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Source:
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF
MONTGOMERY, PARKE and FOUNTAIN COUNTIES,
INDIANA
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens,
together with Biographies and Portraits of all the
Presidents of the United States.
Publ. Chicago - Chapman Bros.,
1893
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ALBERT S. MILLER,
successor to Miller Brothers (the old reliable
carriage firm which needs no introduction to the people of
Crawfordsville), at the age of thirty stepped into one of
the finest positions possible to the business world, that of
conducting a factory whose present size and importance is
the result of thirty-five years of constant, untiring effort
on the part of two of our most respected citizens, than whom
there are no fitter representatives of our city's business
interests.
Reared to this position under such able instructors as
Jonas and Samuel Miller, Albert Miller has received a
training and fitness for a life of enterprise not met with
in one case out of a million. Having, in addition to
this, natural tact and ability, supplemented by a thorough
education in the high school and Wabash College, with a
special business course in a commercial college at Dayton,
Ohio, it is expected that he will make a worthy successor to
two eminent men. Thus far the expectations of his
friends have not met with disappointment, for he has proven
himself master of the situation and well able to conduct an
immense business through a brilliant and successful career.
Mr. Miller was born June 1, 1861. He was
graduated from the high school in 1878, and from Wabash
college in 1882. He was married Nov. 24, 1885, his
bride being Miss Lucy F. Moore, of Paris, Bourbon
County, Ky., daughter of Dr. Moore, a noted physician
of that place. They have no children. their
tasteful residence is at No. 212 Main street.
Since Mar. 1, 1891, Mr. Miller has conducted the
carriage business, and has been, as we have said before,
most efficient and successful. The work done in his
factory is of the highest grade, nothing inferior being
tolerated in any department. First-class material is
used from beginning to finish; the wood is of the clearest
and best; the steel and iron are strong and reliable, with
no flaws nor weeknesses weaknesses; the
paints and oils are such as to give the finest and most
durable finish, and the upholstering is of the best quality.
Every article is perfect in taste and execution, and there
are all the desirable styles, whether phaeton, barouche,
carriage, or hack. The demand of the home trade is
thoroughly understood and faithfully met, every order being
conscientiously filled. None but old, experienced
workmen are employed. Whenever it becomes necessary to
make a change, it is done carefully, so that no break shall
be made in the order of the work, and there shall be no
danger encountered of spoiling an article through poor
labor.
The extent of the plant, with the immense amount of
capital invested, make it of great importance to
Crawfordsville, and a source of ever growing pride, as well
as of advancement in growth and prosperity. The shops
and belongings have a frontage of 125 feet on Washington and
85 feet on Market streets. The four buildings are of
brick; they are two and three stories high and are joined
together, making about one-fourth of the main block.
Nearly all the upper floors are devoted to the business.
About $90,000 is invested in the plant, whose present
flourishing condition is due to Messrs. Jonas
and Samuel Miller, as stated before.
A large part of the work is done to order.
Albert S. Miller is a Mason, and has held very
important positions in that order. He is Past Eminent
Commander of the state, the youngest man to hold that office
in Indiana. He has represented the Commandery five
times to the State Conclave, and has attended the National
Conclave. He was in Denver last December to secure
quarters for the Crawfordsville Commandery of eighty-three
members. He is an Ancient Free and Accepted Mason, is
a member of Chapter, Council and Commandery, No. 25, of
Crawfordsville, and is a thoroughly popular man, held in the
highest estimation by all who know him, both in and out of
the fraternity
Source: Portrait and
Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain
Counties, Indiana - Publ. 1893 - Page 489 |
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ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY
is one of the enterprising and leading farmers of Wabash
township, where he has resided during his entire life, or
about fifty-five years, as his birth occurred Dec. 28, 1837,
on the identical homestead, situated on Section 18, where he
now dwells. He has long been numbered among the
representative citizens and farmers of the community, and is
a man noted for his honor and integrity of purpose.
The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch
was of Scotch origin, but born in the Emerald Isle, from
which country he emigrated at an early day, settling first
in Kentucky, where he ran a tannery, and later locating in
Hamilton County, Ohio. In that county our subject's
father, Samuel, was born, and when he arrived at
mature years he came in a wagon to Parke County, Ind., in
1827, settling on eighty acres of land in Wabash Township,
He extended the boundaries of his farm in the course of time
until he owned one place of one hundred and fifty-seven
acres on Section 29, and another farm comprising one hundred
and fifty-seven acres on Section 18. He was a
successful agriculturist, being active until just before his
death in 1854, at the age of fifty years. Politically
he was a Whig and was a member of the Presbyterian Church.
Our subject's mother, who bore the maiden name of
Prudence Monn, died twenty years after her
husband's demise, at the good old age of seventy-two.
She was born in Pennsylvania, and with a brother removed to
Hamilton County, Ohio, making her home with him until her
marriage.
Alexander Montgomery is one of seven
children, viz.: Mary J., deceased; John,
deceased; William, who served in the Eighty-fifth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry and died in 1865; David,
who was also in the same company and whose sketch may be
found in another portion of this work; Alexander;
Martha, who was twice married, her first husband being
Armstead Clark, and her second, Edward
Richey; Margaret, wife of James
Painter.
Alexander Montgomery was reared in this
county, receiving here the benefits of a district school
education. He was only seventeen years of age when his
father was called from this life, and since that time he has
earned his own way, caring for his mother with tender and
filial respect. He now owns one hundred and
twenty-seven acres of the old homestead and has besides a
tract of forty acres. In November, 1875, Mr.
Montgomery wedded Maria J. Plaster, who is a
native of this county and a daughter of Michael and
Caroline O. (Underwood) Plaster. Three children have
come to bless the home of our subject and his estimable
wife: Olive P., Mary B., and Clare.
The parents are workers and members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and are held in the highest esteem by the
many friends they have in this, the county of their birth.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of
Montgomery, Parke and Fountain Counties, Indiana - Publ.
1893 - Page 347 |
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DAVID MONTGOMERY.
Among the pioneers of Parke County, no one is more worthy of
a place in her chronicles than is the gentleman of whom this
is a life record, as he is a member of a family whose
history has been closely connected with that of this region
for three-score years or more. Mr. Montgomery
is a veteran of the late Civil War, and is the owner of a
well-improved farm on section 29, Wabash Township. He
was born in this same township Sept. 28, 1835, and is a son
of Samuel and Prudence (Monn) Montgomery.
The grandfather of our subject,
Hugh Montgomery, was born in Ireland, and in Colonial
days crossed the bread Atlantic to the United states, soon
after taking part in the war for independence. He was
a cousin of Maj. Montgomery, an officer of
Revolutionary fame, who was killed in a hard-fought battle.
Some years after the close of the conflict Hugh
Montgomery removed to Butler County, Ohio, near the
village of Hamilton. He was a farmer, and being a
well-educated man for those days engaged in teaching, and
dropped dead while instructing a class one day. He had
the following children: William; Ross;
Samuel; Peggy, wife of Jacob Ross;
and Jane, who became the wife of John White.
Samuel Montgomery, our subject's father,
was born in Ohio, and came to Parke County, Ind., in 1827,
entering eighty acres on section 19, Wabash Township, where
he made his home until he was called to his final rest, June
29, 1854, when he was in his fiftieth year. His wife, who
was the mother of seven children, survived until 1874, when
she died, aged seventy-two years. The brothers and sisters
of our subject are as follows: William, who died in
1865, being a member of Company B, Eighty-fifth Indiana
Infantry; Alexander, whose record may be found on
another page of this volume; Martha, deceased, wife
of Armstead Clark, who entered the same
company mentioned above, and died at Nicholasville, Ky., in
January, 1863; Margaret, widow of James
Painter; Jane and John, deceased.
The mother of these children was born in the Keystone State
and removed when quite young to Ohio, where she lived with
an uncle.
After receiving a district-school education, and after
being reared to the duties and cares of farm life, David
Montgomery started out from home to carve his
fortune. He worked for one season as a farm hand and
then commenced to operate the old homestead. Aug. 16,
1862, he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-fifth Indiana
Infantry, but when he reached Covington, Ky., he was taken
sick and sent to the hospital. In April, 1863, he was
discharged at Nicholsville, Tenn., after which he returned
home and resumed the peaceful vocation of a farmer. In
1867 he engaged in the manufacture of lumber in Vermillion
and Parke Counties, continuing with fair success in that
line of business for about five years, at the expiration of
which time he removed to Mecca. After making that
village his place of abode for some time, he settled on his
present farm on section 29.
Nov. 1, 1860, Mr. Montgomery wedded Ellen
Laney, who was born in Florida Township, of this
county, and comes from an honored pioneer family of this
region, her parents being Joel and Jerusha (Fenton)
Laney, who removed to this State from Kentucky.
To David Montgomery and wife were born nine
children: George W., who died when four years of age;
William, who died in infancy; Robert, whose
death occurred shortly after he attained his majority;
Oliver P.; Ida, wife of Frank Kelly;
Ora and Cora (twins), deceased; Viola
and Oliver. Mrs. Montgomery is a
member of the Christian Church in good standing, and, like
her husband, is honored and respected by all with whom she
comes in contact.
Source: Portrait and Biographical Record of
Montgomery, Parke and Fountain Counties, Indiana - Publ.
1893 - Page 309 |
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SIMPSON MONTGOMERY,
a retired farmer and honored citizen of Linden, has been a
resident of Montgomery County, Ind., for three-score years
and six. Born within the borders of the State, in
Jefferson County in 1816, he has been an eye-witness of the
wonderful development of Indiana from an almost unbroken
wilderness to a magnificent and and far-reaching landscape,
closely dotted with highly cultivated farms and thriving
villages. From childhood always busily engaged in the
active duties of life, our subject found but little time for
rest or recreation; his absences from home were few and
undesired, but when our country called him to the
battlefield the ties of home and family could not restrain
him from quickly responding to the summons.
Integrity, courage and patriotism were the direct
inheritance of Simpson Montgomery from a long
line of earnest, sturdy ancestors. His grand father,
Alexander Montgomery, was born in Ireland, but
came to America before the War of the Revolution began.
The young Irishman eagerly espoused the cause of the
struggling colonists, and gave his ready aid in the fight
for liberty. Peace having been declared, he devoted
his time to home and family. He was thrice married.
His first wife, who did not long survive, left him one son,
John A. His second union in the bonds of
matrimony gave to his care a family of five children, of
whom Alexander, the father of our subject, was fourth
in number.
Alexander, named in honor of his father, was
born in Shelby County, Ky., in which State his parents had
settled at an early day. When he was but a little boy,
the pioneer household journeyed to Scott County, Ind.
They remained there for a time, but in 1826 located
permanently in Crawfordsville. At the advanced age of
ninety-five years, Grandfather Montgomery
married his third wife, and removed to Iowa, in which State
the enterprising and venerable citizen passed away, leaving
to his descendants the enviable record of a busy, useful,
upright life.
During the residence of the family in Scott County,
Alexander, the son, was united in marriage to Miss
Annie Herrod. The parents of our subject
lived for some time in Jefferson County, but when Simpson
was about ten years of age they came to Montgomery County
and settled in Crawfordsville, where the mother died.
Mr. Montgomery was then the father of seven
children; he afterward married a second wife, who brought
him three children, making the number of his family that he
raised to maturity ten in all. Father
Montgomery died in Linden. He was always known to
be a man of courage and resolution. Before war was
formally declared in 1812, he fought bravely in the battle
of Tippecanoe, and throughout his life was an ardent
defender of the right.
Simpson Montgomery had but crude
advantages for education in the early schools, but he lost
no opportunity to improve his knowledge, and when a mere boy
became self-sustaining, receiving frequently the hard-earned
payment of but twenty five cents a day. In 1838
Miss Orpha McCrea be came his wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery are the parents of three
children: George W., of Silverwood; Annie A.,
who married Frank R. Ramsdel, and died in Texas,
leaving three children; and William B., the youngest
child, now a business man of Linden. This son of our
subject was finely educated in the State University,
afterward studied law and was admitted to the Bar.
Father and son were closely united in the bonds of
patriotism, and in the hour of need, when brave men were
rushing to the front, Simpson Montgomery and
William B., side by side, devoted themselves to the
service of the Union, enlisting in 1862 in Company E,
Seventy-second Regiment, Indiana Volunteers. Actively
engaged in martial duties until the close of the war, living
constantly amid scenes of peril and death, menaced by danger
on every side, they finally witnessed the closing scenes of
victory, and were honorably discharged from the service.
The war ended, our subject returned to his home and
happy family, and immediately resumed the management of his
farm. For a few years he industriously pursued the
routine of work demanded in successful agriculture, and
then, retiring from the farm, located in Linden, in which
village he still resides. Mr. Montgomery has a
host of friends and acquaintances, as might well be expected
of so early a pioneer. His interest in the conduct of
the Government he aided to sustain has never abated, and he
is a firm supporter of the Republican party.
Source: Portrait and
Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain
Counties, Indiana - Publ. 1893 - Page 160 |
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