Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, 1903. pp. 463-464.

DR. A. H. METTS.

The practice of medicine in northeastern Indiana immediately succeeding the war of the Rebellion was by no means the lucrative and pleasant profession it has since grown to be. In the country districts especially the lot of the practicing physician and surgeon was particularly trying. Bad roads, a sparsely settled country, inclement weather and a class of patients whose financial condition precluded the possibility of their being liberal, or even just, to their conscientious medical attendant, rendered the practice of medicine and surgery by no means the desirable calling it now is. Dr. A. H. Metts, of Ossian, Indiana, is the fifth son of James W. and Miranda (Sutton) Metts, and was born in Lancaster township, Wells County, December 18, 1837. The family consisted of nine children, one of whom is dead. Those living are: William, John I., Rev. M. S., A.H., Norvel, E. B., Mary E., wife of T. A. Doan, Druzilla, wife of Archibald Serepta. Dr. Metts spent the years of his boyhood and those of his early manhood on his father's farm. From early youth his devotion to duty and assiduity to every work undertaken gave promise of the useful and honorable life he has unselfishly devoted to ameliorating the condition of his fellow creatures. He attended the district schools to so good purpose that while still a youth he was granted a license to teach and for some time followed that calling in Allen and Adams counties. When he was twenty-three years of age he began the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. John I. Metts. He, however, had not progressed far in his medical studies, when they were interrupted by the excitement incident to the breaking out of the Rebellion. He enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and First Indiana Volunteers, and was given little time for military training before the practical part of a soldier's life was thrust upon him. With his regiment, he took part in many of the hottest and most decisive battles of the war. Besides numerous skirmishes and several less important battles he was at Perryville, Kentucky, at the mill on Stone river, at Chattanooga and at Mission Ridge, where he was severely wounded and rendered incapable of further active service. Greatly to his regret, he was obliged to accept of his discharge in the latter part of 1864. He returned to Ossian, but his physical condition did not admit of immediate resumption of his medical studies. When he did, however, it was with characteristic zeal and energy. He took a course at that leading technical institution, Rush Medical College, Chicago, and, returning to Ossian, began the practice of his profession in 1866, and has followed it uninterruptedly until a short time since, when he retired from active practice. He has a wide and merited reputation for his thorough and practical knowledge of medicine. His professional brethren are ever ready to avail themselves of his ability, and many an anxious parent, son, daughter, brother or sister has been greatly relieved when his advice is sought in consultation by their regular attendants.

In June, 1866, Dr. Metts was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Burne. One daughter, who died in infancy, was born to this marriage, and was not survived long by the mother, who died in 1868. The Doctor was subsequently married to Miss Jennie L. Swaim, daughter of Col. William Swaim, of the Thirty-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteers, who had gone to the war as captain of Company A, which he organized, was made major and lieutenant-colonel, and in leading the regiment at Champion Hills was wounded, dying on the way home, near Memphis, on board a transport. The widow of Col. Swaim was, in her maidenhood, Miss Hannah Tog, a native of New Jersey, and she survived her husband until February, 1895. The family were three sons and a daughter, viz: James, a farmer of near Ossian; David H., editor of the Chronicle at Bluffton, and Thomas T., who was also associated with his brother in the publication of the Chronicle at his death at the age of thirty-six years. The daughter, Mrs. Metts, was reared in Ossian, and for several years was engaged in the millinery trade.

Early in life Dr. Metts became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and Mrs. Metts are members of the chapter of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of William Swann Post, G. A. R., of which he is past commander. Mrs. Metts is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and she is highly respected for her work in charitable fields, and for her liberality and Christian zeal. Dr. Metts is a zealous Republican and has served as trustee of his township. His devotion to his profession has prevented his accepting or undertaking more responsible or exacting public position, and he has preferred to let less busy people devote themselves to political work. Despite his sixty-five years of active, strenuous life and his injury in the cause of the Union, he is still a well-preserved man, with unimpaired mental faculties. Had he engaged in a less trying and exacting profession he might have remained in the harness many years to come. May his declining years be all that the labors of his youth and middle age have richly earned for him.