JOSIAH FARRAR, a leading lawyer of Peru, is a native of Jefferson County, New York, and second son of Lloyd and Rachel Farrar. He was born September 25, 1826, and grew to manhood on a farm in his native county, receiving his early education and training in the common school from which he was subsequently promoted to the academic grade. He took an academic course in which he acquired the knowledge of the higher branches of learning and while thus engaged decided upon the legal profession for a life work. In 1846 he came to Miami County, Indiana and selected in Butler Township a tract of land to which his father’s family removed and settled the following year. For some time after coming here he was engaged in teaching school and in the meantime pursued his legal studies as opportunities would permit. Actuated by a laudable desire to increase his knowledge of the profession, Mr. Farrar, at the age of twenty-three went to Rochester, New York, where he read for some time under the instruction of Lysander Farrar, one of the leading attorneys of the city. In this county he read in the office of H. J. Shirk in 1849 and the following year returned to Rochester, where he was similarly engaged until 1852. Having thus completed his preparatory reading, during which he made substantial progress in his profession, Mr. Farrar, in 1852, engaged in the practice at Peru, Indiana, in partnership with his brother John L. Farrar, and the firm thus constituted still continues. In 1856, he was elected on the Democratic ticket, prosecutor for the counties of Miami and Cass, and in 1867, against his wishes, was elected mayor of the city of Peru. Since his admission to the bar Mr. Farrar has, by close application to business and commendable studiousness gradually surmounted the obstacles in the course of every professional man and won for himself a fine reputation as a successful practitioner. In 1862 he closed his office and tendered his services to his country recruiting in May of that year, Company D., 99th Indiana Infantry, of which he was chosen captain. He accompanied his command through all its varied experiences in the southwestern campaign of the Mississippi department, and at the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, was in command of the brigade of skirmishers, a duty fraught with a great deal of danger. At the battle of July 28th, of the same year, he was second in command of the regiment, and while his Colonel was sick during the siege of Atlanta, he commanded the regiment one week when the duty was very difficult to perform. The confidence which the line officers reposed in his ability is attested by the fact that they frequently requested him to take command on trying occasions, and it is also a conceded fact that in nearly every hotly contested battle in which the 99th was engaged he was at its head. He commanded the regiment during the reconnaissance toward Dalton and Rocky Face Gap, in February, 1864, and subsequently on the arrival at Savannah, being the ranking officer succeeded to the command which he held until mustered out of the service. On May 20, 1865 he was mustered as Lieutenant Colonel, and on the mustering out of the regiment received a commission as Colonel. Among the battles in which he participated were the following: Vicksburg, capture of Jackson, Mississippi, Mission Ridge, the numerous engagements in the advance upon Atlanta, the battle of the 22nd of July, when General McPherson was killed, battle of the 28th, same month west of Atlanta, flank movement which resulted in the capture of that city, and battles consequent, Sherman’s march to the sea and up through the Carolinas, and to the battle of Bentonville, the last fight in which the Ninety-ninth was engaged. At the close of the war his regiment marched to Washington City, and after participating in the “Grand Review,” he was honorably discharged. Col. Farrar was a brave and honorable soldier, and his military record is bright with duty intelligently and faithfully performed. In him were combined those qualities of mind which display under the most trying circumstances the possession of great executive ability, added to a personal courage, that made him the trusted leader on many bloody battle fields. Returning, after an absence of three years, to the quiet of civil life, he resumed the practice of his profession, which he has since successfully continued in Peru. He is an able lawyer, thoroughly acquainted with the methods and principles of legal jurisprudence, and stands high among his professional associates of the Miami County bar. He is and always has been a Democrat in politics. Though he adheres to his political faith with tenacity and expresses his sentiments fearlessly, he is far removed from partisan intolerance, and on several occasions has followed his convictions rather than the dictates of party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and takes an active interest in the G.A.R. post in the city. He married on the 13th day of November, 1856, Miss Emma Gould, daughter of Solomon and Eliza Gould, of Peru. Mr. and Mrs. Farrar have three children, viz.: William C., Ada and Maude Farrar.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


H.G. FETTER was born in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1828. His father, Samuel Fetter, was a carpenter and contractor. His mother’s maiden name was Mary Wise. The parents were both of German descent. While the subject was quite young his father removed to Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where he erected a number of the churches and principal buildings still standing in that city. H.G. Fetter, at the age of sixteen, went to Danville and learned the printer’s trade, remaining in the office four years. His health then failing , he learned the art of daguerreotyping, then in its infancy and conducted mostly by traveling artists in tents. For the next four years with a short interruption he pursued the art of picture-making in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana, locating in Peru in 1853. For a number of years he operated two galleries. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster of Peru two weeks after Lincoln’s inauguration, and held that position four years and a half, being succeeded by his brother, J.H. Fetter. In 1867 he removed to Logansport, and conducted a gallery there about ten years, when he returned to Peru, where he has since resided.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


JAMES H. FETTER, dealer in furniture, is a native of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and the eleventh of a family of twelve children born to Samuel and Mary (Wise) Fetter, of the same State. He was born on the 28th day of February, 1842, and after receiving a liberal education engaged, at the age of sixteen, as a salesman in a dry goods house in his native town. He continued in that capacity until his nineteenth year, at which time, October 14, 1861, he came to Miami County, Indiana, and became deputy postmaster at Peru, under his brother, H.G. Fetter. Subsequently, August 6, 1865, he succeeded his brother as postmaster, and discharged the duties of the office continuously till April 1, 1879, when he effected a copartnership in the furniture and undertaking business with L.C. Gould. He is still engaged in that branch of the trade, carries a large stock of all kinds of furniture, and leads the business in Peru. Mr. Fetter’s marriage with Miss Lucy Adkison, daughter of Hon. Lewis D. Adkison, of Peru, was solemnized March 9, 1873. They have two children - Robert A., born March 28, 1874, and Thomas C., born on the 26th day of August, 1883. Mr. Fetter is an active member of the I.O.O.F., belonging to the Encampment, and with his wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church. Politically he is a Republican.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


JAMES B. FULWILER was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, on the 6th day of September, 1812. Was educated at Hopewell Academy and Gettysburg Gymnasium, now Pennsylvania college. His father, Abraham Fulwiler, was one of the early graduates of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he was born and reared, and died in 1830, leaving a large estate. His paternal ancestry is traceable through centuries into Switzerland, where the inevitable millions are said to be awaiting identification of the descendants. His mother was a cousin of the late Jeremiah S. Black, a Cabinet officer of President Buchanan, and a daughter of the Rev. James Black, of Pennsylvania, a Scottish divine of extensive erudition. In the year 1834, the subject of this notice came to Peru, Indiana, with a stock of merchandise under the management of one Samuel Pike, his employer, who subsequently became famous as a campaign editor of countless newspapers in many of the States, beginning with the Peru Forrester, the first newspaper printed and published in Miami County, Indiana.* In the year 1838 Mr. Fulwiler’s name was announced by his friends as a candidate to represent the counties of Miami and Fulton in the State Legislature, which he at first stoutly resisted for the reason that his views in regard to the simultaneous prosecution of all the public works which had been projected by former Legislatures of the State, was so unpopular that there could be no hope of his election, but finally yielded to the importunities of his friends, and he was defeated, as he expected to be. He was one of the few men of Indiana who at that time favored the classification of the public works, and the prosecution to completion of the most important work first. The people of the several counties had been led to believe that a road or canal would pass by their very doors and that “an additional hen and chickens would pay the additional tax.” Hence a “classifier” was more odious to the people, if possible, than an “abolitionist.” As they became more enlightened on the subject, however, they changed their views, and in the brief period of two years there was not to be found within the borders of the State a public man who would acknowledge himself in favor of an indiscriminate prosecution of the thirteen projected works known as the “cow bill,” and classification became a popular word. In 1843 Mr. F. was called to the State of Pennsylvania to attend to the disposal of a large body of unproductive land in Schuylkill County, being a part of his father’s estate lying in a mountainous region and traversed by rich veins of anthracite coal, where, with the aid of miners from Pottsville, in the spring of 1844, he located, opened up and leased thirteen veins of coal - among the number was the celebrated “mammoth vein,” twenty-two feet in thickness - and at the same time laid off the town of Fremont upon the premises. This town, situated as it is, on the midst of an extensive coal region, in now a prosperous little city. In 1847, Mr. F. was elected clerk of the Miami Circuit Court, which office he held until the 6th day of June 1855, when he was succeeded as a delegate at large for the State of Indiana to the Democratic National Convention which nominated Stephen A. Douglass, at Baltimore, for President of the United States, and was one of the committee of two from Indiana, who escorted Mr. Douglass, when on his presidential tour, from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Indianapolis, Indiana, and had Mr. Douglass been successful in the race, Mr. F. had reason to believe that a prominent position would have been reason to believe that a prominent position would have been reserved at Washington for his acceptance. In 1861 Mr. F. purchased of Messrs. Todd & Zerne, wholesale and retail grocers, their stock in trade; and in 1865 bought the undivided half of a furniture manufacturing establishment of Messrs. West & Jamison, which burned to the ground within ten days after his purchase and before he had the same insured against fire. In 1868 he embarked, with considerable capital, in extensive purchases and sales of Kansas and Iowa lands, which, for a time, yielded him an immense profit, but which eventually proved disastrous. In his present court of judicature in the city of Peru, his duties are greatly facilitated by a course of legal studies pursued at an early period of his life. Mr. F. has six children living and one deceased. Julia, his eldest daughter, married to Harry F. Clark, late superintendent of the western division of the W., St. L. & P. Railroad, at present manager of a western road with headquarters at Keokuk, Iowa; his second child, William died at Portsmouth, Washington Territory, some years ago; Louis Berthelet, second son, is one of the editors and proprietors of the Miami County Sentinel; Clarence, late clerk in the W., St. L. & P. Railway offices at Toledo, is now a resident of Peru. Mary Frank is married to J.R. Hamlin, of the Merchant’s Exchange, St. Louis; Ada Pauline, wife of William E. Clark, of Edwardsville, Illinois; Frank, the youngest child of Mr. F., is clerk in a railroad office of the W., St. L. & P. Railway Company at St. Louis. All of his children are naturally bright and have had the advantages of good educations.

*On the 7th day of March, 1837, he was married to Pauline Avaline, daughter of Francis Avaline, of Fort Wayne, Ind., and sister of Francis S. Avaline, late proprietor of the Avaline House, of Fort Wayne, a beautiful and accomplished lady.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


LOUIS B. FULWILER, editor of the Miami County Sentinel, and son of James B. and Pauline (Avaline) Fulwiler, was born in Peru, Indiana, on the 13th day of July, 1842. He received a liberal education in the schools of his native city and began life for himself by accepting a position in the office of the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw Railway, at Peoria, Illinois, where he remained only for a limited period. In 1861 he entered the army, enlisting in Company A, 20th Indiana Infantry, for the three years service, and with that noted regiment took part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. In the seven days fight before Richmond, June 25, 1862, he had the misfortune to lose a limb, and being incapacitated for further service he was honorably discharged and returned home in October of the same year. In 1862 he was appointed deputy clerk of the Miami Circuit Court, the duties of which position he discharged for a period of seven years. In 1870 he was elected Auditor of Miami County, re-elected in 1874, and held the office two terms or eight years. In 1869 he entered the field of journalism as editor of the Miami County Sentinel, with which paper he has since been identified and in which he now owns a one-half interest with Richard H. Cole. As the Sentinel is the exponent, so is Mr. Fulwiler’s influence one of the prime factors in moulding the character and action of, the Democratic party in Miami County. He has proved himself a superior politician, bold and zealous, undertaking what others deem impossible and being judicious and untiring, nearly always succeeds. Mental culture and strong common sense have developed and supplemented his natural talents, till all combined have made him one of the ablest newspaper writers in Northern Indiana. In 1869 he was united in marriage with Miss Cora L. Scott, who was born in Logansport, Indiana, September 13, 1846. Mr. Fulwiler is prominently identified with the G.A.R. and K. of P. Orders.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


WILLIAM A. GIBNEY, Recorder of Miami County, the subject of this biographical sketch, is a native of Holmes County, Ohio; the son of William S. and Nancy (Landis) Gibney, and dates his birth from the 30th day of September, 1837. His parents were born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, but early emigrated to Ohio, where they lived until their removal to Miami County, Indiana, in 1849. William S. Gibney was a farmer by occupation and died in Peru in 1873. His wife preceded him to the grave, departing this life in the year 1868. William A. Gibney passed the years of his youth amid the active scenes of the farm, and in the commons schools of the country received a fair English education, which, supplementing a practical knowledge such as books fail to impart, has enabled him to successfully discharge the duties of an active business life. He followed agricultural pursuits until 1865, at which time he abandoned the farm and engaged in saw-milling and railroading, which he followed some year, working at intervals, in the meantime, as deputy in the Sheriff’s office. In 1871 he accepted a position in the railroad shops in Peru, later run as fireman on the I. P. & C., and was afterwards promoted baggage master at the depot in this city, the duties of which position he discharged until 1879. In the meantime, 1878, he was elected Recorder of Miami County, and the following year severed his connection with the road in order to enter upon the discharge of his official duties. He was re-elected in 1882, and at this time is nearing the close of his second term. In politics MR. Gibney is an unflinching Democrat, evincing at all times a lively interest in the success of his party upon the principles of political purity, rigidly averse to anything that savors of deception or trickery. His official record, together with his acknowledged integrity as a trustworthy and reliable Christian gentleman have won for him a prominent place in the estimation of his fellow citizens, irrespective of party affiliation. He was married September, 1860, to Miss Mary E. Ninon of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, which union has been blessed with the birth of eleven children, seven of whom are living, viz.: George M., Lillie M., Iona, Dora, Mattie, Pearl and Albert C. Mr. Gibney is an active member of the K. of H. and Odd Fellows fraternities, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist church.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


HON. JOHN A. GRAHAM was born in Baltimore, Maryland, January 8, 1817. His parents were natives of Ireland and emigrated to this country in 1815. They landed in Baltimore after undergoing great hardships during a prolonged voyage in which they narrowly escaped being ship-wrecked. In 1826 the family removed to Pittsburgh, in 1827 to Wheeling, and in 1828 returned to Baltimore. In 1830 they went to Harper’s Ferry, and finally in 1832 settled in Indiana. John A. Graham was employed at Harper’s Ferry as clerk until 1835. In May of that year, being then eighteen he started for Indiana. At Wheeling he took passage on a steam boat and was landed at mid-night, a solitary passenger at the mouth of the Wabash. He there expected to find a town filled with enterprising people; but he saw only a dreary waste of turbid waters. No sound greeted his ear but the hoot of the owl and the crash and crunch of the running drift. After sitting upon his baggage at the waters edge until near daylight, he discerned from the top of the ban something like a building in the obscurity of the morning fog and detected a faint sound of human voices coming from a point farther up the river. About a half mile from where he landed he found a steamboat bound for the upper Wabash; and after various adventures and detonations, he succeeded in reaching Peru. There he made arrangements for taking charge of a store in Logansport for Alexander Wilson. He remained in the latter place until the business was closed up, in June, 1835, when he returned to Peru. He acted as clerk for Mr. Wilson until 1839 when he became a partner. The firm of Wilson & Co., packed pork in 1839. It was the first undertaking of the kind in the place and proved a financial failure, owing to the low water in the Maumee which prevented its quick transportation to New York. They built flatboats and in 1840 commenced sending pork to New Orleans. This also proved a failure on account of hard times and low prices. In 1841 and 1843 Mr. Graham was elected Sheriff of Miami County. In 1846 he was appointed clerk in the Wabash and Erie Canal Land Office. He held this place until 1847 when the office was moved to Logansport, under an act of the Legislature adjusting the State debt, known as the Butler Bill. He then bought the printing office at Peru and June 28, 1848 issued the first number of the Miami County Sentinel. This paper was successfully managed by him, as editor and proprietor until 1861, when he sold out and retired from the editorial chair. In 1850 Mr. Graham was a delegate to the State Convention to form a new State Constitution. In 1870 he was elected clerk of the Miami Circuit Court and at different times served as a member of the town and city council. He was special agent of the United States to pay the Miamis in the years 1857 and 1859 and has held many other positions of trust. In 1881 he was elected Mayor of the City of Peru, a position he holds at the present time. He has been a life long Democrat and in religion is a Roman Catholic. He was married to Caroline A. Avaline in Peru, June 28, 1842; a family of three sons and six daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Graham. Mr. Graham is below the average height but is heavily and compactly built. He possesses a strong constitution and although having reached the allotted three score and ten years, many years of usefulness and honor may yet remain to him. His opportunities for an education were limited but he has been a constant reader and has a wonderful memory. He is recognized as the “Historian of Miami.” As a writer he is fluent precise as to dates and figures, and full of humor. Few men possess the confidence of the community in a more eminent degree.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


EDWARD T. GRAY, Sheriff of Miami County, is a native of Markham, Canada, and the son of Thomas and Margaret (Hines) Gray, the father born in Canada and the mother in Southampton, England. Mr. Gray was born on the 24th of May, 1836, and at the age of sixteen commenced to learn the blacksmithing and carriage making trades, at Norwich, Canada. At the age of twenty-five he came to Miami County, Indiana, and began working at his trade in the city of Peru, where he has since resided. In 1872 he purchased an interest in the firm of H. Armantrout & Co., manufacturers of carriages, after which the name was changed to that of Armantrout & Gray, under which title they continued business until 1878. In that year Mr. Gray purchased the entire interest, and under his efficient management, the concern soon became one of the leading manufacturing establishments of its kind in the city. Mr. Gray has always taken an active interest in local politics, and in 1884 was elected on the Democratic ticket Sheriff of Miami County, the duties of which position he has since discharged, having been re-elected in 1886. As a citizen Mr. Gray has the respect and confidence of all who know him, and as an official he is faithful and diligent discharging the duties of his position in a manner highly satisfactory to all concerned. He is a man of consciencious scruples and is ever ready to do what he can to promote the interest of the public welfare. He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal Arch Mason, and in religion holds to the creed of the Episcopal church. On the 31st of December, 1863, he married Miss Kate M. Wilson, of Peru, who has borne him three children, viz.: Alice, Nellie and Lewis Gray.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


WILLARD GRISWOLD, of the firm of Griswold & Geves, livery stable, was born in Watertown, New York, August 8, 1833, the third son of Daniel and Sarah (Barry) Griswold; parents natives of Vermont and of English ancestry. Daniel Griswold moved to Miami County in 1844 and settled at the village of Mexico, where he followed the plasterer’s trade a number of years and later engaged in the mercantile business. He was a man of considerable local prominence; took an active part in the early growth of his adopted town, and departed this life in the year 1858. Mrs. Griswold survived her husband fourteen years, dying in 1872. Willard Griswold received the advantages of a common school education in his native State, and shortly after coming to Indiana engaged as salesman in a store at Mexico, where he remained for a number of years. At the breaking out of the war he tendered his service to his country, and in September, 1861, enlisted in Co. B, 40th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until honorably discharged on the 21st day of December, 1865. He shared with his regiment the vicissitudes of war in many of the bloodiest battles of the southwestern campaigns, and was twice severely wounded, the first time at Stone River, and later near Kenesaw Mountain. He entered the service as private, at the time of his discharge was adjutant of his regiment, and a short time after being mustered out was commissioned captain. Mr. Griswold’s military record is one of which he feels justly proud, and in all the battles where his command was engaged he took an active and gallant part. His military career thus being completed he returned to Mexico, and engaged in the general goods business, which he continued until his election to the office of Sheriff, in 1872, when he moved to the county seat. He discharged his official duties in a manner highly creditable to the people, who in 1874 re-elected him by a decided vote, a fact which showed his popularity in the county, which had previously given decided Democratic majorities, he being a Republican. In 1878, in partnership with R.H. Segar, he engaged in the livery business, which he has since successfully continued, being at this time a partner with H. Geves, in the largest stable in the city. Mr. Griswold is a public spirited citizen, and deserves mention as one of the representative business men of Miami County. He belongs to the G.A.R. and Masonic fraternities, is a decided Republican in politics, and as such has rendered valuable service to his party. He was married in 1867 to Miss Harriet Graft, daughter of Benjamin Graft, of Mexico, a union blessed with the birth of one child, Charles Griswold.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


HENRY HAUPT, foreman wood machine department, Indiana Manufacturing Company, is a native of Germany and dates his birth from the 19th day of May, 1835. He was raised on a farm, received in the schools of his native country the advantages of a good education, and at the age of fifteen commenced to learn the saddler’s trade at the town of Barken, where he served a three years’ apprenticeship. After becoming proficient in his chosen vocation he worked at the same at different places in Germany until 1856, at which time thinking the new world offered a more remunerative field, sailed to the United States and located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Here he worked at his trade until 1861, where being infected with the war spirit he enlisted in the First Connecticut Infantry, with which he served until August of the same year. He then reentered the service, volunteering in the Sixth Connecticut regiment, with which he shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of war until honorably discharged in 1865. He participated in a number of bloody battles in one of which, Fort Fisher, North Carolina, he received a severe wound. At the expiration of his term of service Mr. Haupt returned to Bridgeport, and engaged with the Howe Machine Company in that city, where he remained until sent by the company to Peru, Indiana, where for sometime he acted in the capacity of contractor and later as foreman. He subsequently severed his connection with the company and from 1880 until 1883 was superintendent of Muhlfield’s variety works. He engaged the latter year with the Indiana Manufacturing Company, and at this time holds the position of foreman of the wood machine department. Mr. Haupt’s marriage on the 1st of May, 1873, with Anna M.E. Kranzman, of Germany, has been blessed with the birth of two children, both deceased.

From History of Miami County, Published in 1887 by Brant and Fuller in Chicago - Peru Township


Deb Murray