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VAN METRE, THURMAN WILLIAM: 1884-
Born in Florida, Ind., on Oct. 28, 1884, Thurman William Van Metre , son of Isaac Newton and Margaret Guisinger Van Metre, received the A.B. (1910) and A.M. (1911) degrees from Indiana University and the Ph.D. (1913) from the University of Pennsylvania. On Sept. 9, 1913, he married Mildred Stonex, who died in 1932.
After teaching in Indiana public schools, 1902-09, he became an instructor in transportation at the University of Pennsylvania in 1913. In 1916 he joined the page: 326[View Page 326] staff of the School of Business, Columbia University, and continued there, becoming a full professor in 1922.
Information from Who's Who in America.
- Outline of the Development of the Internal Commerce of the
United States, 1789-1900. Baltimore, 1913.
- History of Domestic and Foreign Commerce of the United
States (withE. R. Johnson, G. G. Huebner, and D. S. Hanchett). Washington, D. C., 1915.
- Principles of Railroad Transportation (withE. R. Johnson). New York, 1916.
- Economic History of the United States. New
York, 1921.
- Early Opposition to the Steam Railroad. New
York, 1924.
- A Course in the Economic History of the United
States. New York, 1924.
- Trains, Tracks and Travel. New
York, 1926.
- Tramps and Liners. Garden City, N.
Y., 1931.
- Transportation in the United States.
Chicago, 1939.
VAWTER, CLARA: 1875-1900.
Clara Vawter , daughter of Dr. Louis A. and Emma Mary Dameron Vawter, was born in Boone County, Va., in 1875. When she was a child, she moved with her family to Greenfield, Ind., which was her home until one year before her death, when she moved to Indianapolis .
Clara Vawter was a sister of Will Vawter, Brown County, Ind., artist, who illustrated her book.
She died in 1900.
Information from the Greenfield Public Library.
- Of Such Is the Kingdom: for Children and Grown Folk Alike: a
Book of Stories and Rhymes. Indianapolis, 1899. (Reissued in 1902 as The Rabbit's
Ransom, and Other Stories.)
VEIBY, JOHN: 1860-
John Veiby was born in Norway , July 29, 1860. After having graduated from a military school for under officers, he came to the U. S. in 1883. He worked for a watch company at Elgin, Ill., for a number of years and wrote for Norwegian publications.
In 1906 he published a book Sunday Labor, in English under the pen name of Thorleif. That year he came to South Bend, Ind., and worked for the South Bend Watch Company until 1929. During those years he wrote and published several other books.
Information from the South Bend Public Library.
- Sunday Labor. Mount Morris,
Ill., 1906.
- Beyond Marriage. South Bend,
Ind., 1914.
- Utopian Way. South Bend, lnd.,
1917.
- Direct Action; a One Act Play. South Bend,
lnd., 1920.
- Utopian Essays. South Bend,
lnd., 1923.
- Jingo. South Bend, lnd., [1927].
VOORHEES, DANIEL WOLSEY: 1827-1897.
Daniel Wolsey Voorhees , U. S. Senator from Indiana , was born in Butler County, O., on Sept. 26, 1827. He was two months old when his parents, Stephen and Rachel Elliott Voorhees, moved to a farm in Fountain County, Ind., about ten miles from Covington .
In 1845 he entered Indiana Asbury (now De Pauw) University, from which he graduated in 1849 with the A.B. degree, receiving the A.M. in 1852 and the LL.D. in 1884. On July 18, 1850, he married Anna Hardesty of Greencastle, Ind.
Following his graduation he entered the law office of Lane and Wilson in Crawfordsville, Ind., where he read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He began his practice in Covington, Ind. He was associated with E. A. Hannegan, former U. S. senator, and in 1853 he served out the term of Lew Wallace, who had resigned as prosecuting attorney of the Circuit Court. In 1856 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress.
Voorhees moved to Terre Haute, Ind., in 1857, and this became his permanent home. In 1858 President Buchanan appointed him U. S. district attorney for the state of Indiana . In 1859, at the request of Gov. Willard of Indiana , he acted as defense attorney for Col. John E. Cook, Willard's brother-in-law and comrade of John Brown in the raid on Harper's Ferry, and although he lost the case and Cook was hanged, his speeches at the trial made him nationally known.
He was a successful candidate for Congress in 1860, 1862, 1868, and 1870. His congressional record was one of opposition to the war government, criticism of its "tyrannies," and an almost equal hatred of secession and abolitionism. He introduced the resolution unqualifiedly endorsing President Johnson's reconstruction policy.
He was appointed in 1877 to succeed Gov. Oliver P. Morton in the U. S. Senate, was elected to the Senate in 1878, and served until 1897. Here he followed the Democratic line of opposition to high tariffs and represented the Midwest agrarian policy of cheap money and distrust of Eastern financial interests. However, he led the fight for the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1893 and supported the Wilson page: 327[View Page 327] Tariff bill in 1894. He is chiefly remembered as a great orator–"The Tall Sycamore of the Wabash."
He died in Washington, D. C., on Apr. 10, 1897, and was buried in Terre Haute .
Information from Representative Men of Indiana, Vol. 11; Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. XIX; and De Pauw University's Alumnal Record, 1920.
- Speech Delivered in Fountain Circuit Court, July,
1857. Covington, Ind., 1857.
- Speeches; Compiled by C. S. Voorhees, with a Biographical
Sketch. Cincinnati, 1875.
- Address … to the Jury in the Case of Kilbourn vs.
Thompson, Delivered in the Supreme Court of the D. C., April 21,
1882. Washington, D. C., 1882.
- Speech, June 23, 1885, in Defence of Capt. Edward T. Johnson,
Indicted for the Murder of Maj. Edwin Henry. Washington,
D. C., 1885.
- Forty Years of Oratory: Lectures, Addresses, and Speeches;
Compiled and Edited by His Three Sons and His Daughter, Harriet Cecilia
Voorhees; with a Brief Sketch of His Life by Judge Thomas B. Long.
Indianapolis, 1898. 2
vols.
- Defense of John E. Cook on the Welfare of the Nation.
- Greeley as the Democratic Candidate for
President.
VOORHEES, JAMES PAXTON: ?-
James Paxton Voorhees was the son of Daniel W. Voorhees, statesman, attorney and orator, called "The Tall Sycamore of the Wabash."
Young Voorhees spent his boyhood in Terre Haute, Ind., and Washington, D. C., studied law and served as his father's secretary during the later years of the parent's political career. He was interested in the arts, trying his hand with some success at writing for periodicals and as a sculptor and actor.
Mr. Voorhees was also a resident of Greencastle and later Plainfield, Ind.
Information from the Indiana State Library and the Barry Ms.
- The Tale of Wealth: Being the Personal Narrative of Chambers
Rundel. Washington, D. C., 1890.
- Wissy: a True Tale of Modern Theatrical Bohemia.
Washington, D. C., 1897.
- Caverns of Dawn. Plainfield,
Ind., 1910.
- A Dwarf's Humility.
Indianapolis, 1919.
- "Flaws"; a Story of the Outlaws of Old
Hoosierland in Association with Another Tale. Plainfield,
Ind., 1925.
- The Unknown Quantity. Plainfield,
Ind., n.d.
VOTAW, ALBERT HIATT: 1850-1931.
Albert Hiatt Votaw , son of Isaac and Anna Maria Hiatt Votaw, was born at Richmond, Ind., on Feb. 19, 1850, and graduated from Earlham College in 1874. He married Phebe Nicholson in 1891.
From 1877 to 1902 Mr. Votaw was an instructor of Latin at Westtown School in Pennsylvania , and from 1908 to 1929 served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Prison Society. He was also editor of THE. PRISON JOURNAL.
He died on Feb. 21, 1931.
Information from Who Was Who in America.
- County Prisons of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia, 1914.
- Penal Legislation of 1915 in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania; Employment of Prisoners.
Philadelphia, 1915.
- Prison Efficiency. Philadelphia,
1916.
- Review of the County Jails of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia. 1920.
VOTAW, CLARENCE E.: 1853-?
Clarence E. Votaw was born near Chester, Wayne County, Ind., on Nov. 12, 1853 and attended the Society of Friends High School at Webster and Richmond, Ind. In 1884 he married Catherine Smith, who died in 1940.
Mr. Votaw engaged in farming and fruit raising until 1881, when he was appointed to the Railway Mail Service, where he served until his retirement in 1920. From 1921 to 1929 he was associated with the Friends Central Office in Richmond, Ind. In 1929 he became a resident of Fountain City, Ind.
Information from Clarence E. Votaw.
- Jasper Hunnicut of Jimpsonhurst.
Chicago, 1907.
- Patriotism; a Story of the Civil War in America.
Philadelphia, 1941.
