Greencastle Indiana

Biography of General Samuel T. Busey

General Samuel T. Busey. A soldier, banker, a patriot and public-spirited citizen, the late General Samuel T. Busey was without question one of the ablest factors in the history of Champaign County and was widely known and his leadership gratefully acknowledged throughout Illinois. Necessarily the name Busey is one that frequently recurs throughout the pages of Champaign County history. The family was founded here by Matthew W. Busey, father of General Busey. Matthew W. Busey was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, May 15, 1798, a son of Samuel and Catherine (Siegler) Busey. When he was a small boy they removed … Read more

Biography of Joseph Newton Allen

Extensively interested in farming and also identified with the oil industry of the southwest, Joseph Newton Allen has made for himself an enviable place as a business man in Muskogee. Born on the 7th of February, 1868, in Greencastle, Indiana, he comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry, through a line of Virginia and Kentucky pioneers, being the eighth son of a seventh son and the seventeenth child in a family of eighteen children. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Greencastle, which is the seat of DePauw University, formerly known as Asbury University. When his public school course was … Read more

Biography of Rev. Dr. Michael M. Stolz

Rev. Dr. Michael M. Stolz. It would be impossible to do justice in a brief sketch to the life of this devoted follower of Christ and pioneer Methodist leader of Kansas. Doctor Stolz entered the ministry while the great Civil war was being fought. He served faithfully in Indiana and elsewhere, and for nearly forty years had been identified with the Kansas Conference. He is now retired from the active ministry, a resident of Salina, but though past eighty-one years of age still finds congenial employment as librarian of the Kansas Wesleyan University. He was born April 30, 1836, at … Read more

Biography of Joseph Ralph Burton, Hon.

Among the men who have come out of the Hoosier State to aid Kansas in its. real growth and development, there had been no finer man nor better citizen than Hom. Joseph Ralph Burton. Youthful in years as he was in experience when he came to Kansas in 1878, he plunged at once into the heart of affairs and gained ready recognition from the people. Senator Burton had at that time the ability to impress others with his reliability; he gained public confidence; he possessed the power of making people know that his talents were not merely skin deep but … Read more

Biography of Henry J. Rudisill

Henry J. Rudisill. Among the men who for years were prominently associated with the leading enterprises and industries that gave to Riverside that prominence in the history of Southern California that is unequaled, and spread before the people in the marts of the world, her unrivaled productions that induced immigration and brought an unceasing flow of wealth to the beautiful valley, none is more worthy of mention than the subject of this sketch. Mr. Rudisill came to Riverside in February 1875. In the same year the Riverside Land and Irrigating Company was organized and at once assumed control of the … Read more

Biography of Richard C. Howard

Richard C. Howard. There is hardly any man in Kansas to whom the title veteran printer and journalist would more aptly apply than to Richard C. Howard, proprietor and editor of the Arkansas City Traveler. Mr. Howard had to go back to the earliest recollections of his youth to find a time when he was not so familiar with printer’s ink, and he achieved a knowledge of the mysteries of the art preservative when most boys are learning the rudiments of arithmetic and grammar. He assisted in establishing the first daily paper at Arkansas City and had been connected with … Read more

Biography of Percy H. Swahlen, M. D.

Dr. Percy H. Swahlen, a representative of the medical profession in St. Louis, well known as an obstetrician and gynecologist, was born in Lebanon, Illinois, June 4, 1877. His father, the late William F. Swahlen, was a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, and was descended from one of the old Pennsylvania families. His grandfather, John Swahlen, who was born in the land of the Alps, came to America in 1820. He married Ann Gibbons, a descendant of the Cope family, early residents of Pennsylvania and members of the Society of Friends or Quakers. William F. Swahlen was well known in … Read more

Biography of Hon. Jeremiah D. Botkin

Hon. Jeremiah D. Botkin. This distinguished citizen of Kansas was born April 24, 1849, in a log house on a farm in Logan County, Illinois. His parents were Richard and Nancy (Barr) Botkin, and his ancestry traces straight back to a Revolutionary hero. Richard Botkin was born April 24, 1822, in Clark County, Ohio, and he died at Wellington, Kansas, March 24, 1898. He was a son of George and Sarah (Hester) Botkin, the father being a native of Virginia and the son of Charles Botkin, a Revolutionary soldier from that state, and the mother a native of Ohio. Richard … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Worth M. Tippy

Tippy, Worth M.; clergyman; born, Larwill, Ind.; Nov. 8, 1867; son of Oren and Mary Elizabeth Carder Tippy; educated, DePauw University, Ph. B., DePauw University, Hon. D. D., Baldwin University, Hon. D. D., Cornell University, two years graduate work as Sage scholar, 1901-1903; married, Vevay, Ind., May 16, 1895, Zella Birda Ward; issue, Marian Ward, born Nov. 18, 1896; Helen Ward, born Dec. 12, 1898; member of Mayor’s Committee on nomination for Charter Commission, 1913; pastorates, Dryden, N. Y., 1892; LaFayette, Ind., 1893; Oxford, Ind., 1894; Terre Haute, Ind., 1895; Broadway Church, Indianapolis, Ind., 1900; Epworth Memorial, Cleveland, 1905 to … Read more

Biography of William D. Casey

William D. Casey was admitted to the bar at Atchison before he was twenty-one years of age, and the expectations based upon his early attainments have been fully justified in his career as a lawyer during the past twenty-five years. Mr. Casey had long been an active leader in Atchison County affairs as well as a forceful and successful member of the bar. He was born in Carroll County, Missouri, November 19, 1871, a son of Warren Casey, who was born in New York State, where the family originally settled, in 1850. Warren Casey was reared in his native state, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. P. H. Harrah

J. P. H. Harrah, attorney at law, Charleston; is a native of Putnam Co., Ind.; he was born near Greencastle June 4, 18485 and is a son of Daniel F. Harrah; in 1858, he removed with his father’s family to Jasper Co., Ill., where he remained on the farm until 1867; he then engaged in teaching school in Jasper Co.; in August, 1868, he entered Westfield College, Ill., and remained as a student in that institution two years; returning home in 1870, he began reading law, and, in the fall of 1871, went to Newton, the county seat of Jasper … Read more

Biography of Thomas C. Biddle, M. D.

Thomas C. Biddle, M. D. Superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Topeka, Doctor Biddle had long been prominent in his profession in Kansas, where he had practiced as a private physiclan or in connecton with the public service for thirty-five years. His name is well known among the profession not only over Kansas, but his work as superintendent of hospitals for the insane had attracted favorable attention over the country at large. He belongs to a prominent family, of the same branch that produced Nicholas Biddle, one of the first secretaries of the treasury, and many other … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Lilburn Swinford

Lilburn Swinford, farm and stock; P. O. Charleston; was born in Harrison Co., Ky., Jan. 31, 1808; he married Miss Frances Hendricks in September, 1829; she was born in Pendleton Co., Ky., Dec. 19, 1809. They had eleven children, eight living, viz., William H., Martha A., Mary E., Julia A., Lucy, Louisa, Josephine and Benjamin F. He lived in Kentucky until 1839, when he moved to Indiana and settled near Greencastle, where he remained until 1847; he then moved to Illinois and settled near Ashmore, in Coles Co., and in 1865 he came to his present place; he owns 200 … Read more

Biography of Jesse Meharry

Jesse Meharry. One of the largest farming estates in Champaign County is that of the Jesse Meharry family, now managed and operated by the sons of the late Jesse Meharry. Mr. Meharry was a notable figure in Champaign County affairs, not only as a land owner, farmer and stockman, but as a public spirited citizen. He was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, October 9, 1835. He was of Scotch-Irish and Welsh extraction. Concerning his ancestry it is said that during the reign of “Bloody” Queen Mary his forefathers escaped by going to Ireland. After several generations some of the family … Read more

Biography of Robert M. Black

Robert M. Black, the subject of this memoir, came from an ancestry of more than ordinary importance and prominence. His great-grandfather, with his family, removed from Scotland and settled in Virginia some years before the Revolutionary war, caused by the traitor Arnold in portions of Virginia, volunteered, though far past the age of liability, for military service, and was one of the soldiers, who, under Lafayette and Gen. Wayne, turned and drove back Lord Cornwallis. He was intimately acquainted with Lafayette, Gen. Wayne and Gen. Lord Sterling, who were frequent guests at his house. His youngest son, George Black, the … Read more

Biography of Woodford P. Evans

Woodford P. Evans. Among the able and valued newspaper men of Kansas, one who gave the best years of an active and achieving life to journalism was the late Woodford P. Evans, whose closing twenty-one years were spent at Lebo as editor and owner of the Lebo Enterprise. He was well known in other parts of the state and in other sections of the country, and was an honored veteran of the Civil war. Throughout his entire career he was an earnest and fearless advocate of right, irrespective of class or station, and he inspired such universal confidence that many … Read more

Biography of Rev. Augustus H. Tevis

The scholarly subject of this sketch is a native of Rush County, Indiana, born on his father’s farm, May 13, 1841, and was the ninth child of a family of three sons and seven daughters. His parents were Dr. Daniel H. and Phoebe (Scott) Tevis, the former having been a physician by profession,—a self-made man, who enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. He (Dr. Daniel H.) was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, and was quite a scholar as a linguist, being a proficient in both Latin and Greek. The elder Dr. Tevis died in 1858, and his wife in 1862, … Read more