Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

CHARLES E. WORRELL. "Ambition has no rest," said Bulwer-Lytton, and there are but few who are unable to cite instances that would seem to bear out the statement of the man. Twenty-four years of continuous service as chief engineer of the National Military Home at Marion on the part of Charles E. Worrell, during which he has not once relieved the tedium of his daily task by availing himself of the annual thirty day vacation that is accorded to men, indicate something of the untiring spirit of the man—of the energy and ambition that carries him forward from day to day with no thought of rest from toil, or in self-seeking of whatever nature. He has gone on with the duties of his position from season to season, year in and out, and under his regime as chief engineer the National Military Home has advanced from a farm to one of the finest and most extensive in America, housing, as it does, 1600 men, and caring for them in the most approved methods. Mr. Worrell is in full charge of all mechanical appliances, power house, cold storage house and other similar appurtenances of the Home, and since he has been in the service, the forty-five buildings that adorn the grounds today have been built and brought into use. His work has been far reaching in its very nature, calling forth every quality of ability that a man in such a position might ever be required to apply, and Mr. Worrell has never failed in the application of his judgment as an engineer, nor has his enviable record as a man ever been impugned in any quarter.

Mr. Worrell was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, on October 14, 1858, and is the son of N. and Abbie Ann (Hulley) Worrell, both natives of Pennsylvania, and people of English descent and parentage. The father was a stonemason and he came to Switzerland county from Pennsylvania in 1847, locating in Marion as late as in 1901, there making his last home with his son, and dying in his home in 1905. The mother passed away ere the family exodus from Switzerland county, death claiming her in 1893. They were the parents of five children, three of the number living today. Besides the subject there are William H. Worrell, who lives on the old home place, and Mrs. Anna L. Morgan, of Switzerland county, Indiana.

Charles E. Worrell received his education in the high school in the town of Vevay in Switzerland county, and also attended Moorefield Academy. He was eighteen years old when he finished his schooling and applied himself diligently, as he has done all things, to the business of learning the machinist's trade, and for ten years thereafter he was identified with that work. He then began to interest himself in the natural gas business, and he helped to drill the first gas well in Grant county. This well, located at Fourteenth and Bools street, in Marion, was drilled in 1887, and being a complete success, may be said, without fear of contradiction, to have started the gas industry that eventually came to be a gas boom, and waxed strong throughout this part of the state.

Mr. Worrell, however, did not long continue to be identified with the newly fledged industry, and on October 1, 1889, he came to Marion as chief engineer for the National Military Home. Here he has been stationed ever since, and he is on the records as the oldest man in the service of the Home today. His duties are of a manifold nature, embracing the actual control of the entire plant in its operation. An expert mechanical engineer, he is qualified to manage every branch of the operating service, and drainage, sewerage, hot water, gas, steam, etc. all come under his direct supervision. That his work has been well up to standard, and above it for the most part, is well evidenced in his long continued control of work, and every confidence is felt in his ability and integrity by the officials of the institution.

Mr. Worrell was married on October 24, 1884, to Miss Belle Hough, the daughter of William A. and Mary Hough, of Winchester, Randolph county, Indiana. Four children have been born to them,—Inez, Mabel, Helen and Elwood.

A Democrat, Mr. Worrell takes a praiseworthy interest in the affairs of the party, though he is in no sense a politician, and his fraternal affiliations are confined to his membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he has been identified since 1880.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

HARRY MILLER, M. D. Among the highly respected members of the medical profession in Grant county, Indiana, is Harry Miller, M. D. He is chief surgeon at the National Military Home in Marion, and is widely known for his conscientious and able service in this position. It is a post that requires not only surgical and medial skill of the highest order, but also no small amount of executive ability, and Dr. Miller has been an extremely efficient and successful executive.

Harry Miller was born on the 3rd of August, 1867, in Shelby county, Indiana, the son of John H. and Mary J. (Robinson) Miller, both of whom were natives of Shelby county, Indiana. John H. Miller was a soldier in the Seventy-ninth Indiana Regiment during the Civil war and is now living in Shelby county, Indiana, his wife being deceased.

Dr. Miller grew up in the county of his birth, attending school at Morristown until he was ready to take his medical education. He then entered the Indiana Medical College and was graduated from this institution with the class of 1891. During the same year, on the 30th of May, he entered the National Military Home in Marion as an interne. Here he remained as an interne for eighteen months, at the end of which time he was made first assistant surgeon to Dr. Kimball, who was at that time chief surgeon. When Dr. Kimball died in 1904, Dr. Miller was made chief surgeon, and has remained in this office ever since. He has a staff of four assistants and the care of two hundred and fifty soldiers, so his time is completely filled with his professional duties. He has, however, time for a little recreation which he finds chiefly as a member of the Marion Golf Club. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being a member of the blue lodge, and he also belongs to the Sons of Veterans.

Dr. Miller was married on the 1st of January, 1900, to Adelaide Smith, of Shelby county, Indiana, and they have no children.

ROBERT A. MORRIS. Among any community's most important interests are those which deal with its financial affairs, for financial stability must be the foundation stone upon which all great enterprises are erected. The men who control and conserve the money of corporation or country, or of private individual, must of necessity possess many qualities not requisite in the ordinary citizen, and among these, high commercial integrity, poise, judgment, exceptional financial ability and foresight may be mentioned. They must possess the public confidence, for often through their wisdom, sagacity and foresight panics that have threatened the government have been averted. A citizen whose entire training has been along the line of finance, and who has been prominently connected with the banking interests of Grant county for a number of years is Robert A. Morris, president of the Fairmount State Bank.

Mr. Morris comes of old Southern stock, his paternal great- grandfather having been born in North Carolina of Welsh and Scotch parentage. The family came to the American Colonies prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, and belonged to the Hicks Quaker stock, Mr. Morris himself being a member of the Society of Friends. He was married in North Carolina, and in 1823 came north with the Quakers who left the South because of their opposition to the practice of slavery prevalent in the Old North State, making a settlement near Richmond, Indiana, where they became pioneers. Mr. Morris was a miller by vocation and established one of the first mills in Wayne county, continuing to spend the remainder of his career there and dying in advanced years, as did also his wife. Among their children was George Morris, the grandfather of Robert A. Morris.

George Morris first saw the light of day in North Carolina, and was still a small boy when he accompanied his parents in their journey overland to the wilderness of Indiana. He grew up to sturdy manhood, was reared to agriculture pursuits and followed farming for some time, but subsequently became an early merchant near Richmond. He was married in that city to Miss Rhoda Frampton, who was born a Quakeress and a member of an old Maryland family of Friends. Mr. Morris passed away near Richmond when but thirty-six years of age, while his wife survived him for a long period, dying at the advanced age of ninety years.

The second son and child of the five children of his parents, Aaron Morris, the father of Robert A. Morris, was born near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, November 21, 1834. There he was educated, reared and spent his entire life, and there his death occurred February 15, 1907. His brothers and sisters are all still living, are married, and have homes of their own. In his youth Aaron Morris learned the trade of wagon-maker and this he followed with a reasonable amount of success until 1865,when he was married. At that time he became one of the organizers and partners of the Hoosier Drill Company, of which he continued as manager and a director until 1876, when he disposed of interests and became an official member of a reaper and mower concern. With this venture he continued until 1888, when he embarked in the banking business, at Pendleton, Indiana, where he became the founder of the Pendleton Banking Company. Of this institution he became president, and so remained for a number of years, and it is still in the family name, being now conducted by William F. Morris, a son of its founder. In 1902 Mr. Morris came to Fairmount, Indiana, and here established the Fairmount State Bank, with which he was connected in an official capacity up to the time of his death. Mr. Morris was an excellent business man and financier, and was widely known in banking circles, especially in Wayne, Grant and Madison counties. He bore a high reputation for business integrity and honorable dealing, and in his private life was known to be a man of the utmost probity. He was a stanch Republican throughout his life, but was content with his business interests and never sought personal preferment as a candidate. Throughout his life he was a Quaker, and lived up to the teachings of his faith. While residing in Wayne county, near Pendleton, Mr. Morris was married in 1865, to Miss Martha Thomas, who was born, reared and educated in Madison county, and was a daughter of Louis and Percilla (Moore) Thomas, natives of Pennsylvania, who came from Pennsylvania and Chester county in that state at an early date, and located in Madison county. There they spent their lives in agricultural pursuits, in the community in which there were so many members of the Friends church, to which faith they belonged. Mrs. Aaron Morris was one of a large family, the most of whom are still living, and she still survives her husband and makes her home in Madison county, being seventy-five years of age. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Morris, namely: William F., manager of the State Bank of Pendleton, who married Lyle Zeublin and has two daughters—Mildred and Eleanor; Luella, who is the wife of Elwood Burchell, of Port Chester, New York, a manufacturer of bolts and nuts, who has three sons—Richard, Morris and Robert; Robert A.; and Elizabeth, who is the wife of Frederick Lantz, a merchant of Pendleton, and has one daughter, Deborah.

Robert A. Morris was born near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, May 16, 1877. He received his early education in the schools of Richmond, following which he attended Earlham College, and then embarked in the banking business with his father at Pendleton. There he remained from 1895 until 1902, when, having thoroughly mastered the details of banking, he came to Fairmount to take charge of the Fairmount State Bank, and of this he has since had control. This institution has a capital and surplus of $32.000, and is known as one of the solid and substantial financial houses of Grant county. Under the management of Mr. Morris it has enjoyed at steady and continued growth, and has gained the complete confidence of the public.

In 1903 Mr. Morris was married in Fairmount to Miss Artie Suman, who was born, reared and educated in Fairmount, where her people were early settlers. They are now residents of North Dakota, where they are engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Morris have one son: William S., born January 2, 1913. In his political preferences Mr. Morris is a Republican.

ELI J. COX. A native son of Grant county, who is well known to the citizens of Fairmount, Eli J. Cox has not confined his activities to the Hoosier State, but is widely known in other parts of the country, especially in Florida, where he is the owner of extensive orange groves. He is of Scotch-Irish descent and is descended from one of two brothers, Joseph and Samuel Cox, who emigrated to this country prior to the War of the Revolution, settling in Pennsylvania, where they were identified with the Fox Quakers. One of these brothers subsequently moved to North Carolina and established a home among the Quakers of Randolph county, and from him Eli J. Cox is directly descended.

Joshua Cox, the grandfather of Eli Cox, was born in North Carolina between the years 1790 and 1795. He grew up there to agricultural pursuits, and was united in marriage with a Miss Rachael Cox, no doubt a distant relative. At the time the Quakers who were opposed to slavery began their migration north, about 1834, Joshua Cox left North Carolina with his wife and children and located in the Quaker settlement in Morgan county, Indiana, where he secured a tract of undeveloped land from the government and settled down to make a home. There he died not long afterward, when still in the prime of life, while his widow survived him for many years. They were Quakers all of their lives and were the parents of four sons and two daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, were married and had families.

The third in order of birth of his parents' six children, William Cox was born in North Carolina in 1824, and was still a lad when he accompanied them in their migration to Morgan county, Indiana. At the age of twenty years he came to Grant county, Indiana, and when not yet twenty-one was married to Elizabeth Wilson, who was born in 1826 in Randolph county, North Carolina, and was a child when she accompanied her parents, John and Mary R. (Winslow) Wilson, to Grant county. Mrs. Elizabeth (Wilson) Cox was reared a Quakeress, but before marriage joined the United Brethren church, and her husband, refusing to declare himself sorry for his act, was excommunicated by the church and a few years later they both joined the Wesleyan Methodist church, in the faith of which they died. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. William Cox located on a farm in Fairmount township, but subsequently moved to another tract in Liberty township, on the Little Ridge road, two and one half miles southwest from Fairmount. There Mr. Cox's death occurred in January, 1901, while his wife followed him to the grave on June 12th of the same year. They were the parents of thirteen children, as follows: Nathan D., of Fairmount, who is married and has children, grandchildren and one great-grandchild; Abigail, who married first Jonathan Bogue, by whom she had a large family, and married second Josiah Winslow, and lives in Fairmount; John W., a farmer near Fairmount, who is married and has five children; Mary R., who is the wife of Oliver Haisley, a carpenter of Fairmount, and has two married children; Eli J., subject of this review; Milton T., a fruit grower near Fairmount, who is married and has one son and two daughters, the latter being married; Zimri E., a Colorado ranchman, who is married and has two sons, both civil engineers and graduates of the College of Mining, at Golden, Colorado; Eliza Ann, who married William Shields, now of California, and died leaving three sons; Sarah E., the wife of C. C. Powell, a farmer of Grant county, and has two sons and one daughter at home; Elizabeth C., the wife of E. J. Seale, of Fairmount, who has one son and one daughter; William V., a farmer of Fairmount township, who has one adopted daughter; Micajah T., who died after her marriage to William T. Cammack, now in the West, by whom she had one son and one daughter.

Eli J. Cox was born on his father's farm in Grant county, Indiana, January 6, 1853, and received his early education in the country schools. Subsequently he became a student in the Marion (Indiana) Normal school, and after a few terms at this institution be became a teacher and for seven years was engaged in educational work in the Grant county schools. In 1881 he went to the western part of Missouri, where for one year he was engaged in hay buying business, and in the following year went to Florida, where he embarked in the orange grove enterprise. In this he met with almost instantaneous success, and through good management and shrewd business foresight increased his holdings from time to time until he owned he owned large interests in orange groves. He bought and sold this kind of land, established a packing house, and bought and shipped oranges extensively. His brand was well known in the eastern markets. With others, he was caught in the great "freeze" of the year 1895, but managed to recuperate his losses ad to regain a part of his groves, and now owns a operates two very valuable orange properties. He has large land holdings in Florida, and also owns valuable tracts in Texas, near the city of Houston. He is at this time an active member of the Florida State Horticultural Society, and is widely known as an expert in the orange industry. Mr. Cox has been an extensive traveler, having visited nearly every State in the Union, as well as various points in Canada and Mexico. He maintains a handsome home in Fairmount and here takes an active interest in all the affects the material welfare of the city or its people. In political matters Mr. Cox is a Republican but he has cared little for the struggles of the political arena.

Mr. Cox was married in Grant county, to a Miss Ballenger, and to this union there was born one daughter who died in infancy. His second marriage occurred in 1904, in Fairmount, Indiana, to Mrs. Ora D. (Luse) Osborn, who was born in Hancock county, Indiana, March 2, 1869. She came to Fairmount in 1882, with her parents, Walter S. and Elmira C. (Coffin) Luse, natives of Hancock county. Her father was for a number of years a successful agriculturist and tile manufacturer of Liberty township, Grant county, but in 1892 retired from active life, and he and his wife now make their home in Fairmount. He was a pioneer in the manufacture of tile and brick in Indiana, engaging therein as early as 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have no children. Her former husband, Jesse Osborn, died some years ago, when still a young man. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of the Friends church.

JOHN R. BROWNE was born October 17, 1876, in Van Buren township of Grant county, a son of William L. and Martha E. (Kirkpatrick) Browne. The maternal grandfather, William M. Kirkpatrick, was one of the pioneers of Van Buren township, Grant county. The father was a lawyer and for many years practiced his profession at Lincoln, Nebraska, where he died in 1908. The mother now lives at Landersville in this county. There were two children in the family, and Mr. Browne's brother is Frank D. Browne, a substantial farmer near Huntington, Indiana.

John R. Browne spent the first sixteen years of his life on a farm, and during that time attained a common school and part of a high school education. At the age of sixteen he began teaching, which occupation he continued for six years. Many of the nights and a large part of his vacation periods, while a teacher, were spent in reading law both at home and with Mr. O. L. Cline, and later with Paulus & Cline. In 1898 he was admitted to the bar and begun the practice on March 1, 1899, with Mr. J. F. Charles, as a partner. This partnership was continued as Charles & Browne until December 1, 1902, at which time Hiram Brownlee became the head of the new firm of Brownlee, Charles & Browne. This firm continued until May 6, 1903, at which date, Mr. Charles retired. Brownlee and Browne then continued together until November 1st, 1907, at which time, the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Browne was then engaged in practice alone until March 23, 1908, at which time the present partnership with Gus S. Condo was formed under the firm name of Condo & Browne. They practice in all the local, state and federal courts, both having been admitted to the United States Supreme Court at Washington, D. C., on December 2nd, 1912.

On May 17, 1899, Mr. Browne married Miss Grace Riley, of Van Buren, Grant county. Mrs. Browne is a native of this county and a daughter of James E. and Sarah E. Riley, a well known family here. The three children born of their marriage are named as follows: Miriam, aged eleven; Edward J., aged ten, and Ruth, aged eight.

Mr. Browne is a member and ex-president of the Marion Country Club; also of the Elks Club, and is now Exalted Ruler of Marion Lodge No. 195, B. P. O. Elks. In politics, he is a Republican.

JAMES ALLEN STRETCH, one of the early residents of Marion, was born in Salem County, New Jersey, July 15, 1817. He moved with his parents to Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, in 1823, and from Richmond to Henry county in 1835, where they lived on a farm. He was married July 18, 1838, to Jane Adlissa Stephenson, and lived in Henry county until 1843, when he purchased a stock of dry goods and moved the goods to Marion in wagons and opened a dry goods store on the East side of the Public Square. The family first lived in a frame building standing on the corner of Adams and Third Streets, and after some time moved to the homestead on the east side of Adams Street between Sixth and Seventh Streets, now 609 South Adams Street. He sold his dry goods store after sometime in that business, and studied law; was elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, which office he held for many years in addition to his business as attorney. He also became interested in politics and was nominated by the Republicans for Clerk of the Supreme Court on the State ticket, but the Democrats were successful in carrying the State.

During the Civil War he entered the service of the government in 1862 and was Captain of Company A, Fifth Indiana Cavalry. This Company was on duty in Grant and Blackford counties for a short time due to the activity of the "Knights of the Golden Circle." He served with his regiment in Kentucky and Tennessee, being engaged in several skirmishes, until December, 1863, when on account of sickness he resigned. He returned to Marion and after an illness of several months, recovered partially and endeavored to attend to business; was elected Magistrate again, but never entirely regained his health which he lost through hard service and exposure while in the volunteer army.

He died in Marion, June 22, 1880, and was buried in the Odd Fellows' Cemetery. His wife and six children, four daughters and two sons, survived him. Mrs. Stretch died in Marion, November 6, 1907, at the age of ninety-one years, having been a resident of Marion sixty-four years, where she was respected and loved by all who knew her.

Three of the six children are living, two being residents of Marion. Sarah, now Mrs. Luther McLane, for a short time after her marriage lived near Somerset, afterward moving to Rochester, Minnesota, where the family lived for many years. They now have their home near Los Angeles, California.

Linnie, widow of the late B. A. Haines, and Miss Victoria still reside in Marion.

James Quincy was born in Marion, attending the Marion Academy, and read law in his father's office and later was elected Justice of the Peace. He died in 1894 at his home here.

Mary A. came with her parents to Marion and attended the early schools here and the Marion Academy. She married James M. Pugh and lived on a farm near Mt. Olive in Pleasant Township, where she died in 1906.

John F. came with his parents to Marion in 1843, attending the early schools here and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1862, graduating in 1866. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Tenth Infantry and served on frontier duty at Ft. Abercrombie, Dakota (since abandoned), here commanding a detachment of mounted infantry. He was appointed Regimental Adjutant in 1867. He served on Mexican frontier at Brownsville, Texas, as Assistant Adjutant General of the District of the Rio Grande, 1867 to 1871. On duty at Military Academy at West Point as tactical officer 1871 to '76. Again he served on Frontier duty in Texas in command of Ft. Griffin and in charge of the Lipan Indians. Afterwards serving as adjutant again and being stationed at Detroit, in 1884 he was promoted Captain on duty in New Mexico, and was with company on Geronimo Indian Campaign in Arizona and New Mexico. During 1889 to 1894 he served as instructor in U. S. Infantry and Cavalry schools at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. Served at Chicago with company during riots in 1894, guarding Postal cars. On duty with company at Fort Reno, Oklahoma, 1894 to 1898, and went with Regiment to Cuba in 1898. Commanded company in battle of Santiago, July 1, 1898, and subsequent fighting about Santiago. In command of battalion Tenth Infantry after return to this country. Promoted Major Eighth Infantry and joined that regiment in Havana, Cuba. On duty as disbursing officer of the Island, 1889 and 1900. Left Cuba for duty with Eighth Infantry in Phillippine Islands and commanded regiment in Provinces of Batangas and Laguna until 1901. Promoted Lieutenant Colonel Twenty-eighth Infantry, joined that regiment in United States and returned to Phillippines. Promoted to Colonel of Twenty-seventh Infantry, 1902, then in the Islands. In June of that year, he asked for and received his retirement after forty years in the service of the government. He returned to Marion where he lived, renewing old acquaintances, until his death on August 7, 1913. He was buried beside his father and mother in the family plot in the I. O. O. F. Cemetery.

Deb Murray