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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Lawrence and Monroe
Counties, Indiana;
their people, industries and institutions.
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co.,
1914
JOHN W.
ACOAM. Lawrence county was not lacking in
loyalty during the dark days of the Rebellion, when the ship
of state was almost stranded on the rocks of disunion, but
contributed her full quota of brave and valiant men to assist
in preserving the integrity of the government, prominent among
whom was the well known gentleman and enterprising citizen
whose name appears at the head of this review. Loyal to
his country in its hour of peril and extremity, as was
demonstrated on many bloody battle fields, he has ever been
its staunch supporter in times of peace, and today there are
few ex-soldiers of the county as widely and favorably known
and none that can boast of a more honorable record. The
ranks of the noble organization to which he belonged in the
days of his youth are fast being decimated by the one
invincible foe, and it is fitting that in every publication of
the nature of this volume special tribute be paid to those who
served during the greatest civil war known to history.
John W. Acoam was born on May 15, 1841, in
Bedford, Indiana, and is a son of Joseph and Catherine
(Wilder) Acoam, the father a native of Virginia and the
mother of Kentucky. They came to Lawrence county,
Indiana, about 1832, and settled at Bedford, where the father
followed his trade, that of harness and saddle making.
He was an industrious and honest man, and during his residence
here he gained a high standing in the esteem of his fellow
citizens. His death occurred at Bedford in 1849, at the
early age of thirty-six years, and he was survived over half a
century by his widow, who died in 1902 at the advanced age of
eighty-five years. She was an earnest and consistent
member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a woman of
high personal character. To Joseph and Catherine
Acoam were born six children, namely Hardin P., who
is now deceased, was a plasterer in Bedford; Laura, who
remained unmarried, is living in Bedford; Nancy, who
lives in Indianapolis, is the widow of George Carroll;
Mary E., widow of William Butler, late of
Bedford; Henry, deceased, who was a veteran of the
Civil war, afterwards lived in Bedford; John W., the
immediate subject of this sketch, who was the third child in
order of birth.
John W. Acoam had but little opportunities for
securing an education, the same being limited to a few years
in the public schools. At the early age of fifteen years
he started to learn the harness and saddle-making trade in the
shop of Leach & Davis at Bedford, and was thus employed
when the Civil war broke out and Mr. Acoam gave
practical evidence of his loyalty and patriotism by enlisting
on August 12, 1862, in Company G, Fourth Indiana Cavalry.
The command was sent first to Evansville, where they drew
supplies, and then went to Henderson and Wadsworth, Kentucky,
and on to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee,
where they remained about ten days, being engaged mainly in
skirmish duty. Fro there they were sent on to Nashville
and Murfreesboro, where they joined the army under General
Rosecrans, with whom they went south to Marietta,
Georgia. They took part in all the campaigns and other
arduous campaign duties of that year until they reached
Huntsville, Alabama, where the subject was captured and the
following nineteen months were spent by him amid the terrible
experiences of the Southern prison pens. He was confined
first for eight months at Danville and the last eleven months
of his incarceration was in notorious Andersonville prison,
where, under the inhuman administration of Major Wirtz,
he endured all the horrors for which that famous prison pen
was noted. During a large part of the time which he was
confined there Mr. Acoam was sick and contracted
rheumatism and scurvy, from which he suffered a great deal.
He was released from Andersonville prison on August 18, 1864,
and soon afterwards at Jacksonville, Florida, he was
discharged from the service and given transportation home.
For many years after his return home, he felt the ill effects
of the terrible experiences through which he had passed while
in the Southland. After his return home he followed
harness making at Bedford, being located on Sixteenth street
until he retired from active business and his son is now
following the same occupation at the old stand. In the
past seventeen years Mr. Acoam has lived at No. 1727 O
street and is now enjoying that rest which his years of honest
effort have so richly earned for him.
Mr. Acoam has been twice married, first in 1865
to Clara Malott, a native of Lawrence county, Indiana,
and after her death he married, on August 25, 1895,
Catherine Leach, of Bedford, the daughter of John
and Frances (Phipps) Heron, of Martin county, Indiana,
where the father was a successful farmer. Both are now
deceased. They were the parents of six children, namely:
Daniel, who died while in the army; Alexander,
who was killed in a railroad accident in St. Louis; Lewis,
deceased; John, deceased; Nancy, the wife of
John Stout, of Elnora, Indiana, and Catherine, Mrs.
Acoam. To the subject's first union was born a son,
Harry M., who is the harness maker in Bedford and who
married Iola Hoopengarner. To the subject's
present union has been born a daughter, Ora, who is the
wife of John L. Miller, of Bedford and they have three
children, Catherine, Ora, and Mabel.
Fraternally, Mr. Acoam has
been for over a half century a member of Lodge No. 177,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Bedford, and has taken an
appreciative interest in the workings of this order. He
is also a member of E. C> Newland Post No. 247, Grand Army of
the Republic, at Bedford, to which they give a generous
support. Mr. Acoam is very widely known
throughout Lawrence county and has a large circle of warm and
loyal friends who esteem him not only for his record as a
defender of his country in the hour of her need, but also for
his splendid record as a business man and private citizen.
Source: History of Lawrence and Monroe
Counties, Indiana;
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co., 1914 - Page
635 |
R. A
AKIN, M. D. The man who devotes his talents and
energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and
alleviating the sufferings of humanity is pursuing a calling
which in dignity, importance and beneficial results is second
to none other. If true to his profession and earnest in
his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, he is indeed
a benefactor of his kind, for him more than to any other man
are intrusted the safety, the comfort, and, in many instances,
the lives of those who place themselves under his care and
profit by his services. It is gratifying to note in the
series of personal sketches appearing in this work that there
remain identified with the professional public and civic
affairs of Monroe county many who are native sons of the
county and who are ably maintaining the prestige of honored
names.
R. A. Akin was born at Bloomington, Indiana, on
March 7, 1880, and is the son of George W. and Laura
(Ridge) Akin. The father, who was born in Parke
county, Indiana, was a carpenter and farmer and a man of good
character and high standing in his community. He and his
wife both died in Monroe county in 1910, the father having
been retired from active pursuits for some time prior to his
death. He was a Democrat in politics and, though not
active in public affairs, he took intelligent interest in the
current events of the day. He and his wife were the
parents of two children, the subject of this sketch and Ida
E.
R. A. Akin received a good common school education
and then entered the State University, where he graduated in
1906. Having determined to take up the practice of
medicine for his life pursuit, he then matriculated in the
Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was graduated
in 1908 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He
immediately entered upon the active practice of his profession
at Bedford, but a short time afterward he removed to Gary,
Indiana, where he remained until 1909, when he came to
Bloomington and has since continued here in the active
practice of medicine and surgery. His well equipped
offices are located in the Allen block, and, though one
of the younger physicians of Bloomington, he is already in
command of a goodly share of the local patronage. He is
a general practitioner, though he has achieved unusual success
in surgery, having handled successfully a number of very
important cases and having assisted Dr. Harris in
nearly all of the latter's important work. Dr. Akin
possesses a pleasing personality, which has won for him many
warm friends throughout the community and he is entirely
deserving of the eminent standing he has secured, both
professionally and socially. He is a member of the
Monroe County Medical Society, of which he is a secretary and
treasurer, and also belongs to the Indiana State Medical
Society. Politically, he is a stanch supporter of the
Democratic party, though his professional duties preclude his
taking a very important part in public affairs.
Fraternally he belongs to Lodge No. 446, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, in Bloomington, and takes a keen
interest in the work of this fraternity.
Source: History of Lawrence and Monroe
Counties, Indiana;
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co., 1914 - Page
542 |
| WILLIAM J. ALLEN
Source: History of Lawrence and Monroe
Counties, Indiana;
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co., 1914 - Page
743 |
| AMZI ATWATER
Source: History of Lawrence and Monroe
Counties, Indiana;
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co., 1914 - Page
520 |
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