Henry Corbin Pettit was born at Wabash November 20, 1863, a son of John Upfold and Julia (Brenton) Pettit. The family was established in America by John Pettit, an English gentleman who emigrated early in the eighteenth century and settled in Connecticut. Through him and his wife the line is traced to their son Jonathan, born in 1752, and who married Agnes Riddell; to their son George, born in 1780, who married Jane Upfold, and they in turn were the parents of John U. Pettit. Jonathan Pettit, who was born at Sharon, Connecticut, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and thus the Pettit family at Wabash is one of the few in the county with Revolutionary antecedents. George Pettit, who was born at Albany, established the profession of law in the lineage, and his record as an attorney and jurist was maintained by both his son and grandson.

John U. Pettit, who was regarded as one of the best read lawyers and a man of many brilliant parts during his generation in Wabash county, was born at Fabius, New York, in 1820, graduated at Union College in Schenectady in 1839, and established his home at Wabash in 1841, beginning the practice of law among the pioneer bar of Northeastern Indiana. While he followed the law for many years, much of his life was spent in active public service. In 1850 he was appointed Consul at Maranham, Brazil, serving also as vice-consul, which gave him supervision of ten other consulates in Northern Brazil. On returning from South America., he was elected from the eleventh Indiana district to congress, and was representative from 1854 until 1860. In 1864 Miami and Wabash counties sent him as their representative to the Indiana legislature, and re-elected for the following term, served as speaker of the house. During the war he was chosen colonel of the Seventy-fifth Regiment of Indiana Infantry, but ill health compelled him to resign his commission before seeing active service. He later took a prominent part in the organization of the Soldiers and Sailors Orphans Home at Knightstown, Indiana. In 1872 he was elected to the office of judge of the circuit court comprising the counties of Miami and Wabash, and held that position until October 22, 1879. In early life he was a Democrat, but in 1856 began to support the principles of the new Republican party and held to that faith until his death in 1881. Judge Pettit was married November 25, 1858, to Miss Julia Brenton, and they were the parents of the following children: Otto Brenton, Nellie Holmes, Henry Corbin, Eliza Hamilton, Jane Upfold, and Mary Heffron. Mrs. Pettit survived her husband until July 18, 1908, and both are now at rest in Wabash cemetery.

Henry Corbin Pettit, second son of his parents, received his early education in the schools of Wabash, and while in his sophomore year in the high school was given an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he was graduated in 1883. It was his ambition to pursue a public career through the avenue of the navy, but the fact that so large a class was graduated from the academy in that year made it necessary to eliminate some from the service, and he thus returned home and took up the study of law in the office of Judge Calvin Cowgill and Judge Shively. Admitted to the bar on March 20, 1886, a few days later he was admitted to practice in the supreme and appellate courts of the state, and on January 1, 1887, was admitted in the United States courts of Indianapolis. At the same time he began practice as a member of the law firm of Cowgill & Shively, and subsequently was in practice with Thomas L. Stitt under the firm name of Pettit & Stitt, but withdrew in 1897 to become legal adviser for the firm of A. M. Atkinson & Son, loan agents for the Aetna Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut.

Though recognized as one of the ablest lawyers at the Wabash bar, and with a large and satisfactory practice for a quarter of a century, Mr. Pettit, like his father, was much in public service and was honored both at home and outside the state. In 1887 he became a member of the Wabash City council, and was elected mayor for two years in 1888, being the youngest executive the city ever had. In 1894 he was elected to the Indiana General Assembly, was re-elected in 1898, and during his second term was speaker of the house of representatives. Governor Mount in 1899 appointed him a member of the Morton Monument Commission. In 1900 President McKinley gave him appointment as a member of the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy, and the same president in the following year made him United States Marshal for the district of Indiana, an office to which he was re-appointed by President Roosevelt, and his service was continuous for practically ten years, until May, 1911.

The late Mr. Pettit was a charter member of Wabash Lodge Knights of Pythias, and belonged to St. Anastasia Mesnil Lodge of Odd Fellows, which was founded and named by his father. He also had membership in the Wabash County Bar Association, the Semper Idem Club of Wabash, and his church home was the Presbyterian.

A brief estimate of his character was thus phrased by one who knew him well: "He was essentially a man who did things. Endowed with a clear and active mind, tirelessly industrious, persistent and indefatigable in the discharge of every duty, unswerving in his devotion to what he believed to be right, kind and considerate to all with whom he was associated, broad minded and generous, the world is the better for his having lived in it. In his personal relations he was unfalteringly loyal, and was preeminently faithful to every trust. His fidelity, whether in his political, professional or private life, was proverbial. He courted and enjoyed the felicities of the family circle, and it was in his home that he found his greatest happiness."

On October 3, 1888, Mr. Pettit was married to Eva Stitt, daughter of William S. and Mary (Lutz) Stitt. Mrs. Pettit and their one daughter survive, Mary, who was born in 1898.

It was with more than an ordinary sense of community loss that Wabash county regarded the recent death of Mr. Pettit. Quiet and unassuming in matters that pertained to himself and his own interests, he had been one who could not be silenced when matters relating to the public welfare came up for discussion. A man of ambition and filled with energy, it was hard work that brought on the illness preceding his death. The life of such a citizen is one of the factors that has lifted Wabash to a high position among Indiana communities, and while his achievements were noteworthy and his success was above the average, it can be truly said that his most distinctive achievement was his character - that supreme attribute which remains when the earthly tabernacle dissolves.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Adam Haas was born in 1799 and when a boy was taken by his parents to Licking county, Ohio, where he was reared and given a common school education. He came to what is now Wabash county, Indiana, as early as 1836, and settling among the pioneers erected a home and here passed the remainder of his long and useful life. Not long after locating here he embarked in general merchandising, dealing largely in dry goods, and became prominent in his life of endeavor, following the same occupation until 1864, at which time, owing to failing health, he relinquished active work and lived practically retired until his death, August 10, 1868. Mr. Haas was an old line whig in politics and was one of the organizers of the republican party in 1856. Prior to and during the war between the North and the South he took an important part in the operation of the famous Underground Railway, the figurative appellation for a spontaneous movement in the free states--extending sometimes into the slave states themselves-to assist slaves in their efforts to escape from bondage to freedom. He was a man of unquestioned honor and prided himself in the reputation for probity which he had built up. He was extremely conservative, never taking a chance when slow conservatism was an assured success. His two predominant characteristics were his careful attention to business and his beautiful domestic relations. He loved the quietude of his home, where, surrounded by family, friends and books, he partook of his greatest pleasure. But while he was extremely conservative in handling his business transactions, he was never close in his contributions to worthy public enterprises, and his private benevolences were numerous and liberal. He was married in 1857 to Mrs. Eliza E. (Kidd) Mount, daughter of Edward and Christina Kidd and widow of Peter Mount. They became the parents of one son: Charles S., and the mother died August 7, 1903. By her first husband she was the mother of two daughters.

Charles S. Haas has spent his entire career in Wabash. He received his education in the public schools of this city, and as early as 1881 became identified with newspaper work, as a reporter on the Wabash Courier, and from that time to the present the greater part of his time and attention have been given to journalism. In August, 1883, he became city editor of the Fort Wayne Sentinel, but in December of that same year returned to Wabash as city editor of the Courier. In the spring of 1887, he assisted in the consolidation of the Plain Dealer and the Courier, the latter going out of existence as far as name was conŽcerned. Mr. Haas became editor of the Plain Dealer, and in 1909 was made president and manager of the Plain Dealer Company, in addition to which he has continued in the position of editor. To make a permanent impression upon the public with which he has to deal requires something more than talent-it calls for positive genius, and the fact that an editor can make a deep and lasting imprint upon the public conscience, shows him to be possessed of that genius. Through Mr. Haas' efforts, the Plain Dealer has become a power throughout Wabash county, and, not strangely, reflects a great deal of his personality. In the world of finance, Mr. Haas is equally well known and his achievements have probably been as many and as important. In 1888, he was one of the incorporators of the Wabash National Bank, in which he still continues to be a stockholder. In 1902, he was one of the leading factors in the incorporation of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank, of which he became a member of the board of directors, in 1908 was elected vice-president of that institution, and in January, 1910, was elected to the presidency of the bank to succeed Judge Shirley at the time of the latter's death. Mr. Haas is a director and treasurer of the Wabash Exchange and was president of the Carnegie Library Board from 1902 until 1910, being at present the secretary of that board. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and popular with the members of the local lodge. He has ever taken a keen interest in public matters, but his only political office has been that of alderman, he having served as a member of the Wabash City Council from 1883 to 1887.

On December 5, 1894, Mr. Haas was married to Miss Lilla M. Pyke, daughter of Charles W. and Mary B. Pyke, of an old and honored family of Fort Wayne.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Though the Wabash Cabinet Company is now on a most prosperous commercial basis, and in its cash benefit is a splendid institution, the striking feature of the enterprise is the remarkable struggle, now finished, by which the concern was raised from bankruptcy and by able financial and industrial management placed upon its present secure footing. Its success has therefore been not only an interesting record in itself, but has been especially helpful in incentive and example for other similar concerns in this city, and the entire community therefore takes pride in what has been accomplished by the officers of the cabinet company, headed by its president, Thomas F . Vaughn.

The formal history of the Wabash Cabinet Company began in the year 1883, when the R. C. Underwood Manufacturing Company built a plant and began turning out a large line of wood specialties. It was a corporation of local individuals, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, but in a few years the capital was increased to fifty thousand dollars. The first president was A. M. Atkinson, with M. R. Gardner as secretary and treasurer. On April 1, 1900, the name of the company was changed to the Wabash Cabinet Company, the same officers continuing in executive management of the concern until the death of Mr. Atkinson, when he was succeeded by John A. Bruner as president. In December, 1904, the business was transferred to the creditors, and was operated in their interests until 1907. The creditors then forced a formal receivership, the Central Trust Company of Indianapolis taking charge of operations for two years. On March 20, 1909, came the sale of the business by order of the court. The plant and the business were bought and reorganized under the name of The Wabash Cabinet Company, with Thomas F. Vaughn as president, J. D. Adams as vice president, Curtis McPike as second vice president, and W. H. Urschel as secretary and treasurer.

With the close of the receivership and the reorganization comes the most interesting part of the company's history. When the business was placed in. receivership its debts were in excess of $175,000, and from experience with other industries similarly involved it appeared that the holders of claims would realize only a small percentage of the total. It was about that time that Thomas F. Vaughn was employed to take the management of the plant and operate it under a creditors' committee. Then followed the receivership, when additional outlays of $25,000 were forced upon the struggling industry. The experience of Mr. Vaughn, however, demonstrated hopeful possibilities for the business, and it was a result of what he had done that reorganization was effected in 1909.

The history of the company since its reorganization was told in the Plain Dealer in its issue of April 9, 1914, which recorded the payment of the last dollar of indebtedness of the concern. It was a story of able financial administration which has an appropriate place in any history of Wabash county, and the newspaper article is herewith quoted. During the reorganization and in the provisions made for paying off the indebtedness, "those persons who did not care to take the optional ten year five percent bonds at par for their claim were paid their proportionate share from the amount received from the new company in payment for the factory. Of the $175,000 in obligations then outstanding. the holders of $160,000 elected to take the bonds and the holders of $19,000 were paid $10,450 and the debt extinguished.

"It should be said in this connection that Mr. Vaughn earnestly requested all the creditors to take the bonds and get every dollar coming to them, he expressing confidence that he would be able to pay in full in less than the full ten years. Perhaps, in addition to this, he was naturally influenced by the inconvenience of raising ten thousand dollars in cash at that time wherewith to make the adjustment with creditors wishing to withdraw.

"But the company at last squared away for good or ill, with its mortgage of $106,000, a distressingly thin bank balance, and with absolutely no credit rating by the commercial agencies. It was a hand-to-mouth existence that the crippled corporation lived for two or three years, banks declining to make it loans and compelling it to do business badly handicapped on its slender resources. Its orders increased in volŽume, its profits were carefully husbanded, bills were met as promptly as possible, and the confidence of and in the management slowly grew. The first six months' interest on the bonds was paid when due, and thenceforward there was never a default.

"On January 1, 1914, only $19,000 of the original $106,000 remained unpaid, and last Monday the final lot of $19,000 was taken up and Mr. Vaughn, with the $106,000 of cancelled bonds, went to Indianapolis, where the trust company which served as trustee of the mortgage destroyed the bonds and executed a release of the mortgage, which, turned over to Mr. Vaughn, was placed on record in the Wabash county recorder's office "Wednesday evening.

"Thus in five years, what appeared to be a concern involved in hopeless ruin has paid every dollar it owed, has a large fund of cash and receivables and an established business among the most prosperous in the state of Indiana. The factory output last year aggregated over half a million dollars, more than three hundred persons were given steady employment, and at this time there are firm orders on the books exceeding $200,000, or enough to run the factory full-handed for several months, with as much more in sight. All of this was accomplished through the executive skill of Mr. Vaughn, with the able assistance of his business associates, including J. D. Adams. W. H. Urschel and Curtis McPike, and without the aid of the banks, the policy from the beginning being to scrupulously avoid going in debt, buying only as the cash demand for the finished product of the factory developed."

The officials elected at the reorganization of the company and above mentioned are sti1l in their respective positions. The present capital stock is $175,000, fully paid up, and with a surplus of $78,000. The output of the plant both in quantity and in value is fully three times as much as ever before in the history of the business. About one hundred and twelve thousand feet of floor space are occupied by the machinery, the stock room and other quarters used in the business.

Aside from the practical accomplishment, what the influence of this business record will be to Wabash in the future is well told in another paragraph quoting from the article above mentioned: "The Wabash Cabinet Company thus points the way to success for existing Wabash industries and for those yet to come. Mr. Vaughn has clearly proved that energy, prudence, foresight and a genius for getting the orders will build up a flourishing factory enterprise in Wabash as well as in other cities, and there is no one in this city where such industries are so sorely needed, who will begrudge Mr. Vaughn and his associates the fruits of their labors in making The Wabash Cabinet Company the splendid monument to their ability it now is."

Thomas F. Vaughn, president of the Wabash Cabinet Company, and whose connection with local manufacturing at Wabash began on January 1, 1905, is a native of Rhode Island. When a young man he went to Chicago and practically his entire business career has been spent in different lines of manufacturing. That he has special genius for industrial reorganization and development needs no further proof than the above record. Mr. Vaughn is a Knights Templar Mason, also a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the Shrine, is president of the Wabash Exchange, is affiliated with the Elks Lodge, and is married and has three children.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

A special honor should be paid to the name of Archibald Stitt as one of the early contractors in the construction of the old Wabash and Erie Canal through Wabash county. That work places him in a relation of peculiar interest in the early history of this county, and the fact that from about 1840 until his death he was a resident at or near Wabash, fortifies his claim to mention among the pioneers. In many other ways he was a man of distinction, both by character and by his work. A native of county Down, Ireland, he came to the United States in 1809 when about seven or eight years of age. His parents located at. Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where Archibald grew up and learned the trade of shoemaker. For a time he was also employed in an iron foundry at Huntingdon. But his career was destined to occupy a much larger field and range of activities than was afforded by either of these mechanical trades. In Huntingdon he married Catherine Simpson. In 1832, leaving his family in the east, he came west to Indiana, and became one of the contractors in the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, a waterway which was then being built as one link in a great scheme of internal improvements, only a few years later to be succeeded and rendered obsolete by the rapid progress of railway construction. His first work was in Tippecanoe county, then in Carroll, then Miami county, and finally in Wabash county. His coming to Wabash county was in 1839 or 1840, and here he became superintendent of the division from Fort Wayne to Logansport, a position which he held until 1850. In the meantime the purchase of a tract of land south of Rich Valley in Noble township gave him a still more permanent connection with Wabash county, which was ever thereafter his home. His land was situated between the canal and the river. It was originally covered with a heavy growth of walnut, hard maple, and other wood, and most of that timber was cleared away, some of it converted into rails and fire wood, but great quantities and many noble specimens of the forest were piled into heaps and burned, without regard to their future value. If those trees were standing today, they would be worth a fortune.

Archibald Stitt in 1834 brought his family to Indiana and it then consisted of his wife and one son, Alexander. After their location in this state several more children were born, four of them reaching maturity, namely: Jane, who married Thomas W. King; James E., William S., and Archibald N.

Archibald Stitt was a man rather under the average size, inclined to be quick in action and in decision, was generous to a fault, and on the monument erected to his memory after his death, a friend engraved an inscription which expressed one of the finest facts of his character, 'A friend to the friendless." He was a man of but ordinary education, so far as books were concerned, but possessed an unusual fund of good, practical sense, and had the intelligence and quickness which made him a big factor in days when conditions of living required just those qualities. He was a democrat in politics up to the nomination of James Buchanan for the presidency, and thereafter adhered to the republican cause. In 1850, he was elected treasurer of Wabash county, and to discharge the duties of that office moved into the city of Wabash, and had his home there until his death. Such was his place of esteem among the citizens, that he was re-elected county treasurer, and served two terms. Soon after retiring from the treasurer's office in 1856, he bought the old Indiana House, and conducted that old hostelry as a popular center of entertainment for the public until his death. During all his life in Indiana, he was more or less engaged in contracting for bridge and road work. Archibald Stitt was an Odd Fellow, and one of the most popular men of his time. His death on October 13, 1867, was caused by sunstroke, while acting in the office of street commissioner. He was the first appointee to that position under the city government of Wabash. His wife survived him until November, 1893.

William S. Stitt was born on his father's farm in Noble township, September 5, 1843, and has thus spent three-score and ten years in Wabash county. His own recollection includes many things which were characteristic of the pioneer times in this section. From the age of seven his home was in Wabash, and as he grew up towards manhood he had the advantages of the graded schools of the county seat. His education was supplemented after his return from the war by a commercial course in a business college at Indianapolis.

Mr. Stitt made a notable record as a soldier. His enlistment was on August 9, 1862, after the call of President Lincoln for three hundred thousand men. On the twentieth day of the same month he was mustered into service as a private in Company A of the Seventy-fifth Indiana Infantry. During the fall of 1862 his regiment was stationed in Kentucky, and at Perryville, aided in checking the junction of Kirby Smith with Bragg's army. The regiment then went to the support of Moore's Brigade at Hartsville, Tennessee, and pursued Morgan back into Kentucky, a campaign which kept the regiment off the field of Stone River until the day following the great battle. Mr. Stitt participated in the Tennessee campaign of 1863, beginning with the engagement at Hoover's Gap. Then followed the Tullahoma campaign, and crossing the Elk River, the regiment invaded the Sequatchee Valley and for two weeks was stationed on University Heights. The Brigade to which the Seventy-fifth Indiana was attached then crossed the Tennessee River and the mountain range to McLamore's Cove, and continuing its march arrived in time to participate in the battle of Chickamauga. At Chickamauga Mr. Stitt was wounded in the left hip, and received two minor wounds. However, he recovered in time to participate in Sherman's campaign against Atlanta, and after the fall of that city proceeded with the great general on his famous march to the sea, thence up through the Carolinas, and finally in the Grand Review of the victorious army at Washington. At Richmond, Virginia, Lieutenant Stitt was one of four officers detailed to take charge of the sick and deliver them at Alexandria, Virginia, and also to procure clothing by requisition from the war department for the four divisions of the Fourteenth Army Corps. As a matter of fact, these requisitions were not honored by the department, owing to a special order that Sherman's army should pass through the Grand Review in the same habiliments that had been worn to the nation's capital.

The regiment in which Mr. Stitt served during the war participated in thirty-four different engagements, and Mr. Stitt was in all of them with one exception, Missionary Ridge, which battle was fought while he was home on a leave of absence caused by his wound received at Chickamauga. For meritorious services on the Chickamauga battlefield, Mr. Stitt was commissioned second lieutenant, and at Ringgold, Georgia, on April 26, 1864, was advanced to first lieutenant to succeed to the place made vacant by the promotion of the former lieutenant to the captaincy of the company.

The close of Mr. Stitt's army career came with his honorable discharge June 9, 1865. Such had been the hardship and the continuous labor of nearly three years as a soldier, that it required a year and a half for him to get completely restored to health. The first regular business in which he engaged after the war was the grocery trade, and he continued in that line for nine years. Since then his career has been largely taken up with public affairs, or with activities in semi-public enterprises. A short time before he left the grocery business he was elected to the office of city auditor, and after serving the regular term of four years he was re-elected another similar term. In 1884 Mr. Stitt was elected a member of the city council and his two years with that body were at an important period of the city's municipal development.

Mr. Stitt was one of the organizers of the company which established the Wabash City Water Works. He was the first secretary of the corporation, and for thirteen and a half years continued as superintendent and manager of the plant and the business. Up to 1904 he was identified with the plumbing and heating business in Wabash, and then for three years was employed in contracting. In 1898 Mr. Stitt assumed his duties as secretary of the Home Telephone Company. After the reconstruction of the system and the local plant in 1906-07, he was made general manager, and has since held the responsible positions of secretary and manager. He also served six years, from August 1, 1905, to August 1, 1911, on the board of trustees for the school City of Wabash.

On September 26, 1867, Mr. William S. Stitt married Miss Mary A. Lutz, daughter of Reuben and Anna Major Lutz. She was born in Preble county, Ohio, and was one of a family of eight children. Mr. and Mrs. Stitt are the parents of three children: Eva, widow of Henry C. Pettit; Thomas L., a lawyer of Chicago; and Marie, wife of Stuart C. Cowgill. There are also three grandchildren: Miss Mary Pettit, Nancie Ann Cowgill and William Cary Cowgill. Mr. Stitt has memŽbership in the Grand Army Post, and he and his wife are communicants of the Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as an elder. He is also a member of the Indiana Commandery of the Loyal Legion, having become a member in 1890.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

John W. Domer was born near Wawaka, Indiana, October 19, 1851, a son of George and Caroline (Steinbarger) Domer, natives respectively of Ohio and New York. Mr. Domer during his boyhood attended the common schools, and when about twenty years of age started out in life for himself, his first experience and training being as clerk in a store. From Indiana he went west to Missouri, located on farm lands, and remained there until driven out by severe droughts and attacks of grasshoppers, and that disastrous experience caused him to return to his native state. In the fall of 1874 Mr. Domer moved to North Manchester, and has thus been identified with Wabash county for forty years. His early work at North Manchester was teaming in the village and conducting a farm nearby. From 1882 to 1890 the marble establishment in that village was conducted under his management, but in 1890 his attention was directed to the real estate and insurance business. When the city decided to install local water works in 1893, Mr. D.omer and Dr. Sluder secured the contract to tap all the mains, and for a time did practically all the plumbing. It was in 1895 that he became interested in the Lawrence National Bank, acquiring with Mr. J.M. Curtner of Wabash the Lawrence & Mills interests, and soon afterwards Mr. Curtner became president and Mr. Domer vice-president and general manager of the institution. Since then, 1896, the deposits of the bank have been increased from forty-eight thousand dollars to nearly four hundred thousand dollars, which fact alone attests the capability of the new management. Besides his duties as a banker Mr. Domer has accumulated some city property at North Manchester and in Chicago, and is one of the organizers and a director of the New Union Trust Company at North Manchester.

A Republican in politics, he has taken an interest in public affairs and has served as a member of the city council and on the school board. Aside from his business he has found time to cultivate the social side of life and is identified with the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias. In 1871 John W. Domer married Miss Dora Harter, daughter of Eli Harter, a pioneer of Wabash county. To their marriage were born two children: Walter A. and Emma, both living.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Though Wabash county has been his home nearly all his life, Dr. Domer was born in Joplin, Missouri, November 10, 1872. His father, John W. Domer, is now living in North Manchester. The maiden name of his mother was Dora Harter, whose people were among the earliest pioneers of Wabash county. When Walter A. Domer was about one year of age his parents returned to Wabash county, and he grew up to manhood at North Manchester. His early experiences in that locality were chiefly attending public school and clerking in a store. His early pursuits were all along the lines of commercial life, and as part of his preparation for that work he completed a course at the Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1897, having decided to leave mercantile affairs and make the practice of medicine his vocation, he matriculated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago. From that old and substantial institution he was graduated M. D. in 1901. For eighteen months, beginning in his senior year he was deputy county physician of Chicago, having charge of one of the districts into which the city was then divided, his duties being to look after pauper and emergency cases. Also during his senior year in college he was honored with appointment as prosector for Dr. William T. Eckley, professor of anatomy in The College of Physicians and Surgeons and at the same time he assisted Dr. F. R. Sherwood who had charge of the Chair of Surgery at the Chicago Clinical School. In June, 1901, Dr. Domer returned to his home county, and began practice in the City of Wabash, where he has since become securely established in the vocation which he has chosen for his life's work. Dr. Domer is a member and at this writing is president of the Wabash County Medical Society, belongs to the Indiana State Medical AssociaŽtion and the American Medical Association. While at Chicago in college he was president of the Beta chapter of the Phi Rho Sigma medical fraternity for the school year, 1900-01, and at the meeting of the Grand Chapter of that organization in Chicago, July 5, 1899, he was elected grand president, serving as such for two years and being the first grand president of the Grand Chapter. The doctor has other fraternal affiliations with the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, his politics is republican, and in religion he worships with the Presbyterian. On October 30, 1901, Dr. Domer married Miss May Oliver of Chicago.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

From Virginia the family moved at an early day to Preble county, Ohio, and after a short stay there came to Wabash county, arriving during the latter forties. Daniel H. Showalter was a school teacher and a minister of the Dunkard church, was a successful farmer, and a man of force and character, who reflected credit upon his community. He became well known in educational lines, was one of the most popular teachers of the early pioneer days, and in his work as a minister of the gospel was able to accomplish much that was good. He died when forty-nine years old, March 27, 1863. Daniel Showalter was but five years of age when his father died, and he was bound out for eleven years to Jacob Hoff, a farmer of Noble township. His educational advantages were not extensive, but he made the most of his opportunities, and close observation, reading and study have supplemented his early trainŽing and made him a very well informed man. Mr. Hoff died when Mr. Showalter was sixteen years of age, and at that time the latter began taking care of himself in whatever employment that he could find, and, to use his own language, "has been doing so ever since." It was but natural that he should adopt farming as his field of activity, and in this he continued until he was thirty-eight years of age, meeting with a fair measure of success. At that time he turned his attention to contract work in and around Wabash, and this business he followed until 1910, in which year he became the republican candidate for the office of county auditor. He was elected in the fall of 1910 but did not take office until the first Monday in January, 1912, and continued as a contractor until that time. His administration of the affairs of this office has been characterized by the most faithful and conscientious devotion to duty, and the county's interests have prospered accordingly. Mr. Showalter is a valued and popular member of the local lodges of the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, the Independent Order of Foresters and the Modern Woodmen of America.

On March 18, 1880, Mr. Showalter was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Wenzel, of Wabash county, Indiana, and they have had five children: James M.; Iva May, who died at the age of ten years; Lulu, who is also deceased; Homer T. and Howard C. Mr. and Mrs. Showalter are consistent members of the Christian church, and have liberally supported its movements and charities.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

A Virginian by birth, David Franklin Brooks was born on a farm near Staunton, on March 17, 1866. He was sixth in a family of thirteen children, and it is noteworthy that this large circle of brothers and sisters has as yet been unbroken by death. Their parents were Richard G. and Elizabeth C. (Kennedy) Brooks. The Brooks family is of English origin, and its advent into this country occurred during colonial times. The Kennedys were Scotch, but their home before being transplanted into America was in Ireland, and the founders of the name on this side of the Atlantic were the grandparents of Elizabeth Kennedy. Elizabeth Kennedy's father took part as a soldier in the war of 1812. Richard G. Brooks died in 1883, while his widow is still living at, the age of seventy-two.

David F. Brooks was reared to manhood in his native state, and until twelve years of age attended the local school. For several years after that he was given the advantages of a Presbyterian Academy near Fishersville . In the winter prior to his eighteenth birthday, he taught his first term of district school, and in 1885, at the age of nineteen, came west to Hartford City, Indiana, where his oldest brother was then living. Two years were spent in work at sawmilling and also in attendance at school, after which he was employed in keeping a set of books for a produce firm at Warren. With increasing confidence and credit he went into merchandising on his own account. However, from his twentieth birthday or even earlier, he had been studying law, as opportunity allowed and in spite of considerable success in commercial lines, he always had his mind set on the profession as the goal of his ambition. His studies were continued intermittently until the fall of 1893, when he entered the law school of the Northern Indiana University of Valparaiso, and in June, 1895, was graduated there with his degree as Bachelor of Laws, being admitted to the bar at the time. In the month of October in the same year, he located for practice at Wabash, and has kept up his share of work in the profession, and enjoyed a satisfying degree of success. Incidentally and along with the work of a lawyer he has identified himself with many of the local institutions.

In politics Mr. Brooks has always been a republican. His fraternal associations are with the Royal Arch Masons and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On April 6, 1892, occurred his marriage with Mrs. Anna Cale, of Warren, Indiana. They are the parents of seven children as follows: Lalla, Mrs. Lutz Rettig; Vada; Everett; Harry; Raymond; Virginia and Mary.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Until locating in Wabash county, his home was in Pennsylvania, and the family has been identified with that state for several generations. Dr. Smith was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1865. One of three children, he was the only son of Henry Clay and Harriet (Howe) Smith. Henry Clay Smith, the youngest of a family of seventeen children, was born in Venango county, and had a long and varied career of usefulness. In August, 1861, he enlisted as a soldier in Company E of the Seventy-Eighth Pennsylvania Infantry, and gave the service of a faithful and efficient soldier until the close of the war. About that time he began an industrious study of medicine, and in 1868 was graduated from Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, after which he practiced medicine in both Venango and Butler counties, of Pennsylvania, and probably for some time was located at Franklin. Eventually his career was shifted to an entirely different calling, but still in the field of great usefulness to his fellow men. Converted to Christianity in the Methodist church he accepted the inner call, resigned his practice as a physician, was ordained to the ministry, and from that time until the end of his life was active and diligent in the varied duties of the ministry of Methodist church. His labors naturally took him to many different localities, and he died while still in the harness, at Hubbard, Ohio, July 1, 1878. His widow survives him and now has her home in Franklin, Pennsylvania. Dr. Lorin W. Smith lived with his parents in their various homes until about fourteen years of age, and in the intervals of his attendance at the grade and high schools at Franklin principally, he found employment and the means of earning a livelihood in the oil fields of Western Pennsylvania. After his graduation from the Franklin high school in 1884, his previous experience led him to become interested in the production and utilization of natural gas, and in that connection he installed the gas plant at the borough of Mercer, Pennsylvania, and took the active superintendency of the plant. From those duties he turned his attention to the responsibilities imposed upon him by his appointment as governor of the state school for orphans of old soldiers located at Mercer. He continued to discharge the duties of that office at Mercer until 1890. In the meantime he had taken up the study of medicine, and leaving Mercer entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, where he was graduated M. D. in 1893. His first two years as an active practitioner were spent in Converse, Indiana, and from there he came to Wabash, and quickly gained recognition as an able young physician and surgeon, and was accorded a liberal share of local surgery.

Dr. Smith has always been a progressive physician, and his success has been in no small degree due to the fact that he has practiced a policy of taking post-graduate work about every two years. In the line of his profession he has membership in the Wabash county, the District, the Tri-State Medical Societies, and the State and American Medical Association.

Dr. Smith is a Republican in politics, and has fraternal affiliations with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Foresters, and his church is the Methodist. On September 20, 1889, Dr. Smith married Miss Alice Carmichael, of Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one son, Lorin William, who is now a student in the Purdue University.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

George Todd was born March 24, 1853, in Franklin county, Indiana, but his parents moved to Wabash county in 1855, and he grew up and during most of his years has been identified with this county. His parents were John and Eleanor B. Todd. His father was a farmer and stock shipper and erected one of the first brick houses in the country district of Wabash county. In the early days he bought and sold grain on the old Wabash and Erie canal. He possessed the typical character and virtues of his Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his wife was of French descent. George Todd was one of two children, and his brother Frank died at the age of twenty-one years.

As a boy he early learned the principle of self-support, and his education was limited to the common schools and three months at the Terre Haute Commercial College, but most of his time was taken up with farm work. At the age of twenty years, in April 1873, he had his first mercantile experience in a hardware store at Lagro, a plact which then offered unusual opportunities for the hardware and implement business. Previous to this he had assisted in loading a large number of boats along the Wabash and Erie canal with wheat and other grain, and the old canal was for some time closely associated with his business activities. He still owns an old warehouse on the canal bank, with its grain bins in their original condition. All his life he has been a hard worker and those familiar with his career say that he has never been daunted by misfortune and has always returned more determined than ever to his work after each reverse. In 1884, having sold out his hardware business at Lagro, Mr. Todd moved to Logansport, and for several years was engaged in business with a spoke and bending factory. This enterprise he sold at Logansport in 1888, returned to Lagro, and once more engaged in the hardware trade at the old stand. Selling his store ill 1895, the following five years were spent in the shoe manufacturing business at Wabash, but in 1898 he returned to Lagro and began buying and selling stock. In 1900 he once more took up the hardware and implement business with F. J. Todd, a son, under the name of Todd & Son. Since retiring from the hardware trade in 1906 Mr. George Todd has been engaged in general contracting and farming, and in the buying and selling of live stock. Besides the chief lines already mentioned, he has been identified with several other business concerns, although not as an active manager. During his business career he has made and lost several small fortunes, and the age of threescore finds him still young in action and ambition and constantly employing his time at some useful work. He is now the senior member of the contracting firm of Todd & Howell.

Attention to business has not prevented him from participation in local public affairs, and from 1880 to 1884 he was trustee of Lagro township. He was a worker in the republican ranks up to two years ago, and still holds to the views of that old party. Since 1908 he has been affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

On December 28, 1875, when twenty-two years of age and about at the beginning of his business career as a Lagro merchant, Mr. Todd married Adda Tiller. Their children are as follows: Frank James Todd, born September 22, 1876, and now located at Nome, Alaska; Walter Glenn Todd, born October 20, 1878, and whose career is sketched in this volume; Bertha Emma Todd, born September 15, 1880; and Ethel Nora Todd, born June 25, 1884, a teacher who has been engaged in educational work in the Kingdom of Japan since August, 1913.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914