Carroll County IN Archives Biographies.....Cartwright, John A. 1830 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 17, 2006, 11:55 pm Author: John C. Odell (1916) JOHN A. CARTWRIGHT. Any history of Carroll county, embracing the political, business and financial phases of its record, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name appears above. For half a century he has been a prominent figure in the life of the community and has had a large part in its progress and development. John A. Cartwright was born on November 17, 1830, in Trumbull county, Ohio, the son of John and Margaret (McCorkle) Cartwright, who were natives of Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively. John Cartwright, who followed the pursuit of farming throughout his active life, was a Democrat in politics and a man of local prominence, having held a number of township offices. To him and his wife were born ten children, of whom the subject of this sketch is now the only survivor. John A. Cartwright, after completing the public school course in his native state, attended Mt. Union Seminary, at Mt. Union, Ohio, and in 1852 entered the University of Indiana, graduating therefrom in 1855. During the following three years he was at the head of Sugar Grove Institute, and then, for a like period, served as principal of the Delphi schools. Upon coming to Carroll county, Mr. Cartwright at once became closely identified with the varied interests of the community and during all the years since then, he has been a prominent figure here. Soon after coming here he was appointed school examiner and also served as school trustee. In 1868 he was elected mayor of Delphi, being the second incumbent of that office. In 1870 he was elected auditor of Carroll county, and in 1874 he was re-elected to that office by the largest majority ever received by a candidate for a county office in Carroll county, and this, too, in face of the fact that his opponent was a well-known and highly esteemed citizen. In 1884 Mr. Cartwright was elected representative to the state Legislature, serving one term with honor to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. Subsequently he served as a member of the county council. In all these positions of responsibility Mr. Cartwright ever kept the best interests of the community uppermost and his official record was characterized by promptness, accuracy and sound business methods. For many years Mr. Cartwright was engaged in the lime business, in which he met with success. In 1892 he became identified with the banking business, beginning his career in that line in the A. H. Bowen & Company bank. Subsequently, in company with Edward W. Bowen and others, he organized the bank of E. W. Bowen & Company. This institution was successful from the start and later was changed to a state bank, being now known as the Delphi State Bank. Mr. Cartwright has remained actively identified with this bank and is now its president. He is also the owner of several hundred acres of good Carroll county land, in the operation of which he has been successful, and during the past twenty-five years he has given considerable attention to stock raising. Mr. Cartwright is a very active man, finding the keenest pleasure in work, and the statement that he has never taken but one vacation is evidence of his determination to "work out, rather than rust out." He is deeply interested in all phases of the community life and gives his unreserved support to every movement looking to the betterment of the people. Politically, Mr. Cartwright has been prominent in the ranks of the Democratic party and, though wisely conservative, has taken a healthy interest in the success of that party. Fraternally, he has for many years been a member of the Masonic order and at the present time is probably the oldest living Mason in Carroll county. In 1861 John A. Cartwright was married to Susannah Hiett, of Tippecanoe county, and to them five children have been born, as follow: Jessie, deceased, was the wife of Dr. Wycliffe Smith, of Delphi; John H., an attorney in Delphi, married Stella McAfee; George, who is cashier of the Delphi State Bank, married Blanche Gilliland and they have two children, John A. and Willard; Mary is deceased; Josephine is the wife of George R. Ives and the mother of three children, Mary, Joseph T. and John H. Additional Comments: Extracted from: BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION of HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY INDIANA ITS PEOPLE, INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS BY JOHN C ODELL With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families ILLUSTRATED 1916 B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/carroll/bios/cartwrig76nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/infiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb