Howard-Randolph County IN Archives Biographies.....Hiatt, Wilson J. 1843 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 23, 2006, 11:45 pm

Author: Jackson Morrow

WILSON J. HIATT.

    Among the honored veterans of the Civil war and the leading agriculturists
of Union township, Howard county, the well known and influential subject of this
review is numbered. There is much that is commendable in his life record, for he
has been found true to duty in every relation, whether of a public or private
character, and while energy and unabiding industry have been salient features of
his business career, he is equally well known for his uprightness and the
honorable methods he has always followed and for his lovalitv to any public
trust reposed in him.

    Wilson J. Hiatt was born in Randolph county, Indiana, June 29, 1843, the son
of Richard and Charlotte (Coats) Hiatt. The Hiatts were natives of Virginia and
the Coats family of South Carolina. They were among the fine old southern
families of the early days. The father came from Virginia to Highland county,
Ohio, and from there to Indiana, settling in Randolph county, entering land
there which he transformed by hard work and by dint of persevering energy into
an excellent farm, making a good home for his family, and where he spent the
remainder of his life, his death occurring there. Both he and Mrs. Hiatt were
well known and influential in that county.

    To them five sons and seven daughters were born, three of whom are living in
1908. These children received careful home training and the best advantages that
were possible to receive in such environments.

    Wilson J. Hiatt, our subject, had scarcely no opportunities to become
educated in his boyhood days, it being necessary for him to assist with the farm
work and to help support the large family, but he has since developed a strong
and fertile mind through general home reading and by coming in contact with the
business world, so he is well versed on most current topics and is an
interesting conversationalist.

    When the tocsin of war sounded and the great armies of the North were
assembling to crush the rebellion that threatened the foundations of the
republic, Mr. Hiatt was one of the brave and loyal citizens of the Hoosier state
to respond to the patriotic impulses which he felt, and, severing home ties, he
marched away for the purpose of offering his services and life, if need be, to
defend the flag, enlisting in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, and he also served three months in the Fifty-fifth Indiana
Volunteer Regiment, being in the field for a period of one year, taking part in
the battles of Richmond, Kentucky, in 1862, and he was in the famous Atlanta
campaign in which he performed conspicuous service, as a result of which he
received a testimonial from President Lincoln and he is now remembered by his
government with a pension of seventeen dollars per month.

    After his career in the army he returned to Randolph county and resumed
active life, devoting himself to agricultural pursuits, which he carried on
successfully as a result of his industry and sound judgment.

    Mr. Hiatt was united in the bonds of wedlock in 1865 to Jennetta K. Hunt,
who was called to her rest in 1875 after a harmonious married life of ten years.
In 1877 Mr. Hiatt married Abigail Chamness, a representative of a well known
family, and to this second union two children have been born, namely: Lindley T.
and Mary A., the latter the wife of Emery Ault. Both these children live in
Union township and both received a common, school education. They are
comfortably situated in life and have many friends in this community. Mary was
especially adept at her text-books, having graduated from the common schools in
which she made an excellent record. Lindley T. is known as a man of strong
personality and excellent business ideas. He is also a graduate of the common
schools, having outstripped many of his classmates who were less ambitious than he.

    Mr. and Mrs. Hiatt are consistent members of the Quaker church in which they
have long taken a delight.

    Mr. Hiatt, as might be expected, is an active member of the local post of
the Grand Army of the Republic at Kokomo, known as the Harrison Post, No. 30. In
his political relations he is a loyal Republican and has taken considerable
interest in local affairs, always lending his support to the best candidates and
being a strong believer in honesty in politics as well as in the business
affairs of life. He is in 1908 the efficient justice of the peace of his
community, having faithfully performed the duties of the same for a period of
six years. He has become well and most favorably known throughout Union township
for his loyalty to the truth, his uprightness in business, his public-spirit and
his friendly disposition.



Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA
BY
JACKSON MORROW, B. A.
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(circa 1909)

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