COMPENDIUMOF BIOGRAPHY
OfHenry County, Indiana
B.F.Bowen
1920
Page343, 344,
Surnamesin this biography are: Wise, Bouch, Cooper, Dykes, Mills, Wisehart,
Diefenbach,
HENRY C. WISE
Henry C. Wise, ex-educator andpractical farmer and mechanic of
Fall
Creek Township, Henry County, Indiana, wasborn near Lewisville on
Flat
Rockcreek, this County, June 3,1855, and is a son of Peter and
Matilda
(Bouch)Wise, natives of Pennsylvania.They came to Indiana in 1853,
firstlocated near Cadiz, in Harrison Township, Henry County, but five
yearslater went to Montgomery County, Indiana, and resided near
Crawfordsvilleduring the Civil War. In 1866 the family returned to XV. D
Cooper'sfarm. Peter Wise was a farmer and forfive years resided near Cadiz
wherehis death occurred when he was seventy-five years old; he was survived
by
hiswidow about nine years, her death taking place at the present home of her
son,Henry .C., when she was about eighty. These parents had a family of eight
children,but two of whom live in Henry County, Henry C. and Peter, the latter
residingat Lewisville. Henry C. Wise received agood common school education
at NewCastle and was also graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal College
at
Valparaiso.When twenty years old he began to teach during the winter seasons
at
Cadizand followed the profession there and elsewhere four years until he was
madeprincipal of the Middletown school, which position he filled six years.
In
.themeantime Mr. Wise had remained on the homestead and had learned the
carpenter'strade, which he has followed in all about fourteen years. He began
contractingat Cadiz and later became a partner with James P. Dykes of
Middletown. October 13, 1881, Mr. Wisemarried Miss Fannie Mills,
a
daughterof Luther Mills, of Delaware County, his home being located two and a
halfmiles north west of Middletown, but who in the spring of 1882 came to
town
toreside permanently. Mr. Wisecontinued contracting until 1890, but
in 1888had purchased eighty acres of farmland for four thousand
dollars,forty acres of which had been placed under cultivation, but upon
which
therewere no buildings. Mr. Wise settled on the old place in 1889 and
at oncebegan making the necessary improvements to make the farm a
profitableand comfortable one to live upon, clearing up the unimproved part,
laying about two hundred rods of tiling anderecting modem and
substantialbuildings, his barn being 36x87feet, with basement. He
feedsstock chiefly and ships two to three carloads of cattle of his
own
feedingand about one hundred hogs per year. He also handles stock in
companywith Willis Wisehart, and employs two men during the busy
season.Besides stock raising he grows corn and wheat and has in constant use
three teams. In politics Mr.Wise is a Republican, but not a very
activeone. Fraternally, he is a memberof the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows,Lodge No. 97, and encampment, having of course passed all the chairs
in
theformer, and having represented it in the grand lodge. Mr. Wise is also a
memberof Montezuma Tribe No. 126, I. 0. R. M., at Middletown, Indiana, and is
collectorof straws of the Haymakers, Montezuma Hay Loft No. 126 1-2.
Mrs.Wise is a member of the Rebekahs, as also is the daughter Effie. Mr. Wise
isgeneral superintendent of the Henry, Madison and Delaware Counties Fair
AgriculturalSociety, appointed in 1902. This organization is one of the best
agriculturalbodies of central Indiana, and has been a signal success
financially. In 1885 Mrs. Fannie (Mills) Wise was calledaway by death and
January5, 1888, Mr. Wise chose for his second helpmate Miss Susie Diefenbach,
ofOhio, but who bad been a saleslady in Middletown for two years. By the
first
marriagethere was born one child, Effie, now seventeen years old. She was a
highschool student in Middle Town, Indiana. To the second marriage have been
bornchildren as follows: Homer, who died in infancy, and Helen, now eleven
yearsold, who is in the eighth grade having made two grades in one year, and
a
littledaughter, Caroline Elizabeth. Mr. andMrs. Wise are members of
the
Christianchurch and socially they rank with the best and most popular
residents
ofFall Creek Township and town of Middletown.