Warren County Indiana
Biographies
HOSEA CRONKHITE
A representative of a numerous and
well known family of Warren county is Hosea Cronkhite, of Steuben
township, a veteran of the war of the Rebellion. He was born and reared
in the township of which he is a respected resident, the date of the
event being August 15, 1843.
The parents of the
subject of this
narrative were Enoch and Selina (Sweet) Cronkhite, natives of New York
state. The father and three of his brothers were among the pioneers of
this county, and from these four, Enoch, Levi, Elijah and
Cornelius, have descended a large and representative element of our
local population. The brothers came at different times, the date of
Enoch's arrival here being 1838. He and his wife were the parents
of five sons and five daughters, of whom only four survive, namely:
Hosea, Mrs. Mary Ann Cronkhite; Mrs. Minerva Clark and Mrs. Helen
Johnson.
The
early years in
the life of our
subject passed in the quiet routine of farm work and in attendance at
the district schools. When the civil war came on he enlisted in Company
E, Eighty sixth Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with
that famous regiment took part in the numerous important battles and
campaigns in which it was concerned. Among these were the fierce
battles of Stone river, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca,
Adairsville, Pickett's Mills, Kenesaw mountain, Peach Tree creek, the
siege of Atlanta, Georgia, and Jonesboro. He served under General
Thomas at Nashville, Tennessee, when the "rock of Chickamauga
defeated the Confederate forces commanded by the daring General Hood.
During the closing scenes of the war our subject was on detached duty,
as provost guard at brigade headquarters. It is a
peculiar fact that five members of Company E, in which he
enlisted, bore the same surname as his own. His brother Stephen was the
color bearer of the regiment, and in the gallant fight at Missionary
Ridge, November 25, 1863, he was wounded. He died in Vermilion county,
Illinois, a number of years ago. Henry Cronkhite, a cousin, was killed
at Missionary Ridge, and another cousin, Luke Cronkhite, died in
Louisville, Kentucky, from wounds received in the battle of Kenesaw
mountain. The fifth of the family name was also a cousin, Levi
Cronkhite.
Since
he returned
from the
battle-fields of the south, where he nobly fought for the stars and
stripes, Hosea Cronkhite has devoted his time and attention to farming,
and has been very successful. He is held in high esteem by his
neighbors and associates, and is an honored member of W. B. Fleming
Post, No. 352, Grand Army of the Republic. Always a loyal Republican
since he cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln, in 1864, when in
the army, he has occupied local offices and was deputy sheriff for four
years in this county.
On the 19th of September,
1867, the
marriage of Hosea Cronkhite and Mrs. Melinda Griffin, nee Cronkhite,
was celebrated. She died February 6, 1873, and left a son, LeRoy. June
15, 1876, Mr. Cronkhite wedded Miss Amelia Reynolds, whose death
occurred September 25, 1894. One son of this union survives, namely,
Clarence. Two children by each wife died in early childhood. One of the
saddest events in the life of Mr. Cronkhite occurred on Christmas day
of 1888, when his little son Elmer, twelve years old, was accidentally
shot by an elder brother, the result being the death of the lad. Thus
sorrow has been plentifully mingled in the cup of this worthy man, but
he has ever borne a brave and steadfast heart, and under all
circumstances has endeavored to do his full duty as a husband and
father, as a neighbor, citizen and friend.
JESSE TOMLINSON
One of the first pioneers of Warren
county was Jesse Tomlinson, a son of Joseph and Mary Tomlinson. He
settled here in 1826, and bravely encountered all the difficulties,
dangers and privations common to frontier life, and after more than a
quarter of a century's struggle with his environments closed his
eyes in death March 31, 1853. He was one of the forerunners of
civilization, one of those hardy, courageous souls who were among the
founders of this commonwealth, and to whose labors and confidence in
the final outcome of the county and state is due much of the credit of
their later prosperity.
A
native of
Cumberland county,
Maryland, born August 9, 1795, Jesse Tomlinson did not remember his
father, who died when the lad was a young child. His mother afterward
became the wife of a Mr. Dean, and one son, Francis D., was born to
that union. Jesse Tomlinson had one own brother, William, who died in
Ohio, about 1824, leaving a widow and two children. When Jesse was six
years old he and his brother William were taken to Chillicothe, Ohio,
and were reared in the home of a maternal aunt. The half brother,
Francis Dean, died many years ago and left a family to mourn his loss.
In his
early
manhood our subject
learned the trade of brick mason, and worked at that calling, at
intervals, for several years. December 24, 1818, he was united in
marriage with Miss Mary McFarland, who was born May 5, 1799, in
Chillicothe, Ohio. The year following his marriage Mr. Tomlinson built
the poor-house in the vicinity of Chillicothe, and was busily employed
on public and private buildings in that section of the state until he
removed to Indiana. As previously stated, it was in 1826 that he came
to Warren county, and here he entered a quarter section of land in
Steuben township, also buying an eighty acre tract from a Mr. Sisson.
This was his home for life and here he established the family cemetery,
which is beautifully situated near the old orchard. He willed this
cemetery plat to himself as a family burying ground, and here were
tenderly laid to rest not only himself but also the other deceased
members of the family. He made the journey hither on horseback, and was
accompanied in his trip by Thomas Johnson and Messrs. Woolverton, Boyer
and Ridenour. The following spring a considerable party came to take
possession of frontier homes here, among them being Mr. Tomlinson and
his immediate family, his mother-in-law, two brothers-in-law, two
unmarried sisters-in-law, John McFarland and William Slater. Our
subject settled on the land which he had previously entered, and with
characteristic energy he proceeded to clear and develop a farm.
His nearest neighbor for some time was five miles away, and when, after
much difficulty, he had managed to raise a crop, he was obliged to
transport the grain to Chicago in wagons, and there trade it for
necessary provisions and supplies, the journey being one of about a
week's duration, as there were as yet no roads and only irregular
Indian trails. In 1839 he took what pork and farm products he had to
sell on a raft to New Orleans, and there did such trading as he
desired. In 1845 and 1846 he entered some eighteen hundred acres of
land in Vermilion county, and by that time already possessed fifteen
hundred acres of land in Steuben and Kent townships, Warren
county. He certainly was an excellent business man and financier, and
in all his enterprises he had the earnest co-operation of his devoted
wife. United in all their aims and endeavors, death did not long
separate this estimable couple, as Mrs. Tomlinson died January 11,
1853, and in less than three months the husband was placed to rest at
her side in the quiet cemetery, both dying of typhoid fever. At that
time all but one of their eleven children were left to mourn the loss
of their loved parents. Only three now survive,- namely: Frances, who
is unmarried; Mrs. Juliett Miller; and Francis D., of Rossville,
Illinois. The deceased children are John, Mrs. Mary Jane Watkins,
William, Mrs. Hester Kent, Zeruiah (who never married), Jonathan,
Mrs. Nancy Summers and Jesse, Jr.
Considering the
fact that he never
had more than three months schooling in his life, Jesse Tomlinson
was a remarkably well informed man. A great reader of such books as
came into his possession, he stored his mind with facts and fancies,
and was especially well versed in the Scriptures. Though a birth-right
member of the Society of Friends, he and his wife were consistent
Methodists, and were deeply interested in religious and educational
affairs. Twice did he contribute liberally to build Crawfordsville
Seminary, once on its first erection, and again after it was burned.
They were loved and admired by all who knew them, and their noble lives
left a lasting impress for good upon the community in which they dwelt.
It is not often that the biographer
has occasion to record so much work accomplished and such ambitious
plans carried out to successful completion as in the present instance.
Mr. Gunn, though now only thirty one years of age, has been recognized
as an expert electrician and mechanical engineer for many years, and he
has had entrusted to him works of vast importance and magnitude. He has
never failed to execute the same with promptness, skill and
thoroughness, calling forth the earnest commendation of all
concerned in the same. Four years ago he was induced to settle in
Lafayette as a permanent citizen of the place and to undertake the
general management of the entire city street railway system. He
has since ably discharged the duties of this position and has won his
way into the respect and high regard of a large circle of our best
citizens.
From a long line of
sturdy,
enterprising, upright New England ancestors our subject doubtless
inherited many of the characteristics which have wrought out his
success in life. His great grandfather Gunn was a native of Scotland,
and lived to the advanced age of ninety two years. He came to this
country prior to the war of the Revolution, in which, as the records
state, he was a valiant soldier. His home was in New Hampshire, and in
that state his son Elijah, the grandfather of our subject, was born and
reared. Elijah Gunn was a farmer by occupation, and at the time of the
second war with our mother country
he followed his patriotic father's example and went
forth to fight for the maintenance of the rights of the United States.
The maternal grandfather of our subject was Dexter Britton, likewise
born in bleak New Hampshire, and of English descent. He was a farmer
and died when about fifty years old.
Edward
B. Gunn,
whose birth took
place July 8, 1868, in Gilsum, New Hampshire, is the only son and only
survivor of the four children born to Elisha W. and Lucy D. (Britton)
Gunn. They were both natives of New Hampshire and were very prominent
in the work of the Methodist Episcopal church. The father has been
actively engaged in farming until recently, owning a large, thrifty
fruit orchard and prospering financially. Politically a Republican, he
has occupied various township offices and for years was one of the
selectmen of his neighborhood. The wife and mother died in 1882, aged
fifty six years.
Until
he was
fifteen years old E.' B.
Gunn lived on the parental homestead and attended the common schools.
Then he took a four months course of practical training in the
Thomson-Houston Electric Works at Lynn, Massachusetts. Having mastered
the business sufficiently, he accepted a position with the West End
Street Railway Motor Works, in the ninth division of Boston.
Subsequently he became superintendent of overhead construction of the
Duquesne Traction Company, at Pittsburgh, and under his direction
twenty eight miles of overhead work was executed. Leaving that
corporation, he was next employed by the Union Railway Company, of New
York, to put up the first overhead trolley ever made in the great
metropolis. When he had constructed thirty miles of lined for that
company he superintended the building of one hundred and twenty
miles of overhead line work for the Atlantic avenue railway of
Brooklyn. On the division between Thirty ninth street and Coney Island
the trolley lines were substituted for the old steam system. After this
Mr. Gunn became superintendent of construction of overhead and
underground lines for the People's Traction Company, of Philadelphia.
There he put in about seventy five miles of trolley lines and one
hundred and eighty miles of underground feeder lines. " In
November, 1894, he came to Lafayette and has since occupied his
present position. Under his management are some fifty workmen and all
of the city lines, including the one out to the Soldier's Home.
Improvements of a substantial nature are constantly being instituted by
him for the benefit of the public, who sincerely appreciate his efforts
to add to their comfort in various ways.
The
attractive
home of Mr. Gunn is at
No. 735 Owen street, Highland Park. The charming mistress of this
domain was Miss Emmie R. Stanley prior to her marriage to Mr. Gunn,
October 25, 1893. She is a daughter of Edward and Retta (Yarnell)
Stanley, and by her marriage has become the mother of three children,
Idella Ef, Edward S., Emily B. Mr. and Mrs. Gunn are
members of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal church.
Politically, our
subject is a
Republican. Socially, he is connected with the Masons and Odd Fellows,
standing high in the regard of all the brethren of these orders. In the
Masonic order he has reached the thirty second degree, belonging to
Tippecanoe Lodge, No. 492, F. & A. M.; Lafayette Chapter, No. 3, R.
A. M.; Lafayette Commandery, No. 3, K. T.; Adoniram Lodge of
Perfection; Seraiah Council, Princes of Jerusalem; Indianapolis
Chapter, Rose Croix, and Indiana Consistory, S. P. R. S. He also is a
member of James P. Nicholson Lodge, No. 585, I. O. O. F.
SAMUEL C. FENTON, M. D.
Dr. Fenton was born in Warren county,
Indiana, November 29, 1844, and has been a lifelong resident of the
state, although he has made his home in Boswell, Benton county, only
during the past three years. He is a son of Joseph A. and Margaret
(Campbell) Fenton. The father was born in the southern part of the
state in 1817, and died in 1852, at the age of thirty five years. He
was a farmer of Warren county and owned one hundred and fifty
acres of land at the time of his demise. He was married in 1840 to
Margaret Campbell, who died in Boswell in May, 1897, at the age of
seventy nine years. Three children were born to them: Eleazer, born in
1841 and died in i860; Samuel C.; our subject; and Flora E., born in
1851 and is now the widow of R. W. Stewart. The paternal grandparents
of Dr. Fenton were Eleazer and Elizabeth (Englemond) Fenton, the former
an American and the latter a German. The maternal grandparents were
Samuel and Peggy (Cobb) Campbell.
Dr.
Fenton
attended the district
school in Warren county until he was fifteen years of age, when he
entered the Battle Ground University for three years. There he began
the study of medicine under the preceptorship of H. D. Riddile, M. D.,
and then took a course of lectures in Rush Medical College, Chicago,
during 1866-7, graduating at the institution in 1870. In the summer of
1867 he began the practice of his profession in Pine Village, Indiana,
and continued in active practice there for twenty five years,
gaining a large and lucrative patronage. In 1890 he was chosen
auditor of Warren county, and served four years, at the same time
keeping up his practice. In 1895 he moved to Boswell, where he has met
with a hearty welcome and has proved his ability and skill in dealing
with sickness in all its varied forms.
He was
married
September 23, 1869, in
his native county, to Miss Anna Pierce, a daughter of Milton and Sarah
S. (Morgan) Pierce. Mrs. Fenton also is a native of Warren
county,
having been born there April 18, 1849. They have no children of their
own and have reared two daughters, Nanny Bowman and Lucy Marie Fenton,
giving them a good home. The Doctor is a member of the Masonic lodge,
and belongs to the Knights of Pythias, where he has served in all the
offices. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a
Republican in politics, having served as auditor of Warren county one
term, and trustee of Adams township, that county, two terms. He is
genial and affable and has made a host of friends in this county since
his advent here.
WILLIAM P. RHODES
This prominent citizen of Williamsport, who is a
leading member of the
bar in Warren county, Indiana, was born near what is known as Crane,
formerly Crane's Station, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, July 17,
1833. He is a son of James I. and Nancy (Forshee) Rhodes, and a
grandson of Jacob Rhodes, who was born in Philadelphia, fought in the
Revolutionary war, settled in Virginia and later in Warren county,
Ohio, where he died at the age of one hundred and four years. James I.
Rhodes was a native of Virginia, went with his father to Ohio, and from
that state moved to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, in 1828. Here he
entered a tract of land, on which he spent the remainder of his life,
his death occurring in January, i860. His wife lived to an advanced
age, dying in 1888. He was a typical representative of the early
pioneer honest, industrious and sturdy. He possessed strong religious
convictions, and for many years was an active worker in the Methodist
church. Three sons and two daughters were born to this estimable
couple, namely: Thomas Jr. a resident of Lafayette, Indiana; William
P., our subject; Margaret E., widow of Eli Peters; Joseph M.; and Sarah
E., the wife of E. J. Miller, of Wellington, Kansas.
William P. Rhodes received his early training on the
homestead farm and
attended the old log school-house of pioneer times. He had reached his
majority in 1854, and entered Fort Wayne College, where he remained two
years. In 1856 he began the study of law at Lafayette with the well
known firm of Huff, Baird & LaRue. He made such rapid progress that
in 1858 he began the practice of his profession in Williamsport, and
two years later was admitted to practice in the supreme court. In 1864
he enlisted and was elected captain of Company K, One Hundred and
Thirty fifth Indiana Regiment, served in Tennessee and Alabama,
and was mustered out of service in the fall of the same year. He then
gave his attention to the
newspaper business, purchasing an interest in the Warren
Republican, and most ably editing the same for about a year. In 1870 he
was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature, representing
Warren county, and in 1872 represented Warren and Fountain counties in
the state senate.
Mr. Rhodes and Miss Mildred B. Dickson were united
in the holy bonds of
wedlock September 14, 1859. She was born in Williamsport September 30,
1840, and is a daughter of John Wesley Dickson, who was born at Terre
Haute, Indiana, when that city was a military post. He came to
Williams-port at an early day and was a well known merchant here, but
removed to Chicago, where his wife died about the year 1888. He then
made his home with Mr. Rhodes until his own death a year later. Mrs.
Rhodes is the only daughter and eldest child in a family of four. Her
brothers are John B., James T. and Isaac F., all residing in Chicago.
She has borne Mr. Rhodes three sons, James L., Wesley D. (deceased) and
Joseph W. James L. and Joseph W. are residents of Chicago.
Mr. Rhodes is a lawyer of undoubted ability, and has
been in practice
longer than any other man of that profession in the county. In his
fifty years' experience before the bar he has had many important cases
and many and varied interesting happenings. He is an unswerving
Republican, and renders valuable aid to the party. His reputation for
fair minded, fearless expression of opinion is without a rival, and he
has the courage of his convictions and lives up to his expressed
sentiments.
GEORGE W. CRAWFORD
Born on the old homestead which he now owns and
occupies, in Pike
township, Warren county, George W. Crawford is one of the honored old
residents of this locality. His parents. William Allen and Letitia
(Snodgrass) Crawford, were pioneers of this county, as they came here
in 1829, and entered the identical tract of land now in the possession
of George W. and cultivated by him for many years past.
William A. Crawford was born in Kentucky, July 23,
1803, and was but
two years old when his parents took him to Preble county, Ohio. There
he grew to manhood, and was married to Miss Snodgrass March 15, 1827,
and within two years the young couple came to this section of Indiana.
Here they bravely mastered the difficulties of frontier life, and by
industry and persevering labor made a comfortable home in the
wilderness and reared their children to be good and useful
citizens in whatever community they should dwell. Every one who knew
them was their friend and their house was an example of unlimited cheer
and hospitality. Faithful and consistent members of the Christian
church, their daily lives were beautiful reflections of that of the
Master whose disciples they professed to be. The father passed to the
better land April 24, 1854. The mother, born in Harrison county, .
Kentucky, July 22, 1805, a child of Samuel and Sarah (Sellars)
Snodgrass, is still living. Though now in her ninety fourth year, she
is remarkably sound in mind and body, and her senses of sight and
hearing are but little impaired. She was about nineteen years of age
when she went with her parents to Preble county, Ohio, and there she
was married. She became a typical frontiers woman, brave,
self possessed, industrious and self reliant, and in the first years of
her residence in this section she had abundant need of all the
fortitude and endurance which she possessed. She was equal to the
burdens placed upon her, and imparted strength and courage to
every one who came within range of her helpful, fearless nature. Her
home is
now made with her daughter, Mrs. Robb, of West Lebanon, Warren county.
William A. and Lutitia Crawford were the parents of
seven sons and four
daughters. Two of the sons, James Samuel and William Marion, were
heroes of the war of the Rebellion, heroes whose lives were offered up
willing scarifies to their loved country. Both enlisted in Company E,
Eighty sixth Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry. James S. was taken
prisoner at the battle of Murfreesboro, and died in the hands of the
Confederates; and William M. died at Camp Dennison, September 6,
1862. The eldest daughter, Jane, married Benton Williams and died a
number of years ago. Three other children died in early life. The
surviving members of the family are George W., John D., of West
Lebanon; Harvey, of Dodge City, Kansas; Margaret, wife of Bolivar Robb,
of West Lebanon; and Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Henry A. Houpt, of Pike
township.
George W. Crawford was born October 30, 1846, and has never lived at
any other place than on the old homestead. He is a practical and
successful farmer and in highly respected by a large circle of friends
and well wishers. Socially, he is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, and a
member of the Woodmen of the World, and in his political views he is an
uncompromising Republican. One of the notable and interesting events of
his somewhat uneventful life was the journey through the western
states, commonly known hereabout as the "Pilgrimage," and
frequently
mentioned in this work, in connection with the history of the
participants of this delightful trip. It was made in the autumn of
1891, and over two months were spent by these seven old friends and
neighbors in visiting the chief points of interest in the western
states, National Park, etc.
January 4, 1875, G. W. Crawford married Miss Sarah
E. Porter, daughter
of Elias Porter, a pioneer of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have a
son and a daughter, named respectively Donald Porter and Stella L.
DAVID B. WILSON
Since his first recollections David B. Wilson has
been associated with
the development and upbuilding of Warren county, and during his mature
life he has been a respected citizen of Jordan township, where his
present home is situated. He has served his neighbors and friends in
various local positions and has been a trustee of this township, etc.
The cause of education finds a sincere friend in him, as does
every work of improvement and progress. When he was a youth of about
nineteen years, in March, 1863, he enlisted in Company K, Seventy first
Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry (later the Sixth Indiana
Cavalry), and continued in the Union army
until long after the close of hostilities. He took part in numerous
brilliant campaigns of the civil war, was engaged in the siege of
Knoxville, Tennessee, and in December, 1864, was under the command of
General Thomas at Nashville. It was not until October, 1865, that he
was granted an honorable discharge and was at liberty to return to
the peaceful vocations of life.
The parents of our subject, Joseph and Margaret
Wilson, were natives of
Kentucky, and at an early day they became residents of Putnam county,
Indiana. About 1846 they removed to Warren county and became citizens
of Warren township. Joseph Wilson died at his home in West Lebanon,
Warren county, in 1861. His wife, surviving him several years, died in
1883. They were the parents of four children, one of whom, Robert, the
firstborn died in infancy. Sarah married Campbell Gibson and died in
August, 1870, and Charlotte is the wife of Matthew Siddons, of Oklahoma.
The birth of David B. Wilson occurred at the
parental home in Putnam
county, in 1844, and he was but two years old when the family removed
to this locality. Here he passed his boyhood, attending the common
schools, and here he has always lived, engaged in agricultural
pursuits. He has met with the success which he thoroughly deserves, and
has a good homestead and a competence. In political affairs he is an
advocate of the Republican party platform. In 1869 he married Miss
Emily Bowles, a daughter of Isaac Bowles, and they have three sons and
three daughters, namely: Charles W., Harry, Clarence, Cora, Bertha and
Lydia.
JOHN F. JUDY
Standing at the head and front of a most unique
system or series of
business enterprises whose inception and successful operations are the
result of his own distinct individuality, subtle discernment, original
methods and mature judgment, Mr. Judy has gained an almost phenomenal
prestige and is known far and wide as a most advanced type of American
genius, progressiveness and alert mentality. His reputation has far
transcended the limitations of Warren and contiguous counties, and
among the able and aggressive business men of the state he must be
accorded a distinct and unique position. Capacity undeveloped is but an
organized day-dream, and in the composition of the subject of this
sketch there is found no nucleus for idle dreams. Absolute capability
often exists in specific instances, but is never brought into the clear
light of the utilitarian and practical life. Hope is of the valley,
while effort stands upon the mountain top; so that advancement
comes not to the one who hopes alone, but to the one whose hope and
faith are those of action. Then we may well hold in high regard the
results of individual effort and personal accomplishment, for
cause and effect here maintain their functions in full force.
It is with marked satisfaction that we take into
consideration the life
and labors of that energetic, shrewd and talented farmer and man of
affairs, John F. Judy, of Judyville, who has contributed in a large
degree to the industrial and commercial activities of Warren county. \
In an attractive little advertising brochure recently issued, Mr. Judy
states succinctly that .be is a " farmer," while his incidental
reference to the important business enterprises which he has
established and built up is to the effect that they are " side lines."
While he has many able assistants in carrying on his far reaching
operations in varied lines, he personally controls and guides the
entire system of enterprises and assumes the responsibilities without
fear of results, confident of his powers, which have so fully withstood
the test, and with full appreciation of the dignity and the intrinsic
value of honest toil and indefatigable energy. He is proprietor of the
Grand Prairie Horse and Mule Market, in which connection he is the
owner and founder of what may well be designated a village, an
industrial village located on his farm, eight miles from a railroad,
and this stands as unique and original in its way as does the far famed
town of Pullman. In addition to conducting his extensive business as a
dealer in horses and mules, Mr. Judy handles other live stock, vehicles
of all descriptions, harness, farming implements and farm produce,
paints and oils, dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hardware,
furniture; conducts shops for blacksmithing, buggy and wagon repairing;
manufactures and repairs harness; owns and operates a grain elevator;
handles real estate, owning hundreds of acres of farm lands, and
has well equipped livery stables and conducts an undertaking business.
The province of a compilation of this nature is such that detailed
reference can not consistently be made to the manifold details of
Mr. Judy's gigantic business operations, but even the list given above
will suggest somewhat the extent of his enterprises and bear evidence
to his masterly abilities. In the little pamphlet to which reference
has been made are many gems of epigrammatic wisdom, while as an
original type of advertising the booklet is worthy of all praise, but
must be read to be appreciated. The pamphlet was written by Mr. Judy,
and we can not do better at this point than to quote from the same,
making our extracts somewhat at random. In his introduction Mr.
Judy gives the following information as to what he has done: "I have
sold more horses, buggies, wagons and harness than any concern in the
world, and have built the largest business of the kind. All originated
and started on a farm, without money, eight miles from a railroad,
on the prairie, where I did not own a foot of
land. Have drawn a large patronage from twenty counties, besides a good
business from
other 22 counties and several states. Have established fifteen branch
offices and repositories in ten counties/1 Continuing, he thus
describes what he is doing: " Living in a good house on my own farm,
surrounded by my own town, enjoying an increase of business, and
building elevators, stores, barns and houses to take care of my help
and stock, and building brains to take care of the business, and
keeping up the effort to so systematize my business, that everyone who
patronizes Judyville pr any of its branches will reap an advantage by
so doing." The branch establishments are conducted by managers employed
by the proprietor, and to facilitate business operations a different
firm name is given in the several instances. Thus at Williamsport,
Indiana, which is Mr. Judy's post office address, business is conducted
under the style of Judy & Titus, the lines handled being furniture,
buggies and wagons and harness. In the same village the other
enterprises conducted are here noted: Judy & Messner, livery; Judy
& Smith, livery; Judy & Darling, groceries; Judy &
Bertrand, paint supplies. Judy Lief Buggy Company, Goodland,
Indiana, repair shop, buggies, wagons, harness and farm implements;
Judy & Irons, Crawfordsville, Indiana, horses, buggies, wagons and
harness; Judy & Judy, Carbondale, post office and general
merchandise; Judy & Wood, Parr, Indiana, grain elevator, livery,
general merchandise, horses, buggies, wagons and harness; Judy &
Deslaurie, Morocco, Indiana, harness; Judy & Largent, Judyville,
buggy repair shop; Judy & Bunch, Judyville, general
blacksmithing; Judy & Leming, Judyville, harness shop; Judy,
Clayton & Judy, Judyville, real estate; Judy & Hicks, Milford,
Illinois, horses, buggies, wagons and harness; Judy & Landon,
Rossville, Illinois, buggies, wagons and harness. On the farm, known as
Judyville, there are six barns, one of them being the largest in Warren
county, thirteen dwelling houses, a hotel, an office building and
numerous outbuildings, all of modern design and equipped with necessary
conveniences. The various departments are provided with telephonic
communication, there being ten distinct lines in operation. The
residence of the proprietor is a beautiful cottage of modern
architectural design and supplied with hot and cold water and other
metropolitan facilities. The entire place is a marvel in one
sense, and yet it but represents the result of the keen discernment,
ambitious energy and resolute purpose of the proprietor, who started
without capital eighteen years ago and is to-day financially rated at
two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars. The principles which
animate Mr. Judy may be realized by any one who reads his little
pamphlet. We can not forbear to quote a few of his epigrams before
turning to the more purely biographical record which will conclude
this sketch.
Whatever takes us from the path of least resistance
is work. While we
work we are doing good. This is enough to ennoble the meanest toil, and
raises the poorest mechanic and the humblest tiller of the soil to be
the envy of the idler.
I taught school several years. I liked my bad boys.
Bad pups make good
dogs. I have had more trouble with the weakness of men, and always will
have, than with their dishonesty. I would rather undertake to reverse
the force of a bad man than loan my force to a weak one. I would rather
have a runaway horse than a dead one. I can change a runaway horse to a
dead one or a good horse. In a dead one I have no choice.
A man whose dignity will not let him do that part of
his calling which
appears low drudgery fails to put all the links into his chain, and he
soon finds success breaking away from him, leaving him alone with his
assumed dignity. A man of false dignity is compound matter trying to be
supported by a simple mind.
John F. Judy, proprietor of Judyville, Liberty township, Warren county,
Indiana, is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born at
Plattsburg, near Columbus, Ohio, on the 18th of March, 1856. When he
was about twelve years of age, in the year 1867, he accompanied his
parents upon their removal to Warren county, Indiana, the family and
their worldly effects being transported hither through the medium of
one team and a wagon. The father, Skillman Judy, devoted his attention
to agricultural pursuits and continued to reside in Warren county until
his death, which occurred in 1890, at which time he had attained the
venerable age of seventy two years. The mother, whose maiden name was
Sarah J. Hunter, still survives and continues her residence in
Warren county. To this worthy couple eight children were born, and all
are living at the present time, death having invaded the home only on
the occasion when the venerable father was summoned into eternal rest.
The immediate subject of this review secured his
preliminary
educational discipline in the common schools, completing a course
in the high school at Attica, Indiana. It is interesting to revert to
the fact that the first individual efforts of this successful man of
affairs after leaving school were along the line which has been
followed for a time by so many of the able and representative men of
the Union, he turned his attention to teaching school, thus putting his
acquirements to a practical test, and continued to devote his attention
to pedagogic effort for a period of five years. It is needless to
say that a man of so forceful individuality as he has been shown to
possess was successful in this line of endeavor, as he has been in
others. The young man was ambitious, and his ambition was not one of
vacillation or uncertain definition. The money which he earned as a
teacher he invested in cattle, and his successful business career
had its inception in the year 1881. He was encouraged to start in
business upon his own responsibility through the timely advice and
counsel of James Goodwine, one of the most able and successful business
men that Warren county has produced. Mr. Judy had the prescience to
realize that material prosperity is a matter of consecutive growth,
and, while bending every energy to the winning of success, he had
full recognition of the essential value of details, and his advance-
ment came as a natural result, though by regular gradations. Step by
step he moved forward to the goal, and no further evidence of his
industry and his ability is demanded than that shown in his valuable
property holdings and the enormous volume of business which he
transacts each year, with ever an appreciable increase and broadening
of scope. John F. Judy and Judyville are familiar names in Indiana and
surrounding states. With the many departments of his business,
there is little reason to doubt that he conducts the most extensive
retail trade in the state, taken in its aggregate.
Mr. Judy attributes his success largely to the novel
system of
advertising which he has devised and employed, and this, with his
scrupulous integrity and fairness, has enabled him to stand as sponsor
for the remarkable industrial problem which he has so effectively
solved. His methods are liberal in the extreme, and he handles every
department of his business according to strict principles, employing
only those whose capability is unmistakable. He well merits the
prestige and success which are his, and with so active a mind and wise
a judgment, this success is certain to be cumulative in character.
Mr. Judy is most pleasantly placed in the matter of
his domestic
relations. In December, 1877, he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda
Hunter, daughter of John P. Hunter, one of Warren county's wealthy and
influential citizens, and the happy union has been blessed with four
children, three daughters and one son. Valera, is the wife of
Frederick R. Letcher, proprietor and publisher of the Home Journal, at
Lafayette, this being the oldest and largest home and farm weekly in
the state of Indiana.
The only son, Ole R,, was born October 28, 1880, and
is already
prominently identified with his father's business affairs, being a
young man of exceptional ability.
He is the manager of the horse sales for the Grand Prairie Horse and
Mule Market. He borrowed one thousand six hundred dollars from his
father when nine years old and paid it back in a few weeks, and made
seven hundred dollars out of a lunch counter at the Horse Market before
he was thirteen years old, without help except board and clothes. He
graduated in the common schools when thirteen years old, learned
short-hand in a few weeks, went to high school a few weeks, and quit
school for practice before it spoiled him for execution. Though he is
only eighteen years old he can trade horses with ten men at once,
keeping in mind all their propositions and all of his own. Has never
been accused of lying, nor by an employee of bad treatment. Though he
gives many double quick orders and positive commands, the employees at
Judyville like to execute his orders. He has the confidence of all who
know him, and of his father, who gives him unrestricted right to sign "
John F. Judy " to checks, drafts, deeds or mortgage
release. He has also a recorded power of an
attorney to make all of his signatures legal and binding. He buys and
sells the horses, more than two thousand yearly, and he is capable of
doing any part of the business or of managing any of the branches of
the business successfully, or superintending the whole business. A
portrait of him accompanies this sketch.
Elsie and Esta who are twins, were born in
September, 1886, and both
add brightness to the family circle. The home is one in which
hospitality and distinct refinement are ever in evidence, and it is
needless to say that Mr. Judy finds here the fullest measure of rest
and solace in his life of incessant activity and out-reaching
enterprise.
A portrait of the subject of this sketch, John F. Judy, also
accompanies this biographical record.
CURTES M. PENCE
One of the few remaining early settlers of Warren
county is C. M.
Pence,, of Jordan township, who was born in Bartholomew county,
Indiana, September 22, 1828, a son of George and Mary (Swisher) Pence.
The father, a native of the Shenandoah valley, in Virginia, was born in
1804, and when a young man he went to Kentucky, there finishing his
education and pursuing a medical course, though he never put this
knowledge into professional use. For several years he went to New
Orleans each year with flat-boats loaded with supplies and provisions.
Then, locating in Bartholomew county, this state, he married Miss
Swisher, and in November, 1834, they became residents of Warren county.
The wife and mother was called to her reward in 1851, and the father,
after living a few years longer, departed this life, at his old home in
this township, in 1876. By occupation a farmer and stock raiser, he was
very successful, and as a citizen, no one in the community was more
highly esteemed. From time to time he occupied local official
positions, and for twenty years he was a justice of the peace. In his
early manhood he was a Whig in his political views, a strong
abolitionist, and later an ardent Republican. Though he was not
identified with any church, he gave his preference to the Methodist
denomination, of which his wife was a member, and was very liberal
in its support. In all the various relation life, business, social,
etc., he was just and upright, ready to promote the interests of others
rather than his own. After the death of his first wife he wedded Gaynor
Romime, and subsequently he married Catherine Lloyd. By his first union
eight children were born, and those who survive are Curtes M. Mrs.
Barbara, wife of Abner Good wine; and William Wallace; and the child of
the third marriage is George.
When Curtes M. Pence was about six years of age he came to Warren
county with his parents, and here he has
since dwelt, busily occupied in the cares of
farming. He owns a finely improved and well cultivated
homestead of one hundred and sixty acres, on which stands a comfortable
house and substantial buildings. By well directed energy and good
business methods he has carved out prosperity for himself and has
reared his children to be useful citizens, giving them good advantages.
He votes for the nominees and the principles of the Republican
party, and never neglects his duties as a citizen of this great state
and county.
The wife of our subject, to whom he was married in
1853, was formerly
Miss Susanna Etnire, a daughter of David Etnire, an early settler of
Warren county. Mrs. Pence was summoned to the better land June 1, 1896,
leaving five children to mourn the loss of a most loving and faithful
mother. Three other children died when young and those who yet survive
are named respectively Allen M., Emily J., Frank E., Clara Belle and
Harry S.
GEMMER,
George Andrew
GEMMER, George Andrew;
born Williamsport, Ind., (Warren Co) Sept. 3, 1876; son of Phillip and
Marie (Fleming) Gemmer; graduate Purdue University, degree of M.E.,
1899; married, Marion, Ind., 1901, Miss Nettie Brown. Began active
career in Marion as manufacturer of stationary engines, 1899; changed
to manufacture of automobile parts, 1903; removed to Detroit, May,
1907, and continues as Gemmer Manufacturing Co. (incorporated).
Republican. Member Masonic order. Recreations: Automobiling and outdoor
sports. Office: 741 Merrick St. Residence: 305 Merrick Av.
Submitted by Christine Walters Source: "The Book of Detroiters by
Albert Nelson Marquis 1908"