Part of the Indiana Biographies Project
Jesse M. Hutton
For just half a century Jesse M. Hutton was numbered among the representative citizens and business men of Richmond, and in his death the entire community felt that an irreparable loss had been sustained by the public. He had been intimately associated with several of the leading industries of this locality, his genius and indubitable talent as a financier and business manager resulting in the prosperity of these enterprises and in the employment of large numbers of workmen. His whole career was marked by signal integrity, justice and honor, and no word of detraction was ever heard from those who knew him well.
He was a native of the town of New Market, Frederick county, Maryland, his birth occurring January 30, 1809. His father, Enos Hutton, having died, the young man persuaded his mother, whose maiden name was Rebecca Morsel, to accompany him to the west, where he believed that wider opportunities awaited him. This was in 1836, when he was a little over twenty-six years of age, and though he had been ambitious and hardworking he had managed to accomplish but little more than the meeting of the expenses of living. After giving due attention to the important question where he should make a settlement, he decided to try his fortune in Richmond, where he arrived in the spring of 1836. For a few years he was obliged to do service as wage-worker, low prices then prevailing in everything, but by the strictest economy and persistent attention to business he at length had saved a little capital, which he invested in the old Starr cotton factory, in company with his brother, John H., and Isaac E. Jones. Under their able management the new concern which they instituted—the Spring Foundry—became one of the successful enterprises of the place, and from it was developed the now famous and extensive establishment of Gaar, Scott & Company. In 186S Mr. Hutton, in company with George Hasecaster, Samuel S. Ganse, George Sherman, William P. Hutton, and M. H. Dill, organized and incorporated the J. M. Hutton Coffin Factory, which was a prosperous enterprise from the start and has furnished the means of subsistence to an average of fully one hundred families of this city. It is still in successful operation, though more than three decades have rolled away since its inception.
In 1842 the marriage of Jesse M. Hutton and Rebecca L. Shaw was solemnized and four children blessed their union. Emily H. became the wife of M. H. Dill; Mary A. married John Shroyer; and Camilla R. married Rev. James D. Stanley, of Cincinnati, while the only son was William P., to whom reference is made in succeeding paragraphs. The wife and mother, born in September, 1821, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Wright) Shaw, died February 23, 1885. The death of Jesse M. Hutton occurred but little more than a year later, Thursday, March 25, 1886. For more than forty years they had pursued the journey of life together, loyally sharing each other's trials, sorrows and pleasures, and all who knew them loved, admired and highly esteemed them.
Source:
Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana, Volume 1, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, 1899