after the canal was completed to Lafayette.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. THOMAS HAMILTON
For a period of more than twenty years Dr. Thomas Hamilton was one of the leading physicians of the W abash Valley. He was an Irishman educated in Scotland, and commenced practice before coming to the United States. After living for a short time in Pennsylvania, in 1834 he moved to La Gro in the midst of the waterway construction. There he resided until his death in the spring of 1856. Doctor Hamilton was a successful practitioner and a respected citizen, although somewhat eccentric. With his wife, he was one of the founders of the Presbyterian Church at La Gro in 1849. His son, Col. John Hamilton, commanded Sherman's batteries at Beaufort Court House in the Civil war, and was afterward an officer in the regular army.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. JAMES HACKLEMAN
Dr. James Hackleman was an elder brother of Hon. Elijah Hackleman, the widely known historian and public man, and in the fall of 1835, then in his thirty-seventh year, settled in the Town of Wabash. His American ancestors were natives of Maryland and the Carolinas, but the family in which James was one of ten children, early settled in Franklin County, Indiana. He studied medicine in Fayette County, and was one of the first practitioners in Wabash Town, residing there in active professional work from 1835 to 1854. Doctor Hackleman spent the last decade of his life at Knightstown, and while making preparations to resume his residence and practice at Wabash was called away by death, April 27, 1864. The doctor held a number of public offices, such as justice of the peace and judge of the Probate Court (1838-45), and he was very popular and universally respected. Another brother, Dr. Jacob T. Hackleman, was a well known Iowa practioner, having early located on the Indian agency near the present site of Ottumwa.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. JAMES FORD
Dr. James Ford, of Wabash Town, was one of the ablest surgeons and physicians who ever practiced in the county. He was of an old Southern family, and was a son of James Ford. Although an owner of slaves, the father was an abolitionist and left Virginia in 1797, moving to Harrison County, Ohio, and becoming a farmer on a large scale. There the James Ford, who became a physician, was born. The doctor received his first schooling at Mansfield, whither the family had moved, and in 1828 entered Kenyon College. He was then sixteen years of age. He studied Latin under Salmon P. Chase, and in 1831, by the advice of Dr. Bushnell, turned his attention to medicine. In the winter of 1833-34 he was teaching school near Connersville, Fayette County, when Dr. Mason, a prominent physician and ambitious politician, took a great interest in him, and the two worked together to such mutual advantage that Dr. Mason got into the State Legislature and Dr. Ford assumed a large practice when, in 1835, he secured a license as a regular member of the profession. At that time there was no graduate in medicine at Connersville. In the winter of 1836-37 Dr. Ford attended a full course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, and although he continued in regular and successful practice, under authority of his license, until the winter of 1853-54, he was not a regular M. D. until that time, when he completed his course at Rush Medical College, Chicago. He had been a resident of Wabash since 1841.
Dr. Ford followed Capt. C. S. Parrish as the second man in the county to present himself for enlistment in 1861. He was sworn into the Union service and appointed regimental surgeon in the Eighth Indiana Regiment. As a participant of the three-months' service, he was at the battle of Rich Mountain, and after the engagement was placed in charge of the hospital as the ranking officer of the other regimental surgeons. Dr. Ford joined the three years' service, and was present at the battle of Pea Ridge in the campaign of the Army of the Southwest. Subsequently he was appointed brigade surgeon and medical director in the field, but in June, 1863, was obliged to resign on account of ill health. He returned to his private practice at Wabash, and in 1871 was appointed examining surgeon for pensions. During the earlier period of the profession in Wabash County no member stood higher in operative surgery and general scientific attainments than Dr. James Ford. While in the army General Curtis recognized the value of his discoveries pertaining to the sanitary influence of local air currents, and to his judgment was entrusted the important duty of selecting the location of the camps.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. JOHN H. DE PUY
Dr. John H. De Puy, who located at La Gro in 1846, was a Pennsylvanian by birth and the son of a farmer. He was of French ancestry, being of the same stock as Chauncey Depew, the noted New York lawyer and politician. When the future physician was a young child the family moved from Pennsylvania to Stark County, Ohio, and at the age of twenty-one he commenced his medical studies under Dr. Henry Everts, of Cleveland. He was graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, in 1845, and in August of the following year located in the growing canal town of La Gro. At the time of his coming, fevers, ague and bilious diseases were very prevalent in Central and Northern Indiana, and continued to flourish for many years thereafter. So Doctor De Puy 's practice took a wide latitude; and the same may be said of all good physicians of that period and locality. It was not unusual for a popular country doctor to travel through a territory covering twenty miles from his residence, and remain in the saddle for days and nights at a stretch. Doctor De Puy early saw that the Town of Wabash was destined to embrace a better class of citizens than the distinctive canal settlement at La Gro, and in 1864 changed his residence to the former place. He purchased a farm near the city, invested extensively in real estate, bred fine live stock and became widely known in several fields beyond his professional activities.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. JAMES L. DICKEN
Another widely known practitioner was Dr. James L. Dicken, of Somerset, Wabash and La Fontaine. He was born in Fayette County, and, after becoming fairly well educated and teaching school, commenced to study medicine under Dr. William Lomax, of Marion. Afterward he attended a course of lectures in the Indiana State Medical College, commenced practice at Somerset, Wabash County, in 1849, and finally graduated from the Ohio Medical College in March, 1851. Doctor Dicken moved from Somerset in 1859, took a post-graduate course at the Ohio Medical College, located in Wabash City in 1860 and in the following year joined the Union service as surgeon of the Forty-seventh Indiana Regiment. He served continuously from October, 1861, to November, 1865, without leave of absence. He was with his regiment in every engagement in which it participated, and for two years acted as ranking regimental surgeon in the Department of the Gulf. Doctor Dicken is claimed to have served a longer continuous term during the Civil war than any other surgeon in the State of Indiana, his nearest competitor being Doctor Lomax, of Marion, his preceptor, whose period of service was just four days shorter than that of Doctor Dicken. Certainly, a remarkable and fine record. At the close of the war Doctor Dicken resumed private practice at Wabash, and there continued until February, 1881, at which time he moved to La Fontaine.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. WILLIAM G. ARMSTRONG
Soon after his graduation from the Ohio Medical College, Dr. William G. Armstrong also located in La Fontaine. There he engaged in an active and successful practice for more than thirty years-from November, 1850, until his death, January 20, 1881. He was a native Hoosier, born in Rush County, in 1822.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. LAUGHLIN O'NEAL
One of the early and able practitioners was also Dr. Laughlin O'Neal, of La Fontaine and Somerset. In the winter of 1849-50 he attended medical lectures at the Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio, and soon afterward commenced practice at La Fontaine. In 1865 he was commissioned surgeon of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and thus served until the close of the war. He then resumed practice at Somerset, and in 1876 graduated from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. WILLIAM R. WINTON
Dr. William R. Winton entered the list of Wabash County pio¬neers of the medical profession when, in 1850, he located in the town of Wabash, coming from Crawfordsville, Indiana. He was one of the first trustees of Wabash College, and was a graduate of the Ohio Medical College, class of 1837.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. HENRY H. GILLEN
Among those who located in Wabash County at an early period in the history of the Wabash County Medical Society were Dr. Henry H. Gillen and Dr. Andrew J. Smith. Doctor Gillen was a Kentuckian of Scotch-Irish parentage. While a young man he pursued his medical studies both privately and at the Ohio Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati. He commenced practice in Franklin County, Indiana, and continued to devote the utmost of his time and strength to it for more than twenty years. His long, irregular hours and the wearing hardships of travel and fatigue in the new, raw country of his choice so undermined his health that he was obliged to temporarily abandon practice. His experiments in orange culture in Florida, which covered some of the later years of his life, were not successful, and the worry incident to failure of crops and insecure investments is thought to have further weakened his constitution and hastened his death, which occurred in January, 1899. His second born and oldest son, Richard H., is the well known physician of Wabash.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. ANDREW J. SMITH
Dr. Andrew J. Smith, who, for more than forty years, brought physical and spiritual comfort to so many people in Wabash, was an Ohio man. He pursued collegiate courses at Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, and Miami University, Oxford, having as a classmate for a time Benjamin Harrison, afterward President of the United States. In 1852 he moved to Somerset, Wabash County, and began the study of medicine with Dr. James L. Dicken. He also took a medical course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1856-57, but did not graduate. In the latter year he was licensed to practice and located at Wabash for the purpose. In 1863 Governor Morton appointed him senior assistant surgeon of the Second Indiana Cavalry. His service in that capacity extended to the close of the war, and he was much of the time in charge of the hospital at Cleveland, Tennessee. Upon his return to general practice he became associated with Doctors Gillen and Bennett until 1870. Not being satisfied with his acquirements and being in accord with the efforts of the profession to place the practice upon a scientific and systematic basis, Doctor Smith determined to finish a regular course at some standard institution of medical learning . In June, 1871, he graduated from the medical department of the Northwestern University, Chicago, and in 1874 formed a professional partnership with Dr. R. F. Blount which continued uninterruptedly for sixteen years. During that period both were lecturers on the staff of the Fort Wayne Medical College. Doctor Smith was a strong man and a physician of good cheer; therefore the best kind of an inspiration to the community. He was also a public man, both in spirit and action. His death on December 22, 1900, was the withdrawal of a fine, constant and uplifting force.
Doctor Smith's wife, whom he married in 1889, was formerly Miss Louise Jessup, M. D., a graduate of the Woman's College of the Northwestern University, at Chicago. She is still engaged in a substantial practice, confined to her sex and the ailments of children, and is one of the best known women of Wabash.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. T. R. BRADY
Doctor Brady is a native of Wabash County. In his twentieth year he enlisted for the Union service and was severely wounded at Missionary Ridge. Although he was obliged to retire from active service for a time, he returned to the front as soon as his condition would permit, and was with Sherman's army in its march and campaigns to Atlanta and through the Carolinas. He was mustered out at Indianapolis in 1865, entered the Presbyterian Academy at Logansport, then studied medicine, and completed a two years' course at Rush Medical College, Chicago, from which he graduated in 1869 with the degree of M. D. Doctor Brady at once located in Lincolnville, this county, for practice, and at once acquired standing in the community as a physician and a citizen.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
DR. PERRY G. MOORE
Doctor Moore, who has the distinction of being both an able physician and an advisory editor of this work, was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, March 26, 1845. His father, Thomas M., was also a physician; practiced for several years in Cleveland and Mayfield, Ohio, dying in the latter place in February, 1846. Dr. Moore's mother, formerly Martha Martin, was a native of England, but when a young girl came with her parents to Cleveland, where she was reared and married. She died in the May following her husband's decease (1846), and the son Perry G., was therefore left an orphan when little more than a year old. Through the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. Amos Philbrick the boy found a home and was educated. After completing the common branches, he spent several years in the study of medicine with Dr. Ira. Lyman, of Chester, Ohio, and graduated from the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, in the class of 1865-66. In November of the latter year Doctor Moore located in Rich Valley and secured a large practice, besides building up an extensive trade in drugs and general merchandise. In September, 1887, he moved to the City of Wabash, where he has since resided as a leader in his profession and a genial, well-informed gentleman and a useful citizen.
Doctor Moore married Melissa Beroth, of Rich Valley, February 1, 1870, and four of their children are living: Lura M., born March 1, 1874; married to Van C. Cook of Mansfield, Ohio (her present residence) April 17, 1902. They have one daughter, Vangelene. Perry H., born July 4, 1881, married Eva Crabill, October 16, 1907, and now living in Wabash. Lalan B., born March 31, 1883; married Leroy Dennis, October 16, 1907; residence Wabash. They have one daughter Lalan Louise, age five years. Merrill M., born March 20, 1890; residence Wabash.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
COL. WILLIAM STEELE
A number of citizens who afterward became residents of Wabash County served both as officers and privates in the war of 1812. The character best known to the local community was Col. William Steele. He went from Eastern Indiana as a soldier, and moved to the Town of Wabash in 1834. He was the first justice of the peace in the county, and at its civil organization was elected clerk of the Circuit Court. Later he held other public offices of local importance, and in 1851 was elected a representative in the lower house of the State Legislature. Subsequently he served his constituents in the Constitutional Conven¬tion, and for more than forty years preceding his death was a useful and honored citizen of Wabash County. He died in the City of Wabash on the 30th of August, 1876, at the age of ninety-five years.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
COL. JAMES WHITMORE
Col. James Whitmore left his native State of Virginia at the age of thirty and settled in Madison, Ohio. While a resident of the Buckeye state he was commissioned colonel of militia, and in the War of 1812 performed efficient service in defending the frontier against the British and Indians. In after years he came to the county and died at Wabash in 1854.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
GEN. JOHN B. ROSE
Gen. John B. Rose was a lieutenant in the War of 1812, and received honorable mention by his commanding officer for gallant conduct at the battle of Plattsburg. He served as sheriff of Union County, Indiana, was a member of the State Legislature in early times, and spent the last two decades of his life in Wabash County, where he died in May, 1875, at an advanced age.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
CAPT. JOSEPH EWING
Capt. Joseph Ewing was a Pennsylvanian, and was a son of Judge John Ewing, who became a prominent citizen of Montgomery County, Ohio. In 1811 the former received a captain's commission from Governor Meigs. At first his company (of the First Regiment, Ohio Militia) guarded the frontier settlements of the state, and in 1812 was transferred to the North under the immediate command of General Harrison. Subsequently he became a public character in Ohio, but spent the later years of his life in Wabash County, where he died November 25, 1865, in his eighty-second year.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
CAPT. ABRAHAM HACKLEMAN
Capt. Abraham Hackleman was born September 25, 1775, at the foot of King's Mountain, North Carolina, near the place where the battle was fought toward the close of the Revolutionary war. In the War of 1812 he was a member of Captain Bryson's company, and held a subordinate position under that officer in guarding the frontier of Kentucky, into which state he had moved in 1802. In the spring of 1806, then in his thirty-second year, he moved to Franklin County, Indiana. He became a resident of Wabash County in 1849, and died in the City of Wabash during October, 1858.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
McCLURE, FIRST FAMILY MAN
But the first to arrive on the Treaty Grounds with his family was Samuel McClure, Sr. who left his native state of Ohio on Christmas day, 1826, and arrived at headquarters on the 15th of January, 1827. This was about three months after the treaties had been made and before the lands had been surveyed which the Miamis and Pottawatomies had relinquished. McClure and his household immediately moved into one of the shanties built for the traders and others who had attended the council. As he had a wife and ten children, his affairs were naturally pressing. After getting his family under cover he set to work to feed them. With the winter half spent, he soon cleared the timber and underbrush from fifteen acres of land near the family cabin, and early in the spring planted the tract to corn. In May the section including his corn field was surveyed by the Government, and it was found that the McClure family was squatting on land which had been granted to the Indian chief, Little Charley. The McClures therefore abandoned their first selection and by the 10th of June, 1827, the head of the family had completed a log cabin on the banks of the Wabash about three miles below the Treaty Grounds. In the following August, Samuel McClure, Jr., who had assisted his father in all these pioneer enterprises looking to the permanent settlement of the family, opened a store near their residence, which was the first mercantile establishment of the township. These rude cabins were situated on the tract of land afterward owned and occupied by Jonas Carter, a son-in-law of Samuel McClure, Sr.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
KELLER BROTHERS AND KELLER CREEK
Shortly before the Kintners left the township and the county, the Keller brothers commenced to come into the county. James and Jonathan settled in Noble Township, while Christian and Anthony became residents of La Gro Township. In the fall of 1828, Jonathan took charge of the Indian mill and remained there for two years. Anthony, after residing a few years in La Gro, returned to this township, and various members of the family eventually located around the headwaters of Keller's Creek, in the western part of the township, and formed the nucleus of a considerable settlement.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
JOSIAH WHITE
White's Manual Labor Institute has always been under the control of the Society of Friends, of which Josiah White, its founder, was a lifelong member. That fine Quaker was born in 1781 at Mount Holly, New Jersey. In his youth he had a passion for mechanical pursuits and received a fair education. In Philadelphia he was apprenticed to the hardware trade, and after serving his time conducted a store on his own account. When he commenced an independent business he resolved to devote all his energies to it until he had accumulated $40,000 in money, provided he could do so before his thirtieth year. Two years before reaching that age, he realized his ambition and retired from business. At first he was tempted to invest that sum at interest, but instead his active temperament induced him to apply at least a portion of his fortune in building a dam and lock at Schuylkill. In this work Josiah White was employed from 1810 to 1818, when the works were purchased by the City of Philadelphia. He was one of the pioneers both in the improvement of the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and in the mining and marketing of anthracite coal, and through his executive and financial connection with various coal and navigation companies accumulated a much larger fortune than his original capital. He died in 1850, and in his will made bequests for the establishment of various manual labor schools in Iowa and Indiana, to be placed at the disposal of the Society of Friends.
For the establishment of the Indiana Institute, $20,000 was devised; "to be appropriated to the erection of a college, or manual labor school for the education of colored people, Indians and others likely to be benefited by the practical application of industrial with educational and religious instruction." One-half the sum mentioned was to be used for the purchase of grounds and the other half for the erection of buildings. A board of trustees was appointed by the Society of Friends of Indiana to select the location of a suitable site within the state limits. It first met at Wabash on the 5th of October, 1852, its members being George Evans, Luke Thomas, Aaron Hill, William Reese, Alfred Johnson, Isaac Jay, Jesse Wilson, David Miles and Jesse Small.
This body was incorporated on the 25th of October, 1832, and purchased the 640 acres on Treaty Creek described as section 31, township 27 north, range 7 east. In 1859 an administration building, a schoolhouse and a boarding house were erected on the purchased tract, a superintendent appointed and the institute organized on a modest scale to carry out the aims of the founder as far as could be done with the means at the disposal of the management.
From that time forward, the institute strengthened and broadened and, although it has had its periods of depression, there was never any doubt as to the honesty and faithfulness of those at the head of its management. Since its establishment Josiah White's two daughters have left endowments amounting to about thirty seven thousand dollars. Mary Emily Smith, late of Richmond, Indiana, also made a bequest of $13,000, and William Wohlgamuth willed to it a sum of $1,000 and 160 acres of land in Nebraska.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
CLARKSON W. WEESNER
By H. G. Outler
Since the death of Elijah Hackleman, January 16, 1901, there is no person living in Wabash County who has done more to record and preserve its history than Clark W. Weesner. Had it not been for his forethought and persistent efforts, there would have been no Lincoln Cabin in the city park to commemorate the grand mind and grander virtues of the most rugged democrat and republican of history; the man closer to the hearts of his countrymen than any who has lived before or after him. Here is a park with a purpose, a place for inspiration, as well as rest and recreation; it is suggestive of Clark Weesner, the supervising editor of this history; and it is the general verdict that no better selection could have been made. It may be going too far to say that Mr. Weesner has taken more pride and pleasure as president of the Old Settlers' Association than as mayor of Wabash, but the statement is quite safe that its interests have never been overshadowed either in his heart or mind by those of any other institution. In the up building of the society, as in all other works to which he has put his hand, he has been patient, methodical, per¬sistent, wise and affectionate.
Mr. Weesner's name indicates his German origin. It has been intimated by family historians that the name was derived from the River Weser in the Fatherland, in whose valley the American ancestor was born. Michael Weesner, the great-great-grandfather of Clarkson W., settled in North Carolina in Colonial times. Through Micajah and Michael the family tree spread into Wayne and Henry counties, Indiana, and at length Jonathan Weesner, the father of Clark, became a resident of Waltz Township, Wabash County. This was in 1844. Two years afterward his first wife (nee Ruth Williams) died, the mother of five children, of whom the third was Clarkson W., who was born in Henry County, August 12, 1841. Both the oldest and the youngest sons were soldiers of the Civil war, the latter dying in the Union service, and had it not been for a congenital lameness Clarkson W. would have gone to the front as promptly as they.
By his second wife, Jonathan Weesner had six children. The father of these two families, most of whom reached maturity, was in many respects a remarkable man. The most vigorous period of his middle manhood and the earlier period of his old age were passed in Waltz Township, where he cleared his heavily timbered land, opened up and cultivated his farm, faithfully reared his families in the paths of honesty, industry and piety, read industriously, grasped tenaciously and thought strongly. He was strong bodily and mentally, and possessed remark¬able abilities as a mathematician and mechanician. The last years of his life were passed at the county seat, at the home of his daughter, Elvira Ridenour, until his death April 15, 1902, marked the demise of a man of strong purpose, rugged mentality, manly accomplishments and true scientific convictions.
Clarkson W. Weesner inherited good and strong traits from both his parents. Early in youth he learned the value of mental training coupled with ceaseless and straightforward work. As a pupil in the public schools, a country teacher and a practical farmer he built up a solid and influential character which brought him into personal and public favor. In 1863 he was appointed deputy treasurer of Wabash County under Elias Hubbard, not long afterward commenced the study of law and in 1870 was admitted to the bar. Six years afterward he was chosen mayor, and his administration was a credit to his training, his family name and the city.
In 1878 Mr. Weesner was elected clerk of the Circuit Court, which position he filled by reelection until 1887. He has the honor of being the last clerk who has held office for two terms. His previous experience as deputy had given him some ideas for improvements in methods, which he proceeded to put into practice. Among other innovations which commended itself to bench and bar alike was a clear and complete index to judgments and other records, of especial value to persons having occasion to examine the proceedings of the court and the records of the office.
Since retiring from the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court, Mr. Weesner has mainly devoted his professional abilities to probate and abstract business, and there are few better authorities in the state on these subjects than he. He is the examiner of abstracts in his locality for such companies as the Penn Mutual, Connecticut Mutual and Aetna. Years ago, at the height of its usefulness, Mr. Weesner was secretary of the Wabash County Agricultural Society, and was the organizer and secretary of the first building and loan association of Wabash County. His several years of service as president of the Old Settlers' Association have added both to his responsibilities and influence. Like his father, he has always been a wide yet careful reader, and as he has digested what he has read his mind is well-nourished and vigorous. Finally, his life is rounded out by marriage to a congenial companion, the birth of children and a harmonious household. In 1865 he married Miss Anna B. Leeson, and of their four sons only one has failed to reach a vigorous manhood. But providence thus gives us the weak to soften our hearts and strengthen our affections.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
ADELAIDE S. BAYLOR
None connected with the educational system of Wabash has made a higher or more enduring record than Miss Adelaide Steele Baylor, for thirty-six years identified with every step in the progress of the public schools, whether of the city, county or state. During a period of fourteen years she served as principal of the Wabash High School and eight years as superintendent of the city schools, while since July, 1911, she has been the able assistant to the state superintendent of public instruction, as a lecturer and active organizer in the field. Aside from her abilities as a clear, luminous and convincing expositor of both practical and advanced theories in the field of higher education, and her inspiring work at teachers' institutes and other meetings of the profession, Miss Baylor has achieved a national reputation for the strength and profundity of her mental attainments in mathematics, philosophy, psychology and other provinces of deep investigation and learning. Officially, she is a leader in both the state and national teachers' associations. What makes this record a special cause of pride to the home community is that Miss Baylor is a native of Wabash, her mother being of the well-known Steele family of which Co1. William Steele, one of the fathers of the town and the county, was one of the most popular and highly honored citizens who ever lived within their limits. In 1878 Adelaide Steele Baylor graduated from the Wabash High School, and the same year was employed as a teacher in the city schools. In 1884 she assumed her first position in the high school as assistant to the learned and able Prof. A. M. Huycke, its principal, whom she succeeded in 1889. Her fine administration of the affairs of that institution earned her an advancement to the head of the city schools, which she assumed in 1903, being the first woman in the state to hold that position.
In the midst of her pressing and absorbing duties as high school principal and city superintendent, Miss Baylor never rested in her determination to add to her individual attainments and efficiency. In the years 1893-94 she was a student at the University of Michigan, also attending the summer, sessions of 1894 and 1895. During the summer quarter of 1896 she also studied at the University of Chicago, from which she graduated in the summer of 1897. Not satisfied with this, in 1908, while superintendent of city schools, she pursued post-graduate courses at both the universities of Michigan and Chicago. These numerous university courses have been supplemented by European travel, so that Miss Baylor's culture is both pleasing as well as broad and deep.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
JAMES ABBOTT Joins COLONEL HELVY
In September, 1834, Colonel Helvy was joined by James Abbott, who located on the same stream a short distance above the present site of Liberty Mills. But although they were several miles apart, they were neighbors in those days. Mr. Abbott was a native of South Carolina, but at the age of eight years was bound out to a slaveholder in North Carolina with whom he remained until he was eighteen years of age. He then ran away from his master and escaped into Tennessee, where he was married in 1799 to Catharine Tillman. In 1805 he moved to Preble County, Ohio, where he purchased and improved a farm and reared ten children. Mr. Abbott served under General Wayne in the War of 1812 and his father was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. From his family, including his own children and grandchildren, no less than thirty soldiers were furnished to the Union army during the progress of the Civil war; which altogether speaks well for the patriotic blood of the Abbott family. The family remained in Preble County, Ohio, until they located near the future Town of Liberty Mills in 1834. At that time James Abbott entered 160 acres of land on the present site of Liberty Mills and added enough at a later date, to make 400 acres lying in Wabash and Kosciusco counties. He sold the land where Liberty Mills is now located to John Comstock, donating the mill site upon condition that the latter should erect and operate a gristmill there. Prior to this, he had offered the same site to Alexander McBride, who failed to comply with the stipulation.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
ELDER GEORGE ABBOTT
George Abbott, one of the sons of James, came to Wabash County with his parents when he was a youth of seventeen, and preached to a Christian congregation at Liberty Mills for thirty or forty years. Like his father he was a deacon in the church, and is said to have been instrumental in adding between two thousand and three thousand members to the Disciples of Christ during the many years of his service. In August, 1839, he married Miss Nancy Barrett, then the only white girl in Chester Township. She was a Kentucky girl, her father, Jesse, dying when she was quite young and the widow marrying Col. Richard Helvy. The elder Abbott (James) died in 1867, at the age of ninety-one years; having sold his farm a few years before and made his home with his son George at North Manchester.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
THE OGANS
Before the close of 1834, the Abbotts and the Helvys were joined by John and Peter Ogan. The former located on the south side of Eel River, not far from the present Town of North Manchester and erected a rude corn mill on the bank of the creek which still bears his name. Peter Ogan settled within the present corporate limits of North Manchester. He erected a flouring and sawmill on the bank of Eel River and was engaged in various other enterprises during the period of his residence in the community. As stated, the stream along whose banks the Ogans established their mills still bears the family name for several miles above North Manchester; below it is called Pony Creek.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
JOHN SIMONTON
Early in 1835, John Simonton pushed his way up Eel River in a boat that contained himself, his family and household goods, disembarked and settled on a large farm on the south shore not far from the mouth of the creek which bears his name. The locality is about midway between the sites of North Manchester and Liberty Mills, as we now know them. Mr. Simonton was long and favorably identified with the township.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
HENRY STRICKLER
Henry Strickler came in February, 1836, and located on the south bank of the Eel River about a mile below North Manchester, where he cleared and improved a large farm, residing thereon until the time of his death. He was of sturdy Pennsylvania Dutch stock and his father was a Methodist preacher and a weaver. Upon coming to Wabash County Henry Strickler entered 320 acres of land at the location mentioned and hired a man from La Gro to assist him in the building of a cabin. In 1836 he moved upon his purchase and commenced to clear away the forest growths. This tract, a short distance west of North Manchester, became a comfortable and attractive homestead, whereon was reared a large family of sons and daughters. Two of the former were in the Union army. Both parents died on the old homestead, steadfast members of the Methodist Church, Mr. Strickler being given the main credit for the erection of the First M. E. Church of North Manchester.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
THE HARTERS
In September, 1836, Joseph Harter came from Montgomery County, Ohio, and, with his family, located within the present corporate limits of North Manchester. The family consisted of nine children, and several of the sons, as well as the father, were continuously identified with the milling and business interests of that place. In the year of the arrival of the Harters, Peter Ogan had a portion of his land platted as the Town of North Manchester. As he put up the price of the lots to $10 apiece, the sales were at first rather slow. Joseph Harter and his oldest son, Eli, at once commenced to take an active part in the development of the new town. The father purchased at different times twenty-eight quarter sections of land lying along the Eel River at and near North Manchester. In 1838 he built a saw mill and in 1839 a gristmill, the latter being upon the site of the present Eisenberger Mills. The father was a prominent citizen and a promoter of milling and business interests until his death in 1861.
Eli Harter, the son mentioned, arrived soon after his father, in the fall of 1836, and erected the second house in town. At a later period, Jacob and Joseph B., younger sons, became identified with North Man¬chester and continued thus until a comparatively recent date. At first, until 1850, they were together in the drygoods business, and were after¬ward associated in the drug business. Jacob died in 1909, but Joseph B. is living, in his eighty-eighth year. The latter retired from the drug business in 1907. He was the veteran druggist of that region and perhaps the oldest notary public, having served in that capacity for more than forty-eight years.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914
JOSEPH B. HARTER
Mr. Harter was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, May 3, 1827, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Brower) Harter. His mother was a Virginian and it was from the Old Dominion that the Harter family migrated to Montgomery County, Ohio, in 1804. It has thus been resident in "the territory northwest of the Ohio" for 110 years. Joseph B. was but nine years of age when his parents took the long overland trip from Ohio to Indiana, but still remembers the exciting journey through forests and over streams until they reached the city of Indianapolis and later, Logansport. They met Indians a-plenty, but no bears, and long after the family had settled at North Manchester the Pottawatomies and the Miamis were frequent visitors to the Harter mills and houses. Three quarters of a century have passed before the eyes and mind of Mr. Harter, and during that long period he has seen North Manchester and Wabash County grown from nothing to a fine city and county; a New World has risen both before him and around him, and he still takes an interest in it all. He is one of the advisory editors of this work, and, in view of his record, it is well that he should be numbered on the staff.
"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914