Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

WILLIAM J. HOUCK. As Lincoln once said relative to his own parentage and youth, the conditions which compassed the early years of William Jackson Houck were those implied in the "short and simple annals of the poor," but he had the will to do and to dare and has thus proved himself able to overcome obstacles, master circumstances and push his way forward to the goal of worthy and distinctive success, as is evident when it is stated that he is numbered among the able and representative members of the bar of Grant county, where he has maintained his home since his childhood days and where he has measured fully to the demands of the metewand of popular confidence and esteem. He is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Marion, the county seat, and has not only achieved pronounced success and precedence in his chosen profession but also is known as a progressive, liberal and influential citizen. He has passed the half-century mark and has made the years count for good in all the relations of his life, his accomplishment standing the more to his honor because it has represented entirely the concrete results of his own energy, determination and ability.

Mr. Houck was born in Jay county, Indiana, and the place of his nativity was a primative log cabin of the type common to the pioneer era, his parents and other kins-folk having been in the poorest of financial circumstances, so that early felt the lash of necessity, which quickened his ambition and vitalized his mental and physical powers. He was the fourth in order of birth in a family of nine children, all of whom are living except one. The parents, Samuel B. and Mary Ann (Iiams) Houck, were both natives of Ohio, where the respective families settled in the pioneer days. Samuel B. Boyd was born in Butler county, that state, and his wife was born near Sandusky, Erie county. After coming to Indiana Samuel Houck followed the vocation of teamster, in Jay county, for two years ,at the expiration of which, in the autumn of 1864, he came with his family to Grant county and established his home in Marion. He followed teaming and other modest vocations and the financial returns for his labors were barely adequate to make provision for the necessities of his family. He was a man of integrity and industry and while his career was not marked by dramatic incidents of great temporal success he lived up to his possibilities under existing conditions and thus merited and received the respect of his fellow men. He passed the closing years of his life at Jonesboro, this county, where he died in 1908, at a venerable age, his cherished and devoted wife having passed to the life eternal two years previously.

William J. Houck is indebted for his early educational discipline to the public schools of Marion and Jonesboro, this county, and in securing a more liberal education he had the definite spur of personal desire and ambition, so that he depended upon his own exertions in defraying the expenses of his collegiate course. When but fifteen years of age he began teaching in the district schools, and that he does not place a specially high estimate upon his scholastic ability at the time is shown by the fact that he states that he "kept rather than taught school." Experience proved effective, however, and he made good the handicap, with the result that he was successful in the pedagogic profession, through the medium of which he paid his college expenses. He finally entered Ridgeville College, at Ridgeville, Randolph county, an institution that has now passed out of existence, and in the same he was graduated in June 1880, with the degree of Bachelor of Science (et seq. M. S.). After leaving college Mr. Houck passed two years as a teacher in the public schools near Cincinnati Law School, his ambition being one of action and definite purpose. After completing the prescribed course in the law school Mr. Houck returned to Indiana and entered the office of Judge Haines, of Portland, Jay county, and there he was admitted to the bar of his native state in the year 1880. He forthwith entered upon the practice of his profession, but shortly afterward, in June, 1881, he was deflected from the same, as he was elected superintendent of schools for Jay county, the place of his birth. Thus was shown forth conclusively that he was not like the prophet and without honor in his own country. He gave an effective administration, did much to systematize and advance the work of the schools of the county and the popular estimate placed upon his services was manifest in his re-election in 1883 and again in 1885, so that he served three successive terms, at the expiration of the last of which the county board of trustees failed to elect a successor, with the result that he continued the incumbent about six months after the close of his regular term and then resigned the office.

Resuming the active practice of law at Portland, Jay county, Mr. Houck there remained until September, 1889, when he purchased the weekly newspaper known as the Marion Democrat and returned to the county seat of Grant county. He removed the plant of his paper to new quarters and in its first issue under his regime he changed its title to the Marion Leader. He successfully continued as editor and publisher of the Leader until the autumn of 1895, and brought the paper up to a high standard in its editorial and news departments and as an exponent of local interests. It is still published under the name which he conferred and is one of the influential papers of this section of the state. After his retirement from the field of journalism Mr. Houck resumed the practice of his profession, to which he has since given his entire time and attention and in connection with which he has become one of the representative members of the bar of Grant county, and of the state, with a large and important clientage and with the highest reputation for ability and resourcefulness as a trial lawyer and conservative counselor.

Mr. Houck, as may well be imagined in connection with a man of his character and experience, is staunchly fortified in his opinions concerning matters of public polity, both in a local and general sense, and he has long been one of the influential figures in the councils of the Democratic party in central Indiana. In 1886 he lacked only eleven votes of being nominated for the office of clerk of the supreme court of the state, and two years later he was the Democratic nominee for representative of his district in the state senate, said district comprising Grant and Madison counties, his defeat being compassed by normal political exigencies, for the district had at that time a decisive Republican majority. In 1900 at the Democratic convention for the Eleventh congressional district Mr. Houck, against his own volition and desire, was virtually compelled to accept nomination for congress. His defeat was a foregone conclusion, but he made a spirited and effective campaign through his district and succeeded in reducing the majority of his opponent 3,,000 votes, though the district had a normal Republican majority of eight thousand. Mr. Houck is a most vigorous and convincing political speaker and his services have been enlisted by his party in various campaigns in the state, though he has permitted nothing to deflect him from his profession and the demands of his large and representative practice. As a citizen he shows a vital and helpful interest in all that touches the welfare of his home city, county and state and his influence and aid are given to worthy enterprises and measures projected for their good, as well as that of humanity in general. He has unqualified affection for his native state and deep appreciation of the sturdy pioneers who laid broad and deep the foundations upon which has been reared the great superstructure of advanced civilization and prosperity. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Tribe of Ben Hur.

On the 21st of June, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Houck to Miss Eliza C. Shrack, who was born and reared at Dunkirk, Jay county, this state, where her husband taught school for two years. She presides most graciously over the attractive home in Marion and the same is a center of generous hospitality. Mrs. Houck is the only child of James H. and Nancy R. Shrack, who are now living in the same home with Mr. and Mrs. Houck where they have always lived as one family. Mr. and Mrs. Houck have no children.

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

EDGAR L. GOLDTHWAIT. As one of the old families of Grant county there are numerous references to the Goldthwaits in the historical volume of the Centennial History and also the sketches of the other branches of that family, so prominently identified with the business and civic life of the community. The following is a brief outline of the ancestry and career of Edgar Louis Goldthwait, who has been best known in Grant county as an editor and publisher.

The founder of his family in the United States was Thomas Goldthwait, who was born at Goldthwaite, Yorkshire, West Riding, in 1610, and emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1628. He died March 1, 1683. This first ancestor married Rachael Leach of Salem. From this ancestor the line is traced as follows: Samuel, son of Thomas, was born in 1637 and died in 1714, and lived his life at Salem. Samuel, son of Samuel, was born in 1668 and died in 1748, and also spent his life in Salem. Thomas, of Petersham, Massachusetts, born 1738, served all through the Revolutionary war, after several years' service in the French-Indian wars. Thomas, a son of the latter, lived from 1768 to 1829, his birthplace having been Long Meadow, Massachusetts. In Fairfield county, Ohio, he married Mary Crawford, who lived from 1785 to 1847. When a widow with seven children she emigrated to Marion, Indiana, in 1836.

The father of Edgar L. Goldthwait was Oliver Goldthwait, who was born in 1812 and died in 1872. He was married April 11, 1847, to Marilla Ellen Eward, who was born at Carlisle, Kentucky, September 22, 1830, and died December 31, 1862. Oliver Goldthwait was a carpenter by trade, a man of high moral character, was liberally educated, and was devoted to his church. His wife, Ellen, was a diligent student, an omnivorous reader, and especially charming in conversational ability. Her ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Kentucky,and of Scotch stock.

Edgar L. Goldthwait was born in Grant county, August 7, 1850. When twelve years of age he began an apprenticeship at the printer's trade, and was connected with that trade and the business of publishing and editorial work for forty years. Mr. Goldthwait is especially remembered for his long connection of sixteen years as editor of the Marion Chronicle. In politics he has always been a Republican, and his church is the Congregational.

In December, 1886, Mr. Goldthwait married Candace Zombro. She was born in Urbana, Ohio, February 19, 1860, a daughter of John Thomas and Rebecca (Brown) Zombro. Mr. and Mrs. Goldthwait are the parents of a fine family of eight children, all of whom are living, and whose names and dates of births are as follows: Mary Agnes, October 21, 1887; George Edgar, October 18, 1889; Margaret, January 15, 1892; James Sweetser, March 27, 1894; John Louis, March 19, 1896; Rebecca, March 7, 1898; Robert Stuart, March 30, 1900; and Marilla Ellen, June 11, 1905. Mr. Goldthwait is of the eight generation of the family in this country.

KENTON RULEY WIGGER. While the name Wigger has been in the Marion business directory so long that it is a household word in Grant county, and is as familiar to the trade as any landmark about the public square, the original Wigger business house was located in Jonesboro. It was in 1852 that Harman Wigger came with his uncle, Aaron Abel, from Germany, and in 1859 he established the business in Jonesboro that has always been associated with the Wigger family name in Grant county.

When Mr. Wigger concluded to remain in America his parents followed him two years later, and located at Union City, where they ended their days although some of the relatives still live there. When Harman Wigger was prospecting for a location he chose Jonesboro rather than Marion because of the Whiteneck tanyard located there, and William Whiteneck offered special inducements to him. He was a saddler and harness maker, and Mr. Whiteneck wanted a home market for the output of his tannery. Mr. Wigger could have leather at any time and in any quantity, and for twenty-four years he continued the saddle and harness business in Jonesboro, where he accumulated both town and farm property, and where he was married and raised up his family.

One year after coming to Jonesboro Mr. Wigger married Mary Jane Whitson, and one daughter, Mrs. Nora A. W. Tucker, was born to them. Mrs. Wigger did not live long and later he married Sarah Jane Ruley, she became the mother of Kenton Ruley Wigger, named at the beginning of this Wigger family sketch. After the death of his second wife, Mr. Wigger married her sister, Eliza M. Ruley. The daughter, Nora, married Henry Tucker, of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, and on the death of her husband she returned to the home of her father. Kenton R. Wigger married Miriam A. Wallace (see Wallace family) and one daughter Miriam Louise, was born to them. Harman Wigger married three times and all were Jonesboro women. The first wife is mentioned in the Whitson family sketch, and all that remain of the Ruley family from which Kenton Ruley Wigger is descended are Mrs. Margaret Ruley Willman of Jonesboro and Mrs. Mary Ruley Weddington of Indianapolis.

When Burtney W. Ruley came from Virginia he located on a farm in Mill, and after serving the county as treasurer (see chapter on Civil Government) he returned from Marion to this farm, where he built a farm home very unusual in that day�a typical Virginia manor in Grant county. This old homestead is now owned by Henry Wise and the house still stands there�back from the road, although built along the old Indianapolis and Ft. Wayne State road crossing the Mississinewa at Ink's ford, but finally the roads were placed on section lines and the house was near the center of the farm�and there are people living who still remember it as the Ruley farm, although the Ruley family had retired to Jonesboro (Gas City was not then on the map), and the Ruley homestead in town was on the site of the Rothinghouse drug store�a well remembered landmark of the town.

Harman Wigger was successful as a harness dealer, and after a few years Marion business men invited him to change his location and open a harness store in Marion. The Whiteneck tannery served his purpose well, and he regarded Jonesboro as a better town and along in the sixties there was frequent agitation of changing the location of the county seat�Jonesboro nearer the center of Grant county. Instead of moving to Marion then, Mr. Wigger induced a younger brother, J. H. Wigger, to open such a store in 1864, and he helped him establish a business that, with changed conditions�notably, the building of the Marion and Liberty (Strawtown) pike, made the Marion store more profitable than the stand in Jonesboro. The Whiteneck tannery burned and finally Harman Wigger removed his family to Marion in 1883, although only a nominal business relation existed between him and his brother, J. H. Wigger. He invested in rental property, and after the death of J. H. Wigger in 1896, the Wigger Buggy and Harness company of which K. R. Wigger is now the head came into existence. For half a century the name Wigger has been in the Marion business directory.

J. H. Wigger accumulated considerable property and he had a happy family, but Mrs. Josie Swartz and Paul Wigger died soon after the death of their father and a few years later Miss Pauline Wigger died, and upon the death of the wife and mother (Ruth Griffin), the Wigger estate went to relatives. "The earth is a stage," although some of the players have but short time in which to act their parts. J. H. Wigger's time in Grant county was from 1864 to 1896, and his family is now extinct. John Wigger of Washington township is a brother, and Harman Wigger, who was the first of the family in Grant county, is now the senior Wigger in America. He was born August 31, 1836, in Germany. While J. H. Wigger was the first of "Wigger on the Square," in Marion the Wigger Buggy and Harness Company rounds out the first half century of the Wigger harness trade in Marion.

While Harman Wigger is the senior Wigger in this country, he is also the senior in the Whitson-Ruley family relationship. Changes have come to the Wigger family circle as to the rest of the world. While Grandmother Wigger lived and frequently visited in Grant county, the German language was spoken in the family, but now German is seldom spoken�the Wigger family thoroughly American, and the younger generation not knowing the German tongue. Mr. Wigger's immediate family circle is his daughter and the family of his son, K. R. Wigger. Mention of the name Wigger suggests the business Harman Wigger established in the county in 1859�more than half a century ago. When he first handled leather in Jonesboro the demands of the trade were simple and he manufactured everything, and today the Wigger Buggy and Harness Company makes a specialty of hand made harness. A large force of men is employed and Wigger made harness is in great demand among Wigger patrons in Grant county. While the automobile trade is a later feature of the Wigger business and up to date features are everywhere in evidence in the store, the name: "Wigger Buggy and Harness Company" indicates that the company adheres to the old line�caters to the trade that has always had its headquarters at the Wigger store.

The name Wigger has been advertised as widely as any business or firm name in Grant county, and the future policy is to maintain the excellent business reputation. The Wigger Buggy and Harness Company initiated the plan of sending out wagon loads of buggies for sale among farmers, but more recently its policy is to invite all patrons to the "Wigger on the Square" store where a complete line of luggage articles, trunks, suit cases and valises and all kind of robes and blankets, as well as buggies, carriages, harness and automobiles and accessories are to be found in stock, and a courteous floor service is extended to all. While Mr. Wigger maintains close oversight of his business, he is surrounded with competent salesmen and the Wigger Buggy and Harness Company enjoys splendid patronage.

EDMUND CLARK LEACH. On section three of Fairmount township is the home of Edmund Clark Leach. Two hundred and forty acres of some of the finest land to be found in southern Grant county are the basis of his industry as a farmer and stockman, and by his success he stands in the very front rank of producers of agricultural crops. His judgment in farming matters is regarded as almost infallible, and everything about his place attests the progressive and prosperous business man. From a considerable distance his home can be recognized by its large white house, red barn, and silo, and the condition of the fields and the fences is a further evidence of his ability. Mr. Leach grows crops that average sixty bushels of corn to the acre, forty bushels of wheat and other grains in proportion, and everything grown on the place is fed to his cattle and hogs. The Leach family has been identified with this section of Indiana, since pioneer times, and originally came from the old commonwealth of Virginia.

Great-grandfather Rev. Eaton Leach was born in Virginia, not long after the close of the Revolutionary war, and was married in that state. Most of their children were born in Virginia, and those whose names are remembered were: William Archibald, Reuben, James H., Mattie, Rebecca. Early in the year 1800 the family came over the Mountains to Franklin county, Indiana, where they were among the very earliest settlers in what was then northwest territory. Indiana did not become an individual territory for several years later, and did not become a state until1816. Eaton Leach entered land from the government, and he and his wife spent the rest of their lives in Franklin county. He was a life-long member of the primitive Baptist church, in which faith he was a preacher, and he was a man who exercised great influence and did much for the good of his community. His wife was of the old school Presbyterian church. All his children mentioned above, with the exception of Rebecca lived to be married, and all had children of their own.

William Leach, grandfather of the Fairmount township farmer, was the oldest, and was born in Virginia, about 1790. He enlisted for service in the war of 1812, his participation as a soldier of that war being one of the features in the family history of which his descendants may well be proud. In Franklin county, Indiana, William Leach married Miss Sarah or Sallie Harrison, who was born in Ohio, of the old Ohio family of that name. All the children of William Leach and wife were born in Franklin county, Indiana, and then in the early thirties, they moved to Fairmount township in Grant county. This nearly eighty years have passed since the Leach name first became identified with Grant county, and its members have all been effective and honorable citizens of their respective communities. William Leach took up land from the government and eventually acquired by purchase eight tracts of eighty acres each, giving to each one of his eight children, a farm of eighty acres. On the old homestead he continued to make his home throughout the rest of his days, and died about 1848, when less than sixty years of age. His widow survived until a good old age. The first Primitive Baptist church organization was formed in the home of William Leach, and he was one of the officials and active workers in that society. In politics his support was always given to the Democratic party, and he was in many ways an honored and respected citizen. The eight children of William Leach and wife were as follows: Rachael, Esom, John, Edmund, Jane, Mary (Polly), Martha A., and William Jasper. The last named died young, while all the others married and now have descendants living in this and other parts of the country.

Esom Leach, the oldest son and second child, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, and after coming to Grant county became owner of half a section or three hundred and twenty acres of land in the township of Fairmount. There his death occurred January 17, 1893. His wife, who survived him some years was Lucinda Corn, born in Kentucky, and spending part of her girlhood in Rush county, being still young when her family moved to Grant county. She was fourteen years of age when married to Esom Leach. Their career began in a very humble home, and by their industry and good management they provided well for their children and spent their own years in comfort and prosperity. Lucinda Corn was a daughter of Joseph Corn, one of the early settlers who came from Kentucky to Rush county, and later to Grant county, where he died when a very old man.

Mr. Edmund Clark Leach is one of thirteen children, all of whom married and had families, and eight sons and two daughters are still living. The fifth in this large family, Mr. Leach was born in Fairmount township, May 26, 1849, was reared and educated in his native locality, and has always followed farming with such success as few of his neighbors have attained.

Mr. Leach first married Frances Caskey, who died without children. His second wife was Elizabeth Mann, who was born in North Carolina, but was reared in Grant county, and died in Fairmount in 1885. She left a son, William H., who married Myrtle Payne, who died leaving three children, Harold, Bernice, and Clarkson P. The present wife of Mr. Leach was Miss Zibbie Glass, a daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Harrison) Glass. She was born and reared in Rush county, but in early womanhood came to Grant county. Mr. and Mrs. Leach are the parents of eight children, namely: Ethel, Myrtle, Elizabeth, Hattie, Carnetia, George, Wilma, and Wilmer. The three oldest children are all graduates of the Fairmount Academy, and Miss Myrtle is now a special supply teacher. Hattie is a student in the Academy as is also her sister Carnetia, while the three youngest are in the grade schools. Mr. and Mrs. Leach are workers in the Primitive Baptist church at Fowlerton, and in politics he is a Democrat.

Deb Murray