Who am I?

I was born in 1843 in Munceetown, Indiana. I was seventeen when the Civil War started. I enlisted in the 19^th Indiana Infantry, which was part of the famed Iron Brigade. After my discharge, I worked in my uncle’s clothing store, as a clerk for the state legislature, as a postal clerk, a postmaster, custodian of the courthouse and finally, I became a pension attorney. In 1892, having invented a means of fastening a fruit jar, I founded a glass company to produce my patented jar.

The glass business was not successful, and so I sold out in 1894, including the patent rights to my closure. The buyer continued to make the jars at the factory for many years. I went back to being a pension attorney, and continued to invent things in my spare time. Some were successful, such as my currycomb for grooming horses.

I was elected Clerk of the county in 1902, and served for four years. Afterward, I was on the editorial staff of the local newspaper. I was widely was known as a poet. Many of them were published, and my lovely daughter Pearl would recite them at the GAR encampments I attended. I died on September 29, 1916, but my legacy continues, as the building across from the courthouse in Muncie where I had my office still goes by my name. Who am I?

Answer

Written by Richard Cole

© 2002 Minnetrista Cultural Center

First Published in the February 2003 Glass Chatter