Ira C. Tilton, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Ira C. Tilton
IRA C. TILTON, well known attorney of Valparaiso, was born in Wayne County, Illinois, September 4, 1877, and when but four months old was brought by his parents to Brown County, Indiana. His parents were George D. and Sarah (Howerth) Tilton, for many years well known in Brown County and now residents of Collyer, Kansas. Two of our subject's paternal uncles, William and David, lost their lives in the Civil war. Another uncle is a merchant and banker in Nashville, Brown County, Indiana. John, another uncle, is a veteran of the Civil war and is a resident of Fairfield, Wayne County, Illinois. The maternal grandparents, John and Elizabeth Howerth, were natives of Ohio and were early settlers in Brown County. To their union were born eleven daughters and one son, of whom Sarah was the eldest.
Ira C. Tilton was educated in Brown County and also at Collyer, Kansas; he later attended the schools of Cloud County, Kansas, and supplemented this with a course at Kansas State Normal and Valparaiso University. In his early youth he herded cattle; as his home was four miles from the nearest schoolhouse, he had a long walk back and forth to school each day. His school days were, however, broken into occasionally by the herding of cattle and breaking in wild bronchos. He taught school in Kansas from 1895 to 1907, and during this period studied law. He came to Valparaiso in 1906, and was admitted to the Porter County bar January 14, 1914. In 1924 he received the nomination for prosecuting attorney, but with the rest of his ticket was defeated. He was again honored in 1926 with the democratic nomination for the office of judge of Porter and LaPorte Superior Court. He has given much time to the formation of compact party aggressiveness, and served as chairman of the Porter County Democratic Central Committee in 1926. He was also a member of the registration board of Porter County. During the World war he served as a member of the advisory board, and has the distinction of having prepared more questionnaires than any other member of the board.
On the Howerth side, Mr. Tilton is descended from a distinguished uncle, Ira W. Howerth, who for many years was a leading educator of Porter County and nationally known as an educational lecturer and writer, and is now a resident of Greely, Colorado, where he serves as professur of sociology and economics and is head of the department of social science in the Colorado State Teachers' College of Greely. He is president emeritus of the Saturday Evening Club of Valparaiso, Indiana, which he organized when he lived here.
Mr. Tilton was united in marriage with Esther, daughter of Rudolph and Mary (Brandner) Eichenberger, both of whom were natives of Germany and were residents of Illinois for a number of years, but later removed to Greely County, Kansas. It was in this county that the marriage was solemnized on May 10, 1903. To this marriage were born five children: Frances, a practicing attorney of Chicago and the wife of Avery Weaver; Arthur, of LaPorte, Indiana; Charles Victor, Karl, and Irene Constance.
Mr. Tilton is a member of the Modern Woodmen, Brotherhood of American Yeomen, Methodist Church, Commercial Law League of America, Porter County Bar Association, and the Chamber of Commerce, and he is now serving as deputy prosecutor of Porter County.
Source: Cannon, Thomas H., H. H. Loring, and Charles J. Robb. 1927. History of the Lake and Calumet Region of Indiana Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and Laporte. Volume II. Indianapolis, Indiana: Historians' Association. 827 p.
Page(s) in Source: 247-248
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook