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Blackford aho Grant Counties
Blackford and Grant
Counties, Indiana
A Chronicle of their People Past and Present With Family
Lineage and Personal Memoirs
Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of
BENJAMIN G. SHINN
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THr LEfVTS FHgLlSHlNG COMPANY
;;hicago and new york
1914
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Blackford and Grant Counties
Alfred Pugh. One of Grant coiinty's native sons who has attained
distinction in business circles and who ranks among the most enterpris-
ing and progressive citizens of Upland is Alfred Pugh, notary public
and insurance man, who is widely known in fraternal activities of the
state. Sir. Pugh comes of "Welsh ancestry, his grandfather, Azariah
Pugh. being an emigrant from Wales to the United States and an early
settler in Virginia. Records of this ancestor have been lost, and little
is known of him save that he died in Frederick county, probably in
middle life, and that his wife likely died there. They were the parents
of two sons and two daughters: Michael, the father of Alfred Pugh;
Jesse, who died unmarried as a young man ; Catherine, who was married ;
and Elizabeth, who married Jesse Trowbridge and died in Frederick
county. Virginia. iSlS4-S
Michael Pugh was born in that county about 1795, and there grew
to manhood, being reared to agricultural pursuits. He was there mar-
ried to Elizabeth Caudy, who was born in Hampshire county, Virginia
(now "West Virginia), in 1805, daughter of James Caudy, a native of Ire-
land, who came to the United States when young. Her mother was a
Miss Lyon, whose father came from Ireland. They were married in Vir-
ginia where they lived to advanced years and died in the faith of the
Methodist church. After their marriage, Michael and Elizabeth Caudy
removed to Guernsey county, Ohio, and there settled on a farm, but
following the birth of their first child, James, came overland to Indiana,
with a yoke of oxen, one horse and a covered wagon, camping by the
roadside at night in true pioneer fashion. In 1831 they located on a
farm in section 13, Jefferson township. Grant county, where the father
entered 160 acres of land, and for some years thereafter was compelled
to walk over a blazed trail through the woods all the way to Fort Wayne,
this .iourney taking four days. On this farm ilr. Pugh made numerous
improvements, building two log cabins and then a frame house, the latter
of which is still standing on the old homestead and occupied by his grand-
son. The old home farm has never gone out of the family name, but is
kept as an inheritance. Mr. Pugh was a sturdy, industrious man, whose
tireless industry and unbounded energy assisted him in making a success
of his operations in the agricultural field. He stood six feet tall, was a
man of iron nerve, and while he never saw active militaiy service at the
front, owing to his age, was captain of a local militia company at the
time wlien soldiers wei-e being mustered into the service. He was liberal
in his donations to all worthy enterprises, and although he was a member
of the IMetliodist Protestant church made a gift of the land for the
cemetery at the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal church. He died August
23, 1863, widely mourned throughout the community, while the mother,
who was a charter member of the Sliiloh church, died at the old home in
1890. They belonged to the strong old pioneer stock which faced the
dangers of the unknown forests, where the father with his trust.y fiiut-
iock supplied the family with game, while the mother remained at home
and wove and spun the cloth for the clothing and blankets. Politically
a Democrat, Mr. Pugh never cared for public office, preferring to devote
himself to making a home for his family. To Sir. and Mrs. Pugh there
449
450 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
were born the following children : James, who died after his marriage to
Nancy E. Stephens, by whom he had three children; David Wesley, who
married jMargaret Smith, both of whom died in Grant county, leaving a
son and daughter; Josiah, who died in Colorado, was married and had
a family of children ; John W., who died in Upland, was twice married
and had three children by his first union; Mahlon, deceased, who was
married and is survived by one sou ; Branson, who died leaving a widow
and one daughter, one daughter having previously died ; Amos, deceased,
who left a widow and had one son who had previously died ; and Alfred,
Sally, IMargaret and Maria Jane, all of whom died before our subject was
born ; Arminda H., who married Joseph Horner, both now being deceased ;
and Eliza E., who married John Needier, both being now deceased. Both
Arminda H. and Eliza E. left children.
Like the most of his brothers and sisters, Alfred Pugh was born on the
old Pugh homestead in Grant county, Indiana, his natal day being ilay
26, 3846. He grew up on the home farm, assisting his father aiid attend-
ing the district schools and those at Hartford City, and on completing
his education adopted the vocation of instructor and for five years taught
school in Grant and Blackford counties, where he was widely and popu-
larly known. Later Mr. Pugh gave up the teacher's profession to enter
the business field, beeomirg the proprietor of a livery establishment, a
business which he followed for six years. During the time that he was
thus engaged he became interested in the insurance business, and after
having engaged in this as a side line for some time determined to turn
his entire attention thereto and accordingly disposed of his interests in
the livery stable. He has continued to follow this line ever since, and
the success that has rewarded his efi'orts demonstrates that he made no
mistake when he changed vocations. It takes a peculiar talent to gain
a full measure of prosperity in the insurance line — an ability that is
a little different from that needed in almost any other. Strict integrity
and honorable dealing play a large part, of course ; energy, persistence
and enterprise are essential, and a persuasiveness and stick-to-itiveness
that knows not the meaning of the word failure. IMr. Pugh handles
both life and fire insurance and their various branches, represents some
of the leading companies in the country, and has become widely known
in the insurance field as a man who can attain results. He has also
for some years served in the capacity of notary public. As early as
1878 Mr. Pugh was commissioned a justice of the peace, and served until
1882, and again in 1886 was commissioned a justice and served until
1906^ thus occupying this office for almost a quarter of a century. He
was the incumbent of this position when a justice had the same juris-
diction as a justice of the peace, and through performing twenty-five
marriages during the first year he acted in his official capacity became
widely known as "the marrying justice."
Mr. Pugh was himself married in 1872, in Grant county, to Miss
Hester Miles, who was born in Jefferson township, this county, May
13, 1852, and died February 22, 1892, daughter of Lorenzo and Phoebe
(Wass) Miles. Her parents came from Steuben county. New York, to
Rush county, Indiana, at an early day, and not long thereafter made
removal to Jefferson township, Grant county, where both passed away,
the father when about sixty years of age, and the mother in advanced
years, she having contracted a second marriage. To Mr. and Airs. Pugh
there were born three children: Ocie V., who resides with her father
and keeps house for him; Malevie L., the wife of John W. Doherty,
of Benton Harbor, Michigan, who has three chddren. Miles A., Gayvellc
E., and May H.; and Orie Hodd, single, a well known horseman ot
Wisner, Nebraska, who works for contractors.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 451
IMr. Pugli is a Democrat in polities, and has been active in local and
state affairs, having been a delegate to numerous conventions of his
party. He is one of the best known figures in the fraternal life of Grant
county, being past master of Upland Lodge No. 427, F. & A. M., having
been made a Mason in 1868. He joined the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows in the following year, and is past grand and past chief patriarch
of Shideler Lodge No. 352 and Upland Encampment No. 213. In addi-
tion he has four times been representative to the State Masonic Grand
Lodge, three times to the State Grand Lodge of the Odd Fellows, and
twice to the Grand Encampment of the latter order. His friendships
are only limited to the number of his acquaintances, not alone in frater-
nal life, but in business, public and private circles of the city.
Harry Williamson, M. D. Among the most popular men in Marion,
Indiana, not only in his own profession but among people at large is
Dr. Harry Williamson. He has the advantage of a thorough scientific
education, long experience in his profession and a charming sympathetic
personality that makes him a welcome guest even though he comes in
his professional capacity. He has a large general practice and holds
a high place in the regard of the people of Marion and Grant county.
Dr. Hai-ry Williamson was born in Butler county, Ohio, on the 16th
of September, 1864, the son of David and Frances (Siegrist) Williamson.
Both of his parents were born in the state of Ohio and they are both
. living.
Dr. Williamson was educated in the public schools of Butler county,
Ohio, until he was of an age to go away to school, when he was sent
to the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana. He received his
medical education in the Indiana Medical College, from which he was
graduated in 1892. He later took courses in medical work in the New
York Polyclinic.
The doctor first began to practice at Knightstown, Indiana, only
remaining there a year, however, before he removed to Chicago. He
practiced in the city for seven years, and in the boundless opportunities
of a general city practice he had the finest of practical training. In 1900
he came to Marion and began to practice. He has been located here
ever since and has many warm friends throughout the city. His offices
are located in the Marion Block and the practice which he has built up
is now one of the largest in the city.
The doctor is very much interested in the affairs of the various fra-
ternal societies of which he is a member. In the Masons he is a Knight
Templar and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows and of the Elks. He is very fond of athletics and holds membership
in the Country Club and in the Golf Club.
On the 30th of November, 1892, Dr. Williamson was married to Mary
L. Davis, of Gleuwood, Rush county, Indiana. No children have been
born to the doctor and his wife.
Thomas D. Barr. Practically all of the years of Thomas D. Barr's
life have been spent in faithful service to the people, not, as a man in
public office, alone, but as a teacher of their children, and although his
service in his various public positions is recognized and appreciated it
is as a teacher that he is best known and respected. He taught in the
schools of Indiana for twenty years, accomplishing much for the cause
of education and although his time is now filled with the duties of his
office as deputy county auditor of Grant county, Indiana, he is still
keenly interested in the cause of education.
Thomas D. Barr is a descendant of one of the very first settlers in
452 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Grant county, being a great-graudsou of Thomas Dean, who settled in
Grant county, in Jefferson township, at a very early day. A
was also one of the first school teachers in this section and in 18C0 was
auditor of Grant county. Thomas D. Barr is the son of John L. and
Elizabeth (Dean) Barr, his father being a native of Pennsylvania and
his mother having been born in Grant county, Indiana. John L. Barr
was a soldier throughout the Civil war, being a member of the First
Volunteer lufantrj' of Iowa. After the war he practiced law in Missouri
and there he died when his son was quite young.
Thomas D. Barr was born in Saint Clair county, Missouri, on the
18th of October, 1870, being one of two children born to his parents
and he is now the only living child. In 1874 he returned to Grant county
with his mother and two years later in 1876 she died, leaving him an
orphan of just six years of age. Although deprived of his parents he
received a good education. He first attended the public schools of the
section and then entered Fairmount Academy. He later attended, the
Indiana State Normal College at Terre Haute and then completed his
education with a business course at the Indianapolis Business College.
Mr. Barr began life as a teacher, first teaching in Grant county, in
Monroe, Van Buren and Liberty townshii^. He also taught in other
parts of the state. For a time he taught in Richsquare and Lewisville,
in Henry county, Indiana. He was principal of the Van Buren, Indiana,
high school and taught in both the Fairmount Academy and the high
schools in Fairmount.
Always keenly interested in public matters and in political questions,
he took an active part in such affairs but it was not until 1906 that he
accepted a public ofSce. At this time he was principal of the high school
in Van Buren and he was appointed deputy sheriff, serving in the office
over a year. He resigned this office to enter the government service as a
meat inspector and in 1907 resigned from this position to accept that
of deputy clerk. His love for his old profession called him back once
more to accept a position as teacher in the Fairmount Academ.y. From
this school he went to the high school of Fairmount biit he resigned from
its teaching staff in 1911 to accept the office of deputy auditor of Grant
county. He is a man full of energy and industry and has made a most
efficient public official. During his vacations he lias worked on the news-
papers of Marion, writing the advertisements.
Both ilr. Barr and his wife are members of the Friends church, his
wife being very prominent in this church. In politics Mr. Barr is a mem-
ber of the Republican party and in fraternal affairs he belongs to the
Ancient Free and Accepted ilasous.
Mr. Barr was married in November, 1893, to Miss Daisj' Douglas
Brushwiller, who was born in Jonesboro, Grant county, Indiana. Mrs.
Barr is a grand-daughter of George Douglas, who was one of the early
pioneers of Grant county and for seventy years was a minister of the
Methodist church in Grant county. Mrs. Barr is a woman of rare intel-
lectual attainments and is the pastor of the Friends church in Muucie,
Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Barr have one son, Raymond Barr, who was
born December 18, 1895, and is now in high school.
Stephen G. Baldwin. A scion of one of the sterling pioneer families
of Grant county, the late Stephen G. Baldwin here passed his entire life,
and his exalted integrity of character, as well as his large and worthy
achievement in connection M-ith the practical activities of life, gave him
prestige as one of the representative citizens of his native county, M-here
he ever held inviolable place in the confidence and high regard of his
fellow men, so that there is all of propriety in according to his memory
a special tribute in this publication.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 453
Oil the old Baldwin homestead farm, situated on the banks of Deer
creek, in Mill township, Grant county, Indiana, Stephen G. Baldwin
was born on the 3d of August, 1850, and has passed the closing years
of his life in the city of Marion, the judicial center and metropolis of
the county, where he was summoned to eternal rest on the 13th of October,
1909, — known and revered as one of the noble and loyal citizens and
representative business men^of the county's capital city. The condi-
tions and influences of the home farm compassed the boyhood and early
youth of Mr. Baldwin and he thus learned the lessons of practical indus-
try in the formative period of his life. After completing the curriculum
of the Deer Creek district school he continued his studies in the gi-aded
school at Jonesboro, and thus he laid a firm foundation for the broad
and liberal education which he later gained through self-discipline and
active association with men and affairs. He was, however, afforded also
the advantages of the Bryant & Strattou Business College in the city
of Indianapolis, and the training further fortified him for the responsi-
bilities and actions of active business affairs. As a boy he had not only
assisted in the work of the home farm but also in that of the shoemaker's
shop maintained by his father in the village of Jonesboro.
In 1874, at the age of twenty-four years, Mr. Baldwin established
himself in the insurance and loan business at Marion, and in these lines
he was one of the first in the city to build up a large and substantial
business. In this important line of enterprise he continued, with large
and worthy success, until his death, when he was succeeded by his only
son, who still remains at the head of the S. G. Baldwin Insurance &
Loan Agency, which perpetuates the name of its honored founder.
Mr. Baldwin was a man of broad views, was generous and tolerant
in his judgment, was loyal and progressive as a citizen, and his name
and memory are revered by all who came within the circle of his benig-
nant influence. Though he had no desire to enter the turbulent stream of
practical politics, he was M'ell fortified in his views concerning matters
of governmental and economic import and was a stanch supporter of the
cause of the Republican party.
He was imbued with great love for nature "in her visible forms,"
and found great pleasure in the propagation of flowers and ornamental
shrubbery about his attractive residence premises, on South "Washington
street, the place becoming a veritable floral bower under his effective
labors and artistic predilections. He took vital interest in all that
touched the progress and prosperity of his home city and county and
was a valued member of the ^Marion Commercial Club, of which he was
a director at the time of his death.
On the 23d of August, 1877, was solemnized the marriage of ilr.
Baldwin to Miss Elizabeth C. Home, who was born and reared in Grant
county and who is a daughter of the late Dr. Samuel S. Home, Sr., of
Jonesboro.
Moe H. Baldwin, the only son of Stephen 6. and Elizabeth C. (Home)
Baldwin, was born in the city of ilarion on the 19th of January, 1879,
and is a scion of the third generation of the family in Grant county. He
full.y profited by the advantages afforded in the public schools of his
native city and after his high-school course he entered Hanover College,
at Hanover, Jefferson county, after which he was matriculated in Purdue
University, at Lafayette, aftex-ward attending the celebrated University
' of Michigan, at Ann Arbor.
After leaving the last mentioned institution Mr. Baldwin turned his
attention to the illustrating and designing business.
A few years ago he collaborated with ;M. B. Edmiston in the compila-
tion and publication of a book of caricature of ilarion business men,
454 BLACKFOKD AND GRANT COUNTIES
which was entitled "Some Greater JIarion Faces," and which met with
high commendation and which showed many admirable specimens of
his skill as an artist. Upon the death of his honored father he succeeded
to the insurance and loan business established by the latter, one of the
largest and most important of the kind in the state but one that is eon-'
ceded to take precedence of all others in Grant county.
Mr. Baldwin is well known in his native county, where his circle of
friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances, and he and his wife
are prominent figures in the representative social activities of their
home city. He pays allegiance to the Republican party, is president
of the Mecca Club, holds membership in the Marion Country Club, and
is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent & Protective
Order of Elks.
On the 3d of September, 1901, Mr. Baldwin wedded Miss Lela Lutz,
daughter of the late John Lutz.
Austin Polslet. Among the citizens of Grant county who started
out in life facing obstacles and with many disadvantages to overcome,
and who have prospered and now stand among the county's substantial
men, is Austin Polslej', who has an excellent farm on section twenty-four
of Jefferson township, and has lived there for the past forty years.
He comes of an old Virginia family. His gi-andfather John H. Pols-
ley was born in that state about 1800, married a Virginia girl, and some
of their children at least were born in the state. They finally came west
and settled in Henry county, Indiana, where they were pioneers. His
first wife died there, leaving a large family of children, and in Henry
county John H. Polsley married for his second wife, Phoebe Jones.
In 185-3 he went on further west, and again became a pioneer in the
state of Iowa, in the soiithwestern section in Page county. His death
occurred sometime in the seventies, when more than eighty years of age,
and he was a man of unusual intelligence and information. He had been
a farmer most of his life, and also merchandized for many years. By his
two wives he became the father of twenty-three children. His second
wife passed away in Iowa, and was likewise advanced in age.
Robert W. Polsley, father of the Grant county resident above named,
was born in 1824, probably in Virginia, and was a child of his father's
first marriage. He grew up in Henry county, Indiana, and learned the
trade of carpenter and cabinet maker. When about twenty-two and
still unmarried he came to Jefferson township in Grant county, and
here met and married Mary Fergus. She was born in iliami county,
Ohio, in 1832, and was a small child when her parents came to Indiana.
Her brother is "Warren Fergus, a well known Grant county citizen, and
a more complete account of this family in Grant county will be found
elsewhere under the Fergus name in this volume. Mary Fergus was
sixteen years old when she married, and her death occurred in December
1851, at the age of nineteen. She left one child, Austin Polsley. Robert
W. Polsley, soon afterwards, married Mrs. Josiua (Powers) Sweariugen,
a widow of Henry Swearingen, who died leaving 'one son, Mark Swear-
iugen, who is now married and is a prominent banker iu Mvuicie, Indiana,
and has three children.
Robert W. Polsley by his second marriage had one child. Mary, and
after her birth, and when she was about six months old iu 1855, the family ^
moved out to Page county, Iowa, spending six weeks in going across,
the country with team and wagon. He took up government land in
southwestern Iowa, and started the labor required for making a home in
a new country. His second wife died in Iowa, in 1859. A year or two
later the war liroke out, and Robert W. Polsley enlisted with a Page
MR. AND MRS. AUSTIN POLSLEY
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 455
county company, but was attached to Co. F of the First Nebraska Volun-
teer Infantry, and served for about one year. He took part in the battle
of Shiloh, but was soon afterwards stricken with dysentery, and was
sent to the hospital in Paducah, Kentucky, where he died during the
summer of 1862. He left two children : one of them being Austin, by
his first wife, and the second being Mary, the child of his second union.
After these children were left orphans they lived with strangers
and kinsmen, and thus their early advantages were of a motley char-
acter, and they started in life with many disadvantages.
When Austin Polsley was thirteen years old, he came to live with his
grandfather, S. B. Fergus, in Grant county. At the age of nineteen
he returned to Iowa, but on reaching his majority, again found a home
in Grant county, and in 1873 bought his present farm of eighty acres.
There he has lived and prospered, has improved his land in many ways,
and has put up a fine set of farm buildings, which distinguish the place
as one of the most valuable in that section. The large red barn and the
good white house are conspicuous in the group of farm buildings.
By his first marriage to Miss Adaline Scott of Guernsey county,
Ohio, who died November 17, 1908, at the age of fifty-seven, Mr. Polsley
had seven children: Milo J., unmarried, now lives in Oklahoma; Arvina,
died at the age of sixteen; Orlofi" is a farmer in Blackford county,
Indiana, and by his marriage to Lettie Kirkpatrick has one son, Wayne.
The other children died in infancy or early childhood. Mr. Polsley after
the death of his first wife married Jlrs. Hattie (Benson) Peele. She was
born in ilorgan county, Indiana, July 28, 1867, a daughter of Temple S.
and ilary (Hickman) Benson. He was a native of Ohio while the mother
was born in Kentucky but was raised in Indiana. He moved to Shelby
county, Indiana, in the early days, and later moved to Morgan county,
Indiana, where they lived as prosperous farmers. Temple Benson was
twice married, the maiden name of his first wife having been Katie Car-
roll of Shelby county, where she died, leaving children. Mr. Benson
afterwards married a third time, and moved from Morgan county to
Indianapolis, where he died in 1905, having been born in 1830. During
the Civil war he was a soldier in the Twenty-seventh Indiana Regiment.
His widow now lives in Indianapolis. J\Irs. Polsley by her marriage
with Tirey Peele, has a daughter, Naomi, the wife of Omer Huntzinger
of Jetferson township. In 1900 the present Mrs. Polsley was left a widow
with three children. In 1901 her house in Matthews burned and two
of her children, Nina, aged sixteen months, and Merrill, aged three years,
were burned to death. i\Ir. and Mrs. Polsley are Methodists in religious
faith, and in polities he is an Independent Republican. His prosperity
as a farmer may be further gauged by the fact that he is a director of
the Matthews State Bank.
Dr. Newton W. Hiatt. Since 1889 Dr. Newton W. Hiatt has carried
on the practice of dentistry in Marion, Indiana. His progress in his
chosen profession has been of steady growth and he is known to be
one of the most capable dentists in the county, where he has lived all
his life, and is well known accordingly. Dr. Hiatt was born in Grant
county, on November 25, 1865, and he is the son of Alfred and Amanda
(Thomas) Hiatt, both of whom died when he was a small child. Dr.
Hiatt knows practicall3' nothing of the ancestry of early life of his
parents, and beyond the fact that the father was a farmer near Roseburg,
Grant county, where he spent his last da.ys, and that he was at one time
a wagon manufacturer in Marion and a Quaker in his religion. Dr. Hiatt
is unable to furnish any details concerning his parents. He was one
of their seven children, three of whom are now living.
456 BLACKFOED AND GRANT COUNTIES
Dr. Hiatt was educated in the public schools of Graut county and
in the old school at College Corner and the Mississinewa School. "When
he had finished his schooling he went to work in a grocery stoi-e and
for something like seven or eight years the youug man carried on his
work in that line. It was not until 1885 that he began to study dentistry
in the ofBce of Dr. Kiuely in Marion, and he spent three years with that
gentleman, after which he entered the Kansas City Dental College for the
purpose of finishing his dental studies, and in 1889 he was graduated
from that institution. Dr. Hiatt began the practice of his profession
in Mai'ion in April, 1889, and has since that time maiutained an office
in the Glass building. He has gained prominence and distinctive favor
with the public as a dentist of no slight ability, and is one of the leading
men of his profession in, this district.
In 1892 Dr. Hiatt was married to Miss Sadie Norcross, of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, and they have one son, Willard Hiatt.
Dr. Hiatt is i^rominent in fraternity affairs in Marion and is a ]Mason
of the thirty-second degree, and Shriner as well as having membership
in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Tribe of Ben
Hur. He was one of the founders of the Golf and Country Clubs of
Marion, and is an enthusiastic and appreciative member of each of them.
He is a man who is well versed in matters of interest pertaining to ^Marion
and Grant county, and articles of his contribution with relation to the
early history of Grant county are to be found in the historical section
of this work. Dr. Hiatt and his family are prominent socially in ilarion,
and their home is known as a center of kindly hospitality by their many
friends in the community.
Harley F. Hardin. In emphasizing the consistency of this publica-
tion it is deemed most fortunate that it is possible to accord within its
pages specific recognition to a large and thoroughly representative per-
centage of those sterling and honored citizens who are aiding definitely
in upholding the high standard of the bench and bar of Grant county,
and to such consideration J\Ir. Hardin is fully entitled, as he is one
of the able and successful practitioners of law in the city of Marion,
the county seat, with a clientage whose prominence and importance
affords voucher alike for his technical ability and the confidence reposed
in him by the community. He subordinates all else to the demands of
his profession and considers it well worthy of his closest application
and unciualified fealty. He is a resourceful advocate and excellent
counsellor, true to the ethical code of his exacting and responsible calling
in which he does all in his power to conserve ecjuity and justice. His
success has been largely due to his careful preparation of all cases pre-
sented by him before court or jury, and he has been a member of the bar
of Grant county since 1901.
Mr. Hardin was born near Livonia, Washington county, Indiana, on
the 29th of June, 1876, and is a son of Isaac A. and Susan F. (Thora-
erson) Hardin, both representatives of honored pioneer families of the
soiithern part of this state. The lineage of him whose name introduces
this article is traced back to Elisha Hardin, who was a native of South
Carolina, from which commonwealth he immigrated in an early day
to Tennessee. His son John came from Tennessee to Indiana in 1816,
the year which marked the admission of the state to the Union, and
he became one of the first permanent settlers of Washington couut.v. He
was born at Ealeigh, North Carolina, on the 12th of June, 1799, and
thus was a youth of about seventeen j-ears when he established his home
in the wilds of Indiana. He contributed in generous measure to the
initial development of Washington county and the family name has
BLACKFOED AND GRANT COUNTIES 457
been most prominently and worthily identified with the history of that
favored section of the Hoosier state. John Hardin was the great-grand-
father of the representative lawyer to whom this sketch is dedicated
and was a grandson of the founder of the Hardin family in America,
the first representative of the line having immigrated from Scotland
and established a home in North Carolina in the colonial epoch of our
national history. The paternal grandparents of Harley F. Hardin were
Andrew Jackson Hardin and Mary A. (Jones) Hardin, both of whom
passed their entire lives in Indiana. John Hardin, the founder of the
Indiana branch of this staunch old colonial family, was one of the most
honored and influential citizens of Washington county in the early days.
For many yeai'S he served as clerk of all public sales in the county, and
he drafted the greater portion of the deeds and mortgages of the people
of that county during the pioneer days. He was a man of superior
education, as guaged by the standards of his time, and he did much to
make educational provisions for the children of the pioneer community.
Three of his sons were valiant soldiers of the Union in the Civil war
and one of the number met his death in an engagement in Kentucky.
Another was Captain John J. Hardin, who was an officer in an Indiana
regiment and who is still living, his home being at Salem, Washington
county.
On the maternal side the great-grandmother of the subject of this
sketch bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Ash, and she was of sturdy
Holland Dutch lineage. Mrs. Susan F. (Thomerson) Hardin still main-
tains her home in Washington county and is held in affectionate regard
by all who have come within the sphere of her gentle and kindly influence,
her devoted husband having been summoned to the life eternal in 1896,
at the age of forty-four years, and having devoted virtually his entire
career to agricultural pursuits, in his native county. Mrs. Susan F.
Hardin is a daughter of Isaac and Caroline (Patton) Thomerson, the
former of whom still resides in Washington county, having passed the
age of four score yeai's, and the latter of whom died a number of
years ago, she having been a representative of an old Virginia family.
William Thomerson, grandfather of Isaac Thomerson, was a native of
Ireland.
Of the four children of Isaac A. and Susan F. (Thomerson) Hardin
the eldest is Harley F., of this review; Eva L. is the wife of Emerson
H. Hall, a representative farmer of Washington county; Edgar K. is
in the employ of the firm of Graves & Company, general hardware,
Salem, Ind; and Heber C. is a prosperous merchant in the village of
Campbellsburg, Washington county, these four childi'en being scions
of the fourth generation of the family in Indiana.
Harley F. Hardin gained his early experiences in connection with
the sturdy discipline of the home farm and in the meanwhile made
good use of the advantages afforded him in the public schools of his
native county. After the completion of his studies in the high school he
entered, in January, 1898, the University of Indiana, at Bloomington,
where he completed a partial course in the academic or literary depart-
ment, after which he entered the law department, in which he was grad-
uated as a member of the class of 1901, with the degree of Bachelor of
Laws. He likewise gained concomitant admission to the bar of his
native state, in Grant county, and the same year witnessed his admission
to practice in the supreme court of the state and in the United States
district court, before each of which tribunals he has pi-esented various
eases.
Mr. Hardin initiated the practice of his profession at Matthews,
Grant county, on the 1st of August, 1901, and about two years later
458 BLACKFOED AND GRANT COUNTIES
he eame to Grant county and established himself at Fairmount, in which
village he continued his professional labors until ilay, 1908, when he
removed to Marion, the county seat, in which city he has since continued
in active general practice, with a law business of substantial and essen-
tially representative order.
Deeply appreciative of the attractions and advantages of the thriving
city in which he maintains his home, ilr. Hardin is liberal and pro-
gressive in his civic attitude, and in polities he is found as a staunch
and vigorous advocate of the principles of the Republican party.
He is affiliated with the local organizations of the I\Iasonic fraternity.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Benevolent
Grew of Neptune, and both he aud his wife are zealous members of the
First Christian church of Marion, in the social circles of which city they
are distinctively popular.
On the 15th of September, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of ilr.
Hardin to Miss ilary E. Burgess, who like himself was born and reared
in Washington county and who is a daughter of Henry Burgess, a well
known aud highly esteemed citizen of that county. j\Ir. and Mrs. Hardin
have four children, — Belva L., Esther M., Forrest F., and Frances E.
"William C. McKinnet comes of a family that pioneered it in Grant
county as long ago as in 1836, and since that time the family has been
prominent in the county in many lines of enterprise, ileu of their name
have done worthy work in the development and upbuilding of this section
of the country and the name is one that is eminently worthy of perpetua-
tion in a work of the character and purpose of this publication. The
subject, as assessor of Center township and engaged in the real estate
business as well, is perhaps one of the best known men in the community
today, and with his familj', he is accorded the genuine esteem of the
best citizenship of the town.
Born in Monroe township, Grant county, Indiana, on March 12, 1854:,
William ^IcKiuney is the son of Elias W. and Ottilia R. (Barley)
McKinney, the father born in Miami county, near Piqua, Ohio, in 1825,
and the mother born iu Pennsylvania about 1830. The grandparents
of the subject were Dr. William McKinney and his good wife, Sarah
(Scott) McKinney. The former was born in Virginia in 1784, and
his wife was doubtless a daughter of the state of Kentucky, where she
married her husband. Dr. IMcKinney came to Grant county in 1836
from Ohio, and he may well be said to be one of the genuine pioneers
of the state. He early settled in Monroe township, and there lived until
his death in 1860, busy iu the practice of his profession in this and
adjoining counties. He and his wife were the parents of six children
who lived to years of maturity, all of whom are now deceased. One
of them was Elias W. McKinney, the father of William C. He was a
farmer all his life. He removed from ?^Ionroe township to Pleasant
township in 1865, aud in 1870 made another move, this time settling in
Washingtou township where he remained until 1896, when he retired
from his farming activities and moved to ilarion. There he passed his
remaining days, death claiming him there in 1906.
Elias McKinney was thrice married. His first wife, the mother of
William C, died when he was a year old, about 1855. He was one
of the five children of his parents, two of the number dying in infancy,
and the other two who reached mature years, but who are now deceased,
being Mrs. Maria J. Dunn, who died in December, 1885, and Mrs. Editha
O. Hicks, who died in 1892. The father later married Abigail J.
Chidester, a native daughter of Grant county, and five children blessed
this marriage as well, — two of the number being alive at this writing.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 459
namely, Mary E. Blue, of Marion, and Susan Belle Grendelle, of Denver,
Colorado. The second wife died in 1877 and Mr. McKinney married a
third time in 1881, Martha Frazee of Grant county becoming his wife.
There was no issue of this marriage.
William C. McKinney was reared on the home farm of his father
and received his education in the public schools of his native community.
He lived at home on the farm until his marriage in 1879, when he with-
drew from the immediate family circle and settled with his young wife
on a portion of the old home place, setting up an independent household.
He continued thus until 1891, when he moved into Marion, and this
city has since represented him home and the scene of his principal activ-
ities. For some two years he carried on a thi'iving business in contract-
ing, prior to which time he was occupied as deputy city marshal for
four years, and in 1908 he was elected assessor of Center township on
the Republican ticket, the term of which office was lately extended by the
state legislature from four to six years, so that he is still discharging
the di;ties of his office. In connection with that Mr. IMcKinney carries on
a real estate business of a more or less extensive nature, and he is on
the whole, one of the best known business men of the community.
He is a man who is prominent in a number of fraternal and social
orders, among which are the Junior Order of United Mechanics, of
which he has been secretary for the past seventeen years; he is past
counselor of the Daughters of America of which he is a trustee ; and he
has a membership in the Tribe of Ben Hur, in which he is past chief
and trustee. He is a member of the Congregational church, and his
polities are these of a stanch and active Republican.
ilr. jMcKinuey was married on September 11, 1879, to Miss Jennie
E. Blue, a daughter of Isaiah Blue, long a resident of Washington town-
ship. Four children have been born to them, — of which number three
are living. They ai*e Dora 0., Mary A. and Alice McKinney, and all
are members of the immediate family circle as yet. The fourth born
child died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. McKinney and their daughters share alike in the general
esteem and friendship of a goodly circle of Marion's best people, and they
are active in social and other circles in and about the city.
Milton Marshall. Now living retired in Upland, at a comfortable
home on Irwin Street, which he bought in 1909 and after moving from
his farm in section thirty-five of Monroe township, Mr. Marsliall has
spent sixty-nine birthdays in Grant county, and is at this writing within
a few months of threescore and ten years. His descendants and fellow
countrymen will honor him for his service to the Union as a soldier, in
the dark days of the Civil war, and since his return from the south he
has been identified in a successful manner with the agricultural and
stock raising activities of Grant county, until he recently gave over the
strenuous endeavors of earlier years, and is now enjoying a well earned
prosperity.
Llilton Marshall was born on his father 's homestead in Grant county,
May 16. 1844. He is a son of Robert and Jane Fanning Marshall.
Robert Marshall was born on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania,
March 11, 1806, and died in 1905, at Carlisle in Warren county, Iowa,
at the home of a son. While living in Pennsylvania, on September 26.
1826. he married for his first wife, Eliza Brannon. Early in the thirties
he came to Grant county, and his name may be found in the list of those
who secured land direct from the government. He was an industrious
and hardy pioneer, and the results of his labors might still be seen in
fields from which his axe cleared off the timber and underbrush.
460 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
His first wife, M-ho was born in Pennsylvania, February 29. 1808,
died in Grant county in the prime of life. On November 9, 1837, Robert
Marshall married in Monroe township, Raehael Bird, who was born
either in Ohio or Pennsylvania, on June 20, ISli. She died August 22,
1839, leaving one son, James, who is married and lives in Oklahoma.
Robert Marshall by his first marriage had the following children : Apple-
ton, deceased; Clarissa, deceased; and Adeline, the widow of Riley
Nunu, living in Iowa. On ilay 17, 1840, Robert Marshall married Jane
Fanning, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and died in ilouroe
township, December 4, 1900. She became the mother of nine children,
and seven are still living and all are married and have homes of their
own, except one.
Milton Marshall grew np on the old homestead in Monroe township,
had about the same education as was granted to most boys in that
community and in that time, and was but a little over seventeen years
of age when the great war between the states was begun after Fort
Sumter was fired upon. On September 5, 1861, he enlisted in Com-
pany F of the Thirty-fourth Indiana Regiment, under the command of
Colonel Steele and Captain R. B. Jones and had an unusually long
period of military service, continuing until his honorable discharge at
Brownsville, Texas, on February 3, 1866. He was almost constantly on
duty, whether in camp or on the march, participated in many of the
campaigns in the Mississippi Valley and in the far south, and among the
major engagements in wliich he fought were those at New Madrid. Mis-
souri, at Magnolia Courthouse, at Champion Hill and in various battles
about Vicksburg. He escaped without wounds, and the only time he
was in the hospital was brought about by an attack of the measles.
About six years after his return from the south. Mr. ]\Iarshall entered
upon his independent career of farming by the purchase of forty acres
of land in Monroe township. While he never became one of the very
large land holders of Grant county, Jlr. Marshall made a record of
undeniable success, and conducted his various operations in such a way
as to bring him steadily forward in prosperity. The original forty acres
was increased until he owned sixty-four acres, and developed practically
every acre and made it productive according to the highest standards
of Grant county agi'iculture. His land was improved with a substantial
barn, and with an excellent six-room dwelling.
In Monroe township iu 1867, occurred the marriage of Jliltou ilar-
shall and Mary J. Needham. Her birth occurred in Jefferson county,
Indiana, January 2, 1841. Her parents were Lorenzo Dow and ilahala
(Lishleiter) Needham, both of whom were born iu Indiana, in 1800. were
married in Jefferson county, and lived on a farm there the rest of their
lives. Her father died in October 1841, only a few months after the
birth of ISlvs. Marshall. The mother died in 1851, so that Mrs. Marshall
from the age of ten never knew the care and protection of parents. 3Ir.
and Mrs. ^Marshall are the parents of seven children, namely: John, who
lives in Upland, is married, but has no children ; Elizabeth is the wife
of Alonzo Keen, of JMonroe township, and has two children. Donna and
Blanch; ilelissa is the wife of Ephraim Randolph, of Bakersfield. Cali-
fornia ; Minnie, now the wife of Samuel Seavers of Jefferson township,
by her first marriage has one daughter May Thomason, and has two
children by her present husband, Helen and Garland ; Emma is the wife
of Noah B. Pearson of Upland, and their children ai-e Opal and Ruth;
Ida is the wife of Charles Hults, a farmer of Monroe township, and they
have two children, Letha and Berl ; Lona is the wife of Perry Seavers,
who is now superintending the ^Marshall farm in ilonroe township, and
they have one son, Melvin. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall are both members
of the Quaker church and in politics he is a Republican.
BLACKFOKD AND GRANT COUNTIES 461
S. L. Stricler. a membership of twenty years iu the Grant county
bar, accompanied by successful practice and prominent iu public affairs,
has constituted Mr. Stricler one of the leaders among the present lawyers
of Grant county. Mr. Stricler has well won all that fortune and success-
ful positions have given him, since he began his career a poor man and
used the resources of his individuality for every advancement to larger
responsibility and success.
Samuel Stricler was a native of Grant county, where he was born
February 26, 1863, a son of Jeremiah and Mary A. (Tanquary) Stricler
The father was a native of Maryland and a farmer by occupation who
settled in Grant county in 1847 and lived there sixty-five years until
his death October 15, 1912. The mother passed away November 8, 1897.
They were the parents of six children, four of whom are now living,
namely: ilrs. Jennie Tucker, of Converse, Miami county; John AV., of
Oklahoma ; and James Stricler, of Grant county.
Sir. S. L. Stricler was reared on a farm in this county and began his
education by attending the district schools of his neighborhood. He
had finally advanced to a point where he was given a teacher's certifi-
cation and with that obtained a school and was to a large extent identified
with teaching for seven j-ears. During the summer for five years he
was engaged in farming and for the other two years worked in a general
store at Somerset, Indiana. With the resources acquired by this work
he finally entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and
was graduated in June 1893. He then opened his oifice at Converse in
Miami county, and four years later moved to Marion. Mr. Stricler was
for five years county attorney of this county and for the past four years
has been a member of the local board of education, being treasurer of
the board at the present time. In 1902 he was elected a member of the
state senate for four years, and during his terms as senator Avas author
of a bill to re-codify the state statutes. Mr. Stricler is afSliated with
the JMasonic Lodge and the Knights of Pythias and Elks and in politics
is a Republican, being one of the influential men of his party in Grant
countj'.
On August 8, 1889, Mr. Stricler married IMiss Ina Comer, a daughter
of L. H. and Eliza Comer of Grant county. The two children born of
their marriage are Dahl, now twenty-two years of age, and engaged as a
shipping clerk in the glass factory at Marion; and l\Iildred C, age
fourteen.
John D. Ferree. The history of any community, especially as recorded
for the benefit of future generations, is most effectively given through
the oftering of proper and specific definition of the careers of those who
stand representative in the various lines of human activity in the locality
treated. Thus it is signally pertinent that in this history of Grant
county there be accorded definite representation to Mr. Ferree, who
was formerly secretary of the Farmers' Trust and Savings Company,
in the city of Marion, but now secretary and treasurer of Johnston Fur-
niture Company, and who stands forth as one of the aggressive, liberal
and valued business men and honored and influential citizens of his
native county, where he is well known and commands unequivocal
popular confidence.
J\lr. Ferree was born on the homestead farm of the family, in Liberty
township, this county, and the date of his nativity was August 25, 1872.
He is a son of John and Rebecca (Harvey) Ferree, both of Avhom were
born in North Cai-olina, where they were reared and educated and where
their marriage was solemnized. Soon after this important event in their
lives they came to Indiana and fii'st located in Morgan county, whence
462 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
they came to Grant county nearly half a century ago, here passing the
residue of their lives and commanding secure place in the contidence
and esteem of all who knew them, Mr. Ferree having become the owner
of an excellent farm and having become one of the representative agri-
culturists and honored and influential citizens of Liberty township.
They later moved to Pairmount for educational advantages offered by
the Fairmount Academy for their children, where he and his wife died.
Of their seven children five sons and one daughter are living. The
parents were birthright members of the Society of Friends and they
lived in gracious accord with the simple and noble faith of this sterling
religious body.
Like many another who has entered business life and attained to
definite success and prestige thereiu, John D. Ferree gained his early
experiences in connection with the work of the farm, and after availing
himself of the privileges afforded by Fairmount Academy at Fairmount,
this county, it was his good fortune to be able to continue his studies
in Earlham College, at Richmond, Wayne county, — an admirable insti-
tution maintained under the auspices of the Society of Friends. In
this college he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895 and
he received therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Science. His intention
had been to prepare himself for the medical profession, but he was
deflected therefrom and his success in other fields of endeavor has been
such that he has had no reason to regret that his youthful plans were
thus changed. After leaving college Mr. Ferree turned his attention
to pedagogic work, and in the same he proved both successful and
popular. For two years he held the position of principal of the public
schools of Fairmount, this county, and in 1897 he became deputj' county
clerk, under the administration of his elder brother, E. N. Ferree. He
continued the valued incumbent of this important position for ten
years, and incidentally became known to and honored by the residents
of all parts of his native county. His long experience and sterling
character marked him as a logical candidate for advancement to the
office of county clerk, to which he was elected, on the Republican ticket,
in 1907, and he gave a most effective and satisfactory administration,
his tenure of office expiring in 1911. In January of that year he became
one of the organizers and incorporators of the Farmers' Trust and
Savings Company and he has been a valued factor in the development
and upbuilding of the large and substantial business of this important
and well ordered company, of which he was secretary from the time
of its incorporation until June, 1913, when he incorporated the Johnston
Furniture Company, the same having been kno^vn for years as the
H. G. Johnston Furniture Store. He was also a director of the company.
In all the relations of life he has fully iipborne the high prestige of
the honored name which he bears, and he stands as one of the popular
and representative business men of the county that has ever been his
home.
The stalwart allegiance which he has accorded to the Republican
party vouches for the political faith of Mr. Ferree and he has been a
zealous worker in the local camp of his party, in which he seiwed at one
time as chairman of the city central committee of Marion. He is affil-
iated with the local organizations of the Benevolent & Protective Order
of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Loyal Order of Moose, and the
Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Ferree and his wife have an interest
in all that tends to advance the civic welfare of the community and
all things that make for high social and moral ideals. They have a good
home in Marion and the same is known for its cordial and gracious
lity.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 463
On the 6th of July, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ferree
to Miss Adalene M. Heaston, of Huntington county, this state, and the
two children of this ideal union are John Willard and Edwin H. Ferree.
Oea E. Butz. With the exception of a comparatively brief time,
when he was employed in a stenographic capacity just after emerging
from the Indiana Business College at Logansport, Ora E. Butz has been
engaged in teaching the business branches in Marion, and has for some
time past been manager of the Marion Business College. He has proven
his ability as an instructor and excellent success has attended his efforts
from the start, and as one of the enterprising and ambitious young men
of the city and one whose efforts have gained him a prominent place
in the city, he is properly accorded some special mention in this historical
work.
Born in Cass county, on the home farm of his parents on March 25,
1883, Ora E. Butz is the son of Charles H. and Jennie (Snider) Butz,
natives of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Cass county, respectively. The
father made his home in Allentown until 1873, when he came to Indiana.
He was identified with the manufacturing business, fairly successful
in his way, but the panic of 1873 finished his prosperity and caused him
to move from his old home to Indiana. Coming to Cass county, he
identified himself with farming, and it was there that he met and married
his wife. They still live on their Cass county farm, and are enjoying
their well earned rest. They became the pai-ents of seven children, five
of whom are yet living. One of the number was Ora E., the subject of
this review.
Mr. Butz attended the schools of Cass county in the vicinity of
his home community, and on finishing the public schools, entered the
Indiana Business College at Logansport, where he took up a thorough
course of business study. His first work upon leaving school was in
the office of the superintendent of the Michigan Division of the Penn-
sylvania Railroad at Logansport, and he was employed in a stenographic
capacity. Four months of service there was followed by a period of
nine months in a Logansport hardware store, after which he was asked
to return to the school he had previously quitted and take up the duties
of a teacher of shorthand. He taught stenography and bookkeeping in
the Kokomo Business College for a year, and in 1907 was given the
management of ilarion Business College, in addition to the manager-
ship of the Kokomo school. In 1910, so well had he succeeded in the
duties of manager, that the proprietor of the chain of schools appointed
him to the post of manager of the Logansport Business College as well,
which position he is now holding. His success in the field of business
education is one of which he might well be proud, and he has done
much to bring these schools up to a high standard of commercial excel-
lence, resulting in a corresponding increase in attendance and popularity
of the schools.
On December 26, 1906, Mr. Butz was married to Miss Edith M.
Fonts, daughter of Jasper and Alice Ann Fonts, both of Cass county, and
occupants of the farm adjoining that on which Mr. Butz was reared.
He and his wife were diildhood play fellows and school mates, and their
union came after a lifelong acquaintance. Three children have been
born to them, — Dortha Vernon, Tom Ellis and Catherine Alice.
Mr. Butz is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and with his wife
has membership in the Church of the United Brethren in ]\Iarion.
He is a clean-cut, fine-spirited and wholesome young man who bears
the confidence and esteem of all who share in his acquaintance, and his
citizenship is of an order such as to place him among the Marion men
464 BLACKFORD AND GEANT COUNTIES
who must be reckoned with when matters of import to the best interest
of the city are up for discussion.
JIarion Business College. Organized in the Columbian Block,
No. 211 South Washington street, IMarion, the Marion Business College
began its operations in this building immediatel.y upon the completion
of the structure. Mr. J. D. Brunner, of Lincoln, Nebraska, became
financially interested in the school in the year 1895, and became its
sole proprietor in 1896, from which year until 1902 he and ilrs. Brunner
(also an experienced instructor) conducted the institution, offering the
business subjects in botli the day and night sessions. A great many
of the prominent business men of Marion received their business training
under the capable instruction of Mr. and Jlrs. Brunner.
In 1902, Mr. Charles C. Cring, of South Bend, Indiana, conceived
the idea of a chain of schools, and being successful in interesting Jlr.
Brunner in the pro.ieet, they incorporated under the name Indiana Busi-
ness College. That same year they purchased the Logausport Business
College and organized the Kokomo Business College. Their business
prospered, and from time to time they purchased additional schools,
so that now the Indiana Business College comprises thirteen well-estab-
lished, well-conducted, well-attended business schools within the limits
of the Hoosier State. The schools are known by either the title of Indiana
Business College, or as follows: Marion Business College, ilarion; Ko-
komo Business College, Kokomo ; Logansport Business College, Logans-
port; iluncie Business College, I\Iuncie; Anderson Business College,
Anderson; Columbus Business College, Columbus; Richmond Business
College, at Richmond ; Lafayette Business College, Lafayette ; Crawfords-
ville Business College, at Crawfordsville ; Washington Business College,
at Washington; Newcastle Business College, at Newcastle; Vineennes
Business College, at Vineennes; and Central Business College, at Indian-
apolis, Indiana.
The Clarion Business College has always employed high-class
instructors, and maintains an up-to-date equipment. It has for years
taught most of the bookkeepers and stenographers who have accepted
and held positions in the city of Marion, and its standing among business
men assures a competent graduate every chance for employment.
The curriculum of this institution includes a careful training in the
following subjects : Bookkeeping, Business Arithmetic, Commercial Law,
Salesmanship, Penmanship, Spelling, Rapid Calculation, Business Cor-
respondence, Business English, Shorthand, Typewriting, Commission.
Manufacturing, Banking Office Practice and Stenotypy. The school
continues to operate in the old quarters at No. 211 South Washington
street, and is now recognized as one of the best institutions of its kind
in the State.
Mr. 0. E. Butz at this time is manager of the Slarion Business Col-
lege, personal mention of his career and work being given in the
sketch preceding this. Under his management the college has met with
its greatest success, due in no small way to his efficient methods and fine
executive ability.
W.\i,TEE W. Slain. Not all the fai-ms in Grant county are owned by
members of the old families. Among the progressive younger agricul-
turists who have come to the county from other sections, and by their
enterprise and thrift have laid substantial foundations for large pros-
perity, Walter W. Slain, a hustling young farmer, with a fine reputation
as a man and citizen, has a prominent place. JMr. Slain operates a fine
farm of eighty acres in section twenty-five of Jet?erson township. Prac-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 465
tically all his land is improved, he is the tj^pe of man who allows little
waste ground about his farm, he is rapidly transforming his acres into
one of the most valuable and productive estates in his part of the county.
A substantial red barn and a comfortable white house are the more im-
portant of the building improvements. ^Ir. Slain bought his present
farm in January, 1912, and has it well stocked v^-ith hogs and sheep. He
also cultivates sixty acres of farm land in the same vicinity. ]\Ir. Slain
has come into his present prosperity after a number of years as a renter
and tenant, and has earned all he possesses. He has operated farms in
this part of Grant county for some years, and has a reputation for pro-
gressive and reliable methods of land management and is regarded as an
upright citizen and thoi'oughly capable business man. J.9^ S '-- -S
"Walter W. Slain was born in Boone county, Indiana, May 14, IF" "
was reared and educated in Delaware county, and since 1898 has had his
home in Grant county. His parents are John William and Elizabeth
(Higden) Slain. His father, a native of Rush county, Indiana, was mar-
ried in Boone county to Miss Higden, who was born there, and a few
years later they went to Madison countj^, bought and operated a farm
of eighty acres, and later moved toi Delaware county, where the father
farmed until his retirement. He now lives in Gaston, and is a vigorous
man bearing easily the weight of almost seventy years. He and his wife
are active in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is an official and
served for some years as superintendent of the Sunday school. Of the
eight children, six are living, and the family record is as follows : Etta,
who died a young woman; Millie, who died after her marriage, leaving
no children ; Albert, who is a farmer in Madison county, and has seven
living children ; Walter W. ; Thomas, a mechanic, living in Elwood, and
has two sons ; Ethel, wife of Glenn Wood, now living on a farm in Madi-
son county, and they have three daughters; and Ira, who occupies his
father's Madison cdunty farm, and has one son; and one child, Leonard,
who is a nephew adopted into the family, and has always had the posi-
tion of a son, is now a farmer in Clark county, Indiana, and has one
son and one daughter.
Walter W. Slain was married in Delaware count;^, to iliss Florence
Nottingham, whose father, Rufus C. Nottingham, is * well known and
prosperous citizen of Grant county, and his career and family are
sketched on other pages of this Centennial history. Mr. and Mrs. Slain
are the parents of the following children: Charles and Clifford, who
both died in infancy; Virgil A., born March 11, 1898, and now attending
the public schools; Roy Ormal, born January 6, 1903, and in school.
Mr. and Jlrs. Slain are Slethodists belonging to the Pleasant Grove
church, and in politics he is a Republican voter.
Edwin Caldwell. When Train and Eliza (Wells) Caldwell came
with their family from Fayette county, arriving in Grant county
November 20, 185*6, they had two children, Edwin and Fanny Caldwell,
and they had buried two in Fayette county, — Amanda and an infant
that had not been christened. Another son, John W. Caldwell, was born
in Grant county. Fanny Caldwell and the parents are buried in this
county. The father died July 27, 1881, and the mother lived several
years, passing away April 14, 1897. Only two sons remain of the
family.
Edwin Caldwell married Miss Nancy J. Carmichael, of Hope, Bar-
tholomew county, August 19, 1877. In the spring of 1878 Mr. Edwin
Caldwell and wife moved from the Caldwell family home in Liberty
township to Marion, where they have lived continuously except while
he was employed as a clerk in the war department, in Washington City,
466 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
and also for a short time spent on the Pacific Coast. Mr. and IMrs.
Caldwell have one son, Frank Caldwell, a student in the Marion high
school. There were a number of prominent Southern Grant county
families who, like the Caldwells, came from Fayette county in an early
day, and all of them are good citizens. Mr. Caldwell went to the district
schools near his home in Liberty township, and later to the Fairmount
high school, and to the Summer Normal Schools in Marion. For j^ears
he was among the progressive teachers of Grant County, where he both
"taught" and "kept" school for fourteen years, spending four years
of that time at "College Corner," where the Marion Normal College
finally located when the city was extended out South Washington street.
Mr. Caldwell is of a mathematical turn of mind, and even while teach-
ing, he used to do a great deal of work as a bookkeeper. Now for several
years he has been recognized as an expert accountant. He is one of
the state field examiners, and does accounting all over Indiana as he
finds time to leave the eitj^ local manufacturers and business corpora-
tions employing him most of the time in auditing accounts for them.
He has all the modern appliances, typewriting, tabulating machine, etc.,
and frequently does his work at home. Mr. Caldwell has reduced the
business to system, and in his "pigeon holes" are kept the previous
year 's records, so that when a call comes to audit a set of books he simply
takes down his file, and knows just where he stands — an easy matter.
Mr. Caldwell is frequently called upon to install the books for new
firms and corporations, and being an excellent penman it is always
a satisfactory service. Commercial auditing is congenial employment
and remunerative, and while he enjoyed teaching he would not want
to teach again. J\Ir. Caldwell is a licensed embalmer, having worked
with the different Marion undertakers, but the w'ork of an accountant
is more congenial to him and all his time is taken at present. The
Caldwell family are members of the ilethodist Episcopal church, and
Mrs. Caldwell has occupied much of her spare time with fancy lace
patterns, having many scarfs and table covers as a result, and she dares
not place a price on her designs — has done so frequently, and had to
make others. Knitting is a profitable pastime.
CoL. George W. Steele. In the present Governor of the National
Military Home, Indiana, Grant county has one of its most distinguished
characters, and one whose citizenship is not merely local, but national.
Col. Steele is one of those figures who stands forth as a representative
not of a city or state, but of a nation. However, during the greater
portion of his long life. Grant county has been his home. He made
splendid record as a soldier and officer in the Civil War; spent several
years following the war in the regular army on the frontier. Became
identified with the old pork packing industry in i\Iariou, and was one
of the principal organizers of the First National Bank of Marion: in
1880 began a career as congressman which continued through manj'
years, dui-ing which he performed distinguished service for his constit-
uency and for the nation; and had the honor of serving as the first
governor of Oklahoma Territory. This brief outline indicates the diver-
sity and importance of his career, and the many reasons why Grant
county esteems him as among its foremost public characters.
George W. Steele is a native of this state, born in Fayette county
December 13, 1839. When he was a little more than three years of age
his parents moved to Grant county, settling here on February 3, 1843,
so that for more than seventy years this county has been his home. His
parents were Asbury and Mary Louisa (Waddom) Steele, the former
a native of Kentuckj', and the latter of Indiana. Asbury Steele was a
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 467
lawyer by profession, and was for many years a successful member of
the Marion bar. Soon after he had taken up his residence in this county,
he was elected to the office of county clerk, and re-elected, resigning,
however, to resume the law early in his second term. He was the colonel
of the 34th Indiana Volunteers from August 2, 1861, to January 14,
1862, when he resigned. Was a state senator. His death occurred in
1886 ; that of fiis wife in 1870. Of their six children only two are now
living: Colonel George W. Steele and Asbury E. Steele, axi attorney
of Marion.
Col. George W. Steele received his education in the common schools
of Marion and had collegiate advantages in the Ohio Wesleyau University.
At an early date he took up the study of law and after being admitted
to practice, opened an office in Hartford City, this state, on April 11,
1861. Two days later Fort Sumter was fired upon and after eight
days in his new office he closed it and rode horse-back across country
to Marion and enlisted in a company which was organized in this city
for the Eighth Indiana Regiment of Infantry. He was not mustered
into that company, however, having gotten his name upon the roll
too late, but with others formed a nucleus for a company which was
mustered into the Twelfth Indiana Infantry on May 2, 1861, he being
commissioned a First Lieutenant. This regiment was stationed at
Evansville until July 18, 1861, at which date it was ordered to Wash-
ington in order to take part in the campaign which terminated in the
battle of Bull Run. The regiment failed to reach the field in time to
participate in that first great disastrous battle to the Federal army, and
during the following winter of 1861-62 it was engaged in picket duty,
the camp of his company being near Antietam Aqueduct, Maryland.
In March, 1862, the Twelfth Indiana was among the advanced troops
in the forces that drove the Rebels out of Winchester, Virginia.
When .the stated term of service for the regiment had expired it
returned to Indianapolis, via Washington, D. C, to be mustered out,
and arrived in Washington the night after the first day's battle at
Fair Oaks, Virginia, in May, 1862. The following morning's paper
gave vivid account of the severe reverses suffered by General McClellan
and his troops, and this news pi-oduced such an impression upon the
regiment that it at once marched to the White House and-oft'ered its
services without compensation, to President Lincoln. This prompt
action in the face of great national danger was greeted with many com-
pliments by the President, who said he believed the battle would be
over before the regiment could reach the field, and advised the officers
and men to return to their homes and resume their respective avoca-
tions in life.
In August, 1862, Col. Steele organized a company for the One Hun-
dred and First Indiana Infantry, was elected captain, and at once with
the regiment was transported to Newport, Kentuckj', to meet the forces
of Bragg which were then threatening to cross the Ohio River. The
Company took active part in the campaign which forced Generals Bragg
and Early to countermarch. The Union Army under General Buell
overtook the Confederate Army at Perryville in October, 1862, where
a fierce battle, in which the One Hundred and First Indiana partici-
pated, ended in favor of the Union cause, the Confederates under Gen-
eral Bi-agg retreating. There were many other engagements, especially
skirmishes in which the One Hundred and First Indiana actively par-
ticipated, until Murfreesboro was reached, when another great battle,
one of the greatest of the war, was fought. The Union Army, being
victorious, remained in and near to Murfreesboro until in June, 1863.
On February 8, 1863, the major of the regiment having resigned, although
468 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
there were eight captains who ranked Captain Steele, he was commis-
sioned major, on account of a petition signed by every officer of the
regiment present, save one captain who ranked him. He has a copy of
this petition, prizing it very liighly. Commissary supplies having to
be brought over a long single line of railroad, harassed by the enemy,
made foraging necessary. On one of these foraging expeditions a
division of General Morgan's Cavalry followed a brigade commanded
by General Hall, to which the One Hundred and First Indiana belonged.
This regiment was thrown out to offer as much resistance as possible
to Morgan's command, while three regiments and a battery of artillery,
the Nineteenth Indiana, parked the loaded train they had, and took
position. This the regiment did successfully, two companies of skir-
mishers under the command of Major Steele performing especially active
and efficient service, and as evidence that the regiment was where the
most severe fighting occurred, is the fact that seven-eighths of the men
killed and wounded belonged to the One Hundred and First Indiana.
The enemy tried for six or seven hours to drive the brigade from its
position, but finally withdrew, leaving a hundred and eighty dead and
wounded on the field.
On IMay 31, 1863, the Colonel of the regiment having resigned,
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Doan was commissioned Colonel and Major
Steele Lieutenant Colonel, but on account of active service and inacces-
sibility to mails and mustering officers, they served without mustering
until the close of the war.
The regiment was in all of the campaigns and battles in which the
troops of its brigade were engaged to Chattanooga, including the battle
of Chickamauga; at jMissionary Ridge; the ninety da.ys' campaign includ-
ing the fall of Atlanta, all the time under fire or within hearing of
fire, the march after Hood into Alabama ; then back to Atlanta, and to
the Sea, through the Carolinas, the battles of Smithfield and Benton-
ville; after the surrender of Lee's army, marching to Richmond and to
Washington; thence by railroad and steamboats to Louisville, arriving
the latter part of June, 1865, whence they had started the latter part
of September, 1862. On the Campaign to the Sea, Colonel Steele was
in charge of a battalion of foragers that for efficiency and good luck
was not excelled by any other organized body of nearly the same strength.
After the war he tried the grocery business, it only taking him a
very few days to ascertain that the business was too large for him. On
account of which he sold out and started as a " boomer ' ' in Kansas City,
Missouri. Was surprised at the limited success he had. Returning
to Marion, he married IMarietta E. Swayzee, a daughter of one of the
oldest and mo.st respected families of Grant coiinty. Shortly after-
wards he accepted a commission as First Lieutenant in the Fourteenth
United States Infantry and was ordered to California, going to New
York, thence to Aspinwall, now Colon, crossing the Isthmus of Panama,
thence to San Francisco by Pacific liner, and to San Pedro, and by
ambulance to their new home at Camp Grant, arriving within two da.ys
of a year after the date of their marriage, where they lived for several
moutbs in an adobe house with two small rooms, dirt floor, dirt roof,
and canvas windows; the Apaches being so hostile it was entirely
unsafe to go out of the camp without an escort. Colonel Steele was
later made regimental quartermasfer ; then depot quartermaster. The
regiment was ordered East, with headciuarters at Nashville, Tennessee,
where a daughter, Marietta V., was born. The Indians on the Upper
Missouri becoming troublesome, the regiment was ordered to Fort
Randall, and thence to Fort Thompson, and after securing tranquility.
to Fort Sedgwick as headcjuarters, the regiment scattering, some of
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 469
the companies remainiug at this post, others going to Sidney, Fort D. A.
Russell, Fort Fetterman, and to Laramie, where the headquarters of
the regiment moved on account of trouble with the Sioux Indians.
Colonel Steele was not only quartermaster of the regiment and depot
quartermaster, but was made commissary, looking after not only the
supplying and distribution of supplies for the troops at Laramie and
Fetterman, but supplying nine thousand five hundred Indians with
rations for several months.
He resigned from the Army after ten years' service, becoming a
successful pork packer in Marion, and he yet wonders how it happened
that he was able to borrow all of the great amount of money that was
necessary to run such an establishment, without being able to pay for
the completion of the building or having a dollar of capital, obtaining
all he needed on his checks alone.
In 1878, having political aspirations, he made the race for nomina-
tion to Congress on the Republican ticket. The congressional district,
composed of Grant, JIadison, Delaware, Henry, Hancock, Shelby and
Johnson counties, was strongly Democratic, which, the Colonel states,
probably made it easy for him to get the endorsement of Grant county.
The convention was held in Shelby county. Colonel Steele having gone
to the army as a boy. and only having returned a comparatively short
time, all of which was occupied in business, he had few acquaintances
throughout the district. Nevertheless his Grant county friends nearly
secured his nomination ; he only losing by a vote and a half. Colonel Gross
defeating him. In 1879 George W. Steele, Jr., was born. In 1880, the
district being changed to take in Grant, Howard, Miami, Wabash, "Wells,
Adams, Jay and Blackford counties. Colonel Steele was nominated
and elected to the Forty-seventh Congress by a plurality of 533. Was
reelected in 1882 by a plurality of 333; again in 1884, by a plurality
of 54, and again in 1886 by a plurality of 408. Howard county being
taken out of the district and giving twice the plurality he had had at
any time, caused his defeat by 400 in 1888. He was out of Congress
for six years. He helped to organize the First National Bank of ilarion
and became its president in 1890. During the same year, on account
of the insistence of President Harrison, and because he did not think
he was much of a banker, he accepted the governorship of Oklahoma
Territory, with the distinct understanding that it was only to be a
temporary appointment, on account of desiring to go into business. He
found the Territory with county seats Avithout county boundaries; the
authority of the military removed on account of the civil act organizing
the territory. There were no other officers in the territory save the
commissioner, and receiver of the land office and the United States
marshal; the United States district judges and the secretary of state
arrived shortly afterwards. County boundaries were made by the
Governor and the only change asked was by one county, that two town-
ships that had been given to it be added to another, hoping and expect-
ing that the Cherokee Strip between Oklahoma and Kansas would be
opened, when additional territory might be added to this (Stillwater)
county. In this they were right. Enumeration of the population was
provided for, and officers appointed, from treasurer of state to road
supervisors and constables, the applicants for office or their friends or
both being asked to meet the Governor at the county seats and make
application in person. The appointment of all these officers Avas made
inside of ten daj's, and so far as he is aware no complaint was made
that any of them were not honest and efficient. Apportionment of the
population was made for legislative purposes; elections held, and the
legislature assembled to enact or adopt laws for the government of the
470 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
territory, the apportionment being entirely satisfactory to all political
parties and so fair that it resulted in a majority of only two in favor
of the Republicans. The question of the location of the capital of the
tei-ritory was one of the first that came up for consideration, and two
Republicans from Oklahoma county agreed to give the organization to
their rivals in consideration of their votes for the removal of the capital
from Guthrie, the temporary seat of government, to Oklahoma City.
This with other considerations entering into the matter before the vote
was taken made the Governor feel it incumbent upon him to veto the
bill, which he did, very much of course to the disappointment of not
only the senators and members of Oklahoma County engineering the
scheme, but to many of the good citizens of that county. Afterwards
on account of prearraugement, the capital was voted for another county,
and the bill again vetoed, the reasons for which being stated opening in
the legislature by the Governor. The Capital question, however, was
so disposed of during the incumbency of Governor Steele that it never
gave any further trouble to the people of the territory, nor was it
changed until after the territory became a state, when it was finally fixed
at Oklahoma City. He found the people of the territory very poor on
his arrival, and was able to secure from the National Treasury $44,000.00
in money with which to buy rations ; secured competent men of unques-
tioned integrity to expend the money, and arranged for the transporta-
tion of the supplies to the points for distribution in the territory, without
cost or loss to the poor people. In the fall of that year, on his assurance
that he would do the best he could to see that wheat in kind was returned,
if the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Rock Island Railroads would
deliver it to their agents and loan it to the farmers for seed, twenty
thousand bushels were secured, and it was retui-ned bushel for bushel.
Thousands of people more than there were quarter-sections of land
camped on government reservations, especially on the school lands, and
arrangements were made by the Governor, through the Secretary of
the Interior, for leasing these lands annually at the best price, payable
in cash: giving preference to the lessee when future leases were to be
made. This was the first arrangement of its kind, and resulted not
only in giving homes to the people occupying these lands and improv-
ing" them for the use of the territory, but many thousand dollars were
added to the school fund.
After remaining nineteen months as Governor, instead of five or six
as he first expected, he resigned, coming back to ]\Iarion, in the mean-
time being offered an important position : that of Government Director
of the Union Pacific Railroad. Notwithstanding its good salary he felt
like returning home. Shortly thereafter he with others purchased a
large tract of land near Marion, and became a director in what was
known as the Wanamaker Land Company, which did not disappear from
the map, but only because it was all paid for. It is just now worth as
much as it cost in 1892.
In 1894 he was elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress and reelected
to the Fifty-fifth, Fifty -sixth and Fifty-seventh Congresses. During his
first term of eight years he served on the committees on military affairs,
on pensions, and on expenditures in the War Department. During his
last eight years he served on the committee on ways and means. Dur-
ing this service President McKinley offered him an appointment as
brigadier general in the Spanish-American War, which he had to decline
because he had gone to the President in the interest of another gentle-
man, whom the President could not favor.
In 1888 while a member of the Fifty-seventh Congress, notwithstand-
ing it was Democratic, he introduced and secured the passage of a bill
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 471
establishing a National Soldiers Home in Grant county, Indiana, the
smallest limit of territory that, up to that time, had been thought of in
the establishment of such great institutions. The bill was approved
by President Cleveland. ' For fourteen years while Governor of Okla-
homa and while Member of Congress, and subsequent to that time, he
was a member of the Board of IManagers of the National Home for
Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and for the last nine j^ears has been Gov-
ernor of the Marion Branch.
There are two children: the daughter, Marietta V., is married and
now living in Indianapolis ; and a son, George W. Steele, Jr., a lieutenant
commander in the United States Navy, who has recently performed such
service as to prompt the Admiral of the Pacitic Squadron and the Secre-
tary of the Navy to have recorded official mention and commendation
of it.
Ellsworth Harvey. The son of an honored pioneer family of
Indiana, Ellsworth Harvey is recognized among the representative busi-
ness men of his native county and he has long been a resident of Marion,
where he holds the position of cashier of the Marion National Bank, one
of the most solidly established financial institutions of the county. Mr.
Harvey has made his way in the world unaided by outside influences,
but rather through the application of his native ability and inherent
character, so that he today enjoys a pleasing place in the city of his
residence.
Born on a farm in Franklin township, six miles southwest of the city
of Marion, in Grant county, Ellsworth Harvey claims November 22,
1863, as his natal day, and he is a son of Sidney and Jane L. (Thomas)
Harvey. The father was born in ilorgan county, Indiana, and the mother
in Grant county, where her parents were early settlers in the pioneer
days, the family having been conspicuously identified with the growth
and development of the county. The father, Sidney Harvey, devoted
himself to the farming industry, and he was successful and prosperous
in his chosen work. Today he is reckoned among the most venerable
and honored pioneer citizens of the county, where he is living practically
retired from active business, enjoying a well earned rest after long
years of strenuous life on the farm.
He was a boy of about nine years when his father, "William Harvey,
came to Grant county and settled upon a tract of wild land some three
miles west of the present village of Fairmount, and there he finally
evolved a productive farm from his wilderness land. He was of English
ancestry, and the family is one that had its foundation in America in
early colonial days. Bom in North Carolina and there reared, "William
Harvey cmne as a young man to Clinton county, Ohio, removing to
Indiana in an early day. He passed the last years of his life iu Grant
county, and was known and esteemed as one of the solid men of the
agricultural industry in the county. It was on his place that Sidney
Harvey, his son, was reared to maturity, but for more than forty years
past he has maintained his home on his own place of one hundred acres,
six and a half miles from Marion. Mr. Harvey is a man of considerable
influence in his community, taking a genuine interest in the political and
civic activities of the township and count}% and he at one time served
as county assessor. A Republican in his politics, he gives his support
to that party, and with his wife has membership in the Methodist
Episcopal church. Of their children, Alviu and Minerva are deceased ;
Ellswoi'th, of this review, was the third born; Roscoe C. is a farmer in
Franklin township ; and Gulie Elraa is the wife of H. P. Cline, a farmer
residing in the vicinity of Junesboro, Grant county.
472 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Ellsworth Harvey was reared to farm life and in the home of his
parents he early learned lessons of practical import that have stood
him in excellent stead in the more mature j'ears of his life. He attended
the district schools, continuing his studies there for eight years. There-
after he was a teacher in Fairmount Academy for one year.
In August, 1893, ]Mr. Harvey was appointed to the post of deputy
county treasurer, and the long period in which he held this office indi-
cates something of the character of his services. He continued to serve
in his capacity as deputy until January 1, 1901, when he assumed the
duties of county treasurer, to which office he had been elected on the
Republican ticket in the preceding autumn. His service here was like-
wise a praiseworthy one, sufSeienth' so as to gain to him his re-election
in 1902, so that he served two full terms as county treasurer, administer-
ing the fiscal affairs of the county in a highly creditable manner.
Soon after his retirement from the office of county treasurer I\Ir.
Harvey was chosen assistant cashier of the JIarion National Bank, and
here again the character of his services was such as to merit recognitiou.
which came in the form of his advancement to the post of cashier, in
February, 1911. He has since that time continued in the office, with
all of satisfaction to the directors of the institution and with credit
to himself.
]Mr. Harvey has, like his father, been a stanch Republican since he
came to years of maturity, and with his wife he is a member of the
Society of Friends. His fraternal connections are with the Knights of
Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Tribe of Ben Hur.
He is the owner of a small but well improved farm in Franklin town-
ship, which claims a share in his attention.
On September 6, 1899. Mr. Harvey was married to Miss Susan Emma
Higgs, of Richmond. WajTie county, this state, where she was born and
reared, and where her family has been long and favorably known to
the public. Her parents are Robert and Eliza Higgs, both of whom
were born in England. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have two children —
Robert Sidney, born on November 8, 1902, and Mildred Elizabeth, born
May 25, 1906.
John AV. Williams. The history of the village of Upland will always
commemorate the Williams family, since it was a man of that name who
owned much of the land where the village now stands who laid out the
plat on some of his acreage, donated ground for the railroad station, and
in many other ways took the part of a leader in establishing and develop-
ing that center of trade and population. Mr. John W. Williams, a son
of the pioneer at Upland, has for many years devoted himself to farming
and stock raising, and his home place in section eight of Jeft'erson town-
ship probably has no superior in its facilities, not only as a home, but
as a place of business, his business being the raising of high-grade live
stock, at which he has made a big reputation, not only in his community,
but in this and adjoining counties.
Mr. Williams comes of Scotch ancestry, and his grandfather Isaac
Williams was of an early settled family in central Ohio. He married a
Miss Pierce, and they lived in Greene county, Ohio, where James L.
Williams was born November 23. 1826. James L. Williams in 1829 lost
his father by death, and his mother subsequently man-ied Samuel Staf-
ford. During the forties all the families came to Grant county, settling
on Walnut Creek in Center township, where ]Mrs. Statford died when
eighty years of age. i\Ir. Stafford married again and died in Center
township, at the advanced age of ninety. By his first wife he had a son
and daughter. James L. Williams was the oldest of his mother's chil-
HOME OF ilR. AND MRS. JOHN W. WILLIAMS AND FAMILY
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 473
dren, and the others in the Williams family were : Thomas, who lives
with his children at Marion ; Mary, widow of Israel Lucas, and she lives
two miles east of the Soldiers' Home at Marion; Ortha, died after her
marriage to Samuel Adamson, and left two sons and four daughters.
James L. "Williams was reared after the death of his father by his
mother and also in the home of an uncle, and on becoming of age was
married in Green county, Ohio, to Miss Nancy Chance. She was born
in North Cai-olina in JanuarJ^ 1831, and when fifteen years old left her
home and people, joined a family making the journey to Ohio, and
walked practically all the way to Green county, where soon afterwards
she met and married James L. Williams. In 1850 they came to Indiana,
where Mr. Williams bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in sec-
tion three of Jefferson township. A portion of the village of Upland
now stands on that land. When the Pennsylvania Railroad was built
through this part of the county, Mr. Williams gave six acres for the vil-
lage site, and three other parties gave enough to make twenty-one acres
altogether. It was on that home that James L. Williams and wife lived
for many years, but finally sold and bought a farm near Bluffton in
Wells county, and his death occurred at Rockford, in that county, July
12, 1910. His widow passed away August 13, 1913. Both were birth-
right members of the Friends church. James L. Wilson did a great
deal of building at Upland, and by his own effort gave that community
a start which has continued until the present time. He was a strong
Republican in polities. The family of children were as follows: Isaac,
who died when eight years old ; Rev. Thomas lived in California, and his
children are Alvin, Iva, and Rev. Charles, the church affiliations of this
family being the United Brethren ; John W. comes next ; Cyrus lives in
Huntington county, Indiana, on a farm, has been twice married, and has
a daughter by his last union ; Anna is the wife of Marion Bedwell, and
they live on a part of the old homestead at Upland.
It was a distinction of John W. Williams to have been born in a log
cabin, at the site of Upland, on November 28, 1857. At that time a log
cabin home did not indicate poverty of resources, and many of the best
families of Indiana were still living in houses no better than the one in
which Mr. Williams was born. He lived at home until of age, was edu-
cated in the local schools, and from youth up has made farming his
regular vocation. For the past twenty years he has been identified with
the vicinity of Jefferson township on the west bank of the Mississinewa
River, where on April 28, 1893, he bought eighty acres of land in section
eight. In 1908 ilr. Williams put a fine bank barn, with ground dimen-
sions of fifty by ninety-seven feet, with a concrete basement, and the
entire building is light, sanitary, and with facilities that afford conven-
ience to the farmer, and tend to increase tlie general value of the farm
output. Close to the barn is a concrete silo of eighty-ton capacity, and
there are facilities for the storing of one hundred tons of hay, many tons
of straw, and thousands of bushels of grain. The barn is one of the best
in this entire section. It is painted a drab color, with red trimmings.
Adjoining his main farm, Mr. Williams has one hundred and four acres,
purchased about the same time he bought the eighty acres, and that land
is improved with a full set of farm buildings. On another section he
has forty acres. The homestead is improved with a substantial white
frame house. jMr. Williams has made his reputation as a farmer, largely
through the raising of fine short horn cattle, Poland china hogs, and
Norman horses
Mr. Williams by his first marriage became the husband of Martha B.
Brumfield, a daughter of Jacob Brumfield. She was born in j\Iiami
county, Indiana, December 9, 1858, and died at her home in Jefferson
474 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
towiiship, April 24, 1902. She came to Graut county when a child, and
was reared in the township where the rest of her life was spent. Her
children were Carlos A., who lives in Matthews, and has one son, Ken-
neth ; Goldy is the wife of Arthur Luusford, and they have a daughter
Elma. Olive is the wife of Ernest Haj'ues, of iluncie, and they have
two children, Virgil and Daniel C ; Myrtle is the wife of Emory C.
Tripp, of Greentown, Howard county, Indiana, and they have no chil-
dren. For his second wife Mr. Williams was married in Blackford
county to Nenah Baker, who was born in that county, and reared and
educated there, a daughter of William and Sarah (Blankenbaker) Baker,
who live on a farm east of Hartford City, her father being sixty-two
and her mother fifty-six years of age. The Bakers are active members
of the Friends church. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have three children;
Oris, aged six years, and in the public schools ; Leora, aged four years ;
and Donald, aged two. Mr. and ilrs. Williams are members of the
Quaker church, and in polities he is a Prohibitionist.
Lewis P. Cubbebley. Among the business citizens of Marion whose
connection with live, growing enterprises has given them deservedly
high positions in their communities, Lewis P. Cubberley is worthj^ of
more than passing mention in a work of this nature. A native son
of this prosperous city, he has traveled extensively in various parts of
the country during his career, and although he has been engaged in
business in Marion since 1901, is still a representative of outside con-
cerns, in the interests of which he makes a trip through the West twice
a year. Mr. Cubberlej' was born in Marion, Indiana, Febi-uary 3, 1852,
and is a son of Dr. David P. and Charlotte M. (Frazier) Cubberley.
David P. Cubberley was born in Licking county, Ohio, and came
to Grant county during the early forties, here becoming the first dental
practitioner in the city of Marion, where he was engaged in an exten-
sive and representative practice up to his death in 1884, when he was
the oldest dentist in Gi'ant county. During the Civil War he enlisted
for service iu the Union army as captain of a company in the Twelfth
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and spent three years on southern battle-
fields. For years he was connected with the Masonic fraternity, and
for a long period was secretary of his Blue Lodge at Marion. Dr. Cub-
berley married Charlotte M. Frazier, daughter of Nathan W. Frazier,
a pioneer and influential citizen of Grant county, and she survived him
until 1888, having been the mother of four children : Lewis P. ; Nathan
S., who is deceased; and Mrs. Emma C. Hutchinson and Mrs. Belle C.
Tukey, both of whom reside in Marion.
Lewis P. Cubberley received his early education in the public schools
of Marion. When eighteen years of age he entered the railroad mail
service, in which he continued to be employed until 1880, and during
this time operated between Toledo and St. Louis, on the Toledo, St.
Louis & Western Railroad, and the Wabash and Pennsylvania fast
mails. On leaving the mail service, Mr. Cubberley accepted a position
with Huestes & Hamilton, wholesale grocers of Fort Waj-ne, Indiana,
and remained with this concern until 1888, when he entered the employ
of the Wilson & JlcCally Tobacco Company, of Middletown, Ohio, con-
tinning with that firm for ten years and then accepting a position as
traveling representative for the H. W. Spurr Coffee Company, of Boston
and Kansas City, a company with which he has since been identified.
In 1900 he returned to Marion and established himself in a wholesale
and retail cigar business, a venture which has proved a decidede success
and has enjoyed a healthy and continued growth. The various brands
handled by ilr. Cubberley have attained a high degree of popularity
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 475
and now meet with a steady demand in every place in this section of
the State where cigars are sold. From modest beginnings, Mr. Cub-
berley has built up a flourishing enterprise, and his success may be
accredited solely to his own efforts, his strict attention to business and
the honorable manner in which he has carried on his transactions.
On September 6, 1905, Mr. Cubberley was united in marriage with
Miss Nellie Cook of Toledo, Ohio, daughter of J. D. and Eliza (McClure)
Cook, pioneer residents of Grant county. Mr. Cook, a contractor in
construction work, was widely known in his field of endeavor, being
the builder of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, and attained dis-
tinction as the constructor of the only large work in the citj' of Gal-
veston, Texas, which withstood the ravages of the devastating flood of
1900. Mr. and Mrs. Cubberley have had no children. He is a Republi-
can in his political views, but has taken only a good citizen's interest
in public affairs. Like his father, he has become prominent in fra-
ternal circles, being a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of the
Elks, in both of which orders he has numerous friends.
Mark L. Swayzee. One of the most progressive men of affairs in
the city of Marion, Indiana, is Mark L. Swayzee. He has handled all
of his business affairs along the most modern and up-to-date lines and
his success is due largely to the methods he has emploj^ed in building
up his business. He is the founder and proprietor of one of the largest
retail groceries in the northern part of the state, and is also connected
with other business ventures. He comes of a family for many years
honored in the business and industrial world of this community and in
his success he is only carrying forward the traditions of the family.
Mark L. Swayzee is the son of Aaron C. and Minerva A. (Hodge)
Swayzee, both of whom are now dead. Aaron C. Swayzee was born in
the state of New Jersey, but migrated from there to Lancaster, Fair-
field count.y, Ohio, and after living there for a time came to Grant county,
Indiana. He located here in 1836 and was consequently one of the
pioneers of this section. By trade he was a shoemaker and shortly after
coming to Grant county he entei'ed the manufactui'ing business as a
manufacturer of boots and shoes. For many years thereafter he con-
ducted a retail store in the city of Marion and became actively identified
with the growth and development of the city. He was recognized as a
leader, not only in the business world, but also in the political and civic
life of the city. In 187-1 he was elected a representative to the state
legislature from Grant and Blackfoi'd counties, and proved an able
spokesman for his people. He was always active in church affairs,
being a member of the Methodist church and for many years a member
of the official board of this church. He died in 1878 and his widow
died in 1890. They were the parents of seven children, two of whom
died in infancy. The other children are James W. Swayzee, of Pada-
gonia, Arizona; Mrs.- W. C. Harrington, of St. Helena, California;
Frank C. Swayzee, of Washington, D. C. ; and Mrs. George W. Steele,
of Marion.
Mark L. Swayzee was born in the city of Marion on the 5th of Sep-
tember, 1864. He received his education in the public schools of his
native town and in the ]\Iiami Commercial College at Dayton, Ohio. It
was in 1883 that he began his business career as an employee in Sweet-
ser's Bank, which has since become the First National Bank, of Marion
He was thus employed for seven years, gaining a valuable knowledge of
financial affairs and of the ways of the business world. He then went
into business for himself, being engaged in specialty milling for five
years. He then established Swaj'zee's Market, which has been mentioned
476 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
as being one of tlie largest retail grocery and market houses in the
northern part of the state. He is also engaged in the feed and milling
business on Second street and has made a success of this enterprise also.
In fraternal affairs ]\Ii'. Swayzee has always been deeplj' interested
and holds a membership in many societies among them being the i\Iasons,
Elks and Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Country Club.
In politics he is a member of the Republican party and has taken quite
a prominent part in political affairs. He was the last town clerk and
treasurer and the first city treasurer after the incorporation of the city,
and he is always ready to give his time and service to any movement that
may be conducive to the welfare of the city of Marion.
Mr. Swayzee was married on the 25th of May, 1889, to Eugenia
Richards, a daughter of L. Y. Richards of Napoleon, Ohio, and they have
become the parents of two children, Mark Richard Swayzee and I\Iary
Louise Swayzee.
John A. Rhue. There is special reason for congratulations upon a
career like that of Mr. Rhue, the vice president of the Marion National
Bank. Beginning his career in service with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, as assistant agent, some fifteen years ago he went into a bank
in Greenfield, this state, as a messenger and general utility man. He
had only his own record to recommend him for advancement, and yet
he displayed such ability that in a few years he became cashier of the
institution which he had entered as messenger. He received what might
be regarded as a distinct j^romotion when he was appointed state bank
examiner, and from that position became vice president of the Marion
National Bank. Mr. Rhue is still a young man, in his thirties, and yet
has achieved a position which would be creditable to a man older in
years and experience.
John A. Rhue was born in Hancock county, Indiana, December 28,
1876, a son of A. N. and Rosa (Barrett) Rhue, both of whom were
natives of Hancock county, and now living near Greenfield, that county.
The father was for some twenty years a successful school-teacher, and
is now engaged in the grain business. Of the three children, John A.
is the only one now living.
Born on a farm in Hancock county, and educated in the district
schools and in the Greenfield high school, John A. Rhue began his career
as above stated with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and spent two years in
the service of the same. He then received appointment as a cadet in
the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he remained for
two years. On returning from Annapolis, he took the temporary
management of the Western Union town office at Greenfield, having
incidentally picked up telegraphy Avhile with the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. Then in 1897 he entered the employ of the Greenfield Bank-
ing Company, and ran errands, made collections and assorted checks and
all other duties that were required of him. Mr. Rhue remained with that'
banking institution for twelve years, and enjoyed many promotions up to
the responsible post of cashier. As a skillful manager of banking busi-
ness, his reputation had extended beyond the confines of his home com-
munity, and in 1909, without any solicitation on his part he was invited
to become a state bank examiner, and was assigned to the Northern
Indiana Tei'ritory. His work in this connection brought him into
association with all the state bank association officers in Northern
Indiana, and as result of this acquaintance and high regard he received
another invitation in April, 1911, this time to become vice president of
the Marion National Bank, a post which he accepted and which he has
since filled. In one phase his experience as a banker is proliably
f
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 477
unique. He still held his place of cashier in the Greenfield bank, during
his term as state bank examiner, and had already accepted and been
formally installed as vice president of the Marion National Bank before
severing his relations with the Greenfield Banking Company and with
the State Banking Department, so that for a short time he held all
three posts. Mr. Rhue has been a resident of Marion since July, 1911.
He owns a fine farm of one hundred acres situated a mile from Green-
field in Hancock county, and the management of this estate is his chief
recreation and pleasure aside from business. He is also interested as an
investor in various other undertakings.
Ml-. Rhue is a lover of music, and during his residence at Greenfield
was for twelve years connected with the Home Orchestra at that place.
On September 22, 1908, he married Miss Mary Todd, of Bluft'ton, a
daughter of Hon. J. J. and Mary (Studebaker) Todd, one of the best
knowii families of the state. J. J. Todd, her father, was formerly grand
master of the Masonic order in Indiana. The two children of Mr. Rhue
and wife are Mary, born August 13, 1909, and Jane, born August 9,
1910.
JMr. Rhue is himself prominent in Indiana Masonry, having passed
through all the degrees of the York Rite at Greenfield, including the
Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, and having attained thii-ty-two
degrees of the Scottish Rite and being affiliated with the Mystic Shrine
at Indianapolis. He has served as Master of his Lodge, high-priest of
the Chapter and eminent commander of the Commandery, besides
having been worthy patron of the Eastern Star. Mr. Rhue is a member
of the Marion Golf Club, is a Republican in politics, and he and his
family belong to the Methodist church in Marion.
Allen C. Tudor. The breeding of thoroughbred Belgian and Per-
cheron horses has been developed to an important industry by Mr. Tudor
at LTpland, where he has his farm and stables, and all the facilities for
successful management of this interesting and profitable branch of the
live stock industry. At the head of his stables, is the Belgian stallion
Noirhat Damier now seven years old and imported from abroad in 1908.
This horse took the second premium at the International Stock Show
in Chicago. He weighs 2,060 pounds. Mr. Tudor also owns Jaddus,
a Norman stallion imported in 1912, and which has already made a fine
record as a breeder. Jaddus is a four-year old, and weighs 1,800 pounds.
Another imported horse found at the Tudor place is Taupin, which has
been in service several years, is favored by a large number of farmers in
this section of the state, and the general average of his colts is perhaps
as high as can be credited to any other breeding stallion in this country.
As a background to his breeding stables, Mr. Tudor owns a fine little
farm of forty aci-es, adjoining the village of Upland. He purchased
and located there in 1912, moving fi-om Monroe township, where for a
number of years he had been engaged in the same line of business.
Allen C. Tudor was born in Fayette county, Ohio. November 6, 1868.
His father was William Tndor and his grandfather Stephen Tudor, the
latter a native of Pennsylvania and the former of Ohio. The grand-
father died in Oliio, and AVilliam Tudor died in Grant county in Decem-
ber 1910, at the age of seventy-one j^ears. William married IMargaret
Pierce, who died aged thirty-two in 1874 in Grant county. They settled
in Grant county not long after the birth of their son Allen who was
reared and educated here. He was the second in a family of four sons,
and two daughters, all of whom are living and are married. After
leaving school he identified himself with agriculture, and his influence
soon led him to specialize in live stock, and for a number of yeai-s he has
had a successful experience in the breeding of horses.
478 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
In 1900 at Upland, Mr. Tudor married Miss Mary Mariah Thomas,
who was boru and reared in Decatur county, Indiana, a daughter of
Edward Thomas, who died in Ohio, but whose widow now lives in Boone
county, Indiana. j\Ir. and ilrs. Tudor have the following children:
Pearl, Lucy, William, Opal and Orris.
Thomas Diggs Thorp is a native son of Grant county and a citizen
of excellent standing in this part of the state. His life in this county
has been a widely useful one, and he has filled prominent places in
public life during the years of his active career. In educational matters
he was ever foremost, and he practiced law for some years in this
county, but the great vi^ork of his life has been in the ministry of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was prominent for many
years.
The parents of Thomas D. Thorp Avere Rev. Alfred and Becca (^Moor-
man) Thorp, both natives of North Carolina. The father and mother
came to Indiana when children, locating first in Wayne couuty and
coming on to Grant county in about 1832, when he settled on the farm
which became the family homestead, and which is still in possession of
the family, or rather is now owned by the youngest sister of Mr. Thorp
of this review.
Rev. Alfred Thorp was a minister of the Wesleyan church and he
organized the first Methodist Episcopal church in this vicinity, in which
he was a preacher at the time of his death. He lived on his farm all
his life, and to him and his wife were born ten children, four of whom
are living today. They are briefly mentioned as follows: Mrs. Julia
Ann Brookshire, now a resident of Pasadena, California; Mrs. Ursula
Double Tuttle, of Fairmount, Indiana ; Mrs. Mary P. Buruier, of Grant
county ; and Thomas D. Thorp, of this review. The mother of these was
a daughter of the Moorman family, as has already been mentioned, but
she was closely connected with the Diggs family, famous in English
history, representatives of which came to the colonies and came to be
known among the First Families of Virginia. The family was prominent
in the history of the Old Dominion for more than a century. Rev.
Thorp died in 1848, his widow surviving him until 1891.
Thomas D. Thorp received his education in the old Grant County
Seminary and at Asbury (now DePauw) University, at Greeneastle,
Indiana, until his sophomore year, when he went to the Indiana State
University at Bloomington, from which institution he was graduated.
He taught school in Grant county for a number of years and for a
brief time was engaged in the practice of law, after which he was for
nine years county superintendent of schools. He is credited with the
work of grading the country schools in the state of Indiana, a most
advantageous step in rural education, as has been well proven since the
work went into effect. Mr. Thorp then entered the ministr.y of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and in the business of the church he was
engaged for many years thereafter. He is now retired, however, and
gives his entire attention to the care of his large property interests.
Mr. Thorp is a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served under
General George Wagner, with the rank of Second Lieutenant, in the
Army of the Cumberland. He saw a deal of active service during the
term of his service, participating in the battle of Pittsburg, at Perrys-
ville, and other equally important engagements. For fourteen years
after the war his church work was confined to his superintendency of
the Methodist Episcopal Sunday school, but he then went into the
ministry as a graduate of a theological school, continuing for many
years, as has already been outlined.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 479
Mr. Thorp married Miss Alice Shattuek, of Delaware, Ohio, a
graduate of the Ohio Wesle3'an University, and to them has been born
one son, Paul D. Thorp, who was recently graduated as a member of
the class of 1913 in the Ohio Wesleyan University. He is a baritone
singer of ability and promise, and has been manager of the Varsity
Quartette for two years, and now goes to Ohio State University to
continue his law and study journalism. He is now reading law, pre-
paratory to a career in the legal profession. He is a member of the
Phi Delta Theta, of which fraternity his father, Thomas D. Thorp, was
also a member in his college days, and still is.
Mr. Thorp, it is safe to say, is one of the halest men in these parts.
He comes of a family that is especially long-lived, his mother's family
being one noted for its longevity, Avhile his father had an uncle who
lived to the patriarchial age of one hundred and seven years, and at the
time of his death was seemingly hale and hearty, being engaged in
hoeing in his garden but a short time before he passed away. On his
mother's side, the Diggs family is one of the oldest in America today,
her ancestry being traced directly down from 1583 in England, to their
settlement in Virginia in about 1615, and the latei' settlement of the
family in its various branches in North Carolina. The history of the
family is an interesting one, but lack of space makes further mention
thereof impracticable at this point.
Alva Johnson. Among the younger of the business men of JMarion,
Indiana, none is better known for his energy and progressive ideas, as
well as the practical ability to carry them out, than Alva Johnson. Not
yet turned thirty, Mr. Johnson is a member of the well known fii-m of
J. Winters and Company, and is rapidly forging to the front as a real
estate man. Although he has resided in Marion only a short time he has
won a large measure of popularity and has taken an active part in the
varied interests of the city.
Alva Johnson was born in Jetfersou township, near Upland, Grant
county, Indiana, on the 30th of April, 1885. He is a son of James Noah
Johnson and Bell (Connelly) Johnson. The father was born in Jefferson
parish, Grant county, and the mother in Wayne county, Indiana. The
father was a son of James and Elizabeth Johnson who came into
Indiana from Guernsey county, Ohio, and settled on the place that has
since become known as the Johnson homestead in Jefferson township.
This was in 1843 and here James Johnson lived until his death on
December 1, 1910. James and Elizabeth Johnson had eight children,
only four of whom grew to maturity, as follows: John, who died at
thirty -five ; Solomon, of Jonesboro, Indiana ; James Noah, who died in
1893, and Emma, who lives in Jefferson township. Grant county. James
Noah Johnson lived on his father's farm until about the time of his
wife's death in 1890. He then engaged in the banking business, first
working in a bank in Pairmount for a year and then he organized the
Upland Bank, his father, James Johnson, being president, and he him-
self, cashier. James Noah Johnson and his wife had three children,
Bertha, who is the wife of Charles H. Snyder, of Upland ; Alva Johnson
and his twin sister, Elva, who married Charles F. Marley, of Upland.
The father died in 1893 and the three children M'ent to live with
their grandfather, making their home with him until his death at the
age of eight.y-nine. At his death these three children each inherited
560 acres of valuable land. For six months previous to his death the
venerable old man had been blind, and his two granddaughters took
the tenderest of care of him.
Alva Johnson was educated in Grant county, first attending the
480 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
township school in Jefferson township, from which he was graduated
in 1900, and then becoming a student in the Upland high school. He
was graduated from the latter in 1904, and until 1911 he lived on the
farm. During that year he removed to Faii-mount, and on December
27, 1912, his home and entire property there was destroyed by fire, in
consequence of which he determined to move to ]\Iarion. He came to
Marion on March 4, 1913, and bought a half interest in the firm of J.
Winters and Comjjany, thus becoming the company part of this firm.
J. Winters, "the land man," is one of the most successful business men
of Marion, and the two form a strong partnership, destined to become
one of the best known real estate firms in Indiana. Mr. Johnson has
considerable landed interests, being the owner of 360 acres in Liberty
townslrip and also having interests in Upland.
Mr. Johnson is a member of the Methodist church, and in political
matters he is a Republican. In the fraternal world he holds allegiance
with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Johnson was
married on July 23, 1906, to Miss Gertrude Burnside, a daughter of
George W. and Elizabeth (Seybold) Burnside, of Marion. They have
two children ; James Noah, Jr., aged six years and Elizabeth Rebecca,
better known as Betty, a lively tot of three.
JosiAH Winters. The story of the life of Josiah Winters, of Marion,
Indiana, or as he is known in this section, J. Winters, "the land man,"
is a good example of American energy and determination. Mr. Winters
is one of the most successful real estate men in this section of the state
and his success is entirely due to his own efforts. He has woi'ked tire-
lessly, early and late, and that he has taken advantage of no man, his
popularity throughout the section proves.
Josiah Winters is a native of Grant county, having been born on the
29th of February, 1868, in Fairmount township. His father was Thomas
D. Winters and his mother was Christiana (Baker) Winters, both of
them being natives of the state of Pennsylvania. The father of Thomas
D. Winters came to Grant county at an early date in its history. He
settled on a farm South of Marion, and he improved this property,
building upon it one of the finest homes in the county. He later sold
this place and bought another three and a half miles southeast of Jones-
boro. He eventually became the owner of about sis hundred acres of
land in that section and he lived there until his death in 1880. Thomas
D. Winters, his son, followed in his father's steps and became a farmer.
He spent his life in this occupation and died about 1896. His widow is
still living and makes her home with her children. There were tAvelve
children born to Mr. and ]\Irs. Winters, six of whom are living. These
are as follows: W. M. Winters, foreman at the Thompson Bottle
Works, in Gas City, Indiana; Mrs. Mary A. Baldwin, of Fairmount,
Indiana; Mrs. Sarah A. Love, of Marion; Mrs. Christina Kelsey, of
•Toledo, Ohio ; Mrs. Ollie Lancaster, of Marion, and J. Winters.
Beginning life with only a common school education, farming seemed
to be the only vocation open to yoiing Josiah Winters. For thirteen
years, therefore he farmed in various parts of Grant county, and during
these years he lived carefully and put aside as much money as was
possible for he was ambitious to be something more than a small farmer.
He found himself, at the end of these years Avith enough money to
purchase seventy-two acres of land in Washington township, for which
he paid $1,375 in cash and gave a mortgage for the balance of $2,125.
By hard work and good management he was able to pay oft" his indebted-
ness in eighteen months. And it was not long after he had begun to feel
that he was on the road to success, that his wife's health began to fail
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 481
aud he found it necessary to move into Marion. He therefore sold his
stoeli and farm machinery and with the proceeds purchased two lots
on Spence street for $1,200. On these lots he built a modern ten-room
house at a cost of $6,000, this being the first home which he owned.
After his removal to Jlarion he traveled for a year as salesman for
L. K. Price and Company. Hardware was his line, and his territory was
Grant county. During the following year he sold windmills and cream
separators in Grant and the adjoining counties. He then purchased a
forty-six acre farm east of Gas City and there remained six months,
when he sold and returned to Marion where he had built on Spencer
avenue, and where there were better openings for him.
On the 1st of December, 1906, I\Ir. Winters engaged in the real estate
business in Marion and he has been phenominall.y successful. During
his first year in this business he did $150,000 worth of business. It was
evident that he was going to have an increasing amount of business to
handle aud so the next year he took a partner, Leo Lyons. The business
the second year was estimated at $200,000. After the death of Mr.
Lyons, Mr. Winters continued alone, emi^loying his son to assist him,
until the latter went to Davenport, Iowa, to enter a medical school.
Since opening his real estate office six years ago Mr. Winters has done
business to the amount of'$l,589,802.S0, this being exclusive of his loan
business. In 1912 the increase of his business over that of the previous
year was $83,445.50. In 1913 he became associated with a company in
New Mexico, and has purchased 680 acres of land for his own special
benefit. Since his business is too large to be managed by one man
he took as a iDartner, on March 1, 1913, Alva Johnson, of Fairmount
township, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Winters is a strong member of the Prohibition party, and eight
years ago was that party's candidate for sheriff of Grant county. He is
a member of the Christian church and is a deacon in the First Christian
church, being one of the executive committee that had the building of
the new church in charge. He lives in a handsome home on Spencer
avenue and his offices are in the Marion Block.
Mr. Winters was married on the 18th of July, 1885, to Miss Mary J.
Marine, Avho was born in Mill township. Grant county, Indiana, and was
a daughter of Nathan Marine. Four children were born . of this
marriage. Of these. Pearly B. Winters and Elsie L. Winters are living,
and Onda E. and Eita M. are dead. After the death of his first wife
Mr. Winters married a second time. Miss Jessie J. Broadt, of Hunting-
ton county, Indiana, became his wife on March 30, 1912.
Howard Lyon. Grant county has received some of its finest family
stocks from Virginia, transplanted first to Guernsey county, Ohio, and
thence to this section of Indiana. Several branches of the Lyon family,
who early manifested a disinclination to live in slave territory, thus
settled in Grant county not long after the establishment of civil gov-
ernment here in 1831. The following article describes the more impor-
tant incidents in this family migration with special reference to the
immediate family of the above well known Jefferson township citizen,
who.se old home place on sections 20 and 21 has many associations with
the Lj'on name.
They came originally from Sweden, migrating to England during
the reign of Peter the Great and thence to America in the colonial
epoch. The first definite information of the family in this country is
in Virginia, and before the Revolutionaiy war. It is not known whether
any of the family i^articipated as soldiers in that war. The grandfather
of Howard Lyon was Richard Lyon, born in the Old Dominion about
482 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIP^S
1775. On March 7, 1795, he married Elenor McBride, a Virginia girl
of Scotch-Irish aucestr.y. They lived in Virginia until 1814. Richard
Lyon was strongly opposed to slavery, and for that reason determined
to move his family to the free states of the north .and west. Thus he
settled in Guernsey county, Ohio, about the close of the War of 1812,
and he and his children were pioneers in that section, making a home
in the wilderness and rearing his family under primitive conditions.
His children were as follows: 1. Mary, born May 21, 1797, married
John Grayham, and came to Indiana, both dying in this state when old
people. They left two children, Ellen and Rachael. 2. Sarah, born
February 24, 1799, married Thomas Deeren, lived in Guernsey county,
Ohio, until after the death of ^Ir. Deeren, and his widow died in Grant
county, Indiana, but her body was taken back and laid by the side of
her husband in Guernsey county, 0. They left a large family of chil-
dren, who were remarkable for their length of life, several living to be
more than eighty years of age, five living at one time, and all past
fourscore, and three are still surviving and about ninety years of age.
3. Michael, born April 15, 1801, lived the life of a farmer in Guernsey
county, 0., and married Mary Slater, both passing away when old
people. Their children scattered to various parts of the country. 4.
Elizabeth, born ]\Iay 20. 1803, married Jolni Reasoner, were early set-
tlers in Indiana, where they spent their active lives in Delaware county,
and died when old and left children. 5. James, born August 20, 1805,
married Nancy Slater, came to Grant county, and died on the home
farm in Jefferson township, when in the neighborhood of seventy years
of age. They had several children. 6. John, who was the father of
Howard Lyon, was born September 14, 1807, and more particular
mention of him follows this paragraph. 7 and 8. Elias and Elijah,
twins, born December 20, 1809, the former married Mahala Pearl for
his first wife, and Mrs. Rachael Coats for his second, and there were
children by both wives, and they all spent the greater portion of their
active careers in Grant county. Elijah married Hannah Anderson,
and they lived out their lives in Van Buren township of Grant county
and left children. 9 and 10. The next two children were twins, and
died in infancy unnamed. 11. William, born October 2, 1818, was mar-
ried and died in Grant county in middle life, leaving a son and a daugh-
ter. He was a cabinet maker by trade. 12. Richard, Jr., bom May
20. 1815, married a Miss Funk, and they had three children; he died
in Henry county, Indiana, where he was known as a manufacturer of
medicine. 13. Samuel, born March 8, 1820, spent many years of his
life in Missouri, and by his marriage to Mary Stephens, had several
daughters.
John Lyon, who was born in Virginia, September 14, 1807, was
seven years old when the family migrated to Ohio, where he arrived
at his majority in Guernsey county. He followed various occupations,
chiefly on a farm, but also was employed on the old national pike in
Ohio, and also engaged in the tobacco business, from which he made
some profit. In 1837, he walked all the way from Ohio to Indiana in
order to look over the land and select the site of a future home. He
found one hundred and sixty acres to his liking, on the ilississinewa
River, being the northeast quarter of section twenty-one of Jefferson
township. Having investigated and decided upon this tract he con-
tinued his journey on foot to the Fort Wayne land office, where he
formally entered a quarter section and then continued on in the same
manner to his Ohio home. There he met his sweetheart, who soon after-
wards went on with her mother to Blackford county, Indiana, and he
followed as soon as he could dispose of his interests in Ohio and make
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 483
ready for a permaneiit establishment in Indiana. At that time Black-
ford county had not been organized and its territory was a part of
Delaware county, so that the young woman who was to become his wife
took up her residence temporarily in the latter county so that she would
be convenient to the county seat in readiness for marriage. This young
woman was Nancy McVicker. She was born in Guernsey county, Ohio,
December 11, 1815. Her grandfather Dennis McVicker, was a native
of Virginia, and the son of a Scotchman who came to the United States
and died in Virginia. Miss McVicker 's father was Archibald McVicker,
a native of Virginia, but who died in Guernsey county, Ohio, and his
widow Elizabeth survived him and brought her children to Indiana, even-
tually settling in Jefferson township of Grant county, where she died
when an old woman.
After they were happily married John Lyon and wife came to their
new home in Jefferson township. On the tract of land which he had
previously selected the only evidence of the presence of civilized man
was one coon tree which had been cut down by some hunters, and other-
wise it was a perfect wilderness. A log cabin was hastily erected in the
midst of the timber, and there they began housekeeping. John Lyon
was a man of exceptional industry, and had the faculty of accumula-
tion. His land in a few years was increased to two hundred and forty
acres, and his labors gradually brought about substantial prosperity for
all his household. In 1859, was erected a comfortable old residence
which is now occupied by his son Howard. There both parents spent
many years, and the mother died April 23, 1876, and the father on No-
vember 2, 1888. In communit}^ affairs they were both active, and were
especially prominent as early Methodists in that vicinity. Thej' took
part in the organization of the first Shiloh Methodist church, in which
John Lyon and wife were charter members, and he served as a trustee
and steward until his death. During his career he voted the Demo-
cratic ticket, but in later times was a Prohibitionist. The children of
John Lyon and wife are mentioned as follows : 1 and 2. Lamech and
Lemuel, born in Ohio in February, 1838, died in infancy. 3. Aaron,
born May 9, 1840, died in Grant county, June 10, 1910; he was twice
married, but left no living children. 4. James, born August 20, 1842,
died March 6, 1899, at Upland, where he was a merchant. Though
twice married he had no children. 5. David, born December 12, 1844,
died August 13, 1896, after a career as a merchant at Upland and he
was also well known as an Odd Fellow ; his wife preceded him in death
two months, and left two daughters. 6. Sarah E., born May 20, 1848,
died at the age of one year. 7. Mary Eleanor, born February 9, 1850,
was also one j'ear of age at the time of her death. 8. Thomas Benton,
born May 9, 1852, died February 8, 1906 ; he was a physician, but in
later years was a successful druggist in Upland, and also prominent in
Masonic circles. 9. John R., born February 23, 1855, is a farmer at
Dodson, Montana, and has one daughter living.
Howard Lyon, who was the youngest of the children of John Lyon,
was born in Jefferson township, November 13, 1858. Reared on his
father's farm he has lived there the greater part of his career, and while
a boy he had the advantages of the common schools. He now is pro-
prietor of one hundred and twenty acres of his father's two hundred
and forty acre estate, and has made of farming a very profitable busi-
ness. For ten years, he had a dairy farm, and on the whole has fol-
lowed what is called mixed farming.
In the residence which he now occupies on February 9, 1882, he was
married by Rev. 0. C. Garretson to Miss Catherin Ginn, a twin sister of
William Ginn, a Jefferson township citizen whose career is briefly
484 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
sketched elsewhere in this volume. ]\Irs. Lyon was born in Henry-
county, Indiana, December 1-4, 1856, was reared and educated there and
in Grant count}-, and has become the mother of three children : Jas-
per, born August 6, 1882, graduated from the gi'ade schools in 1899,
and from the Upland high school in 1902, spent three years in technical
studies at Purdue University, and is an electrical engineer by profession.
During the past four years with the backing of his father, he has built
up the Citizens Telephone Company of Upland, and recently they sold
their stock in that institution. Jasper Lyon married ^Myrtle A. Bo^'d,
and their children are : Florence L., born October 3, 1909 ; Donald How-
ard, born February 15, 1911; and Eugene Willard, born ilay 4. 1912.
2. Nancy, born March 21, 1884, gi-aduated from the Upland high school
in the class of 1905, was a successful teacher in the county five years, and
by her marriage to Walter Penrod has one daughter, Esther. 3. Jason
died at the age of nine months, on September 26. 1886.
Mr. and Mrs. Lj'on are both members of the Shiloh Methodist Epis-
copal church, in which his father served as a trustee, and he is presi-
dent of the board. In politics he is a Democrat, ilr. Lyon shows much
appreciation of history and of old relics, especially of a family nature.
In his home one of the most interesting articles is 'an old wall or shelf
clock, which was bought in 1828 by his grandfather and which is still in
good repair and keeps excellent time. He also values as an heirloom a
padlock that came from Ireland with his ilcVieker ancestors, more than
one hundred and fifty years ago, and is said to have been from a trunk
or locker which the McVicker emigrant ancestor brought to this coun-
try with him.
Henry H. Blinn. One of the really successful and admirable young
men in ilarion, Indiana, is Henry H. Blinn, the assistant cashier of the
Marion National Bank. He has risen to his present position through
hard work and a steady application to business. Although yet in his
forties he has had many .years of practical experience and his business
ability and financial training have won for him the confidence, not only
of the ofiicials of the bank but also of the general public.
Henry H. Blinn is a son of Samuel A. Blinu. and Rebecca (Ray-
pholtz) Blinn, both of whom were born in Grant county. His parents
are still living and reside on a farm in Washington township. Henry
H. Blinn was born in Franklin township. Grant county, Indiana, on the
21st of August, 1866. He received his earlier education in the public
schools of Franklin and Washington townships, and after completing his
preparatory work he entered Lebanon University at Lebanon, Ohio,
where he remained for a time. After this he became a student in
Valparaiso University, at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he took a business
course. After his education was complete Mr. Blinn spent fourteen
years as a teacher in Grant country. Indiana, and in Iroquois county,
Illinois. It was in 1896 that Mr. Blinn entered the business world and
became deputy recorder of Grant county. He served for five years in
this office and then, in 1901, became a bookkeeper in the Jason Wilson
and Company Exchange Bank. This bank was later merged with the
JMarion National Bank and Mr. Blinn remained with the latter institu-
tion. He advanced from bookkeeper to higher ofSces and has now
reached that of assistant cashier.
Mr. Bliim is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted ilasons, a
member of ]\Iarion Lodge No. 105. He also belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, Marion Lodge No. 96. In religious matters, both
he and Ms wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, Mr.
Blinn being a steward in the same. Politically Mr. Blinn holds to the
Republican faith.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 485
Mr. Blinn was married on September 5, 1894, to Miss Martha Nice-
wanger, a daughter of William H. Nicewanger of Van Buren township
and a representative of one of the prominent families of Grant county.
One son, Everett W. has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Blinn.
George White. One of the pioneers of the past generation and one
of the men who played no small part in the history of Grant county,
Indiana, is George White, now deceased, but for many years a powerful
factor in the business life of Marion and of Grant county. He was
one of the pioneers who not only had the courage and physical endurance
to face life in the wilderness, but he was also of the type that could see
into the future, and he realized the structure which was to be reared in
that rich middle western section and helped to lay its firm foundation.
George White was a native of Ireland, having been born in County
Donegal, in 1805. His parents emigi-ated to America a few years after
his birth, but on the way they were captured by the British, and were
detained at Halifax for two years, until the War of 1812, settled for all
time the question of the freedom of the United States from the yoke of
Great Britain. Upon reaching the United States the family made their
way westward and settled at Cadiz, Ohio, where they lived for many
years, with the exception of a break of three years when they resided at
Warren, Ohio. It was in 1840 that they came to Grant county and
located in Slarion, and here George White was to spend the remainder
of his life. He first engaged in the dry goods business and for many
years was one of the most successful merchants in Marion. He built
the Iroquois building, one of the leading buildings of the city, and con-
ducted his store in this building for many years. He always had farm-
ing interests in Grant county and although he retired from the mer-
cantile business many years before his death, he personally managed his
farm up to the time of his death. At one time he was county commis-
sioner of Grant county, and he always took a keen interest in the public
affairs of the county. In the religious world he was a member of the
Jlethodist church.
George White married ilarch 16, 1829, at Cadiz, Ohio, Miss Nancy
il. Knox, who was an aunt of former Secretary of State, Philander C.
Knox. Ten children were born to George and Nancy White and of these
six grew to maturitj'. Sarah White iMather, of Marion, is now the only
living child. Of the others, William White was the eldest and lived in
Marion ; Edgar and James also lived in ilarion ; Amanda was the wife
of Thomas D. Thorp of Marion; and Helen married R. W. Bailey, of
Marion. George White died in Marion in July, 1893, at the age of
eighty-six.
Mrs. Sarah White Mather, the only living child, is one of the most
popular women in Marion. She has been a resident of this city for
many years and has been a leader in many ways. She was born in
Cadiz, Ohio, July 26, 1836, and married Charles D. Mather. Her hus-
band was born at Muncie, Indiana, February 24, 1833, but he came to
Marion when he was a boy of nineteen and spent the remainder of his
life here. He was first employed as a clerk in the store of his imcle,
Aaron Swayzee, and after a number of years in which he gathered valu-
able experience he went to the store of Goldthwaite and Company, as a
clerk. He became so valuable to his employers that he was rapidly pro-
moted and after a time came to have an interest in the store. Later in
life he engaged in the grain business and in the agricultural implement
business, and he continued in this line until he was forced to retire from
business on account of ill health. He died on the 16th of December, 1907.
Mr. Mather enlisted in August, 1862, in the 12th Regiment Indiana
486 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Volunteers and was in service until October, 1864, when he was dis-
charged. He became firet lieutenant in Company C and was later
advanced to acting captain. "On-ward, Christian Soldier" applies to
soldiers of his class as he carried his religion with him in his defense of
his country.
Mr. Mather was a member of the Methodist church and was an active
member of the church. He was married to Miss Sarah White on the 20th
of March, 1866, and one daughter, Helen Louise, was born of this union,
also a little boy, who died at the age of six years. Mrs. Mather and her
daughter reside in the home on Branson street, and Miss Mather is
unusually gifted along musical lines.
Levi Moorman. It is a grateful distinction to have spent three quar-
ters of a century in one community, and when those years have been
filled with worthy accomplishments and with that old-fashioned spirit of
loving-kindness, such a career becomes one deserving of admiration and
worthy of perpetuation in any history of a county in which it has been
spent. Levi Moorman, now living retired in Matthews, is one of the
oldest native sons of Grant county, and now lives surrounded by his son
and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Levi iloorman has
reached a patriarchal age, and his years are well set off by his dignified
appearance and characteristics, reminding one of the typical southern
gentleman. •
The Moorman family, which has been identified with Grant county
for eighty years, comes of Welsh ancestry. The grandfather of Levi
was born in Wales, and with a brother emigrated to the United States
more than a centui-y ago. While the brother located either in Pennsyl-
vania or Virginia, the grandfather went to South Carolina, and found
a home on the Big Pee Dee River, where he passed away in the prime
of life, leaving two sons and one daughter. His occupation was that of
farming. These children were Lewis, Zacariah, who married and had
a family, and the daughter married Jonathan Frazier.
Lewis Moorman, father of Levi, was a small child when his father
died, and his mother, who was a native of South Carolina, in 1811 emi-
grated north with her little family to Orange county, Indiana, locating
near Paoli, where she remained until her death at a good old age. She
was a remarkable woman in many ways, had the physical vigor and the
executive ability of the sterner sex, and in Orange county she established
and developed a homestead, and was one of the early horticulturists in
that vicinity, raising fine crops of peaches and other fruits. Lewis Moor-
man grew up on that farm in Orange county, and in early life acquired
the trade of blacksmith. On reaching his majority he removed to New-
port, now Fountain City, Wayne county, Indiana, and there set up his
smithy. Some time later he married in Wayne county, Sarah Thomas,
who was born in North Carolina, about 1S20, and was a small child
when she came north to Wayne county with her parents, Stephen and
Hannah (Wilcutt) Thomas. The Thomas famil.y located in Indiana
during the late twenties. Stephen Thomas was a practical mechanic and
followed the trade of tinner and cabinet maker for some years, but in
Wayne county, his energies were chiefly directed to the clearing up and
developing of a tract of wild land, which eventually became a good farm-
stead, and was the home of Stephen Thomas and wife until the end of
their lives. His death occurred when about seventy years of age, while
his widow was more than ninety-three years old at death. They were
both Orthodox Quakers. Their children numbered six.
After Lewis Moorman married he followed his trade of blacksmith
for some years, but in 1833 abandoned it, and moved awav from the
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 487
somewhat well settled community of Wayne county to the frontier of
Grant county. In this county he became one of the original land holders,
getting a tract by entry, direct from the government. His location was
in Union township, which was later named Fairmount township, and
there he lived and followed the quiet vocation of farming, until he was
past seventy-five years of age. His winters during the last years of his
life were spent in the home of a daughter in Iowa, and in that state he
died in 1900. His wife had passed away about ten years before aged
sixty-eight. She died in the Quaker faith, but late in life Lewis Moorman
joined the United Brethren Church, and died in that belief. In early
life his ballot was cast in behalf of Whig candidates, and later he was a
Republican. There were five sons and four daughters in the family,
all of whom grew up and all married but two sons, Nathan, the oldest
brother, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-five; Steven, the
youngest brother, who died in army during Civil War. The living sons
are : Levi and Zachariah. Zachariah is married and lives in Jewel county,
Kansas. He was a gallant soldier during the Civil war and in one engage-
ment within five minutes time was shot in six different places, and never
afterwards has been in good health. The two sisters still living are Jane,
widow of Ira Howell, whose home is in Iowa, and who has one son and
three daughters, and Theresa, wife of John W. Jones, a farmer in Jeffer-
son township, and they have two sons and three daughters.
Levi Moorman, who was the second son and fourth child in the family,
was born in Fairmount township in Grant county. May 16, 1838. His
early life was spent in that vicinity, and his recollection includes the
earliest pioneer days, when log cabins were numerous as homes, when
the schools were conducted under the subscription plan, long before rail-
roads were any where near Grant county, and when life was a very
simple matter compared with the complexity of the present. His advan-
tages in the way of schools were limited by the conditions of the time,
but he possessed a superior natural talent and intellect, and has never
been seriously handicapped in his struggle with fortune. Sometime
after becoming of age, he bought eighty acres of wild land, in Jefferson
township, and that was the nucleus around which he built up his fortune.
His eighty acres was increased under his management to one hundred
and thirty-six acres, and was well improved with a large grain and stock
barn, grain sheds, and a comfortable seven-room house, altogether making
an attractive and valuable rural estate. Under his management prac-
tically no land was allowed to go to waste, and the Moorman farm has
long been regarded as almost a model in that community. In 1910
Mr. Moorman suffered a stroke of paralysis and retired to Matthews,
where he has since almost entirely recovered his health and now enjoys
the comforts of a good home on Seventh Street.
Mr. Moorman was married in Jefferson township, to Miss Lavina
Lucas. Mrs. Moorman was born in Jefferson township, August 22, 1841,
and is a sister of the present county commissioner, Thomas J. Lucas,
whose family sketch elsewhere in this publication will give the details in
the history of the Lucas household. Mrs. Moorman was carefully reared
and educated in the public and city schools of Marion, and is a cultured
and very capable wife and mother. They are the parents of one son,
Albert A., who was born March 12, 1865, was educated in the public
schools, and now owns and operates a fine farm of eighty acres in Jef-
ferson township. Albert Moorman married Rachel Dorton, of Delaware
county, and they are the parents of three children, as follows : Beatrice,
living at home ; Clyde, who married Grace Johnson and occupies his
gi-andparents ' farm, and they have one daughter. Delight, born August
12, 1911 ; and Ralph, living at home.
488 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Joel Duling. A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of
many duties well done, and many responsibilities faitlifully fulfilled,
was that of the late Joel Duling, who was born in Jefferson township of
Grant county, April 13, 18^4, spent all his career in this county, and
died on his fine rural homestead in Jefferson township, June 17, 1910.
In early life he Avas a soldier, bearing arms in defense of the Union,
spent many active years as a substantial farmer, and left a record both
in business and citizenship, which may well be envied and admired.
The late Joel Duling was a son of Rev. Solomon and Jane (Hubert)
Duling, both natives of Ohio, who after their marriage moved to In-
diana, during the decade of the thirties and entered land direct from the
government in Jeft'ersou township of Grant count}'. There the.y werfe
pioneers, did their share of work, contributing towards the develop-
ment of the country, and lived blameless and upright lives. Solomon
Duling made a good home for his family, and died in Jefferson township
when fifty-seven years of age, while his wife passed away at the age of
sixty-four. He was one of the pioneer preachers of the JMethodist
Protestant faith, in this section of Indiana, and a detailed record of his
experiences would include much of the pioneer history, not only of his
church, but of the people and community. He bore almost unnumbered
hardships often exposed himself b.y swimming the swollen streams on
horseback, and during the winter times his clothing would often freeze
while riding along the lonely -roads between different meetings. He
was a devoted church worker, and labored earnestly for the spiritual
upbuilding of his community. His death occurred in 1871. His wife
was likewise a faitliful member of the same church. They had eleven
children, five of whom grew to manhood and womanhoocl, three were
married and two are still living. John lives on a farm in Jefferson
township, and the daughter Sina M. is the wife of Burton R. Jones, liv-
ing in Marion, and they are the parents of a son and a daughter. Three
of the Duling household were soldiers in the Civil war, including the late
Joel Duling, and also his brothers Edmund and Elijah. Edmund was
shot through the knee while on a gunboat on the ilississippi river and
died soon afterwards from lockjaw, caused by the wound. He was a
widower, at the time of his death, and his daughter Sarah J. is married
and lives in Ohio. Elijah Duling spent three years in the war, returned
home, and when past thirty-five years and still a bacheldr, died as a
result of a train wreck.
The late Joel Duling was reared on the old farm, and at the last call
for troops, enlisted before he was twenty years old in 1864, and served
until the end of the struggle. His military service lasted about one year,
and most of that time he was on detached duty. When the war came
to an end, he had just reached his majoritj% and on returning home he
followed the labor of the home farm until 1868. In that year his mar-
riage caused him to start independently, on a tract of eighty acres given
him by his father in Fairmount township. Thirteen years of manage-
ment of that estate brought him considerable prosperity, and he then
bought the old homestead in Jefferson township, and lived there until
his death. His farm comprised two hundred and forty acres, and part
of it was entered by his father from the government, and has never
had any owners except the Dulings. His attention was given to general
farming and stock raising, and he set an example of thrift and enter-
prise in his community. The farm was well improved with buildings,
and in everj- direction it showed the careful industry and thrift of its
owner.
Joel Duling was married May 3, 1868, in Mill township, to Miss
Mary C. Roush. Her family is one of the oldest and most distinguished
^
■
^1^
^1
4^ -^1^
JOEL DULING AND WIFE
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 489
ill Grant county. Mrs. Duling herself was born in ^lill township Feb-
ruary IS, 1843, was reared and educated in that community, and since
her marriage has devoted herself earnestly and without stint to the in-
terests of her husband and household and was an important factor in
making the generous prosperity that belongs to the name. In 1910, her
husband's death occurred, and ilrs. Duling in September, 1911, moved
to ilatthews and liought a pleasant home on Eighth street, where she and
her son are now living and are enjo.ying quiet and peaceful days. Her
parents were "William and Jane (ilcCormick) Roush. Her father was
born in Pennsylvania, in 1818, and her mother in Grant county, in the
pioneer year 1824, seven years before Grant county became organized
with a civil government. Jane JlcCormick was a daughter of Robert
McCormick, whose name stands conspicuous in the pioneer annals of
Grant county. He entered some fifteen or sixteen hundred acres of land
in this county, and at one time was the largest laiid o^^'ner in this sec-
tion, most of his property being in Jefferson township. Robert Mc-
Cormick died in Grant county, when less than sixty years of age, and
his widow whose maiden name was Ann ]\IcCormick but not related,
married for her second husband, John Fankboner and died when she
was ninety-four years of age. AVilliam Roush came from Pennsylvania
to Gi'ant county when a young man. married in Jefferson township,
became the owner of two hundred acres of good land, and spent his
career in quiet industry in that township. His death occurred April 5,
1904, and his wife passed away November 12. 1907. They were of the
Presbyterian faith. Mr. and Mrs. Roush had thirteen children during
their married career, including one pair of twins. The following grew
to maturity: Sirs. Duling; JIadison, who died a bachelor at the age of
sixty-four years; William, who is married and has two daughters and
lives in Jonesboro : Fremont, who lives in Jonesboro, and has two daugh-
ters; Isaac, who died in ilarch, 1863, in a hospital at ilemphis, Tennes-
see, after a j^ear's service in the Union army, being unmarried at the
time; John, who lives on a farm in Clark county, Indiana, and is mar-
ried but has no children.
The children born to ilr. and Mrs. Duling are mentioned as follows :
Ada, who is the wife of Charles B. Hook, and lives on a part of the old
Duling homestead in Jefferson township, is the mother of five children:
Virgil D., Nondas il., Paul Joel, Raymond I., and Hubert Mc. Allie
died when sixteen years of age. "William Solomon, who is a bachelor,
lives with his mother in Matthews, and owns and operates a part of the
old homestead. Virgil B., is a successful farmer; owns eighty acres in
Fairmount township, and by his marriage to Olive Himelick, has one
daughter, Mary. Winnie F., died when nearly eighteen years of age.
Clara B. died in infancy, ilrs. Duling, as was her husband, is an active
member of the IMethodist Protestant church. Their married companion-
ship la.sted for forty-two years, and was one of utmost harmony and ef-
fective cooperation; they provided well for their family of children,
laid up a competence for their own comfort, contributed liberally to the
community and to the church, and are the class of people upon which
the progress of any state or nation must chiefly depend. The late ilr.
Duling was an active Republican in politics. As an old soldier he had
affiliations with the New Cumberland Post of the Grand Army of the
Repiiblic. Mrs. Duling "s father, William Roush was at the time of his
death the oldest member of the Masonic Order in Grant county, and
very prominent in the different Masonic bodies.
Charles F. IMaelet. The results of youthful energA^ and enterprise
are no where to be seen more clearlv than on Indiana farms, where the
490 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
younger generation have caught the spirit of scientitic agriculture and
have changed the old half-hearted conditions into an efficient, business-
like management. Of this younger generation of Grant county agri-
culturists, Mr. Charles F. Marley is one of the best representatives. His
home is in section eight of Jefferson township, though his farm opera-
tions extend to two adjacent sections, and altogether several hundred
acres of land are under his supervision. Mr. and Mrs. Marley are young
people who move in the best social set of Grant county, and are not
only prosperous farming people, but leaders in community life.
Charles F. Marley was born in Licking township, Blackford county,
Indiana, September 17, 1886. His native township was the scene of
his earl.y youth, and while growing up he acquired an edueatipu in the
district schools. His parents were Joseph and Sarah (Foy) ]\Iarley.
Joseph Marley was born at Hartford City, Indiana, August 2, 1857,
and died near Lapland in Grant county, November 26, 1912. The Marleys
settled in Blackford county in the pioneer days. Joseph C. Marley was
married in Hartford City, February 10, 1882 to Miss Sarah Foy, who
was born December 18, 1861, near Galveston in Cass county, but was
reared and educated in Blackford county. She now lives with her
younger son near LTpland, and is a woman of much refinement and
intelligence. Her parents were Fantley R. and Mary (Townseud)
Foy. Her father was born in Ohio, and her mother in New York State,
and came as young people to Blackford county, where they were married.
Mr. Foy was a farmer, and also operated a threshing machine for some
years. His death occurred in Jeiferson township of Grant county, June
30, 1911, and his wife passed awa.v at Hartford City in 1881. Mr. Foy
was a Democrat, and his wife was a devout member of the Methodist
church, ilrs. Sarah ilarley is one of three daughters and two sons, and
she also adheres to the ilethodist Doctrine. Joseph C. Marley, whose
father died in young manhood in Blackford county, in 1861, and who
was a blacksmith at Hartford Citj', spent all his career as a farmer.
His mother was married again after his father's death. The brothers
of Joseph C. Marley were Frank, George. Calvin, and William, all of
whom were married, and George and William are still living. Frank
was well known in musical circles, and William was a carpenter and
builder and also had musical talent.
Charles F. ilarley was the second child and first son in a family,
the other members of which are mentioned as follows: Nora, the wife
of Sylvester S. Smith, living on the ]\Iarley farm, and they are the
parents of five children ; Fred, a resident at Upland and section foreman
for the Pennsylvania Railroad, who married Ethel Ballinger, a daughter
of Webster Ballenger; Lee, lives at home with his mother in Jefferson
township, and belongs to the Upland high school class of 1915.
Charles F. ]\Iarley grew up on a farm, and after completing his edu-
cation decided that farming offered the best opportunities for a success-
ful career, and since his marriage he and his wife have owned and
operated four hundred acres of land lying in section eight, one hundred
acres in section three, and fifty acres in section nine, all in Jefferson
town.ship. Fine farm buildings, including a dwelling of twelve rooms,
a large barn on tlie main farm, sixty by one hundred and twenty feet
in ground dimensions, and many other notable improvements indicate
the progressive management of the ^Marley estate. Mr. Marley has
learned the secret of making a high-priced land pay profits, and he
does this by feeding all the grain and other crops to hogs, cattle, sheep
and hoi-ses of the better grade, and his stock always command the top-
notch prices, when sent to market.
On February 8, 1909, in Jefferson township, Mr. Marley married
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 491
Miss Elva Johnson, who was born in Jefferson township in 1885, a
daughter of Noah Johnson, whose career as that of one of Grant county 's
well known former citizens is sketched ou other pages. Mrs. Marley
grew up in this county, had a public school education, and has entered
spiritedly and actively into the plans and career of her husband. The
children of Mr. and Mrs. Marley are as follows : Geneva ; Joseph J. ;
James Robert; and Charles, who died when three months old.
Amos Pugh. One of Grant county's sterling citizens, for many
years an active farmer of Jefferson township, and a man whose quiet
and upright character, left its impress in his community, was the late
Amos Pugh, who died at his homestead in section fourteen of Jefferson
township, April 12, 1905.
Amos Pugh was born in that township, on the old Pugh estate,
entered by his father, on July 17, 1844, and was sixty-one years of age,
when death came to him. He was reared and educated in his home
locality, and from young manhood followed farming, and with such
industry and good management that he left his family in good circum-
stances. From 1884 until his death he lived on a farm of forty acres
in section fourteen. His personal labors had entered into the develop-
ment of that place, and among its improvements are a comfortable
nine-room house, surrounded with attractive grounds, and also a good
barn. ]\Ir. Pugh lived his later years as almost an invalid, and his
death was from bright 's disease.
The parents of the late Amos Pugh were Marshall and Elizabeth
Pugh, who were born in Virginia, were married in Ohio and in the
latter twenties, or early thirties came to Indiana and took up land in
the wilderness of Grant county. Their first log-cabin home was built
in the green woods, and as they possessed the hardy character of the
typical pioneers they prospered in proportion to their efforts. Marshall
Pugh was born in 1795, and his wife in 1804. They were working mem-
bers of the Methodist faith, and assisted in the organization of the
old Shiloh M. E. Church, and Marshall Pugh gave the cemetery in which
the body of himself and wife now lie side by side. They had a large
family of children, and the only survivor is Alfred, a justice of the peace
at Upland, who lives with his children.
On January 18, 1866, Amos Pugh was married in Jefferson town-
ship to Margaret Walker, who was born in that locality August 27, 1842,
and is now living on the Pugh homestead. She was reared and educated
in her native township, and after her marriage entered actively into
the plans and works of her husband and was a good manager and
largely responsible for the success which came to both of them. Since
her husband's death she has lived on the farm, and has done much to
increase its value and improvements. Mrs. Pugh is a daughter of Jolui
and Miriam (Case) Walker. John Walker was born in Virginia, a
son of Joseph Walker, and when a young man moved to Ohio, where
he married in Preble county. Two children were born in that county,
and in 1834, the Walker family came on further west and found location
in Grant county. The journey was made across the country with wagon
and team, and they entered upon their possessions in Grant county as
typical pioneers. The portion of the land which he secured for his
homestead was in the school section, and the father devoted many years
of labor to the clearing up and developing of a home. A man of excep-
tional education, he not only did farming, but spent the winter seasons
for a number of years in teaching in the community. His death occurred
in Jefferson township in July 1845, when only thirty-six years of age.
Some years later his widow married Jesse Ballinger, and they reared a
492 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
family, aud died ou tiieir farm in Grant county, she being past seventy-
five years of age, and he a little older. There were six children in the
Ballinger household. John AYalker aud wife also had six children,
namely: Samuel, who died in 1908, in Jefferson township, where he
was a farmer, and left two children; Catherine, became the wife of
James Needier, and they are both now deceased, leaving a family : ;\lary
died after her marriage to "William Simons, who now lives at Summits-
ville, Indiana: Sarah J., died wheu niue months old. The uext in liue
is ^irs. Pugh, and "William C. Walker, deceased, was a well known
carpenter of Grant county, to whom is accorded separate space in this
volume.
Mrs. Pugh is a member of the Jefferson Christian Church as was
her husband. The latter always voted the Democratic ticket. The only
child of Mr. and ^Ii-s. Pugh was AYilliam Elmer, who was born October
21, 1866, was well educated, took up the occupation of milliug, and
after some years spent in that business he died at the home of his
parents, November 5, 1894. He was at that time less than thirty years
of age, was a young man of great promise, aud very popular in the
community. In politics he gave his support to the Prohibition cause
and voted for the candidate, ^h: St. John. Mrs. Pugh has also fostered
two children, aud has given them the care aud affection of a true mother.
The first of these is EfSe, who was weU educated iu the public schools,
and who married 0. C. Needier, a successful young farmer in Jeffer-
son township, and a son of Joseph Needier. Mrs. Pugh also reared a
niece, Lois E. Simons, and she was married at the Pugh homestead to
Louis Hanley.
Thomas J. Lucas. Among the old families of Grant county, that
bearing the name of Lucas has been identified with this region since
the da.vs when the wilderness and the Indians prevailed. Its members
have followed farming ehiefl.y as their occupation, though the name
is also represented iu the profession and in public aff'airs. Mr. Thomas
J. Lucas of Fairmount has for many years been a successful farmer,
aud is now active iu public affairs as county commissioner from the
third district of the county.
The family ancestry goes back to early Scotch settlers of America,
The first home of the family in America was in the state of Virginia,
where the Lucases and related families lived for several generations. The
grandfather of Thomas J. Lucas was Basil Lucas, a native of Virginia,
who mari'ied a Miss ililburn. A recent investigator of this family
records has shown that Mr. Lucas is a direct kinsman of General Thomas
Jefferson Lucas, who was a soldier in the "War of 1812. and also in the
war with Mexico during the -lOs. General L. J. Lucas was a son of
Geueral Lucas, who gained distinction, as a soldier under Napoleon in
the French wars. Basil Lucas was also related to "William Penn, the
founder of the Pennsylvania colony.
After his marriage in Virginia, Basil Lucas emigrated to Highland
county, Ohio, where he was one of the early settlers, and where he
followed farming. He died when about eight.v years of age. aud his
wife was probably about the same age at the time of her death. They
were I\Iethodists iu religion, and the father voted the Democratic ticket.
The children of these parents were: 1. Basil. Jr., a farmer, who came
to Grant county, where he died. He reared two daughters who grew to
maturity. 2. Joseph Lucas located in Randolph county, Indiana, mar-
ried and had a family of six children of whom one is still living.
3. John, married in Ohio, then came to Randolph countj', Indiana, later
to Grant county, where he died. He left the following named children:
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 493
Noah, Julia, David, Anna, and Mary, the last two being still alive.
4. Rev. Simeon came to Randolph county, and spent all his active career
as a preacher for the Methodist Church. He was married in Ohio, and
he and his wife left a family of children. 5. Noah, lived and died in
Ohio, where he was married and had two sons. 6. Thomas Alilburn
was the father of Thomas J. Lucas, and his family record is a;iven at
greater length hereafter. 7. William was a veteran of the Mexican war,
and for his services in that conflict received a grant of land in the old
Indian Reserve in Grant county. After improving this estate he moved
to Ohio and died in Allen county of that state. He was a devout Metho-
dist, and a great worker for his church. He was married but had no
children. William Lucas was also distinguished as a powerful athlete,
and in the early days often wrestled with the Indians. 8. Sarah married
a Mr. Allison, and they lived and died in Illinois, leaving two daughters.
9. Anna married a Mr. Bragg, and they spent their lives in Ohio as
farmers. In their family was one son who proved his bravery as a
Union soldier during the Civil war. 10. Amos, was married, lived in
Ohio, and left one son.
Thomas Milburn Lucas, the father, was born in Highland county,
Ohio, June 10, 1814. Growing up on a farm, he was one of a number of
children, and owing to such a large family and the pioneer circumstances
of the times, it was often difficult for the pai-ents to provide all the
necessities of life. The children went barefoot throughout the summer
season, and as the procuring of shoes was not an easy matter some of
the children often went without until well into the winter season. Shortly
after he became of age, Thomas M. Lucas was married on J\Iay 23, 1839,
in Ohio, to Jlary Moore Shoemaker. She was born in New Jersey,
March 30, 1813, and was a child when she came over the Alleghany
Mountains in wagon and team to Highland county with her parents.
Her father, George Shoemaker, married a Miss Moore. Both her par-
ents lived and died on a farm in Ohio, and reached advanced age. The
Shoemaker's were all ilethodists.
In Ohio was born George il. Lucas, the first child of Thomas M.
and wife. After his birth the family moved to Grant county. The
father had come to this county in 1840, locating a tract of government
land on Barren Creek in Jefferson township. He then rode all the way
back to Southei-u Ohio, and after entering and making his first payment
on the land at the land office at Fort Wayne, finally set out in 1842
with his yoiing wife and child across country to their new home. The
settlement of the Lucas family in Jefferson township was in the midst
of the green timber, and their first home was a primitive log cabin, with
greased paper for window light, with a puncheon floor, and with a
door made of slabs hung on wooden hinges. Practically all the expe-
riences which have been described as a portion of the early settlers of
Grant county were participated in by the early Lucas family. Among
. other things they had to pay a pound of pork for a pound of all the
salt used in their establishment. Thomas JI. Lucas prospered as a
farmer, and eventually owned three hundred and twenty acres of land,
having put three hundred acres of this under cultivation and improve-
ment. His death occurred in March, 1874, while his wife survived him
several years, ilrs. Lucas, the mother, as a housewife in those pioneer
days probably had no superior. She was noted for her excellent cook-
ery, and her children remember that she was as fussy about the clean-
liness of her puncheon floor on the old cabin as any modern housewife
is about the hardwood floors which are now found in so many Grant
county homes. Both father and mother were life-long ilethodists, and
took part in the first organization of the church in their section of the
494 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
county. Thomas M. Lucas was an official of the church, a class leader,
a trustee, and superintendent of the Sunday school.
The children of Thomas M. Lucas and wife are given the following
records on these pages: 1. George died when twelve years of age.
2. Laviua is the wife of Levi Moorman, and lives at ilatthews in Grant
county. They are the parents of one son, Albert. 3. Albert Lucas, a
retired farmer in Jonesboro, of Grant county, married Louisa Kidner,
and their children are Otto and Armeuta. 4. John, lives in Jefferson
township, a prosperous farmer, and married Clementine Jenkins, and
their children are Lona, William, Florence, Daisy, Inez, Albert, Charles,
and Elizabeth. 5. Anna M. is the wife of William P. Roush, living in
Mill township, where they are substantial farming people. Their chil-
dren are Nettie and Walter, both the children being now deceased.
Walter was a student of Purdue and went with a party of students to
Indianapolis to a football game, but the train was wrecked and he was
killed. 6. Thomas J. was the youngest of the family.
Mr. Thomas J. jjucas was born in Jefferson township at the old
homestead, December 18, 1849. His early training was received in the
public schools. Taking up the career of farming he early accumulated
some property, developed a good homestead, and still has his old farm
of one hundred and thirty-five acres in Jefferson township. It is
improved with an excellent barn, a comfortable dwelling, and on its
feed lots and pastures run a number of horses, hogs and sheep. He
raises coi-n, oats and wheat, ajid feeds practically all his crop to his
stock. Mr. Lucas continued a resident on the home farm until 1892,
when he moved to a house in town, at 117 South Sycamore Street. This
is now one of the attractive homes of Fairmount.
September 25, 1872, in Jefferson township, Mr. Lucas married
Amanda Dunn. She was born in Jefferson to\\Tiship, December 13, 1852,
and received her education in the same locality with her husband.
Her parents were Harmon and Mary (Minnick) Dunn. Her father
was born in Delaware county, Indiana, about 1822 or 1823. Her mother
was a native of Rockingham county, Virginia. They were married in
Grant county, and started out as farmers in the midst of the wilderness.
They hewed a home out of the woods, and were among the substantial
pioneer settlers in this section of the state. Mr. Dunn died during
the last year of the Civil war in 1864, being in the prime of life. His
widow died some years later, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Joseph
W. Littler, when seventy-six years of age. The Dunns wei'e Presby-
terians in religious faith. The children of the Dunn family were Elzina,
widow of Robert F. Careins, and lives at Matthews, and has three sons ;
Amanda, the second, is Mrs. Lucas; Loretta is the widow of I. H. Shoe-
maker, and has one son and two daughters, and lives in Oklahoma City ;
Calvin died at the age of twenty-two; Elizabeth is the wife of J. W.
Littler, living in Jefferson township, and the mother of four daughters.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Lucas comprise the following children:
Dr. Wilbur was born June 22, 1872, was liberally educated and prepared
for his profession in the Northwestern University at Chicago, where he
was graduated M. D. in 1903. He is now in successful practice at
Pueblo, Colorado, and was married October 7, 1908, to Edith M. John-
son of that city, and they have one daughter, Edith Lenore, born Decem-
ber 26, 1910. "2. Carl Dunn Lucas, D. D. S., was born October 24, 1879,
graduated from the dental college of Indianapolis, in the class of 1902,
and has a high rank as a practitioner of dentistry, and also through his
other professional relations. He is a member of the faculty of the
Indianapolis Dental College, and has gained a great reputation as a
lecturer on dentistry throughout the central states and the west. He
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 495
married Effie Janet Carter, of Arcadia, Indiana, and they liave a son,
Carl, Jr. 3. Mabel, was born November 14, 1884, was educated in the
Fairmount Academy, and married Dr. L. D. Holiday. Their children are
Murrey L. and Philip L. 4. Georgia was born November 9, 1889, was
educated in the city grammar and high schools, studied music in the
Marion Conservatory, under Professors Owen & Nusbaum, and was.
later a student under j\liss C. Louise Dunning of New York City, but
now at Portland, Oregon. Miss Lucas is now taking a normal course,
and as a student of great ambition and talents is preparing herself ta
teach the Dunning course of music.
Mr. and Mrs. Lucas are attendants at the Congregational Church.
Mr. Lucas is now serving his second term as county commissioner of
Grant county from the Third District, having been chosen on the Demo-
cratic ticket. He has also served a term on the Fairmount City Council,
and as a successful business man his services to the public have been
greatly appreciated by the local citizenship. He is affiliated with Lodge
No. 383, I. 0. 0. F., and with Lodge No. 381, Ivnights of Pythias, at
Fairmoimt. He has passed all the chairs in these orders. In politics
he is regarded as one of the leading Democrats of Grant County and
has served as chairman of the township committee, and has frequently
attended as a delegate the county, state and congressional sessions.
George Needler. For seventy-nine years George Needier has lived
in Grant county. His recollections cover almost three-quarters of a cen-
tury, and he is one of the few survivors of the actual period of pioneer
circumstances and events in Grant county. At the present time nearly
every section of land in the entire area of Grant county is more or less.
improved, and every section is a praiseworthy tribute to the hardy en-
deavors and the courage and ability of the pioneers. Of those who came
in the vanguard of civilization and assisted in the clearing up of one of
these sections, the Needier family is not only one of the oldest, but
through the worthy character of its various members is one of the most
prominent. The Needier family originated in Germany, where the great-
grandfather George Needier was born, and where he was married, and
partly reared his family. About 1790 he crossed the Atlantic with his
little household, and on the vo.vage his wife succumbed to the hardship
of the long trip, and was buried at sea. With his foiir sons, George
Needier landed in Philadelphia, whei-e he lived until his death at a good
old age. His son George Needier, Jr., married Mary Snyder, who,
though her name belies the assertion, is said to have been born in Ireland.
After his marriage George, Jr., pursued his trade of cooper for a short
while, then moved to the vicinity of Winchester, Vii-ginia, and while there
his family of six sons were born, whose names were : James, George,
John, Jacob, David and Abner. About 1807 or 1808 the family left
Virginia and settled in Guernsey county, Ohio, their location being on
lands reserved by the government for school purposes. Some years were
spent in that vicinity, and by the combined labors of all the household,
a substantial home was added. Some of the sons got their first capital
and start in life through employment in the salt works in that vicinity.
Then in 1832, James Needier, the oldest of the children, came to Indiana,
and in the wilderness of Jefferson township of Grant county, acquired
four hundred acres direct from the government. The following .year he
again came out and built a log cabin in the midst of the wilderness, and
there in 1834 he brought his young wife and his father and brothers also
came and thus the household was reunited in the valley of the Mississin-
ewa. However, the mother of James died during the journey out to
Grant county, and thus was enacted one of the tragedies of pioneer life.
496 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Her'body was laid to rest at the roadside at Darby Plains near Urbana,
Ohio. After they were all settled and started in the regular pursuits of
a pioneer eommunit}-, George Needier Junior was quietlj- taken from life
at an old and vigorous age. He had been cutting wheat and still had
his sickle in his hand when death called him.
James Needier was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1797, grew
up in Virginia and Guernsey county, Ohio, learned the trade of cooper,
though practically never followed it, and on coming to Grant county was
soon followed by all his brothers except Abner, who remained behind.
Abner later came to Grant county, still later went to ^lissouri and died
there. James Needier lived the life of an industrious pioneer and cleared
up two hundred acres of land in Jefferson township. There he pursued
his vocation as a farmer until his retii*ement, and he spent his last days
at the home of a son in Hartford City, where he died in 1881 at the age
of eighty-four years. He was a Democrat in politics, belonged to the
Presbyterian church, and was an upright and honored citizen. He mar-
ried Rebecca Ward, a daughter of Captain John Ward, who held a com-
mission in the United States Army during the War of 1812, and who
died about 1815. Rebecca Ward was born about 1807, was reared in
Ohio, in the family of some Irish people, until her marriage. She died at
the old home in Jefferson township, about 1870. Her religion was that
of the ilethodist church.
Mrs. George Needier was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, May 14,
1832. about two years before the family left that region and settled in
Grant county. His career has been one of great activity, and of con-
siderable variety. For four years he taught school, was in the business
of manufacturing tile for eight years, served in the office of county com-
missioner four years, and aside from those activities has spent the greater
port of his life as a farmer and stock dealer. His success has fluctuated,
and at one time he was the owner of two hundred acres, but reverses
reduced his 'property until he now possesses about sixty acres, and yet
is still in fair circumstances, and is regarded as a man of reliable
integrity.
'Mv. Needier was first married in Blackford county, Indiana, to Lydia
Cunningham. She was born and reared in that county, her birth taking
place in 1832. and she died in 1891. The children by her marriage were
as follows : Franklin died after his marriage leaving two children, who
live with their mother in Oklahoma ; ilary M. is the wife of W. H. Coffin,
a farmer in Delaware county, and they have children; Clementine lives
in Muneie, the wife of Willard Nolan, and their children are five in num-
ber; Emazetta is the wife of Charles Dodson, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and
they have one daughter; Andrew J. is a_ resident of IMuneie, and has a
family of two children; Charles is a fariher in Jefferson township, and
has six children. For his second wife Mr. Needier married Elizabeth
Monroe, who was born in Grant county, July 23, 1844. a daughter of
Joseph and Hannah (Shirar) Monroe, who came from Pennsylvania,
were settlers first in Ohio, and later came to Grant county in 1840, where
they were among the early farmer settlers. Mr. Monroe died IMarch 28,
1856, and his wife on JIarch 27, 1875. They left two sons and two daugh-
ters, who are still living and three of them are married.
John Bobret. The era of natural gas brought many able citizens
to Grant county — men of large and varied industrial and commercial
experience, whose enterprise and energy has done much to develop the
county during the last thirty years. After a number of years as a suc-
cessful glass manufacturer, John Borrey has chosen Fairmount as the
home of his quiet years and prosperous retirement. With an ample
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 497
share of the world 's goods, he shows a fine sense of responsibility toward
his communit}-, and is employing his means and influence for the im-
provement of his home locality.
Few Grant county families have so interesting a history as that of the
Borreys. They are of French ancestry, aud Mr. Borrey's grandparents
lived and died in Alsace. This border province of the German Empire
has been changing destinies during the last century, so that a native of
Alsace may properly claim to be either a native of Fi-anee or of Ger-
many. At the time of the Napoleonic wars, Alsace was taken from Ger-
man}' and made a part of the French Empire. So it remained until
the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, when it became one of the prizes of the
war, and was returned to Germany and has since been a part of the
German Empire. The grandparents of John Borrey spent their lives
in Alsace while it was under French dominion. They were Catholics
in religion, and the grandfather followed the family occupation of glass
blowing. Mr. Borrey has no information concerning the names of his
grandparents. However, it is known that there were four children, two
sons aud two daughters, the sons having been John and ilichael. aud
one of the daughters named Elizabeth. These children were born in
Alsace, but subsecjueutly all moved into Germany, where thej^ spent their
lives in quiet industry and comfortable home life. They all reared
families of their own and for many years had their homes at Sauerbroke,
Germany.
Michael Borrey was born in Alsace in 1820. He learned the trade
of glass blower when a young man, went to Germany, served according
to the law of the land for three years in the army and then took up his
regular work as a glass blower. He followed with great skill a special
department of this work in the manufacture of large carboys, carboys
being large glass containers. His father had worked at the same line
of glass blowing in France, and the two sons on going to Germany took
a contract for the blowing of these large bottles under condition that all
the bottles should bear the family name of Bori-ey stamped upon them.
Both brothers John and Michael continued in the manufacture of car-
boys until they were sixty years of age. They were large and powerful
men and were masters of their trade. ]\Iichael died in Germany when
eighty-two years of age. Throughout his active career he had been a
hard worker, and enjoyed peculiar esteem in his community. He mar-
ried a German girl named Salma Schamm, a native of Frederickstahl,
one of the great glass manufacturing centers of Germany, She died
twenty years before her husband. All the family were Catholics in
religion. The children of Michael and wife were : Lena, who married a
glass blower in Germany, and they spent their lives in that country, leav-
ing a family of children; Sophia, married a window glass blower, and
they were the parents of five children, the family spending their lives
in Germany; Lizzie married Joseph Smith, also in the window glass
trade, and they died in Germany, leaving a son and two daughters;
Jacob, was a bottle blower in Germany, married aud died when liis only
child was one year of age, while his widow is still living ; Net.ia married
a German glass blower, later moving to the United States, and both died
at Pittsburg, Pennsjdvania, leaving two sons and a daughter,
I\Ir. John Borrey of Fairmount, a brother of jMichael, .just named, was
born in Frederickstahl, Germany, near the French border, August 9,
18-18, He grew up there, learned the glass blower's trade both in the
manufacture of bottles and window glass. In 1868 he decided against
serving in the German Army, and in order to escape that rule he emi-
grated to the United States, landing in New York City, From there he
went to Pittsburg, and on account of his skill soon found a profitable
498 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
employment in one of the large bottle manufacturing and window glass
houses of that vicinity. After four or five years he moved to Ravenna,
Ohio, where he spent sixteen years at his trade. For about five years
of this time he was manager of the plant. As a glass blower he had few
superiors, and was a quiet and efiflcient worker, well minded his own
bxisiness and still was popular and a good manager.
While a resident of Ravenna, Mr. Borrey married Louisa Hahne, who
was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 4, 185i. of German parentage.
Her parents, when she was fifteen years old, settled at Ravenna, Ohio,
her father having been a glass flatner, but later taking up the occupa-
tion of farming. Her father died near Ravenna, Ohio, at the age of
seventy-three, while her mother sm-vived until eighty-eight years of age.
Her parents were married in Germany, and came to the United States
in 1848.
ilr. Borrey through his early career both when single and after his
marriage exercised a great deal of thrift and economy in the management
of his financial affairs, and as he commanded high wages, both as a
blower and as manager, he was earlj' on the highroad to prospei'ity. In
1888 he went to Massillon, Ohio, where he took stock in a window glass
manufacturing company. Becoming manager, he remained there until
the development of the natural gas belt in Indiana, and the consequent
cheap fuel made it profitable for the company to move away. The com-
pany accordingly dismembered the entire factory, and brought it in
pieces to Greenfield. Indiana, and during 1890-91 rebuilt the entire fac-
tory. It was conducted for the manufacture of window glass success-
fully until 1897, when Mr. Borrey sold his interest. He then came to
Fairmount and established a glass factorj- in this Grant county town.
From the start, largely owing to his long and varied experience, and a
peculiarly able management, he was successful, and after about a year
sold out the plant at a large profit over its cost to the American Window
Glass Company, the trust. He was later employed by the combine, as
a special manager, going from one factory to another to see that things
were all right, but finally gave up the glass business altogether, and
retired to his fine home at 510 Ea.st Washington Street in Fairmount.
He now enjoys a large and ample prosperity, and among other property
owns one of the best business blocks in the city at the corner of Main
and Washington Streets which he erected. Although he had well earned
a period of leisure. Mr. Borrey is not the kind of man who can sit down
and fold his hands, and soon after he retired he bought a fine farm of
good land with excellent improvements, well built and modeled houses
and barns and with silo and all the appliances of modern farming, and
on that country estate finds a profitable pleasure in farming and stock
raising. He raises all the general crops and feeds ever\^hing to stock
on the place with the exception of his wheat. He keeps only first class
stock and has about a dozen first cla.ss horses, and all the machinery
is of the verj' best type.
ilr. Borrey is a Republican in polities, and is afiSliated with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife belongs to the Congre-
gational church. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Borrey were born
the following children : Bertha, who was born in Ravenna. Ohio. July 3,
1871, and is the wife of Paul Hagen, whose home is Indianapolis. They
are the parents of two children. ^larie and Lucile. William, the second
chUd. was born September 27, 1872, is a glass manufacturer at Kokomo,
Indiana, and is unmarried. Flora, was born January 11. 187.5. and is
the wife of Edward Welsch. a hardware merchant at Fairmount. They
have no children. John G. was born November 4. 1876. is a farmer and
manager of his father's estate, being unmarried and living at home in
Fairmount.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 499
Joseph Ratlipf. Among the old and honored residents of Fair-
mount, one who has been a witness to and a participant in the won-
derful development which has changed this part of Grant county from
an undeveloped wilderness into one of the garden spots of the State, is
Joseph Ratliff, who is now living retired from active pursuits, after
many years spent in agi'icultural work. Mr. Ratliff is a gi-andson of
Richard Ratliff, who was born in North Carolina, and whose parents,
natives of England, emigrated to America at an early day and spent
the remainder of their lives in farming, leaving a family of eight sons
and four daughters.
Richard Ratliff grew up a farmer, and married a North Carolina
girl whose name has since been forgotten. After the birth of several
children, he left his native State in 1810, and came north across the
mountains in teams, settling in a Quaker locality in Wayne county,
near the present site of Richmond, although that city had not yet been
established. There, in the wilderness, surrounded by pioneer hard-
ships and privations, he made a home for his family, but later disposed
of his interests and moved on to a new property near Hopewell, in
Henry county, where the remainder of his life was passed in tilling the
soil. Both he and his wife lived to advanced years and reared a large
family of children.
Gabriel Ratliff, the father of Joseph Ratliff, was one of the older chil-
dren in the family, and was born in North Carolina in 1805, being five
years of age when he accompanied the family to Wayne county, Indiana.
He was not yet of age when he came to Henry county, and he was there
married to Catherine Pearson, also a native of the Old Noi-th State,
where she was born in 1808. She had come with her parents to Wayne
county in 1810 or 1811, by wagon, and located in the Quaker settlement
near what is now Richmond. At that time one John Smith started a
little store, and there they purchased their first goods and sold their
eggs and produce, this being the only store for many miles around.
The Pearson family accompanied the Ratliff" family to the same neigh-
borhood in Henry county. Mr. and ilrs. Ratliff' settled on a property
not far from Spiceland, and there Mr. Ratliff died in 1845, aged only
forty years, during an epidemic of typhoid fever. Subsequently his
widow and her children moved to Miami county, Indiana, locating on
land then situated in the Indian Reserve, where many of the Indians
still remained. There Mrs. Ratliff was married to a Mr. Atkinson, who
died in 1871, and Mrs. Atkinson then came to Grant county, where she
passed away at the age of seventy-five years, at the home of a son. She
was a Quaker until late in life, when she adopted the faith of the Wes-
leyan Methodist church. By her last union she had no issue.
A brother of Gabriel Ratliff, Nathan Ratliff", was one of the most
famous hunters and trappers in Indiana, and many tales ai-e told as
to his prowess with the rifle. As related, on one occasion, when invad-
ing a bear's den after a litter of cubs, he was surprised by the return of
the mother bear, which he killed only after a desperate struggle. He
spent his entire life in the woods of Henry and Blackford counties, and
died in the latter when about eighty years of age, leaving a widow and
family.
Joseph Ratliff was the fifth son and ninth child in his parents' family
of twelve children, and was born in Henry county, Indiana, in 1838.
He was nine j'ears of age when he accompanied his mother to iliami
county, and there he received his education, attending school a part of
the time until he was fifteen years of age. At that time there were no
roads, and in their travels to church and to the homes of their friends
the early settlers had to depend upon blazed trails. He grew up an
500 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
industrious, thrifty farmer, and this has been his occupation throughout
life. An intei'esting conversationalist, he speaks entertaininglj- of the
early days, of "log rolling" and "house raising," of coon hunting and
of running through the woods after the cows, and of going a dozen
miles through the woods to church and to market.
Mr. Ratliff was married first in Miami county, Indiana, to Mary
A. Lamb, who was born a Quakeress, in the Quaker settlement near
Moonsville, Madison county, Indiana. She died in 1881, leaving seven
children. Prior to this, in 1871, Jlr. Ratliff had come to Grant county
and purchased a fine farm of ninety-two acres, just beyond the limits of
Fairmount. He married in Miami county, for his second wife Mrs. Mary
(Arnold) Thomas, who was born June 7, 1851, in Miami county, daugh-
ter of Nathan and Sarah (Overman) Arnold, natives, respectively, of
North Carolina and AVayne county, Indiana, although Mrs. Arnold was
of North Carolina parentage. Both families were of old Fox Quaker
stock, and came to Wayne county as early as 1800. Nathan Arnold and
Sarah Overman were married in 1839, on August 21, near Richmond,
and moved to Grant county, Indiana, in 1847, to a farm which the
grandfather Arnold had entered from the government. It was all then
a wilderness. Some years later Mr. Arnold traded his farm for one
in Miami county, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their
lives, he passing away in 1868, at the age of fifty-five years, and his wife
in 1894, when seventy-three years of age. Both were active Friends,
Mrs. Arnold being overseer and elder of the church at Amboy at the
time of her death, while Mr. Arnold was for many years an elder. He
was a substantial and progressive farmer, and owned the first carriage
in this section, in which he traveled in his preaching trips. By her first
marriage with Mr. Simeon Thomas, who died at the age of twenty-five
years, Mrs. Ratliff had two sons: Nathan H. and Herbert E., the former
of whom lives on Mr. Ratliff 's farm in Fairmount township, while the
latter lives at ilarion, Lamoure county, North Dakota, where he has
large agricultural interests.
Of the children of his first marriage, Mr. Ratliff has three living.
Charles, a farmer of Cass county, Michigan, is married and has a family
of five children. Hon. Ancil, a successful farmer of Liberty towiiship,
Grant county, is an ex-member of the Indiana Legislature, and led the
local option movement four years ago in Grant county. He has six
children, all graduates of Fairmount Academy, while one daughter, Ina
M., is a Friends missionary in Cuba. Milo E. Ratliff, D. D. S., with a
large dental practice at Cassopolis, Michigan, is a graduate of Fair-
mount Academy, Earlham College, Northwestern Dental College, Chi-
cago, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, ]Michigan. He mai'-
ried Belle Bogue, and they have twin daughters.
Mr. Ratliff 's life has been a long and useful one, and his activities
have served not alone to give him financial independence and prominence
in Fairmount, but have also assisted materially in advancing the inter-
ests of his adopted community. He has always been straightforward and
honorable in his dealings, and everywhere he is held in the highest
esteem by all who know him. He was trustee of Fairmount township
for eleven years, elected on the Republican ticket.
John H. Simons. Among the old families of Grant county that of
Simons has had a prominent place from the time when this county was
on the western frontier. Its members have prospered as farmers both
in the times of early settlement and in later generations, have been good
business men and public-spirited citizens and their lives have been led
along the paths of quiet industry and prosperity through a period of
BLACKFORD AxVD GRANT COUNTIES 501
three-quarters of a century. The representative of the name selected
for special note in this article is John H. Simons, for many years identi-
fied with business and civic aifairs at Fairmount.
His grandfather, Adrial Simons, was born in the state of New York.
He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. In his native state he mar-
ried and then moved to Pennsylvania which remained his home until
about 1820. He then went west until he reached Darke county, Ohio,
and his death occurred there in 1876. There was a large family of ten
children, all of whom grew up and two of them are still living: Mrs.
Naomi Broderick, of Fort Wayne; and Sarah J. Wilt, on a farm near
Warren, Indiana.
Henry Simons, the father, was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
May 15, 1815. He was a small boy when the family moved out to Darke
county, Ohio, and in that pioneer locality he grew up. In 1837 he set
out from Darke county, walked all the way through woods and over the
old time trails, to Grant county, where he entered eighty acres of land
in section thirty-six of Fairmount township. Then he walked to the
laud office at Fort Wayne, seventy-five miles distant, entered the land
and paid the fees, after which he retraced his steps to Grant county and
cleared ofl: the woods from a few acres of the land. These preliminaries
having been accomplished he went on to his old home in Ohio, where he
married Phoebe, a daughter of Solomon Thomas. In 1839 or 1840 he
brought his young wife to Grant county, and located on the eighty aci'es
which he entered a couple of years before. There he lived and his death
occurred in 1902 on the thirty-first of March when at an advanced age.
Henry Simons attained the distinction of a long and well spent life.
In his community and in his family he was noted for his uprightness
and high qualities of mind and heart, and may be said to have fulfilled
all the obligations of righteous living. He was a member of the Chris-
tian church and in politics a Republican. His first wife died in the
early fifties, leaving five children. Two of them, William and Adrial,
are living and have families of their own. For his second marriage
Henry Simons, in 1853, took Mrs. Elizabeth Parrill, nee Walker. She
was born in Rockbridge couut.y, Virginia, in 1826. When she was thir-
teen years of age she came with her father to Grant county. Here she
was married to James Parrill, and left one son, Joseph, who is now in the
automobile business in Fairmount. She died on ilarch 19, 1899, leaving
the following children by j\lr. Simons : John H. ; Levi, a farmer in Jef-
ferson township, and the father of three childi-en; Wilson, Avho lives on
a farm in Jefferson township, is married, and his seven children are at
home; jMata, wife of Oliver BuUer, who resides in Fairmount and has
one son and one daughter.
John H. Simons was born on the old homestead in Fairmount town-
ship, November 17, 1854. His youth was spent on a farm, and he was
given better than ordinary educational advantages. From the country
schools he attended the Marion city schools, and afterwards was a student
at the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. He began his
career as a teacher, and later entered the lumber and saw mill iudustiy.
His partner for some seven years was William H. Lindsay, until he
finally sold out to Mr. Lindsay. All his life he has been skilled in the
mechanical arts, and has done much work as a carpenter and builder.
Mr. Simons was one of the organizers of the Citizens Telephone Com-
pany at Fairmount, served as its president seven years, and as secretary
and treasurer during 1911 and 1912. He is now a stockholder in this
successful enterprise. His business career has been one of success, and
all his aecomijlishments have been worthy and of benefit not only to him-
self but to the community.
502 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Mr. Simons served two terms iu the city council at Fairmount. In
politics he is a Republican, and at the present time he is holding the
office of township assessor. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights
of Pythias Lodge in Fairmount.
In 1891 Mr. Simons married E. Rulh Stalker, who was born in Ran-
dolph county, North Cai'oliua, August 11, 1863, a daughter of Thomas
and Sara J. (Elliott) Stalker. Her father was a member of the Quaker
sect, and her mother a Methodist. Her parents were married in Ran-
dolph county. North Carolina, August 4, 1817, and her father died there
after a career as a farmer, on November 2, 1864. His widow was left in
very poor circumstances, and with seven children iu her care. In 1865
she brought her familj^ out to Indiana and went through many hard-
ships iu her endeavor to keep her flock together until they were grown.
One of her children died at the age of fourteen. A son, Jabez L. Stalker,
is now living in Marion county, Oregon, and has one son who is also
living. Another of the Stalker family is Paulina, widow of Harrison
Wiand of Marion, and she has seven children still living. Mr. and Mrs.
Simons are the parents of one son, Harry L., born June 2, 1892, a grad-
uate of the city high school, and still at home.
Adrial Simons. Since his birth nearly three score and ten years ago,
Adrial Simons has lived in Grant county, has met and accepted the
hazard of chance and circumstance, has steadily strengthened a reputa-
tion for integrity and unimpeachable conduct, and along with a fair
degree of well won prosperity has acquired those inestimable riches of
character and honor.
This is an old New England family, and great grandfather Adrial
Simons was born in one of the New England states, served as a soldier
in the Revolutionary war, was married and later moved to Bradford
county, Pennsylvania, where he reared a family of sixteen children. His
wife"s maiden name was Bingham. They both attained to good old age,
and died in Pennsylvania. Adrial Simons, the grandfather, was born
either in New England or Pennsylvania about 1793, and was brought up
on a farm in Pennsylvania and was there married. His first child, Henry
Simons, father of Adrial Simons of Grant county, was born 'Slay 15, 1815,
and four years later, in 1819, the little family came out to Ohio and settled
in Darke county. In Darke county, Adrial Simons and wife spent most
of their .vears, and his wife passed away about 1855. They had estab-
lished themselves in the wilderness, and eventually acquired a good farm,
and made a comfortable home for themselves and children. Some years
after the death of his wife, Adrial Simons moved out to Indiana, and
died at the home of a sou, Henry Simons, in Jefferson township, in 1875.
Henry Simons, who was the oldest of the family, had brothers and
sisters who grew up as follows : Eliza, who died after her marriage, and
after she had reared a family ; William, died in Warren, Indiana, in 1912.
when past ninety-two years of age — he lived with his wife for more
than sixty years, and had a large family of children ; Anna, married,
died without children; Adrial, third of the name, who married and reared
a family and died in Huntington, Indiana ; Erastus, who had a family
and who died on a farm in Grant county; Sophronia, the wife of William
Helms, and both died in Huntington county, Indiana, having a family of
children: Naomi, who married a ^Mr. Broderick. who died in Darke
county and she died in Huntington, Indiana, in October, 1913 ; ilaurice,
who died in Huntington county. Indiana, was a farmer, miller and
railroad man, and left a family ; Sarah J., the wife of Martin Wilts, lives
near Warren, Indiana, and has several children.
Henry Simons was reared in Darke county, Ohio, and in that vicinity
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 503
married Phoebe Thomas, a neighbor girl, a daughter of John and Agnes
(MeClure) Thomas, who were natives of Virginia, but spent most of
their lives near New iladison on the Whitewater river. Soon after
their marriage and before the birth of any children, Henry Simons and
wife moved out to Indiana, and in IS-tO located on government land in
section thirty-six of Fairmount township. Their location comprised
eighty acres, and had been selected by Henry Simons, according to a
usual custom of that time, some months previous to the settlement of his
family. Probably when he first selected the land he made a little clearing
and erected a log cabin home. Anyhow such a house was the first shelter
of the Simons family in Grant county, and he and his young wife began
housekeeping there and set out with courage and determination to make
a home for themselves in the wilderness. The wife of Henry Simons died
in February, 1852, being then only thirty-two years of age. She left five
children. Henry Simons then married for his second wife, Mrs. Eliza-
beth Parrell, whose maiden name was Walker, and who was the widow of
James Parrell. She had one child by her previous marriage. Joseph W.
Parrell, who lived in Fairmount township. Elizabeth Simons died leaving
four children, all of whom are now married and have families of their
own, their names being John H., Levi P., David W., and ]Mata il. Henry
Simons survived both wives and died at the old homestead March 30,
1902. By his first marriage, there were children as follows : An infant
that died unnamed; William, who is now a resident of Fairmount town-
ship, a retired farmer, and who has one son and two daughters; Adrial,
mentioned below; Jonathan, who died of scarlet fever in the winter fol-
lowing his mother's death, and that same plague carried off other chil-
dren named i\Iartha Ann and Ransom E.
In four successive generations there has been an Adrial Simons, and
Mr. Simons of Jeffei-son township continues the custom from his great-
grandfather, his grandfather, and his uncle. Adrial Simons was born
on the old Fairmounf township homestead March 28, 1845, was educated
in that vicinity and his home was with his parents until he was twenty-
one years of age. He secured his first small store of capital bj' working
at wages for neighboring farmers, and at the time of his marriage started
out on his own account, with only a small amount of land, with very
little stock and siipplies, and all his propei-ty has been won through the
thrift and good management of himself and wife. Mr. Simons now pos-
sesses a fine farm estate of one hundred and sixty acres, and all but three
acres of this might be considered under the highest state of improvement.
A large red barn and a fine ten-room house are conspicuous features of
the Simons estate and the farm is well stocked and with abundance of
water, and its crops measure up to the best standards of Grant county
agriculture. Mr. Simons has an excellent local reputation as a breeder
of high-grade shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs.
In July, 1874, Mr. Simons was married in Jefferson township to Miss
Elizabeth M. Needier, who was born in Jefferson township February
14, 1844, was educated in this locality, and her parents were James and
Rebecca Needier, early settlers who located in Jefferson township during
the thirties. Her mother was an active member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, while Mr. Needier was associated with no church organiza-
tion. ]\Ir. and IMrs. Simons have the following children : Ora Bell, who
died in infancy ; Roscoe E., who died at the age of twenty-five unmarried ;
Carl C, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-two and who was .just
at the entrance to a most promising manhood; Malevie M., who was
educated in the common schools and lives at home with her parents. Mr.
Simons is a Republican but has never shown any desire for public office,
although public spirited in all his relations with community affairs.
504 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
John R. Little. For sixty years the Little family have lived and
borne vrorthy parts in the activities of Grant county. The present
active generation of the name have been farmers, chietiy, but its members
have also done well in business and industry. The part chosen by John
R. Little has been education. He was educated in the normal depart-
ment of Fairmount Academy, and for thirteen years did a most successful
work as a teacher in Fairmount township. In November, 190S, the
people of the township recognizing his superior qualifications, elected
him township trustee, and he has been kept in office ever since. The
schools of the township were never better administered. He is a force-
ful, public spirited citizen, and one of the most popular men in the
county.
John R. Little was bona in Faii-mount township, July 31, 1871. His
family record is an interesting and honorable one. His great-grand-
father, John Little, Sr., was born in Randolph county. North Carolina,
of North Carolina parentage. Owing to certain misfortunes he got in
debt, and according to the laws then prevailing in that state he was sub-
ject to arrest and imprisonment. Refusing to accept the burdensome
and unjust conditions, he left the state and was never heard of again.
His widow, whose maiden name was J\Iary Nicholson, was thus left with
four sons, David. Nathan, Zimri, and John Jr. These children were
bound out according to the methods then in vogue. David was bi'ought
to Indiana in a very early day by Aaron Hill, and lived and died in
Wayne county, where he secured land, improved it, and made a com-
fortable little fortune. He was three times married and reared a large
family. He was eighty years of age at the time of his death. The son,
Zimri, died in North Carolina, where he reared a famil}^ Nathan
and John, the latter the grandfather of Mr. John R. Little, in 1S52
brought their families to Indiana, locating in Randolph countj-, where
they started life anew. Nathan was trained at the trade of tanner, and
followed that business in Randolph county for a number of years. In
1853 both Nathan and John moved to Fairmount in Grant county, and
here Nathan continued tanning for many years. His death occurred
when he was an old man in Grant county. He was first married in
North Carolina to Nancy, a daughter of Asa Rush. She died in Fair-
mount, leaving a family of children. His second marriage was to Mrs.
Rachael Foust, whose maiden name was Modlin. Rachael IModliu had
married for her first husband John Little, Jr., a brother of Nathan and
grandfather of the present Fairmount lown.ship trustee. John Little, Jr.,
died in 1853, and she later married James Foust, who also died. Then
she became the wife of Nathan Little and introduced several peculiar
relationships in the family records. By her marriage to James Foust,
there was one child. Nathan Little had no children by her. She died
several years before her last husband.
John Little, Jr., who has already been mentioned, was born in North
Carolina about 1810. After his father was forced to leave the state on
account of debt, the boy was bound out to a farmer named Zachariah
Nixon, and when he was twenty-one years of age he was free to pursue
his own devices. His mother died about that time, and he established a
home of his o^^^l by marriage to Rachael ]\Iodlin, whose history has
alreadj' been alluded to. To the marriage of John and Rachael were
born five children in North Carolina. These children were : Alexandria,
Thomas, Sarah J., Noel, and ilary Emily. All then came north to
Randolph county, Indiana, in 1852, and in the following year located
in Grant county, their home being near Fairmount City, where the father
died November 17, 1853, when in the prime of life. The widow, as
already stated, then married James Foust, and had one child, David
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 505
Foust, who died young. Of the five children of John Little, Jr., the
only survivor is Alexander, who was born in 1S39, and was about four-
teen years old when his people came to Grant county. He enlisted in
Company H of the Twelfth Indiana Volunteers in 1S61 and after the
expiration of eight months of service reenlisted for the period of three
years or during the war. His second enlistment was in Company B of the
Seventh Indiana Cavalry. He saw a long and arduous career as a
soldier, and was discharged at Austin, Texas, in February, 1866. He
was in many campaigns and engagements, but w'ent through all escap-
ing wounds or capture. He now lives retired at Fairmount, one of the
honored old veterans of the war, and a kindly and esteemed citizen of
the county. He is a Progressive in politics and has membership in the
Jieesou Post No. 386, G. A. R. Alexander Little married ilary T.
'Johnson of Fairmount, and of their six children four are living, all of
whom are married and have children of their own. The second child of
John Little, Jr., was Thomas, father of John R. Little, concerning Avhom
more is said in a following paragraph. Jane, the third in order of birth,
married Jesse W. Crisco, both now deceased, and of their three children
one is living. Joel M. married Serepta ilcCoi-mick, both now deceased,
and they left a family of six children. Emily married Oliver McCor-
mack, a farmer, and siie is now deceased, while her husband married the
second time, the second wife also being deceased, and he lives in Grant
county.
Thomas Little, father of John R., was born in Randolph county.
North Carolina, December 9, 1842, and came with his parents to Ran-
dolph county, Indiana, in 1852. This journey was made with a one-
horse team, in company with a large party of people making the migra-
tion through the west. In 1853 the family moved to Grant county,
where he grew to manhood, and at the age of twenty years, in 1862,
he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of the Eighty-Fourth
Indiana Regiment. Later, on account of sickness, he received an honor-
able discharge and was sent home to die, but instead got well, and before
the war was over enlisted in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry. He remained
with that command until the war was over. At Guntown, ^Mississippi,
he received a wound from a bullet through the ankle, and suffered from
the effects of that injury all his life. He died at his home in Fairmount,
July 29, 1905. He always stood high in the community, was a man of
industry and excellent business judgment and had friends wherever he
had acquaintances. He belonged to Beeson Post No. 386, G. A. R., was
affiliated with the ]\Iasonic Lodge at Jonesboro, was a Republican in
politics, and belonged to the Friends church.
Thomas Little was married in Fairmount township to Susanna Foust,
who was born in Randolph county, Indiana, October 5, 1848. She came
to Grant county when a girl with her parents and grew up and spent
the rest of her days in this locality, her death occurring in August, 1909.
Her father was James Foust, already mentioned in this family record
as having married the widow of John Little, Jr. Mrs. Thomas Little
was a member of the Quaker church. She had the following children:
Wintford, deceased; Florence, deceased; Luther, deceased; John R. ;
Rosanna, who died in childhood: Albert, who is married, lives in
Danville, and has a family; Marilla, who died young: Charles, who
is a glass blower, has a family and resides at Montreal, Canada;
Leonard, a farmer near Jonesboro, Indiana, married and has a family;
Frank, a glass blower living in Fairmount with his family; Annie,
who died in childhood; Grace, who lives with her brother, John R. ;
Robert, who is married and lives in Pulaski county, Indiana, where
he owns a farm and is the father of one child.
506 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
ill-. John R. Little who inherited the substantial family characteristic
of honest purpose and industrious habits was reared in Fairmount town-
ship, aud was graduated from the normal department of the Fairmount
Academy iu 1892. With education as his chosen calling, he qualified
as a teacher, and did a successful part in instructing the young in his
home township. Since his election to the office of trustee, he has given
practically all his time to the administration of the township school
system. In the township are several good school houses, built of brick,
and most of them are constructed of a modern type. He has under him
nine teachers, and through his office has the entire responsibility of hir-
ing, placing and paying the teaching staff of the township. The annual
fund provided for this purpose by taxation and from other sources in
the township amounts to forty-live hundred dollars. In politics Mr.
Little is a stanch Republican.
In Fairmount, on May 2, 1900, Mr. Little married Effie Davis, who
died in 1906. She was born June 17, 1879. At her death she left a
daughter, Mary, who was born August 20, 1901, and is now a student
in the public schools. Mr. Little for his second wife was married on
March 4, 1913, to Mrs. Ella Moon, whose maiden name was Lamb. She
was born in Howard county, Indiana, in 1873, was reared and educated
there and was a daughter of William and Artie Lamb. Her father died
in 1913, while her mother still lives at Greentowu, in Howard county.
The Lamb family were Quakers in religion, and Mrs. Little was one of
four children. By her marriage to Eslie Moon, now deceased, i\Irs. Little
had two children, Leo and Emerson, both now nearly grown. Mr. and
Mrs. Little belong to the Friends church and are popular members of
the social community at Fairmount.
William W. Wake. One of the most enterprising merchants it has
ever been the good fortune of Fairmount to claim as a citizen is William
W. Ware, head of a large establishment dealing principally in buggies,
harness and heavy farm machinery, and for forty years a resident of
Grant county. In addition to his keen business ability, ]\Ir. Ware is one
of the kind of business men who believe that the best method of doing
business is to give value for value. He has therefore won the trust and
friendship of every one with whom he has come in contact, and he per-
forms a useful part of community service in addition to his business
activities.
William W. Ware was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, June
15, 1867. His parents were Joseph B. and Naomi (Mendenhall) Ware.
His mother was born in Guilford county, a daughter of Mordecai and
Lydia (Pugh) Mendenhall, both natives of North Carolina, Quakers in
in religion and farming people, spending all their lives in their native
state. Joseph B. Ware was born in Granville county, of North Caro-
lina, a son of Henry and Sallie (Hicks) Ware, natives respectively of
Virginia and Granville county. North Carolina. They were married in
North Carolina and lived to a good old age. Henry Ware was a member
of the Episcopal faith, while his wife was a Presbyterian.
Joseph B. Ware and wife were married in Guilford county. North
Carolina, and lived there until 1867. during which time their first child
William W. was born. The family then moved to the north locating
first at Hendricks county, Indiana, near Amo. There the father pur-
sued his trade as a plasterer and mechanic for several years. Within
that time was born the only other child, Ada. In 1873 the family moved
to GraJit county, locating two miles southwest of the city of Fairmount.
There the father continued to follow his trade as a plasterer contractor,
and did work over a large territory for fifteen years. Finally he de-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 507
voted all his energies to farming, and is still a resident of the farm and
interested in its active management. He is seventy-six years of age,
and for the past fifty years never had a day of sickness until the summer
of 1912, and is still smart and active. His wife, now seventy-two years
of age, is somewhat enfeebled from the weight of years. They are both
active members of the Friends church, and the father is a Prohibitionist
in politics. Besides William, their only child is Ada, wife of Rev. Oscar
H. Trader, a minister in the Friends church and a resident of Fair-
mount. Mr. and Mrs. Trader have two children, Cleo, a graduate of the
Fairmount Academy, and the wife of Clarence Riggs of Logansport, and
Retta, a graduate of the Faii-mount Academy and living at home.
William W. Ware was nine years of age when the family moved to
Grant county, and he grew to manhood here, and in 1888 was graduated
from the Fairmount Academ3^ His early career was devoted to teach-
ing, and he has a recoi-d of fifteen years of service in the school room.
During all that time he lost only one day through illness. For three
years he was pi'incipal of the Fowlerton schools in this county, and
has the distinction of having organized the consolidated schools m that
vicinity. While still following the profession of teaching he became
intei-ested in mercantile affairs, and joined Mordecai M. Nixon in the
farm implement and machinery business for five years. He was then with
0. M. Trader, and in 1899 they established the Fairmount Buggy Com-
pany, a concern which was conducted by them for ten years. Mr. W^are
then took over the business and conducted it independently two years.
At the end of that time he became associated with M. A. Hiatt in the
harness and buggy trade, and theirs is now the largest establishment of
its kind in southern Grant county. They carry a splendid stock of both
high priced and medium priced goods, valued at five thousand dollars.
They occupy a good store building on north Maine Street, one hundred
by twenty-five feet, and also two warehouses for the storage of buggies
and harvesting machinery.
In Fairmount township in September, 1895, Mr. Ware married
Nettie Dare, who was born in Union county, Indiana, August 1, 1868.
She was reared in Knox county, Missouri, to which locality her family
moved in 1876. In 1893 they returned to Indiana, and located in Grant
county, where she has since lived. Her parents are Robert and Mary
(McQuoid) Dare. Her mother died in Grant county at the age of
fifty-eight, in August, 1911. Her father is now seventy-three years of
age, and has his home in Fairmount city. During the Civil war he was
a soldier in an Indiana regiment, and went through the war without
wound or capture. Mr. and Mrs. Ware have no children. In politics
he is a Prohibitionist and he and his wile take a very prominent part in
the Little Ridge Friends church. Mr. Ware is teacher of the Ware
Adult Bible Class, one of the largest rural bible classes in the county,
with a membership of fifty. Sir. Ware owns a nice country home, a
mile and three quarters from Fairmount and has already accumulated
a generous competence for his later years. For nine years he gave his
services in behalf of local education as a member of the board of trustees
of the Fairmount Academy.
William H. Lindsey. Born in Grant county, Mr. Lindsey learned
a good mechanical trade, spent many years in building and contracting,
and later invested the proceeds of a well spent career in farm lands,
being now one of the largest landholders in his part of the county. He
lives retired at Fairmount, but has not yet felt the necessity of relaxation
on account of age, and enjoys the vigor of life to its full. His family
has been represented in Grant county nearly seventy j'ears, and the name
has always been associated with substantial worth and integrity.
5U8 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
The family of Lindseys were originallj^ from the north of Ireland
and of what is known as yeotch-Irish stock. Between one hundred and
tweuty-flve and one hundred and tifty years ago they crossed the Atlantic
and located in Guilford county, North Carolina. There the tirst genera-
tions lived and died and were as a rule farmers and mechanics. The
history of those early generations is largely lost to record and it is only
known definitely that the grandparents of William H. Lindsey lived and
died in North Carolina.
Daniel T. Liudsej-, father of William H., was born in Guilford county,
North Carolina, February 6, 1815, being one in a family of three chil-
dren and the only one who came north. His early years were speui on
the old Guilford county farm, and when he was about eighteen he bouud
himself out for his board to serve three years in learning the cabinet
maker "s trade. After three years of apprenticeship he continued to
work tor some time for his old employer as a journeyman. At the age
of thirty when still unmarried, he left North Carolina, and moved to
Indiana, settling in Delaware county. There he met and married Nancy
E., a daughter of Hiram and Martha (Leach) Lee. Both her parents
were born in Virginia, were married there and then moved to Franklin
county, Indiana, where their daughter Nancy was born ^lay 14, 1827.
When she was nine years of age, the family in 1836 moved to Delaware
county, and there her parents took up anew the burdens of pioneer
existence and the responsibility of making a new home in the wilderness.
Her father hewed a farm out of the woods, and there he and his wife
died, the latter when in middle life, while her father was twice married,
after the death of his first companion. He died in the fall of 1876, when
about fourscore years of age. There were two sons and one daughter by
the second wife, and one son by the last marriage. Daniel T. Lindsey
was a skilled workman, and followed his trade as a cabinet maker for
a few years after his marriage. He then took up carpentry and build-
ing, and still later did some farming. After his marriage he lived in
Henry county, Indiana, until 1846, in which year he settled in Fair-
mount township, and ten or eleven years later moved to Franklin town-
ship, this county, where his death occurred January 27, 1899. His
widow survived him and died at the home of her daughter Mrs. George
Berry in Marion, May 3, 1910. She belonged to the old-school Baptist
faith which the father also believed, and this denomination had been the
church of their parents before them. Daniel T. Lindsey was a Demo-
crat in politics. Daniel T. Lindsey and wdfe had twelve children. There
were five sons and seven daughters, and of these nine grew to maturity,
and all were married. Four sons and four daughters are now living.
"William H. Lindsey was born in Fairmount township, November 26,
1852. In 1857, when he was five j^ears old the family moved to Franklin
township, and it was there that he spent his boyhood days and was reared
and educated. The school he attended was the old Baptist school house,
two miles west of Roseburg. Later he turned his attention to the practical
things of life, learned carpenter work under his father, and made that
trade the basis of a successful business career-. February, 1872, he moved
to the city of Fairmount, where his skill as a builder and reliability as
a contractor brought him a large patronage. He built a great many
homes in Fairmount, and dwelling houses and barns throughout the
country in that vicinity. In 1887 he abandoned his trade, and in the
spring of the following year established at Fairmount a saw and plane-
ing mill and lumber yard. This Avas a prosperoiis business establish-
ment, and was continued by him until 1901 when he sold out. He then
bought sis hundred and twelve and a half acres of land in Liberty town-
ship. His possessions in that township comprise some of the finest
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 509
farm lands in the county and all of it is in an excellent state of cultiva-
tion and improvement. He has six sets of farm buildings ou the land,
and all the tenants are well provided for and are a prosperous and
substantial little colony of farmers. Mr. Lindsey himself lived on the
farm three years, but then returned to his city home. He owns a beauti-
ful residence at 304 E. Washington Street in Fairmount. As a farmer
he has made an exceptional success in the raising of corn, wheat, oats, hay
and clover, and has made a practice of feeding nearly all his crops on his
own laud. In Jefferson township of Grant county, on ]\Iarch 8, 1877, was
solemnized the marriage of William H. Lindsey to IMiss Sarah D. Couch.
Mrs. Lindsey was born in Grant county on the old Jefferson township
homestead of her parents September 16, 1855. Her home has been in
this county all her life, she was reared and educated here, and her family
name has long been honorably identified with this section of the state.
Her parents were Samuel and" Nancy (Furnish) Couch, natives respect-
ively of Indiana and Ohio. They were married in Jefferson township,
Grant county, and began their married life in this county. Her father
died at the age of sixty-two and her mother passed away ou Christmas
Day of 1901 at the age of seventy. The Couches were of the old-school
Baptist Faith. They were the parents of seven children, all of whom
married, and all had" children except one. who died soon after marriage.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey are noted as follows : 1.
Vella was born November 28, 1877, and is the wife of J. Otto Fink,
assistant superintendent of the Premier Auto Company of Indianapolis ;
their three children are William, and Vella, both in the city high school,
and Mary E., aged fourteen. 2. Evva, born March 15, 1881, was edu-
cated in "the Fairmount high school, and is now the wife of Charles H.
Hubbard, a glass manufacturer at San Springs, Oklahoma. Their
children are ilargaret E., aged ten. and Catherine, aged six. 3. Burr
died at the age of three years. 4. Guy died when aged ten months and
eleven daj's. 5. John C. born November 16, 1895, is now a member of
the Fairmount High School Class of 1915. The church attendance of
the family is at the Congregational, and ^Ir. Lindsey is a Democratic
voter. Fraternally he has taken both the lodge and chapter degrees in
Masonry at Fairmount, and is also affiliated with the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows at Hackelman.
Santford Little. Not only through his enterprise as a successful
farmer has j\lr. Little contributed to the permanent prosperity of Grant
county, but has exercised his inventive ability in the perfection of devices
for the lightening of human labors on farms throughout many states,
and as he is still young his activities in this direction may be considered
only to have fairly begun, and his career will have many successful
accomplishments to record during the subsequent years. Mr. Little on
his mother's side is descended from the McCormick family, so prominent
since pioneer da.vs in this section of Indiana, and i-elated to the McCor-
mick family which produced the inventors and manufacturers of the
early reapers, and first successful harvesting machines. Perhaps from
this side of the house ilr. Little has inherited his inventive turn of
mind. His ad.iustable device for a spring seat is one of his improvements,
and the upright stay for hay racks has been patented and has been sold
over a wide territory, and is one of the best things on the market for hay
wagons. Mr. Little has also perfected a unique machine for picking up
hogs and turning them over in order to operate on them for vaccination
and altering, and this invention finds much favor among veterinary sur-
geons. Another farm implement liearing the name of IMr. Little as pat-
entee is his hog ringing machine, which operates with great rapidity and
causes less pain than the old and slower process.
510 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
In his farm operations ilr. Little pursues the modern and scientific
method of rotation of crops, and is what might be called a mixed farmer,
using his land to raise crops and feeding all the products to the stock
on the place, thus preserving and increasing the fertility of the soil. His
place in section five of Jetferson township comprises one hundred and
sixty acres of land, and practically all of it is well improved and very
little land goes to waste under the management of ilr. Little. The fruit
orchards are one of the attractive features of the Little farm and his
stock are of the very best grades.
Santford Little was born in Fairmount township, in Grant county,
July 18, 1877, a son of Joel and Sarepta (McCormick) Little. Both
parents were born in Indiana, the father born in Randolph county and
mother in Grant county, and they are of the old pioneer stock in Grant
county. More will be found concerning the ancestry and earlier genera-
tion of the family in this county on other pages of this history. Joel
Little after his marriage lived on a farm in Fairmount township, where
his wife died in 1887 at the age of thirty-four, and he passed away in Au-
gust. 1897, being then fifty years of age. The Little family are Quakers
in religion. Santford Little grew up in his native township, was educated
only in the common schools, and since youth has applied himself to farm-
ing. Practically all his inventions have grown out of his close observa-
tion of the needs of practical devices about a farm, and he is deserving
of great credit for his ability in perfecting machines and improvements
which supply a want perhaps long appreciated by other farmers, none
of whom have had the practical ability to fill the vacancy.
Mr. Little was married in Madison county, Indiana, to Mary G.
Thurston, who was born and educated in that county, a daughter of
Joseph and Elizabeth (Welsh) Thurston. Her parents were prominent
and successful farmers and owned five hundred acres of well improved
land in iladison county. Both are now deceased, ilr. and ilrs. Little
are the parents of two children : Lawrence W., born September 22, 1901,
died February 15, 1904; Hazel i\I., born March 23, 1903, is a student in
the ^latthews public schools. Mr. Little and wife attend the Baptist
church and in politics he is a Republican voter.
Eael Morris. An honorable record of lives worthily lived, of duties
and obligations well performed is that of the Morris family, in whose
younger generation is Earl Morris, present town clerk and treasurer of
Fairmount. Few Grant county families go back further in American
residence and, like so many other substantial people of this section, the
early stock was Carolina Quakers, the religion of simplicity being still a
marked family trait.
The Morris family, of English stock, came to America during the
early colonial days, perhaps two hundred years ago, locating in North
Carolina, and being represented in that old commonwealth for a number
of generations. Adequate data is not at hand concerning the first genera-
tion, and the first of the family concerning whom there is definite infor-
mation was Thomas, who was born in North Carolina, was a Quaker, and
farmer, and spent all his days in his native state. He married Sarah
Musgrove, also of a Quaker family, and she probably died in Randolph
county. They had a large family of ten children, four sons and six
daughters.
Aaron Morris, son of Thomas, was the second in the family and was
born in Randolph county. North Carolina, January 4, 1791. He died in
May, 1832, in Indiana. He married Nancy Thomas, who was born
October 27, 1800, in North Carolina, and died March 2, 1832, in Wayne
county, Indiana. They both sleep their last sleep side by side in the
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 511
cemetery at Fountain City. They were among the early founders of the
Quaker church in Indiana, were upright, god-fearing, and thrifty people.
They were probably married in North Carolina, and it appeai-s that they
became residents of Indiana, about 1818, locating at Fountain City, in
Wayne county. In the family of Aaron Morris and wife were five chil-
dren, mentioned as follows : William was born in 1820, married Margaret
Jones, and they left one son and two daughters; John T., was the grand-
father of Mr. Earl Morris, and is mentioned at greater length in suc-
ceeding paragraphs ; Anna, died in Indiana ; Jesse married and at his
death in Michigan left a family, and the last twenty-seven years of his
life were spent in blindness. Hannah was the second wife of Axium
Elliott, and died at the age of twenty-four, being buried in Marion,
I. 0. 0. F. cemetery, without children.
John T. Morris, grandfather, was born at Fountain City, Indiana,
November 22, 1821. When he was eleven years old he lost his father by
death, and as both parents died about the same time, in Grant county,
Indiana, the children were scattered and taken into other homes to be
reared. John T. went to Grant county, and was bound out to Silas
Overman, working on the farm as a bound boy until he had completed
his apprenticeship at the age of twenty-one. He was then ready to make
his independent start, having received for all his labor only his board
and clothes, and had a few dollars and a pair of overalls as extra clothing
when he started for himself. In 1846, four years after he had reached
his majority, on the twenty-second day of April, he married Rebecca
Jay, who was born in Indiana, September 15, 1827, and who died
August 29, 1868, in Illinois. John T. Morris lived on a farm in Grant
county for a number of years, later moved to Illinois, spent some time
in the far northwest in the state of Oregon, afterwards retui-ned to
Indiana, and lived first in Rush county, and later at Newcastle, in
Henry county. He still lives at Newcastle, being a remarkably well
preserved old gentleman, who has never been obliged to wear glasses and
has his hearing almost perfect. He is an intelligent reader, and has had
many exceptional experiences during a long career. He has been a life
long member of the Quaker church, and in politics, has always voted for
the prohibition cause. During his residence in Rush county he married
for his second wife Sarah Ann Gray, a native of Indiana, who died in
Rush county. For his third wife he married Mrs. Emil.y (ilacey)
Winslow, who is now past seventy-six years of age. There were no
children by the second and third marriages, but those by his first wife
were as follows : 1. Thomas Elwood, born February 9, 1847, now a resi-
dent of Florida, and by his first marriage had children Charles L. Clark-
son D., and William. By his second wife he was the father of Myrtle,
Earl, Esther, and Harry, all of whom are living but Esther. 2. Aaron,
born January 25, 1849, died June 29, 1876, unmarried. 3. Mary Eliza,
born March 17, 1852, died in August, 1887, in Grant county, Indiana.
She married Christopher Porter, also deceased. They had four children :
Anna, John, Lizzie, and Florence, all of whom are deceased. 4. Bryon,
bom July 7, 1854, married Elizabeth Hodson, and is a dentist at Portland,
Oregon. Their children are Willis, Chester, and Lewis. 5. Luther Lee
was born June 6, 1857, and is mentioned in the following paragraphs.
6. Eli 0. was born December 21, 1859, and died unmarried July i, 1876.
7. Emma was born March 28, 1863, and died January 17, 1878.
8. Daniel, born August 20, 1865, with present whereabouts unknown, but
if he is living he is probably in Alaska.
Luther Lee Morris was born in Indiana, spent most of his early life
and received his education in Rush county, and grew up on a fann.
After he became of age he located in Grant county, took up farming, and
512 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
was also engaged in tile manufacturing. For some time he resided at
Marion, and was a street paving contractor for a time. Later he engaged
in the wood and fuel business, and about twenty years ago moved to
1^'aii-moivut. He is now street commissioner of the town of Fairmount.
In politics he is a Republican.
ilr. Luther L. Morris was twice married. His first wife was Ida
Leapley, who was born in Marion, and who died in that city in the
prime of life. Her one son was William Clifford Morris, now a farmer
west of Marion, who married Fay Stephens, and has one sou, Harry
Luther. The second marz'iage of Mr. Morris was to Melissa Draper of
Marion. She was born in Grant county on a fai-m, May 5, 1863, and is
still living. Her parents died when she was a child, and she was reared
in the home of her grandfather, Hezikiah Nelson. She is the mother
of Earl, and Otto. The latter was born January 14, 1890, a graduate
of the Fairmount public schools and the Fairmount Academy, now living
at home with his father and mother, and working as a lineman for the
local telephone company.
Earl Morris was born at Marion, June 13, 1886. His early life until
he was eight years old was passed withiu the limits of his uative city
and he began attending school there. Later he was a student in the Fair-
mount public schools, and graduated from the graded school in 1901,
and from the Fairmount Academy in the German Scientific and Teach-
er's Courses. His first regular position in life was as a teacher, and he
followed that vocation actively for seven years. Three years of this
time were spent as principal at Fowlerton public school. In the fall of
1911 Mr. Morris was elected town clerk and treasurer of Fairmount,
and has given a most proficient administration of the duties of his
office. He is a Republican in politics, and fraternally is affiliated with
Fairmount Lodge No. 635, F. & A. M., having formerly been a secre-
tary of the lodge, ilr. Morris is unmarried.
JosiAH WiNSLOW. The Winslow family was the second to settle in
Fairmount township. The time of their coming was two years before
the organization of Grant county, and as substantial North Carolina
Quakers they did much to influence other families of their faith and
general social character to locate in the same community. Josiah
Winslow is of the third generation in Grant county, is a native of Fair-
mount township, and his active career was spent here and in other
nearby sections of the state. His home is now in Fairmount, where he
lives retired after a long and successful career in farming. Mrs. Wins-
low, his wife, is a highly intellectual woman, and for many years has
been identified with official affairs in the Quaker church, being one of
the preachers in that society.
The Winslow family for a number of generations during the eight-
eenth century lived in Randolph county. North Carolina. It was estab-
lished in America when three brothers landed from the Mayflower at
Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. One of these brothers has become
a familiar name to all American school children as a governor of the
old ilassachusetts Bay Colony. One of them went south and became
the founder of the family in the Carolinas, and from that line has come
the present Grant county family.
Joseph Winslow, grandfather of Josiah. was born in Randolph
county. North Carolina, at Back Creek Meeting, about 1780. He was
there ' married to Penina Charles, likewise of an old family and both
were strict adherents of the Fox Quaker sect. After all their children
had been boi-n, they loaded their possessions into wagons and with
teams of horses crossed the Blue Ridge Mountain, journeyed day after
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 513
day through the valleys and prairies and woods to the west of the
Alleghanies, and finally arrived in Fairmount township of Grant county,
though the country had no such names at that time, in November, 1829.
As previously stated, Joseph Winslow was the second settler in Fair-
mount township. His selection of land was made on the west side of
a little stream which he called Back Creek, thus transplanting a familiar
name from North Carolina. His first shelter was a log house, con-
structed entirely without iron or steel, wooden pins and the familiar
"tongue and groove" being employed to join the timbers. Later a
two-story double hewed log house was erected and there the family lived
for a good many years. During 1855-56 Henry Winslow, our subject's
father, built a commodious frame house, and there Joseph "Winslow
lived until his death in September of either 1858 or 1859. He was at
that time about eighty years of age. The homestead of one hundred
and sixty acres which he had entered from the government, and which
his labors had transformed from a wilderness to an improved farm has
since passed out of his immediate family, and is now occupied by Ancil
Winslow, of the same name, but no iimnediate relative. Joseph Win-
slow played a very conspicuous part in early affairs in his community.
His leadership was effective in the organization of the first Quaker
meeting, the first church services were held in his house. This society
has now for many years been the Back Creek Friends church, in which
both he and his wife were prominent. The wife of Joseph Winslow
died many years before him. They had a family of five sons aud three
daughters, namely: John, Seth, Matthew, Daniel, Sarah (SaUie), Caro-
line, aud Nancy, all of whom were married and had children, aud lived
aud died in Indiana with the exception of Matthew whose death occurred
in Iowa ; Henry, who was the youngest and the father of Josiah.
Henry Winslow was born in Randolph county. North Carolina,
September 11, 1813, and died in Rush county, Indiana, in October,
1887. He was sixteen years old when the familj- moved to Grant
county, and the old homestead in Fairmount township was the scene
of his industrious activities until after the death of his mother, and he
eventually became owner of the place. He lived there until 1864, and
then took his family to Rush county where he bought eighty-four acres
of land. That was his home until his death, and his characteristics as
a hard worker, a good neighbor and as one who advocated and practiced
the laurel virtues, he always had an influential part in his community,
lu politics he was a Republican until 1884, and then joined the Prohi-
bition party and voted for Governor St. John of Kansas, who was
nominee for president on that party ticket. Before the Civil war he
had been au equallj- strong prohibitionist, and his home was one of the
stations on the underground railway. He himself had many times kept
a black slave concealed about his premises during the daj' and had car-
ried him by night to the next station. Henry Winslow was married
in Rush county to Miss Anna Binford, who was born in Randolph
county, North Carolina, in 1816. She died at the old Winslow home-
stead iu Fairmount township in September, 1863. Both she and her
husband were active in the Quaker church. Her father, Micajah Bin-
ford, of an old North Carolina Quaker family of English stock, died in
Rush county, Indiana, when nearly ninety years of age. The ten chil-
dren of Henry Winslow and wife are named as follows : Micajah B. died
in Kansas in the prime of his life, leaving a family of children. Levi
is married and a farmer in Mill township, of Grant county. Emily
married Barker Hockett aud died in Colorado, leaving a number of
children. Jonathan is now a retired farmer iu Leavenworth county,
Kansas, and has a family. Ruth died the wife of Enos Hill, by whom
514 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
she left three living children. Sarah died at the age of two years.
Joseph and Josiah were twins, and the former is now a preacher in the
Friends church in the state of Oklahoma, and has a family of children
by his wife, who died twelve years ago. William died unmarried at
the age of tweutj'-one. Mary was the wife of James Baker, and at her
death left tive children.
Josiah Winslow was born on his father's homestead in Fairmount
township, September 13, 1849. All the children were born there. The
first fifteen years of his life were spent in Grant county, and his educa-
tion was received chiefly in the old Back Creek schoolhouse. Later he
attended school for a time at the Walnut Ridge school in Rush county.
His career as a farmer has been spent in Rush county, in Blackford
county, and in Grant county. In May, 1912, Mr. Winslow retired from
active pursuits, and moved to Fairmount.
His first wife, whom he married in Marion county was Mary Pruitt,
who was born there in 1848. Her death occurred in 1876 in Grant
county, and her one son, William, died at the age of four years. For
his second wife Mr. Winslow married Mrs. Abigail Bogue, whose maiden
name was Cox, a daughter of WiUiam Cox, of the Cox family so promi-
nent in Grant county, and whose histories are given elsewhere in these
pages. Mrs. Winslow was born in Fairmount township, October 24,
1847. By her marriage to Jonathan Bogue she had seven children,
named as follows : William S. Bogue, who lives in Marion, where he
is a carpenter, married Anna Thackery, and has two children, Edwin
and ^Milton and by a former marriage also has two children, Banna
Mandola and Howard; Eli G. Bogue died in early childhood; Lentine
is the wife of Willard Allen of Marion, and has one son, Harry ; John
L. lives in Los Angeles, California, and by his marriage to Zelma Haves
has two children. Neva and Olive ; Laurel C, whose home is in Marion,
married Hazel Hackelman, and has a daughter Margaret E., and by a
former marriage has a son. Laurel R. ; Otto G. is a miner at Kirby, Ore-
gon, and spent six years as a soldier, serving in the Spanish American
'ar; Jlilton C. is unmarried and is chef in a hotel at Berkeley, Cali-
fornia; J. Burl operates a diamond drill in mines at Monmouth, Cal-
ifornia.
Mr. and Mrs. Winslow and family are members of the Friends
Church, and as already stated, Mrs. Winslow has been for twenty-five
years a minister of the faith. Mr. Winslow was for many years an
elder, and in politics is a Prohibitionist.
ZiMRi C. OsBORN. The Osborn farm in section three of Fairmount
township is one of the old estates of Grant county, and has been the
home of Zimri C. Osborn for nearly forty years. He comes of a family
which has been identified with eastern Indiana, since pioneer days and
is himself a Grant county native, whose memory goes back to the years
before the first railroads were constructed in this locality. It has been
his privilege to witness a remarkable development of all the modern
facilities of life and industry, and in his home community his part has
been that of an industrious, honorable, and intelligent citizen.
The Osborn family back in North Carolina, lived either in Ran-
dolph or Guilford county. His grandfather Peter Osborn was born in
one of those counties, owned some land and did farming on a small
scale, but his regular occupation was that of skilled mechanic and wheel-
wright. His life was prolonged to old age, and he passed away in his
native county and state. His brother Charles Osborn was one of the
most famous Quaker preachers in the early part of the nineteenth cen-
tury, and extended mention of his career is printed in many books and
can be found in standard collections of early American biographies.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 515
Peter Osborn married a North Carolina girl, and they had a number
of children.
Henry Osborn, father of Zimri C. was born in North Carolina, May
9, 1804, grew up in his native county, acquired a large part of his
father's genius for mechanics, and while never following the trade
regularly was able to make anything that could be fashioned with
carpenter's tools. Practically all his household furniture was manu-
factured by his own hands. He married, in North Carolina, Miss Mary
Parson, who was born in that vicinity, and died in Grant county,
Indiana. Her mother was a member of an old-school Baptist church.
Mary Osborn was born about 1810, and was the second wife of Henry
Osborn. His first wife was a Miss Wheeler, who died a few years after
their marriage, leaving a sou, Alveron. By the second marriage Henry
Osborn and wife had one sou, Jonathan, born in North Carolina. Then,
with his mfe and two sous, he started north, and one horse drew the
wagon across the Blue Ridge Mountains and over the long distance in-
tervening between North Carolina and Indiana. After a journey of
some iive or six weeks, they lauded in Fairmount township, of Grant
county, finding a location Ijetween Glacier Lake and the Mississinewa
River. There he lived on the old McCormick land, and also entered
forty acres of government land. Later, by trading and purchase, he
acquired property near the village of Fairmount, where he and his wife
spent the rest of their days. Henry Osborn died in 1886, at the age
of eighty-two, and his wife survived and passed away when seventy-
eight. Their church was the Methodist, and for some years he had been
a class leader. They were honored and substantial people, always held
in high respect in their community. Henry Osborn is remembered
as a skilled Nimrod, and the old gun with which he had killed many
deer, wild turkey, and other game, is now owned as a prized heirloom
by his son Zimri. In politics he was most of his life a Democrat. The
children of Henry Osborn were as follows: Alveron, mentioned as the
child of his first marriage, enlisted as a Union soldier, and died of ill-
ness while in Kentucky, leaving a wife and children. Jonathan, the
first child of the second marriage, was born in North Carolina, was
married four times, and had children by two of his wives; he died at
the age of sixty-two. Emeline became the wife of William G. Lewis,
prominent among the old settlers of Grant county and equally noted as
a hunter, a class leader and preacher in the Methodist church, having
assisted in the organization of the church in Fairmount township, and
as a farmer. William G. Lewis died about five years ago, while his
widow is still living. Louisa J., first married James G. Payne, and is
now Mrs. Charles Thom of Fairmount township, and is the mother of
a number o'f children. Emma and John both died in childhood. William
whose home is in Missouri has children by his first wife. The seventh
child is Zimri C. Rachael died in the prime of life after her marriage
to Milton Brewer, leaving no children.
Zimri C. Osborn was born in .Fairmount township, March 2, 1845.
His early training was received in this locality and his education was
acquired by the somewhat primitive country schools of that day. All
his life has been spent in Fairmount township, and farming with him
has been a business pursued both profitably and pleasantly. In 1875
he bought the land in his home farm, amounting to one hundred and
ten acres, lying in section two and section thirty-four, his residence
being on section two. The improvements are of the best class, including
a good eight-room house and a large barn, and one of the features about
the place which distinguishes it from many of its neighbors is a large
orchard, where he raises quantities of apples, peaches, plums, cherries,
516 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
etc. His general crops are oats, wheat and com, and he feeds most of
them to his own stock.
Mr. Osboru was first married in Fairmount township to Miss Nancy
Leach, daughter of John Leach. She was born in this section of Grant
county, :May 17, 1849, and died at her home, May 24, 1893. She be-
longed to the Methodist Protestant church. Her children were as fol-
lows: John, a farmer in Rush county, Indiana, who married Clara
Dugan, and they have one son, Luther. William, who lives on a farm
in Fairmount township, married Lela Davis, and they had one son,
Clyde, now deceased. Emeliue, died at the age of three months. Louisa
is the wife of Ellsworth Smith, a farmer, and their three children are
Claude, Rosa, and Evert. Jane, is the wife of John Ayers, of Rush
county, Indiana, a farmer, and they have as children, Maybell, Edna, and
Irene. Cooper is a farmer in Whitley county, Indiana, and by his
marriage to Ida Cash has four children, Arthur, Roy, Jesse, and Edna.
Edmond whose home is in Fairmount township, married Nora Kirk-
patrick and has a son Charles. Rachael, who lives with her father is
the widow of Frank Monohan, and her two children are Ovid and
Gladys.
The present wife of Mr. Osborn was a Georgian girl, Miss Martha
Blair. They were married December 9, 1897. Mrs. Osborn was born
in Georgia, in 1852, was reared and educated there, and her parents
were Huston and Eliza (Yarber) Blair. Her father was bom in
Tennessee in 1831, and died in Georgia, in 1910, while her mother was
born in South Carolina in 1823, and died in 1885. They were members
of the Missionary Baptist church, in which Mr. Blair was a deacon. Mr.
and j\Irs. Osborn are both verj^ prominent members and workers in the
IMethodist Protestant church of Fairmount township. Mr. Osborn has
been a class leader, exhorter, and is the oldest member of the society
in this locality, having taken much part in the organization and the
upbuilding of the church for many years. In politics he is a Prohibi-
tionist.
John W. Jones. About twenty-five years ago, after he had grown
up in Grant county, had a practical experience on a farm, and had by hard
work and close economy acquired a little capital, John W, Jones bought
the laud contained in his present homestead on section thirtj^ of
Jefferson township, ilr. Jones is a prosperous man, owns a fine farm,
runs it in a business-like way, and is not only a man of independence
and standing on his own ground, but anywhere in that community is
looked upon with the esteem and respect which are paid to a citizen
whose relations with the community have always been on a high plane
of honor and integrity. '
This branch of the Jones family was established in Grant county
many years ago by Joshua Jones, father of John W. Joshua was tlie son
of Lewis Jones, who lived and died in Ohio, was twice married, and had
children by both wives. Joshua Jones, a son of the first marriage of his
father, was born in Greene county, Ohio, March 31, 1S19, and grew up
on his father's farm. When he was about twenty years of age he crossed
the state line into Indiana, and being a young man without capital, he
found employment among the farmers of Blackford county, for several
years. Then moving into Jefferson township of Grant county, he bought
some land, most of it located in the wilderness which still covered most
of this region, and by hard work cleared up and made a good farm. That
was his home for nearly sixty years, and at his death in August, 1909,
he was able to look back upon a lifetime of industry and gratifying
accomplishment. He was a Democrat, and a member of the Methodist
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 517
Episcopal church. Joshua Jones was married in JefEersou township of
Grant county to Miss ilalinda Owiugs, who was born in Ohio, and came
with her father Nicholas Owiugs, when a j'oung child to Jefferson town-
ship. Mrs. Joshua Jones died on the old homestead in Jefferson town-
ship in 1905. She was an active member of the Methodist church. There
were nine children, eight of whom she reared to adult age, and one Mary
J., died in young womanhood. Those living are as follows: Harriet, the
widow of Michael Houck, lives at Upland, without children; Lydia, is
the widow of Edwin Fergus and lives in California,, having a sou and
a daughter; Lewis M. is a farmer of Jefferson township, and has four
daughters, all of whom are married ; the next in line is John "W. George
"W. is a retired farmer, and conducts a feed store in Upland, is married
and has two daughters, both of whom in turn are married ; Thomas Lee
lives in Jonesboro, and his sou is married ; Sarah E. is the wife of William
Ginn, a farmer in Jefferson township, and they are the parents of two
sons.
John W. Jones was born in Jefferson township, Jime 20, 1851. As a
boy he saw much that was characteristic of pioneer life, and within his
youthful recollection the first railroad was built through Grant county.
His education was acquired in the district schools, and his home was with
his parents, until he reached manhood. As already stated, in 1887 he
bought eighty acres of his present place, and he now owns one hundred
acres of highly improved and Avell cultivated land. With the passing of
years he has introduced many improvements, and in 1903 erected the
comfortable and substantial nine-room house, a fine white building, which
makes an attractive picture in the midst of the shade and fruit trees
surrounding it. Mr. Jones is a stock grower, and keeps livestock of only
the better grades on his place.
In Fairmount township in 1877, occurred the marriage of John W.
Jones and Terissa Moorman. Sirs. Jones was born in Fairmount town-
ship, August 18, 1849, and her home has been in Grant county with the
exception of three years, spent in Illinois and Iowa. Her parents are
Lewis and Sarah jMoorman, and the Moorman family long prominent in
Grant county, received full treatment in the sketch of Levi Moorman,
found elsewhere on these pages. Mr. and ]Mrs. Jones are the parents of
seven children, named as follows : Gertrude, wife of Esley Thorn, farm-
ers of Delaware county, and with one daughter, Geneva ; Oscar, who lives
at home and helps run the farm, and is unmarried; L. J., a farmer in
Jlissouri, who married ilina Johnson, and has a daughter, Mildred P.;
Eva, wife of Clyde R. Partridge, of Fowlerton, and has one child, Myron ;
Minnie and Frank, who died in early childhood; and Lora B., who was
well educated in the township schools, and now lives at home.
William Keevek. The Progress Farm is the name of the rural
homestead occupied by William Keever and family in section six of
Fairmount township, on the rural delivery route number twentj'-one
out of Fairmount. The place is well named and progressive methods
are everywhere in evidence. Mr. Keever applies business sense and
judgment to every operation on his estate and few business houses in
Grant county are run any more systematically or with greater net profit
according to the investment than the Progress Farm. The Keever
family have been identified with Grant county for more than seventy
years, and a number of its members are well known citizens.
The grandfather of William Keever was Adam Keever, a native of
Pennsylvania, of old German stock which settled in that province
probably during the early colonial era. Adam Keever grew up on a
farm, took that as his occupation and married a Pennsylvania girl.
518 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
The most, if not all of their childi'en were born in Pennsylvania. About
the year 1828 Adam Keever and family moved west and located for
some years in Ohio and later became pioneer settlers in Randolph
county, Indiana, where he entered laud, improved a farm from the
wilderness, and died there at the venerable age of eighty-eight years.
His first wife had died many years previously, at the age of sixty. By
a later marriage Adam Keever had two children.
Daniel C. Keever, a sou of Adam, and father of WiUiam Keever,
was born in Pennsylvania, July 3, 1816, and was twelve years of age
when the family came to Ohio. He was the oldest of three sons, his two
brothers being Adam Jr., and (Jeorge. There were a number of sisters.
Daniel C. Keever was reared in Randolph county on his father's farm,
and after becoming of age married Elizabeth J. Asher. While he came
from Pennsylvania, her birthplace was in the old commonwealth of
Virginia, where she was born January IS, 1819, a daughter of Virginia
people who moved to Randolph couuty, Indiana, among the early settlers
there. Elizabeth at the time of this removal was a child. Later her
parents moved to Ohio, and died in Fayette couuty, when in old age.
They were in religion Methodists. The marriage of Daniel C. Keever
and wife occurred about 1840, and in that year they moved to Grant
county. The county was still new aud undeveloped, much of the land
had never been touched by the hand of civilization, and Mr. Keever
entered one hundred and sixty acres in Monroe township. His industry
resulted in the improvement of an excellent farm and he continued a
prosperous farmer, quiet citizen and a man of influence until his death
in 1895. His wife preceded him in death ou September 12, 1876. In
many respects Daniel C. Keever was a remarkable man. Without edu-
cational advantages, his native ability enabled him to succeed far above
the average, aud he was never at disadvantage in his association aud rela-
tions with his fellows. Bj- his iudustry and good judgment, he accumu-
lated an estate of six hundred acres, aud died comparatively wealthy.
In local aifairs his influence was strong, and he was during his career
one of the best known Republicans in Monroe township, assisting many
of his friends to ofSce, though never an aspirant for political honors
himself. His judgment was often trusted in the settlement of estates,
and in other ways much honor was sho'mi to him by his fellow citizens.
During the early years of the family residence in Grant count}', his
wife showed her individual capability as a good pioneer housemother
by spinning and weaving practicality all the clothes worn by members
of the household. She was especially skillful in this kind of work, aud
some of the articles made by her are still kept as precious heirlooms
by her descendants. One or two of those articles now existing are sixty
years old, and Mr. William Keever has one example of her handiwork.
Daniel Keever was a Quaker in religion and his wife probably held to
the same convictions.
Mr. WiUiam Keever was the fifth in a family of eight sons and one
daughter, and their names and brief mention of their individual careers
are given as follows: 1. Addison, who died July 11, 1913, in Upland,
Grant county, was a retired farmer during his latter years and left two
children. His widow still resides at Uplaud. 2. Martin, now living
retired on his farm in Smith county. Kansas, had ten children, his wife
being now deceased. 3. Eliza, died at the age of thirteen years.
4. George, who died December 8, 1912, lived some years as a retired
farmer in Smith county, Kansas, and his widow still has her home there,
the mother of eleven children. 5. John is a farmer on the old home-
stead in Monroe township, and had three children, one of whom is now
deceased. 6. William is next in order of the children. 7. Frank, who is
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 519
married and a farmer in Monroe township, has four children living.
8. Walter, now lives in Upland, a retired farmer, and has two sons and
two daughters. 9. Elmer is still actively engaged in farming in Monroe
township and has one son.
William Keever was born on his father's farm in Monroe township,
February 15, 1852. His early training was that of a farmer, and the
facilities of the common schools in his neighborhood supplied him with
his book learning. Since he reached his majority all his energies have
been directed along the line of farming, and he has been a resident of
Fairmount township since 1879. In that year he bought one hundred
and thirteen acres of fertile land, though with few improvements, in
sections five and six. Years of toil and good management have made this
a beautiful and valuable estate. There are two large barns, one for stock
and one for grain. With the exception of twelve acres of native timber,
all the land is in cultivation, and there is practically no waste land, and
everything responds to the enterprising management of Mr. Keever.
The character of substantial comfort is everywhere evident, and a large
house of ten rooms nicely painted white is the pleasant home of the
Keevers. Almost every kind of cereal crops is grown on his land, with
a high average of production per acre.
Mr. Keever was married in Jefferson township of Grant county to
Miss Sarah E. Marine, who was born in that township, September 12,
1858, and educated there. Her parents were Jonathan and Mary (Fore-
hand) Marine, the former born in Wayne county, Indiana, May 26,
1831, and the latter in Grant county in 1842. Mrs. Marine died in 1865,
both she and her husband being Quakers in religion. Their respective
parents came to Indiana from North Carolina. Mr. Marine, who is still
living, though now retired, making his home with Mrs. Keever, has had
a life of industry as a farmer, passed chiefly in Jefferson township. He
has been three times married and all his wives are now deceased. Mr.
Marine in politics is a Democratic voter.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Keever are: Iva E., is the wife of
Omer Harris, now a farmer in Delaware county, Indiana, and they have
a daughter, Irene. Auda Jay is a graduate of the University of Michi-
gan in 1907, was at once admitted to the bar, and has since been in
successful practice of his profession at Jonesboro, this county. He
married Etta Gift, but they have no children. Hanson, who was edu-
cated in the public schools of Grant county, is a farmer in Sims county,
married Cora Michales and has a daughter, Margarite. Ethel is the
wife of Burnett Aired, and lives in Fairmount city. Two of the children
of Mr. and Mrs. Keever died in infancy, one of them being named Cleo.
For their church affiliation Mr. and Mrs. Keever worship with the
Friends, and in polities he is a Prohibitionist.
Milton T. Cox. In section thirty of Fairmount township is located
a small rural farmstead of eighteen acres, which might well be con-
sidered a model of its kind, and one of the most profitable and best man-
aged small farms in Grant county. It is the home of Milton T. Cox and
family. Mr. Cox was born in the vicinity of Fairmount, December 20,
1854, of an old family whose members will be noted in the following
paragraph. Mr. Cox has always lived within a few miles of his birth-
place, which was in Liberty township, and has devoted himself to general
farming, but with special attention to fruit growing. The Cox farm
has almost every variety of fruit that can be grown in this section.
There are no haphazard methods employed on the Cox place, and every
bit of ground is put to some profitable use. Mr. Cox has a considerable
part of his farm in orchards, and has done much in the way of growing
520 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
small fruits. Throughout this section of the county, the Cox farm is
known as Fruitland. In the midst of the perfect bower of trees which
surroiind it, stands a fine modern dwelling of a quiet drab color, and
containing eight rooms. Mr. Cox built this home in 1903. As a man
who has succeeded well in his chosen industry, Mr. Cox is of the opinion
that fruit growing is very profitable when properly handled, and is an
industry which has been much neglected and should receive more atten-
tion in this favored climatic region of Indiana.
The grandparents of Milton T. Cox were Joshua and Rachael Cox,
both natives of Randolph county. North Carolina, and Quakers in
religion. They reared their family in the same faith. In 1830, the
grandparents accomplished the long journey westward to Indiana, and
settled in Morgan county, where they improved some land from the
wilderness in the vicinity of Monrovia. There Joshua Cox died a few
years later when in middle life. His widow survived him some ten
years, and died at the old homestead about 1846.
In the meantime, their son William, father of Milton T. Cox, had
grown up and settled in Grant county. William Cox was born in North
Carolina in 1824, and was six years of age when the family moved to
Morgan county, Indiana. He was twenty-two years of age when his
mother died, and had been recently married. There were no railroads
between Grant county and Morgan county at that time, and the only
means of travel were by horseback. When the news came of the impend-
ing death of his mother, he and his young wife mounted on the back of
their only horse, and rode as rapidly as possible to the old home in
Morgan county, hoping to see her before her death. The distance was
nearly ninety miles and, owing to the slow progress of their horse, they
arrived after the burial. William Cox had been reared in Morgan
county, and when about twenty years of age came to Grant county to
visit his uncle and aunt, i\Ir. and Mrs. Spencer Reeder, well known old
pioneers of this section. While in their home he was introduced by his
uncle to Betsey or Elizabeth Wilson. Miss Wilson was the belle of that
neighborhood, and while she had numerous suitors among the country
youth of Grant county, she soon acknowledged her attraction and choice
of the stranger, William Cox. The latter went home to Morgan county,
but did not remain long and soon came to Grant county to claim Miss
Wilson as his wife. Elizabeth Wilson was born in Noi-th Carolina in
1826, a daughter of John Wilson, who brought his familj^ north to
Indiana, and located in Fairmount township in 1836. There John
Wilson and wife lived the rest of their lives, and died when quite old.
After their marriage William Cox and wife started life as farmers in
a log cabin home in Liberty township. Their equipment was exceed-
ingly limited, and, as already stated, they had only a single horse to
perform the laboi's of cultivation. Their lonely cabin was situated on
the edge of an Indian reservation, sparsely settled by white people, and
it requires little imagination to understand how completel.y both the
young girl and her husband were shut out from all social privileges and
advantages. They were surrounded by the wilderness and wild animals
still roamed at large, their horse being frequently frightened at night
by the screams of a panther which skulked about the home. A few
years later he bought and improved a farm in Fairmount township
■which he sold, then bought another homestead in Liberty township, and
there continued his labors until he had made a splendid farm, well up
to the standards of Grant county at that time. He was the owner of
one hundred aci'es, and the united industry of himself and wife brought
it to rank among the best country estates in the township. In 1873,
William Cox built a fine brick house, considered at that time one of the
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 521
best in the county. There they lived the remainder of their peaceful
lives, and his death occurred January 25, 1901, while she survived him
only a few months and passed away June 12tli of the same year. Both
wei'e members of the Quaker church, but were not married in the church,
as required by the church rules, the ceremony being performed by his
uncle, Spencer Reeder, who was a Justice of the Peace. They refused
to express sorrow for the act and were disowned by the Society, and
subsequently he and his wife became charter members of the Wesleyan
Methodist church at Upper Back Creek. Thej^ both gave their allegiance
to that faith throughout the remainder of their lives.
Milton T. Cox was reared and educated in a substantial way, had the
environment of a good home and upright parents, and started out in
life as a farmer and fruit grower. On November 24, 1881, in Fairmount
he married Miss Martha E. Petty, who was born in Henry county,
Indiana, June 9, 1862. She moved with her parents, Robert and Rachael
(Vestal) Petty, to Madison county, Indiana, in 1870. In 1876 the
family came to Grant county, locating on a farm near Little Ridge, in
Liberty township. Her father, though not a land owner, was a very
successful farmer. Her father died at the home of a daughter in
Indianapolis, IMay 14, 1900, while the mother passed away January 8,
1898, at Summitville, in Madison county, Indiana. For a number of
years they had worshipped in the United Brethren Church, but their
last years were spent as Methodists.
The children of Milton T. Cox and wife are mentioned as follows:
Muriel Joy, born March 2, 1885, was educated at Fairmount, and is
the wife of Ernest T. Pearson of Indianapolis, and they have one son,
Leonard E., born January 19, 1905. Eva Delight, born March 23, 1888,
married Thomas Jenkins of Indianapolis, and their two living children
are : Ronda, born December 5, 1907, and Ruth, born November 3, 1909.
Garfield Vestal, the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Cox, was bom May 4,
1893, and though but twenty years of age has made a splendid record
for himself. Educated in the Fairmount high school and academy, he
received the highest grade issued by that institution, and is now a
student in the Earlham college. Garfield Cox has prepared the article
on foresti-y published in this history of Grant county. From early
bojdiood his interests and tastes have gone to trees, and he has won
laurels in state work on forestry. He is also an orator of no mean
ability, and while a sophomore in Fairmount Academy won the ora-
torical contest among the Friends Academies of the states of Indiana
and Illinois. IMr. and Mrs. Cox are both members of the Wesleyan
Methodist church.
William A. Beasley. After a long and honorable career as a
merchant in Fairmount, Mr. Beasley is now enjoying the peace and
quiet pursuits of country life at his home in section thirty of Fairmount
township, on the old Thomas estate. Mr. Beasley bought the Thomas
farm on retiring from business, and thus enjoys ownership and occu-
pancy of one of the landmarks in this section of Grant county. A large
and comfortable brick house was constinicted many years ago by Mr.
Thomas, and the brick and sand entering into its construction were both
materials taken from the farm, and manufactured on the place. The
success of Mr. Beasley in business affairs has been equaled by his
iufluential and public spirited citizenship, and his reputation has always
been that of a reliable upright citizen, ever ready to do his part in
bearing community responsibilities, and forwarding enterprise for the
local good.
William A. Beasley is a grandson of George W. and Sarah (Stanley)
522 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Beasley. It is not known where these grandparents were born, but
they were probably married in Tennessee, and most of their lives were
spent on a farm east of Petersburg in Lincoln county, Tennessee.
Finally thej' settled just outside the town limits of Petersburg on the
west side, and died there, the grandfather when about seventy, and the
grandmother when about sixty-seven years of age. They were farmers
by occupation, members of the Methodist church and thrifty and
esteemed people. Of their children, the following record is made:
Anderson, deceased; Thomas, who is still living; William, deceased;
George; John, father of the Fairmouut citizen; ilartha, deceased;
Catherine; Tina; Louella, deceased. All these children grew up and
were married and most of them had their homes in Tennessee. Those
now deceased all passed away in that state.
John Beasley, who was second in order of birth, was born near
Petersburg, Tennessee, in 1840, and died there in 1864, when only
twenty-four years of age. His active career was spent in farming. He
married in his native locality. Miss Susan E. Keith, who was born in
Lincoln county, Tennessee, about 1840, and died in Fairmount, March
11, 1911. After the death of her first husband she never married. Her
parents were Francis W. and Bethia (George) Keith, both natives of
Tennessee, where they were farmers and Methodists and died when
quite old. In 1875, Mrs. John Beasley brought her only son William to
Indiana, being preceded to this state by her sister and husband, Mr.
and Mrs. W. A. Brown. In 1879, she came to Fainnount.
William A. Beasley was born in Lincoln county, Tennessee, April 11,
1864, and practically all his education was obtained after he came to
Grant county. His advantages were quite liberal while he was growing
up, and he took a full course in the city schools. His first business
experience was as a partner with J. H. Wilson at Fairmount, but after
a year he sold his interest to Mr. Wilson and then became a clerk for
Ezra N. Oakley. His connection with Mr. Oakley continued for six
years, at the end of which time he bought a drug store, and during the
first year was in partnership with Edward Cassell. ilr. Cassell was
then unfortunately drowned, and Mr. Beasley bought all the interest
and conducted the store as sole proprietor for twenty-three and a half
years. In the meantime he had prospered steadily, and when he sold
his business he possessed the means of enabling him to put some of his
long-cherished plans, principal among which was the acquisition of a
place in the countiy. Thus in 1913, having bought the Thomas estate
west of the city of Fairmount, he moved to that old home, and now has
a fine fai-m of one hundred acres. He gives all his attention to the
management of this estate, and is applying the business judgment and
ability acquired through a long experience as a merchant to the culti-
vation of land, and its resources.
In Fairmount to^vuship Mr. Beasley married Miss Emma Rush, a
daughter of Rev. Nixon Rush, whose career is detailed on other pages
of this work. Mrs. Beasley was born, reared, and educated in Fair-
mount township and city, and completed her education at the Fairmount
Academy. She is the mother of six children, namely: Zola B., was
educateci in the Fairmount high school and academy, the Earlhara
College, and the Marion Business College, and is now taking a special
normal course at Rochester, New York; Myron R., is a graduate of the
Fairmount high school, the Marion Business College, and is assistant
teller and bookkeeper for the Farmers Trust & Savings Bank at ]\Iarion :
Oren Keith, died at the age of fourteen months; Frank Adrian, is a
member of the Fairmount Academy Class of 1915: John Otis, is a
student in the Fairmount Academy; and Louisa Elizabeth is in the
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 523
public school. Mrs. Beasley and children are members of the Friends
church.
William Ginn. On section fifteen of Jefferson township is located
the attractive rural estate of William Ginn, who has lived in this county
for more than forty years, and stands high among his neighbors and
friends for his success as a farmer and stock raiser, and for his kindlj^
and useful relations with those who live in the same circle of social
neighborhood.
Mr. Ginn comes of Irish stock. His grandfather William Ginn, was
born in Ireland, and in young manhood emigrated to America, first set-
tling in Virginia. In that state he married and he and his bride came on
to Indiana and settled in Henry county when the country was still new.
Henry county was his home until his death, and he and his wife were
about threescore and ten when they passed away. They were both Prot-
estants in religion. His sons were: James, Joseph, John, Job, William,
and Ezekiel. Their daughters were Nancy, Sarilda, Elsie, and Polly,
all these children having married and having families except John, who
was wounded as a Union soldier in the battle at Richmond, Kentucky,
and died of gangrene. Job and William were likewise soldiers and saw
service from the beginning to the end of the struggle.
Ezekiel, father of William Ginn, was a married man at the time of the
Civil war and he had volunteered his services to put down the Rebellion.
In 1863 he enlisted in the Ninth Indiana Cavalry in Henry county, and
served until the war was over. Part of the time he was on detailed duty.
Not knowing that Ezekiel Ginn had already enlisted, they drafted him,
but he had already been gone two weeks and was with them in Nashville,
Tennessee. After the war he continued to live on his farm in Henry
county until February, 1869, and then moved to Grant county. Two
years were spent in Pairmount township, and in the fall of 1870 he moved
to Jefferson, where his wife died on October 15, 1875. She was born in
Maryland in 1833, and her maiden name was Sally Nicodemus. She was
still young when she came to Indiana, and her father died in Henry
county, while her mother later moved to Fulton county and died at the
age of eighty-seven years. The latter 's maiden name was Catherine
Eckers, who was born in Bremen, Germany, and her parents emigrated
and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where she lived until they came out
to Henry county. After the death of his first wife Ezekiel Ginn married
Betsie Aldred, and a year later, in 1878, went to Independence, Kansas,
where he died when seventy-eight years of age. His wife passed away
some years later.
Mr. William Ginn was one of twins, and he has two brothers and
three sisters living, all of whom are now married. He was born on a farm
in Henry county, Indiana, December 14, 1856. Part of his boyhood was
spent in his native county, but he was only about thirteen years old when
his family came to Grant county. Since the age of fifteen he has been
practically self-supporting, and has made his o^vn way in the world. In
1877 Mr. Ginn bought his present farm in section fifteen of Jefferson
township, and has now a highly productive estate of eighty acres, im-
proved with a comfortable, though not pretentious residence, and a
place which on the whole represents a good return for his many years
of steady and consistent labor and management. In Jefferson township
Mr. Ginn married Miss Sarah Jones, who was born in Jefifei-son to^vn-
ship February 3, 1860. Her home has been in this vicinity all her life.
Her parents were Joshua and Malinda (Owings) Jones, who came to
Grant county in 1840, and lived on a farm in Jefferson to\vnship, until
their death. The father was from Greene county, Ohio, and the mother
524 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
from Muskingum county, Ohio. They were married in Grant county
in February, 1843. Her father was ninety-one years old when he
died on August 12, 1909, and his wife passed away some eight years
before at the age of eighty-six. ilr. and Mrs. Ginn have the following
children : Joshua, born July 13, 1885, is a progressive youug farmer,
and married Iva Fenton; Frank died in infancy; James A., born Decem-
ber 19, 1891, is a graduate of the high school, and follows the i^rofessiou
of electrician, being unmarried, iir. and Mrs. Ginn attend the Shiloh
IMethodist Episcopal church and he and his sons are Republican voters.
Pascal B. Smith. Though not among the oldest residents of Grant
county, which has been his home since 1890, Mr. Smith has so effectively
identified himself with the spirit and activities of the county that he is
regarded as one of the most valued citizens. Mr. Smith is a big man,
not only in physical proiJortions, but in character and heart, is big
hearted, generous and hospitable, and at the same time a very practical
and successful farmer, who believes in going ahead all the time.
His ancestry is of old and substantial Virginia stock, Avhose members
possessed the fine social characteristic of that old commonwealth, were
loyal to the state through the Civil war, and as a rule were of the pros-
perous planter class. The grandfather of Pascal B. Smith was Samuel
Smith, born at Three Springs, in Washington county, Virginia, about
1790. He died at a good old age in 1861. His life work was farming.
He married Rachael Stinson, a neighbor girl, and a native of the same
county, of old Virginia stock. She died twelve years after her husband
in 1873. They were Methodists in religion, and had seven children, all
of whom grew up and six were married and had children. One of the
children never married because he remained at hom^ devoted to the
welfare of his father and mother. The old homestead in Washington
county is still owned by members of the family.
Captain William Smith, the father of Pascal B., was born at Three
Springs, Virginia, in 1821, and died near his birth place in July, 1907.
Throughout his life he was a planter, and a man of unusual prominence
in his section of Virginia. When the war broke out between the states,
he enlisted and went to the front as captain in the Forty-eighth Virginia
regiment. In the battle at Saltville, Vii'ginia, he was badly wounded.
The gun which effected the wound carried a charge of a minie-ball and
four buckshots, and the minie-ball and three of the buckshot took effect
in him, while he was lying on the ground, one of the bullets striking his
shoulder and others injuring his hand and fingers. This wound was
given him about the close of the war and peace was declared about the
time he got well. He had formerly served as captain of the local militia,
and after the war was brevetted colonel of his home regiment of state
militia. He also for many years served as a justice of the peace. In
politics he was a Democrat, and was looked upon as a leader in the
public life of his community. Near his old birth place. Captain Smith
married Miss Darsey Fleener, who was born in that locality, about 1826,
also representing an old Virginia family. She died in May, 1911. She
was of the Lutheran faith in religion, and kept her membership with
that church all her life. Her husband was a Methodist. They were the
parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew up and are yet living.
All are married and all have families of children. Two now live in
Indiana. Pascal B. Smith has a sister, Margaret, the wife of Colonel
Columbus Pullin, a resident of Muncie, Indiana, and they have seven
living children.
Pascal B. Smith, the oldest of the children, was born on the old
Virginia homestead, February 24, 1852. His education was received
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 525
in the common schools, and as he grew up he became acquainted by prac-
tical experience with the activities of his father's farm. There he con-
tinued to live until twenty-three j-ears of age. On July 4, 1875, just
one year before the centennial celebration of American Independence,
he married Elizabeth Gardner, a native of Scott county, Virginia, where
she was born September 22, 1856. Her parents were Ural and Margaret
(Baruhart) Gardner, natives of Scott county, where they lived and died
prosjDerous farmers. Mr. Gardner was a California forty-niner, spend-
ing more than three years on the western coast, and having exceptional
fortune in mining and his other ventures. After returning to Virginia,
he gave all his attention to the cultivation of a large plantation. He
was born in 1810, and died August 17, 1890. His wife died Mai'ch 6,
1904, when past eighty years of age. They Avere a Methodist family.
Of the large family of children in the Gardner household, Mrs. Smith
and a brother live in Indiana, the latter being J. Perry Gardner of
Gas City in Grant county.
After the marriage of Mr. Smith and wife, they lived on a farm in
Virginia, until 1890. They then came to Grant county and located on
the Schrader farm, near Jonesboro, and three years later took posses-
sion and began operating one hundJi'ed and sixty acres in the Solomon
Wise farm in section fifteen of Pairmount township. He has proved
veiy successful in Grant county agriculture, grows large quantities of
hay, clover, corn, oats and wheat, and with the exception of the wheat
practically every pound of his crops is fed to the stock on the place.
As already noted, ilr. Smith is a hustler, and one of the best farmers
in this section of the county.
He and his wife have seven sons and three daughters living, men-
tioned as follows: 1. Stephen R., a farmer in Mill township, married
Lillie Preener, without children. 2. Calvin D., who married Ethel
Overman, lives on a farm in Jefferson township, and had two children,
Virginia, and Ilene, the latter dying in infancy. 3. Charles L. is a
farmer in Mill township, and by his marriage to Bertha Clay has three
children, L. Vem, Virgil Lee, and Edgar R. 4. James C, who is fore-
man in the Jonesboro Rubber Company, married Margaret Jones, and
their two children are Warren H. and E. E. 5. Henry C. married
Susan Swartz, lives in Jonesboro, and has a daughter, Delene. 6. Daisy
E. was liberally educated in the grade and high schools, and is now
living at home with her parents. 7. Maudella, a graduate of the high
school, and the Marion Normal College, and holding a teacher's license,
lives at home. 8. Woodie M. is a junior in the Pairmount Academy.
9. Joseph L. attends the public school, and the youngest, Gladys D., is
also a student. One child, Orville S., died at the age of twenty-eight
years unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Smith hold to no particular church,
though their children attend the Methodist Protestant Sunday school.
In polities he is a Democrat.
Joseph A. Hollow ay. One of the most attractive and profitable of
Grant county homesteads is that located in section twenty-seven of
Pairmount township, and owned by Joseph A. Holloway, who is himself
of a younger generation of the family in Grant county, and is an up-to-
date citizen and progressive farmer, who has made agriculture a very
profitable business.
The family history of the Holloways begins with three brothers, who
came from England during the colonial days, and one of them located
in North Carolina. Of Quaker stock, the family in subsequent genera-
tions have always been devoted to that church, and the descendants
of the American settlers have been noted for their thrifty, their quiet,
526 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
unassuming virtues, and a fine citizenship. First to be mentioned by
name among the descendants of the first settler is Abuer Holloway,
who married Elizabeth Stanley. They lived and died in North Carolina,
were farmers and Quakers, and upright and excellent people. Their
four children were Jesse, grandfather of Joseph A.; Isaac, Maria and
Sarah, all of whom had families.
Jesse Holloway was born about 1805. In his native state he was
married on July 2, 1826, to Eleanor Hinshaw, who was born in the
same county and state, February 25, 1810. After their marriage they
started to win success in the world as farmers. His wife became noted
throughout a large community both in North Carolina and later in
Ohio for her skill as a midwife and doctor. They lived for some years
in North Carolina, and later moved to Ohio. Their children were born
chiefly in the former state, but some of the younger in Ohio.
The nine children of Jesse and Eleanor Holloway are meutioned as
follows: 1. Margaret, the oldest, was born September 22, 1828, and
now at a very advanced age, is the widow of William Mills, and lives
in Neoga, Illinois, with a younger daughter. 2. Abner, born December
6, 1830, was the father of Joseph A. and is given more space in the
following paragraph. 3. Amos, born August 29, 1834, is now nearly
eighty years of age, is a retired farmer in Monroe township of Grant
county, and has a family of children. 4. Timothy, bom May 24, 1837,
now deceased, lived and died in Randolph county, Indiana, was twice
married and had children by both wives. 5. Isaac, born June 29, 1840,
uow lives in Neoga, Illinois, where he is a retired merchant and retired
school teacher, and had two children by his first wife. 6. Elizabeth,
born June 24, 1842, married Josiah Ferguson, and lives in Marion with
her family. 7. Jesse C, born December 12, 1844, died September 16,
1864, having starved to death in the Libby Prison at Richmond, Vir-
ginia, while a prisoner of war. He went out to the front as a member
of Company C of the Ninetieth Indiana Regiment of Cavalry.
8. Eleauora, born February 20, 1847, first married James Fleming, and
next Elijah Stafford, and for her third husband took Martin Fisher, a
Civil war veteran, and they now live in Montana, having one daughter
by the third marriage. 9. Sarah, born September 29, 1849, is deceased
and was the wife of F. A. Fleming, a farmer living in Monroe township
in Grant county and having children.
Abner Holloway was born in Clinton county, Ohio, at the date
already given. His parents had moved to Ohio in the early days from
North Carolina, and when he was a child they moved on and settled in
Grant county in Fairmount township. There in the Friends church,
and with the Quaker ceremony, on May 15, 1854, Abner Holloway mar-
ried Sarah Rich, who was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, October 7,
1837, and was a child when her parents came to Grant county.
Concerning the Rich family more particular history will be found
under the name of Mr. Eri Rich. After his marriage Abner Holloway
and wife began life on a farm in Monroe township. In 1882 they moved
to Fairmount township, buying land in section twenty-seven. He pros-
pered as a farmer, and eventually owned two hundred and fifty-four
and a half acres of land, besides having invested interests in Faii-mount.
His death occurred April 1, 1903. He was a life-long member of the
Friends church, and in politics a Republican, always esteemed for his
upright character, and public spirited citizenship. His widow is still
living, having her home with their children.
There were ten children bom to Abner Holloway and wife, and brief
mention of them is made as follows : Margaret A. and Sarah, are both
deceased, and both were married and left children. The living children
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 527
are: 1. jMiriam, is the wife of Sylvester MeCormick, living in section
twenty-seven of Fairmount township, and having children. 2. Marion
married Emma Riflle, lives on a farm in Huntington county, and has
three sons. 3. Mai-y E. is the wife of William Nelson, living in New
ilexico, and the parents of four sons and two daughters. 4. Matilda J.
is the wife of Elsey Mills, whose home is in New Mexico, and the}' are
the parents of three sons and two daughters. 5. Margaret, now
deceased, was the wife of William Ozenbaugh, who lives at Swayzee,
and has two living sons. 6. The next in line is Joseph A. HoUoway,
whose career is described in the following paragraphs. 7. Sarah E.,
now deceased, was the wife of Burton Leas, and he lives in Upland and
has three daughters. 8. Jesse C. married Lillie Corn, lives on a farm
in Faii-mount township, and has five children. 9. Eri is a farmer of
Fairmount township, married Clara Jones, and has one son and three
daughters. 10. Arthur A. is a farmer in section twenty-seven of Fair-
mount township, and by his marriage to Ella Fleming has three sons
and two daughters.
jMr. Joseph A. Holloway was born in Monroe township of Grant
county, March 20, 1870. His early education was begun in the public
schools and completed in the Fairmount Academy. Choosing farming
as his vocation, he bought some property in Fairmount City and divided
his time between farm work and teaching for several years. His home
was in Fairmount from 1896 until 1899, and at the latter date he
moved to Monroe township. In 1904 he came to his father's old farm
in Fairmount township on section twenty-seven and there he is owner
of one hundred and two acres, making a valuable and most productive
farm estate. Its improvements classify it among the model places of
Grant couJity. A tine basement barn, with ample capacity for grain and
stock, is a prominent feature of the homestead, while a nicely painted
white house affords the comforts of home to himself and family. As a
farmer Mr. Holloway believes in sending all his products to market on
the foot, and therefore feeds his corn, oats, wheat and hay to his hogs
and fine short-horn cattle.
Politically he has for many years been an active Republican and has
served as precinct committeeman and in other party posts. He is now
and has been since 1910, secretary of the Fairmount to^vnship advisory
board. Mr. Holloway was married in Monroe to\vnship to Miss Lorana
Nelson, who was born there November 1, 1875. She was educated in
her native locality, and was well trained and possesses the chai'acter
fitting her for her duties as housewife and mother. Her parents were
Nelson H. and Mathilda (Thorp) Nelson. Her father was born in
Grant county, and her mother in Ohio. For many years their home
has been in Monroe township, where they are thrifty farmers and
active members of the Christian church. There were six children in the
Nelson family, two of whom are married. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway have
the following children: Nelson A., born December 7, 1896, and now
attending school ; Clarence C, born March 2, 1898 ; Ancil D., who was
born Jlay 8, 1903 ; and Ernest W., bom November 29, 1909. Mr. and
Mrs. Holloway are members of the Friends church, in which Mr. Holloway
was reared.
Charles E. D.ivis. In the November election of 1912 the citizens of
Grant county made a very happy choice for the ofiSce of county recorder.
Charles E. Davis came to Marion only a few years ago to take a position
in one of the local manufacturing enterprises, and by his ability as a
business man, and the ready esteem and popularity which he quickly
acquired among all classes of citizenship, has for several years been
528 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
recognized as a citizen who deserves promotion, and is thoroughly-
worthy of the confidence of the voters.
Charles B. Davis was born December 6, 1873, at Oswego, New York.
His parents were Richard S. and Lydia (Court) Davis, the former a
native of England, and the latter of New York State. For half a cen-
tury the father sailed the high seas, and visited every port on the globe.
In 1888 he came to the middle west, locating in Allegan county, Michi-
gan, which remained his home until his death in 1898, when he was
seventy-four years old. The mother is still living there. Of their three
children, two are living, and the brother of the Marion citizen is James
P. Davis of Allegan county. The father was a man of unusual educa-
tion, and took a very prominent part in Masonic circles.
Charles E. Davis has a career in which individual initiative and
self effort have been prominent factors. Born in New York, educated
there and in Allegan county in the common schools, he left Allegan
county at the age of fourteen, and went to seek his fortunes first in
Grand Rapids, Michigan. He got a job as ash-wheeler in a large power-
house, and his willingness to work and readiness to learn were appre-
ciated by several promotions until he was assistant engineer. From
there he went to Chicago, and while working there came to a keen
realization of the advantages of a good technical training as a prepara-
tion for life. Consequently he gave up his leisure and social pleasures,
entered Armour Institute of Technology and paid his way while study-
ing the course in electrical engineering until his gi-aduation in 1902.
He followed his work as an electrical engineer in Chicago until 1907,
when he came to Marion to become engineer for the Marion Handle &
Manufacturing Company, a position which he has since held.
On November 8, 1894, Mr. Davis married Alice Ortman of Allegan
county, Michigan, a daughter of J. H. Ortman. Their four children
are Mahlon 0., Lucy E., Barbara, and Charles E., Jr., all of whom are
at home. Mr. Davis was elected on November 5, 1913, recorder of
Grant county on the Democratic ticket, and took office on the first of
January, 1914. Fraternally he belongs to the Order of Eagles, the
Loyal Order of Moose, and the Crew of Neptune.
L. G. Richards. Grant county owes much to the Richards family,
both for the part it has performed in the development of the country
from the wilderness in the early days, and also for its substantial cit-
izenship and high moral influence. Mr. L. G. Richards is now nearly
eighty years of age, has spent all his life in Grant county, is a product
of its pioneer schools when all instruction was given in log buildings,
and the curriculum was the three R's, and by a long and active career
of industry and exceptional business management accumulated an es-
tate which at one time was among the largest in Jefferson township.
His grandfather Henry Richards was born either in Virginia or
Pennsylvania, was an early settler in the state of Ohio, where it is
thought he was married. The maiden name of his wife was Miss Thom,
and during their residence on a farm in Guernsey county, Ohio, their
children were born. These children were : John. Daniel, Susan, Cath-
erine, Jacob. Daniel, who married a ]\Iiss Lewis, was a farmer, went
out to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in an early day and lived and died there,
leaving a family. Susan married John Ogan, a farmer, and a number
of years later moved out to Kansas, where they died. Catherine married
Nathan Lewis, a schoolteacher, and soon after their marriage went to
Kansas, where their lives were spent on a farm. Jacob married Susan
Gillispie, and they lived and died in Jeffei-son township of Grant county,
where they were substantial farmere. and of their children some are
still living.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 529
Rev. John Richards, father of L. G. Richards, was born in Guernsey
county, Ohio, in 1810 or 1811. His youth was spent on a farm in his
native county, and while there he married Effie Roberts, who was born
in Ohio about 1812-13. After the birth of their first son and child,
Henry, in 1829 or 1830, they came with other menibei's of the family,
including their parents, to Grant county, locating in the wildwoods. All
of the family obtained land in Grant county, grandfather Henry Rich-
ards getting two hundred acres, and subsequently accumulating eighty
acres more, so that his place consisted of two hundred and eighty acres
before his death. All of the sons likewise, took up land, and became
pioneer workers in the early decades of Grant county 's histoay. Grand-
father Henry Richards died when about sevent.y years of age, some
years before the Civil war, possibly as early as 1850. His wife died
even earlier.
Rev. John Richards, after moving to Grant county, acquired and
improved two hundred acres of land. While a prosperous farmer, and
thus providing for the material needs of himself and children, he was
likewise one of the prominent leaders in the Primitive Baptist church.
Largely owing to his efforts, the church known as Harmony was organ-
ized at Matthews. Later he was ordained a preacher, and with saddle-
bags and on horseback pursued his work as an itinerant preacher,
throughout this section of the state traveling hundreds of miles, and
preaching in as many as a hundred different localities. He was one of
the pioneer preachers who visited from cabin to cabin with self-denying
earnestness, traveling through the unbroken forests, exhorting, counsel-
ing, reproving, as occasion demanded, and was always welcome at the
pioneer homes. His was the work of a real evangelist, and many classes
were organized by him in this part of the state. His home in Grant
county was the headquarters for a large following of primitive Baptists,
and as many as one hundred and twenty-five people were entertained at
the Richards place during the three days' meetings, some of them com-
ing from long distances, even as much as a hundred miles, riding on
horseback, and in every other pioneer conveyance. His woi-k as a
preacher went on, and was concluded only with his death. He was a
Democrat in politics, and exerted much influence in civic affairs, as well
as in religion. He had lived to see what he believed was the end of the
Civil war, passing away early in the sixties. His wife died in middle life
about 1850, and she was likewise an active worker in the Primitive
Baptist church.
Rev. John Richards and wife had six sons and one daughter, men-
tioned as follows : 1. Rev. Henry, Jr., a minister of the Primitive Bap-
tist church, organized a class in Coffey county, and later did work, in
Oklahoma, where he now lives at the venerable age of eighty-four and
still active in his faith. 2. L. G. Richards is the second of the family.
3. Abraham, now living retired in Jefferson township, is seventy-seven
years of age, and has a family of his own. 4. Daniel who died in 1907,
was twice married, and left two sons and one daughter, who are still
living. 5. Jacob, who is in active superintendence of his farm in Jeffer-
son township, was twice married, and four children by his first wife are
living. 6. ]Martha, who lives with her third husband in Albany. Indiana,
has children by her first husband. 7. Isaac, occupies a farm in Jeffer-
son township and has two daughters and one son, the latter being Lewis,
who is an editor in the state of California.
Mr. L. G. Richards was born in Jefferson township of Grant county,
October 25, 1834. The school which he attended as a boy was in many
ways typical of the pioneer temples of learning. It was built of logs,
had a puncheon floor, the benches were slabs supported by rough legs,
530 BLACKFOKD AND GRANT COUNTIES
and on either side of the structure a log was left out to admit the light,
which came dimly into the room through greased paper. The writing
desk was a broad l)oard supported on a slant by pins driven into the
walls. During his early work at home he earned enough to buy eighty
acres of land, and from that start, by industry, economy, and energy,
increased his holdings until at one time he was the possessor of nine
hundred and sixty acres of as fine land as was to be found in Jefferson
township. A part of the land lay in Delaware county. To each of his
children he has given a farm, and every one is improved with excellent
buildings. Mr. Richards still keeps one hundred and ninety-two acres
for the home place, on section three, and the improvements there are
of the best class. For many years he has grown on a large scale, the
regular crops of this country, and has fed his product to hogs and cattle.
Though his prosperity has been exceptional, his dealings with his com-
munity have always been of the strictest honor and probity, and as an
illustration of this fact it can be said that he was never engaged in a
law suit, either as defendant or plaintiff, in all his life.
In the accumulation of his generous proiDerty he had a noble and
thrifty woman as his helpmate. Her maiden name was Mary E. Craw,
and she was born in Jefferson township, December 11, 1834, dying
May 27, 1900. She was the mother of three daughters and two sons,
namely: 1. Rev. J. William, a farmer, has charge as pastor of the
Harmony Primitive Baptist church. He married Emma Harris, and has
two sons and one daughter. 2. David L., who now owns and occupies
a part of the home farm, is an official in the Matthews State Bank; he
married Lois Fergus, and they have two daughters. 3. Lucina, by her
marriage to Harmon Newburger, has one son. She is now the wife of
Rufus Nottingham, and they have one son and three daughters. 4.
Mollie died after her marriage to Frank H. Kirkwood, whose sketch
will be found elsewhere in these pages. 5. Rena is the wife of John
W. Himelick, a well known Grant county citizen, sketched elsewhere.
Mr. Richards for his second wife married Miss Maria Martin, who
was born in Fayette county, Indiana, February 18, 1837, and from four-
teen years of age was reared in Delaware county, living in the city of
Muncie. Her parents were Russell P. and Ida A. Martin. Her father
was born in Ohio, October 26, 1807, and died March 22, 1874, while her
mother was born in New Jersey, September 27, 1807, and died November
7, 1902. Both died in Delaware county. They were married in Ohio,
and soon afterwards came to Fayette county, Indiana, where her father
followed his regular trade of brick mason and plasterer. They belonged
to the Primitive Baptist church. Mrs. Richards had three brothers,
Wilson, Robert, and Maxwell, who were soldiers in the Civil war. Two
of them were in a southern prison for some months and one died after
leaving the battlefield stricken with illness. Mr. Richards is a leader in
the Primitive Baptist church, and has long been one of its officials. In
polities he is a Democrat.
Rev. Nixon Rush. The career of a just and good man, and the
memory of his kindly, noble deeds, are in themselves his true biography.
In the life of such an individual the observer of human character may
find both precept and example. He may discover in such a life sermons
that speak more eloquently and leave a more lasting impression upon
the heart than any human words. Where eminent abilities and unblem-
ished integrity, combined with unimpeachable virtue, derivable from
the daily practice of religion and piety, contribute to adorn the character
of an individual, then it is most proper to be prominently set forth as an
example to those who would make themselves useful to the rest of man-
NIXON liUSH
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 531
kind. And the writer cherishes the belief that he will perform this
acceptable service in giving a brief sketch of the life and work of Rev.
Nixon Rush, who for half a century was known to the citizens of Grant
county as an industrious and successful agriculturist, but who, perhaps,
was better known as a minister of the Quaker faith, as a member of which
he had preached throughout this part of Indiana for more than forty
years.
Rev. Nixon Rush traces his ancestry back to Colonial days, when it
was founded in this country by five brothers, early settlers of Culpeper
county, Virginia, possibly about the year 1700. The early generations
resided in that locality, but the first definite data to be found is that
concerning one Crawford, or Clifford Rush, who was born in that county
about the year 1720. He became a large plantation owner, had many
slaves and spent his entire life in his native county as did his wife Mary.
Among their children was Benjamin Rush, who was born in Culpeper
county, Virginia, April 19, 1752. When about of age he migrated to
Randolph county, North Carolina, and there was married in 1772 to
Dorcas Vickery, a native of the Old North State. They settled down as
farming people and accumulated and improved a large property not far
from Shepherd Mountain. There they spent their entire lives, dying in
the faith of the Methodist church. It may have been that they were
slave-holders. Their six sons and two daughters all grew to maturity
and lived to advanced years, being large, portly people, and all had
homes of their own and reared large families. The sons were all slave-
holders, and were prominent in polities, being for the greater part Demo-
crats. The members of this family were noted for their hospitality.
Of the above eight children, Azel Rush, the grandfather of Rev.
Nixon Rush, was born August 8, 1780. He grew up a farmer, and in
1806 was married to Elizabeth Beckerdite, who was born in Randolph
county, and she died in 1818. Mr. Rush had joined the Friends Church,
the only one of the family to do so, and later his wife joined and died
in that faith. He was married a second time to a Miss White, a member
of an old North Carolina family of Randolph county, and she died there
prior to 1836. She left a family, but her descendants all reside in North
Carolina. Mr. Rush was married a third time, and in 1846 came to Faii'-
mount township. Grant county, settling on undeveloped land, which they
reclaimed from the wilderness, and here spent the balance of their lives.
They were life-long Quakers and remained true to the teachings of that
faith. They had a family of four children: Dorinda, Iredell, Dorcas
and Nancy, all of whom married and all spent their entire lives in Grant
county.
Iredell Rush, the father of Rev. Nixon Rush, was born in Randolph
county. North Carolina, January 14, 1807, as a birthright Quaker. He
was married in his native county to Miss Elizabeth Bogue, who was born
February 7, 1808, in southern North Carolina, the ceremony taking place
in 1829, and being performed after the custom of the Friends Church.
They commenced in a humble manner, securing a horse and small wagon,
and two weeks after their mamage bid a final farewell to a large circle
of friends and. with ilr. Rush's uncle, ]\Iathew Wiuslow. set out north
far over the mountains for the wilderness of Indiana. After a long and
tedious journey, replete with dangers and exciting experiences, the young
couple reached the Friends' settlements at Derby, Wayne county, there
renting a small farm. The neighbors, in the kindly, encouraging way
that always marked those of this faith in the early days and has con-
tinued to do so to the present time, assisted them to start house, giving
them various articles needed, as well as chickens and young pigs to raise
for their own. Amid these pioneer suiToundings they remained until
532 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
March, 1831, when they pushed ou to Grant county, Mr. Rush securing
forty acres of government land, the deed for which was signed by Andrew
Jackson. Here he cut a space 18x20 feet, in the timber, on which was
erected a rude log cabin, with the under boards held down by poles, the
floor made of slabs, and the stick and mortar chimney serving all pur-
poses. It was some time before the quilt used as a door covering was
replaced by a wooden door, and not one nail was used in the entire con-
struction of this pioneer home.
This was the lirst home to be erected between this section and Alex-
andria, Madison county. Game was plentiful and kept the family table
weU suppUed; the tasks that otherwise would have seemed onerous and
distasteful were made light in the atmosphere of love that hovered over
the little home ; and although riches and plenty came in later years, Mr.
and !Mrs. Rush both stated in later life that the first ten years of their
married life had been their happiest ones. Industry and economy, thrift
and perseverance, soon placed Mr. and Mrs. Rush in a position where
they could aiford a finer home. When this had been erected, they added
to their acres, their stock and their equipment, and finally became known
as one of the substantial families of this section of the county, owning
160 acres here and 400 acres in another part of the State. Sir. Rush
passed awa.y May 29, 1853, while his wife survived him until April 12,
1877, both dying in the faith of the Quaker church in which they had
been lifelong members and active workers. They assisted in building the
first Quaker church in this community, although meetings had been held
as early as 1831 in private houses, chiefly that of Joseph Winslow. In
politics Mr. Rush was first a Whig and then became an Abolitionist and
a Republican. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rush were as follows :
John, born at Derby, "Wayne county, Indiana, November 30, 1830, died,
aged fifty years; married Katura Jay, also deceased; Calvin, born in
Grant count}', Indiana, July 14, 1833, died about 1904, married and had
no issue ; Nixon, of this review, born March 30, 1836 ; Millicent, born
November 10, 1838, widow of Elwood Haisley, now living with her chil-
dren in Fairmount ; Jane, Anna and Thomas, all of whom died when
about twenty years of age ; and ilary, born January- 24, 1850, who mar-
ried Robert Carter, and now lives at Riverside, Kansas, and has a family.
Nixon Rush grew up ou his father's farm, located just outside of
Fairmount, in Grant county, and here he has spent the gi'eater part of his
life, being the proprietor of most of the property at this time and living
in the house which had almost been completed by his father at the time
of the latter 's death. He has an excellent property of 140 acres, in addi-
tion to which he donated six acres of land to Fairmount Academy, located
near his home, a Friends' preparatory school. Mr. Rush is an excellent
business man and skilled farmer, and has made a decided success of his
ventures. Although now practically retired from the activities of life,
he still superintends the working of his land, and cai-ries on his business
matters in the same able manner that characterized his younger days.
On October 21, 1861, Mr. Rush was married to Miss Louisa Winslow,
who was born in Grant county, Indiana, August 5, 1843. daughter of
Daniel and Rebecca (Hiatt) Winslow. A devoted wife and mother, a
consistent Friend and an upright Christian woman, the death of Sirs.
Rush, which occurred May 24, 1911, was sincerely mourned by a -nide
circle of friends, who loved her for her many excellent qualities of mind
and heart. To Mr. and Sirs. Rush there were born the following chil-
dren : Axelina, Elmira, Emma, Walter, Olive, Calvin C, Charles E. Of
these Axelina died at the age of two yeai-s. Elmira was born July 4,
1865, received excellent educational advantages, and now is city editor
of the Fairmount Neivs, of which her husband, Edgar Baldwin, is editor
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 533
in chief. They have one sou, Mark, who is a government soil analyzer,
at the present time located iu Iowa. Emma was born July 7, 1867, was
well educated, aud became the wife of William A. Beasley. They alter-
nate between living on a farm aud iu the town of Fairmouut, aud are the
parents of five children — Myron, Zola, Frank, John aud Elizabeth.
Walter was born April 4, 1870, was educated iu the public schools, aud
is now the mauager of his father's farming property. He married
Elizabeth Johnson of Grant county, Indiana, and they have three chil-
dren — Loretta 0., at home, a graduate of the Academy; Isadore Alice,
a graduate of the public schools aud now attendiug the academy, and
Dorothy E., the baby, two years old. Olive Rush was born June -10,
1873, aud atteuded the Fairmouut Academy and Earlham College. She
early displayed marked artistic talent, and began her studies along this
line in Earlham College. Subsequently she spent two years in the Cor-
coran Art School, connected with the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington,
D. C, aud was there awarded second prize iu a class of eighty pupils
for advaucement. Later she became a student in the Art Student's
League, New York City, and became a well-kuowu illustrator for writers
and authors, making first-page frontispieces for such weU-known maga-
zines as Scribner's, Harper's, the Ladies' Home Journal and the
Woman's Home Compauion. She conceived and provided studies for
large cathedrals and churches, principally windows, aud paiuted por-
traits of well-known people throughout the country. With Ethel Brown,
she occupied the studio at Wilmington, Delaware, left vacant by the
death of Howard Pyle, at the request of his widow. Her pictures,
largely subject pieces, have been exhibited at various art expositions
and salons, aud at this time she is successfully continuing her work near
Paris, France. Calviu C. Rush, j\I. D., was born February 16, 1876,
and after graduating from the local academy aud Earlham College,
received a scholarship at Haverford. Subsequently he graduated in
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, aud now has a large prac-
tice at Portage, Pennsylvania. He married Annette Johnson, and they
have one daughter, Sylvia Louise; aud one sou, Norman J. Charles E.
Rush was born March 23, 1885, was well educated in the academy and
at Eai'lham College, and then took special coui'ses in library work. He
is now the overseer of three libraries at St. Joseph, Missouri. He mar-
ried Lionue Adsit, daughter of Rev. Spencer M. Adsit, and they have
one child, Alison A., who is now two years of age.
Reared in the faith of the Friends church. Rev. Rush was ordained
as a minister in 1869, aud for forty years has traveled all over this
part of Indiana, where no minister of the faith is more widely kuown
nor more greatl.y beloved. For years he was assisted by his wife. He
has preached at hundreds of fuuerals and has married scores of people
during his ministrj-. His influence, always for good, has been coustautly
felt in his community, where he has not alone become a conspicuous
figure in the church, but has also gained a large place iu the good will
and love of all classes and denominations.
Joseph H. Peacock. For generations, wherever their home has been
in America, whether iu the Atlantic colonies aud states or in Indiana,
the Peacock family have been noted not only for its faithful adherence
to the orthodox Quaker religion, but also for its exemplification of the
virtues and thrifty qualities of that class of people. Grant county
citizenship has been honored with the presence of the Peacock family
here for a great many years, and one of its most highly esteemed repre-
sentatives was the late Joseph H. Peacock, of Fairmount township, who
died May 14, 1874.
534 BLACKPOED AND GRANT COUNTIES
Of English ancestry, it is said that three brothers named Peacock
came to America during the colonial era, and located among the Penn
colonies in Pennsylvania. Later some of their descendants moved in
from South Carolina, where their home remained for several generations.
The first definite members of the family to be mentioned in this article
were Asa and his wife Dinah Peacock. Asa Peacock was born in the
Rice belt of North Carolina, was married there and afterwards took his
family into North Carolina. Then during the decade of the twenties they
all came to Indiana. That journey was made in true pioneer style, with
wagons and teams across the long distances of forest trail, and they
finally located in the Friends settlement at Newport, now Fountain
City in Wayne county. From there about 1830 they came to Grant
county, and entered land from the government in Liberty township.
Thus the Peacock name has been identified with Grant county for eighty-
three years. Asa Peacock and his first wife lived and died in Grant
county. He was past eighty years of age at the time of his death. His
second wife was Dorcas Jones, nee Hale, who survived him and died in
Kansas. By her first husband she had a familj' of children. Asa Pea-
cock and his first wife were the parents of William, Levi, Joseph, Betsey
D., Martha (Patsey) and John. Of these, Levi died recently at Rich-
mond, Indiana, when past ninety years of age. Joseph is still living,
over eighty years of age, in Kokomo. Patsey and another sister died
young. Betsey D. married and reared a family of children. John died
an old man and left a family of children. AVilliam Peacock, son of Asa
and Dinah, was born in South Carolina, November 4, 1812. He was
still a boy when his parents moved to Indiana, and he reached maturity
in Grant county. In 1833 he went to Newgarden in Wayne, where he
married Phoebe Haisley, who was born October 9, 1812. They began
their married life in Grant county, and in a wild and unbroken section
of Liberty township. They secured land direct from the government
and improved a good farm. There William Peacock died April 30, 1867,
and his remains were laid to rest at Oak Ridge. His death resulted from
a fever contracted during attendance of his wife, who was stricken
with the disease while on a visit to Newgarden, Wayne county, and died
March 23, 1867. To William Peacock and wife were born eleven chil-
dren, mentioned as follows: 1. Hannah, born in 1839, and died in 1913
in the state of Oregon, married Mordecai M. Davison, also deceased;
they had no children. 2. Josiah, born in 1836 and died in 1867, married
Cynthia Rich, and they had five children. 8. Anna, born in 1839 and
died in 1882, became wife of Barkley Moon and had four children.
4. Susanna, bom in 1840, and died in 1912, married Lewis Haekett,
and they died without issue. 5. Levina, born in 1842, and died in 1874,
married Aaron Comer, and had no children. 6. Joseph H. born Feb-
ruary 9, 1844, and died May 5, 1874, is the special subject of this article.
7. Jane, born in 1846 and died in 1868, married Thomas H. Johnson,
and left one son. 8. Sarah died in infancy. 9. Diana, born in 1852,
lives in Fairmouut, the widow of Nathan Hinshaw. 10. William, Jr.,
born in 1854, lives in Sedgewick, Kansas, married Lyda Smith, and has
children. 11. Levi died in infancy.
The late Joseph H. Peacock was reared on his father's farm in Lib-
erty township, was educated, and trained in the local schools and in a
good home where prevailed a high atmosphere of moral and religious
influence. In 1869 in the Quaker church at Fairmount and with the
orthodox Quaker ceremony, he married Elizabeth Radley, who was born
near Chelmsford, Essex county, England, June 6, 1843.
Mrs. Peacock, who now lives in Fairmount with her children, comes
of an old English ancestry. Her parents were Samuel and Mary (BuU)
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 535
Radley, her mother a sister of John Bull, one of the early settlers of
Fairmount. Samuel Radley and wife were married in Essex county,
England, and all their four children, Mary A., Elizabeth, Alice C, and
Samuel John were born in England. The father was by trade a plas-
terer and brick layer. While the children were all small the family
embarked on a sailing vessel named Westminster, under Captain Doan,
and voyaged from Loudon to New York, six weeks being spent on the
ocean. Locating near Fairmount, Mr. Radley followed his trade and
engaged in farming, his later years being mostly spent on the farm.
He died March 11, 1877, when about sixty years of age. His wife passed
away October 24, 1888. She was born in the Presbyterian faith, but
early in life joined the Friends church, and her father was a birthright
Friend. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Peacock were the parents of two sous.
William A., born November 23, 1871, and died at the age of eighteen;
John Henry, born June 14, 1873, received a substantial education in the
Fairmount Public Schools, and graduated from the biblical department
of the Fairmount Academy and also the Wesleyan Theological Semi-
nary. He with his mother now owns 230 acres of land and is a thrifty
and successful farmer and devoted Christian. He married Ruth Reese,
of Michigan. Their two sons are Myron R., at home, and a graduate of
the Fairmount Academy: and Joseph Edward, who died when nearly
seven j'ears of age. The farm upon which Joseph H. Peacock died lies
northwest of Fairmount, near where Fairmount Academy now stands,
lies just uortheast of Fairmount. There are over two hundred acres of
land, and a comfortable farm house, the well painted barns, the improve-
ments in fences and cultivation, all indicate the thrift and prosperity
which have been associated with the Peacock name throughout its con-
nection with Grant county.
Richard H. Dillon. Through all his career Mr. Dillon has quietly
followed the vocation of farmer. Since he left school each recurring
spring has meant to him a time of opportunity, the planting for the
later harvest. Many of his hopes have had fruition, as well as his crops.
He has been prospered, has performed his share of the responsibilities
that come to every man and the extent of his riches is not to be meas-
ured alone by his material store.
Concerning the family of Mr. Dillon it may be said that his grand-
father was also Richard H. Dillon, and was probably born in one of
the southern states, of Irish ancestry. His death occurred in Ohio. He
married Elizabeth Unthank. They lived in Clinton county, Ohio, for
some years, and in 1848 moved to Madison county, Indiana, where they
were among the early Quaker settlers. Of their children, the youngest
son, Oliver, lived to be 60 or 65 years of age and died near Indianapolis,
and, Allen became the father of Richard H. Dillon.
Allen Dillon was born in Clinton county, Ohio, March 13, 1836, and
was twelve yeai-s of age when the family moved to Madison county,
Indiana. There he grew to manhood, and for a number of years con-
ducted a saw mill, did carpenter work, lived on a farm which he owned.
In 1856 he moved to Grant county, and lived in this county until his
death on January 3, 1899, passing away in Fairmount. In 1857 Allen
Dillon married in Fairmount township Kaziah Henly, who was born in
North Carolina in 1832, and came north from Randolph county, North
Carolina, to Grant county with her parents in 1837, and continued to
reside in Grant county either in Fairmount township or the city until
her death in 1911. Her parents were staunch Quakers whose ancestors
caine to America with William Penn, and Allen Dillon was also of that
faith. She was the mother of two children, one of whom died in infancy.
536 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Richard H. Dillon was born on the old home farm in Fairmount
township, August 14, 1858, received his education in the public schools
and Purdue University, and has always followed the vocation of farm-
ing. He built his present good brick home at 919 North Buckeye Street
in Fairmount in 1891. He and his wife own seventeen acres of laud in
an adjacent section, also another tract of 40 acres in Fairmount town-
ship and valuable farm lauds in IMarshall count}-, Indiana.
Mr. Dillon was married in Grant county to Alice R. Coahran, who
was born April 4, 1861. When she was six years of age, she moved to
Madison county, Indiana, with her parents, who were John and Susan
(Hammond) Coahran. Her parents lived on a farm in Madison county
until 1879, when they moved to Fairmount City, and here they both
died, the father at the age of eighty-four and the mother at the age of
seventy-two. They were also of Quaker religion. Mr. and Mrs. Dillon
are the parents of one child, Mary Allen, born July 14, 1892. She
received her early educational advantages in the Fairmount public
schools and the Academy, and is a member of the class of 1914 at Earl-
ham College at Richmond. In politics Mr. Dillon is a Republican voter.
John Smith. For many years one of the most prosperous fai'ming
men in the county, John Smith, with the organization of the Upland
State Bank, stepped into the office of president of that young financial
institution, and he has since continued in his dual capacity of farmer
Some time after her husband's death Mrs. Peacock sold that farm and
later purchased the farm upon which the Peacocks now live. This farm
and banker, with equal success in both enterprises. As a well-to-do
agricultural man, he is widely known in the county, and his land hold-
ings aggregate something like 525 acres, designated much as follows:
The home farm of 210 acres located in section 25 and section 26 ; forty
acres adjoining the home place on the north ; forty acres in section 24 ;
and one hundred acres in section 36, making about four hundred acres
in Monroe township. He also owns one hundred and twenty acres in
Blackford county. The bulk of the land he rents for a yearly cash
rental, but the home place of two hundred and ten acres he operates
himself. He is also a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted February
1, 1865, in Company B, 153d Indiana Voliinteer Infantry, and served
until September 4, 1865, when he was discharged at Louisville, Ken-
tucky. Did detached duty during the most of his service.
John Smith was born in the northeast part of Mahoning county, Ohio,
on November 15, 1843, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Leonard)
Smith, who reared a family of seven children, as follows: Wesley, of
Huntingdon county ; John, of this review ; Jane, who is deceased ; Emily
and Laviua, also deceased ; Mrs. Maria Smith, a resident of Milford Cen-
ter, Ohio; and Hiram, of Hartford City. The father of this family,
Thomas Smith, moved to Grant coiinty in the spring of 1845 and here
entered a tract of government land, consisting of one hundred and sixty
acres, and the home of John Smith is built upon one forty of this original
acreage. The land was a dense wood at that time, and before he was
able to build the rude log cabin that sheltered his little familj^ in those
early days, he was obliged to cut a road from the nearest settlement
through his place. He gradually cleared up the place, and in later years
came to be the owner of one hundred and twenty acres in Blackford
county, together with another forty adjoining, but he was swindled out
of this land through his investment in a railroad line that was projected
through those parts. Thomas Smith died July 23, 1876, and his wife
passed away January 7, 1901.
Mr. John Smith's progress has been fairly rapid, and at all times
MM
MR. AND :\IRS. JOHN S:\IITH
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 537
certain. No element of chance has entered into his operations, and when
he bought a new piece of land, he did so secure in the knowledge that he
was getting it at a fair price, and that the top of the market had not
yet been reached. When he married in 1873 he was the owner of a 100-
aere tract. He soon bought another forty from his father and engaged
in potato growing, sometimes having as high as forty acres planted to
that indispensable tuber. He has raised as high as four hundred bushels
to the acre, but would average about three hundred bushels, which at
a market of twenty-five to thirty cents, made money for him evei*y year.
He was dubbed the "Potato King" of his locality, and was well entitled
to the name. For twent.y-five years he devoted himself to the cultivation
of this crop, his shipments running well into the carloads each season.
He continued to buy land until he had a large acreage to his credit, and
as has alreadj- been stated, much of the land he rents, confining himself
to the cultivation of the home place alone. An example of his thrift in
the matter of buying land may be cited in the instance of his purchase,
with his brother, of a forty lying on a creek. The price paid was $100
and the consideration was offered in a colt and $50 in cash. This forty,
then considered worth little or nothing, is today well drained and worth
$100 an acre. Mr. Smith has paid high prices for some of his land,
however, much of it coming at $25 and $30, while some of it cost him
as high as $50 an acre.
31r. Smith's home farm is one of the finest in the county, and is
likewise one of the best improved and kept up. In 1889 a fine eleven-room
house was built on the place, modern in many ways, and decidedly orna-
mental to the landscape. A beautiful sloping lawn adds to the natural
beauty of the place, and numerous barns and other buildings contribute
to the general attractiveness of the ensemble.
On Februaiy 12, 187-1, Sir. Smith was married to Lucy Bocock, the
daughter of James and Hester Ann (Shannon) Bocock, of Clark county,
Ohio, and Brown county, Ohio, respectively. They were married in
Indiana and lived many years in Grant and Blackford counties, this
state. They have reared a family of eight children: Raleigh, former
principal of the Jonesboro schools, is now assistant cashier of the Upland
State Bank ; Pluma is at home ; Arthur is a furniture dealer in Hart-
ford City; Thana is deceased; Ira, also deceased; Harry A. is a practic-
ing dentist in Seattle, "Washington ; Charles is a farmer in ]\Ionroe town-
ship; Lelah is at the Lewis Institute, Chicago, 111., studying domestic
science.
Concerning Raleigh 0. Smith, who is assistant cashier of the Upland
State Bank, it may be stated that he was born on November 22, 1874,
in Monroe township, and received his education in the district schools
in Fairmount Academj' and ilarion Normal College, finishing his train-
ing in the State Normal College at Terra Haute, Indiana, in 1906. He
, began teaching at the age of nineteen in 1894, and taught seven terms in
Marion at different times; two terms were taught in Franklin township,
and he served as teacher of the Mississinewa schools, finishing his peda-
gogic service with three years as principal of the Jonesboro High School.
In May, 1912, he became assistant cashier of the bank, of which his
father is president, and which was organized in 1909.
John Smith is a Republican and is a member of the Friends church,
his son Raleigh sharing in his politics and his religion. The parents of
Mr. Smith were Methodists, but he embraced the faith of the Friends
some years ago, and has ordered his life largely in accordance with the
demands of that sect. He is especially enthusiastic on the subject of
temperance, and is one of the stanch and true citizens of the community ,.
where he has done his full share in the good work of development and
upbuilding.
538 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Samuel Charles "Wilson. A resident in Grant county since pioneer
times, large family relationship, with a high character of moral and
industrious citizenship, strict and active membership in the Friends
church, — such are some of the significant attributes attaching to the
Wilson family in Grant county. There are a number of Wilson families
included within the general scope of the name, but this particular article
is concerned with the immediate ancestors and the individual career of
Samuel C. Wilson, who is now living retired at his beautiful country
home in Fairmount township on section sixteen, and is almost eligible
to the Grant county octogenarian club.
If the history of the faDiily were written in detail, it would be found
that the first members came over to America with William Penn and
assisted that great Quaker in founding and developing the city of Phila-
delphia. Through all the generations, with hardly an exception, the
different membei's of the families have been orthodox Quakers. Some
years after the family was founded, one of its members moved into
North Carolina, that being before the Revolutionary war. He located
in Randolph county, a county which probably sent more settlers to
Grant county, Indiana, than any other eastern locality. There he be-
came one of the organizers and early builders of the Back Creek Quaker
meeting. It is not known exactly how many years elapsed between this
first settlement and the birth of Joseph Wilson, grandfather of the
Samuel C. Wilson of this sketch. Grandfather Joseph Wilson was born
in Randolph county, North Carolina, about 1760. His occupation was
farming. He was a faithful atendant at the Quaker meeting, and it is
related that he would desist his labors in so important an undertaking
as a barn raising in order to attend church services. His death occurred
in North Carolina, and it is supposed that he was quite old. He was
married in his native locality to a Miss Charles, whose familj- had also
for a long time been residents in North Carolina, and of the same strict
sect of Friends. At her death she left three sons and two daughters.
These children, so far as information is obtainable, are mentioned as
follows: 1. Samuel, born in Randolph countj', was married there to
Ruth Thornburg, and came north to Indiana about 1836 or 1837,
settling and developing a fine homestead and all that goes with it in
Hamilton county, Indiana. His wife Ruth died in Hamilton county, at
a good old age, and he then went out to Kansas, where he died shortly
afterwards at the home of a son. 2. Henry was born on a North Caro-
lina farm, was married there, and soon afterwards moved to Washington
county, Indiana, where he improved a good farm and established his
home and family on a substantial basis. His wife died in Indiana, at a
comparatively early age, and for his second marriage he was united
with a Mrs. Alberson. He had children by his first marriage, as did
his second wife, though there was no issue by their second union.
3. Abigail was married in Randolph county, North Carolina, to a Mr.
Simons, came to Henry county, Indiana, where both died, after careers
of substantial and honorable prosperity. They left a family of children.
4. This was a daughter who married Owen Lindsley, and they moved
to Orange county, Indiana, where Mr. Lindsley was a prominent and
wealthy man and farmer. It is a curious circumstance that all these
children on coming north to Indiana located in different counties, and
all of them in staunch communities of Friends.
The name omitted from the above list of children was John Wilson,
the oldest of the five. He was born in the Back Creek ]\Ieetings in Ran-
dolph county. North Carolina, in 1784. He grew up there on his
father's farm, and was married in early manhood to Mary Winslow.
She was born in the same section of Indiana, about thirteen yeai-s after
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 539
her husband. Her father, Henry Wiuslow, later moved to Grant
county with his family, that mig:i'ation taking place late in the decade of
the twenties, so that the family was among the eai-liest in this county.
The Winslows bought government laud and made a fine farm in Fair-
mount township, where Mr. Winslow died at a good old age. The
Wiuslow family were prominent members of the Quaker church. John
Wilson and his wife after their marriage and after the birth of all their
children in Randolph county, set out from their native state in April,
1837, to find a home in the fine old country of Indiana. Their journey
was accomplished somewhat in state, and it is evident that the circum-
stances of the Wilsons from a material point of view were more pros-
perous than those of a great many who settled in Grant county at that
early date. A large wagon drawn by four horses carried many of the
household possessions and the male members of the family. Behind
came a carriage, with the wife and younger children. They journeyed
on day after day along the roads, camping out at night and on Sun-
days, and were several weeks in performing this interesting trip. On
reaching Grant county, John Wilson and family located on Section six
of Fairmount township. The laud had never been broken with the
plow, and there were few evidences of the work and industry of civilized
mau anywhere on the three hundred and sixty acres. With the aid of
the sons, this land rapidly was cleared and brought under cultivation,
and all members of the household lived happily there until 1856, when
John Wilson and wife moved into the town of Fairmount, where his
death occurred in June, 1864, lacking only a day of being eighty years
of age. His wife afterwards made her home with a son, Milton, in
Center township, and died there about 1870 at the age of seventy-two.
Both were among the early members of the Back Creek Friends Church
in Fairmount township, though they were not among the organizers of
that community, and took a very prominent part in its affairs.
The children of John Wilson and wife are noted as follows : 1. Jesse
E., who died in Fairmount township in 1883 at the age of sixty-seven
years, was a farmer, a member of the Back Creek Church, and a charter
member of the Fairmount Meeting, married and had a large family of
children. 2. Nathan, who died in Fairmount in 1880 at the age of
sixty-two, was an early member of the Fairmount Quaker Meeting, and
had a family of twelve children. 3. Cyrus died in middle life at the
age of forty-five in November, 1864. His home was in Liberty town-
ship. He married and his three children ai'e all now deceased. 4. Henry,
who died at the age of forty-four in June, 1863, lived in Fairmount
township, and had four children. 5. Nancy, who died in April, 1913,
at the very advanced age of eighty-nine years, married Elam Doherty,
who died a number of years ago. They left three sons and one daugh-
ter. 6. Micajah, who died on his farm in Fairmount township, July 1,
1906, at the age of eighty-one married a Miss Neal, also deceased, and
there were no children. 7. Elizabeth, better known as Betsy, married
William Cox, and a full history of the Cox family will be found under
the name of Nathan D. Cox elsewhere in this work. 8. Eliza, who died in
1856, in middle life, was the wife of Eli Neal, who is deceased, and two
of their sous are living. 9. John Milton, who was a farmer all his life,
spent his last days in Wabash, where he died in 1895, leaving a family
of four sons still living. 10. Lindsay, who died May 20, 1906, at the
age of sevent3'-three years and five months, married a Miss Davis, who
left live children living. 11. The eleventh in the family is Samuel C.
Wilson, and now the only survivor. 12. Abigail was an infant when
the family came to Grant county, and died here at the age of nine years.
Samuel C. Wilson was born in the Back Creek Meeting of Randolph
540 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
countj', North Carolina, October 14, 1834. Since he was only two and a
half years of age when the family accomplished its memorable journey
to Grant county, he naturally remembers nothing of the incidents of
that event. On the old farm in Fairmount township, he spent his early
days, had a fair amount of schooling, and after his marriage operated
a part of his father's estate. In 1864 he moved to section sixteen in
Fairmount township, which has now been his home for nearly half a
centurj'. There he bought one hundred and three acres of partly im-
proved land, and in 1SS4 built the tine old homestead which since lias
sheltered him and his children. From the standpoint of building, it is
all very comfortable, and in the best of repairs, and there is not a foot
of waste land on the entire farm, a fact which shows his thrifty enter-
prise in handling the soil. His crops are hay, oats, wheat and corn, also
considerable potatoes, and steadily throughout the years his prosperity
has been growing so that he has been able to make liberal provisions for
himself and his family.
ilr. Wilson was first married in Liberty township of Grant county
on April 22, 1857. His marriage was in the Quaker church and accord-
ing to the attractive Quaker ceremony. His bride was Miss Rachael
Overman, who was born in Center township of this county in March,
1842, and who died in October, 1865, without children. On January 10,
1867, in Rush countj% Indiana, Mr. Wilson mamed Elizabeth Jessup,
who was born near Carthage in Rush county. October 11, 1842. She
died at her home in Fairmount township, on the fourth of June, 1913.
She was a birthright Quaker, and from 1867 until her death, a period
of forty-five years, was one of the active members of the Back Creek
Meetings. The children of Mr. Wilson and mfe were: 1. Lindsay,
born March 9, 1870, was educated in the district schools and at the Fair-
mount Academy, and has been one of the sturdy farmers of this section
for a number of years. In 1911 he became a member of the board of
directors of the Fairmount Academy, and as a staunch Republican is
also a present member of the County Council. In December, 1894, he
married in Fairmount township. Miss Essie Griffin Davis, a daughter of
Attorney Foster Davis, ilr. and Mrs. Lindsay Wilson have two chil-
dren: Dorinda Elizabeth, born in August, 1895, and who graduated a
member of a class of forty-four in 1913 and is now at home ; Hubert D.,
born July 31, 1897, a senior in the Fairmount Academy. 2. Jessup,
born November 21, 1872, was educated in the Academy, has never mar-
ried, and is now his father's active manager on the home farm. 3. Thomas,
bom in 1874, died in 1880. Mr. Wilson and his sons are staunch Repub-
licans, and throughout his life he has been a member of the Back Creek
Quaker Church. For over twenty-five j'ears he has served on the con-
trolling board of the church, also an elder and a clerk in the monthly
meeting for a long time. His long and honorable business career and
prominence in church and civic affairs were worthily honored in 1890
with his election to the state legislature in which he served one term.
Joseph Newbt. A fine citizen, who knew farming, who was always
ready to bear his share of responsibilities in the community, was the
late Joseph Newby, who died at his home in Fairmount township on
section sixteen, June 15, 1913. ]\Ir. Newby has spent practically all
his life in Grant county, and belonged to one of the earliest families.
Joseph Newby was born at the old Newby homestead in Fairmount
township on August 21, 1857. He was fifty-six years of age at his death,
and just at the climax of his powers and usefulness. His parents were
Thomas W. and Sarah (Hill) Newby, both of whom were natives of
Randolph county. North Carolina. They were children when their
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 541
respective parents and families left North Cai'olina, and came north to
Indiana. It was a typical emigration, one made with teams and wagon,
and between their departure and their arrival in Indiana many days of
travel iutei'veued, and there were many incidents to bi'eak the monotony
of such a journey. Both families arrived in Grant county towards the
close of the decade of the twenties, previous to the organization of Grant
county, so that they are very properly classed among the pioneers and
founders of civilization in this section of the state. Both the Newbys
and the Hills got their first laud from the government, and improved
homesteads in Fairmouut township, were early members of the Quaker
church, and lived long and industrious lives. Thomas W. Newby grew
up amid pioneer scenes, attended one of the old-fashioned log school
houses, such as are described in the general history of this work, and
always followed farming. About sixty-five years ago he and his wife
were married, and they started out to make their fortune on a farm.
There they lived until death closed their quiet and useful careers, he
dying at the age of seventy-nine, and she when eighty-six years of age.
All the qualities of good citizenship and upright, moral and Christian
people belonged to Thomas W. Newby and wife. They had six children
in their famih'.
Joseph Newby, who was next to the youngest in the family and the
youngest son, received his education in public schools that were consid-
erably advanced above the character of those which his father had
attended. After his marriage he settled on eighty acres of land, given
him by his father, and thus had a substantial start towards success. He
had as his companion a woman who was industrious, thrifty, and very
attentive to the household and to the moral training of her children,
and under such conditions they steadily prospered. During the thirty
years of their residence on the farm in section sixteen of Fairmouut
township, the eighty original acres grew to one hundred and twenty, and
the entire place was well improved in buildings and cultivation. It is
an attractive rural estate, and through the shade and fruit trees may
be seen the front of the comfortable white house, while an evidence of
farming thrift is the good red barn, standing near by.
Mr. Newby was married in Delaware county, Indiana, on September
30, 1879, to Miss Laura L. Foster. She was born in Davy county, North
Carolina, December 25, 1857, and was ten years of age when her mother
brought her to Madison county, Indiana. She was the daughter of
Henderson W. Foster, who, though opposed to Secession, was forced to
join the Southern army, and in consequence of ill health died a few
mouths after his enlistment at the age of thirty years. Henderson W.
Foster married Louise Ribelin, who was born in Davy county. North
Carolina, of German parentage. Left a widow with two small children,
she joined a party of Friends going north and in 1867 arrived in
Indiana. She later married Josiah Winter, and they finally located on
a farm in Fairmouut township of Grant county. There Mr. Winter died
at the age of seventy-nine. In his religious views he was a Dunkard.
His widow, who died July 24, 1896, when about sixty-nine years of
age, passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Newbj'. She also in
later life affiliated with the Dunkard Church. By her first marriage
there were two children, one of them ilrs. Newby, and the other Louisa,
the wife of Leroy Horner, of Mill township in Grant county. By his
former marriage Mr. Winter had two sons and five daughters, the only
one of whom now living is Mrs. Christianna Hiat of Madison county,
Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Newby became the parents of the following children :
1. Harmon T., born March 11, 1882, was educated in the common
schools and a business college, and is now in the employ of the Santa Pe
542 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Railroad Company at Las Vegas, New Mexico. He married Miss Lillian
Withers. They have no children. 2. Arthur W., born November 17,
1884, was educated in the Fairmount Academy and the Marion Busi-
ness College, and is now managing the home estate for his mother.
3. John F., born October 5, 1887, is a farmer in the township of Jeffer-
son, and man-ied Ethel B. Corn, a daughter of Joseph Corn. They have
two children, Grace M., and Ernest A. 4. Mary L., born August 25,
1891, received a good education, attending Fairmount Academy, and is
now the wife of James A. Corn, living in Fairmount township. Their
children are Laura M., Jason I., and Evert Earl. During his career
as a citizen, the late Mr. Newby voted the Republican ticket regularly,
and his son has taken up the same political faith. Mrs. Newby is a mem-
ber of the ^Methodist Protestant church.
Hill Brothers. Vigorous enterprise has been the keynote in the
successful establishment of Hill Brothers at Fairmount, where they
carry on a butchering and meat refrigeration and market business which
is one of the best managed plants of its kind to be found anywhere out-
side of the largest cities. To furnish people with good food products has
always been an honorable vocation, but in recent years it has come to be
seen that such a service is one of the most important that man can ren-
der to his fellow men. That is the sole business of Hill Brothers, and
they desei-ve the greatest credit for the manner in which they are per-
forming it. The firm comprises James T. Hill and S. Brooks Hill.
Some mention of their individual careers and their families will be of
interest in this history of Grant county and are briefly sketched in the
following paragraphs.
The parents were Israel and Sarah J. (Sharpe) Hill, both natives
of Pennsylvania. The Hill family is of English and German origin,
while the Sharpes are of German and Frencli extraction. Israel Hill
and wife were married in Fulton county, and spent their lives there
as farmers, the father being a member of the Primitive Baptist faith,
while his wife was of the Christian denomination. Israel Hill died
at the age of seventy-three and his wife followed him at the age of
seventy-six. Their children are mentioned as follows: Louisiana is the
wife of Jack Hixson, a farmer in ]Miami county, Ohio. Their three
sons are Ira, Charles and Walter. Howard is a merchant at War-
fordsburg, Pennsylvania, and married Norah Runyon, and their chil-
dren are Cora and Verna.
James T. Hill, the senior member* of the firm of Hill Brothers,
and third in order of birth in the family, was born in Pennsylvania, in
1868, received an education in the public schools about in the same man-
ner as his brother, and starting out to make his own way, learned the
butcher's trade at the National Soldiers Home in Dayton, Ohio. While
at Dayton, he was married, and then established an enterprise as a
breeder and raiser of fine hogs, of the improved Duroe Jersey strain.
He did a good business in that line, raising from three hundred to four
hundred every year. After eight years in that work he moved to Fair-
mount City, in 1904, and became associated with his brother in the
meat market business. These two have since combined their energy and
experience in building up a flourishing enterprise. James T. Hill was
first married at Dayton, Ohio, to Miss Fannie Heckman, of Montgomery
county, that state. She was born, reared and educated in the vicinity
of Dayton, and died five years after her marriage. The thi-ee children
left at her death were Anna, Harry and Hallie, all of whom are now in
the Fairmount public school. Mr. James T. Hill for his second wife
married Miss Eva Bell Butts. She was a native of Montgomery county,
ELIHU J. OREN
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 543
where they were married. They are the parents of William B. and
Mary G.
S. Brooks Hill was born in the foothills of the Alleghany mountains
in Fulton county, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1873. His early training
and home influence were on a farm and he belonged to a thrifty Penn-
sylvania family. He grew up and was educated in the common schools
and first qualified himself for a career as a teacher. "When a boy he
got his education by walking night and morning two and a half miles to
a district school. Later he went to the county normal, and then spent
three years as a teacher.
S. Brooks Hill, after he gave up his occupation as a school teacher,
having about that time reached his majority, moved out to Dayton,
Ohio, and spent four years in the meat and grocery business. That was
the foundation of his experience which enabled him to start out on his
own account when he came to Fairmount in January, 1898. Here he
first took the management of a local telephone company, and spent seven
years in that work. In 1904, he established a meat market, and after a
few months bought out his partner, and was then joined by his brother.
The Hill Brothers enterprise is much above the average scope of a local
meat market. They not only have a well equipped shop for disposing of
their meat on the block, but maintain a slaughter house, and have a
complete refrigerating plant for the preserving and curing of all their
products. Electricity is the power which operates the entire plant. A
large part of the business is the preparation of the meat consumed by
nearly all the farmers in this section of Grant comity, and their equip-
ment has been especially designed to meet the demands of this class of
trade. By careful management and efficient service they have built up
a very profitable business.
Mr. S. Brooks Hill was married in Mercer county, Ohio, to Miss Caro-
line Johnsman, who was bom in Mercer county on a farm, received a
public school education, and has been a most helpful companion to her
husband. Their children are : Thelma, now eleven years of age and
attending the city schools; and Clemons Lament, who is five years
of age.
Milton B. Hill, the youngest of the Hill Brothers, was born in Fulton
county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1876. He married Bertha Lake, and
they have two children, Vivian and Kittle. Mr. Hill resides on the old
home farm in Fulton county, Pennsylvania.
Elihu J. Oren. A resident of Monroe township for more than
seventy years, and one of the best known and most successful farmers
and citizens of that locality, Elihu J. Oren is a product of pioneer envir-
onment and of the old-fashioned log school house, of the kind that has
passed down into history along with the stage-coach and the hoop-skirt.
The school days, even in that rough and primitive institution were lim-
ited, and much of his education was obtained at his father's knee, and
by such schooling as he was able to give himself in the oppoi'tunity of
leisure. In spite of its many deficiencies, however, this old-fashioned
training had a way of bringing out sober, industrious. God-fearing men,
such as Elihu J. Oren himself, the kind of men who have proved the
backbone and mainstay of our nation, and have reared up a steady new
generation of able men and women for the honor of the country.
Elihu J. Oren was born February 20, 1835, in Green county, Ohio,
a son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Evans) Oren, the father a native of Ten-
nessee, and the mother of southern Indiana. Col. Robert M. Evans, an
uncle of Eliabeth Evans, platted and laid out the site of Evansville,
Indiana. Elizabeth Evans was born in Davis county, Indiana. Jesse
Oren, the father, was born December 12, 1806, and died September 13,
544 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
1874. His father, John Oren, moved to Clinton county, Ohio, in 1818,
and his people were Quakers. Jesse Oren was reared in Clinton county,
Ohio, and on September 12, 1830. married Elizabeth Evans, who was
born June 6, 1808, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Evans. Her
death occurred IMay 8, 1S63. Jesse Oren and wife moved to Grant
county with their family and reached Monroe township, November 12,
1841. They had to cut a road from the Charles Atkinson place to the
site of the eighty acres which the father had bought in the midst of the
woods. Not an acre of the land was cleared and the iirst home of the
family in this county was a rough cabin built of round logs, and with
scarcely any furniture or creature comforts. Jesse Oren bought eighty
acres, but soon afterwards a period of invalidism seized him and his son
Elihu assumed the obligations for payment of this new laud. The nine
children in the family of the parents were : John E., deceased ; ]Mrs.
Margaret Skinner, deceased ; Elihu J. ; Mrs. Elizabeth Atkinson, de-
ceased: ilrs. Rebecca S. Hunnicutt, deceased: Sarah Jane Benedict;
Rachael Kirkpatrick, and Esther Foy, all three deceased : and Henry G.
of Blackford eoiinty. The father of these children was an excellent
scholar for his time, and in default of the poor schools that existed in
this section of Indiana, he did much of the work of instruction among
his growing children.
Elihu J. Oren for a few terms attended the number eight school in
Monroe tovrnship, and supplied the other deficiencies of his training
with the wisdom of his father, and by close observation and practical
experience. He lived with his father until the latter 's death, and con-
tributed his labor to the support of the family and the care of his invalid
father. He then came into possession of the home place of eighty acres
and bought other land as he was able until at the present time he is the
owner of two hundred acres, with eighty, acres in section 20, eighty acres
in section 28, and he and liis son have a place of eighty acres in section
32, all in Monroe township. The homestead is in section 28. Mrs. Oren
also owns fifteen acres in Blackford county. The crops for 1912 on the
Oren estate aggregated two thousand bushels of coni, twelve hundred
bushels of oats, twenty tons of hay. He fed and wintered fifty -two hogs,
and a considerable bunch of cattle. Each year about seventy hogs are
sent to market from Oren farm, and the other herds of stock include
about a carload of cattle every year, some twenty sheep and eleven horses
for the work of the farm. Mr. Oren has a very comfortable homestead
and it is one of the oldest houses in this section of the county, having
been built under his supervision in 1861. more than half a century ago.
All the lumber for the dwelling was hand-dressed, its walls and framing
were put together very strong, and there are few houses of modern con-
struction which would stand so long as this one. The dwelling is situ-
ated on an eminence, and both house and barns are painted a dark green.
The barn was finished in October, 1876.
^Ir. Oren was married March 6, 1871, to iliss Mary Townsend, a
daughter of James F. Townsend. Two of their children died in infancy,
and they have reared ten, named as follows: Jason, of Gas City; Otto,
of Carroll county, ]\Iissouri : Jasper, at home in ilonroe township : ]\Irs.
Bertha Atkinson of ilon'roe township ; James E., a dairyman of Center
township : Bruce C, a blacksmith at Upland in Jefferson township ;
Fletcher H.. of Upland ; Warren, at home ; Stella Atkinson, of Gas City ;
Charles, at home.
In the community life of Monroe township 'Sir. Oren has long been
an important factor. He is a Democrat and has taken active and influ-
ential part in party councils. In 1872 he was chosen to the office of
township trustee, and by reelection served for eight years consecutively.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 545
In 1884 he was again a successful candidate for the same office, and
served for four j^ears, making twelve years in all. He has frequently-
attended state and congressional conventions as a delegate, and was a
delegate to the last congressional convention in the campaign of 1912.
Religiously he supports the Universalist faith. Fraternally he is very
prominent in several organizations. He became a member of the Masonic
lodge at Jonesboro in 1860, and now affiliates with the Arcana Lodge F.
& A. M., of Upland, of which he is a charter member and was the first
Master. He belongs to the Chapter and the Council at Hartford City.
He affiliates with Shidler Lodge No. 352, I. 0. 0. F. at Upland, and is
also a member of the Encampment. He belongs to the Hartford City
Lodge No. 625 of the B. P. 0. E. Mr. Oren was the iirst master and a
charter member of the Arcana lodge of Masons then at Arcana, now lo-
cated at Upland. He has represented the ^Masonic order in the Grand
Lodge freciuently. He has filled all the chairs in the Odd Fellows
subordinate lodge and also the encampment, and has represented both
divisions in state meetings. He served as a delegate to the state meeting
of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Anderson, lud., in
1912, and also at Lafayette in 1913, representing Hartford City Lodge,
No. 625.
Henry A. Hanley. A number of years ago prosperity came to
Henry A. Hanley, and entirely through his own efforts and through the
medium of progressive agriculture and stock raising. Mr. Hanley,
when a child lost his father, as a result of exposure and disease, during
service in the Union aimiy. That caused him to be thrown upon his own
resources at an early age, and while his education was neglected he grew
up familiar with hard work from a tender age, and has earned his own
support from a time when most modern children are in the lower grades
of grammar school. Mr. Hanley had the perseverance and the ambition
to succeed, and long since arrived at a place where his success has been
subject of commendation by his neighbors.
Henrj^ Alva Hanley, the third in his parents' family, was born near
Hartford City, Indiana, November 25, 1857. He comes down through
a family of respectable and worthy people, and his grandfather lived for
a number of years in Ohio, where he clied. He was a farmer. Of the
grandparents' children, Washington, Burr, James and Lafayette Avere
all born in Ohio, and later settled in Indiana, where they followed
farming. The only survivor is Lafayette, who is a retired farmer living
in iluncie. Burr Hanley was born in Ohio, and was a young man when
he came to Indiana, and started life as a farmer in Blackford county,
near Hartford City. Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war he
enlisted as a private iu the Thirty-four Indiana Infantry, his brother
Lafayette being iu the same regiment, and after some months of sei-vice
contracted the measles and was sent home on a furlough of fortj' days.
Apparently recovering from his illness, he returned to join his com-
mand, but about twenty days later was stricken with a severe cold, and
his brother Lafayette sent him back home. When within twenty miles
of his home, and at Muncie, he died, and his body was brought on to
Blackford county, where it was buried, but subseciuentl.y was removed
to the Masonic cemeterj' near Hartford Citj', where it now rests beside
that of his second wife. Burr Hanley first married a 3Iiss Roberts, and
their two daughters were : Evaline, who is married and lives in Martin's
Ferry, Ohio and Permelia, who died after her marriage to Sherman
Fields. Burr Hanley 's second wife was Hannah Atkinson, who was
born in Indiana. After ilr. Hanley 's death she married William Ord,
and she died in Hartford City when thirty-seven j-ears of age. There
was one son by her marriage to Mr. Ord, Sherman, who died accidentally
vol. n— T
546 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
in a saw mill at Portland, Oregon. Burr and Hannah Hanley had the
follo^\iug children : John, who died after his marriage to Mary Deeren,
who now lives in Muncie, and has a family ; William, who is married and
has a family and lives in Alexandria, Indiana; Henry A.; and ilary,
who died in early girlhood.
Henry A. Hanley was reared until nine years of age in the home
of his parents in Blackford county, lived with his step-father a few
years, and at the age of nine was taken into the home of James Pugh,
a farmer in Jefferson township of Grant county. That was his home,
and there he learned the lessons of industry, but very little by attend-
ance at school, until he was twenty-four years of age. With his savings
he then bought forty acres of land, in section fourteen of Jefferson
township, and was the third successive owner of that land, its pioneer
settler and owner having been a Mr. Oswald, who got it direct from the
government. Mr. Hanley has continued his business career in this
vicinity ever since, improved his first estate and has developed and
increased his property until his farm will now bear favorable compari-
son with that of any to be found in the township. The forty acres were
first increased to eighty acres, and subsequently he bought eighty acres
lying in section fifteen. It is in section fourteen that a few years ago he
built his fine ten-room modern home, and in 1890 put up a substantial
red barn on a foundation forty by forty feet. His other farm buildings
and all his cultivation and improvement show the thrifty farmer. A
believer in the modem system of cultivation which conserves the fer-
tility of the soil, he keeps a lot of high-grade stock, and feeds prac-
tically all his crops to his cattle and hogs. The most commendable thing
of all is that all of the property thus described represents the concrete
achievements of a career which was begun practically in poverty and
with many handicaps such as the majority of Grant county farmers did
not have to contend with.
In Jefferson township in the spring of 1882, Mr. Hanley married
Miss Emma Gadbury, who was born in Licking township, Blackford
county, Indiana, in February, 1863, and was reared and educated in that
vicinity. She died at her home in Grant county April 1, 1891, and is
buried in the Elizabethto^vn cemetery. Four children born to them
are named as follows: Tillbury, who died in infancy; Louis, the man-
ager of his father 's homestead, and one of the enterprising young farmers
of Grant county, married Lois Simons of Jefferson township, who was
reared and educated in this locality, and they have one child, Herbert
Simons; Nira Myrtle, who is a graduate of the Upland high school;
and Cora May, who is likewise well educated, and is the wife of Samuel
Bishop, of the state of Montana. Mr. Hanley 's parents were com-
municants of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is likewise of the
same denomination and attends worship at the Shiloh Methodist Epis-
copal church. He and his sons are of the Democratic political faith.
Anderson D. Mittank. Few families of Grant county have been
longer identified with the practical working of the farm, and with civic
and social affairs than the Mittauks, whose residence here began nearly
eighty years ago, and who as farmers, as business men, as faithful
workers for church, morality, and good government, have been effective
factors in their community. Anderson D. Mittank has spent practically
all his life in Jeft'ersou township, is the owner of a beautiful rural estate
in section twenty-nine, and is a man of practical energy and business
ability, his standing in the community also being well indicated by the
fact that he has served as president of the Farmers State Bank of
Matthews, since the reorganization of that institution in 1910.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 547
Mr. Mittauk's grandfather was Christopher Mittank, a native of
Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and of Pennsylvania parents and of
Dutch ancestry. At one time the name was spelled JMettong, but suffered
the usual American change to a form which is more easily pronounced.
Christopher Mittank married a Bedford county girl, and after several
children were born to them in that state, including David, father of
Anderson D., the family moved in 1831 to Ohio, and in 1835 continued
their pioneer migration as far as Delaware county, Indiana. Christo-
pher Mittank found a home on a new tract of land in Washington town-
ship, and went through all the experiences characteristic of pioneer
life, in trying to improve his land and make satisfactory provision for
his gi'owing household of children.
Christopher Mittank since died in Delaware county, and both he
and his wife were past seventy years of age. They were active mem-
bers of the New Light Christian church, and honorable and upright
souls, loved by all in their community. Besides David, there were several
other children : John, Michael, and George, the last named beiug killed
early in the war while fighting the battles of the Union army. John
and Michael are still living, the former in Pendleton, Madison county,
Indiana, and tlie latter at Fairmount. Of the daughters, Hannah is the
widow of George Kolp, of Bureau county, Illinois; Catherine died after
her marriage to Coleman Sanders, leaving a family of children ; Eliza is
the wife of John Dunlap. near Fairmount, and they have no children;
Mary died after her marriage to Albert McCoy, of Delaware county.
David Mittank, who was born in Pennsylvania, November 15, 1824,
was seven years of age when the family went to Ohio, and four years
later became a resident of Grant county. He grew up to manhood, in
the midst of pioneer conditions, and his schooling was of the most limited
character. After his marriage he started out to work out his salvation
on a place in Jefferson township. He first leased land, the old
McPherren farm, the property of his wife's father, and situated on
the ilississinewa river. There he lived, developed a good home, bought
out the other heirs to the estate, and finally was possessed of a homestead
of one hundred and thirty acres. His death occurred on that place,
November 16, 1897. He came of age during the declining years of the
Whig party, and probably supported that organization by his vote, and
when the Republicans perfected a party organization in 1856, he was
one of the supporters of its first candidates, and steadily voted that
ticket until his death. However, he was reared in a family of Demo-
crats, and according to the belief of that party. He was long an active
member of the Shiloh Methodist church, in Jefferson township.
Throughout his career he was known and respected for his upright-
ness, his honesty, his worthy citizenship, and his thrift and enterprise.
While he had no early advantages in education, he became by self
effort a thorough student, read history extensively, was constantly
studying the Bible, and it is said that by virtue of his remarkable
memory seldom forgot a fact acquired through reading or observation,
and could repeat for a long time afterwards the substance, and even
the greater part of the words of the sermons which he heard. Few
men have so splendid a natural endowment of intellect.
David Mittank was married in Jefferson township, October 3, 1850,
to Margaret McKeeber. She was born in Clinton county, Ohio, July 29,
1833, and when two years of age was brought to Grant county, so that
practically all her life was spent in this section of Indiana. Her
parents were Moses and Sarah (Moore) ilcKeeber, both natives of Vir-
ginia, but were married in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1832. Her father
on coming to Grant county bought land in Jefferson to-miship, and set-
tled in the rough log cabin which was almost the only improvement on
548 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
the place. The cabin had no floor, and for a time the fleas were so
numerous that the family suffered constant discomfort from their
ravages. Moses McKeeber died on the old homestead in middle life,
while his widow married a Rev. Mr. Wheat of the Methodist Protestant
church, and had one child by that union, and was afterwards twice
married, but without children by either of her last husbands. Mrs.
Margaret Mittank, wife of David, died June 16, 1900, at the home she
had lived on practically all her life. She was for many years a devoted
member of the Shiloh ilethodist Episcopal church. Her children were
as follows: John W. and Amanda, both of whom died in childhood;
Amariah, who lives on a farm in Jefl'erson to'miship, is married and of
her three sons and two daughters all are married, except one son;
Mary Etta is the wife of William Tibbett, of Marion, and they have
four sons; Edward died in infancy.
Anderson D. Mittank was bom on the old home farm, February 17,
1861, received a public school education, and as soon as he reached his
majority, he started out on his own account, and has effected a generous
prosperity. He now owns the old McKeeber homestead, where his
father lived for so many j^ears, comprising one hundred and thirty-
three acres in sections twenty-one and forty-eight and half acres in sec-
tion twenty-nine. All his land is kept up to the highest notch of modern
cultivation and improvement, and in 1908 a comfortable rural dwell-
ing of eight rooms, painted brown, and with all the modern furnishings
and facilities was built. The bam is now about seventeen years old,
and all the improvements show how progressive a farmer Mr. Mittank is.
Anderson D. Mittank was married at Upland in 1885, to Miss Clara
Gadburj', who was born in Licking to\vnship of Blackford county,
Indiana, in September, 1861. Her parents were James and Mary A.
MeVicker Gadbury, the former of whom died on his father's farm in
Licking township, in Blackfoi'd county, having been born April 25, 1833,
and dying May 12, 1891 ; while his wife, who was born in Ohio, May 14,
1832, was brought in childhood to Blackford county and died there
December 28, 1874. James Gadbury was an active member of the
United Brethren church, a Democrat in politics, and a prominent and
influential citizen of his community. JMrs. Mittank, who was reared and
educated in Blackford county, was one of six children, as follows: Hulda,
who died when ten years of age ; Mrs. Mittank ; Emma, who died after her
marriage to Henry Hauley, and left three children ; Riley, who is a farmer
in Licking township of Blackford county, has two sons and three daugh-
ters: John, who lives on the old homestead in Blackford county, has five
children ; Jennie, who died when nine months old. To the marriage of
Jlr. and ilrs. I\Iittank has been horn one child, William B.. on Feb-
ruaiy 21. 1SS6. His education was in the public schools, and since
taking up the serious responsibilities of life he has proved a capable
manager of his father's farm in Jefferson township. William B. ilit-
tank maiTied Gertrude Sutton, of Jefferson township, and to their mar-
riage two children have been born as follows: Eva JMarjorie, born
March 28, 1909; and Opal C, born December 10, 1911. Mrs. Mittank
is an active member of the Kingsley ^Methodist Episcopal church.
Wakren Fergus. In 1832, one year after Grant county govern-
ment was organized, the Fergus family was transplanted from Ohio to
the unbroken wilderness and hills and valleys of Jefferson township.
Many lives have entered into the development of Grant county, and of
those of pioneer stock none have done more credit to their length}'
residence than those of the Fergus kith and kin. Warren Fergus,
whose ample and fiiiitful acres and establishment makes him one of
the most prosperous of Grant county's farmers, was bom here before
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 549
the county had finished the first decade of its existence, and is the
grandson of a patriot who bore arms for the colonies in the war of the
Revolution.
His ancestry is Scotch-Irish, and his grandfather, Francis Fergus,
was born September 8, 1752, in the north of Ireland, and of that people
of Protestant lineage, who several generations before, had been trans-
planted from Scotland to the northern counties of Ireland. Francis
Fergus with two brothers came to America some time previous to the
Revolutionary war, and he and one of his brothers took up arms and
fought in behalf of the colonies, during that struggle. The other
brother, however, was a Toiy, and in his loyalty to the mother country
returned during the course of the war to England, and remained there
until the final triumph of the American cause, when he returned to this
side of the Atlantic and spent the rest of his years in the independent
colony. Francis Fergus and his brothers lived in Virginia, the former
was a farmer, and after the death of his wife, whose maiden name was
McCormiek, of the same family which produced the makers of harvest-
ing machinery, he went to live with a dai^gliter in Tennessee, where he
died suddenly, September 28, 1841, when eighty-nine years of age. He
and his family were Presbyterians in religious faith.
Sawyer B. Fergus, a son of Francis and father of Warren, was one
of the younger in a family of children, and was born in Rockbridge
county, Virginia, March 18, 1802. When a young man he joined his
brother James in Miami county, Ohio, and later had an experience in
running a flat-boat down the i\Iississippi River cari-ying a great variey
of produce from the upper Ohio Valley to New Orleans. In the mean-
time in Miami county, in October, 1829, occurred his marriage with
Julia McFadden, who was born of Pennsylvania parents and of Scotch-
Irish stock. Her birth occurred in Miami county, Ohio, December 31,
1809. In 1832 Sawyer B. Fergus and his family of two children came
to Indiana, locating in the wilds of Jefferson township in Grant couuty.
As one of the very first settlers in his community he had to cut a roadway
two miles through the timber, in order to reach his land. His title to
the land was received by patent direct from the government, and there
had never been an improvement made on the place, until he erected hia
log cabin. Some years later that rude shelter was replaced by a good
frame house, and there he lived prospering quietly, and steadily improv-
ing and increasing his possessions until, with one hundred and fifty-one
acres in his estate and after providing liberally for his family and per-
forming his varied obligations to the commuuity, he died honored and
esteemed, June 24, 1864. First a Whig and later a Republican in poli-
tics, he became a member of the Methodist church, and was always
ready to do his part in community affairs. His wife, Julia (McFadden)
Fergus died at the old home in Jefferson township in 1882 at the age of
seventy-three. She likewise was a working member of the Shiloh Metho-
dist church, and she and her husband rest side by side in the old ceme-
tery at that place. Her children were named as follows: Samuel, Mary,
Clinton, Edwin, Warren, Harriet and Juliet, twins; Rachael, Sarah J.,
Margaret, Sawyer A., and James. All these grew to manhood and
womanhood and most of them were married. Four sons and three
daughters still live, and of these Sarah J. and Margaret are unman-ied,
The oldest of the living children is eighty years and the j^oungest sixty-
one.
Warren Fergus was born on the old farm near his present home in
Jefferson township, September 21, 1837. His early life was spent in the
primitive surroundings of that time and his educational advantages were
more practical than theoretical. When eighteen years of age he started
for California, but on account of the "Border Ruffian" war of 1856, he
550 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
only went as far west as Kansas. He traveled all over Kansas, then
practically unsettled except by Indians. In 1860 he was mamed and
in the following j'ear he and his young wife went out to Iowa, locating
in Paige county. There on August 9, 1862, he responded to the call for
volunteers .in defense of the Union, enlisting in Company F of the
Twenty-Third Iowa Infantry. As a private he served until his honor-
able discharge, which was delivered to him on August 11, 1865. He
made a splendid record as a soldier, was always on duty, never in the
hospital, was never wounded nor captured, and the record of the Iowa
regiment to which he belonged is practically the record of his individual
service. He was in many of the great campaigns of the war, including
the long series of operations about Vicksburg, Fort Gibson, Raymond,
Champion Hill, Black River Bridge, where the regiment lost its colonel,
through the forty-nine days of the actual siege of Vicksburg, later
went down to New Orleans, and into Texas, participated in the Red
River Campaign, where he saw some of his hardest fighting, was at
the siege of Mobile, and so continued until the close of the great conflict.
In the fall of 1866 I\Ir. Fergus returned to Grant county where
he was born, and bought eighty acres of land. There he began
farming and carpenter work, a trade which he had learned in young
manhood, and has since enjoyed a degree of success which ranks him
among the most progressive men of Grant county. His estate now com-
prises one hundred and eighty acres in Jefferson township, besides sixty
acres in Washington township, Delaware county, Indiana. The property
is all well improved and well kept, and about thirty years ago Mr.
Fergus built a fine barn on a foundation fifty by fifty-six feet, and also
a comfortable nine-room white brick dwelling house.
The wife whom he married in 1860 in Jefferson township was Miss
Nancy Jane Horner, who was born in Ohio, September 9, 1837, and
when fifteen years of age was brought to Jefferson township by her
parents, Andrew and Nancy (Walker) Horner. Her father was born
in Pennsylvania, and her mother in Rockbridge, Virginia, and after
their marriage in the latter state, moved to Miami county, Ohio, where
they improved a homestead, later going to Darke county, Ohio, and
afterwards to Jefferson to^^^lship in Grant county, Indiana. Mr.
Horner was an industrious citizen and hard worker and after a worthy
lifetime died in Jefferson township in 1873 at the age of sixty-seven.
His wife died later at the home of her daughter, Mi-s. Fergus, April 1,
1895, aged eighty-seven years. They were Presbyterians, and Mr.
Horner was a Republican in polities. Mrs. Fergus has one brother
living, Calvin Horner, who is a farmer at Upland.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Fergus are as follows: Ida M.,
is the wife of Eugene Heal, living in Delaware county, Indiana, and
their children are Caroline and Alma. Oscar W. lives on a ranch near
Santa Ana, California, and his children are Nevada, Floyd, Fern, and
Grant. Emery W. and Elnora E. are twins, and the former by his
marriage to Maude Lang has a son, Ernest R., and their home is in
Santa Barbara, California. Elnora E. married J. William Richards, a
fanner in Jefferson township, and they had one son, Ord, who died
aged two and a half years. Lois A. is the wife of D. L. Richards, a
sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this publication. Orvil L. is
a farmer in Delaware county, Indiana, and by his marriage to Delia
Owen has two children, Eva and Forrest. Edward C. lives near Santa
Ana, California, on a ranch, and married Pearl Powers. Clyde H.
operates the home farm and married Olive Vida Watson of the state
of California, and their one child is WaiTen R., Mrs. Fergus is a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian cluin-li and 'Sir. Fergus attends that church.
In politics he is aligned with the new Progressive party.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 551
John H. Moobe. Successful and prosperous in all liis undertakings
in Monroe township, it is highly probable that John H. Moore is best
known in these parts as a horse breeder and owner of fast horses. In
this he is especially prominent, and he has an aggregation of horseflesh
on his acres from year to year that is highly creditable to his judgment
in those mattei's, the while he has bred and sold a number of horses that
have gained lasting names on the race track. He is the owner of a
considerable farm land in the township and county, and has accumulated
a goodly portion of property of varied nature in the district. A man of
the keenest business qualities, he has never stood a loss on any of his real
estate transactions, in many instances doubling his money and always
realizing a handsome profit. His property, of a farming nature, lies
mainly in section 27, and his is among the finest firm land in the state.
Eighty acres in Monroe township, devoted to grazing purposes, and one
hundred and twenty acres in Jeifei-son township, put to the same use,
comprise a part of his farming properties.
John H. Moore was born in New Cumberland, Guernsey county, Ohio,
on October 20, 1855, and is the son of Henry and Rachel (Seaton)
]\Ioore. The liather was a volunteer during the Civil war, and was
killed at the Battle of the Wilderness, while serving as a member of
Company G, 112th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Union army. His
widow was left almost defenseless as regards material welfare with a
family of six small children, all of whom she succeeded in raising to
years of maturity. When the father found that it would be necessary to
leave his little family, despite the fact that he could not provide for them
in his absence, he bought a small place of three acres in Muskingum
county, Ohio, and there established the mother and children. When he
went away the mother heroically applied herself to the task of support-
ing her family, and the death of the husband and father on the field of
battle made necessary her continued activity in that work. She sewed
and performed every kind of honest labor that came to her hand, but she
maintained the growing family in comparative comfort, and gave them
some sort of schooling, and when she died in October, 1901, she departed
this life with the knowledge that she had been able to establish each of
her children firmly in the way of life. The children are named as
follows: Mary, the wife of George Lane, of Zanesville, Ohio; Charles,
of Muskingum county, Ohio; John H., of this review; Andrew, of Perry
county, Ohio ; William, who was struck by lightning and killed in Guern-
sey county, Ohio, in 1883.
John H. IMoore left home at the age of eighteen years and came to
Upland in October, 1874. He applied himself to such tasks as came to
his hand, and his first woi-k was in husking corn at $12 a month. He
then went to work clearing land for $9.25 an acre, and while thus engaged
just about made his board. In 1875 and 1876 he worked on a farm at
the wage of $18 a month, and in 1877 he rented a piece of land and
raised a fine crop of grain. In the fall of 1877 he bought eight head of
big. raw boned cattle for $100 and found after fattening them for the
market that he was in a position to make some money in that enterprise,
after Avhich he continued to feed live stock and crop his rented land on
shares. In 1881 he engaged in a partnership with an acquaintance and
they conducted a buying and selling business in live stock for the six
years following, when he married and settled elsewhere. For twelve
years thereafter he lived in Upland, engaged in the hotel business.
Diiring that time he invested $755 in a piece of corner property in
Upland, which he held for eighteen years, renting it meantime, and then
sold it when the oil and gas boom was on for $2,550. His hotel, which
cost him $1,400, was a place suitable to accommodate forty guests, and
in 1900 he traded the place for an eighty acre farm, where he now
552 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
resides, and which is held assessable at $110 an acre. AVheu Mr. ^Moore
moved on this farm it had no buildings suitable for a dwelling, but he
erected a nice home and also some barns. Through his wife, ^Ir. Moore
has added eighty acres of desirable land to his other possessions, she
having been the owner of that when she married him.
"When Mr. iloore went to live on his present farm, the land was
gi-eatly impoverished, but he has since that time successfully built it up
to a high state of productiveness. He is a firm believer in the conserva-
tion of the soil through the breeding of live stock, and he has a fine herd of
twenty head of Hereford and Shorthorn cattle. He has twelve horses, all
high bred roadsters and racers, and for fifteen years he has been a noted
breeder in these parts. Several well known horses have been foaled on
his premises, and he has sold a number of famous racers from his stables.
In 1904, Dolly Etta C, with a record of 2 :19 -A, and a product of his
stables, brought him a fancy price, and others that have gained name
and fame in racing circles are Coast Marie, 2 :11 :25 ; Rock Line, 2 :16 ;
Princess ^Margrave, about three years old, and starting the season of
1913, which won the three-year-old in Muncie, Ind.. and he sold her for
$1,175 to S. B. Smith of Chicago. She is now in Wisconsin and has never
lost a race ; Colored Girl, 2 :22 :5, is another well known horse of his.
In addition, Mr. Moore has several high bred colts that promise well
for the future.
Mr. iloore got his start in fast horses by securing a well known racing
mare, Alexis, owned by Alvin Dickinson. This mare has produced
several fine racers, and three of her foals have been sold from his stables
at an average price of $1,162.50. One of them, Rockline, won first money
at Manchester, Indiana, in the fall of 1912 in the 2 :22 class.
On March 24, 1887, Mr. Moore was married to Mrs. Minnie Johnson,
of Upland, and to them has been born one child, Bertha, who is now
deceased.
ilr. I\Ioore is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the
church of the Friends.
William Alonzo Bole. The residence of the Bole family in Jef-
ferson township dates back to the year 1877. In section twelve of that
township, one of the most productive and valuable farms in the com-
munity is that of Mr. Bole, who in later years has retired largely from
active participation in farming, but has sons who are carrying forward
the work and continue to increase the prosperity so long enjoj'ed by this
family.
The name Bole is of Dutch origin, and Grandfather William Bole
was bom in Pennsylvania in 1791, and died in Shelby count}', Indiana,
in 1862. He was married in Pennsjdvania, and they moved out to Ohio
and lived at Georgetown in Brown countj', where all their children
were born. Their family were : David, John, William, Abraham, and
James, and four daughters, Jane, Ann, Elizabeth and Mary.
William Bole, father of the Jefferson township resident, was born
in Brown county, Ohio, in 1814, and though reared on a farm, early in
life he began an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, and finally
located at Neville, in Clermont county, Ohio, where he man-ied Rosanua
A. Melvin, who was born at Snow Hill, Maryland, in 1810, and came to
Ohio with her father, William Melvin, who located at Neville, on the
Ohio River. William Melvin was likewise a shoemaker, and William
Bole worked in the same town with him after his marriage, but later
moved to Foster's Landing in Kentucky, and in 1856 brought his wife
and three children to Faj'ette county, Indiana, later lived both in Madi-
son and Henry counties, and finally in Delaware county. In 1874 he
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 553
moved to Grant county, but returned to Muncie, where his death oecured
in 1898 at the age of eighty-four years. His wife passed away in 1895
and she too was past eighty years of age. William Alouzo Bole, the
oldest of the family, was born at Neville, Ohio, March 6, 1841. His
sister Melissa, born in 1845, married J. S. Petty, a prominent and well-
known man whose death occurred in Martinsville, Indiana. For her
second husband she married a Mr. Fisk, a Massachusetts banker, and
since his death her home has been in ]\Iuucie. She was at one time a
skilled instrumental musician, and is a cultured and highly intelligent
woman. She had two sons : Wilber and Walter, both of whom died
after being married. James M. Bole, brother of William A. Bole, is a
farmer in Jefferson township, and has a family.
William Alonzo Bole grew up in his father's home in the different
localities of their residence, and was still under age when he enlisted
September 5, 1861, in Company E of Eighth Indiana Infantry. One of
his early engagements was the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and in the
course of that conflict he passed his twenty-first birthday. With his
regiment he saw a long and varied military service. From the early
Missouri and Arkansas campaigns, the regiment went east of the Mis-
sissippi, and took part in the battles preliminary to the capture of
Vicksburg, at Fort Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, Black
River Bridge, and the Siege of Vicksburg. The regiment later Avas
sent to the east, and was placed under the command of Sheridan, which
valiant leader they followed in the battles of Winchester and Cedar
Creek. He was never in the hospital a day, never wounded or cap-
tured. On returning home to Delaware county, he took up the quiet
vocation of farming, but after five years learned telegraphy, and be-
came an operator. While living at Muncie, he married Miss Ida V.
Hill, who was born in Indiana and died two years after their marriage.
The one son of that union is Robert Bole, who is married and lives in
California. In 1877 Mr. Bole came to Jefferson township in Grant
county, and here married Mrs. Maiy D. (Havens) Payne. She was
born in Mill township of Grant county, July 29, 1845, was reared in
Jefferson township until her marriage, and represents an old and
prominent family in Grant county. Her pai-ents were Jonathan and
GabrieUa (Clark) Havens, her father a native of Ohio, and her mother
of Pennsylvania. They married and came at an early day to Grant
county, where Jonathan Havens improved a farm in the midst of the
timber in Jefferson township, and spent the rest of his years there until
his death in 1863 when forty years of age. His wife is still living, her
home being in Fowlerton. For further information concerning the
Havens family, the reader is referred to the sketch of Jonathan Havens,
elsewhere in this volume.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bole are as follows: Roily, born
October 14, 1875, educated in the public schools, a resident of Hartford
City, married Ann Hickman, and they have four children, two sons and
two daughters, Clarence, Robert, Clara and Pauline. Capitola, born
November 12, 1877, is the wife of Alonzo G. Monroe, a farmer of Jeffer-
son township. Their living children are four sons and one daughter:
Raymond, Doris, Denvard, Dwight and Dean. Winifred, born in" 1880,
is the wife of Walter Deddys of Hartford City, and they have one son
and two daughters: Helen, Catherine and John. Jesse, born in 1882,
is unmarried, and is the active superintendent of his father's farm of
one hundred acres, a place thoroughly improved and kept up to the
best standards of Jefferson county country life. Jennie is the wife of
D\dght Blumer of Toronto, Ohio, and they have two sons and a daugh-
ter, Clifford, William and Helen. Arley E. lives at home, and also
assists in managing the farm. He was well educated in the local high
554 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
school and in a business college. Mr. Bole belongs to the Christian
church, while his wife is of the Primitive Baptist. He is a Republican
in national politics, and in local affairs gives the strength of his influence
in every movement to make life better and more comfortable iu his town-
ship and county. His three sons are all members of the Socialist party.
James Noah Johnson. Of the old-time families of Grant county,
none better deserve perpetuation in the biographical annals of this section
than that of Johnson, the first record of whom begins here in 1835, only
a few years after Grant county was organized, and which has been con-
tinued with honor down to the present. The Johnsons have for years
been reckoned among the largest land holders in the county, and as they
acquired their property by good business judgment and strictest honesty,
so likewise were they always worthy factors in the development and in
the civic and social activities of the county.
The late J. Noah Johnson, who died at his home at Upland in 1893,
was of the third generation of the family in its identity with Grant
county, and his children in turn have taken honored positions in the
social and business affairs of this county. He was born on the old
Johnson home in Jefferson township in 1858. His grandfather John
Johnson of Scotch ancestry and of that substantial stock which formed
so important an element in early Pennsylvania settlement, and of course
of Presbyterian faith, was born in Pennsylvania, March 22, 1787, was
a pioneer setler in Ohio, and spent most of his active career in Guernsey
county of that state, where he died in 1862. He was a man of enter-
prise who saw much beyond his immediate horizon, and one evidence of
this was given when in 1835 he came to Indiana, and entered one hun-
dred and sixty acres in section eight of Jefferson township in Grant
county, and entered land to twice that amount in Delaware county.
Securing this land, he returned to his old home in Guernsey county,
where he lived until his death. He was married in that county to Mary
Burns, and her birth also occurred in Pennsylvania, so far as known,
its date being October 17, 1793. She died in Guernsey county in 1866.
Both were strict adherents of the Presbyterian church. Their children
were named as follows: John, James, Jane, William, Ebenezer, Jess,
Martha and Nancy. All these children were married except Jess, who
is now the only survivor, and is a resident of Mill township, this county.
James, Nancy, and John many years ago came out and settled on the
land entered Ijy their father in Indiana. Nancy married a Mr. Crow
and they spent their lives in Delaware and Grant counties, Indiana,
dying on the Crow farm, now occupied by W. 0. Modley, near Matthews.
John J. died not many years after he came to his father's farm in
Jefferson township. Grant county.
James Johnson, who was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, November
2, 1821, was married July 4, 1843, in that county to Elizabeth Schriver,
who was born in Guernsey county of German ancestry in 1825. In a
month or two after their marriage they came out to Indiana, and took
possession of the quarter section of land in Jefferson township entered
by his father in 1835. Though the early settlers had been at work for
ten or fifteen years, Jefferson township still presented a great expanse
of uncleared wilderness, and it was in the midst of the woods that
James Johnson and wife began life in a log cabin. Eventually they de
veloped their land into a beautiful farm, and the substantial frame
house which finally replaced the log cabin is still in a state of fine
repair, and occupied by the granddaughter of James Johnson. Besides
the large dwelling house, James Johnson put up many other buildings,
cleared up a large acreage for cultivation, and actually added by his
own labor and management thousands of dollars in practical value to
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 555
his home community. Few men of that time were more successful than
James Johnson, who extended his possessions until at one time he was
the owner of more than three thousand acres, most of which was situated
in Grant county. He raised more cattle and sheep than any other man
in Jefferson township, and was also an extensive dealer in timber. His
death occurred at the old homestead in Jefferson township, December 1,
1908, when in advanced years. His wife passed away in January, 1902.
They were Presbyterians, and belonged to the strict sect of that religion,
and endeavored to bring up all their children in the same faith. Their
children were John, Solomon, Emma and James Noah, all of whom were
farmers, and were married and had children of their own except Solo-
mon, who, while married, has no children.
The late J. Noah Johnson spent his early life on the old homestead,
was a farmer, inherited much of his father's business ability, and
increased the talents inherited from the preceding generation. He lived
on the farm in Jefferson township until after his wife's death, when he
moved to Fairmount. He was engaged in the banking business there
a short time, when his father, James Johnson, organized the Upland
Bank and Noah Johnson became its cashier and remained so until his
death, November 10, 1893.
J. Noah Johnson married Bell Conley, who was born at Upland,
and who died May 16, 1890. The Conleys were likewise a well known
old family of Grant county. The children of Noah Johnson and wife
were: Bertha, wife of Charles Snyder, whose sketch appears elsewhere
in this work; Alva, engaged in the real estate business at Marion, and
who has a family of two children; and Elva, a twin sister of Alva,
and the wife of Charles F. Marley, whose individual sketch appears on
other pages. Mrs. Marley was born on her grandfather's farm, April
30, 1885, was well educated in Grant county schools, and through her
grandfather's will has become the owner of five hundred and eighty
acres of land. She was married February 8, 1909, to Charles F. Marley.
B.iRziLL.\ B. Pancoast. The following paragraphs contain a brief
outline of the family history and the varied career of one of the most
venerable men of Jefferson township, where he has lived and prospered
as a farmer for the past thirty years. Mr. Pancoast is now over eighty
years of age, has always boime the reputation of being a hard-working,
honest and upright citizen, and in his community enjoys the esteem
of a large acquaintance.
The Pancoast family is said to have been originally Swedish, and
their early residence in New Jersey would bear out that assumption.
The grandparents of the Jefferson township farmer spent all their lives
in New Jersey, and so far as known practically all members of the dif-
ferent generations have followed farming as a vocation. The father
of Barzilla B. Pancoast was Henry Pancoast, born in Salem county,
New Jersey, and died there in August, 1835. The other members of his
family were: Edward, who was a farmer and lived in Salem county,
was twice married, but had only one daughter, Sarah; William, who
spent his life on a farm in Salem county. New Jersey, was married
twice and had one son, Stacey ; Samuel, who lived and died on his farm
in Salem county, was also twice married, had one son by his first wife,
and a son and two daughters by the second; Sarah married Samuel
Dickerson and her life also was spent in New Jersey.
Henry Pancoast belonged to a family that adhered to Quaker doc-
trines, and that was also his own religious faith. He was a Jackson
Democrat, and all members of the Pancoast family have been strongly
inclined in that way of political thinking. Heniy Pancoast was mar-
ried in his native county to Hannah Hackney, who was born in Salem
556 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
county in 1788, and came of English stock. After a long widowhood
she died in New Jersey in 1878. She belonged to the Methodist church.
Her five children are mentioned as follows : Mary, who in October,
1913, was ninety-five years of age, and a resident of New Castle, Dela-
ware ; she married Hiram Cook, by whom she had a family. Caroline
died after her marriage to Isaac James, a machinist, and they had one
son and a daughter. Rebecca married James Cook, a brother of Hiram
Cook just mentioned, and they spent their lives in New Jersej', and of
their children, two sons and three daughters are living. Edward, whose
home is at Riverton, New Jersey, and who is seventy-eight years of age,
and retired, had a very successful career as a contractor and builder, and
by his marriage to a second cousin, Rebecca Hackney, he has one son
and a daughter still living.
Barzilia B. Paneoast was born at Woodstown, Salem county, New
Jersey, May 23, 1831. When he was four years of age his father died,
and he was then reared by his mother and his uncle Samuel until he
was sixteen years of age. His education was somewhat limited, and
acquired in the schools at Woodtown. His preparation for a practical
career of usefulness in the world began at sixteen when he entered an
apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade, and at twenty had become
a master workman and started out as a journeyman. He worked in
Cincinnati and various places in Ohio ; also in Indiana and Tennessee,
and finally went back to Ohio, and at Beavertown, Montgomery county,
Ohio, where he was married, he established a smith and carried on a
good business there and elsewhere until 1883. That was the year he
came to Grant county. In the meantime, by his many years of hard
work and by the thrifty habits which he had acquired early in life, he
had enough money to buy eighty acres of land lying in sections eleven
and twelve of Jefferson township, in Grant county. Since turning his
attention to agriculture, Mr. Paneoast has seldom known a year w-hieh
he could not call prosperous, and at the same time he developed and
improved his land, until as a farm its equal is hard to find in this com-
munity. All his land is in cultivation with the exception of five acres
in timber. He has a comfortable dwelling, a big red barn, and has put
up several other buildings for the home of his son. In December, 1857,
in Beavertown, Montgomery county, Ohio, Mr. Paneoast married Sarah
Bridgeman, who w^as bom there September 24, 1841, and reared and
educated in that part of Ohio. She has been a devoted wife and an able
helper to her husband for fifty-six years, and their married companion-
ship has not only endured much beyond half a century, but each year
has strengthened the bond of their afiiectiou. Mrs. Paneoast 's parents
were Thomas and Esther (Johns) Bridgeman, her mother of Welsh
stock, and her father born of Virginia parents. IMr. Bridgeman in his
early day, when a young man, walked all the way from Harpers Ferry
in Virginia to Montgomery county, Ohio, carrying his trusty rifle over
his shoulder to protect himself from danger and also to shoot game on
the way. He met Miss Sarah Johns in Montgomery county, where she
was born, and after their marriage, they started life as fai-mers. She
died, leaving two sons. He later mamed Esther, a sister of Sarah
Johns. Mr. Bridgeman died in Montgomery county, in November,
1882, when eighty-four years of age. and his wife passed away at about
the same age. They were both members of the Christian church.
The children of' Mr. and Mrs. Paneoast are: Leonidas, a blacksmith
whose home is in Eaton, Indiana, and who has been three times married,
having three daughters by his first wife, and one son by his second;
Ella is the widow of William Runyon, and lives at Indianapolis ; Harry
is a blacksmith at Eaton, and has a son and daughter ; Charles C. is a
baker by trade, in business at Muncie, and has two sons and a daughter.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 557
"Warren occupies and is the active manager of the old homestead, and
bj^ his marriage to Bertha Thompson of Grant county has two daugh-
ters, Hazel Feme, and Mildred Delight, both daughters being highly
educated. Maggie died when twenty-two yeai-s of age, and there were
four other children who died in infancy. ]Mr. and Mrs. Paneoast attend
worship in the Methodist Protestant ehureh, in which he formerly served
as trustee, and his son Warren is Smiday school superintendent. Mr.
Paneoast and his sous are Republicans in politics, and his tirst vote was
cast for John C. Fremont, who was the first standard bearer of the
Republican party in 1856.
James B. Strange. One of the oldest and most prominent families
of Grant county is represented by James B. Strange, of ]\Ionroe township.
He himself was born close to his present home, was reared and educated
in his native environment, is a product of local schools, and since attain-
ing manhood has been closely identified with farming and stock raising
interests of the locality. As a stockman he is easily one of the most suc-
cessful in Grant county.
Near the little village of Arcana, in section 9, of ]\Ionroe township,
is located the excellent homestead of ^Ir. Strange. He has four hundred
and ten acres of land, most of it under cultivation, and including a fine
tract of thirty acres in timber. In 1886 he erected on this place the
comfortable dwelling of twelve rooms, where the family has since had
their home, and about which all the family associations center. Aboiit
three sides of this house is a concrete porch, a large lawn surrounds it,
and an evergreen hedge with trees and flowers serves to beautify the home
and increases its attractiveness. Jlr. Strange is a progressive farmer,
who believes in housing his stock and machinery in the best fashion, and
has a large red barn, and a concrete poultry house 11x90 feet. He and
his wife are known all over the township for their success as poultry
raisers, and they breed the Rhode Island Reds and the Blue Andalusians.
Each year he raises about five hundred chickens, and from one
hundred and twenty-five hens, his weekly output of eggs is fifty dozen.
Some of his crops in 1912 show the extensive scale on which he does busi-
ness. He raised four thousand bushels of corn from sixty-five acres of
land, six hundred and sixtj- bushels of. oats, cut one hundred tons of hay,
and sent out to market one hundred hogs. He also keeps a number of
cattle and horses, raising the Durham cattle,
James B. Strange was born on the old home place near the present
farm, on June 24, 1857. He now o«nis this farm and his son, George
Strange. Jr., lives there. His father was the late George Strange, who
was born in 1820, and died October 28, 1910. The mother was Lydia
Duckwall. Both parents were born in Ohio, and came to Grant county
in 1842. The father entered eighty acres of land from the government,
having farmed his place in the wilderness, and having spent many indus-
trious j'ears in clearing off the trees and underbrush. At the time of his
death, his vigorous ability had accumulated what amounted to a fortune,
and in one place he owned an entire section of land. At one time he was
the owner of more than one thousand acres in Monroe township. While
he was still living, he divided his estate among his children, and provided
liberally for his family, and did well his part as a factor in the local
community. For fourteen successive years, with the exception of one
year, he served as trustee of iloiiroe township. He was a Democrat, and
was elected while the township was Republican, having carried it each
time except once. He was affiliated with the IMasonic order. The mother
died in February, 1911, at the age of ninety years. Their nine children,
of whom five are living, were as follows : Absalom, who was killed by a
horse at the age of twenty years ; Rose Anne, who died at the age of four-
558 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
teen ; Anna, who died at the age of six months ; one who died in infancy ;
Mrs. Margaret Roberts, of South Marion; Mrs. Kate Wall, of West
Mai-ion; Joshua, of Marion; John T., of Marion; James B.
James B. Strange as a boy attended the district school No. 2, and on
finishing the common schools studied several terms at ilarion College.
Before he reached his majority, he qualified and taught school, and then
his father gave him a cleared tract of land of eighty acres, where he
located and began his regular career as a farmer. As a result of his
efforts, he has been investing his surplus in additional land, until at the
present time he has one of the largest and best improved farms in this
township. In 1911 Mr. Strange erected on the old home farm now
occupied by his son George, Jr., a large barn 50x90 feet, and 24 feet high,
the highest in the township. Mr. Strange is a Democrat in polities, and
served as township trustee of ]kIonroe township from 1884 to 1889, having
been reelected in 1886. He and his family worship in the ilarion Chris-
tian church, and fraternally he is affiliated with Arcana Blue Lodge of
Masonry, of Upland.
In 1878 he married Miss Elizabeth Nelson, a daughter of Martin
Nelson, one of the pioneers of Monroe township. They had five children,
three of whom are still living, namely : George, Jr., who resides on the
old home farm, which his grandfather entered, is married and has two
children named Evaline and Genevieve; ilinnie, wife of LeRoy Tudor,
of Monroe township, and the mother of one son,. Ray F.; Commodore, in
the Texas oil fields ; Otto, deceased, and one that died in infancy.
John Sanders. The quality of leadership and business enterprise
has been distinctive of the career of John Sanders through many years
in Grant county. Very recently Mr. Sanders left the farm enterprise
to which he had devoted so many years and retired to a comfortable
home in the little city of Matthews, where he and his good wife are en-
joying the comfort and peace so well won by their past life. Mr. Sanders
in everj'thing he has undertaken has shown himself vigorous, efficient,
and public spirited. He is well remembered as one of the former
sheriffs of Grant county, and has been prominent both in township and
county affairs.
John Sanders was born in Grant county, March 13, 1845, and this
is one of the oldest of Grant county's pioneer names. His birthplace
was in the township of Jefferson on his father's old homestead at New
Cumberland. His father, William Sanders, was born in Ohio, Septem-
ber 19, 1809, and was a son of Robert Sanders, whose birth occurred in
Culpeper county, Virginia, about 1768. Robert Sanders was a soldier
and one of the devoted followers of General Anthony Wayne, and par-
ticipated in the campaigns on the northwest side of the Ohio River
against the Indians, following the Revolutionary war, fighting at Port
Wayne and also at Fort Recovery, and was on the St. Mary's River.
Robert Sanders, who came of English ancestry, married Sarah Mc-
Cormick, a Virginia girl, and to their union were born the following
children: John, Catherine, Mary, William, Amelia, Lavina, Colman,
Abner, James, Joseph and Nancy — eleven in all. All of these grew up
and were married and had children of their own and most of them lived
to be threescore years or more in age. One attained the venerable age
of ninety-three. The entire family of children came to the state of
Indiana during the decade of the twenties, and lived and died in this
state. Robert Sanders moved from Virginia to Ohio about 1800, estab-
lished a home and developed a portion of the wilderness at that state
and some of his children were born there. About 1820 he moved to
Fayette county, Indiana, living near Connersville until 1826, and in that
year became one of the first who ventured into the wilderness of Dela-
BLACKFORD AND GKANT COUNTIES 55&
ware county, entering land in what is now Washington township. Just
two .years later, in 1828, Robert Sanders moved across into Grant county,
and here again was a pioneer. His name is thus to be found among the
list of pioneers in three Indiana counties. In Grant county, he entered
government land along the Mississinewa river in Jefferson township.
The entire township was then a wilderness, most of it covered with dense
timbers, and his was one of the first cabins and first establishments in
that section. A distinction which will always attach to the name of
Robert Sanders is that in 1833 he platted and laid out on his land a
town to which he gave the name New Cumberland, and selling a number
of lots, started a village which has had a long history, and which under
modem conditions has become somewhat submerged under the new vil-
lage of Matthews, and is now designated as Old Town. In that vicinity
Robert Sanders lived and labored, reared a family of children, and used
his influence toward building up a community in which he was the lead-
ing spirit. He died at his son William's home in 1861, at the age of
ninet.y-three years. He was an old-line Whig, and later joined the
Republican party which was organized only a few years before his
death. His wife passed away about twenty years before his death, and
was about seventy years old. They were both members of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
William Sanders was only a boy when his parents came to Indiana,
and was seventeen years old at the time the home was established in
Jefferson township of Grant county. There the time passed until he
became of age, and in 1834 he made his first important venture inde-
pendently by entering one hundred and thirty-two acres of government
land in section two of Jefferson township. During his younger and
more active career, William Sanders was known as a hard worker and
an expert in handling the ax and cradle, and could follow the plow up
and down the fields all day long. He cleared away much of the timber
from his land, and was always known as a man of substantial pros-
perity and influence. He lived and died on his farm in Jefferson town-
ship, passing away February 17, 1879. In April, 1837, he was married
to Rachel Wharton, who was born either in Ohio or Pennsylvania, April
2, 1812, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Gray) Wharton, the former
a native of Maryland and the latter of New Jersey. The Wharton
family is likewise an old name in Grant county, and Thomas Wharton
entered land in Jefferson township when the greater part of its area
was a wilderness. The Whartons were Methodists in religion. Mrs.
William Sanders died at her home in Jefferson township in January,
1893. She and her husband belonged to the Methodist church, and in
politics he was a strong Republican. Their children are: Nancy J.,
the widow of David Collins, and living at New Cumberland, at the age
of seventy-seven; Sarah, who is the wife of James H. Wills, a farmer
in Delaware county, and they have three children, and John Sanders
of this review.
Mr. John Sanders grew up in the pioneer times of Jeffereon town-
ship, had a common school education, and was about sixteen years old
when the war broke out between the north and south. A year later,
when seventeen /ears old, he enlisted in Company B of the Eighty-
Fourth Indiana V'olunteers, and made a record as an efficient and faith-
fid soldier in the various campaigns until the close of the war. The
date of his enlistment was August 11, 1862, and his honorable dis-
charge came on May 29, 1865. He was in the army under General
Rosecrans and other noted Union leaders, and most of his active service
was in the canr.paigns of the middle west, including the battle of Chicka-
mauga and ottiers in Tennessee and Georgia.
At Rocky Face Ridge he was wounded by a minie ball through.
560 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
the left foot. He was in the company commanded by Captain John H.
Ellis, who wds kiUed at Chickamauga and his son Franklin Ellis was
promoted to captain, and he is now judge of the circuit court in Dela-
ware county. The colonel of the regiment was Nelson Trusler. Mr.
Sanders on returning home took up his work as a farmer, and has since
become one of the most successful in that business in Jefferson town-
ship. His home place comprises eight.y acres of laud in section thirty-
two and its improvements and buildings, fences and cultivation mark it
as one of the best estates in this vicinity. Recently Mr. Sanders and
wife retired from their farm and are now residing in a comfortable
seven-room dwelling in Matthews. Mr. Sanders also owns a fine farm
near Old Town in section two, that being one hundred and twenty-six
acres of his father's old homestead. As a farmer Mr. Sanders showed
himseK both practical and scientific, he always did mixed farming,
raising both grain and live stock, did much to maintain the fertility
of his soil, and iu business as in civic affairs has always been a hustler,
and a leader.
In 1890 Mr. Sanders was elected on the Republican ticket as sheriff
and served one term until 1892. Two terms have been given to the
ofiice of township trustee, and wherever placed by his feUow citizens,
his work has been commendable and beneficiah Fraternally he has
been an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since
1871, in both the subordinate Lodge No. 383, and in the Encampment
No. 125, and also the Rebekah Lodge No. 447. He is a past noble grand
in the lodge, and is past commander of the B. R. Dunn Post, No. 440, of
the Grand Army of the Republic, formerly located at New Cumberland,
that village being now merged into the village of Matthews.
In Blackford county on October 13, 1866, Mr. Sanders married
Mary J. Reasoner, of an old and prominent family in Delaware county.
She was born in Delaware county, in Washington to\\-nship, October
27, 1848, and at the age of twelve years was taken by her parents to
Blackford county. She is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Dunn)
Reasoner, who were born in Pennsylvania, but were married in Dela-
ware county, and were farmers and good citizens. Mr. Reasoner was
more than eighty years of age when he died and his wife lived to be
about seventy. They were Presbyterians, and he was a Republican
in politics. Jacob Reasoner was a son of Benjamin aud ilary (HiU)
Reasoner, of Pennsylvania birth and of Scotch ancestry. The Rea-
soners came to Delaware county in time to enter land from the govern-
ment, and later moved into Blackford county, where they died old
people and highly respected members of theii' community. The faith
of the Presbyterian church they zealously maintained themselves, and
were leaders in the extension of that religion in their various communi-
ties.
Mr. and Mrs. Sanders are the parents of three living children:
Geneva S. is the wife of Walter L. Gay, of Fairmount, and they have
two children, Mary L. and Morris L. ; William Frederick is now active
manager of his father's farm, and married Gertrude Landis; Berniee
R. is the wife of Leo Clyde Gossett, living in Van Buren, Grant county,
and their children are Frederick C. and Martha. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders
are members of the Presbyterian church.
Charles H. Sntdee. One of the largest and best farming estates
in Jefferson township is that of Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Snyder whose
home is in section five. Mr. Snyder is one of the progressive young
agriculturists, a man of great energy, a hard-worker, aud is giving
excellent account of himself in his chosen vocation. Their home place
consists of one hundred and sixty acres, improved with a commodious
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 561
white house of ten rooms, and a large red barn standing on a founda-
tion one hundred by forty-two feet. 'Sir. and Mrs. Snyder own other
lands and the aggregate of their possessions amounts to five hundred
and eighty acres. It is divided into four different farms, and each has
excellent improvements, including two full sets of farm buildings. The
crops are corn, wheat and oats, and practically every pound of grain
produced on the land is fed to livestock, and in that way the fertility
of the soil is kept up to the highest point.
Mr. Charles H. Snyder was bom in Hocking county, Ohio, January
26, 1878, was reared and educated there, and his parents were Jacob
and Catherine (Eckstein) Snyder. They were also natives of Ohio,
and of German stock. They were married in Hocking county, and
began life on a farm in Laurel township of that county, where they
spent the rest of. their years. His father died in 1897 when sixty-five
years old, and his mother was about fifty-two when her death occurred.
They were good Christian people, substantial farmers, good neighbors,
and his father was a Democrat in politics. Their six children are men-
tioned as follows: Mary, is the wife of Jacob Lyghtle, a farmer in
Monroe township of Grant county, and of their four children the only
son died, leaving three daughters still living; Eliza is the wife of David
Llama of Hocking county, Ohio, where he is a farmer, and they have
six children; Flora is the wife of John D. Llama, a farmer in Marion
county, Ohio, and they have a family; Kirk G. is a farmer in Michigan
and has a wife and children. The next is Charles H. ; Ira lives with
his sister, Mrs. Lyghtle, in Grant county.
Mr. Snyder came to Grant county because his sister lived here, and
he had his home with her for several years. In 1898 he married Miss
Bertha Johnson, who was born and reared and educated in Jefferson
township, and belongs to the Johnson family which has been identified
with Grant county as early settlers and among the largest land owners
since pioneer times. She is a great-granddaughter of John Johnson,
who spent most of his life in Guernsey county, Ohio, but in 1835 came to
Indiana on horseback and entered and bought a tract of land in section
eight of Jefferson township, and also laud in Delaware county. His
son James Johnson some years later came out to Grant county and took
possession of the quarter section in Jefferson township, settled down to
farming on a large scale, was a business man of exceptional energy and
foresight, and eventually was regarded as the largest land owner in
Grant county, possessing twenty-seven hundred acres, lying chiefl.y within
the limits of this county. He died only a few years ago on the old home-
stead. Noah Johnson, a son of James and father of jMi-s. Snyder, was
born on the Jefferson township farm, and died in Upland in 1893 when
in middle life. He was cashier of the Upland Bank at the time of his
death. His wife was Bell Conley, who was born at Upland and died
May 16, 1890, on the old farm. They were the parents of three chil-
di-en : Elva and Alva, twins, the former being the wife of Charles F.
Marley, and moi-e details concerning the Johnson family will be found
in a sketch under his name elsewhere in this publication, while Alva is
a well known real estate man in Marion. Bertha Johnson, the oldest of
these children, was born on the old family estate in 1883. was reared
and educated here and at her grandfather's death inherited a large
amount of his land. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have two children : Clarence
Alva, fourteen years of age, and now in the second year of the Upland
high school; and Harry Clyde, aged twelve and in the graded schools.
Mr. and ]\[rs. Snyder attend the New Light Christian church in Jeffer-
son township, and in politics Mr. Snyder votes the Democratic ticket.
562 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Francis Marion Wyckoff. The attractive homestead of Frauds
M. Wyckoff is in section eleven of Jefferson township. Mr. Wyckoff
came in young manhood to Grant county, possessed the qualities and
training which make the successful farmer, and by concentrating his
efforts along one line through a succession of years has accumulated
more than the average prosperity, and at the same time has won a high
place of esteem in his neighborhood.
Concerning his family, it should be said that his grandfather Nicholas
Wyckoff was of German parentage, and was probably born in Kentucky,
in which state he was married. All the children by his first marriage
were born in Kentucky, including Henry, Abraham, Margaret, Susan,
and William. Somewhat later the family moved to Indiana, and located
west of the west fork of White River in Union township of Bartholomew
county. There Nicholas Wyckoff bought two hundred acres of partly
improved laud, and before his death had the satisfaction of owning a
fine property. He was past sixty when he died, and after the death
of his first wife he married a Mrs. Tucker, who by that marriage had
three daughters, and by her union to Michael Tucker had one daughter.
Henry Wyckoff, father of Francis M., was born in Kentucky in 1823,
and died in Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1868. His vocation was
that of farming, his politics was Democratic, and he was a member and
supported the church. In Johnson county, Indiana, he married Mar-
garet Boucher, who was born in Indiana about 1832 and was of a pioneer
family in Johnson county. Her death occurred in April, 1883. Her
parents were natives of Germany. The children of Henry Wyckoff and
wife were John W., who is unmarried and lives in Michigan; Susan, who
died unmarried; Thomas H., who was born in Union township, Bartholo-
mew county, where he is now a successful farmer, and has six sons and
one daughter ; James N., who died in young manhood ; Francis M. ;
Sarah, wife of Simon Stucker, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky ; George,
who died young; Martha, wife of Fred Mitler, of Louisville, Kentucky,
and they have one son; and Edward, a farmer in Monroe township of
Grant county, and the father of four children.
Francis ilarion Wyckoff' was liorn in Union township, Bartholomew
county, Indiana, April 12, 1850, was educated there, grew up on a farm,
had a practical training in its management, and on coming to Grant
county bought some land in Fairmount township. That township was
his home for fourteen years, and on leaving there be bought ninety-two
acres in section eleven of Jefferson township. His place is considered
one of the very best tracts of country real estate in that vicinity, and
he has managed it in a manner worthy of its real value. His permanent
improvements include a big red barn, a comfortable eight-room white
house, his crops are fed to his stock on the place, and he is a man who
believes in keeping only the better grades of live stock, runs a little
dairy, and makes a good deal of butter, which is one of the sources of his
annual revenue.
Mr. Wyckoff was married in Grant county to Mary E. Monroe, who
was born in this county forty-five years ago, being reared and educated
in her native vicinity. Her parents were Jesse and Catherine (Hineline)
Monroe. Her father, who died in Jefferson township in middle life,
was a son of Joseph Monroe, a pioneer settler who entered land from
the government and gave many yeare of his life to its improvement.
Part of the land he entered is now occupied in the farm of Francis M.
Wyckoff. Mrs. Jesse Monroe is still living, being past seventy years of
age, and her home is with her daughter Ada Marine at the old Monroe
farm in Jefferson township. The children of ]\Ir. and Mrs. Wyckoff
are: Arthur J., who is employed at Marion, and by his marriage to
Marie Draper, has one son, Richard H. ; Bertha A. was educated in the
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 563
high school and Fairmount Academy and lives at home; and Gertrude
May was also educated in the high school and is the wife of Roscoe San-
born of Upland.
Frank H. Kirkwood. The year 1832 is the first date at which the
Kirkwood family became identified with Grant county. For fully eighty
years, covering practically the entire period of the history of civilization
in this section of the state, the name has been identified with the pioneer
and modern activities in farming, business and public and social and
religious affairs in this county and in Delaware county, as well as in
other adjacent counties of Indiana. The immediate family of Frank
H. Kirkwood was introduced to Grant county a short time before the
Civil war and ilr. Frank H. Kirkwood has spent practically all his life
in the county, and for many years has been one of the prosperous farmer
citizens of Fairmount township, his home being on section 27 of that
township. The family record is one of siich importance in different sec-
tions of the state, that it is appropriate that extended mention be made of
its earlier generations. The following paragraphs are the substance of a
family sketch prepared by Mr. L. A. Kirkwood of Mnneie, for Frank H.
Kirkwood, and ^vt-itten under date of September 20, 1909. This sketch
covers the different generations quite fully, up to that in which Mr. Frank
H. Kirkwood belongs.
The name Kirkwood is Scotch and signifies a ' ' church in the woods, ' '
or a "wooden church." The late Samuel J. Kirkwood, who was governor
of Iowa during the Civil war, and later secretary of the interior in the
cabinet of President Garfield, once wrote in reply to some inquiries from
Mr. L. A. Kirkwood, that his ancestors were natives of the north of
Ireland, and were commonly called "Scotch-Irish or Presbyterian Irish,
Presbyterianism being as natural to them as water to a duck." Daniel
Kirkwood, for many years professor of mathematics in the Indiana State
University at Bloomington, and an astronomer of note in both Europe
and America, was a cousin to the Iowa statesman. He, too, was of Scotch-
Irish origin with the usual pronounced Presliyterian religious faith so
peculiar to the earlier generations of the family. In a letter written by
him in 1871, he expressed the belief that his ancestors and those of the
Indiana family were of the same family in the north of Ireland.
The earliest known ancestors of the Kirkwood branch as related to the
well known McCormick family, of Eastern Indiana, were from Knock-
narney, County Down, Ireland, namel.y: James Reed Kirkwood and his
wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Stewart. James Reed Kirkwood
was born May 10, 1763, and Jlargaret Stewart on March 15, 1765. The
exact date of their marriage is not known, but probabh^ occurred about
the year 1784, their first child being born October 11, 1785. In their
old bible, printed in Belfast, Ireland, in 1764, on a blank page, plainly
written and in a fine state of preservation, is found this inscription,
penned there more than one hundred years ago:
"James Kirkwood is my name
And Ireland is my nation,
Knocknarney my dwelling place,
And Heaven my habitation."
"His hand wrote
May sixth,
1785."
James Reed Kirkwood and wife reared a family of several children of
record as follows: Martha Kirkwood, born October 11, 1785, in Ireland;
Mary Kirkwood, born June 9, 1786, on the Atlantic ocean ; Annie Kirk-
564 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
wood, born July 26, 179] ; William Nesbit Kirkwood, born January 19,
1794; Thomas Kirkwood, born November 18, 1796; James Stewart, born
September 23, 1801 ; Margaret Kirkwood, born October 4, 1803 — all the
last five having Mifflin county, Penns.vlvania, as their birthplace. There
is nothing of record to show when these parents fii'st left the shores of
Ireland or of their landing on American soil, save that it was in the
summer of the year 1778. It would seem that they located in Mifflin
county, Pennsylvania, where they continued to reside imtil some time
subsequent to October, 1803. Of the children just mentioned, Martha
married William Starkey; Mary married John Gillaud; Annie married
James Gilland; William Nesbit married Matilda Randall; Thomas
married Jane MeCormick and James Stewart married Catherine
McCormick.
James Reed Kirkwood passed away jNIay 10. 1836, his wife having
preceded him September 25, 1835. At the time of their death they made
their home with their youngest son, James S. Kirkwood in Posey town-
ship, Fayette county, Indiana. Their earthly remains are in a neglected
pioneer graveyard about one-fourtli of a mile north of Bentonville,
Fayette county. It has long since been utterly abandoned as a burial
place and is part of an open field used for farming. There are now
no signs whatever of a cemetery there, save the two base-stones, from
which the marble slabs have been broken off and removed to the fence
which encloses the field. These were the only graves with stone markers
in this early pioneer burial place, and not a sign of other graves therein
is visible.
The Kirkwood relationship with the McCormick family began with
the marriage of Thomas Kirtn^ood and Jane McCormick, which event
took place March 4, 1824, at the old McCormick homestead near Con-
nersville, Fa.yette county. They settled on land in Posey township in
that county, living the life of the settlers of that early time in Indiana.
They remained in Fayette county, until 1832, when they moved to
Grant county, and located on a farm, near where the town of Mathews
now stands. In about the year 1850 they removed to a farm near
Eaton, in Union township of Delaware county, on the west bank of the
]\Iississinewa River, remaining there the rest of their days. They had
fourteen children, the first five born in Fayette county and the other
nine in Grant county, their names with dates of birth being as follows :
William Nesbit, December 9, 1824; Joseph Stewart, October 12, 1826;
James Lewis, January 17, 1828; John Reed, July 20, 1829; Elizabeth
Margaret' March 18, 1831; Samuel Drennan, October 2, 1832; Sarah
Catherine, April 26, 1834; Thomas Cousins, April 27, 1836; Amos
Washington, May 15. 1838; David McCormick, May 20, 1840; a son
stillborn, October 10, 1841; Robert Lewis. IMay 25. 1843; Mary Jane,
March 4, 1846; and ilartha Ann, November 24, 1848. Thomas Kirk-
wood, father of these children, died October 2, 1851, aged fifty-four
years, ten months and fourteen days. His ^vidow, Jane Kirkwood, sur-
vived him forty-five years, passing away April 30, 1896, aged ninety-
three years, eleven months and four days. Their remains rest in Mount
Zion cemetery. Union township, Delaware county.
The further relationship of the Kirkwoods and the McCormicks took
place June 24, 1825, when James Stewart Kirk^vood, a brother to Thomas,
was united in marriage with Catherine IMcCormick, a sister to Jane.
This event, like the other, was celebrated at the old McCormick home-
stead near Connersville. in Fayette county. They also settled on land
in Posey township, adjoining that of Thomas Kirkwood and John Gil-
land. Thev also had born to them a family of fourteen children, of rec-
ord as follows: John Drennen. born October 9. 1826; James Reed,
October 24, 1828; William Morrison. June 24, 1830; Thomas Boston,
JOHN D. KIRKWOOD
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 565
August 18, 1832; Mary Jane. July 21, 1834; David McCormick, Novem-
ber 12, 1836 : Joseph Lewis. December 22, 1838 ; Jefferson Stewart, May
23, 1841; Elizabeth Ann, ilarch 3. 1843; Margaret, May 10, 1845;
Leviugston Alexander, February 11, 1847; Savannah Caroline, Decem-
ber 25, 1849; Amanda Samira, March 1, 1851; Almyra Frances Helen,
January 30, 1854.
James Stewart Kirkwood, father of the last mentioned children,
continued on the same farm until the time of his death, October 9, 1860,
aged fifty -nine years and sixteen days. His widow, Catherine (McCor-
mick) Kirkwood, survived him forty years, passing away July 11, 1900,
aged ninety-one years, six months and twenty-five days. In 1874, Cathe-
rine Kirkwood moved from Fayette county to Muncie, Indiana, where
she spent the remaining twenty-six years of her life. Their remains
rest in the cemetery one-half mile south of Bentouville in Fayette county.
Of the fourteen children above named, the following had passed away
at the time ]\Ir. L. A. Kii-kwood wrote in September, 1909 : j\larj^ Jane,
wife of Lexemuel Beeson, June 8, 1853 ; Almira Frances Helen Kirk-
wood, August 26, 1860 ; James Reed Kirkwood, November 16, 1903 ; and
John Dreunen Kirkwood, ilay 6, 1905.
Coming to the immediate family of Frank H. Kirkwood, some addi-
tional facts may be stated concerning his father, John Drennen Kirk-
wood, mentioned in the family last named, and who died in 1905 near
Matthews, in Grant county. Reared in Fayette county, he became a
skilled workman as a carpenter and builder, a trade he followed for a
number of years. In 1859, he settled in Grant county, where he bought
some land near jMatthews. He had mai'ried a widow with two daughters,
and on the removal to Grant county he bought eighty acres for each of
these daughters. Then by his active management ancl ability he secured
two hundred and forty acres for himself in Jefferson township. Thus
practically all his attention after he came to Grant county was given to
agriculture, and in his time he was known as one of the most successful
men in Jefferson township. In politics, like the majority of the Kirk-
woods, he was a Democrat. Though he and his wife held to no church,
he was in every sense a Christian. John D. Kirkwood was married in
Fayette county to Mrs. Ruth Burgess whose maiden name was Crawford.
She was born in Fayette county in 1824, and died in Jefferson township
of Grant county, December 16, 1902. By her first marriage to Isi'ael
Burgess there were two daughters. Margaret and Sarah (Sallie). Mar-
garet is the widow of William ^lillspaugh, of Delaware county, Indiaua,
and has a family ; Sarah married Leander ilillspaugh, a farmer in Jef-
ferson township, and they have a family of children. To the marriage
of John Drennen Kirkwood and Mrs. Burgess were born two children:
Brooks, born in 1868, and died Setember 23, 1906, married Bell Corn,
who now lives at ]\Iuncie and has a son ilarcus.*
Mr. Frank H. Kirkwood, the older of the two sons of John Drennen
Kirkwood, was born July 2, 1858, in Fayette county, Indiana, and since
1859 his home has been in Grant county. His early education was
unusually good for the time, and all his active career has been devoted
to farming. His is one of the fine rural estates in Jefferson township,
comprising one hundred and twenty-five acres of first-class land, with
about one hundred acres in cultivation, and in a high state of improve-
ment. He is the owner also of another tract, consisting of eighty acres.
That is in section thirty-six of Fairmount township. His home is on
section thirty-seven, and the improvements about the place indicate his
progi-essive character as a leading Grant county farmer. A well fur-
nished and attractive residence, nieel.y painted white and of one and a
half storj', is the prominent feature, while a large basement barn, forty
by one hundred feet, is another valuable improvement. Mr. Kirkwood
566 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
believes in the rotation of crops, and has had much success in growing the
staple cereals, corn, wheat, oats and clover. In order to preserve the
fertility of his soil and keep all his grain crops at home, he raises hogs,
and cattle, and feeds practically aU his gi-ain on his own land.
Mr. Earkwood was first married in Grant county to Jlollie Richards,
a daughter of L. G. Richards. She was born and reared in Jefferson
township, and at her death left a daughter Florence. Florence is the
\nie of Lewis Johnson of Matthews, in Grant county, and their children
are Arthur B., Twila, and Ruby E. The second wife of Mr. Kirk-
wood was Nettie M. Jones, who died while giving birth to twins, who
did not survive their mother. The present Mrs. Kirkwood was before
her marriage, Lydia D. Oliver, a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth
(Lugar) Oliver. Mrs. Kirkwood was born in Mills townsliip, where she
was reared and educated. Her father Edward Oliver, still lives on the
old homestead at the age of seventj'-two. He was born in Ohio. His
wife Elizabeth, died in Mill township January 24, 1904, and was a
native of ilills township, where she spent all her life, her parents having
been among the pioneers in Grant county. Mr. Oliver is a Democrat,
and he and his wife had no church aiSliations.
ilr. Frank H. Kirkwood and his present wife are the parents of four
children: Walter E.. born July 22, 1891, educated in Fowlerton and now
manager of one of his father's farms, married Vedah P. Thom, and they
have one son, Hubert Drennen, aged two years; Chester J., born January
12, 1895, educated in the Fowlerton public schools and the Fairmount
high school and lives at home ; Orin B., born April 6, 1897, is attending
school ; Russell A., born July 28, 1899, is also in school.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirfc^vood are members of the United Brethren church
of Fowlerton, and in politics he is a Democrat.
William Paul Stover. On section twenty-five of Jefferson to-wn-
ship is the Stover homestead, a farm under the management of that
family for upwards of forty years, the present proprietor being William
Paul Stover, a young and progressive agriculturist, who succeeded liis
father in the management of the estate, and has the reputation in the
neighborhood of being a "live wire" and in ever}' way a most pro-
gressive citizen. He has a beautiful home, farm buildings much above
the average of even Grant county and has a large acreage of regular
farm crops and raises a number of high grade cattle and hogs and other
live stock.
His grandfather, William David Stover, was born in Virginia, and of
Virginia parentage, though of German ancestry. He married a Miss
Bushyoung, born in Virginia, and of the same lineage as her husband.
Before they came west, all of their five children were born. They are
as follows:" John and Catherine, both of whom married and had chil-
dren, and both now deceased; Mary, who died in the spring of 1912,
and left children ; Samuel G. ; David, the youngest of the family, who
is now a farmer in Blackford county, and has a family of five daughters.
Samuel G. Stover, father of W. P. Stover, was born in Roanoke
county, Virginia, on Christmas Day of 1843. When he was seventeen
years old his parents came to Indiana, and in 1861 settled in Henry
county. Both his parents died in Henry county, his father when past
eighty years of age and his mother some twenty years before. They
were" substantial farming people, and devout members of the United
Brethren church. Samuel G. Stover after he became of age took up
his independent career in Delaware county, where he met and married
Miss M. Emma Shirey, who was born in this state. After four or five
years on a Delaware county farm, they came in 1876 to Grant county
and bought one hundred and sixty acres in section twenty -five of Jeffer-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 567
sou township. Later their euterprise aud careful mauagemeiit enabled
them to increase their acreage by the purchase of eight}' acres more,
and there Samuel Stover labored and lived out the useful years of his
existence until his death on March 1, 1912. He had his farm well
improved, and in every direction on the old homestead can still be seen
the evidence of his thrift and diligence. His wife died on the same farm,
July 28, 1909. She was born in Virginia in 1845, aud when twelve years
of age accompanied her parents to Delaware county.
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Stover were active in the Methodist Epis-
copal church, aud he was a Rei^ublican in politics. Their children were :
Cora, who died at the age of six mouths; one that died in infancy;
Marion, who also died in infancy ; Florence, wife of William J. Williams,
a farmer in Blackford county, and they had two childi'en, Samuel M.
and Robert Paul; Pearl, who died February 3, 1910, at the age of
twenty-four, was unmarried, aud was a graduate of the University of
Indiana at Bloomington; William Paul Stover, the youngest of the chil-
dren, was born on the home farm iu Jefferson township, February 9,
1890. Though ouly a few years past his majority lie has already made
a record of accomplishment such as many older men would envy. With
the class of 1908 he graduated from the Upland high school, aud has
since been attending strictly to business as a farmer. Since coming
into possession of the estate he has erected one of the finest barns iu
Jeffersou township, a large and commodious structure of modern style
as to sanitation and convenience, and built on ground dimensions of
seventy by thirty-six feet, with a cow baru sixteen by fifty feet. A
comfortable old farm residence was erected by his father twenty-seven
years ago, and still affords the comforts of a good home.
Mr. Stover was married in Grant county in 1912 to Miss Nettie
Roberds, who was born iu Blackford county. May 1, 1886, aud was
educated iu the public schools. Her parents were Joseph A. and Anna
Eliza (Wilson) Roberds. Anna Eliza Wilson was a daughter of Closes
Wilsou. The Roberds family live on a farm in Licking township of
Blackford county, aud are prosperous aud well to do people. Mr. and
Mrs. Stover have no children, and are popular among the younger
members of Jeffei-son township in social circles. They attend the
Pleasant Grove Methodist church.
Alvin Dickerson. No other merchant or business man now operat-
ing in Upland was in business there when Alviu Dickerson started, and
he is not only the oldest established merchant, but foremost iu everything
that concerns the advancement and prosperity of that flourishing little
community. With good natural endowments, he has had a thorough
training, aud his success in business is based upon the solid foundation
of accomplishment and experience.
Alvin Dickerson was born in Delaware county, Indiana, on a farm,
January 17, 1865, and belongs to oue of the old families of eastern
Indiana. His grandfather, Richard Dickerson, came from Ohio to
Indiana in the year 1836 and entered laud direct from the government
in Washiugtou township of Delaware county. In order to pay his fees
and take out his patent, he had to go to the Fort Wayne land office. On
the land thus acquired he lived and labored until he had made an excel-
lent home, his estate comprising eighty acres, and he was one of the
interesting early settlers of that communitj'. When not following his
regular vocation as a farmer, during the early years he did a great
<ieal of teaming for Cincinnati merchants, hauling merchandise from the
Ohio city to ditferent points in ea.stern Indiana. That was of course
years before the first railroad was built into this section, aud the Over-
land trail from Cincinnati northwest was the most frequented highway
568 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
of transportation and nearly eveiy merchant got his goods by that route,
and the farmers sent their produce to market largely the same May.
Richard Dickersou died before the Civil war and was fifty-six years
of age at the time. During his residence iu Ohio he married a iliss
Hart and she died in Delaware county about the same time as her hus-
band and about the same age. They became the pai-euts of three sons
and six daughters. The only one now living is R. Huston, living in
Fowlerton, Grant comity. Another son was Joshua. John Dickerson,
father of the Upland merchant, was born iu Guernsey county, Ohio,
June 26, 1831, and died August 28, 1913, when past eighty-two years of
age. His death occurred at Upland. On the old homestead iu Dela-
ware county he spent his youth and when ready to make his first
independent venture bought forty acres of wild laud in the same
vicinity. That continued to be his home until the fall of 1865, when
he moved over into Grant count.y, and bought one hundred acres iu
section six of Jefllersou township. After many yeai-s of prosperous
farming activity, he moved iu 1900 to Upland, which village remained
his home until his death. His widow still lives in the village. Her
maiden name was ilary Hollis, and she was born in Jefferson township
in 1838, a daughter of William Hollis, who came from his native Ohio
to Grant county and entered laud in Jeffersou township, getting his
patent with the signature of Martin Van Buren, then president of the
United States. There he lived amid the changing scenes which marked
the progress of the country from pioneer stage into the modern times,
and died ou the land which his labors had converted into a productive
farm, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was three times married,
and Jlrs. John Dickerson was the child of his first wife. John Dickereon
voted the Democratic ticket, and he and his wife had no church afiilia-
tions. Of their five children, four were daughters, and three of them
are married and living in Grant county with families of their own.
One daughter, Luna, is very successful as a teacher, and has for several
years filled a responsible position in the government educational system
in the Philippine Islands.
Alvin Dickersou grew up in Grant county, attended the district
schools of his neighborhood, and later was sent to the State Normal
where he studied and qualified himself for the work of teaching which
was his reg-ular occupation for eight years. His first school he taught
at the age of nineteen. In January, 1892, ]\Ir. Dickerson came to
Upland and contributed his resources of capital and enterprise to the
little community then existing there. From the start on a modest scale
he has been inci-easingly successful and his large general store is now
located iu the center of the village on Main Street and supplies evei-y-
thing needed by the people of this locality. Mr. Dickerson also owns
a comfortable home in the village and a farm of thirty-two acres in
Jefferson township.
Mr. Dickerson is a Prohibition voter in political affairs. He was
married in his home township to Miss Jennie "Walker, who was born and
reared and educated in Jefferson township, a daughter of William C.
and Sarah Walker, eouceruing whom further information will be found
elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Dickerson was for several years pre-
ceding her marriage a successful and popular teacher in Grant County.
To their marriage have been born two children : Cloyd, now twenty years
of age, in his freshman year at Purdue University; Geneva, aged
nineteen, graduated in the same class with her brother from the high
school in 1912, and now lives at home and is a student of music. Mr.
and Mrs. Dickerson have membership in the Presbyterian chui-ch.
EzEKiEL Jones. The first carload of ice and the first carload of coal
that came to Upland for distribution and use in the community wore
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 569
shipped to Ezekiel Jones. The shipment of ice was made on August
1, 1900, and the lirst car of coal came to him in January, 1903. Mr.
Jones records those facts as important points in his commercial history,
and from a beginning when a car of coal meant a very large transaction
to him and also to the community he has developed both lines of business
for summer and winter, until at the present time he handles annually
about forty carloads of coal and some twelve carloads of ice. The business
has been built up on a basis of fair dealing, and courteous and reliable
treatment of his customers.
Ezeldel Jones was born in Wells county, Indiana, September 15,
18-47, but has lived in Grant county since early boyhood. His parents
were Oliver and Catherine (Miller) Jones. The father was born in
Ohio and the mother in Virginia, and both went to Wells county early
in life, where they met and were married. Grandfather Daniel Jones
was the founder of the family in Indiana, entering laud on Salmonia
River in Wells countj' during the thirties and with the aid of his older
sous he went vigorously to work and cleared up a wilderness and con-
verted it into a productive farmstead, ilr. Jones spent all the rest of
his life on the land for which he had secured a patent direct from the
government and his death occurred when eighty-one years of age. His
wife also died when cjuite old. In all that section of Wells countj^ his
was renowned as the first brick home and it is interesting to note that
the clay was dug from pits on the farm and was burned in kilns as a
local and native industry. Oliver Jones was a Baptist in religious
faith, and in politics he followed the policies of the Whig party. Oliver
Jones and wife finally moved from AVells county to Grant county, and
spent many years in the active pursuit of farming in Jackson town-
ship. Later they returned to Wells county where Oliver Jones died
in August, 1899, at the age of seventy-four years, survived by his
widow, who passed away September 13, 1912, when eighty-four years
old. She was a Methodist Protestant in faith, had for sixty-four years
lived and worked in that church, and was one of the first of the denomi-
nation in her part of the state. Oliver Jones later in life joined the
same denomination. He was in politics a Democrat. Oliver Jones and
wife had three sous and five daughters, and three of the daughters are
still living and all are married.
Ezekiel Jones was reared to manhood on his father's farm in Grant
county. After his marriage he moved to Marion and was for three years
employed in the glass factory there, after which he returned to Upland,
and has since been one of the active business men in this community.
Mr. Jones was married in Huntington county, Indiana, to Miss Emma
Layman, a daughter of Joseph and ilary (Peggy) Layman. Her
parents lived and died on a farm in Huntington county, her father hav-
ing entered the land from the government. Both were quite old when
death came to them, about eighty years of age. They had moved from
Ohio in the early days to Huntington county, and lived honorable and
upright lives, and were strict members of the Baptist faith. Mr. and
Mrs. Jones are the parents of the following children: Nora A. is the
wife of Theodore Trout, of Mill township, and they have five living
children; Sarah Leola is the wife of Thomas Hewitt of ilill township
and they have a son and two daughters ; Joseph Lloyd is employed in the
Upland Flint Glass works, and is married and has one daughter ; Oliver
Floyd is assisting his father in the coal and ice trade, and is married and
has a son and daughter. Three of the sons, bom to Mr. and Mrs. Jones
died young. ]\Ir. Jones and wife both worship in the United Brethren
church, of which he is a trustee. He and his sons vote the Democratic
ticket.
570 BbACKPORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Abraham M. Lucas. One of Grant county's pioneer families, mem-
bers of which have for many years been identified with the agricultural
interests of this section, is that bearing the name of Lucas, and a worthy
sentative thereof is found in the person of Abraham M. Lucas, who is
is now carrying on successful operations on his farm in Center township.
Mr. Lucas has resided in Center township all of his life, having been
born on his father's farm, five miles southeast of ]Marion, September 23,
1865, and is a son of Israel and Mary (Williams) Lucas.
The parents of ]\Ir. Lucas were born in Mercer county, Ohio, and
there reared and educated, and shortly after their marriage came to
Grant county, Indiana, locating on a farm five miles southeast of Marion,
on the Soldiers' Home pike. j\Ir. Lucas was a well educated man, and in
order to add to his resources during his early years engaged in teaching
school in Center township. As the years passed, however, he turned
his entire attention to agricultural work, and eventually became one of
the prosperous men of his community, owning two well-developed farms
in Center township. His death occurred about 1873. Five children
were born to Israel and Mary Lucas, of whom three still survive : I. W.,
a carpenter and contractor living on East Tenth street, Indianapolis;
Orpha L., who is the wife of James Thomason, of Marion, Indiana; and
Abraham M.
Abraham M. Lucas received only limited educational advantages, as
his father died when he was but eight years old and the services of the
youth were needed in the operation of the home property. He made the
most of his opportunities, however, and subsequent reading and obser-
vation have made him a well-informed man. Reared to agricultural pur-
suits, he has made farming his life work, and through well-directed effort
has iDecome one of the substantial men of Center towmship, owning a
handsome property, consisting of 138 acres, 93 acres in the farm upon
which he lives and 45 acres about one-quarter mile east of the farm, and
possessing in the highest degree the esteem and respect of those who
have had dealings with him. Mr. Lucas has made enormous improve-
ments on his property, and by the use of modern methods and machin-
ery has gained a reputation as a progressive and enterprising agricul-
turist. General farming has received the greater part of his attention,
but his activities in stock raising have also been rewarded with success.
On May 23, 1889, Mr. Lucas was united in marriage with IMiss Mary
Swartz, who was born and reared in Center township, and to this union
there have been born two children: Gladys M., a graduate of the com-
mon schools, who died at the age of seventeen years; and Lucetta, born
November 1, 1893, who has been given good educational advantages and
now lives at home with her pai'ents. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas are consistent
members and liberal supporters of Griffin Chapel of the Methodist
church. Politically he is a Democrat, but has taken no active part in
public matters, although he has ever been ready to assist in movements
making for the public welfare.
George W. Jones. One of the men whose enterprise has contributed
to the trade and general activities of the village of Upland is George
"W. Jones, whose earlier life was spent in Jefferson township in fanning
pursuits and who for a number of years has been in the feed and grain
business at Upland. Mr. Jones is a man of recognized integrity and fair
dealing, has a host of friends in the vicinity and has never failed to
hold up his end of responsibilities, whether in private or in business life.
The family to which George W. Jones belongs was established in
Grant county many years ago by Joshua Jones, father_ of George W.
Jones. Joshua was the son of Lewis Jones, who lived and died
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 571
in Ohio, was twice married aud had children by both wives.
Joshua Jones, of the first marriage, was born in Greene county,
Ohio, JIarch 7, 1819, aud grew up on his father's farm. When
about twenty years of age he crossed the state line to Indiana and the
young man without capital found employment among the fanners of
Blackford county for several years. Then moving into Jefferson town-
ship. Grant county, he bought some land, most of which was located in
the wilderness, and by hard work cleared up and made a good farm.
That was his home for nearly sixty years, and at his death in AugTist,
1909, he was able to look back upon a lifetime of industry and gratify-
ing accomplishments. He was a Democrat and a member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal church. Joshua Jones was married in Jefferson town-
ship to Miss ilaliuda A. wings, who was born in Ohio and came with
her father, Nicholas Owings, when a young child to Jefferson township.
Mrs. Joshua Jones died on the old homestead in Jefferson township in
1905. She w-as an active member of the j\Iethodist church.
The family record of George W. Jones in his immediate generation
is noteworthy in several respects. He was the fifth in a family of nine
children, eight of whom reached adult age, and of those only one is
deceased, seven living, Mai-y J. having died when twenty-one. All the
four sons and three daughters are still living and are married or have
been married, and the youngest is more than fifty years of age and
the oldest is now seventy. The record of the children is briefly as fol-
lows : Harriet, w'idow of Michael Houck, living in Upland ; Lydia, who
is the widow of Edwin Pergiis and lives in California, having a son and
daughter; Lewis M., a farmer of Jefferson township, and his four
daughters are all married; John W., one of the foremost farmers in
Jefferson township ; George W. ; Thomas Eli, who lives in Jonesboro, and
has a son who is married; Sarah E., the wife of William Ginn, a farmer
in Jefferson township, and they are the parents of two sons.
Like the other children George W. Jones was born on the old home-
stead in Jefferson township, in section twenty-two, on February 14, 1853.
His youth was spent in the same vicinity, and while growing up on the
farm he had the cultured advantages afforded by the local school. He
continued to attend school as opportunity offered until about twenty
years. To farming he gave his first serious efforts, and in that industry
laid the foundation for his subsequent prosperity. In 1891 Mr. Jones
gave up active supervision of farming, and for a short time ran a
restaurant, but has since been in the feed and grain business at Upland.
He built his present yards aud buildings, especially adapted for the
convenience of the trade, in 1905. His home is located close to his
place of business, and he has lived here continuously for twenty-two
years. Mr. Jones has always taken much interest in local affairs, has
served one term as town treasurer, has been liberal whenever a com-
munity undertaking was proposed, but has been reticent as to the honors
of political life. In polities he votes the Democratic ticket.
Mr. Jones was married in his native township to Miss Mary E. Ginn,
who was bom in Henry county, Indiana, and was fifty-eight years of
age on October 1, 1913. When she was a young woman she came with
her parents to Jefferson township, and the Ginn family to which she
belongs has suitable representation on other pages of this volume. Mr.
and Mrs. Jones are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and
very active in the affairs of their local society. Their two daughters
are : Clara, the wife of A. J. Kuhn, who is associated with Mr. Jones in
business at Upland, and they have a daughter, Hildred; Ginevra is
the wife of Thomas L. Secrist, and they have one daughter, Martha E.,
and their home is in Santa Barbara, California.
572 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Elge W. Leach. One of the most competent and trusted young
business men of Grant county is Elge W. Leach, cashier of the Farmers
State Bank at I\Iatthews. Mr. Leach has the entire executive manage-
ment of this well known and substantial institution, and it is largely
owing to his genial personality as cashier and his careful and sys-
tematic conduct of the bank's affairs that the resources and business of
the bank have been steadily mounting in importance since he first
became connected with the business. As a man who has gained success
and has gone considerable distance on the way to prosperity, ilr. Leach
attributes his good fortune largely to the influence and counsel of his
good wife, who for some time assisted him in the bank, and is not
only an excellent housewife, but is thoroughly competent as an ac-
countant and business woman.
Mr. Leach was appointed assistant cashier of the Farmers State
Bank in March, 1909. and the following year was promoted to his
present position, since which time he has had all the executive duties
to perform. The Farmers State Bank of ilatthews was established in
1907, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. In March,
1909, an entire new management took charge, and since that date its
prosperity has been steadily increasing, but along natural and healthy
lines. The personnel of the executive management is as follows: A. D.
jMittauk, president ; George Fred Slater, vice president ; E. W. Leach,
cashier; and C. J. Jones, assistant cashier. The Farmers State Bank is
a county, township and town depositoiy ; its total resources in February,
1913, were reported as about ane hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars, and its relation to the prosperity of this thriving farming com-
munity is well indicated by the fact that in its vaults and on its books
are accounts with depositors aggregating in the total nearly one hundred
thousand dollars.
Elge W. Leach was born in Fairmount township, August 3, 1879.
He was reared and educated in the public schools, graduated from the
Fairmount Academy in the Class of 1901, and the following three years
were spent as a teacher. At the same time his services were employed
in an office, and he also did farm work. With this varied experience
and equipment, he was well prepared for his present vocation. Mr.
Leach's grandfather was Esom Leach, born in Virginia, reared in Frank-
lin county, Indiana, and after his marriage there to Luciuda Corn, came
to Grant county and acquired a large tract of land, comprising more than
five hundred acres, partly by purchase and partly by entry from the
government. The rest of his years were spent in residence at this
estate in Grant county, and his career was one of special prosperity.
He died when past seventy years of age, and his widow survived him
ten or twelve years, and was a veiy old woman when taken away. Thej'
were both communicants of the Primitive Baptist Church. Their
family comprised thirteen children in all, and eight sons and two
daughters are still living. Of these children, John B. Leach, father of
the ilatthews banker, was born in Fairmount township, j\Iarch 4, 1854,
and has lived in this vicinity ever since, making his home on a farm
there at the present time. He was married in Jefferson township to
Miss Hester Richards, a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Gillespie)
Richards. The Richards family has been identified ^vith Grant county
for all the years since early settlement, and both Mrs. Leach's parents
died here when old people. Jacob Richards was an early minister of the
Primitive Baptist Church at Matthews, the church usually being known
as the Harmony church, and he lived and labored for many years in
the cause of religion, spending much of his time in traveling and riding
about the country horseback, covering the large territoiy and carrying
BLACKFORD x\ND GRANT COUNTIES 573-
the gospel to many isolated communities during the early days. Mrs.
Hester Leach was born in Jefferson township in 1857, and still is smart
and active and has been a good mother to her children. These children
of John B. Leach and wife were: Elge W. ; Jacob E., a farmer in Fair-
mount township, who married Blanch Duling, and has three children,
Lloyd, Carl, and Helen ; Minnie is the wife of Ernest 0. Crecraft, living
in Fowlerton, and their children are John A. and Dora Lee; Fern is
the wife of Nacy Wood, living in Fowlerton, and they have no children;
Mr. Elge W. Leach was married in Jefferson township to Miss Sarah
Anderson. Mrs. Leach, who was born in Jefferson township July 22,
1882, also graduated from the Fairmount Academy with the class of
1901, the same class with her husband, and is an intelligent and cul-
tured womau whose presence iu ilatthews society is one of secure ad-
vantage and esteem. Her parents were Augustus and Elizabeth (Dean)
Anderson, who for many years were farmer residents of Jefferson town-
ship. Her father died there in May, 1910, and the widow lives on the
old farmstead, being about fifty-five years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Ander-
son were a'etive members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with which
Mrs. Leach is also associated. Mr. Leach is & Democrat in politics.
Thomas F. Scott. People who lead busy and useful lives are not
often portrayed in public prints, for it is only the abnormal that is
observed by the current press. That work of homemakiug, of efficient
performance of dailj^ duties and responsibilities is at the same time the
most vital and important as well as the least likely to attract general
attention. Among Grant county people who excel iu this matter of
running a business with quiet efficiency and making a fine home, Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas F. Scott are well worthy of a record in the Centennial
history. Their attractive rural home is in section twenty-eight of
Jefferson township.
Jlr. Thomas V. Scott is the third bearer of that Christian name in as
many successive generations. His grandfather, Thomas Scott, was born
in Ireland in 1775, was of what is known as Scotch-Irish stock, and after
his marriage to an Irish girl came to America about 1800. The only
means of crossing the Atlantic at that time was by sailing vessels, and
a number of years elapsed before the introduction of steam navigation.
Prom the Atlantic coast Thomas and his young wife came on to Ohio,
lived for a few years at Steubenville, on the Ohio river, where his son
Thomas Jr. was born about 1804 or 1805. Later the family moved to
Noble county in the same state where Grandfather Thomas died when
probably quite an old man. His sons and his widow later went to
Guernsey county, Ohio, whei'e she died when very old. She was the
mother of five sons and three daughters who grew up and married.
Thomas Scott, second of the name, was married during his resi-
dence in Noble county, where he became of age, and the maiden name
of his wife was Nancy McCoy, who was probably born iu Ohio and
of similar ancestry to her husband. After their marriage, Thomas
and wife located in Guernsey county, where they were pioneers and
undertook the tasks allotted usually to the pioneers in the middle west
of clearing the dense forests and making a landscape of cultivated fields
where had formerly been only the haunts of wild beasts and Indians.
By his labor he improved one hundred and sixty acres of land. During
the eai-ly years of their residence there the nearest town or village was
five miles away and the mill and post office was three miles from their
house. Thomas Scott II, was remarkably well fitted for the hard labor
of pioneering. He was regarded as one of the most skillful wielders of
an ax in his entire community, and it was his greatest pleasure to
574 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
swing that implement hour after hour in the woods, that kind of work
as hard as any that man does, being with him a part of athletic pleasure.
His first home was a little cabin built of round logs, which was replaced
somewhat later by a hewed log house, of a story and a half, and what
was known as a double building, being divided by a partition, and with
a stone fireplace and chimney. It was a somewhat pretentious home
for that communitj', and had the same place as a brown-stone front
mansion would in later years. In 1842, having sold his Ohio home,
Thomas Scott came out to Grant county, and again became a pioneer,
securing one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in section thirty-four
of Jefferson township. There he made a large clearing and by his own
efforts or under his supervision nearly all the land was cleared up. His
death occurred in Jefferson township in 1870. A hard-working, thrifty
and honorable gentleman, he lived long years and ever enjoyed the
confidence and esteem of the community. His wife followed him in
death in 1874. They were both Methodists, and from his affiliation with
the Whig party he came naturally into the ranks of the Republicans.
There were nine children born to them, three were married, and two are
still living. Hugh married and left a wife and four children, in order
to enlist in the Civil war, as a member of the Eighty-Fourth Indiana
Regiment, going out in 1862, and after participation in a number of
campaigns contracted smallpox at Nashville, and died from that disease
in Nashville. The living sons are John A., who is now married and
lives in Kansas with his family, and Thomas F.
Thomas F. Scott III, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, February
24, 1842. He was nine years old when his parents moved to Grant
county. He has spent practically all his life in this county, and until
his father's death was an active assistant on the home farm.
A great mutual confidence and esteem existed between father and
son. Mr. Scott has spent nearly all his life on the farm he now occu-
pies, which was the homestead cleared by the sturdy hands and skillful
ax of his father. It is regarded as one of the best homes in the vicinity,
all the land is highly improved and cultivated through the maxinnnu of
production, and of its building improvements a big red barn was
erected some twenty-five years ago, and the commodious nine-room house
has long been the shelter of the Scott family. Mr. Scott is an extensive
raiser of good cattle, hogs and horses, and keeps the only herd of
Angora goats in his township, and perhaps the only one in the county.
On August 12, 1862, Mr. Scott enlisted in Company C of the Eighty-
Fourth Indiana Regiment of Infantry, the same regiment in which his
brother saw service. His service continued with that regiment until
June 14, 1865, and his record of military performance was notable for
its regularity and faithful performance. He was in every engagement
hi which his regiment participated excepting one, and twelve of these
were ciuite severe fights. He had one narrow escape from death when
a bullet cut a hole through his hat above his right ear, but otherwise he
went through without injury. He came out as eoriDoral of his company.
Mr. Scott was married in Jefferson township to iliss Uree A. Slater,
who was born, reared and educated in Jefferson township, had spent all
her life here, and belongs to a family long prominent among the leading
farmer citizens of the vicinity. Her parents were William and Mary
(Tacy) Slater, both of whom came to Grant county from Noble county,
Ohio,' and made settlement on land that was new, although it had
known one or two owners since being acquired from the government.
Their location was on section twenty-seven of Jefferson township where
they developed a good home and farmstead and lived until death took
them away when about sixty years of age. There were four children in
the Slater family, and all are living and married.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 575
Mr. and Mrs. Scott have the following children: 1. Charles married
Florida James, lives ou a farm in Scott county, Indiana, and their chil-
dren are Hugh and Dorothy. 2. Carrie is the wife of Clarence Needier,
farmers of Jeft'ersou township and their children are Carl, Ray, Cecil,
Ernest, Harmon, Thomas and Anna Eiueline. 3. Minnie R. is one
of the most popular teachers in Jefferson township, has taught
in the Matthews schools for the past twelve years, and lives at home.
4. Harry, who is a farmer in Scott county, married Ella Lizenbeck,
and their children are Frances, Floi^ence J. and Ruth. 5. Norah, is
unmarried, and is a clerical worker at Muncie. 6. Bertha, is also
employed at Muncie. 7. Ella lives at home. 8. Clarence W. is now
his father's assistant in the management of the homestead. 9. Thomas
W. also lives at home and works on the farm. 10. Anna M. was edu-
cated in the local public schools like the other children, and lives at
home. 11. Ada Z. is a sophomore in the Matthews high school.
Mr. and JMrs. Scott and family are members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church, and Mr. Scott and sons are regular voters of the Repub-
lican ticket. Mrs. Scott is one of the vigorous minded and capable
women of Grant county, possessing an alert intelligence, is broadly
informed on the issues of the day, and has many progressive ideas in
home management and in affairs of social improvement. She deserves
much credit for her success in rearing and educating her large family
of children, and all of them are exceedingly proud of their mother.
Mrs. Scott owns in her own right a fine tract of improved land, com-
prising one hundred and seventeen acres, in section thirty-two and
thirty- three of Jefferson township.
John H. Scott. On section twenty-six of Jefferson township is
located one of the substantial country homes of Grant county. It is not
a pretentious homestead, its owner is a quiet, efficient worker, and man-
ager of his resources, and his farm indicates his individual character.
It comprises seventy-five acres of as good land as can be found in the
vicinity, and one of the evidences of his thrift and prosperity is a com-
fortable white house, standing in the midst of a grove of trees, erected
by him in 1898. A good barn and all other facilities for up-to-date
farming are on the place, ilr. Scott is one of the very excellent farmers,
and he and his wife, who has worked along-side of him throughout their
married career, have succeeded in building up a modest little fortune
and in rearing a family of good children. More than that could hardly
be said in praise of anyone, and it is an accomplishment to be proud of.
Mr. Scott is a great-grandson of Thomas Scott, who was born in
Ireland in 1775, and was of what is known as Scotch-Irish stock, and
after his marriage to an Irish girl, came to America about 1800. A
full account of the family history will be found in the sketch of Thomas
F. Scott which precedes this.
Of the family of Thomas Scott II, Hugh Scott Avas born in Guernsey
county, Ohio, in 1829. He married a native girl of the same county,
Elizabeth Deereu, who was born May 26, 1834. After his marriage and
the birth of one child, Adeline, Hugh Scott and wife moved to Indiana,
and in 1851 bought some new land with a log cabin standing upon it
in Grant county. They were in very moderate circumstances, and their
first place comprised only forty acres. However, by the combined
industry and thrift of husband and wife they were beginning to see
light ahead, and in fair way to prosperity when the war broke out. With
the many responsibilities of a family, Hugh Scott remained at home dur-
ing the first year, but when the heavy calls for volunteers came, in the
summer of 1862, he enlisted on August 9 of that year in the Eighty-
576 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
fourth Regiment of Indiana Infantry. Much hard fighting and many
campaigns did he participate in, but it was not the bullets of an enemy
which brought his death. The fatal disease of smallpox again and again
attacked the armies on both sides, and after one scourge he was vacci-
nated and returned home for a furlough, and finally got well. He then
returned to the army, though unfit for service, and at Nashville con-
tracted the most virulent form of the disease, and died while in the hos-
pital, March 10, 1865, just as the war was entering its final stage. He
left a widow with five small children, and four of these by her frugality
and care she reared to manhood and womanhood. She kept the little
home, kept her children about her, inculcated good morals and habits of
thrift and industry, and there she died, honored and respected by her
descendants, February 5, 1909. She, as well as her husband, was a mem-
ber of the Methodist church. Of their little family the following are still
living: Sallie, wife of H. H. "Walker, a farmer in Jefferson township,
and the father of a large family. Fletcher, a resident of Hartford City,
Indiana, and who by his marriage to Melissa Hudson has six children ;
and John H.
John H. Scott was born on the old Scott farm, in Jefferson to^vnship,
November 23, 1861, and was reared and educated in that vicinity. As
soon as his youthful strength permitted he did all he could to assist his
widowed mother, and lived at home until his marriage to Lucinda Leach,
in 1890. She was born in Fairmount township. May 7, 1868, a daughter
of William J. and Ellen J. (Havens) Leach, of the prominent family
of that name in southern Grant county. Her father still lives on the
Leach farm at Fowlerton. He was born February 2, 1840, and has lived
as a farmer all his life. His wife, who was born April 23, 1813, died
April 17, 1888. They were members of the Primitive Baptist church.
The other children in the Leach family were as follows: Charles E. of
Fowlerton, who has five children; Anna, the wife of Chalmer Kerr
of Fairmount township, and the mother of five children ; Martha C,
wife of Shirlev Hancock, of Jefferson township, and they have four
children. The "little family of Mr. and ]\Irs. Scott are as follows: Effie,
who died in infancy; Ira Pearl, who was educated in the grade schools
and lives at home ; Sarah Ellen, aged eighteen and living at home, hav-
ing completed the common school course; "William Harvey, who assists
his father on the home farm; Ancil Everett, who is attending school;
and Arlie W., also a school boy. Mr. and Mrs. Scott are members of the
Methodist church, and his political affiliation is with the Republican
party.
Martin V. jMontgojiery. A half a century ago hundreds of thou-
sands of men and boys marched away from comfortable homes and dear
ones, to offer up their lives on the altar of patriotism. Some dyed that
altar with their life blood and never returned; others came back but
have borne through the succeeding years the indelible imprint left by
the hardships and privations of war. Those who were spared to return
found difficulties awaiting them ; after years of strenuous endeavor, when
each minute might be their last— when a nation's life hung upon their
bravery and endurance, it was no easy matter to resume the ordinary
occupations of work-a-day life. Yet thousands did this very thing, and
even today a larger proportion of the best citizenship of this country is
composed "of veterans of the great struggle between the North and the
South— men of sound principle, possessed of high moral and physical
courage who have rounded out lives that will set an enduring example for
generations to come. Grant county furnished its full quota of volunteers
during the dark days of the Civil war, and among these was Martin V.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 577
Montgomery, uow a highly respected farmer-citizeu of Center township,
where he has passed raanj' .years in the tilling of the soil.
ilartin V. Montgomery was born March 26, 1841, in Guernsey county,
Ohio, and is a son of James and Jane (Smith) Montgomery, also natives
of that state. Some time after their marriage, Mr. Montgomer j' 's par-
ents removed to Vinton county, Ohio, and in 1854 came to Grant county,
Indiana, locating in Center township, where thej' passed the remainder of
their lives. They were honest, sturdy people, industrious and thrifty,
and Mr. Montgomery was well known in public affairs in his community,
serving in a number of offices. They had a family of ten children, of
whom two are living at this time : Martin V. ; and Thomas M., now a resi-
dent of Pekiu, Illinois, who during the Civil war served for three years
as a member of Company C, Eighty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer
Infantry.
Martin V. Montgomery received his education in the district schools
of Vinton county, Ohio, and Grant county, Indiana, and Avas still little
than a lad when he enlisted for service in Company H, Sixtieth
Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantrj^, after the outbreak of hostilities
between the States. This comj^any was later attached to Company D,
of the same regiment, and of the 104 men who originally composed the
organization, but four returned to Grant county at the close of the war,
Mr. iloutgomery being one of the four. ]Mr. Montgomery participated
in some of the most sanguinary engagements that marked the great-
struggle, and at all times deported himself as a gallant and faithful
soldier, ever ready and eager to perform the duties which fell to his lot.
At the battle of ilumfordsville he was taken prisoner, and confined for
seventeen days, and after Vicksburg took part in the operations on the
Mississippi, being again captured by the Confederates at New Iberia,
Louisiana, when he was held for three months before receiving his
exchange. Later, under Gen. U. S. Grant, he served in Arkansas.
At the close of the war Mr. Montgomery returned to Grant county,
and in the same year was married to Miss Martha J. Taylor, now de-
ceased. He moved to IMichigan in 1873, and was there married to i\Iary
E. Camper. Mr. and ^Irs. Montgomery never had children of their
own, but they raised three boys and one girl. Mrs. Montgomery died
October 24, 1913. While a resident of Big Rapids, IMichigan, Mr. ilout-
goraery met with an accident which cost him an arm, and following this
misfortune he returned to Grant county, Indiana, and again engaged in
agricultural pursuits, in which he has continued to the present time.
He makes a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs. His farm is in
excellent condition and is located on the Soldiers' Home pike, about
five miles southeast of Marion. He is a Republican in his political
views, but has taken only a good citizen 's interest in public mattei's. He
receives a pension from the govei'nment in recognition of his services in
behalf of his country 's flag at a time when secession reared its gory head.
Jesse Stanley. In the pioneer days of Grant county, when the heavy
timber covered the greater part of this section of Indiana, and naught
but blazed trails through the forest marked the way for the sturdy set-
tlers, the Stanley family became identified with the county's history,
and from that time to the present its representatives have continued to
reside here and to be prominent in various lines of endeavor. Industry,
energj-, honesty and fidelity — these are some of the most marked charac-
teristics of the Stanleys, and the elemental strength of character in Jesse
Stanley, of Jefferson township, shows that these qualities are predomi-
nant in his nature. Mr. Stanley's career has been spent in agricultural
pursiuts, and his history is an open book, capable of bearing the closest
scrutiny with honor.
578 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Evan Stanley, the father of Jesse Stanley, was born in North Carolina
in 1817, and was still a boy when he left the parental roof to seek his
fortune in the gi'owing West. He first located in Fayette county, Indi-
ana, where he secured employment as a farm hand, but in 1838, stiU
single, made his way to Grant county and entered a tract of forty acres
of land, on which he erected a small log cabin. There he began life
alone in the woods, surrounded by the heavy timber, through which he
would have to search his waj^ to the homes of his few neighbors, miles
distant, but as the time went on he managed to clear, grub and improve
his original purchase, and in 1840 he added to his holdings by the pur-
chase of eighty acres more of land. This was also covered Avith virgin
forests, but this enterprising and energetic pioneer, who is remembered
as a short, stout and very rugged man, worked faithfully and constantly,
put his laud under a good state of cultivation, and when he died, iu 1879,
was in very comfortable financial circumstances. He was a Democrat iu
politics, and a good and public-spirited citizen, although never a poli-
tician. His friends were legion, and although he was not a member of
auj- religious denomination, he bore a spotless reputation for upright
dealing and integrity. Mr. Stanley found his wife in Grant county.
She was Mary J. Vincent, born in Madison county, Indiana, about 1822,
and died in 1867, a good wife and loving mother, and a faithful member
of the New Light Christian church. She was a daughter of Elisha and
Elizabeth Smith Vincent, of Virginia, who were married there and at an
early day came to Delaware county, Indiana, locating on eighty acres
of laud. Mr. Vincent died in middle life, .while the mother survived
until eighty-five years of age, both passing away iu the faith of the
Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley were the parents of two chil-
dren r i\Iargaretta, who is the widow of William Russel, a former farmer
of Blackford county, Indiana, and the mother of two children, Melville
and John ; and Jesse.
Jesse Stanley was born on his present homestead place, located on
section 11, Jefferson township, Grant county, Indiana, September 20,
1852, and received his education in the common schools of this locality.
He was brought up to habits of industry and honesty and thoroughly
trained in agricultural pursuits, so that when he reached manhood he
adopted farming as his life work. At the time of his father's death he
secured the home place, upon which, in 1884, he erected a substantial
red bam, and in 1885 a large modern white dwelling, and these were
followed in 1900 by another large barn. These structures are located
on the old homestead which formerly belonged to his father. From time
to time Mr. Stanley has added to his holdings by purchase, and on a tract
of 120 acres has an excellent set of buildings, in addition to which he has
a third farm ^Yith good structures and improvements, his total holdings
comprising 418 acres, all located in sections 2 and 11 in Jefferson town-
ship. He has been very successful in his stockraising and general
farming operations, and is justly accounted one of the most substantial
men of his community.
In 1882 Mr. Stanley was married in Jefferson township to Miss
j\Iary J. Wise, who was bom on the old Wise homestead in this town-
ship, October 13, 1859, and reared and educated there, a daughter of
Jacob Wise, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page
of this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Stanley there have been born the
following children : Clinton E., bom July 28, 1883, engaged in opera-
tions on one of his father's properties, married Julia Atkins, of Black-
ford county, Indiana, and has one sou, Virgil H. ; Retta 'Si., born July
28, 1885, who is single and resides at home with her parents; Clarence,
born August 25, 1887, conducting agricultural pursuits on one of his
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 579
father's farms, married Blanche Keever; John Clifton; Fred 0., born
February 8, 1901, who is now attending the graded schools; and Earl S.,
born August 13, 1892, who died in 1894. The children have been given
excellent educational advantages, the parents being firm believers in
the benefits to be gained through thorough schooling. Both father and
sons are Prohibitionists, and although they have not mixed extensively
in politics, being essentially agriculturists, have done much to further
the interests of their community in various ways. All are widely known
and highly esteemed and are filling honorable positions in the world,
ably maintaining the honor of the name they bear.
John Clifton Stanley, son of Jesse and Mary J. (Wise) Stanley, was
bom October 8, 1889, in Jefferson township. After attending the com-
mon schools, he became a student in the Upland high school, from which
he was gi-aduated in 1909. He is single, lives with his parents, and is
assisting his father in the work of the homestead place. A young man
of self-reliance, with a strong, alert and intelligent mind, he has intro-
duced a number of innovations into his work, and is known as one of
the progressive and energetic young agriculturists of his township.
Edmund F. Ballingee. For nearly half a century the late Edmund
F. Ballinger was one of the well known agriculturists of Jefferson town-
ship. Grant county, and during this time through his careful manage-
ment, sound judgment and unflagging iudustiy he overcame many
obstacles and steadily worked his way upward until prosperity crowned
his labors with a fitting reward. It was not alone in the material things
of life, however, that Mr. Ballinger attained success, for his thorough
integrity and honorable dealing won him the unqualified respect of his
fellow-men, and his memory is still kept green in the hearts of a wide
circle of friends who recognized and appreciated his many sterling
qualities.
Mr. Ballinger was descended from an old southern family, his
grandparents, James and Rebecca Ballinger, being natives of Tennessee.
There their children, Josiah, Daniel, James and a daughter, were born,
and during the latter 'twenties, or early 'thirties, the family migrated
to Indiana and entered land in Miami county. Later removal was made
to Grant county, where the grandfather carried on agricultural pursuits
until his death, which occurred at Upland, in advanced years. He had
married a second time, to Nancy McCoy, and they became the parents
of a large family of children. The second Mi-s. Ballinger died when
eighty years of age, and both she and her husband were laid to rest in
Jeffei-son church cemetery. She was a charter member of this church
of the Christian faith, to which Mr. Ballinger had original^ belonged,
although he later joined the Society of Friends.
Josiah Ballinger was born in Tennessee about the year 1815, and was
still a youth when he accompanied his parents to Indiana. He was
married in Miami county, in 1842, to Miss Tama R. Cook, and at that
time entered land, on which he resided until 1860, then coming to Grant
county and settling on a property on section 5, in Jefferson township.
This tract contained something over 100 acres, partly improved, and here
the father built a hewed-log house, weatherboarded and plastered, which
was his home until his death. Like his father, he belonged to the
Quaker faith, and was a man of sturdy qualities. After his death,
Mrs. Ballinger contracted a second marriage, being united with Richard
Deeren, a Civil War veteran, who died at the Soldiers' Home, in Febru-
ary, 1913. Mrs. Deeren passed away at Upland, at the age of seventy-
two years, in the faith of the Methodist church, of which her husband
was also a member.
580 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Edmund F. Ballinger was bom in Miami county, Indiana, July 21,
1851, and was nine years of age wlien he accompanied his parents to
Grant count}-. Here he grew to manhood in Jefferson township, attend-
ing the district school and assisting his father in the work of the home
farm, and after the death of the elder man he bought the Ballinger
property, to which he subsecjuently added forty acres. He continued
to cultivate this land and to make improvements here until his death,
which occui-red September 15, 1908. Mr. Ballinger was a skilled farmer,
developed his property to a high state of cultivation, and it contains a
good set of buildings, including a large white house and two commodious
red barns. While he met with success in his general farming operations,
he was probably better known as a breeder of thoroughbred Shropshire
sheep, and his animals carried off numerous prizes at the various county
and state fairs. In political matters a Republican, he worked tirelessly
for the betterment of his community, but did not seek office, preferi'ing
to devote his entire time and attention to his agricultural operations.
His religious connection was with the United Brethren church, to the
teachings of which he was a faithful adherent.
Mr. Ballinger was married to J\Iiss Huldah Reasoner, of Jefferson
township, in 1877. She was born in Blackford county, Indiana, October
27, 1856, and was reared and educated in Jefferson township, where she
had been brought at the age of three years by her parents, Richard and
Lydia (Capper) Reasoner. Her father was a native of Ohio and her
mother of Virginia, and they were married in Grant county and later
moved to Blackford county, but eventually returned to Jefferson town-
ship and located on a tract of 120 acres, located on section 5. Here they
spent the remaining active years of their life, and upon their retirement
went to Upland, where the father died in June, 1909, and the mother
June IS, 1898. He had been born September 11, 1828, and Mrs. Reasoner
November 15, 1832. They were consistent members of the New Light
Christian church.
Mr. and ]\Irs. Ballinger were the parents of the following children:
Perry, bom June 20, 1878, a resident of Antrim county, Michigan,
where he owns a farm, married Cora Mulkins, and has two children,
Ivory N. and Marvel P. ; Elva A., born February 28, 1887, attended the
Upland high school, is now the wife of William C. Horburg, and has one
daughter, Melva B. ; and Carrie, born October 16, 1889, educated in the
gi-aded schools and Upland high school, and now in the second year as
a student of music in Taylor University, is single and residing at home.
Mrs. Ballinger, who survives her husband, is a consistent member of the
United Brethren church, and has many warm and appreciative friends
in its congregation.
John D. Bell. In the business community of Upland, Mr. Bell has
been a leading factor for nearly twenty years. His enti-ance into busi-
ness was on October 15, 1894. Mr. Bell is the fourth successive hardware
merchant at Upland, and has succeeded in producing a large, prosperous
concern where others have failed. He has had both the persistence and
the good judgment and industry required of a man who makes a success
in retail merchandising, and is now to be ranked among the successful
men of Grant county. His first attempt at conducting a hardware store
in Upland occun-ed about nineteen years ago. The Bell store carries a
splendid stock of varied goods comprised under the general name of
hardware. This includes both shelf and heavy hardware, stoves, tinware,
plumbing goods, a complete line of harness, buggies, wagons and farm
implements, sporting goods, a general stock of household supplies and
paints, oils, and decorative material. When Mr. Bell began business
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 581
about twenty years ago his stock was invoiced at a valuation of $280.00.
His progress is well indicated by the fact that his stock would now in-
voice at $8,000 or $10,000, and so energetically does he manage his
establishment that he turns over the capital several times a year. He
occupies all of a two-story brick building which has a frontage of forty-
two feet on Main street, and runs back one hundred and twenty-seven
feet deep. For three years ilr. Bell was on the road selling goods, but
with that exception had no business experience when he started at Up-
land, and since then has worked out his own salvation.
Mr. J. D. Bell was born at Clarksbui'g, in Decatur county, Indiana,
July 6, 1856. His early life was spent in that vicinity, where he got a
common schooling, and was educated in a normal school, and with the
training and qualifications obtained there spent six years as a teacher.
After that he did plain farming for a few years, and then w-ent on the
road to sell goods and from that got into the mercantile venture at
Upland, and thus foimd prosperity.
Mr. Bell's grandfather was Daniel Bell, a native of Virginia, and of
English and Irish extraction. In early life he moved to Lexington,
Kentucky, where in 1803 he married Nancy Smith. Some years later,
in 1822, he took his family to Decatur county, Indiana, where he pur-
chased a squatter's claim of almost new land, and the items of the family
history is that his first crops were destroyed by wild game eating the
grain and roots, and otherwise devastating the fields. His first purchase
was one hundred and sixty acres, and he also entered eighty acres in
Fuget township of Decatur county. He was one of the pioneers of that
section, and in time his labors brought about a splendid farm which
represented his pioneer activities. He was remarkable for the length
of his life notwithstanding the many hardships which he had gone
through in his early years. When he died about 1876 he was ninety-five
years of age, and his w'ife who passed away in 1883 was ninety-six years
old. They were Methodists in religion, and took an important part in
establishing the activities of that church in Decatur county. In political
faith he -was a Whig during his early manhood. The original land, 240
acres, in Fuget township, Decatur county, Indiana, originally owned by
Daniel Bell, is still in the Bell family, with the exception of forty acres.
Tarleton R. Bell, father of the Upland merchant, was born in Ken-
tucky in 1818, and was still a child when his family moved to Decatur
county, Indiana, where he grew up as a farm boy and spent the early
part of his manhood. Before his marriage he went to Tennessee, and
was for some time engaged in railway grade contracting. In that state
he met and married Emma E. Adams, Avho was born and reared in Ten-
nessee. Finally they returned to Indiana, and settled on the old Bell
farm in Decatur county. After that the occupations of carpenter and
farmer occupied the attention of Tarleton Bell, until his death in 1882.
His widow is still living, at her home in Greenburg, Decatur county. On
October 14, 1913, she was eighty years of age, and in spite of her four-
score years is bright and keeps up with the current news of the day, and
often entertains her pioneer friends at the regular annual meeting. She
has been a lifelong member of the iMethodist Episcopal church, and her
husband %vorked with her in the same faith. He held to the political
policies of the Democratic party, and living in a Republican district w^as
at one time nominated for the office of representative, and nearly suc-
ceeded in overturning the normal Republican majority. He was a close
friend of the Hon. William S. Holmau.
Mr. J. D. Bell was one of six children ; a daughter, Mrs. Mary Chene-
worth, lives in Los Angeles, California; Wilbur is a farmer near Bur-,
lington, New Jersey, and has a family of children; Emma is the wife
582 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
of William E. Tull, of Fairmount, Minnesota, and has one daughter;
Nora lives with her mother in Greenburg, Indiana, her filial devotion
never having permitted her to marry; George died when forty -three
years of age, leaving several children.
At Clarksburg, in Decatur county, Mr. Bell married Miss Emma C.
Cain, who was born at Matamora, in Franklin county, Indiana, March
3, 1857. She grew up and received her education in the same locality.
Her parents were Doctor C. C. and Eliza A. (Clements) Cain, her father
well known as a prominent physician and surgeon at Matamora in Frank-
lin county, and for sixty years practiced his profession and was one of
the old-time country doctors who took his services to his patients regard-
less of personal discomforts and physical obstacles and inconveniences.
Dr. Cain died at the ripe age of ninety-five, and his widow was ninety-
six when she passed away. They were likewise active members in the
Methodist religion. Mr. and Mrs. Bell have no children. Fraternally
Mr. Bell is affiliated with Arcana Lodge No. 427, F. & A. il., at Upland,
and is lodge treasurer. He and his wife are Avorking members in the
Upland Methodist church in which he is trustee and recording steward,
offices which he has held for the past eighteen years. He is also a trustee
of Taylor College at Upland, and has given his official interests to that
institution for the past three years.
James H. Seiberling. In the career of James H. Seiberling is
exemplified in a marked degree the fact that merit wins recognition
and that industry, perseverance and well-applied effort always bring
just rewards, although some times they may seem delayed. As the
president of the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, he is
one of the most forceful business figures in Grant county. He would
have probably succeeded in any other field, for he possesses those
qualities which make for success, but Jonesboro should feel grateful
that he has centered his interests in this line and in this locality.
The Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company was organized in
1890, with a capital stock of $200,000, as a corporation, and started the
manufacture of insulated wire as its special feature, but three years
later began also to make soft rubber goods. James H. Seiberling was
the first president and has continued in that office to the present time.
George Tate was the first vice-president, and was succeeded in 1898 by
J. Frank Peterson as the holder of his stock, the latter being made a
director at that time. He is a resident of Chicago. Nicholas Huber,
of Akron, Ohio, became vice-president in 1908 and still retains that
office. A. Frank Seiberling, a son of James H. Seiberling, became the
first secretary and later superintendent and assistant treasurer, as well
as a member of the board of directors. The first treasurer was Monroe
Seiberling, a brother of James H. Seiberling, who continued to act in
that capacity until his death in 1910, he being succeeded by S. H.
Miller, a manufacturer of Doylestown, Ohio, who is also a member
of the directing board. The present officers are as follows: James H.
Seiberling, president and director; Nicholas Huber, vice-president and
director; A. Frank Seiberling, superintendent, assistant treasurer and
director; S. H. Miller, treasurer and director; R. W. Seiberling, son of
James H. Seiberling, secretary and director; W. J. Richardson, time-
keeper and director; J. Frank Peterson, member of the board of direc-
tors. This enterprise has grown to large proportions, and at this time
gives employment to about 400 people, the business amounting to some
million and a quarter dollars annually, or about one hundred thousand
monthly. It has become one of the leading industries of this part of
the state, and is known as one of the largest in its special line in the
BLACKFORD AND GEANT COUNTIES 583
countiy. A part of the large plant is operated by steam and the rest
by electricity. At this time the factory is turning out great numbers
of automobile tires and inner tubes, over 1000 bicycle tires a day and
a full line of rubber supplies, as well as a great amount of insulted
wire. This latter was the only product of the business when it was
organized and continued to be the main line of manufacture for three
years, when the rubber goods were added.
The directing head of this company, James H. Seiberling, is known
to practically every business man of Grant county. He is a man who,
although deeply engrossed in the concerns of a large and growing
industry, has found time to cultivate his social nature and to enjoy
the pleasures of companionship with his fellow-men. Mr. Seiberling
was born in Summit county, Ohio, November 25, 1835, and comes of
German ancestry. His great-grandfather, John Frederick Seiberling,
was boru in Germany, and came to America in young manhood, locating
at Liunville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder
of his life, passing away at an advanced age. Nathan Seiberling, father
of James H. Seiberling, was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania,
about the year 1810, and grew up a farmer. He married a Pennsylvania
girl and they began their married life on a farm in Lehigh county.
Subsec|ueutly the father moved to Ohio and settled on a farm in Norton
township, Summit county. The grandfather was a remarkable man in
many ways, was alert and active to the last, and fully retained the
possession of his faculties. He came to Summit county, Ohio, in his
ninety-third year and died there. While a resident of Linnville he had
served as postmaster for sixtj'-five yeai-s, and when he died was the
oldest postmaster in the United States. Although a whig and a
Republican, Mr. Seiberling was never opposed by the opposite party's
candidates. From the time of the emigrant the family has been identi-
fied with the Lutheran church, and of this John Frederick Seiberling
and his wife were both faithful members. Their children were:
Joshua, Sarah, Nathan, Peter, John and William, and probably several
other daughters. All of these grew to maturity, were married and had
families.
Nathan Seiberling, the father of James H. Seiberling, was born in
Lehigh count}', Pennsylvania, and there was married to ]\Iiss Catherine
Peters, who was born about 1812 in that county. Shortly after their
union, about 1830 the young couple traveled overland with teams across
the mountains into Norton township. Summit county, Ohio, and there
settled in the woods, the father building a little log cabin, in which
James H. Seiberling was later born. After some years this cabin
home was supplemented by a good frame house. IMr. Seiberling 's first
purchase amounted to 100 acres, but through energy, thrift and per-
severance he managed to accumulate a competency, and was known at
one time as one of the large landholders of his county. The old home-
stead is now occupied by his youngest son, Gustavus. It was in the
home they first settled that Nathan Seiberling and his wife died, the
former iii 1899, when five months less than eighty years of age, and
the mother in 1894, at the age of eighty-three years. They were life-
long members of the Lutheran church. ]Mr. Seiberling was a Whig and
later a Republican, and for several years acted in the capacity of justice
of the peace and held various township offices, in all of which he demon-
strated his ability, his faithfulness to duty and his good citizenship.
There were thirteen children in the family of Nathan and Catherine
Seiberling. the greater number of whom were married and had issue.
The living, all at the head of families, are: James H., Charles G.,
Columbus, Milton, Gustavus and Sarah, a widow.
584 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
James H. Seiberling grew up on the home farm and was given only
au ordinary education, as he was expected to assist his father in the
work of the homestead, and continued to remain with him until he was
twenty-five years of age. He was reared to habits of honesty and
industry, and earl.y learned the value of hard, persistent labor. When
tweuty-tive years of age, Mr. Seiberling was married, and at that time,
with his brother John, embarked in the manufacture of fai'm imple-
ments, at Doj-lestown, near Akron, Ohio. This business was continued
for some forty years, and in connection therewith the Seiberliugs
operated a foundry. This business is now conducted by S. H. Miller,
who is also a member of the rubber and 'wire company, although James
H. Seiberling has an extensive interest in the implement business still.
He also is part owner of the plate glass works at Ottawa, Illinois. As a
sturdy, enterprising and up-to-date citizen, Mr. Seiberling has accom-
plished an incomprehensible amount of good for Jonesboro. His aggres-
siveness, coupled with his energj' and prolific mind; his honesty as an
example and precept: his capability as a man of opinions, public and
private, all have combined to entitle him to the appellation by which
he is known — one of the worthy and valuable men of the county, in
social, industrial and commercial circles.
Mr. Seiberling was married in Summit county, Ohio, to Miss Eliza-
beth Baughman, who was born in 1838, and there reared and educated,
and still active and alert in spite of her age. She is a daughter of David
and Elizabeth (Blocker) Baughman, natives of Pennsylvania and early
settlers of Summit county, where they spent the remainder of their lives
on a farm. They were faithful members of the Reformed church and
widely known and highly respected in their community. Mr. and jMrs.
Seiberling are the parents of the following children: Martha, who
became the wife of J. W. Richards, a director of the rubber company,
and died without issue; A. Frank, director and superintendent of the
rubber works and a prominent business citizen of Jonesboro. who
married in this city Angelina Cline, and has two childi'en, Paul and
Catherine, who are attending the public schools; Ollie, whose death
occurred at the age of fifteen years; George, who died when eighteen
months old; Allen B., who passed away at the age of four and one-
half years: and Robert "W., secretary of the rubber company and one
of his city's progressive young men, who married Genevieve Linu and
has one son, James Linn.
Mr. and Mrs. Seiberling and their children have continued in the
family religious faith, belonging to the Lutheran church. A Republican
in his political views, ilr. Seiberling cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln, and has continued to support the Grand Old Party to the
present time. He has long been a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, while his sons hold membership in the Masonic fra-
ternity. The beautiful home of the Seiberlings, a modern, brick struc-
ture, overlooks Jonesboro and the Mississinewa river, and is one of the
finest residences in Grant county.
"Wade B. Teeter. The leading druggist of Upland, Uv. Teeter
maintains a modern store, well stocked with pure drugs and with a large
stock o&druggists' sundries, at the corner of Slain and Railroad streets.
This store was opened in 1907 by Levi A. Teeter, father of Wade B.,
but the latter has been the regular pharmacist from the start. A short
time before the store was established he graduated in the pharmacy
department of Purdue University in 1907.
Wade B. Teeter was born at Pleasant Hill, Miami county. Ohio,
September 14, 1882. The family moved to Grant county in 1890. lived
for a time in Pleasant township, and later in Upland, where he graduated
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 585
from the high school in 1900. For several years Mr. Teeter alternated
between attendance at school and college and teaching and other forms
of employment which were in the nature of preliminary steps in his
regular career. In 1904 he graduated from the Marion Normal College,
having previously taught school for one year and then taught another
year, after which he entered Purdue University and completed the course
in pharmacy. Mr. Teeter is a member of the Grant County Pharmacy
Association and of the National Retail Druggists Association. Mr.
Teeter is of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. Plis grandfather, Jacob Teeter,
was born in Pennsylvania, later moved to Pleasant Hill in Miami county,
Ohio, where he was a successful merchant for some years. "While there
his son Levi A. was born January 11, 181:7, and when a small boy lost
his mother. Jacob Teeter married for his second wife a Miss Ward, and
they continued to live in Miami county for many years, but Jacob died
at his home in Dayton, Ohio, when eighty-seven years old. His widow,
now about seventy years of age, lives in California. During the earlier
generation the Teeters were all communicants of the Dunkard church.
Levi A. Teeter, who was one of the younger of his mother's children,
was reared at Pleasant Hill, and from early boyhood gained a practical
acquaintance with mercantile affairs under the eye of his father, a
merchant at that place. He was given educational advantages that may
properly be considered liberal, and after the common schools was a
student in the Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio. For some years he
taught school in Ohio, Indiana, and Nebraska. While teaching in
Wabash county of this state he met Miss Ellen Bloomer, and their
acquaintance ripened into marriage. After being married they lived
three years in Ohio and then came to Grant county, where Mr. Teeter
was engaged in farming in Pleasant township until 1890, and from
that date until 1910 he was in business at Upland. In 1910 he returned
to Ohio and located near Farmdale in Trumbull county, where he owns
considerable property and is now living retired. He and his wife are
members of the Methodist church, and he is a Republican in polities, and
has had a long and busy and useful career. Levi Teeter and wife had
the following children: Von E., who lives at home with his parents and
is unmarried ; Wade B. ; J. Russell, who graduated from the Indian-
apolis Dental College in 1914: Clara, who was for a time a student in
DePauw University and now lives at home; and Francis, who is in the
public schools.
ilr. Wade B. Teeter was married in Grant county in Monroe town-
ship to iliss ilabel ilittank, who was born in Jefferson township in
1888. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Amaria A. Mittank. Mrs. Teeter
was graduated from the Matthews high school in the class of 1910. To
their marriage has been born one child, Louine, on November 15, 1912.
Mr. and Mrs. Teeter are members of the Methodist church. In politics he
is a Progressive, and is now serving his home locality as town clerk.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Arcana Lodge No. 427 of the Masonic
Order, and belongs to the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.
Jacob Wise. The career of the late Jacob Wise was one not only
of long years, but marked by eminent usefulness as a man and citizen,
and in many ways he made his impress on the Grant County community,
which was his home for about sixty years.
Jacob Wise was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, February 15,
1833, and died at his home in Jefferson township of Grant county,
December 12, 1909, when seventy-sis years of age. His parents, Daniel
and Catherine (Beckles) Wise, were of Dutch ancestry, and both natives
586 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
of Pennsylvania, the former born August 30, 1805, and the latter in
1807. They were married in Center county. Daniel Wise was a skilled
carpenter and cabinet maker, and he followed his trade for some years
in Pennsylvania, though in later years he was chiefly a farmer. During
their residence in Pennsylvania, four sons came into their home, and also
a daughter, Ann Margaret, who was born and died in 1832. Then in
1848, the entire family set out for Indiana, placing all their earthly
belongings in a small wagon, and making the entire journey across the
country and camping at night by the wayside. On arriving in Grant
county they spent a short time with a friend Isaac Roush in Mill town-
ship, and in the fall of the same year moved to Jefferson and acquired
two hundred acres of land in section four. Only three acres of that
tract was broken with the plow, and a log cabin was the home which first
sheltered them in this county. After a naimber of years of hard labor
and many difficulties the father prospered and came to be regarded as
one of the most substantial citizens of his community. He was able to
spend his later years in peace and comfort, and died in 1895, when
ninety years of age. His widow passed away May 6, 1897, also ninety
years old. They were both of the Lutheran faith, and were hard workers,
kind neighboi-s, and in every respect good, thrifty people. Their chil-
dren are given brief record as follows: John, born January 27, 1830,
and died in Jefferson township, December 20, 1887, married Mary A.
Marine, also now deceased, and their children were Samuel, M'ho died
at the age of twelve years, and Jonathan, who died after he was married.
The second in the family is Jacob. Henry, born March 25, 1835, is a
retired fanner of Gas City, and by his marriage to Maggie Simons, has
several children. Samuel, bom March 3, 1838, died unmarried, Novem-
ber 21, 1864.
Jacob Wise was fifteen years old when the family came to Grant
county. He had an education perhaps of about the average amount
and quality for the boys of his time, and had his share of pioneer labor
in developing the estate in Grant county. In 1856 he was married, and
he and his wife then located on eighty acres given them by his father-in-
law, Asa Marine. To this their subsequent good management and in-
dusti-y added three hundred and twenty acres, and the entire place was
improved with a fine set of farm buildings and was improved as a com-
fortable and profitable home.
In Jefferson township on March 13, 1856, Jacob Wise married Eliza-
beth Marine, who was born January 15, 1836, in Wayne county, Indiana.
She belongs to the ilarine family that has been so prominently identified
with Grant county from the early days, and since the death of her hus-
band she has continued to reside at the old homestead, Avhere she owns
two hundred acres of laud. Though approaching the age of fourscore
she is a hale and vigorous old lady, intelligent and well able to look
after her busiuess interests, and enjoys the esteem and admiration of a
large circle of friends. Her parents were Asa and Lydia (Huff)
Marine, both natives of South Carolina, and of Quaker stock. They
came separately to Indiana, and were married in Wayne county, and
from there moved to Grant county, Avhere Asa Marine bought land on
the Mississiuewa and developed a home from the wilderness. His first
wife died there in 1860 and he was again married and had three children
by his second wife. The Marine family has many interesting connec-
tions and relations with Grant county history, and further information
can be found touching its membership, and activities under the name of
Daniel Marine elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wise became the parents of the following family
of children: Samuel, who is sketched individually on other
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 587
Mary J., who was born October 13, 1858, is the wife of Jesse Stanley,
a prominent farmer of Jefferson township, and they have several chil-
dren ; Solomon is a farmer in Jefferson township ; Daniel lives on a
farm in Jefferson township, and has a wife and children; Frank is
living at home with his mother, is unmarried, and is considered one of
the largest hog raisers and stock dealers in the county; Elmer, now
married, lives at South Bend, Indiana, and has a daughter ; Alice, is the
wife of Howard Simons, a farmer of Monroe township, and they have
a son and daughter ; Lydia is the wife of George Himelick, a successful
farmer in Jefferson township, and they have a family of eleven children.
Joseph Moerow, the elder, was born in the state of North Carolina,
A. D. 1799, and when a lad was brought to Wayne county, Indiana, by
his father, John Morrow.
He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and for a time was engaged
therein, but subsequently became engaged in mercantile lines at New-
port (now Fountain City), Wayne county, and while residing there
served for a period as justice of the peace, and as a member of the
State Legislature from Wayne county.
In 1843 he came to Grant county and located on his farm, bordering
on the JMississinewa river, a part of which is included in the site of
Gas City. In the spring of 1851, having sold his farm, he moved to
Jonesboro and for several years was engaged in the dry goods business at
that place, but finally retired from business entirely on account of
advancing age.
In politics Mr. Morrow was originally a Whig and later a Republi-
can, and was always opposed to slavery. He served twice as a member
of the state legislature for Grant county, the last time in the winter of
1850 and 51. At this session an attempt was made to detach a portion
of Grant county and add it to Blackford county which Mr. Morrow
successfully resisted. His death occurred in 1863.
By his first wife he had, while living in Wayne county, four children
of whom Joseph, whose history follows, is the only survivor. His second
marriage was to Mary Smith, the sister of his first wife, and by that
union there was born, in Grant county, three children: Alcinda L.,
Andrew T. and Lavina J., of whom Andrew T. is now the only one living
and now a resident of Kansas and who was for many years a civil
engineer in the United States service and for a time in the Argentine
Republic, S. A., where his sister Alcinda L., who while young began her
career as a teacher in Grant county, had been and was then engaged in
teaching, having first acquired a proficient knowledge of the Spanish
language and who recently died at Los Angeles, California, where she
was highly respected as a teacher and for her charitable work. It is
now proper as a conclusion to this historical sketch of Mr. Morrow's
life to say that he was exceedingly conscientious in all his dealings with
his fellowmen, and was highly circumspect in his demeanor, and always
an unswerving advocate of what he believed to be correct principles of
political and social life.
Joseph Morrow, Jr., a pioneer of Grant county, whence he came in
1843, and an esteemed citizen of Marion, has been a witness and partici-
par* in the wonderful development of this section of the Hoosier state,
and although now living a quiet life, retired from business activities, is
still interested in the growth and progress of his community.
Mr. Morrow in his boyhood was denied many of the advantages con-
sidered necessary to the education of the youth of today, and his early
training or knowledge was secured largely by dint of his own unaided
588 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
exertion as opportunity was afforded liim in connection with the school of
hard work. His steadfast determination and industry have enabled him
as will herein be further disclosed to make for himself an honorable
place in life. He was born September 9, 1838, and was the son of
Joseph and Letitia (Smith) Morrow.
He was four years of age when he was brought by his parents to
Grant county, and here he received his education in private and public
schools. After going to Jonesboro he clerked in the stores of his father
and afterward, for several years, in those of other merchants ; and subse-
quently for a time served as first assistant teacher in the graded school
at that place.
In 1866, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was elected clerk of
Grant county on the Republican ticket, and continued to serve in that
office for four years, and following this was a member of the Grant county
bar and thence devoted a portion of his time to the practice of probate
law.
Later Mr. Morrow was connected with the North Indiana Conference,
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as a minister, but withdrew from the
conference at a session held in Ft. Wayne, in 1874. He had joined the
church at the age of IS years, at Jonesboro, and was soon made a local
preacher and served as such for many years.
In 1898 Mr. ilorrow removed to Traverse City, Michigan, where he
resided for eight years, at the end of which time he again took up his
residence in ilarion. Grant county, and soon retired, on account of
failing health, from all active secular pursuits.
On March 27, 1864, Mr. Morrow was married to Miss Mary A.
Taylor, one of Grant county 's school teachers. She was born in England,
daughter of William and Mary Ann (Pitch) Taylor, where Mrs. Taylor
died. Afterward, in 1849, J\Ir. Taylor with his children came to the
United States and settled in Grant county, Indiana, where he became
engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm located between Jonesboro
and Fairmount and there his death occurred about five years later.
Jlrs. IMorrow was the youngest of five children bom to her parents,^
and is now of them the only survivor.
Her father's second marriage was to Rebecca Rich of Grant county,
now deceased, by whom he had two children, Joseph, now also deceased ;
and Eli who lives in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. Morrow have three children, the eldest. Flora Elma
Baldwin, wife of Dr. M. F. Baldwin, of Marion ; and Arthur J., now a
member of the city council, of Marion, whose wife was Anna il., daugh-
ter of Augustine and Loretta Kem ; and Aleinda Estella, wife of
Thomas H. Sherman, a merchant of Traverse City, Michigan, where they
now reside. Mr. Morrow's character is so well known and so fully to be
inferred from the foregoing as to make particular reference to it here
unnecessary.
Heney D. Carter. Eighty-five years ago the first of the Carter
family to become identified with what has in more recent years been
known as Grant county, made his way from North Carolina into this
section of the country, and from then to now men of the name have
been worthily connected with the enterprises that have made of Grant
county the progressive and prosperous district that it is.
Henry D. Carter, now deceased, represented the third generation
of the name in Grant county. He was a son of George Carter and
a grandson of Solomon Carter, the one who first settled here, and
concerning those worthy pioneers it is proper that some mention be
made at this point.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 589
Solomon Carter came of an old North Carolina famil^y whose
habitat there had long been Randolph county, which has in "the past
century contributed much new blood to the growth and upbuilding
of this county. He was born there in the latter part of the eighteenth
century, and there was reared. In young manhood he was married.
His wife's surname was Jane, and with their family they migrated
to Grant county, Indiana, about 1827. It is not to be thought that
they found conditions other than most primitive in those early days.
The state was young, having been admitted to the Union but a few
years previous, and Grant county was in a particularly undeveloped
and uninviting state. I\Ir. Carter had come to make a new home in
a new land, however, and he did not permit the conditions that con-
fronted him to daunt him in any manner. The result was that he
settled down in what is now Center township. Grant county, his place
being located on the turn of the Mississinewa River, a spot of singular
beauty even in those wilderness days.
Here Solomon Carter and his wife passed the closing years of
their busy and fruitful lives, death claiming them there not many
years after they had settled, when they were somewhere between the
ages of sixty and seventy years. They reared a fine family of seven
sous and two or three daughters, none of which are living today. All
of them married with the exception of Solomon Jr., who was a veteran
of the Civil war and died in the Soldiers' Home in Illinois when he
was quite an old man, and Jane, a daughter, who died aged 16 years.
Of these children, George Carter, who became the father of Henry
D., of this review, was a good sized boy when his parents came north.
He saw much of pioneering in the days of his residence on the home
farm in Center township, and when he reached his majority and
began to look about for himself, he felt that he could do no bettter than
to take some Indiana land on his own account. He accordingly entered
120 acres in Section 9, Mill township, and when he married a little
later, he located on this new and uncultivated spot of land. There
he built a log house, small but comfortable, and until 1850 he lived
the life of a pioneer farmer. In that year they built a fine frame house,
in which they passed their remaining years. He died on April 3, 1889,
and his wife passed away on April 10, 1903. Both had reached a fine
old age, and were ready to go when their summons to another life came
to them. They were reckoned among the finest citizenship of their time,
and as suecessfiil farming people of a splendid type, they had a
secure place in the esteem of their fellows. Mrs. Carter particularly
was known to be one of the most excellent managers of her day, and
proved herself possessor of qualities and powers in matters of finance
that undeniably had nuich to do with the prosperity they enjoyed. She
retained her splendid mental vigor and much of her physical strength
until the closing hours of her life. They were long active members of
the United Brethren Church and were among its early organizers in
their community. Mr. Carter was a prominent man in the community
as an office holder, and his interest in the affairs of the church was
such that he was usually to be found holding some important office in
the administration of its activities. Their home was the free aliiding
place of all the itinerant preachers of the day, that being the period
characterized by the circuit riders of the church, and all knew that the
Carter latch string always hung out with a hearty welcome forthcoming
to those Avho would avail themselves of it. Mr. Carter was a Republican
in his political faith. Twelve children were born to ]\Ir. and ilrs.
Carter. The names of the twelve in the order of their birth are here
given as follows:
590 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Eliza J., bom in 1838 and died in 1848. Mary Ann, born in 1840,
and now J\lrs. Bond. She is without issue and has her residence at the
Old Ladies' Home of IMarion. John was born in 1842 and died in the
same year. Susanna was born in 1843 and died in 1849. Elizabeth,
born in 1845, died in 1846. Lydia, born in 1846, died in 1871. She
married Thomas Knight and had one son. William Carter was born
in 1850 and died in Febiniarj-, 1912, on his fine farm home in Mill
township. He married Elizabeth Knight, now living in Marion, Ind.,
and they have one son. ilartha was born in 1851 and she died in 1875,
two years after her marriage to Jesse Bogue, without issue. Solomon
Jr. was born in 1854 and now is a resident of Marion. He married
Lydia Linder and is the father of three children. Lucy R. was born in
1856 and married Daniel Gibson. She died in 1898, leaving a son and
daughter. Rachel J. was born in 1860 and died in 1862. Henry D.
Henry D. Carter grew up on his father's farm and early in his
boyhood he gave evidence of those qualities that make for unqualitied
success in the farming enterprise. After he married he located on a
farm of seventy acres in Section 31, Mill township, and there he spent
the remainder of his life. He improved the place until it reached a
high plane of modern completeness, and his barns and other similar
buildings were built and equipped in a manner that left nothing to
be desired. They were among the finest in the state and were built
along scientific lines, in a manner most approved by experts in the
line. His poultry house was a model of completeness with cement floors
and every possible arrangement conducive to the comfort and general
productiveness of the poultrj'.
In addition to his own place Mr. Carter came into ownership of the
old homestead farm of 120 acres, which is another of the fine places
of the county. His widow now owns and operates these places, with a
success that is praiseworthy and that reflects great credit upon her as
a manager.
Mr. Carter was a man of splendid native ability and of wonder-
fully fine character. In addition to the care and conduct of his two
farms he was largely engaged in the contracting business, road and
street building being his line. Two years before he died he suffered
a stroke of paralysis, and though he did not eujoj' the best of health
thereafter, he was able to attend to his duties in his former manner.
He was a Republican and died a member of the Christian church.
On IMarch 27, 1880, Mr. Carter was married in Fairmount town-
ship to Miss Sarah C. Lamm, born in Jackson to^vnship, Miami county,
Ind., on January 18, 1857. Her mother, Johanna (Elliott) Lamm,
died when Mrs. Carter was six weeks old, and she was reared by her
grandparents, Isaac and Rachel (Overman) Elliott in Center township.
Grant county, Ind. The home of the Elliotts in those days was on
the spot now occupied by the National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts
in the earlier days entered the land from the government, and there
they lived and filially died, after which the land was sold back to the
government by their "son. Isaac, Jr., as a site for the proposed National
Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts were of an old Quaker family, and people
of many excellent qualities of heart and mind. The father of Mrs.
Carter was Edmond Lamm, a native of Randolph county. North Caro-
lina, who came to Miami county, Indiana, as a young man. in company
with his parents, Caleb and Sarah Lamm, who passed the closing years
of their lives in that county. They, too, were Quakers. Edmond Lamm
was reared to farm life and he entered land in Jackson township, in
Miami county, there passing his life, which, though busy, was unevent-
ful. He was" sixty -two years of age when he died and he had been three
times married. The children of his first marriage were three in number,
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 591
and besides Mrs. Carter there were Mrs. Margaret J. Bund^', now
living at Converse, in Miami county, and Rachel, who died at the age
of eighteen years. By his last marriage Mr. Lamm had one daughter,
who died in infancy.
Mrs. Cai-ter was educated in the public and normal schools and was
for five years prior to her marriage engaged in teaching. She is the
mother of Prof. George E. Carter, of Port Arthur, Texas, and an
instructor in manual training at that place. Professor Carter married
Esther Shafer of Jouesboro, Indiana, and has one daughter, Margaret
Catherine. Frank, another son of Mrs. Carter, is now in the branch
house of a Cincinnati, Ohio, roofing concern, with headquarters in
Chicago much of the time. He is not married.
Hazel Carter, a daughter, has been given an excellent education in
the public schools and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Normal School and in
Bradley Institute, having specialized in Domestic Science and Economy.
She is now a successful instructor in that important branch in the
Marion Normal.
Mary, the youngest daughter, is a graduate of the Marion Normal,
and is engaged in kindergarten teaching.
Dwight is a graduate of the Marion Normal Institute in 1913, and
he is busy at home, helping his mother to manage the farm, which
is known as Oak Grove Terrace, and their combined skill and energy
has been resultant in the most thriving and pi-osperous conditions about
the place.
ilrs. Carter is a member of the Friends church, and is one of the most
highly esteemed and popular women of the community.
Ivy Luthee. To be well born is one of the greatest blessings that
can come to a child. Ancestry counts for benefits and becomes a matter
of pride only as it confers attributes of character and family traits that
enable later generations to live more fully and with greater usefulness
to themselves and their community than the generations that have pre-
ceded them. No matter how much may be charged to circumstances and
environments in the making or marring of character, it is as true as the
hills that "blood will tell." These remarks have special application to
the Luther family in Grant county. They come of many generations of
strong, sturdy Americans, characterized by mental and moral qualities of
a high order, and the present generation has well lived up to the stand-
ards set by its predecessors.
The family history is authentically traced back to John Luther, a
brother of Martin Luther, the great German and reformer and founder
of German Protestantism. One of the descendants of that John Luther
came from Germany to England prior to 1630. The first American of
the family was also named John Luther, born in England before 1630,
and emigrating to the American colonies previous to 1640. This immi-
grant was known as Captain John Luther, and was killed by Indians
in Delaware Bay in 1644. He married Sarah Butternut, who was
probably an English girl, and they were probably married in England,
since their son Hezekiah Luther, next in the line of the family history,
was born in England in 1626. Hezekiah Luther married and had
children, among whom was Michael Luther, who was born in Maryland
about 1656-7. From Maryland he moved south into North Carolina,
settling in Randolph county, the point of origin for so many Grant
county settlers. There he died in 1734. In religion he was a Methodist.
He was twice married and had children by both wives.
From Michael Luther to Godfrey Luther, there is a break in the
family genealogy, of one or perhaps two generations. Godfrey Luther
592 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
was born December 14, 1776, and died August 3, 1855. He grew
up in Randolph county of North Carolina, and married Elizabeth Stride,
who was born in 1779, and died in 1816. They were farming people
and members of the Methodist faith. Godfrey and Elizabeth Luther
had five children, Sarah, Jacob, Martin, William and Catherine. Of
these children Martin was born in Randolph county. North Carolina,
September 6, 1805. He grew up in his native vicinity, took up farming
as his occupation, and married Sarah (Sally) Kearns. She was born
in Randolph county in 1807. After their marriage, which occurred
about 1830, they settled on a farm in Randolph county, and spent the
rest of their lives the're. He died March 26, 1883, and she on December
15, 1892. Their religious faith was Methodist.
The children of Martin and Sarah Luther were as follows : 1. Mary
Ann, born August 18, 1832, died after her marriage to Richard Graves
and left a family. 2. Ivy was born February 22, 1834,_and is head of
the well known Grant coiinty family of that name. 3. "James "W. was
born July 14, 1836, and died unmarried during the Civil war in North
Carolina. 4. Josiah was born March 4, 1840, died in his native county,
and married Anna Crawford, and their children were Elsa and Martin.
5. Martha E. died after her marriage .to M. Lathroek, and left children.
Ivy and Vetura. 6. Emily Maria is the wife of William Fletcher Hicks,
and has seven children.
Ivy Luther, whose birth has been noted, and who is now in his
eightieth year, has had a long and honorable career. Reared on a farm,
he early found himself out of sympathy with the tide of public opinion
before the war, and when the war broke out was conscripted for service
in the Confederate army. Instead of going to the front he managed to
secure an appointment in the Government Salt Works, but soon after left
the south and journeyed to Henry county, Indiana. There he had his
home for seven years, and then moved to Grant county, where he bought
eighty acres of laud adjoining the Fairmouut corporation. He has placed
many improvements including a iiue home and barns and other out-
buildings on that land, and is living in comfortable circumstances.
In Randolph county. North Carolina, Mr. Luther was married August
28, 1855, to Sarah Stuart, who was born in Randolph county, August
21, 1833. She was reared and educated in that vicinity, and she and her
husband were school children together. Her parents were Jehu and
Rebecca (Hicks) Stuart, natives of North Carolina, where they lived and
died as substantial farmer people and strict adherents of the Quaker
faith. The Stuart family has an interesting genealogy. Jehu Stuart,
father of ]Mrs. Luther, was a son of Henry and Mary (Nelson) Stuart,
both natives of Chatham coimty, North Carolina, and farmers and
Quakers. Henry Stuart was in turn the son of Alexander and Elizabeth
(Pike) Stuart. They were married in Frederick county, Virginia, in
1759, thence moving to Chatham county in North Carolina, where they
died at a good old age. Alexander Stuart, going back still another gen-
eration, was a son of Robert and Martha (Richardson) Stuart, natives
of Pennsylvania, where they were married, and afterwards moved to
Virginia. These last named couple were of English parents and were
probably immediately descended from some of the Quakers who came
over with or soon after William Penn and located in Chester county,
Pennsylvania.
Mr. and ]\Irs. Ivy Luther have the following children: 1. Dorothy,
was born in Grant county, received her education in the city high school,
and also the Earlham College at Richmond and the State Noi-mal School
at Terre Haute. She was for seventeen years a successful teacher in
the city public schools and now lives at home. 2. Narcissa is the wife
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 593
of Elias Bundy, an attorney of Marion. Their two children are Homer
L., and Howard E., both in the city schools. 3. James A., is one of
the prominent business men of Tei're Haute, Indiana. He is one of the
executive officials in the National Drain Tile Company, is connected
with the Lower Vein Coal Company, and an ofScial in various banks
and other corporations. He married Lizzie Scott, and their children,
Forest J., and B. Agues, are both married. 4. Emily R., is the wife
of Alvin B. Scott, a well known business man of Fairmount, whose
family history will be found on other pages. I\Ir. and Mrs. Luther are
both prominent members of the Friends church at Fairmount, and at
the present time in point of years are the oldest couple in the local con-
gregation. Their children were all reared in the same faith. Mr.
Luther in political allegiance is a Prohibitionist.
Reuben Fritz. On North Main Street in Fairmount, the meat mar-
ket enterprise of R. Fritz & Son has been a very successful establishment
since its opening in the fall of 1901. Mr. Reuben Fritz with his son is
a, practical butcher and meat man, and they conduct a high class shop,
with all the facilities for serving their customers with good meat. They
kill all their own stock, and buy their cattle and hogs from the local
farmers. They also manufacture the by-products into salable stuffs for
the local market, and both in their slaughter house and shop have every-
thing arranged for sanitary and expeditious handling.
Reuben Fritz was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 22, 1851.
His grandfather Peter Fritz was bom near Pottstown, Pennsylvania,
was a farmer, and of good German stock, known in that locality as
Pennsylvania Germans. His wife was a native of the same state, and
soon after their marriage they moved to Ohio with a little colony of
Pennsylvania people, numbering about half a dozen families. They made
settlement on new land in Liberty township of Fairfield county. There
the grandparents developed a fine farm, and prospered. They died
when well past seventy years of age and were members of the German
Reformed Church, where the grandfather was a Democrat in politics.
There was a large family of children, and two sons and about half a
dozen daughters grew up, were married and had children. Two ai-e still
living, ilrs. Rachel Bowser is a widow living in Allen county, Indiana,
while j\Irs. Mary Mauger now lives at Etna, Ohio, with a daughter.
Martin Fritz, father of Reuben, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio,
in 1828, and died in the latter part of 1851, soon after the birth of his
first and only child, Reuben. He was married in Fairfield county to
Catherine Solidaj', who was born in that county about 1830. Her
parents came from Pennsylvania, at an early day, and were among the
pioneers of Fairfield county, where they lived and died as prosperous
farmers, and as members of the German Reformed church. Mrs. Cath-
erine Fritz after the death of her husband married Absalom Arnold,
of Fairfield county, where he was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold lived
in Fairfield county until their death, she at the age of seventy-six, while
he pi-eceded her in death. There were five Arnold children, and Nansen.
George, Frederick, and Emma all married and have families, and all
are residents of Fairfield county, except the daughter, whose home is in
Denver, Colorado. Mr. Arnold married for his first wife a ^liss Weist,
and had two sons and two daughters, of whom the two sons are still
living.
IMartin Fritz was a member of the German Reformed church, while
his ^^■ife after her second marriage .joined the United Brethren church.
Reuben Fritz, after the death of his father, lived in the home of his
grandfather Peter Fritz, until he was about twelve years old, and after
594 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
that with his step-father Mr. Arnold. When he reached his majority, he
started out to make his way as a farmer. He was married at Baltimore,
Ohio, to Catherine Gehring, who was born in Licking count}', Ohio, a
daughter of Henry and Mary Gehring, natives of Wuertemberg, Ger-
many, and married in Newark, Ohio, where they lived, and also in
other places in that state until locating at Baltimore. Mr. Henry Gehr-
ing died at Baltimore fifteen years ago at the age of sixty-four, while
his widow later moved to Fairmount in Grant county, and lived with
her daughter Mrs. Fritz, until her death in November, 1910, at the age
of seventy-six. The Gehring family were Methodists. There were a
large number of children, and two sons and two daughters are still
living.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fritz lived in Baltimore, Ohio,
where he learned the trade of butcher, and did business in that line there
until 1900. He then moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and eighteen
months later to Fairmount.
Mr. and ilrs. Fritz are the parents of two children. Nellie is the
wife of William H. Lamb, a stock buyer and real estate dealer in Balti-
more, Ohio. They have three children, William, Catherine L., and Vir-
ginia. The son Harley H., the partner of his father in the meat market
at Fairmount, Avas born, reared, and educated in Baltimore, Ohio. He
learned the trade of butcher under his father, and has been in partner-
ship since 1890. He was married in Fairmount to Miss Myrtle Hart,
who was born and reared near Warsaw, Indiana. They have no chil-
dren. Both Mr. Fritz and his son reside on South Main Street in
Marion. Both are loyal Democrats, and all the family attend worship
in the Methodist church.
John Alpheus Carter. The Carter family of which John A. Car-
ter is a representative has lived long in Grant county, and has been
characterized by many of the more substantial virtues of citizenship
and private industry. The following article refers briefly to the main
points in the family history since the beginning of its Grant county resi-
dence, and mentions the different members of the family.
John Alpheus Carter was one of the family of Isaac W. and Phebe
(Whitson) Carter. Isaac W. Carter came from Clinton county, Ohio,
in 1855. Two years earlier he had married a Grant county woman, Miss
Phebe Whitson. She was a daughter of Amos Whitson, a pioneer of
Liberty township in the Bethel Friends neighborhood. Her father
moved to Valley Mills many years before his death. Phebe Whitson
had three sisters, Mrs. Ann Shugart, Mrs. Hannah Ellis, and Jlrs. Mary
Metcalf, all of whom reared families in Grant county. Isaac W. Carter
also had a sister, Mrs. Louisa Walthall, who reared a family in this
county. Isaac and Phebe Carter were among the best known pioneer
Quaker families in Grant county, and both were useful citizens in the
Bethel community. He always looked out for the welfare of his family
and she was a woman to go about the neighborhood wherever there was
sickness and need of neighborly ministrations. Her death occurred at
the family homestead, and he died at the home of a daughter in Marion,
having abandoned the country as a place to live, although he always
maintained citizenship in Liberty, caring more to vote in that township.
The sons and daughters of Isaac W. and Phebe (Whitson) Carter are :
John A. Carter; Joseph E. Carter; Mrs. Louise C. Harmon; and Mrs.
Ida C. Kern ; William A. Carter, deceased, and Alice and Rosetta Carter,
who died in childhood. All the other children have families about them.
William A. Carter, now deceased, married Miss Anna ilay Jay,
and their children are : Chester, Eli, Jennie and David. Chester Carter
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 595
married Miss Chestie Wise, and has two children, Ilene and Margaret.
Eli Carter married Miss Dessie Hubert, and has a son, Hubert Carter.
Joseph E. Carter married Miss Delia Coggeshall, now deceased, and their
children are : Pearl ; Earl ; Ray, who married Miss ilarie Kelly ; and
Arthur, who married Miss Tabitha Emmons. Mrs. Louise C. Harmon
is the wife of J. F. Harmon and their children are Madonna, Frances
and Robert, and a daughter Clyde, who died in childhood. Mrs. Ida
C. Kem is the wife of Oren E. Kem (see sketch of Augustin Kem), and
their children are Edith and Carter Kem.
John Alpheus Carter, who recites the family history, married Miss
Minerva Hiatt, and their children are : Omar Isaac Carter ; Mrs. Lena
H. Moore ; and Miss Hazel May Carter ; and Harry, who died in infancy.
Mrs. Lena H. Moore is the wife of E. L. Moore, and has three children,
Harold, Herbert and John Moore.
' The will of Isaac W. Carter provided that the three sons have the
farm land and that the two daughters be paid in cash for their interests,
and thus the homestead remained in the family name. William A.
Carter, who became owner of the old home, was the first to die, and a
son lives on the farm, while Mrs. Carter lives in Fairmount.
John A. Carter left the farm several years before the death of his
father, although he continiied to reside in the country for a few years
after taking a position as raral mail carrier. He began his duties in
that position on July 16, 1900, while the system was still an experiment
in Grant county. The first carrier over a country mail route out of
Marion was A. B. Comer, and his service began in September, 1899.
The second was L. E. Rinehart, who is still doing duty, while ]\Ir. Carter
has been on route No. 3 for more than thirteen years, and is the second
oldest rural carrier. All the rural routes in Grant county were com-
pletely covered for the first time on August 15, 1902, a little more than
two years after Mr. Carter first began delivering mail to country patrons.
In all his thirteen years he has missed less than a week except for his
annual vacation, and he has always had the friendly support of his
patrons.
The Carter family has always been relied upon in the commi:nity
where these sons and daughters were reared, and their friendly inter-
ests will always remain there, although J. E. Carter is now the only rep-
resentative of the family in the township of Liberty. When the Straw-
town road was built — the second gravel road in Grant county, I. W.
Carter, the father, was a promoter, and with two neighbors, Willis
Cammack and George Davis, undertook the contract for the mile begin-
ning at the Liberty-Franklin Line, and passing the Carter farm to the
Bethel road. The contract for the next half mile was taken by Tristara
Conner, David M. V. Whitson, and Richard Jay. The neighbors thus
concerned worked much together in developing the community, and it is
that kind of cooperation that counts for community advancement. Isaac
Carter, Willis Cammack, and David Wliitson owned a horse-power
threshing machine together for several years. That was at a time when
it required many more men and horses to thresh the crop than now, and
the dinners seiwed all over the neighborhood were the products of many
women clubbing together. Threshing was always a social event and
there has always been a subsequent friendship among the younger gen-
eration of all those families.
In speaking of this old neighborhood policy and the Carter partici-
pation, J. A. Carter said the rule was "Always go or send a hand," no
matter what was going on in the community that required cooperation.
And even while the interview was in progress, arrangements were being
made over the telephone for all the town relatives to go out to the old
596 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
farm on the following day for the annual threshing event. Although
Isaac "W. and Phebe Carter are gone, they will not soon be forgotten in
the neighborhood centering about Bethel Friends church in Liberty.
J. A. Carter's mail route is past the old home, and while he no longer
follows the plow, he is in daily communication with the people who look
after affairs, and the Carter ambition, as in the past, is to be abreast of
the times in everything. The young people in the second and third gen-
erations have all been given splendid educational advantages, and citi-
zenship is of a high type in the family. The Carter farm in Liberty has
always been a model and when results are in evidence anywhere the
crops there have been abundant. The Carter burial plot is near the
entrance to Friends Cemetery, and a beautiful shaft marks the last
resting place of the family.
John A. Meek, M. D. For a period of more than forty years the
late Dr. John A. Meek was engaged in the practice of medicine and
surgery at Jonesboro, and during this time rose to a commanding posi-
tion among the members of the profession in Grant county. The pioneer
physician of Jonesboro. he gained a widespread reputation for his skill,
his devotion to his calling and his broad sympathy, and was equally
well known and respected for his sterling citizenship and his upright
and honorable life. Doctor ]Meek was of Scotch descent and came of a
southern family which was for many years prominent in Kentucky.
His father, Joseph Meek, was bom in that state about the year 1790,
and came about the year ISIO to Indiana, locating on a farm in the
vicinity of Richmond, "Wayne count}', where he was married to Miss
Julia Smith, daughter of John Smith, the founder of Richmond. Mr.
Smith was a native of North Carolina, where he married a Quakeress,
and soon thereafter moved to Wayne county, where he became one of
his community's best known citizens, was Richmond's first blacksmith
and merchant, and donated large tracts of land to his adopted place.
After their marriage ilr. and Mrs. Meek located on a new farm near
Richmond, and there were born their eleven children : "William, Samuel,
Dr. John A., James R., Sarah J., Nathan, Margaret, Alfred, Allen,
Sarah Ellen and Jane. All grew up and were married except William,
Samuel and Sarah Ellen, and but two now survive. Dr. Allen Meek of
Hollingsburg, Ohio, and ^largaret, an eighty-year-old resident of Wayne
county. Joseph Meek and his wife continued to live on the old home-
stead throughout the remainder of their lives, and were both about
eighty-nine years of age when they died. They were faithful members
of the Methodist church, and Mr. Meek was a Democrat in his political
views.
John A. Meek was born on the home farm in Abington township,
Wayne county, Indiana, December 8, 1820. He was reared to the
pursuits of the farm, but early decided upon a professional career and
accordingly began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of
Doctor Sw'aller, an early physician of Abington, Wayne county. There
he was married to ^liss Sarah Weaver, daughter of Adam "Weaver, a
native of Pennsylvania of German parents and one of the very first
settlers of Abington township.
After the birth of three children, Perry S.. James R. and Mary E.,
Doctor ileek came to Jonesboro, where on February 14, 1848, he estab-
lished himself as the first physician of this place. Here he was engaged
in a successful practice until August, 1862, when he enlisted in the
Federal army as a surgeon for service during the Civil War, and became
2nd Lieutenant and Surgeon, serving as a field officer of the Eighty-
ninth Regiment, Indiana "^'olunteer Infantry. After more than two
^
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 597
years of active service lie received his honorable discharge, and returned
to the duties of his practice at Jonesboro, where he continued one of
the leading members of his profession until his retirement in 1S89.
From that time until his death he lived quietly at his home, although
he never ceased to be interested in the advancement made by the calling
or the progress made by his adopted city. Probably few physicians
of Grant county have been more favorably known. His high ability,
his devotion to the interests of his patients and the broad and unfailing
sympathy which he displaj'ed at all times endeared him to those who
came in contact with him whether in a professional or social way,
and in the affairs of his city he ever maintained a sterling citizenship
that made him a promoter of- all things that stood for the advancement
of education, religion and morality. He was a Democrat in his political
views, and his religious belief was that of the Methodist church, in the
faith of which he died July 11, 1901.
Doctor Meek.'s first wife died in 1854, and on June 4, 1862, he was
married to Miss Diana R. Pool, who was born at Petersburg, Pennsyl-
vania, December 25, 1840. When she was eight years of age she was
taken to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, by her parents John V. and Hannah
(Milburn) Pool, the former born in Maryland and the latter in the
city of Baltimore, that state. The Pool grandparents were German
birth, while John and Ursula (Drake) ililburn, Mrs. Meek's maternal
grandparents, were natives of England. John Milburn seiwed as sheriff
of Baltimore county, Maryland, for some years, but later moved to
Ohio, where he died at the age of eighty-eight years. Johu V. Pool
came to Grant county in 1852, and spent the remainder of his life in
Jonesboro, where he died in 1854, at the age of fifty-two years, while
his wife, who was born May 2, 1808, passed away Febniary 17, 1887.
They were members of the ilethodist church, in which Mr. Pool was
for many j^ears a class worker.
Ten children were born to Doctor and Mrs. Meek, of whom five died
in infancy, while one son, William, passed away after marriage. The
living are as follows: Charles M., born August 28, 1865, and educated
in the schools of Jonesboro, is a cornicemaker bj^ trade and now a
resident of California. He married Miss Emma Brewer, and has one
child, A. Milburn, who is sixteen years of age. Herman W., born June
5, 1874, a barber by trade with an establishment at Marion, married
Lillian Gagen. Frank, born January 19, 1880, and educated at Oberlin,
Ohio, is a telegraph operator of Jonesboro and single; Harry Clyde,
born May 29, 1884, was educated in the graded and high schools of
Jonesboro, and at Marion, Indiana. He was formerly a telegraph
operator and is now connected with the Indiana Rubber and Insulated
Wire Company as an automobile tire maker. He married in Jones-
boro Miss Lelia F. Dunn, who was born in South Carolina, they have
one daughter, JIary Belle, born August 24, 1910.
Mrs. Meek still survives the Doctor and resides in her pleasant home
in Jonesboro. She is widely known in social circles, and among the
members of the jMethodist Episcopal church which she joined as a child
of fourteen years.
Merrill L. Lev?is. The Marion hardware store is a familiar institu-
tion, not only to the citizens of the county seat, but to practically all
the people from the surrounding country who buy their goods in the
city. The manager of this store is Merrill L. Lewis. Mr. Lewis is a
native of Genesee county, New York, but most of his early life was spent
in ]\Iichigan. He was married on Christmas Day of 1873 to Miss Julia
Breckenridge of Hillsdale county, Michigan, and after living in Lansing
598 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
and Indianapolis, the family located in Marion in 1886. Since that
time Mr. Lewis has been actively identified with the community. To
this marriage were born three daughters: Geunie, Iva and Marjorie.
The mother died October 5, 1896, ten years after the family located in
Marion. Mr. Lewis afterwards married Mrs. Mary Roehm, and a
daughter, Florence, was born to them.
"When JMr. Lewis located in Marion he was a traveling hardware sales-
man through Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and Marion was central to
his territory. He could be home frequently, and the family much en-
joyed a home built to their own order on West Fourth Street, but later
an opportunity came for entering a retail business and the residence
was sold toward the investment.
Mr. Lewis first bought an interest in the Campbell and Ludlum Hard-
ware Store, and later organized the Marion Hardware Store, of which
he is business manager. He had his first experience in selling hardware
in Lansing, and after five years as a retail clerk went into the wholesale
trade as a knight of the grip. For fourteen years he traveled over three
states, where he developed a splendid trade among hardware dealers.
Mr. Lewis associated himself with others in the hardware trade in
Marion, the store being in the Wilson block, but as the business increased
more room was required, and W. C. Webster built the present store room
to fill the demands, planning ventilation, light and heat to suit the re-
quirements. There is no better equipped hardware store about the
country. Miss Gennie Lewis is the efficient bookkeeper, and it is nothing
unusual for her to go on the floor and wait on the trade — an unusual
occupation for a woman. Miss Lewis has specialized on seeds, a fine
stock always carried by the store.
It was in 1910 that the Marion Hardware store was moved into the
present location, Washington and Fifth Streets, and a large force of
men is required to take care of the trade. The firm has an extensive
patronage from Marion factories, and from building contractors, and its
farm patronage is excellent. No business in the city has better patron-
age, and there is no more efficient corps of salesmen waiting on trade
than at the Marion Hai-dware Store. There is no man in town who has
the good of the community more at heart, and Mr. Lewis has always been
a ' ' booster. ' ' He is always allied with any advance movement, and
when a subsidy must be raised he is always ready to solicit funds. The
whole community recognizes the worth of a man who labors in its inter-
ests. Some of the business men who have subscribed to factory subsidies
have learned what to expect when they see M. L. Lewis and other busi-
ness men enter their doors — there is need of money to boost some local
industry. The community effort to equip the Marion Normal Institute
was his special ambition, and he was gratified at the response of the
people when the subsidy was raised for it.
On Sunday morning Mr. Lewis takes his place at the First Methodist
church, a soi-t of a doorkeeper in the House of the Lord, and strangers
as well as members are welcomed alike and offered a hymn book and
psalter used in worship there. He always finds a seat for the stranger,
and people visiting a church are glad of such attention. While the
Lewis family has not always lived in Grant county, it is certainly part
of community affairs, and fills a niche both in the social and business
world. While he is surrounded by a competent force of salesmen, all
of them defer to him in many things, a man who thoroughly knows the
hardware trade and understands a profitable and uecessarj' business,
and that is what makes of the Marion Hardware store a necessity in the
community.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 599
Orlando H. Couch. There are probably few progressive farmers and
stock men in eastern Indiana who are not familiar with at least the
reputation of the Matthews Stock Farm of which Orlando H. Couch is
proprietor. This stock farm, located in Section Five of Jefferson Town-
ship is the seat of a big industry and one which for value and usefulness
of its output equals any large industrial factory or commercial estab-
lishment in the county. Of the one hundred and twenty-one acres com-
prising the farm, one hundred acres are under intensive cultivation. Some
of the features which at once attract the eye, and indicate the class of
business done on that place is a large red barn, a silo of fifty-tons capac-
ity, a first-class grain barn, a stable for the stallions, and a comfortable
and commodious house of eight rooms. An unfailing supply of good
water is furnished both to the house and to the stock farms by means of
windmills and gasoline engines. Besides the facilities on the farm itself,
Mr. Couch and his brother own a large brick property fifty by three
hundred and fifty feet in Matthews, and utilize that for the feeding and
breeding of hogs during the winter seasons. Some of the best red Duroc
swine in the country can be found on the Matthews farm, and they are
raised both for breeding purposes and for market. Mr. Couch keeps
about four hundred head of these red Durocs. Jersey cattle is another
specialty of his, and he has perhaps made his greater reputation as a
successful breeder of Percheron horses. His Percherou stallion known
as Lafayette, is a thoroughbred and was imported from France in 1909.
Lafayette weighs twenty-two hundred pounds and cost tweuty-five hun-
dred dollars. An even greater horse by record and reputation is the
Belgian stallion, Martin De Cappelle, which was imported in 1908.
This horse weighs twenty-two hundred pounds, and cost Mr. Couch three
thousand dollars, won the gold medal at Chicago as the champion Bel-
gian stallion in 1908, and has not only proved valuable in a financial
way to its owner, but has been the source of much up-breeding and im-
provement in the horse stock in this community. Mr. Couch has followed
stock farming since young manhood, and has proved himself both a prac-
tical and scientific breeder and manager of live stock. All his colts have
turned out well, and many of them have won prizes in the exhibitions.
Orlando H. Couch is a member of a family that has been identified
with Grant county since the early days, and a somewhat detailed history
of the family and its connections will be found elsewhere in this publi-
cation, under the name of Thomas M. Couch, a brother of Orlando.
Orlando H. Couch was born in Jefferson township June 10, 1870, a son
of Samuel and Nancy (Furnish) Couch. The maternal grandfather was
Judge Benjamin Furnish, one of the early settlei's of Jefferson township,
who entered large tracts of land, and that land, or a considerable part of
it, has been in the possession of some of his descendants down to the
present time. Mr. Couch was one of a family of five sons and two
daughters, all of whom are married and have families of their own,
except one sister, Nettie, who died after marriage to L. E. Richards.
Orlando H. Couch was reared and educated in his native township,
and since twenty-five years of age has given all his attention to the prac-
tical business of farming and stock breeding. In Madison county of this
state, on August 31, 1893, he married Miss Ida M. Worth, who was born
in Van Buren township of Madison county, March 24, 1873, was reared
and educated there, is a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Hoppis)
Worth, who lived and died in Madison county, passing away in the full
ness of years. Mr. and ]\Irs. Couch are the parents of eight children,
whose names and some facts about whom are mentioned as follows:
HaUie L., who graduated from the Matthews high school with the class
of 1911, but still remains at home. Wade S., who is attending high
600 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
school ; Marion G. ; Howard 0. ; and H. Joseph, who are all three in the
grade schools; Helen M. ; and John R. The oldest child, Samuel W.,
died at the age of eleven weeks. Mr. and ilrs. Couch attend worship in
the Baptist church, and in politics he is a Democrat.
Joseph Needlee. The Needier family record in Grant county goes
back eighty years. It was established here about three years after
Grant county became an organized civil community. Joseph Needier
is a son of the pioneer, and is of the third generation consecutively
residents in the eount}^ His own career has been spent as a farmer in
Jefferson township, where many years ago he won a place as a substan-
tial citizen, and is now enjoying the fruits of his long and well spent
years, on his home in section thirteen of that township.
His grandfather Needier was a native of Germany, was a young
man when he came to America, and his marriage occurred probably
in Pennsj'lvania. From Pennsylvania they moved to Virginia, where
James, father of Joseph, was bom and probably other children. Later
the family moved to Guernsey county, Ohio, and very late in life the
grandparents moved into Grant county, where they passed away when
very old. Their bodies now rest in a family lot in Jefferson township.
James Needier who was one of six sous, was bom in Virginia, about
1800. All of them came to Indiana, all were married and had children
and are now deceased. James Needier grew up in Guernsey county,
Ohio, and there married Rebecca Ward. She was born in Ohio. After
their marriage James and wife lived in Guernsey county, and while there
Eliza J., Sarah, George, and John were bom into their household.
Early in the thirties they determined to find a home in the then new
country of eastern Indiana. It was customary among the pioneers often-
times to go to the country they had in mind, look over the laud, select
the place, and purchase it from the government, and make some little
improvement preparatory to the establishment of the family. Thus
in 1833 James Needier came into Jefferson township, and after selecting
a place in the wilds he put up a rough log cabin. In 1834. having in
the meantime gone back to his family, he brought the entire house-
hold and all their movable possessions to Indiana, and started life in
the midst of a wilderness. His location was in one of the most remote
and unsettled portions of the township, and for several years practically
the entire substance of the family was derived from wild game. He
often killed bear and deer within a few rods of the home. James Needier
became the owner of four hundred acres of land in that township. The
old log cabin was in time replaced -s^ith a substantial house, and his
industry and good management introduced many other improvements
and comforts into the family economy. James Needier died when about
eighty-two years of age, and his wife passed away in 1871. They de-
serve' to be mentioned among the hard-working, thrifty, and honest people
who had the strength and sturdiness of character of the early population
of Grant county. Mr. James Needier was a member of the ilethodist
church, though' he made no profession of religious faith. In politics
he was a Democrat. Joseph Needier who was one of the youngest of
the six sons and six daughters, and who has three brothers and two
sisters still living, was bom on the old homestead in Jeft'erson town-
ship, August 31, 1841. As his recollection goes back nearly seventy
years he readily recalls some of the customs and institutions which have
long since become obsolete in Grant county. For instance, he attended
one of the old subscription schools, supported by contributions from
the individual families, and taught by an itinerant schoolmaster. Ever
since reaching man's estate, Joseph Needier has depended upon his own
MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH NEEDLER
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 601
resources, and being thrifty and industrious gradually aceummulated
enough to enable him in 1881 to purchase one hundred and twenty acres
of fine land in section thirteen. Since then all of that place has been
improved with the exception of fifteen acres of native timber, and there
is a full set of excellent farm buildings, including the comfortable
residence in which he lives. The faiTQ is now operated by others, and
I\Ir. Needier has no occasion for wori-y over his financial circumstances,
since he has ample to keep him in comfort the rest of his life.
ilr. Needier was first man-ied to Nancy J. Owings, who was bom
in Delaware county, Indiana, a daughter of George and Ruth (Owings)
Owings, her parents being cousins. Her family were among the promi-
nent early settlers of Delaware county. Mrs. Needier died in Jefferson
township when comparatively young. She was an intelligent and
lovable woman, a capable assistant to her husband in his early efforts,
and she is cherished in the memory of her children. Her children were :
Elmer, who died at the age of twenty-one years, having been fatally
injured when struck by a piece of timber; Orlando C, a successful
farmer, and the owner of ninety-five acres in section thirteen of Jeffer-
son township, married Sarah E. Ballenger; Lacy, wife of Carl Osborn;
and Louis L., whose career is given in more detail on other pages of
this work. The second wife of Mr. Needier was Mrs. Elizabeth (York)
Wilds, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, and by her marriage
to William Wilds had three children, as follows: Fred, who is married
and has a family, his home being in Eaton, Indiana; Mamie Pearl, wife
of Harry Pancoast, of Eaton, and their children are William and Arlis ;
and Leonard, the youngest, died aged two years seven months. j\Ir.
and Mrs. Needier have one child of their own, Edith Ethel, the wife
of Rev. Edward C. Corts, a minister in the Church of 'God at Logans-
port, and they have a son Adrian. Mr. and Mrs. Needier are members
of the Church of God, and in politics he is a Prohibitionist.
Hanfokd R. Miles. The material development of Upland and
vicinity owes much to the ability of Hanford R. Miles, prominent as a
general contractor and builder. For twenty jears he has been a resi-
dent at Upland, and has to his credit a remarkably long list of worthy
achievements in houses and public buildings, and other successful con-
tracts. In later years a very important feature of his business has been
street paving and concrete construction. Examples of his work may be
seen in the Pennsylvania Railroad freight house at Hartford City, and
the passenger stations at Converse and Ridgeville. For three entire
yeai-s, Jlr. Miles was employed altogether by the Pennsylvania Com-
pany. The number of public schools likewise testify to his energy. Mr.
Miles is a practical architect, and has drawn more than one hundred
plans for public buildings, and different kinds of work. He was the
architect and superintendent of construction of the fine high school at
Matthews, and stood in the same relation to the handsome Washington
Street bridge at Marion.
Hanford R. ililes was born in Blackford county, Indiana, July 2,
1869. He was educated in the public schools and in Normal College,
and before his marriage got a wide and thorough experience in the
different lines of the building trade, and in contracting. He lived in
Blackford county until 1893, and in that year came to Upland. He had
already proved successful in carrying out several important contracts,
and as the business broadened and larger opportunities were presented,
he determined to prepare himself for the proper handling of these
larger opportunities. He studied architecture, and for a number of
years has given close attention to both the professional and practical
side of his business. He was chosen superintendent of construction in
602 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
the erection of the Deeren Planing and Lumber Mills at Upland, and
had the superintendence of operation for seven years. He also drew
the plans and took an important part in the construction of most of the
buildings along the business streets of Upland, and successfully carried
out the contracts for the erection of the handsome group of University
buildings on the campus of Taylor University.
Hanford R. IMiles was one of a family of twelve children, nine sons
and three daughters, all of whom are married and all are living except
two. The Miles family was established in the northeastern states sev-
eral generations ago, and General Nelson A. Miles belongs in the same
family relationship. The founder of this branch was Thomas IMiles,
who came from England when young, with his step-mother, and a few
years later took part as a soldier on the American side during the Revo-
lutionary war. So far as known, his life was spent in the state of New
Jersey. Grandfather Lorenzo IMiles was born in New Jersey, later
moved to Western New York, and in 1835 to Indiana, settling first in
Fayette county, and in 1S3S in Jefferson township of Grant county.
Lorenzo Miles died in this county, in 1850, when quite old. Hammond
Miles, son of Lorenzo, was the first child born in Hammond, Steuben
county, New York, and his birth occurred June 1, 1826. He was nine
years of age when the family came to Indiana, and about twelve when
they located in Jefferson township on a farm. He began life as a
farmer, and acciuired one hundred and fifty acres in Blackford county.
He finally retired to Hartford City, where he died in 1910. Hammond
Miles was married in 1849 to Sarah R^mly. Their marriage occurred in
Grant count}', and she was born in Pennsylvania in 1829, and died
November 25, 1901. When a child she lost her parents, and was taken
into the family of Peter Gregory, who became one of the first settlers
of Blackford county where she was reared and educated.
All generations of the family, so far as known, have produced loyal
Democrats, and Hanford R. Miles is one of the ablest men in his party
in Grant county. He has served his home community as a member of
the town council, and also on the board of education. In 1892. in Black-
ford county, he married Miss Luella Johnson, a daughter of Thomas
and Sai-ah Jane (Rix) Johnson. The Johnsons were old settlers of
Blackford county, were substantial farming people, and Mrs. Johnson
died there when her daughter ilrs. IMiles was four years of age. Mr.
and Mrs. Miles have two children: Leah B., who graduated from the
Upland high school in the class of 1913, and is now a student of German
and music in Taylor University ; Doris, who is now a high school student ;
Dallas, a son, the first child of Mr. and Mrs. Miles, died aged two years.
Prank Smilet. The leading general mercantile house of Matthews
was established in that vicinity by Frank Smiley twenty-five years ago,
and Mr. Smiley has employed the sound principles of commercial integ-
rity and industry in effecting a result which classifies him among the
substantial and prosperous citizens of Grant county. He started out
in the drug business in New Cumberland, now known as "Old Town"
and is so called to designate the older part of the little city of ilatthews.
Mr. Smiley moved his enterprise to the new town of Matthews, when
that village was started in 1891, and here became a general merchant on
Massachusetts Avenue. His business there has been conducted for more
than twenty years, and with marked success. In 1910. JMr. Smiley
moved his establishment to a new location near the corner of Seventh
Street on Massachusetts Avenue, and there occupies a well arranged
store, twenty-two by eighty feet in ground dimensions, and his stock
is always fresh and selected with a view to supplying all the wants of
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 603
the large and prosperous community about Matthews. Mr. Smiley has
been one of the leading men in his community for many years and was
the first postmaster of Matthews, serving a long period in that office.
Frank Smiley was born in Jefferson township of Grant county,
August 5, 1861. His parents were Jonas and Lavina (Mullen) Smiley.
The father, who was born and reared in Darke county, Ohio, was a
young man when he took up his residence in Grant county, was married
here, and thereafter followed farming in Jefferson township until his
death at the age of forty-seven. With farming he combined the trade
of carpentry, and while during his youth he had no educational advan-
tages, he was alwaj's regarded and esteemed as a bright and intelligent
man. He and his wife were Methodists in religion, and his political
faith was that of the Republican party. His wife was born and reared
in Grant county, and died at the old home in Jefferson township at the
age of forty-two. Besides the Matthews merchant the other children
were : Charles, who is an oil well man, living in Fairmount, and by his
marriage to Anna Monnahan has one daughter, Lavina; Mattie Grace
is the widow of Eben Coppick, and has a son Reuben and a daughter
Ruth. One daughter died in childhood. Frank Smiley was about eight
years old when his parents died, and he grew up and was educated in
Jefferson township, started out without capital and all through his own
efforts has built up a substantial business. He was married in Delaware
county, this state, to Miss Minnie Millspaugh, who was born in Jeffer-
son township of Grant county forty-four years ago, but was reared and
educated in Delaware county. Her parents are William and ilargaret
J. (Burgess) Millspaugh, both natives of Indiana, reared and married
in Grant county, and later active farmers in Washington township of
Delaware county. There her father died in 1906 when sixty-two years
of age, but Mrs. Millspaugh still occupies the old homestead, and is now
sixty-three years of age. The Baptist was the faith of the Millspaugh
family. There were five sons and three daughters, and with the excep-
tion of one son, all are living, and all are married but one. Mr. and
Mrs. Smiley are the parents of one son, Russell, who was born January
19, 1891, and is still getting his education. Mr. and Mrs. Smiley
are Presbyterians in religion. He is a Republican and for nine years
gave an efficient administration of the duties of postmaster in Matthews.
Alvin B. Hoover. A solid business enterprise of Matthews has a
history of its own, which illustrated both the progress of the town and
the career of one of its foremost citizens. This business, conducted
under the name and proprietorship of Alvin B. Hoover, is a complete
establishment for the supplying of hardware, wall paper, paints, with
also a plumbing and tinware department, and occupies a storeroom
forty-two by ninety feet in dimension at the corner of Eighth and
Massachusetts Avenue. This business represents the steadily progres-
sive labors of Mr. Hoover, over a number of years. He established a
business here in March, 1911, and in April, 1913, took over the entire
stock of the Hayworth Hardware Company, and is now the only dealer
in general hardware and related supplies in Matthews. His business
up to a few years ago, was more in a special line as a paper and paint-
ing contractor and house decorator. As a house decorator his business
extends all over this section of Grant county, and also into Blackford,
Madison and Delaware counties. He is himself a practical house painter
and decorator, and that trade was the basis on which he has built up his
present prosperous commercial enterprise.
Mr. Hoover has lived in Grant county sixteen years, and all his life
has been spent in the vicinity of Matthews. He was born and reared in
604 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Washington township of Delaware countj^, his birth occurring January
4, 1868. His native township remained his home until he came to
Matthews sixteen years ago. His parents were William and Catherine
(Hoover) Hoover, his mother and father being of the same name, but
not related. They were both natives of Blair county, Pennsylvania,
coming of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and previous to the Revolution
membei's of the family lived in Virginia. William Hoover when a
young man moved west to Henry county, Indiana, and there he met and
married his wife, who came from the same state as he. Sirs. Hoover's
parents were Peter and Margaret Hoover, and had settled in Henry
county, improved a good farm, and made that their home until their
death when past eighty years of age. After four children had been
born in Henry county, William Hoover and wife came to Washington
township in Delaware county, and there established a home on eighty
acres of land. There the parents lived quiet and industrious lives until
past seventy and in 1905 retired to a comfortable home in IMattliews.
where both are now living, and are each seventy-eight years of age. and
hale and hearty. The father belongs to the Progressive Dunkard
church, while his wife is a member of the Old Church of that order.
His politics is Republican.
Alvin B. Hoover was one of a family of six children, named as
follows: Miles L., who is a merchant at Wheeling, Indiana, and has a
family; Estella, who is married and lives in Missouri; George W.,
cashier of the Farmers State Bank at Eton; Alvin B. ; Alta, wife of
Denton Tomilson, of Madison county, and the mother of three children ;
and Benton, who died at the age of four years.
Alvin B. Hoover was married in Gaston, to Miss Margaret Barrett,
who was born in Iowa in 1874, but was reared and educated in Delaware
county. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children-.
Twila, who died at the age of two years and tive months ; and Hilda B.,
who is thirteen years of age and attending the public schools. Mr. and
Mrs. Hoover attend worship in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he
is in politics a Republican, served seven years in the ofSees of city
clerk and treasurer, and made a splendid record in administering those
ofSces. Wlien he went into office the city was burdened with a debt,
and when he left the treasury had eight thousand dollars. Fraternally
he is well known in several orders, including the Blue Lodge of Masonry,
and he occupies the Masonic Building at Matthews as the site of his
store. He belongs to the Wheeling Encampment of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, has taken all the chairs in the lodge and has also
been honored with office in the Improved Order of Red Men.
Hon. Burtney W. Sh.vfer. Over Grant county at large the name
just mentioned will be most closely associated with the Democratic leader
and former state senator of Jouesboro, and will recall the fact that
he was a few years ago the first Democratic candidate who ever suc-
ceeded in eariying Grant county in the senatorial district comprising
the trio of counties, Wells, Blackford and Grant. While Mr. Shafer
did some exceedingly commendable work in the state senate, his career
is notable not only for his participation in politics, but also as one
of Jonesboro's substantial business men, and he has long been one of
the valued factors in local affairs of that city.
Burtney W. Shafer comes of an old Virginia family. His gi-and-
father Phillip Shafer was born in Virginia, and was descended from
a Revolutionary war veteran. Phillip Shafer was married in Rockbridge
county, Virginia, to Miss Margaret McCorkle, a nati-\'e of that county
and of the prominent Virginia family of her name. Mrs. Phillip Shafer
HON. BURTNEY W. SHAFER, WIFE AND DAUGHTER
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 605
was an aunt of former Governor McCorkle of West Virginia, and she
was a descendant of Colonel McCorkle, who served with the rank of
colonel on General Washington's staff during the Revolution. The
McCorkles were identified with earl3^ Virginia history, and by direct
right were able to display their coat of arms granted during the residence
of the family in old England. Phillip Shafer and wife spent most of
their lives on a farm in Rockford county, but linallj^ moved out west and
settled at Tarkio, Missouri, where Phillip died when past eighty years
of age. His wife subsequently returned to her native county in Vir-
ginia, and died there when about eighty years of age. They were
Presbyterians in religion and Phillip Shafer, although of old Virginian
stock, was opposed to the holding of slaves. Of their children, the first
was William D. Shafer, father of former Senator Shafer; Arthur, who
died, left three daughters ; John is married and lives in Rockford
county, Virginia, having a small family. The son Emmett lives some-
where in the west, and has several children.
William D. Shafer was born in Virginia in 1847, grew up and
received his education in that state, and in Rock Bridge county married
Miss Nancy Ruley. She was born, reared and educated in the same
county, her birth having occurred in 1846. After their marriage, they
made their home in Virginia for some years, and in that state were born
Burtney W., Margaret, Jennie and Esther. In 1884 the family moved
to Grant county and located in Mill township on a farm. There William
D. Shafer still lives and all their children were reared in that vicinity.
The daughter Jennie died after her marriage to Frank B. Bourie,
leaving children, May and Frank; Margaret married Harry W. Woot-
ring, who is connected with the rubber works at Jonesboro ; Esther mar-
ried Professor George Carter, a son of Henry D. Carter, a sketch
of which family appears elsewhere in this work. Professor George
Carter is at the head of the department of manual training in the
schools of Port Arthur, Texas, and they have one daughter, Margaret.
Mr. Shafer 's first wife, the mother of Senator Shafer, died in the early
nineties and William D. Shafer in 1898 married Mrs. Lida E. Willson.
Burtney W. Shafer grew up in a time in which the inspiring
influence was the mother, a highly educated and cultured woman, who
afforded her children manj' advantages which schools could not supply.
The local high school gave him an adequate literaiy training for busi-
ness purposes, and he early engaged in brick mason work, and sub-
sequently became a brick contractor, which is his principal business
at the present time. He also clerked for some time, and has had a
thorough business experience and as a workman at a trade has a ready
appreciation of all phases of the labor situation. In recent years, he
has done a large and successful business in the higher grades of brick
work, chiefly in decorative and chimney construction. ]Mr. Shafer has
had his home about Jonesboro ever since 1884, with the exception of
about eight years, during which he was on the road as a journeyman
brick mason.
He was mari-ied in Grant county to Miss Myrtle Allison, who was
bom in Bartholomew county, Indiana, in 1874, was educated in the
city of Columbus, Indiana, and to her marriage with Mr. Shafer has
been born one daughter, Helen Margaret, born November 22, 1902, and
now attending the Jonesboro city schools. Mrs. Shafer is a member
of the Methodist church.
^Ir. Shafer has been one of the working leaders in the Democratic
party in Grant coi;nty since 1889, has served as delegate to county
and state conventions, and is regarded as one of the most astute organ-
izers and managers in this section of the state. In 1906 he consented to
606 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
become a candidate for the state senate, and as already mentioned was
the first Democrat elected from this district who ever succeeded in
carrying Grant county. While in the senate Mr. Shafer was assigned
to membership on several important committees, but his most con-
spicuous service was done in the committee on labor, and his part in
shaping legislation which came from that committee or was referred
to it, was of such impartial and fair-minded character as to call forth
the hearty commendation of laboring people all over the state, and was
also indorsed by the regular press and political organization. Mr. Shafer
has been appointed postmaster at Jonesboro by President "Wilson. Mr.
Shafer took his first degrees in ilasonry in Jonesboro Lodge No. 109,
F. & A. M., in 1890, and is a past master of the lodge and has been
prominent both in that order and in the Knights of Pythias, which he
has served as chancellor and for ten years as a member of the Grand
Lodge. He is also a member of the Charter Lodge of the Order of
Neptune at Marion.
Walter C. Keeghler. A very gratifying kind of success has been
that of Walter C. Keeghler, the proprietor of the well appointed de-
partment store of Matthews, carrying everything in stock which the
public wants, from high grade pianos to needles and pins, including dry
goods, groceries, all kinds of household supplies, queensware, brassware,
and a full stock of five and ten cents goods, supplying the demands
of both the country and town trade. Mr. Keeghler possessed a certain
native ability in trade, otherwise he could hardly have made his record.
He started out as a clerk, and with the experience and training thus
acquired, finally borrowed a thousand dollars, and ventured on his own
account. In a few years he had cleared up his indebtedness, and now
has one of the best paying mercantile concerns in Grant county. Mr.
Keeghler has been in business in Matthews since August, 1906, his
location being at the corner of ^Massachusetts Avenue and Ninth Street.
His store is forty-fonr by one hundred feet in dimension, and there is
also a warehouse twenty-two by one hundred feet, while he is owner
of a vacant lot ad.joining his place of business. Mr. Keeghler also owns
an attractive residence on Seventh Street, with three and a half lots of
ground, a combined frame and cement structure, with a stone verandah,
and all the modern improvements. Mr. Keeghler had several years
experience as a clerk before starting out on his own account, and during
that time was employed by his brother in-law, I. E. Powell, a merchant
then at ilatthcAvs and now at Coffeyville, Kansas. In this way ilr.
Keeghler learned the details of business, and then by his own efforts
paid back the first thousand dollars he had borrowed and since that time
his stock has been free from debt, and he has pi'ospered steadily.
Walter C. Keeghler was born at Half Acre Corner, in Wabash county,
Indiana, October 9, 1870. He was reared and educated in and about
Urbana, and worked at various occupations in several states before
coming to Matthews in 1899. His parents were Oscar and Maiy J.
(Richardson) Keeghler. His father was a son of Henry Keeghler, of
German parentage, and was five yeai-s old when brought to Wabash
count}', Indiana, by his widowed mother. Oscar Keeghler 's mother died
in Wabash eount\% and he himself lived there as a farmer, and died
when still a young man at the age of thirty-two. His widow then
married Joseph S. Sellers, and they both now reside in Long Beach,
California.
Walter C. Keeghler was the only son, and the oldest of the family,
his sisters being: Myrtle, wife of Mr. Powell of Coffeyville, Kansas,
and the mother of two daughters ; Drexel and Artemisia : and Clara
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 607
Fleming, of Long Beach, California, and the mother of two sons, Jamea
and John.
ilr. Keeghler was married at Converse, in Miami county, Indiana,
to j\Iiss Inez N. Ross. She was born in Richland township of Grant
eouut.y, November 22, 1871, but was reared and educated in Miami
county, near Converse. To their marriage has been born one daughter,
Gretchen, on October 28, 1891. Her education was acquired in the city
high schools, and for several years she has assisted her father as clerk
in the store. Mr. Keeghler 's family are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. He is one of the vigorous Republicans in his section
of Grant county, and a worker for good government and local improve-
ment in every direction. He is also connected with several fraternal
orders. He is treasurer and trustee of the local Matthews Lodge,
F. & A. J\I., is affiliated with the Red Men of IMatthews ; belongs to the
council and chapter of the JMasouic bodies at Hartford City, and has
affiliations with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows at Converse.
"William Miller. A life of quiet effectiveness marked by a record
of many duties well done, and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled
was that of the late William Miller, who died at his home in Matthews,
January 19, 1913. Outside of his service in the Civil war, where he
made a record for coolness and bravery, he was never in the conspicu-
ous activities of abnormal events, but in the faithful and intelligent
performance of every task allotted to him during his long life, he left
a record which may well be envied and admired by the generations to
follow him.
William Miller was born in Clermont county, Ohio, October 6, 1836,
and was in his seventy-seventh year when death came to him. His
parents were Daniel and Mary (Chapman) Miller. His father was a
native of Ohio, and of German ancestry, and his mother was born in
Kentucky of English stock. Daniel ililler and wife were married in
Clermont county, Ohio, and there their careers began and all their
children were born. About the time the Civil war broke out they moved
to Indiana, and bought and located on eighty acres of land, located
two and a half miles south of ]\Iuncie on the Middletown Pike. That
was their home until 1871. Like many dwellers in the middle states,
they were attracted by tlie high sounding promises of western lands,
and moved out to Montgomery county, Kansas, buying a half section
there. Their residence and activity as farmers in Kansas was brief,
since the grasshopper scourge and the drought soon compelled them to
abandon their enterprise and return to a more hopeful country. Thus
in 1873 they reestablished their homes in Delaware county, and finally
traded their three hundred and twenty acres of Kansas land for eighty-
four acres in Washington township of Delaware county. There Daniel
Miller died M'hen seventy-three years of age. His wife had passed away
some years previously when sixty-seven years old. They were good
citizens, prominent workers in the United Brethren church, and Daniel
Miller during his early manhood was a vigorous supporter of the Whig
politics, and later equally strong in his advocacy of Republican pi-in-
ciples. There were eight children. Two of them died in Ohio, four
died in Indiana, and the two living are : Miss Angle, who is unmarried
and makes her home with Mrs. Miller at Matthews, and Mary, wife of
Edward McClelland, of Muncie, and the mother of one son and one
daughter.
William Miller, who was the oldest in the family of children, was
reared in the home of his parents, and lived on the old farm in Clermont
608 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
county, until the breaking out of the war. Then in May, 1862, he en-
listed in Company C of the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, going in
as a private and saw nearly three years of active service before his
honorable discharge. He participated in the second battle of Bull Run,
and later was in the armies under Sherman and other leaders and
fought in the battle of Lookout Mountain, and many other engagements
of the campaign. Much of his military experience was as driver of an
ammunition wagon, and at the battle of Lookout Mountaiu he had a
very narrow escape. His wagon in going up an incline road was stalled
between two trees and was exposed to a crossfire, while the bullets were
flying fast from both directions, he never flinched and stayed by the
wagon until an orderly rode up and directed him to cut loose his mules
and make a hasty escape. After the war he returned and rejoined his
familj', who in the meantime had taken up their residence in Delaware
county, Indiana. He remained at home from 1865 until 1867, and in
the latter year started out for himself and was married.
Mr. Miller married Sliss IMai'tha Pittser. Mrs. Miller, who survives
her husband, and enjoys the high esteem of her neighbors in Jefferson
township, was born in Henry county, Indiana, September 28, 1845, a
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Stewart) Pittser. Both her father
and mother were born in Brown county, Ohio, but gi-ew up in Henry
county, where they were married. John Pittser was the son of ilathias
and Sarah (Jones) Pittser. ^lathias Pittser, who was born in Germany,
came to America in early life, married in Ohio, and during the decade
of the twenties, settled as a pioneer in Henry county, Indiana, where
he entered eighty acres of wild land, direct from the government, and
many years of his active career were devoted to the development and
improvement of that estate. It was finally made a good home, and con-
tinued to be the residence of Mathias and wife until they were both
about threescore and ten years of age, at which time death came and
removed them from the scenes of useful work and enjoyment. They
were ^Methodist Protestants in religion. On her mother's side, Mrs.
Miller is likewise related to pioneers in Henry county, Indiana, and the
Stewart family has an ancestry which goes back to Scotland, and to
the ancient clan of Stuarts, including the noted :\Iary Queen of Scots.
Mrs. Miller's maternal grandparents, William and ilargaret Stewart,
built and established a home in Henry county, during the pioneer epoch,
and lived there until a ripe old age. They were both members of the
Christian church.
After their marriage, "William Miller and wife took up their careers
as farmers, and spent two years iu Kansas, during 1871-73. There they
experienced a share in the disasters already mentioned, and returned
with other members of the family to Delaware county. Their home was
on a farm in Delaware county until 1905, when they retii-ed, and
selected a home situated on five lots of land at the corner of IMassachu-
setts Avenue and Fourth Street in the village of Matthews. There Mrs.
Miller still lives, and she is also owner of the farm of forty-two acres
in Delaware county, ilrs. I\Iiller is a fine type of the old-fashioned
woman, a true lady, and possessed of the graces and the courtesies of
the heart and mind which are so characteristic of the older generation.
Mrs. Jliller is the mother of the following children: Lillian, who
died in infancy; Ida, who died ]May 20, 1902. unmarried, and who for
fifteen years was a successful educator in Delaware county, being a
graduate of Fairmount Academy and the Terre Haute Normal School.
Arthur, who was born ilay 13, 1877, was educated in the public schools,
and in Valparaiso University, now operates his mother's farm in Dela-
ware countv. Arthur ^liller married iliss Myrtle Carmiu of Delaware
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 609
county, and, they have four children — Ralph William, "Walter I., Myra
N., and Helen C. Mrs. Miller and family are members of the Christian
church, and her husband -svas also a communicant in the same faith.
His polities was Republican, and his son Arthur follows in the same
political line.
RuPHAS C. Nottingham. On section thirty-three of Jefferson town-
ship, not far from the little city of Matthews, is a tine home and farm,
and its proprietor, Mr. Nottingham, has a record which in many ways
identifies him with Grant county, and his interest in the history of this
locality is due not only to his own long residence, but to the fact that
his family has lived here since the days of early settlement.
Ruphas C. Nottingham was born in Jefferson township of Grant
county, August 29, 1855, so that he himself has lived here nearly sixty
years. His grandfather, James Nottingham, who was of an old English
family, and took its name from the Nottingham district in England,
was a Virginian by birth and was four times married. His first wife
was Elizabeth Russell, who died in Delaware county, after their settle-
ment there at an early day. James Nottingham was a cabinet maker
by trade and had a little shop in the pioneer village of Muncie, Indiana,
when that town consisted of only a few houses in the woods and in the
Hazel brush on the banks of White River. Mr. Nottingham and Miss
Russell were married in Muncie. Later he traded his business to Bing-
ham Simons for oue hundred and twenty acres of land in Jefferson
township, of Grant county. Mr. Simons had obtained that land direct
from the government and had placed some improvements. James Not-
tingham's first wife died in Muncie, leaving the following children:
Owen P. ; Julia, who married Simon Clark, aud left nine children ;
James Chaplain and Ellen, who died in girlhood. By his second wife,
whom he married in Muncie, James Nottingham had one child, Thomas,
who died aged about sixty years. James Nottingham then came to
Grant county and married his third wife, who died without children.
His fourth marriage was with Mrs. Sarah Litler, whose maiden name
was Heal. She was a widow with nine children, and by James Notting-
ham had four other children. James Nottingham and wife spent their
last years in retirement in Jonesboro in Grant county, where they died
when seventy-two years of age. They were active Methodists.
Owen P. Nottingham, father of Ruphas C, was born m Muneietown,
as the city of Muncie was then called, on October IS, 1832. His prac-
tical experience in business affairs began when a mere boy. He was
given a contract to carry the mail, aud on horseback and in all kinds
of weather, and over all kinds of roads, he rode throughout this part of
the state, and went through hardships that now seem almost incredible.
Oftentimes he was on the road and in the saddle all night long in order
to get his mail to its proper connections. The very fact of his success-
ful performance of those duties indicate his pluck and energy. He was
a verj' capable horseman, and his skill in the management of the
handling of horses enabled him the more easil.v to carry out his work
as a mail carrier. When nineteen years of age he left the mail service,
and in 1832 was married in Grant county to Miss Mary Ann Couch,
who was born in Darke county, Ohio, February 1, 1830, and came to
Indiana when young with her mother and grandfather, Samuel
Todd. Her people settled in Jefferson township of Grant, county.
After his marriage, Owen P. Nottingham started out as a
farmer in Jefferson township. Previously, however, he had acquired
the trade of harnessmaker, and followed that occupation for some
time. In 1863, quiet vocations of civil life were exchanged for
610 BLACKFOED AND GRANT COUNTIES
military duties, and he enlisted in the Fifty-fourth Indiana Infantry,
serving as teamster and wagon master, for fourteen mouths. After his
return to Grant county, he spent the rest of his years in farming pursuits
in Jefferson township, and died January 25, 1907. His wife had died
some years before on October 10, 1883, at the age of fifty-two years.
She was a noble wife and mother, and both of them were intiuential and
veiy worthy people, acting as counsellors to the community ou many
occasions, and Owen Nottingham many times was able to secure peace
among his neighbors. His politics was Republican. There were ten
children, six sons and four daughters in the family, and five of the sons
and four of the daughters are still living. All are married, and all have
families and homes of their own.
Ruphas C. Nottingham, who was the second iu number in this large
family of children, was reared and educated in Jefferson township, and
has always given his attention to farming. His home is in section thirty-
three of Jeft'erson to^mship, and comprises a fine fanu estate of one
hundred and seven acres, one of the conspicuous improvements on which
is the tine brick house, surrounded with excellent barns and other facil-
ities which indicate the progressive manner in which jVIt. Nottingham
carries on his farming operations. Directly across the road, only lying
in Delaware county, he also owns eighty acres.
On November 11, 1874, Mr. Nottingham married Miss Ida Kirstead.
She was born June 1, 1855, near Jackson, Michigan, was reared and
educated in Indiana, and died March 11, 1889. She was survived by
one daughter, Florence, the wife of Walter W. Slain, and they now
live on a farm in Jefferson township, and have two children, Virgil and
Ormal. Mr. Nottingham, on September 10, 1891, in Jefferson township,
married for his second wife, Mrs. Lasina Newberger, whose maiden name
was Richards. Her father is L. G. Richards, a prominent Grant county
citizen, whose sketch will be found on other pages of this work. jNIrs.
Nottingham by the first marriage has one son, Clarence Newberger.
Clarence Newberger was married in Philadelphia to Mrs. Anna Mann,
and they now live in Richmond, Virginia, and have five children. The
following children have been born to Mr. and j\Irs. Nottingham : Goldie,
born November 26, 1891, and now the wife of Clj'de E. Harris, and
living in iladison county, Indiana : Ray and May, twins, born March
27, 1895; Ray married Pauline Lambert, and is a farmer in Washing-
ton township of Delaware county; ]\Iay is the wife of Earl Parkerson,
of Delaware county; Mary, born September 5, 1898, is at home and
attending the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Nottingahm are members
of the Harmony Primitive Baptist church at ^Matthews.
The politics of 'Mv. Nottingham is Republican, in which political
faith he has acted and believed since he cast his first vote during the
Hayes campaign.
Elisha Overman. One of the most interesting and best known
families in Grant county is the Overman family, several generations of
whom have been identified with the growth and progress of this section
of the state, and many of whom have done more than the average citizen
toward the upbuilding and advancement of their communities.
Elisha Overman, whose name introduces this brief family sketch,
comes of Pennsylvania ancestry. His grandfather, one Elijah Over-
man, came from" that state to Ohio in the early days of Clinton county,
and there he settled upon and improved a farm. He passed the
remainder of his life there, and when he died he was but little beyond
middle life. He left four children — Jesse, Benjamin and two daughters
whose names do not appear in this record. All grew to years of maturity.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 611
all married and all reared families. All are now deceased. After the
death of Elijah Overman, his widow married Amos Davis, and they
came to Grant county and located in Center township. There they
passed the remainder of their lives on the farm they settled upon,
Amos Davis being about seventy-one when he passed away, while his
widow survived him a few years. All were members of the Friends
church. Mr. Davis was a Whig- and later was a Republican, and was
always an excellent citizen in his community. He and his wife had
two children. Henry married and lives on a farm in the vicinity of
Sweetser, in Grant county, and is without issue. Melissa became the
wife of Reuben Small and lives in Anthony, Kansas. They have four
sons.
Benjamin Overman was born in November, 1814, and died in March,
1906. When a young- man he came to Grant county and located in
Franklin township, but he had lived for some years prior to that with
his mother and step-father in Center township. He was twice married.
His first wife was a Miss Burson, who died a few years later in Franklin
township where he settled soon after his marriage. She left him one
daughter, Melissa, who is now married and who lives in North Marion
and has two sons. The second wife of Benjamin Overman was Clarissa
Marshall. She was born in this county and was here reared, for the
most part, and she died in Franklin township while she was yet a young
woman, death coming to her in 1857. Thus was Benjamin Overman
widowed a second time in his young life. She was mother of three
children — Henry, deceased; Elisha, our subject; and Rile.y. deceased.
A third time did Benjamin Overman marry, and the woman of his
choice was a half sister of his second wife. Her name was Rebecca
Marshall, and she too was a Grant county girl. She died some few
years after the passing of her husband, her death occun-ing in 1908,
when she was about fifty-three years of age. She was the mother of the
following children: Elizabeth, who married Albert Brown and lives
in Mill to^vnship; they have two children, Delia and Virgil. Dora, the
wife of Abe Gross, lives in Wabash county; they have three children.
Mahala, the wife of George Shaw, lives in Mill township, and is the
mother of seven children.
Elisha Overman is the son of Benjamin and Clarissa (Marshall)
Overman, and he was born in Franklin township. Grant county, on
May 28, 1853. After the death of his young mother in 1857 he lived
at the home of his Grandfather Davis, and was educated in the common
schools of that period. When he reached young manhood he married
in Mill township IMartha Entenninger. who was bom in IMill town-
ship in 1856 and died at her home in this township in 1886. She was
the mother of three children. Leland died in infancy. David E. was
born on November 9, 1884. He now owns and operates his own farm of
124 acres in Section 27. Mill township, the place being a well improved
and productive one. He is unmarried and lives at home. William
died at the age of twelve years.
]\Ir. Overman was married a second time in White county, Indiana,
to Miss Minnie ilcGinnis. who was born in Carroll county on December
29, 1869, near Delphi. She is a daughter of Freeman and Hannah
(Snethen) McGinnis, natives of Indiana who were engaged in farming
in White, Carroll and Cass counties in later years of their lives. Late
in life they took iip their residence in Gas City, and they died in this
place — the father in 1906. when he was sixty-two years of age, and
the mother in 1904, at the age of fifty-eight. They were long members
of the Christian church, both having been baptized at the same time,
but later in life, as a matter of convenience, they united with the
612 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Baptist church. They had five children. Willard, a resident of Gas
City, is married and has a family; Andrew lives in Gas City, and he
also is married and has six children; ]\Irs. Overman was their third
child ; Elijah, a resident of Cass county, married and has two daughters ;
and filary, who died after her marriage as the result of a gas explosion
at the Soldiers' Home on January 21, 1904. Her husband, Charles O.
Beitel, was killed at the same time. The explosion caused a falling of
the walls of the place, and both were crushed in their beds. They left
two children. Orval C. lives in the home of his aunt, Mrs. Overman,
and Harry R. lives with Mre. Rose, in Madison count}'.
The second marriage of ^Ix. Overman was blessed with two children :
Ethel C, the wife of C. D. Smith, and Roy L., who lives with his sister,
Mrs. Smith.
Following Mr. Overman's second marriage, they lived for ten years
on a farm in Section 28, Mill township, the years from 1889 to 1899 being
spent there. He then purchased a farm of 182 acres in Section 12,
Mill township, and this place he has improved to a great extent in the
years of his residence there. The place is now one of the finest in
the whole county, and is noted for its bountiful crops of corn and other
grains, Mr. Overman having demonstrated his capacity as a farmer of
the finest merit. In 1899, when he took up his residence on the place,
he built a fine barn, that being the crying need of the place, and in
1906 he further improved the farm by adding a splendid residence, in
every way suited to the character and general quality of the farm.
Here he lived until 1910, when he rented it to his son-in-law, C. D.
Smith, and he and his wife retired from farm life and settled in Gas
City, where they built a home on the corner of Fifth and B streets.
Mrs. Overman is a member of the Bible Students Association and is
a woman of many excellent qualities of mind and heart. While Mr.
Overman holds to no settled religious conviction as outlined by church
doctrine and membership, be is a man of sterling character and one
whose influence in his community has always been an excellent one. He
is a Democrat, and at a recent election was elected Councilman-at-large
for his community. His accomplishments have been most worthy, and
after a busy career, in which he gained a considerable prosperity, he
feels himself entitled to a few years of quiet life, in pursuit of those
enterprises that appeal to his maturer wisdom and judgment.
Monte Sylvester Dunn. Here is a name that has been identified
"with Grant county settlement and history for three-quarters of a cen-
tury. It has become honored and respected, through long years of
successive industry, business integrity, and Christian and moral char-
acter. Few Grant county families have been longer established, and
none have borne their part in community affairs with greater credit to
themselves and with more practical usefulness to the community than
the Dunns. Until death laid its restraining finger upon him. the late
Monte S. Dunn was one of the ablest farmei*s and most public-spirited
citizens of Jefferson township. His widow, who belongs to the old
pioneer Littler family, has taken up the burdens laid down by her hus-
band, and has quietly and effectively performed all the offices required
of the head of a family. Mrs. Dunn is a woman of fine culture, of the
essential qualities of heart and mind which are associated with the
old-fashioned t^-pe of womanhood, and possesses a keen intelligence and
interest much beyond the usual range of people who spend their lives
quietly in one community.
This history of the Dunn family begins with John Dunn, grand-
father of the late Monte S. Dunn. John Dunn was bom either in
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 613
Pennsylvania or Virginia, in 1790, and after seventy-five years of life
passed away at tlie liome of liis son, Tliomas, at New Cumberland in
Grant county, on June 3, 1865. He was of Scotch-Irisli ancestry. His
occupation was that of farming, and so far as information is obtainable
it is believed that he married in Virginia, Miss Cassandra Knight. She
was a Virginia girl, born in 1795, and died in 1862. For several years
after their marriage they lived in Virginia, then moved to Ohio, and
some years later, during the early thirties, established a home in what
is now Washington to-miship of Delaware county, where John Dunn
entered one hundred and sixty acres of wild land. He and his wife
lived and labored there until old age, and were pioneers who succeeded
in clearing ofiE a considerable part of the wilderness and establishing
comfortable homes. They were devout members of the Primitive Bap-
tist faith, and were active in the history of that church in the early
days, both in Delaware and in Grant county. John Dunn and wife had
a large family of childi-en, and these are briefly mentioned under the
following numerical heads: 1. Thomas, who was born in 1812 in Vir-
ginia or Ohio, in young manhood entered government land, in "Wash-
ington township of Delaware county, where he lived many years, and
later established a mill at New Cumberland in Grant county. His
decLiuing years were spent in Grant county and he died at the old home
in New Cumberland, October 17, 1881, when past sixty-nine years of
age. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Reasoner, of one of the
old families of Grant county, died on the same place, July 19, 1891,
being seventy-six years and four months of age. The children of
Thomas and wife were : Mrs. Anna Lewis, deceased ; John, who was a
soldier in the Union army, and now lives in Mississippi; Mary, wife of
Esley Stephenson, of Matthews; Benjamin R., who was killed at the
battle of Chickamauga during the Civil war at the age of twenty-one;
and Gehiel, who died unmarried at the age of twenty-one; Sarah J.,
wife of Richardson Watson, lives in Santa Paula, Califoimia ; Car-
olina, wife of James Littler, both of whom died without issue; Mrs.
Samantha, wife of ilonroe Darton, of Delaware county, and the parents
of one son; Thomas J., who was a miller by occupation and died leav-
ing one son. 2. James Dunn, father of the late Monte S., was born
pi-obably in Virginia in 1814, and died in 1863. He married Cassandra
Evans, "who was born in 1824, and died in 1903. Further details con-
cerning these parents are given in a following paragraph. 3. William,
who was born either in Virginia or Ohio, was married on the line be-
tween Blackford and Grant county to Sebra R«asoner, followed farming
in Delaware county, until his death, and had seven children. 4. Har-
mon, who like the others adopted farming as his vocation, was also
skilled in mechanical pursuits, and in early life followed wagonmaking.
He spent practically all his life in Delaware county, where he had
acquired land direct from the government, and at his death left a fam-
ily of children. 5. Sarah, married Benjamin Lewis, a Delaware county
farmer, and lived and died on the old place without .children. 6. Mary,
became the wife of Benjamin Reasoner, a well known farmer of Grant
county, and they left several children. 7. John, the youngest of the
family, was a successful Delaware county farmer, where he died,
leaving five children.
James Dunn, who was born October 12, 1814, and who died at his
home on section four of Jefferson township in Grant count.v in 1863,
was quite young when he first came to Grant county, and was a partic-
ipant in the early development and history of his township, where he
started his career as a farmer. After his marriage in 1847, he entered
land and established his home at what is known now as the Dunn Home-
614 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
stead, and having been originally entered by his father, John Dunn,
about 1838. Mr. Dunu was a man of vigorous personality and in the
course of his lifetime, although he died when in the prime of his years,
made many improvements to his farm, and made his intluence felt for
good in the entire community. His place was improved in various
ways, good barns were erected and a fine old frame house was the home
in which he passed his last years. In 1817, James Dunn married Cas-
sandra Evans, who was born in Allegany county, Pennsylvania, June
15, 1824, and died at the homestead, February 16, 1903. Her father
was Thomas Evans. She joined the Presbyterian church on January
30, 1871, and died in that faith. She was a noble, whole-hearted woman,
ever ready to assist in the troubles of her neighbors, and by her benev-
olent activities and her kindly personal character was beloved through-
out the entire country side. The children of James Dunn and wife
were as follows : Randolph, who died in young manhood ; Almira Jane,
who died also when young; Oliver Pen\y, who lives on and operates a
large farm in Delaware county, is married, but has no children living;
Monte S., who is next in order of the children; and Sarah P., a twin
sister of Monte and the wife of A. T. Wright, of Marion, and the mother
of three daughters and one son.
The late ilonte Sylvester Dunn was born on the farm he occupied
all his life in Jefferson township, on March 10, 1857, and died at the
Dunn Homestead, as it is familiarly known throughout Jefferson town-
ship, April 23, 1913. Reared on the old place he had an education like
that supplied most farmer boys in his generation, and after growing
up came into the possession of the farm of one hundred and tifty-six
acres, where he and his brothers and sistei's had grown up. His was
a very active life. He was a man of excellent judgment, and his indus-
try- and good management resulted in the addition of many improve-
ments, besides those introduced by his father. He left a beautiful and
valuable home for his widow and children. The old dwelling is a com-
fortable ten-room house, mostly of frame construction, and beyond the
house yard are a group of outbuildings, comprising red barns and other
structures, required for up-to-date farming. As a farmer and stock
raiser, the late Monte S. Dunn was probably as successful and as pro-
gressive as any man in his township. His widow and her sons are still
keeping up the standards set by the late J\Ir. Dunn, and have been no
less successful in making the homestead pay regular annual dividends.
On April 26, 1888, in Hartford City, Indiana, Monte Sylvester
Dunn and Miss Mary E. Littler were united in the holy bonds of matri-
mony by Rev. McKean, then an old and beloved Presbyterian minister.
She was born in Jefferson township, of Grant county, September 13,
1858, was liberally educated in the public schools, and was well prepared
both by native character and by her early influences for the career of
motherhood and social beneficence, which has been hers. Her parents
were Nathan and Katherine (Whistler) Littler. Her father was born
in Virginia, and her mother in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania.
They met and married in Ohio, and their companionship as man and
wife was begun on the banks of the Mississinewa river in Jefferson
township of Grant county. Their first home was built of logs, and in
spite of the crudities and hardships of such existence, they had the
courage and true wisdom of patience which made those yeare not un-
happy. Later they established a better home, and lived quiet and useful
lives. Mr. Littler died there during the Civil war in 1863, being then
in the prime of Life, and his widow followed him in 1870. They were
active Methodists in religion, and Nathan Littler took much part in
church work, being possessed of a naturally beautiful voice, which he
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 615
cultivated, and which he used in church and social affairs. He was also
a great reader of religious and secular literature. ]\Irs. Dunn has one
brother living, Joseph W. Littler, who now owns and runs the old
Littler homestead in Jefferson township. Joseph Littler married
Elizabeth Dunn, a daughter of Harmon Dunn, and they have four
daughters. The two sons of Mrs. Dunn are : Phillip, born May 18,
1890, was graduated from the Matthews high school as one of a class
of ten in 1909, and after taking a course in animal husbandry at Purdue
University, has applied his practical experience and scientific training
to the management of the home farm, being a very successful young
agriculturist. James Homer Dunn, who was born July 13, 1896, is a
member of the class of 1915 in the Matthews high school. Mrs. Dunn
and her two sons are members of the Epworth Methodist church at
Matthews.
George Frederick Slater. During the past quarter of a century
it would not have been possible to estimate the sum total of Jefferson
township enterprise without reference to the name of George Fred
Slater, a man who has made farming a i-eal business. He is one of the
large land owners of the county and has been successful through the
same qualities which brings prosperity to residence or factory owner.
Beside the possession of a splendid homestead in section twenty-seven
of Jefferson county, and land in other localities, Mr. Slater is vice
president of the Matthews State Bank, having held that office since the
reorganization of the bank three years ago. A further evidence of his
standing in the community as a citizen is indicated by his service of
five yeai;s in the office of township trustee from 1896 to 1901. The
Slater farm in Jefferson township is well within the gas and oil belt,
and has been the scene of much productive operation. During the past,
six gas wells and twenty -one oil holes have been sunk on the Slater farm,
and in only a few instances did they prove dry, and some of these wells
are still producing.
Mr. Slater's grandfather, James Slater, was born in Guernsey
county, Ohio, about 1800. His death occurred in Henry county,
Illinois, in 1893 or 1894. His ancestry was about three parts of English
to one part of German. All his active years were spent in farming, and
he had moved to Illinois about the close of the Civil war. He was twice
married, and his first wife having died in Ohio before 1840, and his
second wife, who became his wife in Ohio, died in Illinois. There Avere
children by both wives. By the first union the children were : William ;
John ; and Benjamin, who died unmarried, while John was married and
reared a large family of ten children, both he and his wife having
passed away in Henry county, Illinois.
William Slater, father of the Grant county farmer and business
man, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1834. When a small child
he lost his mother, and then lived on the farm with his father and step-
mother in Ohio until he became of age. He received what was in that
time a liberal education, and for his practical career learned the trade
of carpenter, a vocation which he followed for several years. At the
age of twenty-three he married Miss Mary T. Marks, who was of English
ancestry, and a native of old Virginia. Her parents having been born
in Loudoun county, in that state. Mrs. William Slater was born in 1834
and accompanied her parents to Ohio in 1840, locating in Guernsey
county, where her father died when about sixty years of age, and her
mother at the age of seventy-six. There were twelve children in the
Marks family, ten of whom grew up and most of them married, all
being deceased. In 1852, William Slater and wife came to Indiana,
616 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
where he bought an almost new farm on section twenty-seven of Jeffer-
son township. In the meantime, however, a daughter, Hannah, had
been born to them, but she died in infancy and another child, James
Mason, died as a boy. On the quarter section of laud which he acquired
in Jefferson township, he made many improvements. A large barn ap-
peared in 1S61, and three years later was followed by the erection of a
substantial residence, and these were only the moi-e conspicuous among
a number of improvements which made the Slater fai'm one of the best
in that section. "William Slater was a very prosperous man and besides
the homestead he owned one hundi-ed and twenty acres in one place
and two hundred and ten acres including a part of the site of the city
of Matthews. The death of William Slater occurred on the old farm in
January, 1875. He was a Republican in politics, and he and his wife,
who died in December, 1879, were active members in the ilethodist
Episcopal church. Of their six children, four are living and all are
married.
George Frederick Slater was born in Jefferson township August 20,
186-1, and was reared to manhood in the locality which has always been
his home. Like his father, he had more than ordinary advantages in
preparation for life, and besides a public school course, he studied in
Danville College, and later, in 1886, was a student in Bryant and Strat-
ton's Business College, Indianapolis. A few years of bis early manhood
were spent in teaching school, but farming has been his regular vocation
for upwards of thirty years.
In 1886 ilr. Slater took over the old homestead, and is now owner
of two hundred and eighty acres of land in section twenty-seven, besides
one hundred and twenty acres in Delaware county, that place being
improved with fine large barns, and a very valuable estate in itself.
General farming and stock raising have been the avenues through which
Mr. Slater has prospered, and he has always been careful to keep up
his grades of stock at high standard, and has profited accordingly. He
raises and feeds a large number of hogs, cattle and fine sheep, and grows
practically all the grain cereals.
Mr. Slater was married in Blackford county to Miss Joanna Cora
Atkinson, who was born in Licking township of that county in 1865,
and had a public school education. Her parents, Addison and Har-
riet (McVicker) Atkinson now live retired in Blackford county, where
they were among the earlier settlers, her father being seventy years of
age, and her mother one year older. Mr. and ilrs. Slater have the
following children: William A., who is a farmer in Washington town-
ship in Delaware county, married Etha Linder, and has two children,
]\Iartha and George ; Frank is a farmer on one of his father's farms, and
by his marriage to Hazel Wills has a daughter. Bertha; Eva M., who
lives at home is a graduate of the local high school, as were her two
brothers, their school advantages having also been supplemented by
business college courses; Maiy died at the age of one year; and^^Mar-
garet. the youngest, is now in the grade schools. Mr. and J\Irs. Slater
and family worship in the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is
a trustee and steward. In politics he supports the Republican party.
William C. Walker. A citizen who was known and esteemed for
his many substantial virtues and his success as a fanner and carpenter
was the" late William C. AYalker, who was born in Jefferson township
of Grant county, October 29, 1814, and who died at his homestead in
section thirty-four of the same township on October 7, 1907. Since his
death Mrs. Sarah Walker, his widow, has owned and controlled the fine
farm of seventy acres one mile north of the little city of Matthews, and
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 617
has continued to enjoy the esteem which is paid to her both for her own
gracious personality and for the part which her late husband played in
this community.
^Yilliam C. Walker was a son of John Walker, whose birth occurred
in Rock Bridge county, Virginia, and in young manhood moved to
Ohio, where he was a substantial young farmer at the time of his mar-
riage to Marion Case. She was born in Ohio, and of Irish parentage,
while the Walkers of Scotch-Irish stock. After some of their children
were born in Ohio, John Walker and wife moved to Jefferson township
in Grant county. They were here among the early settlers, and the
father undertook to clear up his land in the wooded section, but died
in ISH, when his son William was but six months old. His widow sub-
sequently married Jesse Ballenger, and they reared a family of children
and spent their final years apart, he dying in Grant county and she in
Delaware county, when past seventy years of age. Of the children
besides William, the following are given brief mention : Samuel, who
died at Upland, Indiana, after a career as a farmer, and whose widow
and daughter and son live in Upland ; Mary, now deceased, whose hus-
band was William Simons, a retired farmer in Fairmont; Katherine,
now deceased, was the wife of James Needier, also deceased, and they
left three sons and four daughters; Slargaret is the widow of Amos
Pugh, and lives in Jefferson township on a farm, but has no living
children.
The late William C. Walker was only three years old when he went
to live with his Aunt Jane, wife of Joseph Reasoner. His home was
with that worthy couple until he was about seventeen years old, and in
the meantime he Avas given such advantages in the local school as most
boys of his time receive. Soon after the outbreak of the Rebellion, he
enlisted in the Eighth Indiana Infantry, and saw three years of hard
military service, only excepting a few months in which he was on an
invalid's furlough, after drinking some poisoned spring water in Mis-
souri. He was never hit with a bullet or captured, though one ball
passed through his hat. On his return from the Civil war he remained
on the farm of his uncle until his marriage.
In 1865 Mr. Walker married Mrs. Sarah Forsythe, whose maiden
name was Graham. Mrs. Walker was born in Mercer county, Illinois,
October 10, 1840. A year or so later her mother died in that state at
the birth of twins, and John Graham, her father, in 1843, moved to
Indiana, and lived in Grant county until 1846. He then took his chil-
dren back to Illinois, and a few years later went to Wisconsin, which
remained his home until 1860. In the meantime he had married a
Mrs. Mary McMichael. In 1860 he once more came to Grant
county for the purpose of securing treatment for cancer, and died at
New Cumberland in the same year, at the age of seventy-six. He was
three times married, and by each wife had children, he having been the
father of sixteen. He also raised two orphans, having raised in all
eighteen children.
Mrs. Walker first married Elijah Forsythe who died in the prime
of life. He had gone to the front as a soldier in Company C of the
Eighteenth Wisconsin Regiment of Infantry as a private and served
faithfully as a soldier up to and including the battle of Shiloh. In that
historic conflict he fought all day long in the rain without any food,
and as a result he was taken ill and furloughed home, liut died while
on the way in a soldier's hospital at Keokuk, Iowa. He was buried at
Keokuk, and his remains now rest in the soldier's cemetery at that
city. I\Ir. Forsythe was of a good family, of Scotch stock, belonging
to the old seceder faith, and most of the male members were men of
€18 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
wealth or at least more thau ordinary circumstance. Elijah Forsythe
was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1849. At his death he' left
one daughter that died in infancy. Mrs. Walker by her marriage to
the late Mr. Walker had two daughters: Blanche, who is unmarried,
is a young woman of splendid education and lives at home with her
mother; Jennie, who is also well educated and was for some time a
teacher, is the wife of Alvin Dickerson of Upland, and has two chil-
dren, Cloyd and Geneva; Cloyd Dickerson is noAV a student in Purdue
University, and his sister is a graduate of the Upland high school, and
is now a student of music at IMarion. ilrs. "Walker has a foster son,
Christian Ed. Walker, a noted tenor singer, with an established repu-
tation in musical circles in Chicago. In April, 1913, he married Jennie
Dancy. Mrs. Walker and family are members of the Presbvterian
faith.
Henry Wise comes of a sturdy old Pennsylvania family, of German
ancestry, and one that has through many generations furnished stanch
and true men to the affairs of the nation. The Wise family was estab-
lished in Pennsylvania, in Center county, prior to the Revolutionary
war, and from then down to the present day men of the name have filled
worthy places in their proper niches in life. The names of the grand-
parents of Henry Wise are not now known to him, but he does know
that they were born, reared and died in Center county, and that his
grandsire was a blacksmith of unusual ability and merit, and that in
his day he made many of the farm implements used by the sturdy Ger-
man farmers of his region. Mr. Wise has in his possession a pair of nail
nippers, interesting in their appearance, showing as they do their hand
made origin, and valuable to him as having been made by his grandfather
at his forge. The old stock were of the German Lutheran faith, and
stanch religionists in every generation.
Samuel Wise, son of the blacksmith and the father of Henry Wise,
whose name heads this review, was born in Center county in about
1812. He grew up in his native community and early learned the trade
of a carpenter. When a young man he determined to come west,
believing that greater opportunities lay in store for the ambitious yomig
adventurer, and he walked the entire distance to Canton, Ohio, where
he secured work at his trade at fifty cents per day. Later he advanced
to the prosperous state where he was paid seventy-five cents a day for
his labors, and was considered a high priced man at that figure in those
early days. After a season he returned to Pennsylvania and there
worked at his trade in his native state. He was an expert cabinet maker,
and he was occupied in that work and in coffin making, as well as in
making furniture. He enjoyed a busy trade in that work, and it is a
notable fact that certain articles of furniture that came from his hands
are now in the possession of his son.
]\Ir. Wise married in Center county, Pennsylvania, Miss Katherine,
or Kate, as she was familiarly called, the daughter of a Mr. Biekel,
a girl who was born and reared in Center county of good old Penn-
sylvania stock. It was not until after the birth of their three sons,
John Jacob, Henry and Samuel, that the family came to Grant county.
That event took place in the year 1848, and they came all the long
distance with oxteams, and in coming came in contact with only two
railroads. They made their first settlement in Jefferson county, there
purchasing 160" acres of wild land, whose only sign of civilization was
presented in a deserted log cabin. Here they devoted themselves to the
business of farming in genuine earnest, and the parents lived to see
more than 100 acres of this wilderness well improved and in a fertile
]\m. AND MRS. HENRY AVLSE
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 619
and blooming condition. It was, in truth, a fine farm, and there Samuel
Wise and his wife lived for many years, later retiring, and both died
at the home of their son, Jacob Wise, a sketch of whom will be found
elsewhere in this work. The father was then ninety years of age, and
his widow died a few years afterward, she too being well advanced in
years. They never faltered in their allegiance to the German Lutheran
church, despite the fact that there were in those days no other churches
of that denomination in their new home. The father was a Democrat
and a splendid type of citizen.
Heni-y Wise is the only surviving one of the four sons born to his
parents. Jacob, it should be said, is referred to fully in a sketch devoted
to him, so that further mention is not necessary here. John died in
Jefferson township, leaving a family, all of whom have since followed
him. Samuel, the youngest of the family, was drafted into the army
during the Civil war, but before his company reached the front he
fell ill and died. He was unmarried.
Henry Wise was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, on March
25, 1835, and he was thirteen years of age when he came with his
parents to Grant county. He was reai'ed on his father's farm and had
such schooling as the subscription schools of the day provided, in a log
school house of the most primitive type. The puncheon floor, the
rude bench, and the improvised writing desk made by resting rough
boards on pins projecting from the log walls of the building, all were
common to his day, and such training as went with the rough equipment
was considered ample for the boy of that early period.
When Mr. Wise became of age he worked for his father on the
home farm for three years, receiving for his services $100 yearly.
After he had taken out $25 for what he called his "Sunday" clothes,
he loaned the remainder to his father at five per cent per annum, and
when his brother Samuel became of age a year or so later, they joined
forces in the purchase of a horse power threshing machine. Together
the young men each threshing season would traverse the country there-
about, threshing for those small farmers and others who did not feel
able to maintain a machine of their own. The money they made in this
way the j^oung men invested in an eighty acre farm in Jefferson town-
ship, which they operated in connection with the home farm for some
years. During the Civil war period they purchased and established the
first portable saw mill in Grant county. After eighteen months of
operation they sold the mill for $1,500 more than it had cost them.
Later they emploj'ed substitutes to take their place in the army, the
death of young Samuel before he reached the front having disheartened
them for any similar service.
It was about then that Henry Wise began to farm on his own
account. His first operations were in Jefferson township, but in 1869
he came to MiU to'S'STaship and here purchased 150 acres, partly improved,
to which he later added 73 acres. Still later he purchased an additional
30 acres, and this total of 250 acres is now well drained and improved,
and is held to be one of the best farms in the township. A fine house,
commodious and complete, as well as a splendid barn, are in evidence,
and the conditions existing about the place reflect the energetic and
progressive spirit of the man.
Mr. Wise has raised a quantity of fine shorthorn cattle and Poland
China hogs on the place, and his success as a breeder has been excellent.
In 1905 his success had reached a place where he felt able to retire
from active business, and he purchased a fine house on North A and
Sixth streets in Gas City. Here he lives quietly after a strenuous, but
prosperous career.
620 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Mr. Wise was married in Jefferson township to Miss Margaret Simons,
who was born there on April 1, 1861. She is a daughter of William
and Mary (Walker) Simons, old settlers of Jefferson township. There
Mrs. Simons died when past middle life and Mr. Simons resides in
Summitville, Madison county, Indiana. Mrs. Wise is a Presbyterian
in her religious faith.
Three children have blessed the lives of Mr. and ilrs. Wise. Lillian,
the wife of Walter Vance, occupies the home farm with her husband;
they have no issue. Chestie is the wife of Chester Carter, and they now
live in Marion, Indiana. They have two daughtei-s, Irene and Dorothy,
Gladys married Frank j\Iorrow, and they live at Fort Wayne, Indiana,
where he is an overseer in a large factory of that cit}\ They have
no children.
Leander N. j\Iillspaugh. Those who pass along the roads of Jeffer-
son township are sure to comment with favor upon the attractive
residence and farm of Leander N. Millspaugh, located in section six
and on rural route No. 2 out of Gaston. The fences and the cultivation
of the fields are an indication to the practical farmer that an energetic
and businesslike farmer lives on that place, and the comfortable white
dwelling house in the midst of fruit trees and the shade trees, and the
large red barn and other buildings, also indicate thrift and prosperity.
Prosperity has come to Mr. and Mrs. ilillspaugh as a result of hard
labor and close management, and while prospering themselves they
have not been unmindful of the needs of the unfortunate and have
borne a helpful share in community activities.
The ]\Iillspaugh family have a number of representatives in Grant
and Delaware counties. Grandfather James Millspaugh, according
to all information available, was born and spent all his life in New
York state and was a farmer. Of his children one daughter was Sallie,
who married a Mr. Clark, and their home was near Cincinnati, Ohio.
The son Gilbert C. Millspaugh, the father of Leander N., was born in
New York state in 1806. The ancestry of the jMillspaugh is German.
Gilbert Millspaugh Avas reared on a farm and when a young man
settled in Faj-ette county, Indiana, among the pioneers. In that
county he was married to ]\Iiss Lucy Williams who was born prob-
ably in southern Indiana, about 1812. After their marriage thejy lived
on a farm in Fayette county where their seven sons and one daugh
ter were all born. This family of children are described as fol-
lows: Harvey, who was a carpenter by trade and died in Fayette
county, leaving a family of children; Oliver II., who, after a long
career as a carpenter and farmer is now living retired in California,
was three times married and had children by his two wives ; William,
who was a veteran of the Thirty-Sixth Indiana Regiment, and was
for a time a prisoner of war, was a farmer until his death in Washington
township of Delaware county; Peter, who was a skilled workman
and successful carpenter and builder, lived and died in Jefferson town-
ship of Grant county, and by two marriages left two sons and some
daughters ; Catherine married Daniel Richards, a farmer of Delaware
county, and there are two sons and a daughter still living of their
union; Leander N; IMilton J., who has a large family of children by
two marriages, now lives on his farm near ]\Iarion in North Dakota.
The birth of Leander N. Millspaugh occurred in Fayette county,
Indiana, January 8. 1847. There he was reared until 1860, and in
that year the family moved to Delaware county. His father died in
Delaware county in 1861 at the age of fifty-six, and when the mother
was a second time married, Leander, though still but a boy in years,
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 621
set out to make his own way, and soon afterwards came to Grant
county. The second husband of his mother was William Hollis. Mr.
Millspaugh's mother died in Grant county when threescore years of
age. "With a common school education, acquired in the country school,
Leander ilillspaugh got his practical training for life on a farm,
and has made a pro.sperous business out of tilling the soil. Ilis beauti-
ful farm of eighty acres is in section six of Jefferson township, and he
and his wife have lived there since their marriage. It was inherited
by ]\Irs. Slillspaugh from her mother. They not only have a good
farm but a comfortable nine-room residence and good barns and other
facilities for successful farming, and the growing of livestock is one
of the chief industries of the Millspaugh place.
Mr. J\Iillspaugh was married in Jeft'erson township February 16,
1871, to jMiss Sarah E. Burgess, who Avas born in Fayette county,
Indiana, March 28, 1850. She was partly reared and educated in her
native county, and partly in Grant county, and she finished her educa-
tion in the Delaware county public schools. Her father, Israel Burgess,
was born in Indiana about 1822 and was married in Fayette county
to Ruth Crawford, who was born in Fayette county, Jlarch 9, 1821.
Israel Burgess was a farmer by occupation and died in Fayette county
in 18.51. His widow was married February 17, 18.57, to John D. Kirk-
wood, of Fayette county. Mr. Kirkwood was born October 29, 1826,
and in 1S62 established his home in Grant count.y, locating on a farm
of eighty acres in section six of Jefferson township. The Kirkwood
farm was later increased by the addition of eighty acres more, and
there on what is known as Kirkwood Creek, he and his wife passed the
rest of their years. She died December 14, 1902. Mr. Kirkwood died
on the old homestead in May, 1905. John Kirkwood was a Democrat
in politics, and he and his wife held to no church creed, although they
were excellent people, both morally and as citizens, were hard workers,
and were charitable in all their relations. John D. Kirkwood and
wife had two sons, Frank H. Kirkwood, whose family history is given
elsewhere in this publication, and Brooks, who died and left one son.
Mrs. Millspaugh was the younger of two daughters. Her sister,
Margaret J., is the widow of William Millspaugh, a brother of Leander,
who died in Delaware county in I\Iarch, 1903, and his widow now
occupies the old farm in Washington township. ]\Irs. William Mills-
paugh has a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters,
all of whom are living and all married but one. As already stated,
William Millspaugh was a veteran of the Civil war
Leander N. ilillspaugh and wife had two children : Orla Corwin, who
was boi-n in Grant county, January 9, 1874, is a carpenter by trade, his
home being in Anderson, Indiana. He married Ola Beck, who died,
leaving three children, Willard L., Mildred A., and Gar H. Orla C.
Millspaugh married for his second wife, Virginia B. Scott, and their
children are Everett and George A. Arthur Floyd Millspaugh, the
second child was born November 15, 1882, and is a carpenter by trade,
and resides six miles from Rennsalaer, in Jasper county, Indiana. He
married Fleet Beck, and they have one daughter, Evelyn R. Mr.
Millspaugh votes the Democratic ticket, and is always ready to enlist
his services in behalf of any undertaking for the general good of
his community.
David Lemon Richards. Probably the most attractive and valuable
country estate in Jefferson township is that of David L. Richards in
section six. Prosperity, comfort, enterprise and good management
are in evidence at every turn, and if one should wish to form a fair
622 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
judgment as to the highest possibilities of Grant county agriculture,
he could select no better place for his studies than the Richards farm.
The farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land and has been
known as the Richards place for two generations. The farm was
located and owned for a number of years by ilr. L. G. Richards, father
of David L. Richards. Mr. Richards likewise owns one hundred and
fifty acres of land in Jefferson township of Delaware county. That
place has fifteen acres of timber, but all the rest is in cultivation, and
has an excellent building equipment consisting of a comfortable white
house and a large red barn. The home farm has a residence probably
not excelled for size and comfort in this part of Indiana. It contains
fifteen rooms, the entire structure is modern in architecture and
furnishings, and it is heated by a furnace, has hot and cold water on
all floors, and an acetj'leue gas plant in the basement which furnishes
modern lighting facilities. Outside of the house, which is surrounded
by a grove of fruit and shade trees, there are two large red barns,
one of them for stock purposes and the other a seed and grain barn.
Mr. Richards has specialized both in livestock and in fruits. His home
has been there since 1900 and though not all the improvements are to
be credited to his management, he has introduced many changes both
in the cultivation and in the facilities, and realizing his responsibilities
as the son of one of the best known old settlers of Grant county, he
has maintained the family traditions and has developed a farm which
is creditable alike to his own enterprise and to the county in which
it is situated. He is successful in the growing of both small and large
grains, and he keeps a large number of hogs, sheep and cattle, and also
twelve good horses.
Mr. L. G. Richards, father of this substantial farmer citizen, has
a long and interesting career of his own, and it is told in appropriate
manner on other pages. On the old homestead in section six of Jeffer-
son township, and in a house which is still kept standing as a land-
mark and for its family associations, David L. Richards was born April
16, 1870, and was reared and educated in this vicinity and has been
known to the people from their youth up. He was one of a family of
four children, and the others are: Rev. J. W. Richards, a farmer in
Delaware county, and who was married and has a family ; Mrs. Ruphas
C. Nottingham ;" and Mrs. J. W. Himelick.
David L. Richards was married in Jefferson township to Miss Lois
Alta Fergus, a daughter of Warren Fergus. Mrs. Richards was bom
on the old Fergus farm in Jeft'erson township, April 10, 1869, and was
educated in the public schools of this vicinity. To their marriage have
been born two children, as follows : Delia, born May 15, 1892, a gradu-
ate of the ^Matthews high school in the class of 1910, and by her mar-
riage to AVilliam Lewis, who now operates the Richards farm in Dela-
ware county, has one sou, Richard R., born March .31, 1913. Ada
Gulia, the second child was born ]May 19, 1896, and is a senior in the
Matthews high school. Among his other interests and enterprises,
Mr. Richards was one of the organizers of the ^ilatthews State Bank,
and is a stockholder and director in that substantial institution. He
has always interested himself in matters of community welfare, is a
public-spirited citizen and a supporter of moral and educational move-
ments.
Is.\AC Ltm.\n Carter. Five years after the organization of Grant
county as a separate civil government of Indiana, the Carter family
was planted in the wilderness along the Mississinewa in Jefferson town-
ship. Nearly eighty years have elapsed since they came to this region.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 623
and three generations, comprising many individuals have performed
their duties and upheld their responsibilities as citizens and members
of families, and the name has always been associated with honest worth
and upright manhood and womanhood.
IMore than a century and a half ago, this family had its seat in
New Ilampshire. A few years before the Revolutionary War, Edward,
the great-grandfather of Isaac Lyman Carter was born in Hollis, New
Hampshire, April 22, 1770. He married Esther Powers, of the same
place, and they lived and died there, Edward passing away September
18, 1826. There were a number of children in the family, including
Isaac P. Carter, who was born in New Hampshire, probably at Hollis,
July 3, 1793. The early youth was spent in New Hampshire, but he
was probably married in AValdo county, Maine, where it is known that
he lived for several years. In an early day, about the year 1825, he
emigrated west to Ohio, lauding in Muskingum county, Ohio, where
he was a pioneer settler in the vicinity of Zanesville. There he fol-
lowed farming, but in a few years his pioneer spirit led him to move
on still farther west and in 1835 he arrived in Grant county, Indiana,
locating on raw land in Jefferson township, situated on the banks of
the Mississiuewa. A log cabin home was the first shelter of the Carter
family in Grant county, and Grandfather Isaac made a living partly
by farming and partly by hunting and fishing. His labors were
steadily directed towards the clearing and improvement of his land,
and eventually a good homestead rewarded his efforts. For the con-
struction of the second home replacing the old log cabin, a supply of
brick was made, and from clay taken from the farm. That old brick
house is still standing, but is no longer occupied as a dwelling. Isaac
P. Carter spent his last years in that home, and died January 29, 1869.
During his residence in Ohio he married Joanna Gage, and she was
born June 9, 1802, in Waldo county, ilaine, and died April 1, 1863.
They were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and
possessed the kindly and substantial qualities of the old pioneer.
Their family consisted of ten sons, and seven of those grew up and
were married, as follows: Ira J., Howard, Joseph, Elijah, John H.,
Lewis, and Oliver, all of whom were married and are now deceased,
and all but Oliver had children. Farming was their vocation, and very
few members of the Carter family in the various generations have
followed any other vocation.
Ira J. Carter, father of Isaac L., was born in Muskingum county,
near Zanesville, Ohio, JMarch 15, 1822, and died near JIatthews, in
Grant county, March 21, 1899. At the time of the family migration to
Grant county, in 1835, he was thirteen years of age, and here his years
were spent until manhood, and he acquired an education much better
than most of his contemporaries. He possessed talent both in penman-
ship and in mathematics, and for a number of years taught school.
For two years he served as justice of the peace, and many people were
married in his office throughout his part of the county, and some of
those marriages have endured happily to the present time. For many
years he also did the work of a notary, and for twenty-seven years
was postmaster of the place locally known as Trask Post Office, an
office which was diseontiniied in 1901 under competition from the
rural free delivery service. While attending to the various duties
of these offices, he conducted his farm either directly or sxipervised its
management, and was the owner of eighty acres of fine land. Through-
out his career he voted and supported the Democratic party. Ira J.
Carter was married in Jeliferson township on July 25, 1844, to Eliza
Ann Com. Her birth occurred in Rush county, Indiana, June 5, 1825,
624 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
and she is still living a venerable woman, though quite active in body
and mind, eighty-eight years of age, a lovely old woman whose char-
acter has long been an asset in the community. She is a Baptist in
religion and has been identified with church and its kindi-ed activities
for the greater part of a lifetime. Her age was eleven years when the
family moved to Grant county, and her parents were Joseph and
Nancy (Said) Corn. Her father was a native of Georgia, moved in
early life to Kentucky, where he married a native daughter of that
state, and after two children had been born to them in Kentucky,
Louisa and Lueinda, the family all moved to Rush county, Indiana.
In Rush county Mrs. Carter was born and also other children as
follows: Permelia, Martha J., Joseph and John. All these children
are now dead, except ]\Irs. Carter, and all except Louisa were married
and had families of their own, some of them very large houseliolds,
Joseph having twenty-one children by two wives.
The children born to Ira J. Carter and Avife were: Permelia J.,
who died in infancy; Harriet, also deceased in infancy; Gilbert, who
did not survive babyhood ; J. Newton, a carpenter, who lives in Upland,
Grant county, and has a family; Olive, who is the widow of John
Kibby, a sketch of whom appeai-s elsewhere in this work ; Levi L.,
who is a farmer in Delaware county, and is married and has one daugh-
ter; J\Iary B., whose first husband was Noah Hardy, and whose second
was Elmer Pliatt, and living now in Gary, Indiana, and there were three
children by the second marriage. Isaac L. ; Salina D., who died when
seventeen years of age ; Jernsha, who became the wife of John Croush,
living in Clark county, Indiana, and they have two sons and three
daughters; Anna A., the wife of AVood Helms, a farmer in Fairmount
township, and their family consists of three sons and two daughters.
Isaac Lyman Carter was born in the house he still occupies, on
October 30, 1860. That old homestead is in section twenty-one of
Jefferson township. His home has always been in this locality and
from boyhood he has followed farming successfully, and in a prac-
tical, progressive manner, which marks him as a true son of the soil.
His place of eighty acres is well stocked with graded sheep, hogs, and
cattle, and he is one of the extensive feeders in this part of the county.
His buildings are good and substantial, and represent prosperous
management.
Near the old home, Isaac L. Carter married for his first wife, Miss
Mary N. Wilcoxon, who was born in Delaware county in 1848, and
who died at her home in Jefiferson township, January 21, 1901. She
was an active communicant of the Methodist church. Her six children
are mentioned as follows : Glenn, whose home is with his father, and
who is unmarried, is a graduate of Purdue University, and is now
a seed and fertilizer inspector for the state of Indiana ; Alivila Blanche,
died at the age of fifteen months; R. Emory, who lives on a farm in
Fairmount township, married Miss Lula Goodnight, and their children
are John and Blanche; John Burl, who is a graduate of the high
school in the class of 1909, lives at home with his father on the farm ;
Asa E. was graduated in the home schools, and is living with his
father; Mary A. is a sophomore in the IMatthews high school. The
present Mrs.' Carter was before her marriage JIargaret Ann Fitch,
who was bom in Marion county, Indiana, February 26, 1869, was edu-
cated in Wabash county, and is a woman of thorough culture and an
excellent housewife and mother. Her parents were John and Sarah
(Wiley) Fitch, who were born respectively in Kentucky and Indiana,
were married in IMarion county of the latter state, and most of their
lives were passed in Wabash county. Ilor father died in Huntington
J. CLAY ROSS, M. D.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 625
county, in 1907, at the age of sixty-four, while his widow now lives
in Andrews, Indiana, and is seventy-one years of age. The Fitch
family are members of the Methodist church. Mrs. Carter is the
mother of three children : Lewis H., in the public schools ; Sarah
Ethlyn, aged two years; and Edith M. Mr. and j\Irs. Carter belong
to Kingsley Chapel Llethodist church, and Mr. Carter is a trustee and
for a number of years was steward in the church. His political affilia-
tions are with the Democratic party.
J. Clay Ross, M. D. After graduating from the Louisville Medical
College, at Louisville, Kentucky, with the class of 1906, Dr. Ross spent
two years in that city as interne, in St. Anthony's Hospital, then estab-
lished an office at Florence, Indiana, where he remained about four
j'ears, and since April 21, 1910, has practiced at Gas City. Dr. Ross
has already built up a large practice, both in the city and country.
He takes his surgical cases to the Marion Hospital in conjunction with
Dr. C. 0. Bechtol. Dr. Ross is a very genial, happy-minded gentleman
of a very sociable nature, and has friends wherever he has gone. These
personal characteristics combined with his thorough ability as a physi-
cian have brought him a large business and he enjoys the confidence and
respect of a large patronage and hosts of friends all over Grant county.
He is a member of the Grant County and Indiana State Medical Societies
and the American Medical Association.
J. Clay Ross, who comes of a fine old Kentucky family, was born
in Gallatin county, Kentucky, October 17, 1877. He was reared on a
farm until he was eighteen years old, and his first work was as a teacher,
after graduating in the scientific course in the National Normal Uni-
versity at Lebanon, Ohio. Through school teaching he paid his way
through college and university, and on March 29, 1901, graduated from
the Commercial department of the Kentucky State University. After
that for a short while he was bookkeeper in the First National Bank
at Vevay, Indiana. In his ancestry and family connections were a
number of physicians, and this was one of the influences which prompted
him to take up medicine as his chosen calling.
Dr. Ross comes of old Virginia stock, which was early transplanted
into Kentucky. There is a family tradition that Betsej^ Ross who made
the first American flag belonged to one of the earlier generations. The
doctor's grandfather was Milton C. Ross, who was bom in Gallatin
county, Kentucky, in 1823. He married Nancy Hopkins, who was born
in Carroll county, Kentucky, about the same time. Both were of Vir-
ginia stock of Scotch-Irish people, and early settlers in Kentucky. The
father of Milton C. Ross was rich in lands, holding a graint of ten
thousand acres in Kentucky, had a great retinue of slaves who worked
his plantations and attended to his household, and was an influential
and wealthy citizen.
Grandfather Milton Ross died at the age of seventy-three years,
while his wife passed away when seventy-nine years. They were mem-
bers of the Christian church, and led lives of earnest Christian prin-
ciple and usefulness.
There were thirteen children in the family of Milton Ross and wife.
Of these the only ones now living are : Joseph, father of Dr. Ross, and
Dr. John J. C. Ross, of Bloomington, Indiana. One son, Thomas, was a
soldier in the Union army during the war in the Eighteenth Kentucky
Regiment. However, grandfather Ross was a strong Confederate in his
sympathies and had held slaves before the war, having inherited them
from his father. Joseph Ross, father of Dr. Ross, has been a farmer
aU his life, and he and his wife now occupy the old Donley homestead
626 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
near the Ohio river in Gallatin county, Kentucky. lie was bom
January 19, 1855, and all his years have been spent in the vicinity of
his birth place. He has been a Democrat and locally prominent. He
was married in Gallatin county to Maiy Donley, who was bom in the
same county. May 19, 1855. They grew up in the same neighborhood,
attended the same school, and have always lived in companionship and
their married life has been a particularly happy one. Joseph Ross is a
member of the Christian church, his family religion, but Mrs. Ross is a
Catholic, and reared her children in that faith. Her parents were
James and Margaret (Breen) Donley, who were born in Count.v AVexford,
Ireland, were married there, and some time during the forties embarked
upon a sailing vessel which was three months in crossing the ocean to
New Orleans, and from there came up the Mississippi River to Ken-
tuckJ^ James Donley and wife died when quite old, he at the age of
sixty-nine and she when seventy-four, and of their nine children, eight
are still living. Dr. Ross was the oldest of three children. His brother,
Charles, who was born November 30, 1880, lives on a farm in his native
county, and is married and has two children, Joseph J. and Robei't L.
The sister IMargaret, born July 27, 1895, was educated in the public
schools and in the Villa McDonough Academy of Kentucky', and is now
at home with her pai-ents.
Dr. Ross was married in Hopkinsville, Christian county, Kentucky,
to Miss l\Iamie Massie. She was bom near Houston, Texas, August
10, 1884, grew up there and attended Texas schools and finished her
education within six years in Washington, D. C. She is a grand-
daughter of Dr. J. C. and Elizabeth (Sessums) Massie, the former a
native of Virginia, and the latter of Tennessee, but they were married
in Texas, and Grandfather ]Massie was a prominent ph.ysician at Houston
for a number of years, but finally retired to his plantation near that city,
and died there at the age of sixty years ; his widow died June 27, 1913,
aged eighty-eight. Joseph Massie, father of I\Irs. Ross, was born and
reared on his father's plantation in Texas, and married Mary Edmund-
son, a native of Texas, a woman of many talents and of thorough educa-
tion and culture, a graduate of HoUin's Institute of Virginia, and also
of Vassar College. She was an accomplished musician, both vocally
and iustrumentally, having graduated from the Boston Conservatory
of Music and spent two years in study in Europe. She died in 1890 in
the prime of life. Her husband now lives in New Mexico, and is serving
as county clerk of Chavis county, with home at Roswell, the county
seat. The Massie family are all Episcopalian in religion, and Mrs.
Ross' cousin, Davis Sessums, is Episcopal bishop of Louisiana. Dr.
Ross and wife have one child, Marion E., born October 10, 1906. Mrs.
Ross has membership in the Episcopal church, while he retains his
aflSliation with the Catholic church.
Dr. Ross is veiy popular and active in fraternal matters, being a
member of the Knights of Columbus Council at Marion ; the Elks Lodge
No. 195 ; the Orioles No. 9 ; the Lodge of Moose No. 253 ; and the Nep-
tunes, the Mother Lodge of which order is at ilarion. Dr. Ross in
politics is a Democrat.
B. Frank Duling. Since the pioneer settlement of Grant county,
three generations of the Duling family have been identified with the
industrial and social community in a way to promote the welfare and
improvement of this locality. They assisted in the clearing of the wil-
derness during the early daj's, and in the quieter years that have
followed their lives have been led along the paths of industry and
prosperity, and as farmers and good citizens they have done their full
share for the enrichment of community life.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 627
Representing the family in the third generation, B. Frank Dnling
is one of the leading farmer citizens of Jefferson township. He was
born in Fairmount township, January 11, 1869, a son of William and
a grandson of Thomas Duling. William Duling was born in Coshocton
county, Ohio, in 1838, and the grandfather, Thomas, a native of Vir-
ginia, settled in Ohio at an early date, and lived there until most of
his children were born. When William was still a boy less than nine
years of age, the family started west and finally reached Grant county.
The grandfather bought laud in Fairmount township, erecting a log
cabin, started to battle with the frontier hardships in the midst of the
green woods. The Duling family had their full share of pioueer expe-
riences and hardships, and Thomas Duling had the satisfaction of
replacing his old log cabin with a substantial frame house, and seeing
his family grow up about him in peace and plenty, and as factors in the
community. He died at the end of a long and useful life, at the age
of eighty-four, and his wife preceded him when about seventy yeara
of age. Her maiden name was Elizabeth JIuskimmons. They were both
members of the Methodist Protestant church, and among the organizers
of that faith in Fairmount township.
William Duling was one of the following children: Oliver, John,
William, Thomas, George, Mary, Barbara Ann, and Elizabeth, both the
last named dying in infancy. Oliver, William and Thomas are still
living, and Oliver is a bachelor.
William Duling grew up on the old home farm in Fairmount town-
ship, and subsequently bought sixty acres of laud near the old estate,
and started out as an independent farmer. That continued to be his
home until 1876, when he left Fairmount township and bought the
James Nottingham farm of one hundred and six acres in Jefferson
township. That is his home down to the present writing, and he is also
the owner of eighty acres nearby in Fairmount township. William Du-
ling and wife have well deserved their prosperity, since they were hard
workers from youth up, and by thrift and good management acquired
a property aggi'egating at one time more than six hundred acres. They
are members of the ilethodist Protestant church. Thej' were the par-
ents of eight children, and they are briefly mentioned as follows:
Mary A. is the wife of Oscar Lewis, a farmer in Delaware county,
and has two children; John lives in Fairmount township, is married
but has no children ; Flora is the wife of Calvin Jones, and their chil-
dren are : Myrtle, Clarence, Walter, EflSe and ilary. The fourth in the
family is B,. Frank Duling. Nettie is the wife of Rev. C. M. Ilobbs, an
active minister of the ]\Iethodist church, and their children are Donald,
Sedriek and Malcolm. Elmer is the Delaware county farmer, and by
his marriage to Emma Dunn, has one baby son. Effie is the wife of
Frank Wright, an undertaker in the city of Washington, D. C. Glenn
is a farmer in Fairmount to\\^^ship, and married Juanita Kuntz.
Mr. B. Frank Duling, after growing to manhood entered upon his
career as a successful farmer, and his prosperity has been such as
to make him oue among the leading farmers of Grant county, and give
him a distinctive place in affairs. At the present time he is the owner
of two farms, each comprising eighty acres, and all the improvements
and facilities for modern agriculture and stock raising are to be
found there. In the little city of Matthews, Mr. Duling owns a nice
home, and also has a stock and grain barn in the town, forty-four by
one hundred and thirty-two feet in floor dimensions. His live stock
comprises fourteen head of horses, and also hogs and other animals.
Since 1909, Mr. Duling has made his home in the town of Matthews,
and operates his farms from that point.
628 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Mr. Duling was married in Washington township of Delaware
county to Miss Amanda Dunn, who was born and reared and educated
in that township. They are the parents of four children, one of whom
died in infancy, the others being: Lloyd, aged seventeen; :\Iarjorie,
aged thirteen; and Norwood, aged eighteen months. Mr. Duling is
a Republican in national affairs, and always interested in good govern-
ment as applied to his home community.
Dr. Eli Mendenhall Whitson, who died in Jonesboro, November
7, 1905, belonged to the pioneer Whitson family, and had lived in the
community since 1844, when he came as a child with his parents from
Clinton county, Ohio. There is mention of the Whitson family in the
]\lill Township chapter.
In June of the Centennial year. Dr. Whitson married Miss Annie
Watson, daughter of Lorenzo D. and Elizabeth (Can-oil) Watson of
Jefferson township. The Watson family had interests in three adjoin-
ing counties, both Blackford and Delawai-e counties lying ad.jacent to
their community in Grant. The four Watson daughters, Mrs. Whitson,
]\Irs. Margaret Craw, Mrs. Minerva Lewellen, and Mrs. Virginia Beuoy,
were all well known young women, and their acquaintance was not
limited to their immediate community, ilrs. Whitson died in 18!*:^,
at her home in Jonesboro, and because of an ante-nuptial agreement
with her mother. Dr. Whitson buried her at Olive Branch, the Watson
burial plot, near the old home in Jeft'erson. Dr. Whitson and wife had
two daughters : ilrs. Elizabeth Mabel Hill, and Miss Georgia Gladys
Whitson. He later married Miss Emma Coleman, who, with his
daughters, survives him. His grave is in the Jonesboro cemetery.
Few men live in a community and have higher tributes paid to them
than Dr. Whitson. He was always identified with its every interest,
and he had a wide professional acquaintance. He visited his patients
on horseback, riding a sulk}% and finally having buggies built to his
order. When his services were desired, he did not always investigate
the possibilities of the family from a financial standpoint. Dr. Whitson
acquired considerable farm land, and had business interests besides,
but at his death, since he had no son, and his daughters and Mrs.
Whitson did not want to live in the country, all the farm land as well
as the home in Jonesboro was sold. He had always been very watch-
ful of the farm interests, and knowing his reputation as a careful
farmer, they did not want to see the property depreciate. Old Dick,
the horse he had driven for many years was a problem, and he was
left to end his days on the farm.
Dr. Whitson was abreast of the times in both professional and
social ways. As his friends gathered at the funeral, and while viewing
the remains, a relative (Mrs. Beuoy) unconsciously paid him the
highest tribute, saying: "It was always one cheerful place to come
to." And what better thing can be said of any man or family? What
higher tribute? While Dr. Whitson often reviewed his war record,
three years of active service in the One Hundred and First Indiana
Regiment, he did not have any more pride in it than in his citizenship
in the community. He was a faithful member of the Jonesboro Meth-
odist Episcopal church, and his name is on the cornerstone as a member
of the board of trustees and building committee. Wlien he died the
church members felt their loss, and along at that time there were other
losses in the same circle, but th(>re are always others who assume the
responsibilities laid down by those who die or leave a community.
Elizabeth M. Whitson, the older daughter of Dr. Whitson, was
married in the Century year to Daniel W. Hill, a son of Nathan and
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 629
Emaline Hill, and he had a position with the American Tin Plate Com-
pany when it first located at Gas City. When the company's offices
were moved to the east he went along, and he and his family have
lived twice in New York city and twice in Pittsburg, and now occupy
their own home on Liuwood Avenue at Bay Side, Long Island. Mr.
Hill is with the American Can Company in New York city, aud is
one Jonesboro young man who has made a success of business while
living in the American metropolis. Their two little boys are Robert
and Howard Hill.
Thirteen years separated the birthdays of Dr. Whitson 's two daugh-
ters, and he used to say he supposed the second one would go as far
west as the first had gone east, and his prophecy has been fulfilled.
While ]\Iiss Georgia Whitson always called Jonesboro her home, she
made several trips back and forth to Pittsburg aud New York city.
In 1911 she graduated from De Pauw University at Green Castle, and
she was for two years teacher of Latin in the Thorntown high school,
and in the fall of 1913 she matriculated in the Southern California
Universitj', her purpose being to secure a degree from that institution
and become a teacher in the western country. She spent two mouths
with her sister on the Atlantic coast, aud crossed the continent to Los
Angeles, bathing in the surf of the Atlantic and Pacific in the same
season. An education would have been her father's highest ambition
for her. When he graduated from a school of medicine, he knew the
handicap of poverty — his best coat when he finished having been his
second best when he entered college. But fortune favored him and
his daughters have had the benefit of his professional success. While
Dr. Whitson accumulated considerable propert.y at Jouesboro, it has
all been converted into money, and his family have the advantages
from it. The daughters still own a farm in Jet¥erson township, and
Mrs. Emma C. Whitson still represents the household in Jonesboro.
Concerning the earlier generations of the Whitson household, it
is noteworthy that ten children comprised the original family, but
smaller families have been the rule in later generations. Tradition
has it that three Whitson brothers went west from Pennsylvania, one
to Indiana, another to Kentucky, and the third to Tennessee. It was
the family of John aud Sarah (Kimbrough) Whitson that located
in 1844 at Jonesboro, where for three score and ten years their pos-
terity has continued its existence. Some of the Whitson children were
born at Jouesboro, and all but one died there, a record not shown by
many pioneer families.
John Whitsou went to the Chicago horse market in June, 1855,
with a consignment of horses. He encountered "lampers" in the horse
market and there being no demand for animals he left his string of
horses, going back in September for settlement, and he was never
seen again by his family. The wife (see Mill Township chapter) died
at the family homestead in Jonesboro in 1892, her life having long
been saddened by an unexplained absence. She had reared her own
children, and some of her grandchildren had their homes with her,
and she had a mother heart for all of them.
For many years all the Whitson family enjoyed a dinner together,
January 11, the anniversary of '"Grandmother's" birthday, coming
so soon after the holidays when there were divergent family associa-
tions, marriage with other families causing the separation at Christ-
mastide, and all were glad to come together again on her natal day
when she laid aside her kitchen apron and allowed the younger women
the right of way in the household — only for the day, and then she
was mistress again. The monument at her grave is one half of an
630 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
octagonal block of granite, and it bears tbree inscriptions — her own,
and two unmarried daughters, Margaret Ellen and Ann Eliza, a trio
that had maintained an open door for all the relatives and orphan
children in the family. For many years those two daughters conducted
a millinery store, and had patronage from all over Grant county.
Even now people say to Rolinda: "We used to get such pretty hats
from the Whitson girls." Their trade in Quaker bonnets was not
limited to Grant county. Before being milliners they had been tailors,
sewing for Hudson Stewart, who M-as for years the most fashionable
tailor in Grant county, attracting much patronage from JMarion. It
was with the needle that the daughters earned the money to embark
in the millinery trade. Of the John and Sarah Whitsou family, two
children, Sarah and Lewis, died in infancy. The others were : ^lary
Jane, who married Herman AVigger and is survived bj' one daughter,
Mrs. Nora A. W. Tucker; David Miller Vore, who married Verliuda
Jay and Asenath Wiuslow, and is survived by three sons, Rufus Alden,
Rolland Lewis and Irviu Whitson; Ira Kimbrough, who married Sarah
Harte, and is survived by his widow and a daughter, Mrs. Lula Agnes
Davison, and a son, Fred Kimbrough Whitson; Martin Van Buren,
who married Mary Esther Barnard and is survived by a son, Elvie C.
Whitson, and a granddaughter. Miss Mary Clarissa Adams; Dr. Eli
Mendenhall, whose family relationship has already been explained;
James Liudley, who married Lucy Ann Amelia Hoover, and is survived
by one sou, Dr. John Samuel Whitson. There were twelve grand-
children and a number of great-grandchildren with the fourth and
fifth generations represented in the Whitson family. Some of them
are scattered far from the original threshold, and while once many
Whitson family households were grouped about Jouesboro, the original
circle about the hearthstone has been completely broken and its
members have all "gone to the bourne from whence traveler do not
return. ' '
Rufus Alden Whitson. Since June 22, 1913, the date of the death
of Martin V,. Whitson, who was the last of the original Jonesboro
Whitson family, Rufus Alden Whitson, the oldest grandchild in either
the Whitson or Jay pioneer relationship, has been the senior member
of both families in Grant county. His parents. David Jliller Vore and
Verliuda (Jay) Whitson, were married November IS, 1854, at the David
Jay family household near Jouesboro. The father was one of ten, and
the mother one of nine children, and though only sixty years, scant
two generations have passed since their marriage, their generation is
extinct in both families. The deaths of il. V. Whitson already men-
tioned, and Elisha B. Jay on April 7, 1904, marked the passing of both
the ancestral families. Though both the families have thus disappeared
in name, they were people of such sterling character as to leave their
distinctive marks, and some of them were useful as long as they lived
in the community.
David i\r. V. Whitson, born November 3, 1832, in Clinton county,
and Verliuda Jay, January 7, of the same year in ]Miami county. Ohio,
met in Jonesboro when they were children, grew up together ami were
married there. To them were born four children : Rufus A., Rolland
L., and Irviu ; and one daughter, Sarah Jay Whitson. Verliuda Whit-
son, the mother, died October 27, 18(i9, and the father was married
December 30, 1870, to Asenath Winslow daughter of Daniel and
Rebekah (Hiatt) Winslow. To this marriage Eli Allen Whitson was
born. The father died July 10, ]87fi. The daughter, Sarah Jay, who
was married January 7, 1885, to Joseph A. Jones, died February 8,
BLACKFORD AiND GRANT COUNTIES 631
1890. Eli A. Whitson, the son of the second marriage, died February
19, 1892, and his mother, who had become Mrs. Asenath Baldwin (see
chapter God's Acre) died March 30, 1895. It was once a happy family,
but is now broken and scattered with divergent interests, as seems
the common fate of all.
Rufus A. Whitson was married September 12, 1874, to Elizabeth
Teagle, daughter of Ornon V. and Patty Ann (Pursley) Teagle. Three
children were born to this union: Charles Jay, who married Lena
Crispeu; Verlinda Belle, who became the wife of Calvin Leroy John-
ston ; and David Alonzo, who married Lulu Lind. The mother of these
children died June 25, 1883. On January 25, 1885, Rufus A. Whitson
married Emma Jane Carll, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Pearson)
Carll. Mr. and Mrs. Whitson, now that their children are gone, live in
Jonesboro. Charles Jay W^hitson, their oldest child, had two children:
Glen Aldeu, deceased; and IVed, and their home is ^Medicine Hat, in
Alberta, Canada. Vei-linda (AVhitson) Johnston, the second child of
Rufus A., became the mother of three children. Two of them, Calvin
Rufus and Emma Madeline, preceded their mother in death, and one
survives, Richard Keats Johnston. Verlinda Johnston died at IMor-
gantown, West Virginia, September 17, 1908, and she lies buried at
Jonesboro. David A. Whitson, the youngest child of Rufus A., lives
in Prince Albert in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Both the
sons have wandered much since leaving Jonesboro, and the infrequent
letters from them tell very little of their adventures on the frontier.
When these two Whitson boys stai-ted out in the world, they tried the
unbeaten paths, and they do not write many letters to tell of their expe-
rience. They enjoyed cowboy life in the west for a while, finallj' cross-
ing the Canada border, and they seem to have located permanently
in the great Northwest. C. J. Whitson is fanning and drilling water
wells, while D. A. Whitson is railroading in that part of the country.
Of other members of the family of D. M. V. Whitson, R. L. Whitson,
Centennial historian of Grant count}^ married Frances Henrietta Kel-
logg, daughter of Edward Payson and Anna Maria (Nishwitz) Kellogg.
They were married at Troy, Ohio, Jiine 16, 1886, and have one daugh-
ter, Anna Verlinda. She is a student in Oxford College for W'omen at
Oxford, Ohio.
Irvin Whitson, third son of D. M. V. Whitson, married Addie Clark,
daiighter of James and Martha (Douglas) Clark, November 29, 1894.
They live in Lamoure county. North Dakota. Two children: Sarah
Jeannette, and Clarence Ellsworth, were born, the boy dying at Jones-
boro, but the daughter is with them in the Northwest.
While David M. V. Whitson was a farmer and a member of the
Friends church, none of his family have followed his example, and
change of environment is the whole explanation. The family removed
from Jonesboro to Liberty township, March 1, 1864. The father gave
up his membership in Amana Lodge of Odd Fellows, and with his
wife became a charter member in Bethel Friends Church, Mrs. Whitsor
having been a birthright Friend and having made the necessarj^ con-
fession because of having "married out of meeting." That long ago
Friends were opposed to secret societies. The mother was clerk of
Oak Ridge ^Monthly Meeting, of which Bethel ]\Ieeting is a part, at
the time of her death, and she used to lay aside her Quaker bonnet
and read the minutes, the custom of Friends years ago.
While the pioneer Whitson family was always divided in its
political affiliation, usually having a representative in each political
party, the citizenship of the family has always been a matter of pride.
There was a Revolutionary soldier in the ancestry, and four genera-
632 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
tions from Thomas Kimbrough — Ira K., Martin V., Eli :\I. and James
L. Whitson, all enlisted in the Civil war. Then Rufus A. Whitson of
the nest generation put the flag floating in the Spanish-American war,
going with the One Hiuidred and Sixtieth Indiana Regiment to Cuba.
The present generation stands committed to the same type of citizen-
ship that has always characterized the Whitson family.
Thomas S. Thompson spent a good share of his life in his native
county in Ohio, his advent into this state being marked by the year
1880, when he settled in Jasper county. He comes of the best blood
in the south, his family on both paternal and maternal sides being
of sturdy old southern stock, and the Thompson family today gives
evidence of being well born in its exhibition of many fine traits and
qualities. In the north and west .stress is not laid, in any great degree,
upon the facts of old and well established family lines, but the fact
remains that the man who may view with pride the ancestry of his
family is advantaged in many ways, and if he manifest a certain
satisfaction in the circumstance, few wiU be found to adversely criti-
cise him.
Born in Madison county, Ohio, on April 1, 1837, Thomas S. Thomp-
son is the 'son of Thomas L. and Mary (Davenport) Thompson, both
natives of Ross county, Ohio, born of Virginia parents. Ignatius
Thompson, grandsire of the subject, came in an early day from his
native state, Virginia, to Ohio, and in that state purchased six hundred
acres of land in the river bottoms of the Scioto in Ross county. He
in later life went to Louisiaua, there contracting yellow fever and
dying. His family was well established in Virginia and dates its
residence there from the early days of the Virginia colony, ilary
Davenport, mother of the subject, was a daughter of Anthouj- Simms
Davenport, who was at one time a large plantation -owner and slave
holder in the state of Virginia, and as a man of especially wide-
minded characteristics, he, with the beginning of the anti-slavery
agitation, openly took sides with the abolitiouists. While he was not
whollj^ in sympathy with the methods and line of procedure of that
faction, still he felt himself in the wrong in the matter of owning
human beings, and he accordingly disposed of his interests in his
old home and came north to Ohio, bringing his slaves with him, and
there liberating them, it not being against the laws of the state as in
Virginia. It should be mentioned, however, that his slaves refused
to be separated from him, even after having gained their freedom,
and continued to make their homes on his place until they married
or found suitable homes elsewhere, many of them staying with him
until death claimed them. So it was often the ease in the daj's of
slavery, that those men who were just enough to see the injustice
of their positions and methods, were also great enough that their
slaves valued the affection of the master beyond mere liberty, and
refused in many instances to accept their legal freedom with any
degree of enthusiasm.
Anthony Simms Davenport settled in the Scioto valley, near
Chillicothe,'^ Ohio, at a time when there was but one log cabin in
that vicinity. This was in the year 1800, and the fact that he liber-
ated his slaves, some thirty-five in number, in that early date, proves
him to have been a man of mature judgment and of many splendid
qualities of heart and mind that placed him far in advance of his
fellow men. His name deser^'cs a place in the memorial records of
this state, to which he migrated in order that he might be at liberty
to give expression to those humanitarian ideas that had but little
THOMAS S. THOMPSON
. BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 635
place in this country one hundred years ago, but which in less than
fifty years after he hrst expressed them, came to be the vital issues
of the nation. Mr. Davenport was a kinsman of the well known Simms-
and ilarmaduke families of the south, many of the name being found
in the southern states today, and occupying positions of prominence
wherever thej- are found. They are reckoned among the First Families-
of Virginia, and as such are entitled to the high regard and considera-
tion that is accorded to them.
In 1800 Anthony Simms Davenport came to Ross county, Ohio, he
being one of the first men to settle there, and in that county he became
well-to-do and influential. He was twice married and reared a family
of children by each marriage. They were of the Methodist Episcopal
faith, as were also the Thompsons, and people of sturdy Christian
character all their days, living exemplary lives in their several com-
munities and gaining the esteem and regard of all with whom they
came in contact.
Thomas L. Thompson was born in Ross county, Ohio, in the year
1804, and he was one of the six children of his parents to reach years,
of maturity and rear families, the others having died in early years.
He was reared on the old farm in the Scioto valley, and there he married
Miss Marj' Davenport, whose family history has been set forth at some-
length in previous paragraphs. After the birth of their first four chil-
dren Mr. and Mrs. Thompson moved to Madison county, Ohio, and
there settled on a new farm some four miles south of Loudon. This-
place he later sold and purchased land in Jefferson township, iladison
county, and there he passed his remaining days, death claiming him
there in 1870 when he was in the sixty-sixth year of his age. He was a
man of many noble traits, worthy of his parentage, and fit in every
respect to perpetuate the family name. His many sterling qualities
made him a man beloved of all, and if he had a fault it was nothing
more than a virtue gone to seed — that of his too gi-eat faith in human
nature. Over-confidence in his fellow men caused him the loss of three-
separate fortunes, but after each loss he came up smiling, ready to begin
work over again and mth his faith untarnished by an experience that
would surely have embittered a less noble man. He died as he had
lived — believing implicitly in the trustworthiness of the rank and file
of humanity, and there were many who mourned his loss and felt
themselves bereft of a true friend when death called him.
He was a man who worked hard all his daj's and he was one of the
successful agricultiu-al men of the county. He knew every detail of
farm life, and no man could excel him in the field with reaping hook
or cradle. He was all his days a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church and an active worker therein, and in his politics was a stanch
Republican, though a Wliig in earlier life. His widow survived him for
some years and died in Madison county in 1877, aged seventy years.
She, too, had been a hard working member of the Methodist church all
her days, and her life was an exemplary one in its every detail. To them
were born five sons and five daughters, brief mention here being made of
certain of them who reached mature life. Mary A. died, leaving a
family. Angoletta also married and left a family at her passing.
Newton died five years ago in Ohio, as did also a sister, Jane. Rebecca
is the wife of Samuel Johnson, now in Plain City, Ohio, and the mother
of a family. Thomas S. was the next born. Nancy J. died after her
marriage, leaving a family, and a number of others died in infancy.
Thomas S. Thompson was reared in his native county in Ohio. His
opportunities for education were limited, and he devoted himself to
farm life from his early manhood to the end of his days. He came to-
634 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Jasper county, Indiana, in 1880, purchasing a partly improved farm of
one hundred and twenty acres, and there living quietly and busily
until 1892. when he came to Gas City and here engaged in the whole-
sale meat business. In this business ^Ir. Thompson accumulated suffi-
cient of worldly wealth' that in 1908 he felt himself able to retire per-
manently from business life, and today the extent of his business
activities is that of giving some attention to certain realty properties
from which he derives a modest income. Mr. Thompson is regarded as
one of the solid and wholesome men of the community, and his reputa-
tion among his fellow men for reliability and business acumen is one of
which he is weU worthy as the son of his father.
'Mr. Thompson has been a lifelong Republican and he cast his
first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, ever since that time voting
the party ticket straight. He has never sought or held ofSee, giving
his aid to the community in other ways quite as far reaching and
effective.
In 1881 Mr. Thompson married Miss Anna R. Lithe in Madison
county. She was born in that county on April 8, 1858, and she died
at her home on South East street, Gas City, on the 25th of April,
1905. She was a daughter of Henry Lithe, who still lives in Marion, a
retired farmer for some years past. He had a long and busy career
in the agricultural field of labor and he was eighty years old when he
retired from his work. Mr. Lithe was born in Germany and came to
America when he was twenty years of age. In Franklin county, Ohio,
he married Therese Lang, who was born in Ohio of German parents, and
she died in Marion, Indiana, in 1910, well advanced in years.
To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson there were born three children. Ide
M. was born in Ohio in 1880, and she is now the wife of Thomas Pierce,
living in Alarion. They have three children — Omar, Raymond and a
baby daughter. Walter C, the second child of his parents, was born in
Jasper county, Indiana, on August 15, 1882. He is a resident of Mason
City, Iowa, where he is employed in a cement plant. He has one son,
Max Thompson. Chester Allen, born in Jasper county, Indiana, October
9, 1886, was, like the other two, educated in the public schools. He is
unmarried and makes his home with his father.
The family have been reared in the Methodist faith, both parents
having long been members therein, and Mr. Thompson is a Prohibitionist.
It is his boast that he has never spent a penny for intoxicating liquor
in a saloon since he came to Indiana. He is a man of many excellent
qualities, and he has a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the
leading people of the community, which he well deserves by reason of his
character and achievements.
Andrew Jackson Lugae. Said Colton: "It is not known where
he who invented the plow was born, or where he died : .vet he has
effected more for the happiness of the world than the whole race of
heroes and conquerors that drenched it with tears and saturated
it with blood, and whose birth, parentage, and education have been
handed down to us with a precision exactly proportionate to the mis-
chief they have done. ' ' Farming is a noble profession and also a very
profitable one as conducted bj^ the enterprising men of Grant county,
among whom is Andrew Jackson Lugar who has spent all his career in
this county, and belongs to one of the oldest of the pioneer families.
The fine estate of Mr. Lugar is located on section six of Monroe
township, where he is the owner of two hundred and seventy-eight
acres of land. All of this is in cultivation, except twenty acres in
timber. Near the roadside is his large ten-room house, painted brown,
and erected in 1893. He has a large red barn, forty by sixty feet,
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 635
erected in 1901, also another barn, erected in 1906, besides a sheep
barn, thirty-six by forty feet, and other farm buildings. In 1912 ilr.
Lugar produced from his land two thousand bushels of corn, eight
hundred bushels of oats, cut forty tons of hay, and sold fifty head of
hogs. In 1913 he has on his pasture fifty head of sheep, and specializes
in this branch of the livestock industry. He has eleven horses, twenty -
eight cattle and sixty hogs. He has been identified with farming and
stock-raising for many years, and is one of the men M'ho have made a
record of exceptional success.
Andrew J. Lugar was born July 8, 1852, in Washington township
of Grant county, a son of Joseph and Mary (AVilson) Lugar, both of
whom were natives of Virginia. Joseph Lugar was the son of George
Lugar, who in the late twenties settled on Lugar Creek in Grant
county, and bj' his own efforts and also with the aid of his family took
a very important part in making Grant county, the home of industry
and of a high class of people. Joseph Lugar, the father, died in 1854,
and reared a family of eleven children. The family record is given
in more detail in a sketch of Joseph Lugar, printed elsewhere in this
work.
Andrew J. Lugar as a boy attended the district schools of Washing-
ton township. He is one of the few men still living who spent a por-
tion of their yoiith in an old log school house. He recalls that the old
structure he attended when a boy was of the primitive type, had a
rough floor, a poorly lighted interior, and crude furnishings, while
the instruction was of the type usually called the Three R's. His
father was one of the largest laud holders and most prosperous farmers
in the county, and acquired about twelve hundred acres of land. The
son Andrew lived at home until he was about twenty-six years of age,
and then began for himself by farming his mother's land on shares
for three years. In 1881 he made his first purchase of one hundred and
seventy acres, of partially cleared land, and without any buildings on
it. This original purchase is a portion of the estate above described,
and has been improved in a remarkable manner since he first became
owner of it. He paid twenty-five dollars an acre for land that is now
worth one hundred and fifty dollars, and a large part of its value
has been conferred by his own management and hard labor. He has
added four additional tracts to his first purchase, making his present
estate one of two hundred and seventy acres.
In 1877, Mr. Lugar married Mary Emery, a daughter of John
Emery, one of the old settlers of Grant county. Mrs. Lugar died in
1891, leaving three children, namely : James, a farmer in ^Michigan ;
Andrew, a telegraph operator in Chicago'; and Mrs. Isabelle Speaights,
living on the home farm. In 1893, Mr. Lugar married for his second
wife, Norah Moi-rison, a daughter of Joseph Morrison, of Van Buren
township. The children of this marriage number five, namely : Joseph
0., who is a bookkeeper in Van Buren ; Dolly, at home : William
Hobart, a student in the high school ; Lelah, and Ruth, both at home.
Mr. Lugar is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Landess-
ville Lodge of Odd Fellows. In November, 1912, Mr. Lugar suffered
the loss of his right hand, which was caught in a corn shredder.
Jordan Putrell. More than three score and ten years have been
spent by Jordan Futrell within the limits of Grant county. A few
years ago he retired from a successful career as a farmer and moved
into Upland, where he now lives in peace and comfort, enjoying
the resources accumulated by his early industry, and has a pleasant
retrospect over the long past. Mr. Futrell is one of the men who has
636 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
seen Gi-ant county develop from the time of log cabin homes, and
when the only transportation was by wagon trail, through the early
railroad age, and through all the marvelous developments of the twen-
tieth century.
His grandfather was Enos Futrell, who probably was a native of
England, and early in life settled in North Carolina, where he lived
until death, both he and his wife having attained good old age. Of
their children Jlichael Futrell, who was born in North Carolina about
1805, grew up there and in the course of time centered his affection
upon a girl whose home was in the same vicinity. Subsequently her
family moved north to Ohio, and that caused ]\Iichael Futrell to leave
his native state, and follow her to the new country. On horseback
he accomplished the entire journey over the mountains and across the
valleys to Clinton county, Ohio, where he established a farm and was
soon afterwards united in marriage with Miss ilary Rix, the North
Carolina girl who was responsible for this change of residence. They
lived iu Clinton county until three of their children were born, and
then about 18-10 broke up their Ohio home and moved to Grant county,
Indiana. They located near Lugar Creek, on a farm which had some
improvements, and there Slichael continued his labors for a number of
years. Later he sold his first place and bought eighty acres in Mill
township near the county poor farm. That was the home on which
both he and his wife spent their last years, and at his death in 1883
he was past seventy-one years of age, while his wife attained to the
venerable age of ninety-one, and kept her faculties until the last.
Both were members of the New Light Christian Church, and in polities
he was a Democrat.
Jordan Futrell, who was the second among the children of his
parents, and who has one brother and two sisters still living, was
born iu Clinton county. Ohio, November 15, 1835. He was a very
small child when he came to Grant county, and his earliest recollec-
tions were centered about the old home on Lugar Creek, and all his
education was supplied by the district schools of that locality. He
reached his majority after the family had moved to ]Mill township,
and after several years of work and experiments in different direc-
tions he bought forty acres in IMonroe to-^'STiship. Industry and good
judgment as a farmer, enabled him to gradually increase his holdings,
until he had eighty acres, and though not one of the largest, this, under
his direction became as fine a farm in the volume and quality of its
products as any that can be found in the township-. Among the
improvements he built two excellent barns and a fine country house.
Mr. Futrell 's active career as a farmer continued until 1902, iu which
year he moved to Upland, and four years later sold his farm and gave
over the cares of an active life. He oAvns an excellent piece of property
on Irwin Street, where he has his home.
In ilill township in 1858, Mv.. Futrell married Miss Rebecca Bal-
linger. She was born near Marion in 1834, and grew to womanhood in
Grant county. The Ballinger and the Futrell farms lay side by side
in Mill township, and this was the case of two young people growing
up and knowing each other from childhood, and later uniting the
destinies of their individual lives in married union. Mrs. Futrell was
a daughter of John and Betsey (Burson) Ballinger, who were early
settlers of Grant county, but later in life went out to Fremont county,
Iowa where they died. The Ballingers were members of the Friends
Church. Mr. and Mrs. Futrell have the following children: Mary
E., wife of John Doller, a farmer in Monroe township, and has two
children, Laura and Ruth: Nancy E. is the wife of Jasper Hobson,
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 637
a farmer, and they have two daughters, Ethel and Zelda, also one
son, Everd ; she first married Thomas Shannon who died, leaving a
daughter, Rebecca, who is now living with her grandparents, Mr. and
Mrs. Putrell; Emma died after her marriage to William Bird, and
left three sons, James C. and Jordan L., twins, and Ralph. Mr. and
Mrs. Futrell have four great-grandchildren living.
"Will C. Jay. When there were but few settlers about Jonesboro
the name Jay was placed in the Grant county directory, and the tradi-
tions of the family center about Samuel Jay of Deep River Quaker
stock, Deep River, North Carolina, having been an anti-slavery strong-
hold in a country where human beings were in servitude.
Will C. Jay of Gas City is a well known representative of this branch
of the Jay family, there being many distinctive Jay family relation-
ships in the county, but the Samuel Jay descent antedates all of them.
While David Jay, who is mentioned in the Mill Township and the
Friends' Church chapters, was the first of his immediate family to
locate at Jonesboro, and while he came direct from iliami county,
Ohio, his father, Samuel Jay, who left the Carolinas in the exodus of
Quakers to the Northwest Territory early in the nineteenth century,
was then a member of his household and he lies buried at Back Creek
— a genuine Deep River Quaker buried a "stranger in a strange land,"
and all for conscience' sake. He was opposed to human slavery. His
grave is among those marked with quarry stones at the instigation
of Northern Quarterly Meeting of Friends, already mentioned in the
chapter on County Cemeteries.
W. C. Jay is a son of Elisha Benson and Ann (Scott) Jay, and the
death of his father, April 7, 1904, was the final chapter in the family
history of David and Sarah (Jones) Jay who came in 1835 in a
wagon train from Miami county, Ohio, settling on a farm west of
Jonesboro, living there one year before the town came into existence.
This Jay farm is now owned by Fred Schrader. Some of the chil-
dren were born in Ohio and some in Indiana. They were : Job, Ver-
linda, who married D. M. V. Whitson ; Lydia ; Elisha, who married
Ann Scott; Samuel; Thomas; William, who married Martha Ellen
Howell ; Susannah, who married Hezekiah Miller ; and the first born,
who died in infancy. All who married left posterity, and there are a
number of Jays in the fourth generation of the family. Thomas and
Samuel Jay later joined their brother and father at Jonesboro, and
through Samuel, Sr., David and Elisha, Will C. Jay is in the fourth
generation of Jays in Grant county. Through Mrs. Verlinda Jay
Whitson, Charles J. Whitson and Verlinda Belle Johnston, there have
been five children born in the sixth generation — a record not attained
by all pioneer families, although the name Jay disappeared in the
third generation of that branch of the family.
Samuel Jay, the original Carolina emigrant, did not sustain active
business relations with the community in Grant county, but his sons
had much to do with the development and early history of Jonesboro.
Thomas Jay was among the emigrants from Jonesboro to Kokomo,
when the first railway entei-prise failed in Grant county. He had con-
ducted a general store and operated a pork-packing plant there, and
went to Kokomo to secure shipping facilities. He impressed himself
on the Howard county metropolis, and his children are still Kokomo
residents. Samuel Jay, who reared a family in Jonesboro, was for
many years associated in the Jay & Bell Dry Goods store, an establish-
ment rivaling Marion stores at the time jonesboro was bidding for
the Grant county court house to be located there. David Jay, grand-
638 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
father of Will C. Jay, was always an agriculturist, and a man of
strong convictions. "You could not influence old David Jay against
what he thought was right," and he was an active Abolitionist dining
underground railway vicissitudes in Grant county. Old Slave Clammy
"Wallace always told of the protection given her when she was a
refugee by David Jay, Jonathan Hockett, and Nathan Coggeshall, a
group of Abolitionists west of Jonesbora. While she never reached
the "cold and dreary land" of Canada, the old woman always had
kindly recollections of David Jay. He allied himself with Antislavery
Friends and helped to establish Deer Creek Antislavery Meeting.
When he died at sixty-four he had read the Bible through once for
each year on his balance sheet of time. He enjoyed a lasting friend-
ship with Meshingomesia and whenever the Miami chieftain was hunt-
ing along the upper course of the Mississinewa, he always stopped
and cooked a meal at the Jay farmstead near Jonesboro, and all the
Indians accompanying him always slept under shelter — hospitality
similar to that received from Samuel ^McClure in Marion.
In war times David Jay sold his farm at Jonesboro and iiought
the William Howell farm (the old Billy Howell place) when the
Howell family emigrated to Iowa, and it was one of the best devel-
oped farms with the first two-story log house ever built in Liberty
township on Deer Creek. This farm in Liberty has not elianged
ownership often, its succession of owners being Howell, Jay, Whitson,
Sittton, Stiers, from the government title secured by William Hov.-ell.
With his family David Jay had much to do with the organization of
the Bethel church in 1864 (see sketch of Willis Cammack) and at the
time of his death he was the recognized head of the meeting. He was
the typical Quaker, and there was no sham in his nature. It was in
1847 that David Jay's cousin, Denny Jay, located north of Jonesboro
— the Jesse Jay homestead at present — and since their wives were
sisters (Sallie and Polly [Jones] Jay), the Jay-Jones family which
meets in annual reunion is the descendant relationship. The name Jay
and the word Quaker were synonyms — interchangeable terms — in the
early history of Grant county, but subsequent amalgamation has done
much to change many family histories in this respect.
Besides Will C. Jay, the other children of Elisha B. and Ann
(Scott) Jay were as follows: Miss S. Alice Jay: Edgar B. and
Charles A. Jay: Thomas F. Jay, who died after reaching manhood
and is survived by a daughter, Miss Belle Jay; and James M., who
died in infancy.
On August 31, 1889, W. C. Jay married Miss Cora Hill, daughter
of Nathan and Emaline Plill. Their children are: Fred W.. William
A., Otis H.. and Richard H. ; James, the second in order of birth, died
at the age of sis years; and Mary died in a beautiful young
womanhood.
Will C. Jay was a school teacher from 1884 to 1892, and after hav-
ing a family "about him went to the Eastman National Business Col-
lege at Poughkeepsie, New York, where he learned bookkeeping and
completed the study of stenography, having taken some work in short
hand while a student in the Valparaiso Normal School. Mr. Jay
acquired a full knowledge of shorthand at an opportune time. The
development of the Gas City Land Company in 1892 afforded him a
position which he retained as long as the company was in existence,
and he still transacts business for members of the company since the
dissolution of partnership. The Gas City Land Company maintained
an office in Gas City from 1892 until the Century year, and four years
later the company dissolved and the separate shareholders in realty
l^LACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 639
have since employed him to look after their individual interests.
Nearly all the stockholders in the Gas City Laud Company were Pan-
handle Railway officials, and they thought they saw a great future
for the town, but the story is all told in the failure of natural gas.
Yet the work of the Land Company will always be apparent.
ilr. Jay acquired a thorough knowledge of business methods and
real estate transactions while representing the Land Company, and
since then real estate and insurance have been second nature to him.
From 1905 to 1909 Mr. Jay served as trustee of Mill township, and he
has served the town as a member of the school board and as city
treasurer, being alwaj-s active in community affairs.
Singularly enough, when ilr. Jay's son Fred was ready for busi-
ness training, after graduating from the Gas City high school, he was
sent to Poughkeepsie. The son was a student sixteen years after his
father was there, and a most striking coincidence was that while stu-
dents there, father aud sou each won a dictionary as a premium in
a spelling contest. The father received an International and the son
a Standard Dictionary in the same kind of contests, written spelling.
When the son graduated from business college he had one and one-
half years' employment at New Castle, Pennsylvania, and then went
to Gary, where he is an accountant in the office of the American Sheet
Steel and Tin Plate "Works, beginning with the opening of the industry
and remaining continuously.
Charles A. Jay, a brother of Will C. Jay, also acquired a knov.l-
edge of shorthand, and had employment with the American Window
Glass Factory in Gas City, going with the company when its business
was removed to Arnold, Pennsylvania, where he is now cashier and
general superintendent of the factory. He married Jliss Blanche
Thomas and three little girls have been born to them : Anna, Florence
and Edith.
While Miss Alice Jay has been principal of the ward school in
Gas City many years, she was for five years a resident teachei' at
White's Institute when it was a government school for Indians, and
she made frequent trips to the different Indian reservations in the
west in the interests of the institution. When Thomas P. Jay died, it
was his request that his sister Alice educate his daughter, and for
two years Miss Belle Jay has taught in the Converse public schools.
Edgar B. Jay always lived at the family homestead until the death
of the mother on June 18, 1913, the property having been acquired
by Will C. Jay, and his mother having remained its mistress as long
as she lived.
Col. George W. Gunder. The career of Col. George W. Gunder,
both in military and civil life has been one of strict adherence to every
duty, and during forty-five years he has been numbered among Marion 's
leading citizens. A veteran of two wars, in both of which he won dis-
tinction, his record in business life is no less one of which he may well
be proud, and although he is now retired from active affairs he still
manifests the same interest in the affairs of his country and his com-
munity which led him in earlier years to put aside his private interests
and go forth to battle in defense of the flag of his native land. Colonel
Gunder is a native of Darke county, Ohio, and was born July 6, 1840, a
son of William and Nanc.v (Rice) Gunder.
William Gunder was born in 1797, in Lancaster county, Pennsyl-
vania, and about the year 1820 moved to Darke county, Ohio, as one of
the first settlers of Port Jefferson. There he resided until 1855. in
which year he removed to Montgomery county and there becauie a
€40 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
major in rtie Dragoons, the old militia, and one of the foremost men of
his community. He died in 1863, while his wife, who was born in 1800,
in Preble county, Ohio, passed away in 1849, in Darke county. They
were the parents of ten children, of whom four are now living : Daniel,
who resides at JIarion; Mrs. Sarah Shepherd, an eighty-four year old
resident of this city ; Mrs. Caroline Shepherd, living in Covington, Ohio ;
^nd George W.
After attending the public schools of Darke and Montgomery coun-
ties. Ohio, George W. Gunder took a course in Lewis Academy, Lewis-
burg, Ohio, and when seventeen years of age began to teach school.
He had been so engaged about four years when the Civil War broke
out, and laying aside the cap and gown he took up the sword and
enlisted in Company B, Seventy-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, with which he saw three years service. He was soon pro-
moted to firet sergeant, and later to second lieutenant and then first
lieutenant, and in the latter capacity commanded his company in sev-
eral hard-fought engagements. The Seventy-first Ohio participated in
a number of the most sanguinary battles of the great struggle, includ-
ing Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh, the campaign at Chatta-
nooga, Atlanta, Nashville and Duck River. During many of these
engagements. Colonel Gunder distinguished himself, and on receiving
his honorable discharge, at the close of hostilities he had a record for
travery and faithfulness to duty that gained for him the admiration
■of his men and the respect of his superior officers.
On his return to the pursuits of peace, in 1866, Mr. Gunder
embarked in the mercantile business at West Baltimore, Ohio, and
continued there until May 1, 1868, when with his partner, Mr. Samuel
Arnold, he came to Marion, Indiana, and here for twelve years continued
the same business, ten years of this time having their establishment on
the present site of Barney Prince's store. In 1880 the business was
organized as Gunder, Arnold & Company, dealers in diy goods, etc., the
enterprise having by this time assumed large proportions, and in 1890
the personnel of the firm was changed and the style became Gunder
Brothers. This was conducted by Colonel Gunder and his brother until
the Colonel's retirement in 1904, since which time he has lived a more
or less retired life, devoting his time to looking after his extensive
realty interests. He has been successful in a material way and has
accumulated a large property, but while he has been a busy man, with
large private enterprises, he has never neglected to assist in all move-
ments for the welfare of his community, and his support and coopera-
tion have done much to aid in the progress that has made IMariou a
center of commercial and industrial activity.
In 188.5 Colonel Gunder organized Company D, of the Third Regi-
ment, Indiana National Guards. He was Captain of Company D for
three years and was made major of that regiment under Judge IMcBride,
now of Indianapolis, who was its colonel. In that same year. Governor
Hovey authorized the organization of the Fourth Regiment, Indiana
National Guards, appointing Colonel Gunder for this service, and when
it was fully recruited, in 1890, he became its colonel. He was acting in
this capacity when war was declared between the LTnited States and
Spain, in 1898. and on ]May 12th the Fourth Indiana was mustered into
service, although enrolled April 26, 1898. The regiment was mobilized
at Chickaraauga Park, and on July 25, 1898. was ordered to Newport
News, to embark for Porto Rico. After inspection by the Secretary of
War, the Fourth was one of the first to be selected to go to the front,
and subsequently saw service in Cuba and Porto Rico, and on the
former island relieved the Spanish garrison at Mantanzas. The regi-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 641
ment Avas out one year, and was mustered out of the service at Savan-
nah, Georgia, April 25, 1899. Of its one thousand three hundred and
sixty men who left for the front, one thousand three hundred and fifty
returned, the smallest loss of any regiment in active service, which
was a distinct and eloquent evidence of Colonel Gunder's military skill.
Although a strict disciplinarian, he was ever just, and was a great
favorite with his men, who knew that he would ask them to do nothing
that he would not himself perform.
On May 9, 1861, Colonel Gunder was married to Miss Anna Snorf,
who died April 17, 1896, without issue. His second marriage occurred
May 26, 1897, when he was united with Nita Fisher, of Marion. Colonel
Gunder has had no children of his own, but has reared two boys:
Milton H. Snorf, whom he took when seven years of age, and was reared
to manhood, becoming prominent in Wabash county business and politi-
cal circles; and Vernon A. Cogwill, who was educated in Marion High
school aiid West Point, graduating from the latter in 1890, since which
time he has been in Alaska, the Philippines, and other United States
possessions, and is now a major in the Twenty-fifth United States
Infantry, located in the Hawaiian Islands.
Colonel Gunder is a valued member of the Grand Army of the
Republic. He was made a ^Master Mason at Troy, Ohio, in November,
1861, and has continued to enjoy the privileges of membership in this
order to the present time, being prelate of JIarion Commandery No. 21,
and a thirty-second degree member of the Indianapolis Consistory.
Politically a Republican, he was chairman of the Republican County
Central Committee in 1884, but of late years has only taken a good
citizen's interest in public matters. He has been a life-long member of
the Congregational temple of the Christian church, which he assisted in
building.
Evan Haevey Feeree. All that tradition lacks of being authentic
history is verification, and the story has followed the fortunes of the
Perree family in America that the name was Americanized when a
woman and three sons came over from France, casting their lot with
the people of the New World. All that is known of the original Ferree
family in America is that one of the sons lived in New York, one in
Ohio and one in North Carolina, where each has posterity, and the well
known Grant county Ferree family is descended from the southern
wing of this trio of Ferrees in America.
While Daniel Ferree was of French ancestry with military blood
in his veins, and not much given to the quiet, sedate life of Friends, he
married Lydia Elliott, who was among the blue blooded North Caro-
lina Quaker families, and some of her relatives were slaveholders
according to the custom of the community. However, there was a
revolt among orthodox Quakers against the institution of slavery, and
knoAving they could not overthrow it they came into the Northwest
territory to escape it. Daniel Fei-ree and his wife joined this exodus
early in the nineteenth century, but he did not become a Friend until
long after taking up his residence in Morgan county, Indiana. The
Quakers had some restrictions that did not suit him — his life having
been in decided contrast to their peace-loving attributes.
It is reasonably inferred that the wife ruled when the Ferree family
left the country where slavery existed, but after they came to Morgan
county and when the environment was so different from the Southland,
her church became his church, and their children grew up Friends.
Evan Harvey Ferree remembers hearing his father tell of some of the
obstacles in the way of this grandfather with Huguenot blood in his
642 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
veins in reconciling the Quaker attitude toward slavery and his own
early training, but in time he amalgamated with the society about him.
It is hard for a strong nature to completely revolutionize itself, but
that is what occurred in the life of Daniel Ferree, founder of the well
known Grant countj^ branch of the Ferree family in America.
In Morgan county the Ferree family lived neighbors to William
and Ruth (Hadley) Harvey, and when the Harveys came to Grant
county, John Ferree, a son of Daniel and Lydia (Elliott) Ferree, who
had previously married Rebekah Harvey, came with them. This was
the only Ferree of his generation who ever lived in Grant county. Mrs.
Ferree was a sister to well known Grant county citizens bj- the name of
Harvey. Her brothers — David, Eli, Mahlon, Jonathan, Jehu. Sidney
and Alvin — and her sisters, Sarah and Mary, all have posterity here,
some of them otherwise commemorated in the Centennial history.
The children of John and Rebekah (Harvey) Ferree are: Alviu. who
married Mary A. Bell; Evan H., who married Flora A. Cammack;
Lydia, the wife of ^l. A. Hiatt; Charles A., who married Emma Dora
Bond; "William E., who married Charlotte Annis; and John D., who
married Ada M. Heaston.
The Ferree family homestead was in the Little Ridge community
in Liberty, and there all the children grew up, the father and
mother later retiring from the farm and living in Fairmouut. They
gave their children educational advantages, and some were students
in Earlham College, in addition to common school training, and there
were teachers, biisiness and professional men among them. Evan H.
Ferree was a teacher for fourteen years, having had experience both
in country and town schools and in a political way he has been highly
favored by the voters of Grant count j-. (See chapter on Civil Gov-
ernment.) He has served as postmaster at ilarion, and is at present
connected with the Marion Light and Heating Company.
Mr. Ferree on August 20, 1880, married Flora A. Cammack, daugh-
ter of Willis and Sarah (Jay) Cammack. Their children are: Edna
S., wife of Edward H. Harris, and Evan Mark Ferree. The two little
granddaughters in the family are Virginia and Janet Harris. The
Harrises live in Richmond, but each summer ilrs. Ferree and her chil-
dren and grandchildren spend some time in the Ferree cottage at
^Yinona Lake. j\Ir. Ferree has always been a useful man in the
community, fulfilling an old saying in Quaker circles, "He is frequently
used in the meeting." They adhere to the Friends' faith in which
both husband and wife had their training in childhood. The religious
intluences of his youth were from the Little Ridge and her's from
the Bethel Friends Church in Liberty, two Quaker communities about
four miles apart in the country.
Willis Cammack. So closely identified with Grant county affairs
was the late Willis Cammack that, although a native of Bartholomew
county, he seemed to have always lived in the community. He came
as a young boy to Fairmount with his father, James Cammack. at a
time when there was only one house in the town. James Cammack
set up a saw mill, and from his plant was supplied much of the mate-
rial for the building in the early days of that village.
Willis Cammack was a son of James and Penina (Cook) Cammack.
In 1849 the parents located in Grant county, and afterwards moved
to Hamilton county. There were five other sons: Calvin, William,
Albert, Clark and Ira, and one sister, Elvira Cammack. Willis Cam-
mack was the only one who continued to live in Grant county.
There was a romance in the early life of Willis Cammack and Sarah
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 643
Jay, and the outlines of the story may be properly sketched at this
point, as part of the family records and as a matter in which subse-
quent generations will take an interest. Nathan Morris had a son
and daugher, Thomas and Ruth ilorris. Thomas Morris had plighted
his troth with Sarah Jay while Ruth ilorris was promised to AVillis
Cammaek. Both the ^lorris young j^eople were stricken with t.yphoid
fever. Mr. Cammaek and iliss Jay went and nursed them, but the
fever was so virulent that all care and nursing were in vain, and both
the young man and the young woman died. The fever was a scourge
in that part of the country in that year, and so Avidespread that there
were often as many as two funerals in a single day from the same
neighborhood. The death of Thomas and Ruth J\Iorris bereaved both
Willis Cammaek and Sarah Jay, and in their grief and sorrow they
turned to each other for sympathy and solace, and the result was
that their lives were linked together ever afterward, and not long
after the intimate acquaintajiee formed while in the Morris household
in 1857 they were married. All were Quaker families and Avell known
to each other.
Sarah Jay was a daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Wareham) Jay,
and her brothers and sisters were: Joseph, Denny, Mary, Rebecca,
Angelina, Daniel and Ezra. Of this family of eight Joseph Jay was
a resident of Richmond and all the others of Grant countj', and all
of them well known in their generation. Thomas Jay was a well
known Friends' minister, and after the death of his wife married
Mrs. Elizabeth Rush, and together they went about the country a
great deal in the service of the church. After the death of his second
wife, Thomas Jay always lived in the home of his daughter,
Mrs. Cammaek.
The children born to "Willis and Sarah (Jay) Cammaek were:
Rosalie, who married Orange Peters, and had one son, Charles Peters,
an invalid from birth and now deceased; Bayard T., who married
I\Iattie Osborn, and had two children, Carl and ]\Iary; Flora A., the
wife of E. H. Perree, has two chilren, Edna S. and Evan Mark (see
sketch of Ferree family) ; Ella is the wife of "W. E. Waggoner, and has
two children, Sarah and William ; William T. married Emlin Cox, and
their two children are Jerry Ward and Hazel; and Edgar mari-ied
Catherine Harris.
On January 4, 1883, Willis Cammaek married for his second wife
Mrs. Elizabeth (Cornelius) Cammaek, widow of his brother, Albert
Cammaek. She brought to her second husband a daughter, Sula, and
to the second marriage was born another daughter, Laverne, who
married Demetrius Howell. Their children are Kenneth and Willis.
Four of the Cammaek grandchildren are married and live outside of
Grant county, namely: Edna S. Ferree, wife of E. H. Harris; Jerry
Ward Cammaek, who married Mittie C. Hurley; Carl, Avho married
JIargaret Wright; and Mary Cammaek, who married Fred Gold-
smith. Mrs. Ferree is the only permanent resident in Grant county
among the children in the Willis Cammaek family. Sula Cammaek,
the child of the second Mrs. Willis Cammaek, married R. E. Felton,
and left a daughter, Edith Felton.
While the family of Willis Cammaek are deceased and scattered,
there was a time when they were well known in the Bethel Friends
Community, and there never was a man in all Grant county who was
more universally and highly respected than Willis Cammaek. When
Bethel Friends ]\reeting was established in 1864, David Jay was rec-
ognized as the official head of the meeting iintil his death four years
later, when Willis Cammaek was honored in that way, and continued
644 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
at the head of the meeting until his death, although for a few years
he was an invalid and unable to occupy the pew in the meeting house.
No one ever questioned his word or his religion, and he was a man of
much influence in the church and the community. The biographer
knew "Willis Cammack from childhood. He recalls one occasion of an
otherwise '"silent meeting" of Friends at Bethel church. After the
members had been sitting an hour in silence, and just before the
breaking up of the meeting, which Willis Cammack always performed
by shaking hands with the one sitting next to him, he exclaimed:
"Be ye also ready," and the watchword suggested seemed to prevail
and influence his own personal life — a man whose integrity no one ever
questioned. For several years Mr. Cammack was connected with public
improvements, associated with his neighbor, Isaac W. Carter, and
with David Overman of Marion. Many miles of gravel road were built
under his watchful eye, and when he died all who Imew him felt a
distinctive commuuity loss — that a good man had been removed from
things earthly and that he was worthy of the higher life.
L. G. W. Richards. That farming is Big Business needs no other
proof than a visit to one of the stock farms conducted by L. G. W.
Richards. On the home place in section twenty-eight of Jeflierson
township, a group of well arranged, shining Avhite buildings attract
the visitor at the very first, and as soon as he begins to look around,
he finds good management and efficiency written in every department
of the farm activities. Mr. Richards has a reputation throughout this
section of Indiana, as one of the most successful cattle growers, breed-
ers and feeders, and it has been a matter of pride through a long period
of years to keep up the highest standards in his fine herds of Hereford
cattle. Mr. Richards is proprietor of three splendid farms, each one
equipped with fine buildings. The home place comprises one hundred
and twenty-seven acres, with a big and modern residence, and good
barns. This is known as the Green Lawn Farm. Another farm owned
by him is the Meadow Brook Farm, consisting of one hundred and
twenty acres, and conducted by his son, Jacob Harvey Richards. That
farm also has a fine equipment of buildings and facilities. Another
farm is the old homestead, which was entered by his grandfather
on the Mississinewa River in 1833, and is known as the Riverside Farm.
The Riverside Farm consists of one hundred and fifty-five acres, and
one of its improvements is a barn, forty by sixty feet in ground di-
mensions, with a slate roof, and one of the best structures of its kind
in the entire county. On each of these farms is a large silo, and the
aggregate capacity of the three is two hundred and thirty-three tons.
Mr. Richards and his sons are practical men in every particular, are
hard workers, and yet are not slaves to their business, and are masters
of agriculture, rather than being driven by the work as many less pros-
perous farmers are.
L. G. W. Richards was born in Jefferson township, September 30,
1856. He belongs to the prominent Richards familj^ so well known
through its different branches in this county, and more detailed infor-
mation concerning the genealogy and family relationship will be found
in the sketch of L. G. Richards, published elsewhere in this volume.
L. G. W. Richards was reared and educated in the public schools, and
since becoming of age has engaged in farming on his own account,
and most of the property which he manages so successfully represents
his individual accumulations and business .iudgment. Mr. Richards'
parents were Jacob and Susan (Gillispie) Richards, his father a native
of Guernsey county, Ohio, and his mother a native of the same state.
ALBERT E. PUWELL, :\I. D.
NETTIE BAIXBRIDGE-PO^YELL, U. D.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 645
"When young people they moved to Grant county. The mother was a
daughter of Rev. James Gillispie, a minister of the Primitive Baptist
church, and Rev. Jacob Richards was also active as a preacher and
worker in that denomination. They settled in Jefferson township, and
were pioneers in this vicinity. Rev. Jacob Richards died when a little
past eighty years of age, and his wife passed away a year later, when
past seventy-eight. L. G. W. Richards was the third in a family of
six children that grew up and were married. James H. and Isabell
Harrison died recentl}', each leaving children, and those living are:
Catherine, wife of J. F. Jones, of Jefferson township ; L. G. W. Rich-
ards ; Hester, wife of John D. Leach, of Fowlerton ; and Lucy A., widow
of John W. Patterson, of Jefferson township, and the mother of several
children.
L. G. W. Richards was married in Delaware county to Miss Clara
M. McCormick, who was born there in 1858, and was reared and edu-
cated in her native locality. Her parents were William and Mary
(Corey) McCormick, both natives of Ohio, but who were married and
spent most of their lives in Delaware county. Mr. and Mrs. Richards
are the parents of the following children : Jacob Harvey, manager of
the Meadow Brook Farm, married Mary Williamson, of Ohio, and
their children are Jacob A., F. Belle, and Howard L. G. William F.
lives on and operates the Riverside Farm, and by his marx-iage to
Madie Jones of Ohio has one son, Mark Henry. Mark, who lives at
home, was, like the other children, well educated and married Cleo
Littler. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are members of the Primitive Baptist
church, and he and his sons all vote the Democratic ticket.
Nettie Bainbridge Powell, M. D. Identified for twenty years
with the medical profession in Grant county. Dr. Powell is recognized
as one of the two leading women phj'sicians in the state of Indiana, a
physician who is accorded unstinted praise by her professional asso-
ciates, and with a record of skillful service and large accomplishment in
her home city. The science of medicine and surgery has made a remark-
able progress in the last half centui*y, but aside from the technical side
probably the greatest single feature in the progress of the profession
has been the increasing number of women whose services have been
enlisted in the ranks of the physicians, and who in ability and in capac-
ity for the special work have demonstrated equal fitness with their
brothers who have so long occupied this field.
Nettie Bainbridge Powell is a native of Whitley county, Indiana,
bom at Columbia City, January 5, 1868, a daughter of George Milton
and Martha Jane (Hughes) Bainbridge. Her father was bom in Oneida
county. New York, March 9, 1832, and the mother in Whitley county,
Indiana, October 10, 1843. Grandfather Charles Wesley Hughes, on
the mother's side was a Virginian by birth, came to Indiana many years
ago, and during the war served on Governor Morton's staff, perform-
ing a number of important commissions, both for the governor and also
at the personal behest of President Lincoln. It is an interesting fact
that Charles Wesley Hughes married Mary Davis, who was bom in
Ohio, and was a first counsin of Jefferson Davis, once president of the
Confederacy. She lived until June 13, 1912, her death occurring in the
home of Dr. Powell at Marion, at the age of ninety-one, her birth hav-
ing oecuiTed in 1821.
George Milton Bainbridge came west aboiit 1862, locating at Colum-
bia City in Whitley county, where he was married. In 1893 he moved
to Marion, where he and his wife both died, he in 1903 and she in 1901.
The father was for inanv years a merchant, but was not in business
646 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
after coming to Marion. There were four children, namely: Charles
E., a resident in Los Angeles, California ; Dr. Powell ; Hallie, deceased ;
Gilbert M., whose home is in Chicago.
Dr. Powell received her primary education at Columbia City. For
her higher studies she attended Alma College at St. Thomas, Ontario,
where she was graduated in the classical department in 1885. After
that she was a student in the Northwestern University and took her
final work in medicine at the University of Michigan, where she was
graduated M. D. iu 1892. During the first years, after leaving college,
she was engaged iu hospital work, and on September 5, 1893, located in
Marion, where her home and field of labors have since been, and she
has always enjoyed a liberal share of general medical practice.
On September 5, 1893, she married Dr. Albert E. Powell, a well
known physician of Grant county, whose death occurred September 20,
1905. He was born August 2, 1868, at Francisco, Michigan, and met
his future ■s^'ife while both were attending the University of Michigan.
The late Dr. Powell for a number of j-ears served as county health
officer of Grant county, and was also assistant coroner. He took much
interest in politics, and was one of the influential Republicans. The
two children of their marriage were : Emily, born February 13, 1898,
and Edmund Bainbridge Powell, boru April 22, 1901. Mrs. Dr. Powell
is a member of the Grant County Medical Society, the Indiana iledical
Association and the American Medical Association. She is also by
virtue of her colonial antecedents a member of the Daughters of the
American Revolution, and has membership in the Eastern Star. Dr.
Powell was appointed by Mayor Batchelor, City Health Officer of
Marion. This makes her the first woman Health Officer in the history
of the state of Indiana.
Jajies F. Hults. Seventy-five years of residence in Grant county
on the part of the Hults family, of which James P. Hults is a worthy
representative, gives the members of the familj' a prestige in and about
the coiuity such as is gained in no other way. He who established
the family here in 1838 was a man of large affairs and took a leading
place in the community where he made his home, and it is meet that
his descendants should take active and intelligent parts in the affairs
of their community in these later days.
James F. Hults was born on April 10, 1838, on the home place, and
within sight of the place he now occupies. He is a son of Thomas
Jeft'erson and Susanna (Duckwall) Hults, both natives of Ohio. The
father was born in 1818 and died iu 1863, on the 4th day of October,
and the mother, who was boru in 1817, died in 1901. They were mar-
ried in their native state and came to Grant county in 1838, where the
father entered a piece of land in Monroe township traveling with Alex
Smith to Fort Morgan to enter the land at the government laud office.
He later sold his first forty acres at a price of $80 an acre. Consider-
ing Thomas Jefferson Hults in the light of those days, he was an excep-
tionally prosperous man, and was undeniably one of the best known
pioneers of his time. He owned at one time as much as two hundred
and eighty acres of land, and was prominent in his town as trustee of
Monroe township in the early days, proving himself a capable and
efiBcient servant of the public. Five children were born to him and his
wife, namely: Cynthia, who married a Mr. Ferguson and is now de-
ceased ; James F., of this review ; George W., who died iu Anderson-
ville Prison dm-ing the Civil war; Mary Catherine and Margaret both
died in the year 1863, as a result of fever, which also caused the
death of the father at the same time. This triple tragedy came about
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 647
as a result of Mr. Hults contracting the fever when on a visit to his
son during the war, his death following soon after his return home,
and the death of the two young girls coming shortly after that of the
father.
George W. Hults was a member of the Nineteenth Indiana Cavalry
and was a famous fighter. He, too, died during the war, and thus did
the Civil war, directly and indirectly, claim a toll of four lives from
the Hults family.
James P. Hults was the main support of the family during the war,
caring for his own family as well as his parental home during those
times of stress and strife. He had married in 1861, Jane Smith, the
daughter of Henry Smith becoming his wife. She died in 1889, leaving
ten children, coucerning whom brief mention is here made as fol-
lows: George W., living near Marion; Susanna Fleming, living in
Monroe township ; John B., now deceased ; Thomas William, living in
Michigan; Margaret E. Fleming, of Monroe township; Benjamin F.,
of Marion, Indiana ; Charles, of Monroe township ; Mrs. Jennie Boles,
of Marion ; Oscar and Silas, both living in Illinois.
In 1892 Mr. Hults was married for the second time, Mrs. Melissa
(Dickey) Lane becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Robert and
Rachael Dickey, natives of Fayette county, Indiana, and Clinton
county, Ohio, respectively. Her first husband, Nathan Lane, died in
1888. Three children were born to Mrs. Hults' first marriage: Austin
Lane, of Grant county; Ethel Runyan, of Hartford City; and Mrs.
Lenuia Fleming, of Monroe township.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hults : Goldie, who
is a graduate of Taylor University; Clarence, Paul and Edward, all
at home.
The progress of Mr. Hults in his career is well worthy of considera-
tion, and covers a long period of activity. "When he was twenty-one
years old his father gave him forty acres of land, and the young man
soon bought another forty to add to it. Upon the death of his brother,
George, he bought from the heirs the eighty acres of land that young
man had owned, and he later bought another twenty-five acres of
another brother. This purchase was followed by the purchase of eighty
acres from George W. Campbell, eighty acres from David "Wall, and
twenty acres of a Mr. Johnson. His next purchase was forty acres
from William Sheridan, and still later he bought one hundred and sixty
acres from Blumenthal & Marks, in "Van Buren to'vvnship. With the
arrival of mature years of his children, Mr. Hults has given to each of
them a fair sized farm, and today he retains only one hundred and
fifteen acres from the immense acreage he once held.
In 1881 Mr. Hults built a fine brick house of eight rooms on his
place, and a few years later an immense barn was built on the place.
He still continues to crop his place, despite his advanced years and in
1912 he harvested twelve hundred bushels of corn from his place, and
nine hundred bushels of oats. Fifty hogs annually find their way to
market from his pens, and he carries on his farming operations on a
large scale.
Mr. Hults is a Prohibitionist, and has voted that ticket consistently
for more than forty years. He attends the New Light Christian church,
and for many yeai's was a member of the Arcana IMasonie lodge of
Upland, although he no longer keeps up his affiliation with that order.
He is one of the fine old men of the township, and his friends through-
out the county are legion.
648 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Charles H. Hults. Successful and enterprising in his agricultural
activities, Charles H. Hults takes a leading place among the younger
farming men of Monroe township, where he has passed his life thus
far and where he was born December 28, 1873. He is a sou of James
F. and Mary J. (Smith) Hults, and concerning the parents more de-
tailed mention is to be found on other pages of this historical and
biographical work.
Charles H. Hults was educated in the district schools and lived at
home with his parents until he was nineteen years old. Thereafter he
did farm work for hire for some six years, and when he married he
rented a place and lived upon it for six more years. He bought his
present place in 1904:. It is eighty-two and a half acres in extent, and
he paid a price of sixt.v-five dollars an acre for the place, going in debt
for more than $2,000, which he was soon able to clear away, and in
1909 he bought an additional twenty acres at sixty doUars an acre.
His land is estimated at one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre,
and is in fine shape, considered from every standpoint. In 1912 the
place yielded eight hundred bushels of corn, four hundred bushels of
oats, and he cut fifteen tons of fine hay. His annual sale of hogs num-
bers about eighty. The family residence caps an eminence overlooking
the place, and a large lawn with trees and shrubbery in abundance
lend additional charm to an already attractive place.
In 1898 Mr. Hults was married to Ida, the daughter of Milton
Marshall, of Upland, and they have two children, Letha and Pearl.
Mr. Hults is a Democrat in his politics, but not especially active.
George W. Wilson. Many years ago, when Grant county was a wil-
derness, the first Wilson came to this region, settled among the woods
of Monroe township, and the people of that name were eft'ective
workers in transforming the barren land into cultivated fields.
George W. Wilson is a grandson of the original pioneer and occupies
a portion of land which has been in the family ownership for more
than a half century, a fact in itself which is an honor to the steady
industry and citizenship of the people of this name, and the Wilsons
have always been known for their quiet prosperity and solid in-
tegrity.
George W. Wilson is owner of two hundred and twenty-one acres
of land in Monroe township, his home place comprising eighty acres.
He and his family occupy an attractive dwelling, a large white build-
ing erected in 1897, and standing on a knoll, well back from the road
side in front of which is a wide sloping lawn. The large barn was
built in 1871, and in 1910 Mr. Wilson, in line with modern progres-
sive agricultural methods, put up a fine silo. He has recently bought
the old home farm across the road from his place. The first eighty
acres of his estate he bought in 1889, and for many years has been
steadily prospering. During 1912 his crops were two thousand
bushels of corn, one thousand bushels of oats, and twenty-five tons of
hay. He puts off about seventy-five head of hogs each year, and is
doing his farming on a profitable scale.
George W. Wilson was born July 23, 1862, on the old Wilson
homestead across the road from where he now lives. His father,
James M. Wilson, died in 1885, and was a native of Virginia, and
Grandfather Wilson settled in Grant county among the pioneers. The
mother of Mr. Wilson was Martha Renbarger, who was born June 24,
1827, and died November 25, 1912. Her name will alwa.vs figure in
Grant county history, since she was the first white child born in this
county, a daughter of Henry Renbarger, whose name belongs among
MR. AND MRS. ISAAC R. WAGGONER AND THEIR H«_LME
"PLEASANT VALLEY GARDENS"
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 649
the first settlers in the wilderness of this region. She was born four
years before Grant county was organized, under civil government.
The eight children in the family are mentioned as follows: Thomas,
of Marion ; James, a farmer of this county ; Cynthia Hults, of Marion ;
Maria Jones, of Kansas ; Emma Stout, of Marion ; George W. ; Jasper,
of Marion; Matilda Puckett, of Monroe township.
George W. Wilson received his early education in the schools of
Monroe township, and he spent the first twenty-one years of his life
at home. He then mari-ied and began farming for himself. He built
his first house east of his present place on eighty acres of land which
he later sold. He then lived with his mother for a few years, and
when the estate was divided he bought eighty acres of his present
homestead. His next purchase was sixty acres known as the Jackson
place. After his mother's death he bought the old homestead. All
three of these farms have fairly good buildings, and are productive
places under the management of Mr. Wilson.
In 1883 Mr. Wilson married Miss Lydia Gage, of Monroe town-
ship. They are the parents of seven children, named as follows : Mrs.
Pearl Overman, of Marion; Dona Johnson, of Marion; Leo, Gladys,
Lavon, and Beatrice and Bernice, twins, all the last five being at
home. In politics Mr. Wilson is a Democrat and has served his com-
munity in the capacity of road supervisor and pike superintendent.
The church at which he and his family worship is the McKinuey Chris-
tian church.
Isaac R. Waggoner. To those who love the soil and the fruits thereof.
Pleasant Valley Gardens is an attractive, luring title, suggesting good
things for those who have appetite for two or three meals each day —
and that means about everybody. In Grant county Pleasant Valley
Gardens also suggests their founder and enterprising owner, Isaac R.
Waggoner.
Mr. Waggoner is a native of Wabash county, Indiana, born near
Lineolnville, June 23, 1866. But as soon as he reached his majority
he located in Marion, and is now well known to the business com-
munity. His wife, Mrs. Waggoner was Miss Lizzie Nixon, from the
same community in Wabash county. They were married May 26, 1888,
while he was in the employ of Frank Carlson as a market gardener.
The children born to i\Ir. and Mrs. Waggoner are: Miss Anna Wag-
goner; Miriam who is the Avife of William Bodkins and they have one
child, Robert William; Georgia, who is the wife of Virgil Bodkins;
Harry Bryan Waggoner and twin sisters, Ruth and Ruby Waggoner.
Some of Mr. Waggoner's relatives have been with him as gardeners,
but as a family, they all belong to Wabash county.
Mr. Waggoner worked only one year for Mr. Carlson, when he
acquired a knowledge of and liking for the business, and his career
as a gardener on his own account was begun at the old Boots Mill-site
— bottom land along the Mississinewa, and then he moved to Wabash
county, where he gardened for two years, still supplying his Marion
wholesale vegetable trade. But the distance was against him and he
returned to Grant count.v. At this time he located at the Barley ilill,
a short distance below the old Boot Mill site. Pleasant Valley was the
sign on that old mill, since torn down and rebuilt on the J. L. Barley
farm in Franklin to^Aniship as a barn. He appropriated the name,
the garden land being on both sides of the river, and when he later
bought the present Pleasant Valley, part of it had been operated by
him as a garden for several years. When l\Ir. Waggoner first located
there he hauled all the garden products through the river and there
650 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
was always danger connected with delivery, but he prospered and
acquired his present home up the hill from the first bottoms along the
Mississinewa where he has developed one of the best garden spots in
Indiana. The Washington-Pleasant range line passes through the gar-
den, but at that point the ilississinewa is the boundary and the property
is taxed in Washington and Mr. Waggoner is a Washington township
voter. He has 64 acres in high and low lands, and the high land is
adapted to small fruits, as the lowlands to vegetables.
The Mississinewa is both his friend and his enem.y, and alhivial soil
is the nature of the garden. Mr. Waggoner has installed the Skinner
irrigation system, utilizing electric power from the Marion Light and
Heating Company direct, and each year he will add to his system of pipe
lines until he will no longer be dependent upon the weatherman — sun-
shine being as frequent as showers in Pleasant Valley.
While Mr. Waggoner is an all-around gardener he has two special-
ties, strawberries and canteloupes, and the Waggoner canteloupe is
very much in demand on the Chicago mai-ket. While he has always sup-
plied wholesale trade — ilarion dealers — Mr. Waggoner \vas friendly
toward the new-market house proposition and engaged a stand there,
but the first season found him still supplying dealers, with neither time
nor stock for a stall on the city market. He has always made a spe-
eialtj- of green corn, but the telephone orders from ^Marion grocers
more than consume his product. In short, the man who started market
gardening without a dollar and wath debt confronting him, has suc-
ceeded in business, and he is now a factor in the commercial world of
Marion — controls the situation from the standpoint of fruit and vege-
tables. There are two small green houses and extensive cold frames for
propagation purposes, and cement has served an excellent purpose in
their construction. The home is lighted with electricity, and the irriga-
tion is accomplished that way, and in lime other use will be made of
the power. There is a wind pump, and a water system had been installed
before the electricity was utilized at Pleasant Valley.
It is only a short walk from Pleasant Valley to the interurban car,
but for seven months of the year while there is produce to market the
Pleasant Valley wagons are seen about the streets — though in wduter
the family use the eai'S. There is rugged scenery — Mississinewa hills,
and a winding road from the house to the garden, and picturesque is
the word that describes the place, and ]\Ir. and Mrs. Waggoner fully
understand how their present comfortable situation has been attained,
and they are still laboring as hard as when it was more incumbent upon
them. The telephone orders are received from the house or from an
extension phone in one of the vegetable packing sheds in the garden.
and Pleasant Valley is one of the most profitable farm investments
in Grant county — the profit coming from strict attention to all the
details of the fruit and vegetable trade — a business that requires care-
ful and sensible management. Mr. Waggoner has made an eminent
success of it.
Samuel Wise. Material prosperity has long been in the possession of
Samuel Wise. Mr. Wise has earned all that he has ever acquired,
and few men have performed a more skillful and industrious part in
the life and activities of Jefi'erson township during the last thirty or
forty years than this citizen, who combines a large industry as a
farmer with practice of his trade as a blacksmith and machinist, his
home being in section seventeen. A large dwelling house and barn
are features of his place which attract attention first of all, and about
these buildings his well cultivated fields, his high grade and well kept
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 651
stock all indicate the thrifty and efficient character of the proprietor.
Mr. Wise started out with very little more than the average young
man of his time had on arriving at manhood, has made a remarkable
record of increasing his possessions, and all his accumulations repre-
sent his industry and honorable dealing.
Samuel Wise comes from an old Pennsylvania family of Dutch
ancestry, and some of its connections were the Viglers and Shaeffers
of Center county, Pennsylvania. Samuel Wise, grandfather of Samuel,
was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, about one hundred years
ago. His early life was spent in his native vicinity, and as a trade he
choose woodworking and became a skilled carpenter and joiner.
After he came to Indiana, he made practically all the furniture for
his home, and it was much superior in design and stability to the
average furnishings of Grant county homes in those days. In Center
county he married a Miss Shaffer, and all their four sons were born
in that coimty, namely: John, Jacob, Henry, and Samuel. In 1847,
the family came to Pennsylvania, and with one horse and a wagon
journeyed slowly overland to Indiana, until they reached Grant
county. There Daniel Wise first located on a rugged farm in Mill
township, and a few years later bought one hundred and sixty acres
of land in Jefferson township. This purchase was in section five of
that township, and there he applied himself vigorously to the clearing
and improvement and cultivation of his land, until Avith the aid of
his wife he had made an excellent farm. The four sons grew up on
that place, and the parents fkially retired and spent their declining
years in the home of their son Jacob. Both were in the fullness of
years when death came to them. They were of the fine old type rep-
resented by the pioneer, kindly neighbors, upright in all their actions,
and left behind them the heritage of a good name. Only one of their
sons, Henry, is still living, a well known farmer at Gas City. Samuel
died unmarried when twenty-six years of age, and John died some
years ago, leaving a family.
Jacob Wise, father of Samuel, was born in Center county, Penn-
sylvania, iu 1833, and was fourteen years old when the family migra-
tion was accomplished to Grant county. On reaching manhood he
started out to make his own way, and chose farming as his vocation.
He was always regarded as one of the most substantial and success-
ful men in his locality, and eventually acquired a large property.
After giving all his children a good start he still had two hundred
acres, which is now owned and occupied by his widow. Her maiden
name was Elizabeth Marine, a sister of Daniel Marine, prominent fam-
ily in Grant county, whose history is given in greater detail on other
pages. Mrs. Jacob Wise is now seventy-eight years of age. Jacob
Wise died on the old homestead in section four of Jefferson township,
in the fall of 1909.
Samuel Wise was born on his father's farm in Jefferson township,
December 8, 1856. As a boy he attended the public schools when
school was in session, and in the holidays and vacation pui-sued a quite
rigid course of duty about the home. On growing up, and after his
marriage, he bought eighty acres of land in section seventeen, and
there made his start, and that place has been the scene of his most
successful achievements. Farming and stock raising were the busi-
nesses to which he gave all his attention for a number of years, and as
he acquired a little surplus he reinvested iu land, increased his estate
to one hundred and sixty acres. At the present time his farm has
four different sets of buildings, is well provided and equipped for
tenant farming. Probably no land in Jefferson township is graded
652 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
to a higher degree of productiveness, and yet with better care for its
future fertility, than the Wise farm. His own home has a good
dwelling house and excellent barns. A number of years ago. after
getting well started as a farmer. jMr. "Wise set up on his own land a
little shop in order to pei'form his o^\ti blacksmithing. In that trade
he had had a little experience, and possessing a natural aptitude for
mechanical work, he soon proved himself adept. From doing work
for his own convenience, there soon same a demand from his neighbors
for help in this way. Thus his trade grew as a matter of personal
accommodation, until it became necessary for him to devote practically
his entire time and attention, and he set up a shop twenty-five by thirty
feet and equipped it with all the appliances for high-grade custom
blacksmithing. Since tlien i\Ir. Wise has been a blacksmith, first of
all, though in the background he has his large farm, and keeps an eye
on iti cultivation and the raising of his stock, although the actual work
is necessarily performed by outside labor. Mr. Wise many years ago
made a reputation for his skill in the mending of boilers and tubes,
and as his reliability in repairing that very delicate class of machinery
became better known he was sent for frequently to use his services in
different sections of the county and even beyond the limits of Grant
county. Mr. Wise was married in May, 1882, to iliss Sarah Ellen
Bole. Mrs. Wise, who has well dignified her place as a wife, and
whose many acts of kindliness and charity have given her a place of
affection in the community, was born in Jefferson township in 1853,
a daughter of George Bole, and of one of the old and well known fam-
ilies of Grant county. George Bole was born in Ohio, came to Grant
county at an early day, was a farmer in Jeft'erson township, where he
passed away when more than sixty years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Wise
have no children, and are members of the Christian church, while in
political faith he is a Democrat.
George Haines. Grant county has its many beautiful and valua-
ble farm estates, some of which have been under one name since the
pioneer era of this region. George Haines occupies a portion of the
land which was settled by his father nearly seventy years ago, and
has himself been closely identified with ^Monroe township for over forty
years. As a farmer and stockman he has made a fine record and he
bears a name which has always been associated Avith honest industn,'
and unimpeachable integrity, in this county.
George Haines was born on the Haines farm in section eight of
Monroe tomiship, April 15, 1850, a son of James and Nancy W. (Smith)
Haines, both of whom were natives of Fayette county. Ohio, where
they were reared and married. The father, who was born ]\Iarch 14,
ISIS, and died in :March. 188-4. came to Grant county in 1844. and filed
a claim on one hundred and sixty acres of government land. He did
not settle on that place because of its low situation and the water
wliicli stood in gi-eat lakes over its surface at the time. He bought
forty acres on a higher level, cleared off the woods, and erected a cabin
of round logs, which furnished the first home of the Haines family in
Grant county. At the time of his settlement there were no roads in the
vicinity, and he and his family had to contend with many pioneer
conditions and hardships. Despite his hard beginning. James Haines
prospered and at one time was owner of aliout nine hundred acres of
land. As his children became of age he gave to each one a farm, and
provided liberally for those dependent upon him. and always exercised
a wholesome influence in the life of the community. He was a IMason
from the time he became of age, and was also a communicant of the
BLACKP^ORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 653
Methodist church. The seven children in his family were named as
follows : Mrs. Susanna Boiler, a widow residing in Monroe township ;
Mrs. Rebecca E. Kelley, now deceased, who lived in Blackford county;
Milton, deceased; George; Samuel, of Van Bureu; Alfred, on the old
homestead in Monroe township; and Constantine, of Alhambra, Cali-
fornia.
George Haines was educated in the district schools of Monroe town-
ship, and as his father was in more than ordinary circumstances, he
also enjoyed the advantages of the town schools, attending the insti-
tution at Marion taught by William and Bina Russell, during 1868-69
and 1870. After that he served a period as school teacher for three
terms, teaching in the number one school in Jefferson township, in
number two in Pleasant township, and number one in Monroe town-
ship. "When he became of age his father gave him one hundred and
twenty acres of land, and the sou afterwards paid a part of the value
of this to his father. Since that original acquisition he has added four
hundred and forty acres, making his estate now a farm of five hun-
dred and sixty acres, lying in sections four, five, eight and nine of Mon-
roe to\niship. His home is situated on section five. About 1876 he
added eighty acres adjoining his first place and then bought seventy
acres nearby. In 1885 he purchased the interests of some of the heirs
in the home farm, and in 1888 bought one hundred and sixty acres of
land. He personally manages and farms all but one hundred and sixty
acres on section four, which is conducted under a tenant. His home
dwelling is a large white frame house, a very attractive home, compris-
ing eleven rooms and erected in 1885. Back of it is situated a large
red barn, forty by seventy-five feet and built in 1885. The farm in
section four also has good barns and a dwelling house. Mr. Haines
is one of the large crop raisers of Monroe township, and in 1912 his
record for production was two thousand bushels of corn, two thousand
bushels of oats, and sixty tons of hay. On his farm Mr. Haines has
about forty head of cattle, and one hundred hogs, using eight horses
for the farm work. He markets each year about one hundred and
twenty-five hogs.
In the spring of 1885, Mr. Haines married Miss Margaret Benbow,
a daughter of Thomas Benbow. Six children were born to their mar-
riage, four of whom are now living, namely: Lena J., at home; Benja-
min, deceased; Willis W., at home; Wilmont, in school, at Muncie; one
that died in infancy; and Geneva Beatrice. Mr. Haines is a Republi-
can in politics, and he and his family worship in the Christian church.
Btron L. Bunker. How farming pays under the direction of an
energetic and able agriculturist is well illustrated in the activities of
Byron L. Bunker of Monroe to^\'nship. Mr. Bunker, though reared
and in early life following farming was for many years engaged in con-
tracting and a few years ago invested his means and resumed the work
which constituted his first love in his vocations of life. At the present
time he has almost a model estate in Monroe township, situated in sec-
tion eleven. It is on the Arcana gravel road, where he is the owner
of one hundred and sixty acres of land, all in cultivation except a tim-
ber lot of eight acres. During 1912 he produced three thousand bush-
els of corn which at the prevailing price was worth a good deal of
money, though he sold none of his grain, feeding it all to his stock.
He also had a crop of thirty tons of hay during that year. In 1912
he sent one hundred and eighty swine to market, and from this source
alone it is not difficult to estimate that the income of the Bunker farm
is a very large one. In 1913 his crops comprised seventy acres of corn,
654 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
sixty acres of oats, and other smaller crops. At this writing he has
one hundred and thiry hogs on his farm, and he raises aU the grain
needed to grow and fatten them for the market. During this year he
is also renting eighty acres besides his own place. Mr. Bunker and
family reside in a comfortable brick house of eight rooms and it is in
many respects as comfortable as the average city home and is heated
by steam and has all the facilities for family life on a modern and
attractive Ijasis.
Byron L. Bunker was born February 1, 1862, in "Wa^•ne county,
Indiana, a sou of Francis F. Bunker, who was born in 1840 and died
in 1890. He was a native of North Carolina, and his father Thomas
Bunker came from North Carolina and settled in Wayne county, dur-
ing the pioneer period. During the Civil war Francis F. Bunker was
for four years a Union soldier, having enlisted from Wayne county,
and going through the war as a valiant defender of the integrity of
the state. After the war he moved to Jay county, where he bought
the farm, on which he spent the balance of his life. The maiden name
of his wife M-as Lorena Hunt of Wayne county, who died in 1873 at
the age of thirty-two years. By this marriage there were four chil-
dren, namely : Alpha Retta, deceased ; Byron L., Thomas Sheridan,
of Jay county; Ira. who died at the age of seventeen, and one that
died in infanc.y. The father for his second wife married Angelina
Johnson, whose six children were Alice, May, deceased, Evi, Myrtle,
Orvall. and Garfield. The second wife died when thirty years old, and
Francis F. Bunker then married Alvira Votaw, who died in the spring
of 1911.
Byron L. Bunker grew up in Jay countj', where he attended the
local schools, and when twentj^-one years of age left home, married and
for two years operated a farm belonging to his father. In 1885 he
moved out to Kansas during the boom period in that state, but re-
mained as a contender against the adversities of the west for only
two years, and in 1887 returned to his home state. For several years
he was engaged in contract work of grading roads and highways.
Then for about eight years he was employed by the ilarion Gas Com-
pany. In 1902 he began taking contracts for the laying of pipe lines,
and laid one line from Marion to LaFontain, another from Marion to
near Fairmount and relaid the line at Jefferson, Ohio. He then went
to Canada, where he was engaged in laying one hundred miles of pipe
line. Returning to Indiana in 1907, he bought sixty acres of land
near Sweetser. In the same year he bought twenty-four acres near
Hanfield, and soon afterwards bought thirty-two acres adjoining. All
of this land he sold in 1911, and then came to Monroe township, where
he bought his present estate of one hundred and sixty acres. Mr.
Bunker has won his success by his own efforts, and has demonstrated
that it is possible to pay a high price for agricultural land and still
prosper as a result of its energetic management. For the land near
Sweetser he paid one hundred and forty-three dollars an acre. He
broke the record of land sales in Grant county, when he sold this for
two hundred and five dollars per acre. He also sold part of his land
near Hanfield, 47 acres, making a thousand dollars on the deal. For
his present farm in Monroe to\Miship he paid one hundred and twenty-
five dollars an acre, and as a result of his various improvements, it
is now worth considerably more.
By his first marriage which occurred in 1883. IMr. Bunker had four
children, namely: Charles Arthur, of Kansas City; Walter B.. of
Kansas City; Fred B., who is with the Marion Gas Company; and ilrs.
Flossie Harper, of Portland, Indiana. April 16, 1904. Mr. Bunker
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 655
married Lillian St. Clair, of Marion, a daughter of "William St. Clair.
Mr. Bunker has seven grandchildren, six living. James Byron died
when an infant; Kearney Richardson and Maxine are children of
Charles Bunker; Raymond Earl and Anna Louise are children of Fred
Bunker; Palmer Byron and Helen Louise are children of Mrs. Flos-
sie Harper. In politics Mr. Bunker is a Republican, affiliated with the
Marion Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. In religion his par-
ents were members of the Quaker church. Mrs. Bunker is a communi-
cant of the Marion Christian church.
OzRO Geoce Fankboner. It was in the days of the covered wagon
emigrant train that George Kline Fankboner, from whom 0. G. Fank-
boner of Fairmouut is lineally descended, came from Tuscarawas county,
Ohio, and located along the ilississiuewa across from Jonesboro. He
was not the first "Boner" to locate in Grant county, and to this day
people have difficulty with the name, and it is as often called "Frank-
boner" and abridged to "Boner" as it is coi-rectly spoken, although
there are several Fankboner families in the community.
G. K. Fankboner sold his Tuscarawas county farm at forty dollars
an acre, thinking it well sold. But when it developed that all that
country was underlaid with iron ore, with melting furnaces springing
up all over it, and that it sold again at two hundred dollars, he saw his
mistake, but he had found good land — better farming land in Indiana.
The Faukboners who were already located at Jonesboro when
George K. and Sarah (Moore) Fankboner arrived, were his brothers,
and most of G. K. Fankboner and wife's children were grown, some
of them married, but not all of them came to Grant county. The chil-
dren of George K. and wife were: John, who married Mary Gaskell;
Levi Lewis, who married Rachel Jane Moreland, through whom 0. G.
Fankboner belongs to the Fankboner family; Elizabeth, who became the
wife of John Kilgore ; Morris, who married Elizabeth Naber ; Margaret
Jane, who married Abram Carr (see sketch of A. W. Carr) ; George
"W., who married Mary E. Stallard ; and Sarah, who married George
Eckfield. Upon the death of his wife, George K. Fankboner married
Matilda Webb, and two sons were born — ^Webster and Joseph, the
former marrying Retta Fairbanks and the latter Minnie Havens. Mrs.
Carr and Joseph Fankboner are still living in Grant county; some of
the others are living in Ohio. Morris Fankboner was one time sheriff
of the county.
Levi L. Fankboner married Rachel Jane, daughter of David and
Mary M. (Jones) Moreland, August 20, 1852. They always had their
home in the vicinity of Fairmount. Mrs. Fankboner was descended
from Methodist ministers on both sides of the house, and they have
always been identified with the Methodist church, attending services
in Jonesboro and Fairmount. She had a brother, Ellis J. Moreland
(married Luvenia Winans), who recently died in Newcastle, and her sis-
ters are : Melinda, who married George Thorn ; Mahala, who married D.
D. Ward; Sarah Elizabeth, who married William Winans. The sisters
are all living at Fairmount.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Levi L. Fankboner are : Morris
Kilgore, who died in infancy ; Sedora Jane, who married E. L. McDonnell
and died in Michigan ; Mary Martinette, who died in childhood ; Sarah
Romain, who married first Sanford McKinstry and second Eugene Mul-
len, and has one son, Terry Lewis McKinstry, who married Luella Tenny ;
Lucy Adelaide married Charles E. Sisson and has one daughter, Dora
Alice Sisson; Lura Belle, who married twice, first William Smith and
after his death M. F. Tackett, and has one son, Ara R. Smith, by her
656 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
first marriage, and by her second husband three sons, William, ilarvin
and Walker Tackett; and Ozi-o Groce.
Never having known his brother Morris, the oldest of the children.
Ozro G. Fankbouer, the youngest, is the son who pei-petuates the fam-
ily name, and sometimes it is "Boner" they call him. ]Mr. Fankboner
was married April 2, 1891, to Effie Howell* and they have one daugh-
ter, Lois Ozro Fankboner. While Mr. Fankboner still has his mother,
Mrs. Fankboner 's only living ancestor is Mrs. Elizabeth Howell. In
their years of married life JMr. and Mrs. Fankboner have had a varied
experience, living both in town and in the counti-y, and he has been
employed on the railroad as well as on the farm, and two or three times
has been established in the baker trade. In the present year 1913 Fair-
mount people are supplied with Fankboner 's bread and pastry. The
Fankboners occupy their own brick building.
ilr. Fankboner does any part of the bakery business or drives the
wagon in the sale of the product, and IMrs. Fankboner can wrap more
bread and send away more pleased customers than any one he could
secure at the counter. There is demand for Fankboner pastry spe-
cialties, and few men work more hours out of every twenty-four than
0. G. Fankboner. He will go on the wagon or take a turn at baking,
and the farm will never again tempt him.
ilrs. Rachel Jane Fankboner, his mother, by terms of the will of
her husband, who died May 10, 1910, is sole owner of the Fankboner
farm on Back creek (see Omnibus chapter), which her husband owned
many years, and it was always one of the inviting countrysides, an
attractive house overlooking Back creek. Recently it was burned, a
misfortune to the whole community, for it was always a beauty spot.
Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Fankboner have not lived on the farm for several
years, and she occupies a commodious home in Fainnount.
The Fankboner farm ad.ioins Back creek, and while the family were
not Friends, in the old days of the Northern Quarterl.v meeting of
Friends, Mr. Fankboner was forced to patrol his fences as there were
so many horses hitched along them and sometimes whole panels of the
fence were .jerked down, so that it was a wise precaution for him to
watch them. In this occupation he would visit with fanners from all
over the country in attendance at the meetings who sought places to
tie their horses, and Mr. Fankboner was really glad when the June
meeting there was a thing of the past. The story is elsewhere told about
him hanging venison in a tree on the meeting-house the first
time he ever attended Quaker meeting at Back creek. John and Daniel
Fankboner were the two brothers living in Grant county when George
K. Fankboner arrived, and thus he did not come into the wilderness
absolutely among strangers, although he came early into the new coun-
try. Mrs. Carr is now the oracle of the Fankboner family in Grant
county.
David L. II. Pearson. Five miles southeast of the City Square of
Marion, on the Soldiers' Home pike, in Center township, is located
Cedars Farm, a property that has been brought to a high state of ciilti-
vation through the industry, enterprise and good management of its
owner. David L. H. Pearson, one of Grant county's old and honored
residents. Although not a native of Grant county, he has lived here
since infancy, and his long and honorable career has been one made
conspicuous by upright dealing and fidelity to the duties of citizenship.
He was born in Clinton county. Ohio, February 7, 1836, and is a son
of Jonathan aiid Violet fllaugha") Pear.sou.
The parents of Mr. Pearson were born in the mountain country of
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 657
Virginia, and were both taken from the Old Dominion State as children
to Clinton county, Ohio. There they were reared and educated, grow-
ing up in the same vicinity, and were eventually married. In Sep-
tember, 1836, the same year as that in which occurred the birth of their
son David L. H., they came to Grant county, Indiana, and settled in
Center township, settling down in pioneer style to clear a farm from
the wilderness. They became highly respected people of their com-
munity, succeeded in developing a good property, and reared a family
of twelve children, as follows: William H., Thomas, David L. H., Isaac,
who died in army during Civil war, John, Matilda, Polly A., Rebecca J.,
Susan, Elizabeth, Bvaline and Sarah. Of these three are living at
this time — David L. H., John, and Thomas, who is now 84 years of age.
David L. H. Pearson was reared on the home farm in Center town-
ship, and secured his early education in the primitive subscription schools
of his day. subsequently supplementing this by 45 days' attendance at
the first public school lin Center township, which was held in a log school-
house. During this time his agricultural training was not neglected,
for when he was not engaged at his studies in the short winter terms,
he was assisting his father in farm work. He was married at the age of
twenty-one years, and at that time began to farm on his own account,
and so continued throughout his active career. His present property,
a well-cultivated tract of 187 acres, is one of the most valuable in the
township, having been improved with good buildings and equipment.
As his children have grown to manhood and womanhood, he has pre-
sented them with land and financial assistance, enabling them to start
their careers under favoring circumstances. An honorable man of busi-
ness, his transactions have ever been of legitimate character, and he has
never been engaged in a lawsuit of any kind. As one of the men who
are worthily representing the best type of Grant county citizenship, he
is worthy of the high esteem and regard in which he is universally held.
^Ir. Pearson was married in September, 1857, to Miss Susanna
Griffin, who was bom and reared in Center township, and three chil-
dren were born to this union. Of these one died at the age of two years ;
Martin R. was given a common school education and is now a farmer in
Center township; and Louisa is the wife of James B. Wilson of this
touTiship. Mrs. Pearson died in September, 1880, and on Jlarch 13,
1883, 'Sir. Pearson was married to Mrs. Mary E. (Carter) Brad-
ford, the widow of Benjamin Bradford. She was born in Washington
township. Grant county, Indiana, August 21, 1853, was educated in the
district schools there, and married Benjamin Bi-adford. They had two
sons : Lewis E., who is engaged in farming in Washington township ;
and Jay B., a resident of Laporte, Indiana. Mr. and ilrs. Pearson have
one son: Burr W., a graduate of the district schools and of Marion
Normal College, who was educated in telegraphy and followed that voca-
tion for some time, but is now a merchant at Adrian, Michigan. He
married Eda Sangster, of Wauseon, Ohio, and they have a son and a
daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are members of Griffin Chapel of the Meth-
odist church, and Mrs. Pearson also holds membership in the Women's
Christian Temperance Union, her husband also being an ardent sup-
porter of prohibition. He was a charter member of Necessity Grange,
and for a number of years served as an overseer of that order. In
political matters he is independent, although other things being equal
he gives his support to the prohibition candidate.
William Penn Bradford. A preface is hardly needed for the fol-
lowing article concerning one of the ablest of Grant county farmer cit-
izens, and a family which properly belongs among both the first and the
658 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
best. As will be seen three generations have lived on Grant county soil,
not including the children of William P. Bradford, so that Grant county
really spells home to a large number of Bradfords. Theirs have been
lives of fruitful toil, of unselfish sharing of burdens, and mutual help-
fulness and esteem.
William, Penn Bradford of Centennial Place in Washington town-
ship — the farm having been his since 1876 — was bom October 11, 1853,
within a short distance of his present home, and his life has been spent
in one neighborhood. He was married in 1875 to Miss Ida Alice Arm-
strong, who died ^lay 6, 1886. The children born to them are ilrs.
Nora May Beekman, Mrs. Louella Burris, Charles J. Bradford, Albert
E. Bradford, Mrs. Carrie Dell JMaynard, Earl Blaine Bradford and
Vernon Eber Bradford. i\Irs. Bradford, the mother of these children,
was born after the death of her father, although James C. Stallings,
who married her mother, Mrs. Jane Armstrong, was always as a father
to her, and as a grandfather to her children. There was a wide-spread
belief that there was virtue in the breath of a woman who had never
seen her father, and before and after marriage Sirs. Bradford was fre-
quentl.v importuned to blow her breath in the mouths of children
afflicted with thrush — an idea kindred to another about measuring
children for small growth, which prevailed in the country. While she
never had a fee for such service, she performed the office for many who
came to her with afflicted children.
Mr. Bradford was left with a family of small children, and the
following year he was married to Miss Nancy Jane Moore, and their
children are: Mrs. Rosa Ethel King. Mrs. Lily Esta Weaver, Wilbur
Arthur Bradford, Mrs. Hazel Ann White, Homer Leroy, Nellie Marie,
Minnie Belle, Merlie Gladys and Belva Bernice. Thus there were seven
children in the older familj^, and nine in the younger, seven sons and
nine daughters.
In the family of Mr. Bradford's grandfather, George Bradford,
who had come into Grant county soon after it was organized, were four
sons and twelve daughters, all having the same mother, and all of whom
lived to bring up families, and as all of the children of his family are
living, and in the next generation are seventeen grandchildren, it is
a large family circle when all are gathered at Centennial Place. While
the seven older children had a different mother, Mrs. Bradford came
into the home when they were small, and to them she is mother. All
the children were given a common school education, the girls learn-
ing domestic science at home, and the boys learning up-to-date farm-
ing methods at Centennial Place — one of the best managed farmsteads
in Grant county.
Wlien Jlr. Bradford went into debt for his farm in the Centennial
year, he was young and determined to win and while he has reared a
large family and has had sickness and its attendant expenses, his ambi-
tion has been to make breadwinners of all his children, and they were
thrown on their own resources early, and like the older generation of
sixteen Bradford children, those who have taken up the struggle for
themselves are winning the same success.
AVilliam Penn Bradford is a son of William R. Bradford and Eliza-
beth (Gaines) Bradford, and his father who died in 1895, had reached
seventy-nine years, while his mother who died in 1911, has been an
octogenarian for four years. The old home of the family adjoins Cen-
tennial Place and is owned by H. L. Bradford. There are Bradford
farms all around, and J\lr. Bradford recently commented on the size of
them. Only a few years ago they were all large farms, but in the process
of settlement of estates, the shares of heirs causing the smaller farm
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 659
areas, gi'adually Grant county is shifting into conditions surrounding
older countries — broken farms on account of the division of property.
Mrs. Bradford is a daughter of Patterson and Amanda (Forest)
Moore, and both are of pioneer Washington township stock. While the
name "William Penn" suggests Quaker parentage, many of the Brad-
fords are in fact Friends, but the W. P. Bradford family are members
of the Methodist congregation at Morris Chapel, although Fairview Wes-
leyau church overlooks Centennial Place. Fairview is the original Brad-
ford farm — the farm now owned by Mrs. Nancy Bradford having been
named from the church, and the Bradford family burying ground where
all the family pioneers lie buried is near Fairview church and in plain
view from Centennial Place. There has never been a family in Grant
county of stronger personal characteristics than the original Bradford
family, and for years they have met in annual reunions, commemorating
their ancestry and having pride in the Bradford family coat-of-arms m
early American history.
There are many practical farmers in Grant county, but none have
better understood the soil requirements and capabilities than Mr. Brad-
ford who has always been a "farm agent" on his own acount. His crop
rotation always includes oats which he thinks places the gi-ound in better
condition for a meadow instead of following com with wheat, and in
feeding out stock he finds oats worth as much as corn or any other grain,
therefore, his meadow land is always level. Centennial Place is undu-
lating and well adapted to meadow farming, and the stock kept there
renders plenty of pasture a necessity. While Mr. Bradford is a con-
servative citizen and has no political ambition, he is abreast of the times
and in favor of good road advantages. The farm is well supplied with
buildings, and the modern house built in 1910 is one of the best arranged
farm houses in the country. The daily mail and telephone keeps the
family in touch with things, and water — soft and hard and warm and
cold — only a faucet to turn, and natural gas in abundance with acetylene
lights all over the house — why should the Bradfords move to town? All
the improved machinery has been installed on the farm and all the
conveniences are in evidence in the house, and as yet the domestic service
or farm labor problems have not touched Centennial Place. The dinner-
time guest will always find the table well spread, and with young children
in the home the future will take care of itself for many years.
Rev. J. William Richards. A representative in a younger genera-
tion of the prominent Richards family so long identified with Grant
county. Rev. J. William Richards, has for a number of years been one of
the leading farmers in both Grant and Delaware counties, his home
being in Washington township of Delaware county, and close to the
Grant county line. On December 6, 1902, he was licensed and ordained
b}' the Harmony Primitive Baptist church at Matthews, and has been
an active local preacher of his church for the past ten yeai's, having
been pastor of the Harmony church since 1904. His Washington town-
ship homestead comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land, and he
also owns one hundred and eighty acres in Jefferson township of Grant
county. Mr. Richards is very progressive in matters of agi-iculture,
does what is known as mixed farming, raises good crops and feeds them
all to his live stock, and the substantia] improvements about his places
indicate the style of thrift and industry employed by him. His home
farm has a splendid barn, painted in a tasteful color, and nearby is the
comfortable white house of ten rooms. His Jefferson township farm is
improved with a large stock and grain barn. All his land is under
cultivation, and is well cultivated and well stocked.
660 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
J. W. Richards was born in Jefferson township of Grant county,
December 1, 1860, and is the first son and second child of Mr. L. G.
Richards, whose career as one of the pioneers of Grant county is sketched
at length on other pages of this publication.
Rev. Richards grew up on his father's farm, was educated in the
public schools, and from early manhood has given most of his time to
farming. An interested student of the bible, and of religious problems
and having shown much talent as a church worker, he devoted himself
diligently to the preparation for work as a local minister, and since
his ordination has been one of the spiritual leaders in his community.
ilr. Richards was married in Delaware county, in 1883, to Emma
Z. Harris, who was born in Washington township of Delaware county,
January 11, 1866. Her parents, John M. and Margaret (Broyles) Harris
were also natives of Delaware county, and their respective parents
probably came from Virginia in the early pioneer times. Mr. and Mrs.
Harris grew up and were married in Washington to■s^'nship, started life
as farmers, and Mrs. Harris died on the old liomestead when a little
past sixty j-ears of age. Mr. Harris is still living on his fine farm of
about two hundred acres, and though more than seventy years of age, is
still active and gives personal supervision to his affairs. His wife was
a devoted Methodist, but he has held to no church creed. He is a Repub-
lican in politics. There were six sons and three daughters in the Harris
family, of whom one son and one daughter died after marriage, each
leaving children, and all those now living are married and have families.
Mrs. Richards grew up in Delaware county, had a common school educa-
tion, and since her marriage has proved herself a capable housewife and
devoted mother. To their marriage have been born four children : Orpha,
died at the age of two and a half years. T. Clayton, born in September,
1884, now occupies a part of his father's Delaware county farm, and by
his marriage to Esta Whiteneck, a Grant county girl, has two sons, John
L. G. Richards, now eight years old and Forrest Charles Richards, one
month old. Gladys is living at home and a graduate of the Matthews
high school in the class of 1911. Dilver W., is attending the high
school at home. Mr. Richards and the children are also members and
workers in the Harmony church, and Mr. Richards in politics is a
Democrat.
John Shields, one of the old and honored residents of Franklin
township. Grant county, Indiana, now retired from active pursuits, is
a member of the good old Irish family of that name, always well known
as devout Presbyterians in their native land. A little more than a
century and a half ago, there lived at Coot Hill, one William Shields.
The elder of two brothers, he sold his birthright to the younger, and
when still little more than a lad bid farewell to his friends and relatives
and embarked on a sailing vessel for America, arriving at Philadelphia
some years prior to the Revolutionary war. There he met and married
a Pennsylvania girl, and began his married life as a farmer in the Key-
stone state, where his industrious habits soon earned him prosperity.
He reared a family of seven sons and two daughters, and later all of
the family moved "to Augusta county, Virginia, where William Shields
and his wife passed their last days, dying in the faith of the Presby-
terian church. Their children all grew to maturity and were married,
establishing homes and becoming substantial people of their several
communities, and the sons enlisted in the Colonial army, assisting their
country in its successful fight for independence.
Of the nine children born to William Shields, William Shields,
Jr., the gi-andfather of John Shields, was born in Philadelphia, Penn-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 661
sylvania, about 1750. He early learned the trade of tailor, and aceom-
pauied the family in 1770 to Augusta county, Virginia, where, with his
six brothers, he enlisted in Washington's army as a member of a Vir-
ginia regiment. He continued to serve throughout the war, at the
close of which he returned to Virginia and resumed the trade of tailor,
going from house to house and measuring, cutting and sewing the
clothes for the families of his vicinity, as was the custom in those days.
He continued to follow his trade until his death, which occurred either
in Virginia or Pennsylvania, when he was not yet seventy years of
age. He married a Miss Frame, a Virginia girl, and it is thought that
she died in her native state. Both Mr. and Mrs. Shields were probably
Presbyterians. They were the parents of five children, namely: Wil-
liam (III) ; Joseph and Preston, who served in the War of 1812; Ann
and Margaret. . All lived to advanced ages, and all were married and
reared families except Joseph.
Preston Shields, son of William Shields, Jr., and father of John
Shields, was born in Augusta couut.y, Virginia, about the year 1790,
and as a young man enlisted from that county in the War of 1812,
becoming an orderly sergeant in a division of Scott's army, under
Colonel McDowell. In early life he had been engaged in teaming
between Augusta county and Richmond, Virginia, and it may be that
he drove a team during his army service. At the close of the war he
returned to his home, and in 1815 migrated to Green county, Ohio,
where he began life as a farmer in the wilds, also driving a team to
Cincinnati. He was there married to Delila Fulkerson, who was born,
reared and educated in Frederick county, Virginia, and who had gone
to Green county, Ohio, about 1810 or 1812 with her parents, Richard-
son and Clara (Moore) Fulkerson. lu 1848 Mr. and Mrs. Shields
migrated to Indiana, purchasing slightly improved land in Richland
township, Jay county, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
Mr. Shields jjassed away, aged eighty years, while his widow
away seven years later, being seventy-nine years old. Mr. Shields
a Whig and later a Republican, but took no active part in party
They reared a fine family of stalwart children, as follows: WiUiam
( IV ) , who was twice married and was a farmer in Jay county, Indiana ;
James, who was married, and died in Franklin township, Grant
county, when seventy-nine years of age ; John, of this review ; David,
who died at the age of eighteen years; Joseph, who died when two and
one-half years of age; Benjamin, who was a soldier in the 19tli Volun-
teer Infantry, and died during the war, in Washington, D. C. ; Clara,
who is the wife of William Wright, of Dunkirk, Indiana ; Hannah, who
died after her marriage to Siras Bargdol; and Richard, the youngest,
who is single and lives in the South.
John Shields was born in Green county, Ohio, July 21, 1826, and
was there reared to agricultural pursiiits and also engaged in sawmill-
ing. He was married December 6, 1849, to Araminta Jane Wroe, who
was born in Frederick county, Virginia, in 1829, and came to Ohio with
her parents, Benjamin and Elizabeth (Pagett) Wroe. They had come
to Somerset, Ohio, as early as 1831 and in 1836 settled in Green county,
Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
In 1851, John Shields, with his young bride, came to Grant county,
Indiana, on a visit and they were so favorably impressed with the coun-
try that in February, 1852, they returned, to make this their perma-
nent home. They located at what is now Roseburg, Franklin township,
where Mr. Shields secured a one-fourth interest in a sawmill, the coun-
try at that time being almost entirely covered with good timber. A
man of industry and energy, he accumulated some small capital, and
662 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
in 1855 made his first investment in farming land, purchasing a tract
of seventy-four acres of partly improved property. This he later
sold, with his milling interest and some land he owned in Jay county,
and bought eighty acres of land in another part of Franklin township.
Subsequently, in 1866 he bought a better tract of eighty acres, in sec-
tion 16, on which he settled after the war, and which he made one of
the best farms in Grant county. For forty years Mr. Shields made this
farm his home, erecting handsome buildings, and installing improve-
ments and equipments, and at the time of his retirement was consid-
ered one of the most substantial men of his community. Although now
eighty-seven years of age, he is alert and active, and, having lived a
life of temperance and probity, still weighs 165 pounds. He is a pleas-
ing conversationalist, and his memory is testified by his entertaining
reminiscences of early days.
air. Shields is a veteran of the Civil war. On August 10, 1862,
he enlisted for a sex-vice of three years in Company C, Twelfth Regi-
ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, being attached to Sherman's Corps.
He participated in every battle, skirmish and march from Missionar.y
Ridge to Bentouville, North Carolina, his record including twenty-one
battles. Although always a brave and valiant soldier, to be found in
the thickest of the fight, he escaped with a slight wound on the side
of his nose, this being caused by a ball which glanced from a limb
of an oak tree. As he remembers it, his hardest fought battle was that
at Atlanta, July 28, 1864, when the men stood face to face and fought
it out until the enemy were driven from the field. Mr. Shields never
yielded to the temptations of whisky while in the sei^vice, and, in fact,
has not touched a drop since 1855. He was honorably discharged June
8, 1865, with a record which compares favorably with that of any sol-
dier who participated in the great war between the North and the
South.
On December 5, 1849, in Green county, Ohio, Mr. Shields was mar-
ried to a boyhood sweetheart, whom he met when but twelve years old,
Araminta Jane Wroe. She proved a valued and loving helpmeet, and
in her death, which occurred in 1909, at the age of eighty years, the
community lost a kindly Christian woman, a devout Quakeress, and
one who was widely known for her many charities. Mr. and Mrs.
Shields became the parents of the following children: Clarinda, who
died at the age of eighteen years, a young woman of much promise;
Araminta, wife of Allen J. Overman, a grocer of Marion, who has four
children, all married except one: Sarah M., the wife of Dr. N. Pierce
Haines, of Marion, a physician, at the Insane Hospital, and has a fam-
ily ; Maggie, the wife of Harry Hoadley, living at Spokane, Washing-
ton, wlio has four sons and one daughter: Prestina, the wife of Wil-
liam Howe, a farmer of near Landessville, Indiana, and has two daugh-
ters; and Benjamin W., twin of Prestina, one of the best-known horse
buyers and dealers of Grant county, who married Clara Parks, and has
had three sons and two daughters, of wh^m two sons and one daughter
survive. Mr. Shields has eleven grandsons, ten granddaughters, and
twentj'-one great-grandchildren. Mr. Shields is a Prohibitionist in his
political views. He is public-spirited and progressive, and at all times
is ready to support measures for the good of his community.
Ollin Gordon. Barring a brief two years' time in which he was
engaged with his father in the grocery business, Ollin Gordon has, dur-
ing his entire active career of something more than twenty years, been
identified with the enterprise in which he is now occupied — the furni-
ture and house-furnishing business. In April, 1895, Mr. Gordon estab-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 663
lished himself in Gas City, opening a small shop in association with
Mr. J. E. Ward at the corner of Second and Main sti'eets. Since that
time his advance in the conmiercial circles of the city has been rapid
and today he has a leading position among the most prominent and
prosperous business men of the communitj^: Shrewd, careful and con-
servative in all his business dealings, he has conducted his affairs in a
manner conducive to the best results, and his standing in the city
today is one that he has undeniably earned, and of which he may well
be proud.
Ollin Gordon was born in Grant county, Mills township, August 8,
1869, and he is the son of Seth and Sarah (Jay) Gordon. Seth Gordon
was a native son of Henry county, Indiana, boi-n there in the year 1831
on the 14th day of July. He was for years engaged in farming in Grant
county, later interesting himself actively in the grocery business, and
was connected with a prosperous grocery business in Gas City, Grant
county, until a short time before his death, on his sixty-seventh birth-
day anniversary, in 1898. The mother was born on what is now the
Infirmai-y Farm in JMills township, on January 23, 1843, and she is now
living in the home of her son, Ollin Gordon of this review. She and
her husband were both birthright Quakers and both had served as
elders and overseei*s in the church for many years. The mother is yet
active in the work of the church, and still continues an influence for
good in her community. Mrs. Gordon was a daughter of James and
Lydia (Hollingsworth) Jay, early settlers in Grant county, whither
they came from their native state, South Carolina, in early life. They
were of the old pioneer stock of the county, and they lived in a time
when primitive civilization was at its height in Grant county. In about
the year 1807 they settled in Vermillion county, Ohio, there residing
until they settled in Grant county. They, too, were birthright Quakers
and passed their lives in the church of their fathers.
Ollin Gordon is the youngest child but one of his parents, and he is
today the sole surviving member. The other died young, and he alone
was left to cheer them in their declining years, his mother making
her present home with him.
Mr. Gordon had his education in the district schools, such as were
provided in his boyhood in Grant county, and when the Marion Normal
College was opened he became one of the first students enrolled there,
graduating from its commercial department among the first with the
class of 1892. Since that time Mr. Gordon has been steadily engaged
in business.
The first enterprise with which Mr. Gordon identified himself was
his father's grocery business, as has been stated already. For two
years he continued with the elder Gordon, and while he was a deal of
assistance to his father, it is also true that he acquired much in the
way of practical knowledge of business management that stood him in
excellent stead in the years of his earlier private business experience.
It was in 1895 that Mr. Gordon became established in the house fur-
nishing business with J. E. Ward. The two were practically mthout
capital, but they were young and courageous, possessing a deal of energy
and ambition, and fortified with Mr. Gordon's business training, both in
college and in his father's establishment, they were better equipped than
many who start in with more of money at their command and less of
these other assets. After a year of business activity, Mr. Gordon bought
out his associate, Mr. Ward, and since that time has operated, inde-
pendently. He remained at the old stand on Second and Main streets
for a year, then moved to one room in the Peele building on Main street.
Here "he has continued, and from time to time additions of one room
664 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
have been made to the place, as the business expanded and demanded
more space for its proper management. Mr. Gordon has not hesitated
to branch out whenever he saw an opportunity for it, and he has from
lirst to last carried on an advertising campaign that has resulted in a
continued growth of the business, making necessary additions to floor
space, warehouse room and all the appurtenances necessary in the con-
duct of a thriving fui-niture and house furnishing enterprise. In the
past six years his advancement has been particularly rapid and substan-
tial, and his place today devotes one entire room to carpets and rugs, one
to upholstered goods, one to china and other household wares, and another
in which staples in house furnishings are to be found in plenty. He
carries a fine class of goods, his trade being of a conservative and dis-
criminating character, and his place is considered the acme of complete-
ness in his especial line in Gas City. The place itself is a building of
two stories, with sixty-six bj' seventy foot frontage, all of which is occu-
pied by the business. An overflow wareroom also adds to the floor space
required b.y the business, this being located at the corner of First and
JMain streets.
As a business man, it will not be gainsaid that Mr. Gordon has been
a very successful man. His progress has been steady and consistent with
the most conservative and business like advancement, so that he is
properly regarded as one of the safe and altogether reliable business
men of the city.
ilr. Gordon was married in Jonesboro, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth
Eaton, a native daughter of the state of Illinois, where she was reared
and educated. Her parents are both deceased, ilr. and JMrs. Gordon
have no children of their own, but they have an adopted son, C. Fred-
erick, born April 5, 1910.
As members of the Friends church of Jonesboro, Mr. and Mrs. Gor-
don have carried on the church relations of their parents and grand-
parents, and they are among the most useful and active people in that
church today.
A Republican in his politics, Mr. Gordon has served his fellow men
well in Gas City, for ten years having been a member of the City Coun-
cil. He is a citizen of splendid t.vpe, and has borne his full share of the
civic burdens of the community in all the years of his residence here. He
is a member of the Gas City lodge of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and has filled all chairs in the local order, while he has also
represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the Order.
John B. King. The late John B. King was born in Washington
township. Grant county, Indiana, on ]May 29, 1843, and he died at his
farm home in Mill township on August 4. 1913, when little past seventy
years of age. AH his life had been spent in Grant county, with but
slight exception, and he was one of the best known and esteemed men of
the county during his life time. He is remembered, and long will be,
as one of" the substantial and worthy citizens of the community.
Mr. King was a son of John and Elizabeth (Bloxliam) King, natives
of Virginia, where the father was born in 1805 and the mother in 1800.
The father' was a son of John and Sarah King, who passed their
lives in Virginia, and who were birthright Quakers and exemplary
citizens all their davs. John King, the father of the late John B. King,
was a small boy when his parents died in Virginia, and he was early
bound out as an apprentice to learn the trade of a tanner. He com-
pleted his apprenticeship and in early manhood married, coming to
Ohio after the birth of the two eldest children in his family. That
state did not long claim his attention, and he soon found himself estab-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 665
lished in Grant county. This was in the early thirties, and in Wash-
ington township he entered eighty acres of what seemed desirable land.
He made a good deal of improvements in the place and then sold advan-
tageously, intending at the time to go to Iowa to live. Their plan was
altered, however, through the protracted illness of their son John, the
subject of this review, and they settled in Marion, Grant county, Indi-
ana, instead, the father once more resuming his work as a tanner, which
he had discontinued when he settled on his Washington township farm.
In about 1850 he went to Arcana and established a tannery which he
operated successfully until war times, even continuing it through a part
of the war period, when he sold it and retired to a small farm in Alill
township. Here he died on October 5, 1867, when he was sixty-two
years of age. His widow later went to make her home with a daugh-
ter, Mrs. Sarah Nelson, and she died there on December 18, 1874, when
she lacked twenty days of having reached her seventy-tifth birthday
anniversary. She was a daughter of William and Mary Bloxham, who
were native Virginians, living all their lives as farming people in that
state. They, too, were Quakers. John King and his wife were birthright
Quakers, though in later life they became associated with the Methodist
Episcopal church. In this body they were active and prominent,
Mr. King becoming a class leader and holding that place for some years
prior to his death. His devoted wife was in perfect accord with him
in all the issues of life, and they lived happily and to excellent purpose,
being Christian people of many lovable qualities. Of their three sons
and three daughters, two died young, and the names of the six were as
follows: Jonathan, William S., Ruth, Mary, Sarah, John B., of this
review. Ruth and Mary died in girlhood, but the other four reached
mature years and reared families of their own. All are now deceased.
John B. King gi'ew up on the home farm in Grant county and he
found his early employment in work on the farm and in his father 's tan-
nery until the outbreak of the war caused the discontinuing of the
tannery activities. On October 10, 1862, he was mustered in as a
private in Company M, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, and with his command
went to the front, and so continued until the close of the war, being hon-
orably discharged in September, 1865. All through that period he
proved in many ways his gallantry and devotion to the cause in which
he had enlisted, and he participated in practically every engagement of
importance in which his regiment was active. Exposure and the gen-
eral hardships of war on several occasions caused his disability and con-
finement in hospitals, though he was never wounded in action. For
years he was a member of the Jonesboro Post of the G. A. R.
After the war Mr. King settled down to farm life on the farm of
his wife in Mill to^^Tiship, continuing there until 1897, when the family
removed to Jonesboro, three years later coming to Gas City, but retiring
to the old farm home some few months prior to his death, it being his
wish that his last days might be spent there.
Mr. King was a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal church. A good citizen all his days, he had his full share in the
civic activities of whatever community he lived in, and he enjoyed the
esteem and high regard of his contemporaries and is still remembered
with genuine affection by those who knew him in the various relations
of life.
On March 17, 1867, Mr. King was married to Miss Elizabeth Over-
man, born in Mill township on the old Overman homestead on Septem-
ber IS, 1840, and there reared and educated. She was the eldest child
of Jesse and Jane (Griffin) Overman, an account of which family will
be found elsewhere in this work. Since the death of Mr. King, Mrs.
666 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
King has maintained her residence in the Gas City home, where she took
up her abode after the passing of her husband on the okl home place in
Mill township, and she is still active and energetic at the age of seventy-
two. She still has ownership of the Mill township property, which
is a fine place of eighty acres, and some desirable property in Jones-
boro as well as the Gas City property, make her independent. She is
the mother of the following children :
Ida J. is the wife of Lincoln Lamb. They live on the mother's
farm iu Mill township and their children are Charles, Earl and Flor-
ence, the latter the ^^'ife of Benjamin Stoelnvell. She is the oldest of
the three children. She has one child, Chelsey James. Charles King is
married and has one son, Charles II. James, the second son, of John
and Elizabeth King, died after his second marriage, at the age of
thirty-seven .years. His first wife was Elizabeth Brewer, and this
marriage was without issue. Two children blessed the second union.
Rea, the fii'st born, died young, and Harry B. now resides with his
paternal grandmother, Mrs. King, and is attending the city schools.
Jesse Albert King died aged fifteen years.
Mrs. King is a stanch member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and still retains her membership in the Griffin M. E. Chapel of Center
township, where she united with the church many years ago. She is
a woman of many virtues and is one whose life has been a shining
example in the community all her days.
Lee C. Frank. When Gas City was beginning its development as a
commercial center, Lee C. Frank identified himself with the new com-
munity, and set up in a business way there. For twenty years, since
January, 1893, he has been a citizen of that community, and in that
time a number of distinctions have come to him as a business man and
factor in local affairs. The official records of the city will always give
him a place as the first treasurer after the incorporation under a city
charter. His chief business has been as a funeral director and em-
balmer, and he keeps a first-class establishment with perfect facilities
for giving service to his patients. His establishment contains two hearses,
he has a complete line of caskets, and for eleven years, from 1893, at
the beginning of his career here, until 1904, conducted a furniture store
in connection with his undertaking business. For five years Mr. Frank
was vice president of the First State Bank of Gas City. His election to
the office of city treasurer, after the incorporation, occurred in 189-4,
and he continued to hold the office by successive reelection without any
opposition candidates until January, 1912, resigning before the conclu-
sion of his last term. He was elected on the Republican ticket, of which
he has always been a stanch supporter, though as a matter of fact his
choice for this office was one based upon personal fitness rather than
on account of party considerations.
Lee C. Frank was born in Troy, Miama county, Ohio, September 30,
1867. He grew up in his native town and county, was reared on a farm,
and after getting his schooling was employed in an undertaking estalilish-
ment, an experience which gave him a thorough preparation for his
chosen vocation. Mr. Frank is a son of Samuel and Charlotte Frank,
who were born in the state of Ohio, and were married in Troy, where the
father still lives. Samuel Frank, during his active career, was one of
the very prominent men, not only in his home locality, but in the state,
especiailv in Republican politics. As a young man he enlisted during
the Civil war and went to the front with the One Hundred and Tenth
Ohio Volunteer Infantrv. His regiment was in the Army of the Potomac.
and he fought iu many of the great battles of the war, mainly in Yir-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 667
ginia, being out about three years. In a small skirmish in Virginia he
was shot, a minie-ball passing through his left elbow, and the wound
was of such a nature that he was discharged on account of disability and
returned home. The vetei-au soldier soon became prominent in public
affairs. He was elected sheriff of Miami county, then promoted to the
office of county treasurer, and for ten years was in the United States
Revenue service. In the meantime in a business way he had bought land
and taken up farming. He served as postmaster at Troy during McKin-
ley's administration, and for a number of years held the office of county
commissioner. He was one of the leading and iuHuential Republicans
for many years, a personal friend of President McKinley and of Gen-
eral J. P. Warren Keiffer, the latter one of Ohio's notable public men.
The elder Frank served as delegate to many state conventions, went
through the national convention as a delegate on several occasions, and
was twice a pi-esideutial elector. He has been long identified with Grand
Army affairs and has attended nearly all the national reunions. He and
his wife now live in a comfortable home at Troy. In that city he has
served as alderman, and in other local offices, and has been township
trustee. He and his wife are devout Methodists. Mr. Lee C. Frank was
the only son and his three sisters are : Mabelle, wite of J. H. Scott, of
Troy, and the mother of four children; Maude, wife of Rev. E. M. Kerr,
a minister of the Christian church and they have one son and a daugh-
ter; Florence, who lives at home in Troy, is a fine instrumental musi-
cian, on the piano and pipe organ, and is a teacher of music and a
leader in musical affairs in her home locality.
Lee C. Frank was married in Gas City to Miss Bell "West, a daughter
of James R. and Lucy T. West. The West family came from Ohio to
Gas City during the early history of the latter locality, and her father
was a hardware merchant for a number of years. He and his wife now
live at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. West was born in England. Mrs. Frank
was bom in Elyria, Ohio, and was educated partly there and partly in
the high school at Marion, Indiana. To their marriage the following chil-
dren have been born: Margaret, who is now a sophomore in the high
school; Richard, in the grade schools; Dorothy, also in school; William,
in the second grade; and Robert, the youngest of the family. Mrs.
Frank is a regular attendant of the Methodist church, and her husband
is affiliated with the IMasonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, and
the Loyal Order of Moose.
Isaiah Wall. Nearly three-fourths of a century ago the parents
of this honored citizen established their residence in Grant county,
and he is now one of the most venerable of the native sons of the county
residing in Marion. He gave virtually his entire active career to agri-
cultural pursuits, and is still the owner of a well improved and valu-
able landed estate in his native township, besides his attractive resi-
dence property in the city of Marion. His life has been replete with
earnest and productive endeavor, he is known as a man of high ideals,
broad views and impregnable integrity, and none has more secure
vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. He served as a
member of the board of county commissioners for three years, retiring
therefrom on the 1st of Janiiary, 1914, and this fact in itself vouches
for his high standing in the county that has ever represented his
home, and to the development and progress of which he has contributed
with all of loyalty and liberality as an enterprising and appreciative
citizen.
On the old family homestead in Monroe township, this county, Mr.
668 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Wall was born on the 24th of December, 1844, and thus he became a
welcome Christmas arrival in the pioneer home of his parents, David
and Sarah (Dwiggins) Wall, both of whom were born and reared in
Clinton county, Ohio, where the respective families were founded in
the pioneer epoch of the history of the state. The paternal grand-
parents of the subject of this review were John and Mary (Mills) Wall,
and both were natives of Peunsjdvania, where their marriage was sol-
emnized and whence they finally removed to Ohio and numbered them-
selves among the early settlers of Clinton county, where they passed
the remainder of their lives. The maternal grandparents. Robert and
Sarah (Starbuck) Dwiggins, were born and reared in North Carolina
and were representatives of stanch Colonial stock. They likewise
became pioneers of Clinton county, Ohio, which continued to be their
home until death.
David Wall came from Ohio to Indiana in the year 1837, making
the trip on horseback. His object was to select a location for a home,
and he made Grant county his destination. Here he entered claim to
a tract of government land in Monroe township, and in 1840 he and
his wife came to this pioneer homestead, which he reclaimed from the
virgin wilds and developed into a productive farm. Both he and his
wife passed practically the entire remaining period of their lives on
this fine old homestead, and the names of both find enduring place
on the roll of the honored pioneers of Grant county, where they lived
and labored to goodly ends and where popular confidence and regard
came to them with naught of qualification — a just tribute to their ster-
ling worth of character. David Wall was born on the 1st of i\Iay, 1815,
and thus was eight.y-eight years of age at the time of his death, which
occurred in 1903. His wife, who was born on the 7th of June, 1817,
was .summoned to eternal rest on the 7th of May, 1894, exactly one
month prior ta the seventy-seventh anniversary of her birth. Of their
three children, the eldest was Mills Wall, who sacrificed his life while
serving as a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. He was
a member of Company M, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, was captured by the
enemy in connection with the battle of Resaca, was held at Anderson-
ville prison for some months, and died while confined as a pi'isouer of
war at Florence, South Carolina. Isaiah Wall, of this review, was the
second in order of birth of the three children. The youngest is Dr.
Mahlon M. Wall, of Marion, a representative physician and surgeon
of Grant county. The father was influential in his home township, and
served at one time as its triistee. In polities he was first a Wliig and
later a Republican. He and his wife were reared in the Quaker faith,
but on coming to Indiana they adopted the United Brethren as the
church of their choice, and while they did not become members they
were regular attendants and took a deep interest in the welfare of the
church and the cause of Christianity in general.
Isaiah Wall continued to be actively identified with agricultural
pursuits from his boyhood days until he had attained the age of sixty
years. lie assisted in the reclamation and other work of the farm
which his father obtained from the government, and his early educa-
tional advantages were those afforded in the common schools of the
pioneer days,— a discipline later to be rounded out through the medium
of self application and through close association with practical duties
and responsibilities of life. He continued to be associated with his
father in the work and management of the home farm until he had
attained to the age of twenty-two years, when he initiated his inde-
pendent career on an adjoining farm. Energy', experience and close
application gave results, and the years brought to him definite pros-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 669
perity, indicated in the development of one of the fine farms of Monroe
township. He continued to purchase additional land as circumstances
justified, and his home place, on which he resided for more than forty
years and which he still o^vns, comprises three hundred and forty acres.
He made the best of improvements on the place and gained reputation
as one of the most progressive and broad-minded farmers of his native
township. He has, at all times given evidence of his liberality, loyalty
and public spirit by supporting enterprises and measures projected
for the general good of the community, and his attitude in this respect,
combined ^vith his invincible integrity in all of the relations of life,
have given him high vantage place in the confidence and esteem of
the people of his native county. In the autumn of 1906 Mr. Wall
removed from his farm to Marion, and in this city he has an attractive
modern home on West Third street, the same being a favored rendez-
vous for the wide circle of friends who wish by this means to pay trib-
ute to him and his devoted wife. After years of earnest toil and
endeavor he is enjoying the well earned repose and comfort that are
his due, and he and his gracious wife find themselves compassed by
most pleasing associations and environment.
jMr. Wall has by no means abated his energy and his vital interest
in affairs. He takes a lively concern in public matters of a local order,
and is a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party. In
1910 he was elected to represent the second district of his county on
the board of county commissioners and he served in this important office
until January 1, 1914, with characteristic loyalty and effectiveness.
Within his incumbency of this office there occurred a vigorous contest
between the liciuor and Prohibition elements in Grant county, and,
as may naturally be inferred, his influence has been cast unequivocally
in support of the local option policy and in favor of all things which
make for morality and civic righteousness. Both he and his wife are
devout members of the United Brethren church, and they still retain
their active membership in Oak Chapel of this denomination, the same
being situated near their old homestead farm. Of this church he served
as a trustee for a number of years prior to his removal to Marion.
On the 8th of November, 1866, was solemnized the marriage of Mr.
Wall to Miss Catherine Strange, who has been a resident of Grant
county from the time of her birth and who is a daughter of George
and Lydia Strange, both now deceased. Her father was a representa-
tive agriculturist of Monroe township, and there her birth occurred.
Of the seven children of ]\Ir. and Mrs. Wall two died in infancy.
Carrie E. is the wife of Frank F. Seegar, of Greentown, Howard county;
Clinton M. remains at the parental home, as does also Ada L. and Delia,
the latter of whom is a successful and popular teacher in the high
school in the city of Vincennes ; Claude D. is engaged in the drug busi-
ness in the beautiful city of Spokane, Washington.
Peter Solms. One of the well established business men of Gas City
is Peter Solms, who at the corner of E and Third streets has for a num-
ber of years conducted a grocery store and a butcher shop. His opera-
tions have been carried on with a generous measure of success as a result
therefrom, and he has come to be a property owner of considerable scope
in the place. The entire block from D to E streets on Third street is his
property, and in addition to the butcher shop and meat market he oper-
ates a grocery and bakery-. Eighteen years ago he first opened a little
shop in this vicinity, and the progress that he has made has been worthy
of the quantity and quality of the interest he has put into his labors.
Each year has witnessed the addition of something to his realty accumu-
670 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
lations, and progressive ideas have been the mainspring of his business
success. Mr. Solms does his own killing, so that the product of his
market is second to none in the land, and the equipment of his shop is
undeniably good.
ilr. Solms is a native of Germany, born in Hesse Darmstadt, on No-
vember 24, 1842, and he comes of old Hesse stock. He is a son of Adam
Solms, who was thrice married. The mother of Mr. Solms was the first
wife of Adam Solms, and she died when he was a small boy. The second
wife of his father was Christina Howard and they lived and died in their
native province, I\Ir. Solms being sixty-five j-ears of age when he passed
away. His wife preceded him, and was at about middle life when her
death came. The familj' was one of the Roman Catholic faith, and Mr.
Solms is likewise a member of the church of his fathers.
Peter Solms was the third child born to his parents. He has two
sisters. One of them, Mrs. ^Margaret Straub, is now a resident of New
York City, and Gertrude Sieben, the widow of Michael Sieben, is without
issue, and is a resident of Gas City. Mr. Solms grew up in his native
province and learned his trade there. All his life has been devoted to
the butcher business. It was in the j-car 1863 that he took passage on
a steamer and came to America. A short stay in New York sufficed him
and he then came on to Grant county, where he had a married sister,
Mrs. Gertrude Sieben, living in Monroe township. From that time to
the present he has been in business at his present location, with what
success has alreadj- been set forth.
]\Ir. Solms was married in 1865 to Miss Lena Bower, in New York
City. She was born in Prussia on May 1, 1843, and came to America
when she was about six years old, settling in New York City with her
parents, where she was reared. Her father was a merchant tailor and
followed that line in New York all his days. Both parents died there
in advanced age. They were members of the Roman Catholic church,
and their daughter was also reared in the same faith.
Mr. Solms has been twice married. His first wife died in New York
City before ]\Ir. Solm moved to Gas City, the mother of nine children,
but only three are now living. Peter, Jr., is engaged as a bookkeeper.
He is married but without issue. Lillie married Ancel Fatter, and they
live in New York City. They have two children. George is living in
Brooklyn, New York. He is a coal, wood and lumber dealer, and a suc-
cessful" business man. He is married and has three children.
The second marriage of Mr. Solms took place in New York when iliss
Barbara Raimer became his wife. She was born in Wurtemburg, Ger-
many, on November 30, 1859, and was there reared and educated, com-
ing to the United States in 1889. She continued a resident of New York
City until her marriage.
Jlr. Solms is one of the live men of the community, and is one of the
leading citizens of the place. He is up and doing in all matters that
have any bearing iipon the advancement of the town. Though he has
never been an office seeker, he was named to represent the Fourth ward
on the City Council, and though running far ahead of his ticket at the
polls, he lost the election by three votes. His influence, however, has
been quite as efficient and far reaching as it could be in an official
capacity, and his citizenship is a credit to himself and the community.
]\IiCHAEL Sieben. At Gas City one of the fine homes, on ample and
attractive grounds, is occupied by i\Irs. Gertrude Sieben. widow of
the late Michael Sieben, who for many years was prominent as a fa_rmer,
land owner and business man, and at his death in November, 1897, left
the memory of an upright man, a ,iust and kindly gentleman, and one
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 671
whose good deeds in life follow him. Mr. and Mrs. Sieben came to
Grant county more than forty years ago, and it was as a result of their
united efforts, in constant co-operation that they accumulated a sub-
stantial competence. Having no children of their own Mr. and Mrs.
Sieben extended the comforts of their home to several children, to whom
they stood in the place of father and mother, and their charity is not
measured entirely by their kindness to those under their own roof,
since they were people who constantly exhibited the spirit of community
helpfulness and accepted almost countless opportunities to do good to
humanity.
The late Michael Sieben was born near the River Rhine, in the vicin-
ity of Berlin, Germany, in 1840, being fifty-seven years of age when he
died. He was of good' old German stock, land owners and farmers, and
the family were faithful German Catholics. Michael Sieben grew up
in his native town of Niederolm, came to America when a young man
in 1861, and having served a thorough apprenticeship at the carpenter's
trade, he followed that occupation on locating in the city of Chicago.
From his trade he some years later drifted into the business of team-
ing, and got together a considerable equipment and employed several
men in the business, at which he prospered. He was living in Chicago
at the time of the great fire of 1871.
He had by that time established himself securely in a business way,
and then sent back to Germany for a girl whom he had chosen to bestow
his affections upon, and Gertrude Solms soon afterwards came to Amer-
ica, and they were happily married. She was born in the same locality
of Germany as her husband, they grew up and went to school together,
plighted their troth while young, and continued faithful to each other
during their long separation, one on one side of the Atlantic and the
other on the other side. She was born November 8, 1843. Mrs. Sie-
ben is a sister of Peter Solms, an account of whose career and family
will be found elsewhere in this publication. She was one of her father's
twenty-one children by two wives, and was next to the youngest of the
seven children born to the second wife. When she was two years old
her mother died, and she had to bear her share of the burdens of earn-
ing her living from an early age. She, as well as her husband, was
reared in the faith of the Catholic religion.
In 1873, Mr. and Mrs. Sieben came to Upland, in Grant county, where
he at once took a leading part in business aflEairs. He owned the grain
elevators at Upland, also operated a saw mill, and a stave factory, and
his business prospered and it was while there that he laid the founda-
tion for the handsome estate which is now owned by his widow. Among
business men, Michael Seiben's word was as good as a bond, and no man
in Grant county enjoyed a better reputation for probit3' and substan-
tial ability. Some years later he invested a portion of his money in one
hundred and eighty acres of land in Monroe township. Later he bought
thirty acres, and another tract of fifty-two acres in Jefferson township.
Each place he improved and made into attractive and valuable farms.
His Monroe township farm was and is one of the best homesteads in that
locality, and it was there he lived until his death in 1897. There are sev-
eral men now well on the way to fortune, who were the beneficiaries of
Michael Sieben 's assistance and practical training and counsel during
their younger days. He never refused charity, and in every relation
was noted for his generosity, as for his excellent business judgment and
energy-. He was in polities a Republican.
jMrs. Sieben, as already stated, has been a worthy helper to her hus-
band, in every issue of life, and continues the same fine ideals of service
which they manifested when Mr. Sieben was alive. In 1900 she moved
672 BLACKFOED AND GRANT COUNTIES
to Gas City, and bought a fine nine-room modern home, situated on half
a block of land, comprising six lots, and she also owns a good residence
on a lot adjoining her home place, using this for rent. Seventy years
of age she is still active, and one of the most lovable vs-omen of Gas City.
John E. Ward. When business enterprise decided to convert the
old country village of Harrisburg into a thriving industrial metropolis
and thus gave inception to the present Gas City, many new lines of
business were thus attracted to the locality. One of the first of this new
set of business men to locate there was John E. Ward, who for more
than twenty years has been successfully identified Mith Gas City as a
merchant and as a funeral director. Mr. Ward located in Gas City in
January, 1893. For seventeen years he did business at one location,
and then moved to his present store on Main Street, where he carries
a complete stock of furniture, funeral supplies, and has all the facili-
ties for high grade service, including two funeral cars, an ambulance
automobile and truck. His merchandise occupies two floors in a build-
ing, twenty-two by one hundred and twenty-five feet, and he also has
a wareroom for his surplus stock.
Mr. Ward has reason to be proud of his family, since his ancestry is
of very old American stock, and includes several members in the direct
line who gave service to their country in difi'erent wars of this nation.
John E. Ward is a native of Jefferson county, Indiana, born near Mad-
ison, in 1855. He was reared and educated in that locality, fii-st entered
business in the grocery trade at Areola, Illinois, where he remained six
years and then returned to Jefferson county, and became interested in
his present vocation. Mr. Ward when he secured his first embalming
license on July 1, 1901, was number seventeen in tlie list, and at the
present time there are more than two thousand similar licenses extant
in the state. His son Clyde, associated with him in business, was li-
censed in 1911 and at that time was the youngest man in the state to
get official permission to practice his profession. He was at the time of
the license's issue, twenty-one years and one month of age.
Grandfather Jonathan Ward was a son of Daniel and Daniel in
turn was a son of Joseph Ward. Joseph Ward came to America with
two brothers, Wesley and Benjamin. Their arrival in this country
antedated the Revolutionary war. Joseph Ward settled at Morris,
New Jersey, where he lived until death. His son Daniel, born in New
Jersey, served as a soldier through the war of the Revolution on the
American side, and later bore arms with the American troops in the
war of 1812. Daniel had two brothers, Luther and Calvin, also in the
American army. Daniel Ward's children were as follows: Calvin,
Luther, Joseph, Amos and Jonathan. The last, grandfather of the
Gas City business man, was born in New Jersey about 1800 and married
Mary Hamel. From the east he moved to the state of Ohio, settling at
Madisonville, where their son Willis was born about 1830. Some years
later the family settled in Jeft'erson county, Indiana, bought a home
in Madison township, and there Jonathan spent his years as a farmer
and died when si.xty-five years old, followed. some five or six years later
by his wife, who at her death was a little older than her husband. They
were Baptists in religion, and Jonathan Ward was one of the early
Republican voters. /
Willis Ward, father of John E. Ward, was fifteen years old when
his parents moved to Indiana, he grew up on the farm in Jefferson
county, and married Sarah E. Moncrief. She represented one of the
very early families established in southern Indiana, and was herself
bom in Jefferson county in 1832. The ancestry was Scotch, and her
HON. JAMES O. BATCHELOR
BLACKFOKD AND GRANT COUNTIES 673
parents, Abner and Ann (Yawter) JMoucrief settled in Jefferson county
before the tide of white settlement had made much impression on the
wilderness, and they had their full share of experience as pioneers.
Abner Monerief died in that county at the age of sixty-five, while his
wife attained the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. Willis Wai'd
and wife after their marriage lived on a farm, and were quiet and
industrious people, and remained citizens of Jefferson county the rest
of their lives. He died in 1891 and she in 1869, when thirty years of
age. For six consecutive terms Willis Ward served as county commis-
sioner, and on account of ill health declined nomination for a seventh
term. He was a Eepublicau, and both he and his wife worshiped in
the Baptist faith.
Jolin E. Ward has a brother, Charles Ward, who is a sand contractor
of Indianapolis, and has three children named Josephine, Raymond and
Catherine; and a sister Emma, wife of Ira Montgomery, of JIadison,
Indiana, a feed and produce merchant, and they have two children,
Mattie and Alvin.
ilr. John E. Ward was first married at Areola, Illinois, to Josephine
Walkup, a native of Kentucky. At her death she left children : Mae,
wife of J. A. Carnige, of Chicago, Illinois, and their children are:
Clarence, Josephine and Helen ; Charles, who died at the age of twenty
years; and Everett, who died when three months old. The second
wife of Mr. Ward was Miss Lamora 0. Lee, and was born in Jefferson
county, Indiana, in 1863, and finished her education in the North Madi-
son high schools. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have three children: Ethel died
at the age of seven years. Clyde W., who finished his preliminary edu-
cation in the Gas City high school and the Marion Business College, pre-
pared for his profession in the Worsham Embalming College, and has
since been in business with his father. He married Miss ^lae Coyne
December 7, 1913. Newell J., who is twelve years old, is attending the
public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Ward are members of the Christian
church, and he affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order
of Red Men and the Haymakers, the Knights of the Maccabees and has
taken much part in fraternal affairs, having passed all the chairs in the
various lodges, and having represented his orders in the Grand Lodges.
While he gives close attention to business, he does not neglect his public
responsibility, and for a time served as assessor of Mill township. In
politics he is a Republican.
James Otterbein Batchelor. Now a commercial salesman with
home and business headquarters at Marion, J. 0. Batchelor has for a
number of years been identified with educational work in Indiana, and
is also known in the field of authorship, being an intelligent student of
history and a writer of special ability.
James 0. Batchelor was born in Randolph county, Indiana, Novem-
ber 18, 1876. and belongs to a family which has been in Indiana for eighty
years or more. His parents wei-e Joseph W. and Nancy (Davis) Batch-
elor. Grandfather Caswell Batchelor brought his family from North
Carolina to Randolph county, Indiana, where he located among the first
settlers about 1830. The Batchelors are of Scotch Irish stock. The
grandfather was a substantial farmer.
Joseph W. Batchelor. father of James 0., was born in Nash county,
North Carolina, was a very small child when the family came to Indiana,
and in this state spent all his active career at Bloomingsport, in Ran-
dolph county, where he died at the age of seventy-five in 1905. By trade
he was a cabinet maker, and he was also a local minister in the Methodist
church. The maiden name of his first wife was Anna Vandergrift, who
674 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
was the mother of three children, namely : William 6., who is a rural
mail carrier at Winchester, Indiana; Ezra V., who is a machinist at
Indianapolis; and Josephine, now deceased. Nancy C. Davis, the second
wife of Joseph W. Batchelor, was boru at Martinsville, in West Vir-
ginia, and is now living at the age of sixty-three in Richmond, Indiana.
She became the mother of seven children, all living but one, namely:
Mrs. Emma Burton of Richmond, Indiana ; Sevilla Phillips of Fountain
City, Indiana ; Byron, who lives on the old home place at Bloomings-
port; John L., who owns the Consolidated Dairies at Richmond, Indiana;
and George AV., who is a butcher and baker in Canyon City, Colorado.
James 0. Batchelor was reared in his native village of Bloomingsport,
attended the public schools of Randolph county, and with an ambition
for learning and liis aim being to teach school, he continued to study
and work until he eventually graduated from the highest in.stitution of
learning in the state. He attended the Central Normal school at Dan-
ville, Indiana, for three years, and in 1899 first matriculated in the
Indiana State University, where he remained a student until 1902. He
then left in order to take up teaching, and finally completed his studies
there in 1908 when he was graduated with the A. B. degree. For four
years Mr. Batchelor was a teacher of the district schools in Randolph
county, and for five years was superintendent of schools in Farmland.
At the same time he owned and published the Farmland Enterprise.
During 1903-04, Mr. Batchelor was an American teacher in the Philip-
pine Islands, and in 1906-07 he w^as principal of the Ward school in
Fort W'ayne and was principal of the Union City high school in 1907-08.
Mr. Batchelor came to Jlarion as assistant superintendent, a position
which he held from 1908 to 1912. Since leaving school work he has
been on the road as special representative of the Osborn Paper Company
of Marion.
While in college, on November 17, 1900, Mr. Batchelor married Alice
Mae Engle of W^iuehester, Indiana, a daughter of Calvin Engle, who at
the time of the marriage held the office of auditor in Randolph county.
Mr. Batchelor 's mother was Helen Greeley, who was a cousin of Horace
Greeley, the famous editor. Mrs. Batchelor died on May, 1901, with-
out children. On September 9, 1906, Mr. Batchelor married Leota M.
Schultz, daughter of William E. and Cora (Alexander) Sehultz of Har-
risville, Indiana. They have one son, Joseph Alexander Batchelor, born
August 2, 1909. j\Iiss Leola Schultz, younger sister of Mrs. Batchelor,
has her home with ilr. and Mrs. Batchelor. Mr. Batchelor has been
affiliated with the Masonic Order since he was twenty-one years of age,
and since the same date has been a member of the Knights of Pythias.
He and his family worship in the First ]\Iethodist church at Marion.
In politics he is Independent. Mr. Batchelor is a member of the Amer-
ican Historical Association, and his interests and studies in history
have been the source of his authorsliip. He is the author of a text-
book on the history of Europe, now in the hands of New York publishers.
On November 5, 1913, Mr. Batchelor was elected mayor of the city
of Marion on a law enforcement proposition. W^hen asked to represent
the people he declined to make it a party issue, maintaining his inde-
pendence in politics, but saying he would accept such office as a popular
law and order candidate, receiving support from law-abiding citizens of
all political affiliations. Mr. Batchelor became mayor with a council
representing all parties, and in making his appointments he recognized
all of them, and thus the city government is without definite political
stamp, but offenders against the law have discovered that law enforce-
ment is the progi-am of the administration. While the "fly -bob" may
be necessary in detecting violations, detection has been part of the show
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 675
and the law-abiding citizens of Marion are standing behind the adminis-
tration. The election of I\Iayor Batehelor is discussed in the chapter on
politics in the history section.
Thomas M. Couch. The name of Couch with its attendant family
relationship is one of the best known in Grant county, especially in Jef-
ferson township. Thomas M. Couch, of a younger generation, has made
a splendid reputation as a farmer and stockman, and the Walnut Level
stock farm in section six of Jeifersou township, his home for the past
twenty years is one of the best in its improvements and facilities, and
value in Grant county, ilr. Couch in everything he has undertaken
has made a success by reason of his good judgment and vigorous indus-
try, and is a man who well deserves his influential position in the com-
munity.
His father, Samuel Couch, was born not farm from Cincinnati, Ohio,
about 1825, and was a child when he lost his father. His mother then
took him to the home of her father, whose name was Todd, and they all
at an early day came to Indiana, and settled in Jefferson township of
Grant county. Samuel Couch was a boy at that time, grew up on the
farm, in pioneer environment, and was trained to practical pursuits,
but with little advantages from schools.
In this county Samuel Couch married Nancy Furnish, whose fam-
ily name is one of the oldest and most distinguished in Grant county.
She was born in Franklin county, Indiana, a daughter of Judge Ben-
jamin Furnish, one of the early settlers in Grant county, who made
entry to large tracts of laud, and a portion of that property is now
owned and occupied by his grandson Thomas M. Couch.
Judge Furnish was not only a land owner and extensive farmer, but a
man of prominence in local and county politics, was elected to the office
of county judge and served for a number of years in that capacity.
His death occurred when he was fiftj'-six years of age and he is buried
in the Harmony cemetery at Matthews, ilr. Furnish married Tamer
Corn, who survived him and died when above ninety-three years of
age, and they are buried side by side in the Harmony Cemetery, ilr.
Furnish and wife were among the organizers of the Primitive Baptist
Church at Matthews, and were leaders in church affairs, and in local soci-
eties and benevolent activities. The Judge was a Democrat, and one of
the best known members of that party during his lifetime.
After their marriage Samuel Couch and wife began life on a farm
in section six of Jefferson township, and there developed a splendid
estate. Samuel Couch died on the old homestead, December 2, 1891,
and his wife survived him just a decade, passing away in the old home
December 26, 1901. She was born in Franklin count.y September 5,
1831, came to Grant county with her parents in 1837. and was married
to Mr. Couch January 26, 1854. She was likewise for many years an
active member of the Baptist church. Samuel Couch and wife had five
sons and two daughters, and all are living except Nettie V. who died
February 13, 1888. The others are : Sallie, wife of William H. Lind-
sey, of Fairmount; Benjamin W., who is a farmer in Washington town-
ship of Delaware county and has several children : Thomas M. ; Joseph
W., who is a carpenter living in ^latthews, and has a family of one
son and a daughter: Absolom G., who owns and occupies the old home-
stead where his parents and his grandparents lived and died and who
has seven children of his own; Orlando H., who is a prosperous agri-
culturist in Jefferson township and has a family of four sons and two
daughters.
Thomas M. Couch was born on the old homestead above described,
676 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
on August 13, 1860. His youth was passed during the decades of the
sixties and seventies, and his advantages were supplied by the public
school of the country. On reaching manhood he chose farming as his
vocation, and there has seldom been a year when he has not prospered
and added a little bit to his store. His farm of seventy-nine acres ad-
joins the old home place, his property is excellently improved and has
a substantial barn, a comfortable white house of nine rooms, and good
water and other comforts and facilities are supplied on every hand.
Mr. Couch grows a great deal of fruit and feeds all his crops to his
high grade live stock. He raises hogs, and is perhaps best known as a
breeder of Belgian horses. His young stallion Mack is one of the finest
horses in the state.
Mr. Couch was married in Henry county to Miss Emma A. John-
son, who was born, reared and educated, near Springport in that county,
a daughter of Jesse F. and Zilpha (Covalt) Johnson. The Johnsons
were among the early settlers of Henry county, and also the Covalts.
Mrs. Johnson died on the old homestead in Henry count.y in 1905, when
nearly seventy years of age, and her husband passed away at the home
of his daughter, Mrs. Couch, in September, 1910, lieiug then seventy-
nine years of age. They were active members and workers in the Prim-
itive Baptist church, and Mr. Johnson was a Democrat. Of the two
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Couch one died in infancy and the other
is Ora. Ora Couch was born April 26, 1891, was educated in the high
school, graduating with the class of 1911, and now lives at Marion.
Mr. and Mrs. Couch are working members in the ^Matthews Harmony
Baptist church, of which he has been church clerk since April, 1909.
In politics he supports the Democratic candidate and believes in the
basic principles of that party.
BuRTNET R. Jones. Among the most respected residents of Grant
county, Indiana, is Burtney R. Jones. He was bom in this section of
the state and has lived here all of his life, being a member of a family
that is well known throughout the northern part of Indiana. He has
spent the greater part of his life as a farmer and has opened up and
developed much valuable property in Grant county, not only farming
lands but also city realty, and although he has now retired from busi-
ness he is still keenly interested in the life of the community and his
advice is frequently asked in matters of public concern.
Burtney R. Jones is the only surviving member of the family of
Joseph and Catharine (McCormick) Jones. His father was born on
the 15th of April, 1816, and grew up in his native state of Ohio. When
he was a young man he removed from Preble county, Ohio, to Grant
county, Indiana, this being in 1833. In 1839, on the 15th of Novem-
ber, Joseph Jones was married to Catharine McCormick. His wife was
a daughter of Robert and Anna McCormick, who had been the first set-
tlers in Fairmount township. Grant county, Indiana, settling here on
August 15, 1829, and coming from Fayette county, Indiana. Joseph
Jones died as a comparatively young man, on the 16th of September,
1856, and his wife died on the 4th of December, 1889. They were both
prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and took an
active part in these early pioneer days of northern Indiana.
Five sons were born to Joseph and Catharine Jones, Burtney R.
Jones being the third in order of birth. The eldest son, George W.
Jones was born on the 25th of September, 1841, and served in the Fifty-
fourth Indiana Regiment during the Civil war. He was taken prisoner
at Vieksburg, Mississippi, in tihe spring of 1863 l)ut was paroled the
following June. His parole was of little moment to him, however, for
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 677
he died at Annapolis, Maryland, July 25, 1863. He married Sarah J.
Seerist, October 17, 1861. Hiram A. Jones, the second son, was bom
October 17, 1843. He also served in the Civil war, being a soldier in
the Eighty-ninth Indiana Regiment from August, 1862, until August,
1865. He had his right eye shot out in the battle of Pleasant Hill,
Louisiana, on April 9, 1864, but continued to serve until the end of the
war. He was married on April 21, 1867, to Anna Hardy and died on
March 31, 1908. Robert L. Jones, the fourth son, was born September
1, 1849. He became sheriff of Grant county in November, 1888, and
on December 9, of the same year, after successfully capturing an escaped
horse thief, he was shot and died from the wounds, on the 11th of
December. He was away from home at the time and died at Jerome
in Howard county, Indiana. He married Louisa C. Jadden, on the
25th of September, 1870, and left two sons, Sanford C, of Marion, In-
diana, and Robert P.', of Whitefish, Montana. Joseph A. Joues, the
youngest son, was born on March 5, 1852. He was married to Sarah J.
Whitson on the 7th of January, 1885, and she died February 8, 1890.
He died on April 25, 1893, at the home of his brother, Burtney R. Jones,
in Mariou.
Burtney R. Jones was born on the 2nd of October, 1846, at the old
Robert McCormiek Hotel, which stood at the crossing of the Fort Wayne,
Muncie and Indianapolis state roads. This was the first house to be
built in Fairmount township and was erected by his maternal grand-
father. His mother entered eighty acres of land from the government
on August 5, 1837, and Burtney Jones grew up on the farm. He was
married to Eliza J. Duling, a daughter of Solomon and Jane Duling,
on the 9th of December, 1869, and after his marriage settled on eighty
acres of timber land in section twenty-four in Fairmount township.
Here he built a house of hew-ed logs and there lived until the death of
his wife on April 12, 1872. She left one child, Minnie A., who was
born on November 7, 1871, but the baby died on August 31, 1872. Mr.
Jones continued as a fanner and made a decided success of it. He
lived on the farm which his mother had horaesteaded and to which he
had added until 1881 when he came to Marion and here he has resided
ever since.
He married Siua M. Duling, who was also a daughter of Solomon
and Jane Duling, on September 1, 1887, and to this union have been
born two children, namely, Edith D. Jones, who was born on the 31st
of July, 1890, and Burtney Ralph, whose birth took place on September
1, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Jones together own two hundred and sixty acres
of valuable farming land in Grant county, located in Fairmount, Jef-
ferson and Center townships. Mr. Jones has himself cleared and
brought into cultivation one hundred and twenty-five acres of Grant
county laud. They also own three valuable pieces of residence prop-
erty in the city of Marion which they have developed and improved,
and which is considered some of the best paying property in the city.
Johnson. As owners of large landed estates, as substantial
farmers who have broiight the latent resources of the soil to productive-
ness, perhaps no one family in Grant county has operated so exten-
sively as that of Johnson, one of the best known members of which is
]\Ir. Jesse Johnson of Mill township.
Mr. Johnson's early ancestors in America are thought to have been
of Scotch origin, but they had lived in Pennsylvania since before the
Revolution, and little is known concerning the founders of the name
in that state. His grandfather was John Johnson, a native of Penn-
sylvania, who died there when an old man. He was a farmer by occu-
678 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
patiou, and among his children was John Jr. John Johnson Jr. grew
up in Pennsylvania, was married there and with his bride set out to
become a pioneer in Ohio. They located iu what was then Guernsey
county, but on laud now included in Noble county. He was like many
of the pioneers skilled iu the use of his rifle, and with that he killed
a great many deer, and by selling the skins and the hindquarters accu-
mulated enough money to buy his first forty acres of wild land, paying
cash for it. In that way may he be said to have laid the fouudatiou of
the large Johnson fortune as land holders. In Ohio he worked out his
destiny as an early settler, and one of the shrewdest business men of
his time. His hardship and experiences would make a fascinating story,
if told in detail, and he was one of the strong men of his generation.
He planned and planted one of the first orchards in Noble county, and
that orchard was famous for miles around during his lifetime. In the
meantime his children had been growing up about him, and as popula-
tion was getting close in that part of Ohio he looked westward iu plan-
ning homes for the younger members of the family. With this in
view, in 1835, he came to Grant county, and entered half a section of
land in Jefferson township, it being his intention that this should be a
place for his sons to test the quality of their characters as home builders
in much the same manner as had been done some years before in Ohio.
He also secured some government land in Delaware county, and as the
years followed, he gradually sent one son after the other to Indiana,
affording each one an opportunity to prosper. In securing large tracts
of land in Indiana he was actuated not by desire for speculation, and
he was never a speculator in the sense in which many were in those times,
his sole ambition being to provide an outlet for the energies of his
growing family. After getting land iu this section of Indiana, he re-
turned to Ohio, and he and his wife continued to live and labor in that
state until they died in Noble county. Both were then at a good old
age, and they lie buried side by side in Noble count}'. His wife 's maiden
name was Mary Burns, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Of their eleven chil-
dren, some died young, but most of them came to Grant or Delaware
county, Indiana. Of these James Johnson, a brother of Jesse, became
one of the largest land holders in Grant county, owning about three
thousand acres here. He is now deceased, and more complete infor-
mation regarding him will be found in the sketch of his son Noah John-
son, elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Jesse Johnson was bom in Noble county, Ohio, August 8, 1824.
He grew up there, had a common school education, and when a young
man came to Grant county, where he has applied his efforts so success-
fully as to accumulate a splendid estate. Mr. Johnson has not confined
his investments all in one locality, and is the owner of property in sev-
eral states. His home farm comprises one hundred and forty acres in
section twenty-five of Mill township. In the state of Missouri, he has
two hundred and eighty acres, in one tract near Carrollton, and a place
of one hundred and forty-six acres near Xorburn, both in Carroll county.
He owns one hundred and seventy -five acres on the Mississinewa River,
in Jefferson township, and its improvements include a splendid barn
and a good house. Another farm on which he pays taxes, embraces three
hundred and ninety-six acres, all well improved and valuable property,
in Monroe township of Grant county. Near Fox station in this county
he has three hundred and forty acres, and owns one hundred and sixty
acres near North Judson, in Pulaski county. While he was attending
the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, he acquired by purchase, seventy-
three acres in DuPage county, Illinois, and still owns that tract. Mr.
Johnson has never invested in land haphazard, but always judiciously,
CLARKSON AVILLC'UTS HANNAH DRUCKEINIILLER WILLCUTS
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 679
and has selected only the most productive soil, and his chief industry
has been the raising of the cereal crops and live stock, especially sheep.
There are few men in the middle west who have made a more complete
success as farmers and stockmen than Jesse Johnson and his name is
well known among men in many localities. What he has accomplished
represents a fine natural ability and a long continued application of
the industry and judgment which may be said to be native in the
family stock.
Mr. Johnson has never married, and is spending his last .years at
the home place above mentioned, in the household of Mr. John Ludlow
and wife. Mr. Ludlow operates this farm, and has been in charge for
the last four years, having come here from Madison countj', Indiana,
where he was born and reared. He was married in Madison county to
Miss Alta Worley, of the same eountj'. They are the parents of four
children: Eva, Edna, Wilbur and Howard.
Clarkson Willcuts, whose death, on the 27th of January, 1912,
deprived his home city and county of one of their best beloved and
noblest citizens, was a life-long resident of Grant county, Indiana. A
man of prominence in every phase of the life of the community, his
wisdom and the experience of years made him a leader in business,
religious and civic affairs. He lived what might be called a quiet life,
and it was only after his death that people realized how greatly they
had depended on his judgment and firm strength of character. On the
occasion of his funeral the text of the sei-mon was "Know ye not that
there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel." This
expressed most truly the feeling of his fellow citizens.
The son of Clark and Eunice (Hall) Willcuts, Clarkson Willcuts
was born near the old Isaac Jay homestead, southeast of the city of
Marion, on the 2d of August, 1840. His parents were early settlers in
this county, and the lad grew up on his father's farm. He received his
education in Grant county, and upon its completion he entered upon his
life as a farmer. All of his years were spent in farming and stock rais-
ing and in a number of business pursuits, he being at one time engaged
in the lumber and grain business.
Mr. Willcuts married Hannah Druckemiller on the 2d of September,
1860. She was born in Carroll county, Ohio, October 6, 1842, a daughter
of Jacob and Sarah (Cutshall) Druckemiller. In about 1850 or 1851
the Druckemiller family made the journey in wagons from Carroll
county, Ohio, to Grant county, Indiana, settling on a farm in Franklin
township, two and a half miles west of Marion, where the head of the
family purchased a farm. He continued to increase his acreage until
the boundaries of his farm included about eight hundred acres, and he
then gave a farm to each of his seven children, retaining for himself only
the forty acres on which his death occurred on the 2d of January, 1888.
His wife survived him until the 2d of April, 1894. Mrs. Willcuts was
about ten years of age when she came with her parents to Grant county.
She now resides at 1702 South Washington street, Marion, and living
with her is her sister, Mrs. Margaret Ann Mills. Mrs. Mills was bom
in Carroll county, Ohio. April 11, 1834, and was a young lady at the
time of the removal of the family to Grant county. She married Jona-
than Mills, also a native of Ohio, who came to Wayne county, Indiana,
when a boy, and as a young man located in Grant county. After their
marriage Mr. and Mrs. ilills resided for many years in Franklin town-
ship. Grant county, later moving to West Marion, where Mr. Mills died
on the 1st of September. 1899. Of the five children which were given
to their marriage four are now living. Four children were bom to
680 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Mr. and Mrs. Willcuts, all of whom are living in Grant county : W. E.
Willeuts, Mrs. Flora B. Fenstemaker, Mrs. Lucy D. ilodlin and Calvin
Willcuts. There are three grandchildren : Mrs. Feru IMorrisou. Lois
G. Modlin and Walter "\V. ilodlin; also two foster grandchildren, the
foster son and daughter of W. E. Willeuts, Frank Loriug, formerly an
instructor in the University of Illinois, but now residing in Marion, and
Miss Mabel Willcuts, also of ^Marion.
Clarkson Willcuts was a strong and active man up to the day of his
death, the 27th of January. 1912, when he met his end at the hand of an
assassin, one of the most unaccountable crimes ever committed, for
Clarkson Willcuts was a man without enemies. Perhaps the best way
to give some idea of the worth of this man would be to quote from the
address made on the occasion of his funeral, Januarj' 30, 1912. The
services were held at the Friends church and conducted by the Rev. Mr.
Hiatt and the Rev. "Sir. Sweet, both of whom were personal friends of
]\Ir. Willcuts.
The Rev. Mr. Hiatt said : ' ' Clarkson Willeuts was a man of sterling
worth, both in matters pertaining to his individual pursuits aud also in
those things which have to do with the best interests of the community
in which he lived. He never was in haste to express a conviction upon
questions relating to the public welfare, whether political, educational
or religious, but when he had settled in his own mind what seemed to
him the part of wisdom he was firm and strong in his advocacy of the
right This rare precaution and care made him a safe counselor and
guide to those less experienced in the affairs of life.
"As stated by one who knew him most intimately and who had
profited largely by his wise counsel, his advice was always based upon
actual experience or the most careful investigation of the question
involved.
"The deceased was a life-long member of the Friends church, and in
his taking away the church loses one of its safest counselors and most
liberal and willing supporters. As he grew older he seemed to feel more
and more the care of the church and to desire more deeply her truest
success.
" 'A great man is fallen this day in our midst.'
"I want to say some things in reference to the greatness of this man,
and as I say them you will understand me to speak not out of a sense
of superficial sentiment, hut to speak out of a heart that feels deeply the
facts which I shall in some measure attempt to express. I want to sug-
gest to you at the outset as we think of him that he was a great man in
his home. A man who is great at his own hearthstone, a man who is
great in the midst of the family circle, a man who is great in the sacred
precincts of the home is very likely to be great anywhere. Numbers of
you have known the wide open hospitality and charity of that house, its
love and comforts, and the encouragement and friendship, if needed, of
a warm Christian heart.
"May I not suggest to you, for I am speaking to the church member,
the man of business interests in this city and county, may I not suggest
to you the fact of his greatness in the world of business? In the world
of business a man of practical experience, ripened out of years of actual
contact with men moving in the midst of business affairs. Some of you
have known him better than I have known him. You have lived beside
him, and how you have leaned upon him for counsel. How you have
gone to him for advice. And you have never been disappointed. You
have never been disappointed because if he were not certain that he
could advise you along a safe and sane line, he was frank enough to tell
you so. But if he knew that thing for sure which would be to your best
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 681
interest, no one was more ready and free to give forth that counsel which
might help a fellow business man to a higher degree of successful busi-
ness life than was he. I am sure that the truth of this situation was
expressed to me b.y one of his friends and neighbors. He said he never
went out on a mere peradventure ; if he didn't know by reason of the
painstaking study and examination of the things which were put before
him he would not venture into it himself or send any one out along the
line e.xperimenting in his behalf. He was frank and honorable in all
these things. So in the business affairs of life here was a man whose
greatness was certainly unquestioned. A man whose business integrity
and fairness and honor is unquestioned, and you who know him best
and dealt with him more largely will sustain this sentiment most
heartily. ' '
The speaker then goes on to mention his love for the church. He
says, "He was not a man of many words in the public assembly or con-
gregation, but his interest in the church was unfailing, unflagging. It
was manifested every day and week of the year. His face was an inspira-
tion to any preacher of religion who, looking into that open countenance,
.would see the light of welcome to the message the minister might bring.
The church was on his heart and mind, and just before coming here this
word was spoken to me with respect to moving from the farm to the
city, that he had made the expression like this: 'I have moved to the
church.' What a mark of greatness. Out here on a splendid old farm
with every needful comfort and every needful sustenance, he was going
to move to the city, but not to the city only, not to the city chiefly, but
'to the church.' "
And so passed one of those men who have made America the great
nation that she is, not a great statesman or public man, but a man of
strong and noble character who molded and influenced the lives of all
with whom he came in contact.
Alvin J. Thom.\s. It will not be necessary in a volume pertaining
to Grant county's representative men to expatiate in cant phraseologj'
upon the well known reputation of Quakers for honesty, integrity and
reliability ; we may be justified in stating, however, that the mental
and moral constitution of the gentleman ^^■hose name heads this review
is such as to account for his success in the world of agriculture and
business and for his high reputation in the confidence of the people of
his community. Mr. Thomas comes from an old family of North Car-
olina, of Welsh descent, his grandfather, Jesse Thomas, being a native
of the Old North state. He came very early to Wayne county, Indiana,
and while living there, Eli Thomas, the father of Alvin J., was born
August 31, 1825. Jesse Thomas married Mary Cox, a native of North
Cai'olina, and they were probably married just before coming to Wayne
county or soon afterwards, as all of their children Avere born in the
Hoosier state. Jeremiah and Enoch were the eldest children, became
well educated, and the former was widely kno^\^l as a penman, keeping
the accounts for some years of the old Quaker church, to which all the
old stock of this family belong. He died in middle life, while Enoch
attained the age of eighty-eight years. The next child in order of birth
was Hulda, who died in early life, although she married and left chil-
dren as did her elder brothers. Eli. the fourth in order of birth, is still
Jiving, and is one of the alert and intelligent old men of Marion, he now
being eighty-eight years of age. Mary il. Thomas married, left a fam-
ily, and died when seventy-eight or seventy-nine years of age. John
Thomas located in Kansas late in life and died there, leaving a widow
and family. Robert, who died in 1880, at the age of fifty years, left a
€82 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
family, and three sons are still living. Hannah Thomas married Sam-
uel Satterthwaite, and lives in Huntington county, being the mother
of two sons and two daughters. Noah Thomas, the youngest of his par-
ents' children, is a married man of Tennessee and has a family.
Eli Thomas, father of Alvin J. Thomas, was four years of age when
the family came to Grant county in 1829. this being before the incor-
poration of the county and before the tinie tliat the city of ]\Iarion was
laid out. Here Jesse Thomas entered land in what is now North Clarion,
and all of his laud is within the limits of the city at this time. About
two years later he sold out and moved to what is now South Marion,
and continued to follow agi-ieultural pursuits throughout the remainder
of his life, dying in 1861 or 1862, when past sixty years of age, while
his wife died in 1868, she being about sixty-eight years old. They
were birthright Quakers and were connected with the first meeting
house of that faith here, the IMississinewa Quarterly Meeting.
Ell Thomas was reared at Marion, received a good education,
adopted farming as his field of endeavor, and now resides at No. 2012
South Washington street. He married at ilarion, ]\Iiss ]\Iillie Will-
cutts, daughter of Clarkson Willcutts, who came as an early pioneer to
what is now ilarion, Indiana, and owned land which is now located as
north of Fourteenth street and east of Adams street in this city. He
lived to be past middle age, and died in the faith of the Friends church.
Jlrs. ^lillie Thomas died in 1876, at her home in Marion, aged fifty-one
years. She and Mr. Thomas were the parents of the following children :
Jesse, a farmer of South Marion, who is married and has two children;
Alvin J., of this review; Lucy, the wife of J. L. ^Massena, an assistant
teacher in the ilarion high school, who has two children. By a former
marriage, \yith Anna Schoolie, Eli Thomas had these children: Syl-
vanus of Marion, who died November 25, 1913. He married, but has
no children living. Marcus, a farmer of Franklin township, is married
and has two children. By a third marriage, with Jlinerva Thomas, Mr.
Thomas has had no children.
Alvin J. Thomas was born in the city of Marion, Indiana. October 9.
1864. He was reared in that city and secured excellent educational
advantages, attending the public .schools and the old Mississiuewa graded
school, and then spending two years in the agricultural department of
Purdue University. Thus prepared, he entered upon his career as a
tiller of the soil, and continued to work on the homestead farm until
1892, in that year coming to :Mill township and buying 200 acres of
land in section 25, which he operates successfully as a general farmer
and breeder of stock. He makes a specialty of Guernsey cattle, and at
the head of his herd has a registered individual of that breed. His home
is located on a beautiful part of the property and is fitted with modern
comforts and conveniences; his bam, painted red and white, is commo-
dious and substantial, and his other buildings for the shelter of his
grain and utensils are well built and in good repair. Altogether it is
apparent that good management is present and that the owner is a prac-
tical man of affairs. About 150 of the 200 acres are under cultivation,
and yield handsome crops in response to the intelligent efforts of Mr.
Thomas.
At Amboy. Indiana, in 1890. ]\Ir. Thomas was married to :Miss Elva
Moorman, who was born, reared and educated there. Her family, of
Welsh descent, lived for many years in North Carolina, were all Friends,
and came at an early date to Indiana, settling in Wayne county, ilrs.
Thomas' great-grandfather was John Smith, the founder of Richmond,
Indiana. Her parents, John and Lucia (Simons) :Moorman, were na-
tives of Wayne county, but moved early in life to :Miami county, where
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 683
Mr. Moorman entered land which is still the property of the family.
He died in 1877, aged sixty-three years, while the mother, who still
makes her home at Amboy, was ninety years of age June 21, 1913, and
is still alert in mind and body. She was formerly a member of the
Quaker church, but was turned out of that faith under the former
stringent rules. Mrs. Thomas has one uncle living, Jesse Moorman, who
is now in the Soldiers' National Home, at Marion, and ninety-five years
of age. He served in the Union army throughout the Civil War. The
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Thomas are: Emma and Etta, who are
unmarried and live with their aged mother at Amboy; Ben,iamin, living
on the old Miami county homestead, who is married and has a family;
and Flora, deceased, who was the wife of Samuel Heston, formerly of
Amboy and now a resident of Canada.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have three children : Eli, born in 1892. edu-
cated in the public schools and now residing on the home place ; Flora,
born in 1896, a member of the graduating class of 1914, at the Gas City
high school ; and Lillian, born in 1908, the baby. ilr. and Mrs. Thomas
are devout members of the Quaker church. His political faith is that
of the Republican party.
John T. Barnett, M. D. Among the most successful physicians and
surgeons of the medical fraternity of Grant county, is John T. Barnett,
M. D., of Jonesboro. Although his residence in this community covers
a period of scarcely three years, he has already won a truly enviable
reputation for skill and general ability, and has succeeded in gaining a
large and representative practice and a firm place in the confidence of
the people. He stands high also in the estimation of his professional
brethren, and his opinion has great weight in their councils. Doctor
Barnett 's success has come as a result of his own eft'orts, for he worked
his own way through college, and from early manhood his life has been
one of the greatest activity.
Doctor Barnett was bom at Hardensburg, Indiana, December 29,
1857. He was given an ordinary education in the public schools of that
place, following which he paid his own way through Marengo Academy
and adopted the profession of teacher. Having decided upon a pro-
fessional career, he devoted what time could be spared from his school-
room duties to the study of medicine, and eventually entered the Ken-
tucky School of Medicine, where he was graduated with his degree in
1882. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession at Har-
densburg, and his reputation as a skillful surgeon grew so rapidly that
his services were in constant demand over four counties. His complete
and self-sacrificing devotion to his work, however, endangered his health,
and accordingly, in 1909, he came to Jonesboro to recuperate, as well
as to give his daughter the benefit of better educational advantages.
Always a great student, and determined not to retrograde, he has kept
fully abreast of all modern discoveries in science pertaining to his pro-
fession, especially along the lines of surgery, which comprises his fa-
vorite branch of practice, and in which he has been remarkably success-
ful. He is a member of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association,
the Grant County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society
and the American Medical Association, and has been the representative
and examining physician for a number of insurance companies. For a
long period he has served in the capacity of member of the board of
health, and in numerous ways has contributed to the welfare of his
community. His offices are maintained in his pleasant residence at the
end of Eleventh street, overlooking the river, and he likewise has a well-
equipped suite in the Citizens Bank building. Doctor Barnett is a Re-
684 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
publican in political matters and has been more or less active in local
matters, although not to the neglect of his practice. His fraternal con-
nections include membership in the subordinate lodges of the ^lasons
and Odd Fellows, belonging to Solomon Lodge No. 71, A. F. & A. M.. of
Hardeusburg, Encampment No. 206, I. 0. O. F., and Lodge No. 501,
of the latter, and in this latter connection has passed through all the
chairs and represented his lodge in the Grand Lodge of the state.
Doctor Baniett was married in Ohio to Miss Lida Osborn, who was
born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1856, and was for ten years a school-
teacher before her marriage. Two daughters have been boi-n to this
union: Ethel M., a graduate of Hardeusburg High school and Marion
College, where she took a classical and scientific course and graduated
in 1912, and now a teacher in the public schools of Grant county; and
Margaret, who received the same advantages and graduated from Ma-
rion College in the class of 1914. Doctor Baruett is a IMethodist, while
his wife is a member of the Society of Friends.
Henry Keller "Willman. For many years Henry Keller Will-
man, of Jonesboro, has been numbered among Grant county's progres-
sive business men. The success which he has achieved in life is the re-
sult of well applied energy, industry and strict attention to business
in all its details. He owes his high standing in the commercial and
social world to himself alone, for he started out to make his own liveli-
hood when but a lad, and, undaunted by the many obstacles which he
encountered, steadily pressed forward to the goal which he had set be-
fore him.
Mr. Willman comes of good old German stock, his grandfather, Wil-
liam Willman, and his father, Louis Willman. being natives of Long-
stad, Hesse-Darmstadt, where the former was born about 1780 and the
mother in 1805. William Willman was married in Germany, and his
wife died there, leaving two sons : Peter, born in 1803, who passed his
life in farming in the Fatherland and there reared a large family; and
Louis. Louis Willman grew up to sturdy manhood, and as a large and
well-built man was called upon for military sei-vice. He retained too
keen a remembrance of the appearance of Napoleon's army on its re-
turn from the disastrous Russian invasion in 1815. however, to desire
the life of a soldier, and managed to secure a substitute, subsequently
returning to his home to resume the trade of wagon-maker, which he
had learned as an apprentice. He was there married to ]Miss Christina
Keller, and in Germany they became the parents of two children : Eliza-
beth and Peter. In 1830, deciding to try his fortunes in the United
States, Mr. Willman, with his father, his wife and his two children,
embarked at Hamburg on a sailing vessel bound for this country. A
voyage of six months followed, during which the ship encountered ter-
rific storms, and at one time was reported lost, but after the passengers
and crew had nearlv died of starvation the vessel finally made port at
Baltimore, Maryland. Shortly thereafter the little party of emigrants
went to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where Louis Willman secured
employment on a railroad, but his refusal to vote the Whig ticket caused
him to become unpopular among his fellow-employes and he accord-
ingly removed with his family to Germantown, Wayne county, Indiana,
where for a few years he worked at his trade. In 1840 he came to
Blackford eounty,"and located in Washington township, near the center
of the county, where he secured a small farm, on which the grandfather,
William Willman, passed away about 1842 when about seventy years
of age. He died in the faith "of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of
which all the familv were members. About 1846, Louis Willman moved
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 685
with his family to Hartford City, Indiana, where he resumed the wagou-
making business, for a time, and then again took up farming on a prop-
erty east of that city. This continued to be his home during the re-
mainder of his life, his death occurring thereon in January, 1875.
Mrs. Willman had died in Hartford City in 18-49, when about forty
years of age. The children were brought up in the faith of the Evan-
gelical Lutheran church and were confirmed therein. Louis Willman
was a Democrat in his political views, although he never entered actively
into public affairs save as a good citizen with the interest of his com-
munitj- at heart. The children born in America to Louis and Christina
(Keller) Willman were as follows: Christina, wife of James E. Ervin,
who left a family at her death ; Catherine, also deceased ; Anna, who is
the wife of George Gable and resides at Hartford City ; Louis, who at his
death left three sons and one daughter; Henry Keller, of this review:
Margaret, who was married and the mother of one son and three daugh-
ters at the time of her death ; and Mary Ann, deceased) who was married
and had two daughters. By a second marriage Louis Willman had one
son, Albert, who died at the age of six months.
Henry Keller Willman was born in Blackford county, Indiana, Oc-
tober 7, 1841. He received only an ordinary education in the public
schools, but since his j^outh has done much reading, and through study
and observation has become a very well-informed man on numerous sub-
jects. Although not a strong lad, he received a good start in life, and
as a youth learned the trade of custom shoemaker, serving an appren-
ticeship of three years, during the first year receiving a salary of twen-
ty-five dollars, in the second year forty dollars and in the third year
seventy-five dollars. During the next quarter of a century he was ac-
tively identified ^ath the shoe business, both as a manufacturer and a
dealer. He came to Jonesboro in ilarch, 1868, and a few years later
formed a partnership with Calvin Evans, but soon disposed of his in-
terest to Mr. Evans and embarked in a separate enterprise of his own,
successfully conducting his business until 1891. In that year he sold
out to a Mr. Ruley, and in 1892 accepted the appointment to the post-
mastership of Jonesboro, during President Cleveland's administration.
He was the first third-class postmaster of the place, on a salary, and
continued to efficiently perform the duties of his office for four years
and six months. When his term of office expired he resumed operations
in the shoe business, and continued therein until 1908, since which time
he has been living a quiet, retired life in his handsome residence at
Sixth and Main streets, a modern eight-room home which he erected in
1908. Mr. Willman is a Democrat in politics, but has been honored by
the Republican party by election to the city council, on which he served
eight years. For a long period he has been prominent in promoting the
educational interests of Jonesboro as a member of the school board. He
was four .years Chairman of the Council.
Mr. Willman was married in Jonesboro to Miss Hannah Margaret
Ruley, who was born in Grant county, Indiana, in 1840, was here reared,
and was educated in the public schools of Marion. Her fathei-. Burton
W. Ruley, was an early settler and prominent farmer of this county,
and seiwed as county assessor for several terms and as county treasurer
for nine years. He died in 1874, at the age of sixty-eight years. Mr.
Ruley was a native of Virginia, and was married in Miami county, In-
diana, to Miss Mahala Jones, who was born in Kentucky, and who died
at the age of eighty-six years in Grant county. They came to this county
as pioneers and settled on wild land in ilill township, where their four
children were born, namel.v : Joseph J. ; ^Mrs. Hannah Margaret Willman :
Maria E. ; and Mary S., who is now the widow of Nathan Weddington and
686 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
lives in Indianapolis with her children. The oldest child, Sarah Jane,
deceased, was boru in Miami couuty.
Mr. Willman is a member of the Presb.yteriau church, while his wife
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal faith, and both have been active in
church work. Thej" have numerous friends in Jonesboro, who esteem
them for their sterling qualities of mind and heart and for the honor-
able and upright lives which they have led. Mr. Willman is a valued
and popular member of the i\Iasonic Blue Lodge, No. 109, of Jonesboro,
of which he is treasurer ; and of Subordinate Lodge, No. 82, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of this place, whicli has been in existence for sixty-
four years and of which he is secretary.
William Edgar Willcuts. For many years the name of Willeuts
has been associated with the history of Grant county, and the head of
the house to-day, William Edgar Willcuts, is ably upholding the repu-
tation built by his father and grandfather for honesty, integrity and true
worth. William E. WiUcuts has been engaged in farming for many
years, and he is also a well known contractor of Marion, having done
some of the best work in that line which has ever been performed in
Grant county.
William Edgar Willcuts was born in Franklin township, Grant
county, Indiana, on the 4th of January, 1862. He is a son of the late
Clarkson Willcuts and Hannah (Druckemiller) Willcuts. Clarkson
Willcuts was born on the 2d of August, 1840, in Grant county, Indiana,
the son of Clark and Eunice (Hall) Willcuts. Clark Willcuts was a
native of the state of North Carolina, and he was one of the first settlers
of Grant county when he migrated to this state in 1834. He settled one
mile south of Marion, where he lived until 1843, when he removed to
Franklin township. He was born in 1792, and died November 27, 1862.
He was the first man to build a fence in Grant county, and at one time
he built five miles of fence. He owned at one time nearly all of the
land from Tenth street in Marion to the top of the hill, and most of the
abstracts iii the county records show his name. He was a strong char-
acter, a staunch anti-slavery man and aided in the operation of the
underground railroad. The Willcuts family were all Quakers, and Clark
Willcuts was a charter member of the first Quaker meeting which was
held in Grant county. He was three times married, and Clarkson Will-
cuts and a sister were the only children by his marriage to Eunice Hall.
Clarkson Willcuts. who is given more extended mention elsewhere in
this volume, was a farmer and a stockraiser, as well as being interested
in the grain and lumber business. He spent his entire life in Grant
county, and was one of the most beloved men this entire section. His
sudden death on January 27, 1912, was a great loss to the community,
deeply felt by everyone. His wife, who was born in Carroll county,
Ohio, October S* 1862, is still living. Clarkson Willcuts took an active
part in the affairs of the church and in the civic life of the community.
He was twice elected and once appointed a trustee of Franklin township.
Four children were born to Clarkson and Hannah Willeuts, all of whom
reside in Grant county.
William E. Willeuts was born on his father's farm, and he received
his early education in the grammar and high schools of Grant county.
He was" one of the first two students who" received diplomas from the
Grant county schools. After leaving high school he attended Earlham
College at Richmond, Indiana, and then became a student at Purdue
University ■ at Lafayette, Indiana. After leaving the university he
became engaged in farming, and has been interested in that vocation
more or less since that time. For the past twenty-five years, however,
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 687
he lias been actively interested in the contracting business, and has done
much work in the line of bridge and sewer construction and in concrete
work. He has built manj' bridges in Grant and adjoining counties, and
he and the various men with whom he has been associated from time to
time have tilled a number of contracts in Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and
Indiana. He has built up a reputation for thorough and careful work-
work that will last — and his services are in gi-eat demand. He was also
engaged in the coal business for a time. He owns one farm in Franklin
township, consisting of about two hundred acres, and has a half section
of land in Van Buren township, he overseeing their management.
Mr. Willcuts was married on the 24th of September, 1885, to Margaret
M. Johnson of Sims towTiship. She died on the 18th of March, 1911,
after nearly twenty-six years of an ideally happy married life. Mr. and
Mrs. Willcuts were inseparable, traveling together a good deal. They
had visited practically every part of the western hemisphere, and had
also traveled abroad. They had no children, but adopted and reared
with loving care a boj' and a girl, who have been an honor to them.
Frank Carlton Loring was a babe of four years when he came to the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Willcuts, and he is now a brilliant and successful
electrical engineer. He attended the grammar schools of Grant county,
and was later graduated from the Marion high school. He then entered
Purdue University, from which he was graduated in 1904, having taken
the course in electrical engineering. He next spent eighteen months in
the east, from June, 1904. until September, 1906, in telephone work in
Rochester and New York CitJ^ New York. In the fall of 1906 he
entered Columbia University in New York, and during that year
completed the work of his Master's degree. He then accepted a position
as instructor in Coimell University, spending one year there. In 1909
he entered the employ of the Metropolitan Street Railway Company of
New York City, remaining with them until Januarj^, 1912. After nine
months spent at home resting he went back to University work once
more, and has been an instructor in electrical engineering at the Univer-
sity of Illinois since September, 1912.
The daughter of the family, Miss Mabel Willcuts, was taken from
the orphans ' home at the age of six years. She received her early educa-
tion in the grammar and high schools of Grant county, being a graduate
of the Marion high school. She then entered the Mechanics Institute in
Rochester, New York, from which she was graduated from the domestic
science course in 1910. She has spent two years of the time since leaving
school as a demonstrator in the New England states. In that capacity
she is in great demand by large corporations engaged in the manufacture
of domestic utilities, especially gas.
On the 12th of June, 1913, William E. Willcuts was married to Mrs.
Luella Hier IMosure. Mrs. Willcuts has a daughter, Lola Mosure, by her
former marriage. Mr. Willcuts' household consists of himself and wife,
his two foster children, Frank G. Loring and Miss Mabel Willcuts, and
his stepdaughter. Miss Lola Mosure.
Bennett B. Coleman. In early life accustomed to the hard work
which sharpens the mind and develops the body, Bennett B. Coleman
grew up in an agricultural neighborhood, and when he came to the time
to make a decision regarding his life work, finally selected that of till-
ing the soil. In the years that followed he had no reason to regret of
his choice, for he arose to a substantial position among the farmers of
Grant county, and now, in the evening of life, is able to enjoy the com-
forts of a handsome home and congenial surroundings, content in the-
knowledge of a well-spent and useful life.
688 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Bennett B. Coleman was born in Wayne county, North Carolina,
December 11, 1827, and is a son of Elias and Sallie (Peelle) Coleman,
natives of that state, who came as pioneers to Indiana. The grandpar-
ents on both sides were born in the Old North state, were of English
descent and Quakers, a faith to which the family has always belonged.
Elias Coleman was born November 25, 1798, and was a youth of
eighteen years when with another young man he came on a single horse,
the lads taking turns in riding and walking, and thus covering the dis-
tance from North Carolina to the Arle.y Quaker settlement, the newly
opened region of the wilds of Randolph county. There he remained
for some time, looking over the land and preparing for his future, and
when he had his arrangements complete returned to North Carolina
and M-as married under the rules and discipline of the Quaker church
to Sallie, the daughter of Willis and Betsey Peelle, who had been born
in 1791. They were married in the Contentuea meeting house and con-
tinued to reside in North Carolina until after the birth of four chil-
dren: Edith, who died in North Carolina; Harriet, Nathan and Ben-
nett B. In the summer of 1828 the little family started out for In-
diana, Mr. Coleman hiring a man with a horse and wagon to take the
family effects over the mountains northwest to Randolph county, to be
paid for by the pound which the expressage weighed. There were
three other men in the party beside the senior Mr. Coleman, and in ad-
dition Mrs. Coleman carried her seven-months old baby, Bennett B.,
in her arms and over aU the mountains save one. This journey con-
sumed some weeks, and when the little party arrived, j\Ir. Coleman
found that when he had paid for the trip at the rate of one dollar per
pound, he would have about ten dollars left with which to make a start
in the new community. He was a blacksmith by trade, but at once com-
menced to engage in agricultural pursuits and his energy, thrift and
indomitable perseverance enabled him to succeed in his undertakings.
He resided in Randolph county, Indiana, until 1833, at which time he
moved to Newport, now Fountain City, in Wayne county, Indiana, and,
in partnership with -Joel Parker was engaged in the manufacture of
wagons for a time. Later he became interested in merchandising in
Wayne county, and in 1848 came to Grant county, located at Jones-
boro, and became a merchant. This place was then but a small ham-
let, boasting of a tannery, a carding mill, a sawmill and a flouring mill,
with a scattering of small houses. Mr. Coleman, with excellent ability,
soon built up a handsome trade, assisted by his stalwart son, Bennett
B., then a man of twenty-one years. Here Elias Coleman was known
as one of the town's substantial men for many years. His first wife
died in the old cabin home now located next to the home of Bennett B.
Coleman, in 1864, at the age of seventy years, and Mr. Coleman then
married Mrs. Susan (Ellis) Cofifin, who survived for some years. Both
passed away in Marion, Mr. Coleman in October, 1890, and she several
years later, when seventy years of age. They were all members of the
Friends Society, but, although bitterly opposed to war, were strong
anti-Slavery people and expressed their opinion on the subject when-
ever opportunity offered. After coming to Indiana there were two chil-
dren born to EJias Coleman and his first wife: Jesse, who died young;
and Mary, who married Enoch P. Small, and died advanced in years
in Wabash county, this state.
Of the childi-en born to Elias Coleman, Bennett B. is the only sur-
vivor. He grew up largely in Wayne county, where he was given the
educational advantages to be secured in the primitive schools, and was
about twenty-one years of age when he came to Jonesboro. For some
time he was associated with his father in conducting the general store,
but subsequently adopted agricultural work in Franklin township, a
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 689
section which at that time was still practically in its virgin state. There
both he and his father killed numerous deer, especially on what was
known as Deer Creek. Mr. Coleman inherited much of his father's
industi-y and energetic nature, and set about to make a home for him-
self in the wilderness. His good management and persistent labor
brought its reward, and when he disposed of his land in 1861 he was
able to realize a handsome profit. In the fall of that year he returned
to Jonesboro, and here purchased sixtj' acres of land, the greater part
of which is now included within the corporation limits of the city, and
to this he added from time to time until he had over 100 acres. When
the Indiana Rubber and Insulated Wire Company decided to place its
plant here, Mr. Coleman's land was found to be included in the prop-
erty selected, and he accordingly disposed of ninety-five acres, in 1893,
although he still retains several choice lots and has a handsome home.
Mr. Coleman is now passing his declining years in peaceful rest. In
spite of the fact that he has passed his eighty-sixth birthday, he is still
active in body and alert in mind, in full possession of his faculties and
able to read without glasses. Although retired from active pursuits,
he takes a keen interest in the events that go to make history, and to
matters that directly affect the welfare of his community or its people.
Mr. Coleman has had the privilege of seeing great changes take place
and a great development effected in Grant county, and has played no
small part in this growth and advancement himself. He has been a
life-long Republican, casting his first vote for Hale and his next two
votes for Lincoln. He was formerly a Quaker, a member of the Anti-
Slaverj' branch of that denomination, but for many years he has been
a Presbj'terian.
Mr. Coleman was married first to Sarah Shugart, who was born
in Wa.yne county, Indiana, in 1829, married in 1849, and died Septem-
ber 4, 1861, in the faith of the Friends church. She was the mother of
four children: Emma C, who married E. M. Whitson, M. D., who died
at Jonesboro, November 7, 1905, was a soldier for three years in the
Civil War as a priva1:e of the 101st Regiment, Indiana Volunteer In-
fantry, later studied and practiced medicine until his death, had two
children bj- his first marriage, one of whom is a prominent educator,
and is survived by his second wife, who is a resident of Jonesboro;
William H., a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of
this work; Isadora, who died at the age of six years; and Lillian, who
died single as a young lady of twent.y-two years. Mr. Coleman's sec-
ond marriage was to Jliss Anna Wilson of Ohio, who met an accidental
death in 1880 when attacked by a maddened bull. She left one daugh-
ter, Ida, the wife of William Weddington, now living in New Mexico,
and the mother of seven children, of whom six are living. Mr. Cole-
man was married (third) at Crayton, Indiana, in August, 1883, to Mrs.
Anna Martin, nee Hartsock, who was born in Indiana, February 16,
1843. She had two children by her former marriage to James Martin,
deceased, Josephine and Lew Wallace, both of whom died young. Mr.
Coleman is now a member of the Presbyterian church and Mrs. Cole-
man is a member of the Universalist church at Anderson, Indiana.
William H. Coleman. The only male representative of the family
of Bennett B. and Sarah (Shugart) Coleman, William H. Coleman has
for sixty years lived in Grant county, and during the greater part of
his life has been a prosperous farmer of Mill township.
William H. Coleman was born on the old Deer Creek farm in MiU
township. Grant county, on iMay 4, 1854, and has never permanently
resided outside of his native community. Reared in the country, and
690 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
in the wholesome moral atmosphere of old Jlill, he has been engaged in
farming since he reached the years of maturity, and has applied to
his work the same principles and industry which would have enabled
him to succeed had he chosen a business in the city or a profession. In
1877 he acquired his present home on Section 32 of J\lill township, and
has lived there and developed a good estate through a period of more than
thirty-five years. His is one of the excellent farms of that township,
and from the products of his labors he has kept himself and family in
comfort and enjoyed a fair degree of success.
In Mill township on November 29, 1877, ]\Ir. Coleman married Miss
Rachel Comptou, who was born in WaiTen county, Ohio, on November
11, 1852, and was reared and educated in her native county. Her
parents were Stephen and Susan L. (Carter) Compton. Her mother
was born at IMill Grove. Warren county, Ohio, in 1817, and her father
in Culpeper county, Virginia, on August 22, 1801. They were married
in 1844 in Warren county, Ohio, and sj^ent the rest of their lives in
that vicinity, where Stephen Compton, who was a shoemaker by trade,
died in 1880, and she passed away on April 2, 1868. The Comptons
were members of the ]\Iethodist Episcopal church, and Stephen Comp-
ton voted the Democratic ticket.
Mr. and ^Irs. Coleman have the following children: Sarah M., a
graduate from the Jouesboro high school with the class of 1899. lives
at home and has been a constant helper and companion to her parents;
Bennett B., the second child, while living at home is employed in a
factory in Marion; Lawrence E. is also at home and unmarried; Lillian
Bell is the wife of Professor G. A. Roush, who is an instructor in the
Lehigh University of South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where they
reside, and is also assistant secretary of the Electro Chemical Society;
Howard is a gi-aduate of the Jonesboro high school and still remains
at home. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are members of the Presbyterian
church of Jonesboro, and their sons and daughters worship in the same
faith. Mr. Coleman and his sons are stanch Republicans, and all are
active members of the Knights of Pythias order, all three sons being
past Chancellors in the Jonesboro Lodge. Father and sons add a
quartet of excellent citizens to Mill township, and are among the most
highly esteemed men of the community.
Harry T. Connelly. Cashier of the Upland State Bank, Mr. Con-
nelly is one of the most successful farmers and stockmen of the eouuty,
and" since 1909 has divided his time and attention between the business
of agriculture and banking. The Upland State Bank was incorporated
November 22, 1909, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars
and at the present time its surplus is four thousand dollars. The total
resources amount to one hundred and forty thousand dollars, and the
deposits of one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars indicate better
than any other item the complete confidence placed by the community
in this institution. Since it opened its doors for business, the bank has
made a most remarkable growth, and its position is due both to its suc-
cessful management and to the fact that all its officials and directors
are well known residents of Grant county. The officers are: John
Smith, president; Herman Fisherbuck, vice president: Harry T. Con-
nellv, cashier ; R. 0. Smith, assistant cashier ; and the directors are
John Smith, H. Fisherbuck, R. J. Spencer, Edward Block, N. E. Duck-
wall, Daniel ^Marine. A. L. Horner, Charles W. Reed, and A. N. Kizer.
All except Mr. Kizer were on the original board, and he has been con-
nected with the institution since its second year. The Upland State
Bank has correspondents in Chicago and Pittsburgh, and carries an
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 691
account with the Grant Trust aud Savings Bank at Marion. The bank
has membership in the State Bank Association.
Harrj' T. Connelly was born on a farm near Upland on February
10, 1874, a son of John W. and Rebecca J. (Clevenger) Connelly. He
comes of old Scotch-Irish ancestry. His grandfather, Rev. John Con-
nelly, who was born in Virginia, was a prominent Methodist minister
of his time. In 1808 he was made presiding elder over a district com-
prising portions of Virginia, Maryland and western Pennsylvania,
and his last appointment to that office was made in 1821. He died in
"Wayne county, Indina, when past eighty years of age in 1846. Rev.
Connelly married Elizabeth Fell, a Virginia girl, and of an old family
in that commonwealth. Her ancestors came from England to Balti-
more during the seventeenth century, and played active parts in their
respective communities, both in that state and in Virginia. Elizabeth
(Fell) Connelly, died in Wajaie county, Indiana, about 1830, being
under forty years of age at the time. She became the mother of three
children, namely : Joseph, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Kan-
sas, a farmer there, and died leaving a family of six children; one
daughter died early in life, and John W. Connelly.
John W. Connelly, father of the Upland banker, was born in Wil-
liamsburg, Virginia, May 11, 1825, and was a very small child when
his parents moved out to Wayne county, Indiana, where they were
among the pioneers and took an active part in the establishment of
Methodism in that section.
Reared and educated in Wayne county, John W. Connelly gave
perhaps the greater part of his productive years to the cause of educa-
tion. He taught school in Wayne county, and in 1856 came to Grant
county, where he bought land in Jefferson township, now a part of the
Millerton Farm. He combined the occupations of teaching and farm-
ing, and his record as a teacher aggregated about thirty years. In 1871
he bought one hundred and ten acres in Monroe township, later increased
his holdings, and lived there in prosperous circumstances until his death
on October 27, 1893. In politics he was a Republican after the war.
His first vote was cast for Franklin Pierce, and after voting for
Douglas in 1860 he transferred his allegiance to the Republican candi-
dates, and voted in 1892 for Harrison. John W. Connelly was married
in Wayne county to iliss Rebecca Clevenger, who was born in that
county, September 6, 1834, and who died in JMonroe township of Grant
county, December 28, 1909. Early in her life she joined the Methodist
church and she and her husband had membership in the Doddridge
church in Wayne county, one of the oldest societies of that denomina-
tion in Indiana. Later they were among the leading members of the
Upland church in this county. Rebecca Clevenger was a daughter of
Samuel and Ruth (Spahr) Clevenger, who were both natives of Vir-
ginia, but were married in Wayne county, Indiana. Samuel Clevenger
was born in 1808, and his wife in 1812. He died in 1881 and she in
1884. They were pioneers, upright and worthy people, both as neigh-
bors and citizens, and active members of the Doddridge chui-ch in
Wayne county. Mrs. John W. Connelly was the oldest in a family of
eight children, aud all of them lived in Indiana. Her sister Sabra died
at the age of seventy-six. John W. Connelly and wife had eight chil-
dren, named as follows: John, who lives at home and is unmarried;
Belle, who died after her marriage to Noah Johnson, leaving three
children, Alva, Elva, and Bertha; Samuel, now postmaster of Upland;
Mary, who died in infancy; Joseph, who is an oil man in Oklahoma,
and is married but has no children; Dora, wife of J. P. Richard, a
692 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and their children are Hugo and Homer;
Flora, who died at the age of twenty-two years, and Harry T., the
youngest.
Harry T. Connelly was educated in the schools and at the Fair-
mount Academy, and in the Marion Normal College. From 1893 until
1302 he was one of the successful teachers, most of his work being done
in Jefferson and Monroe township. While a man of extended activities
in business, Mr. Connelly's life is also distinguished for much public
service, and his record as a teacher might be well included under that
head. From 1905 until January 1, 1909, he gave four years of capable
administration in the office of township trustee of Jlonroe township.
He was elected on the Republican ticket, and was the second Repub-
lican ever elected to that office in the township. His majority of sixty-
four votes was a noteworthy showing in a Democratic community. In
the fall of 1908 Mr. Connelly was elected to the state legislature and
served during the sessions of 1909-10 and in 1911. During the first
session he was on the committee of education and roads, and in 1911
was on the committee of counties and to'miships and also on the com-
mittee of banks and trusts companies.
In 1899 Mr. Connelly came into the possession of the old home
place by buying out the other heirs, and soon after settled down to
farm life. The farm, located in section thirty-four of Monroe town-
ship, comprises one hundred and eighty acres of land, all under the
plow, wath the exception of a timber lot of thirty-five acres. In 1912,
his crops were represented by the following figures : Eight hundred
bushels of corn, nine hundred bushels of oats, and one hundred and
sixty bushels of rye. He sold about one hundred head of hogs during
that year, and he averages from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty-five hogs a year. He has a herd of twenty-three short horn
cattle on the place, twenty-five sheep and four horses. These figures,
without further comment, are sufficient to show that Mr. Connelly is
in the farming business for something besides recreation, and he is
rightly entitled to his reputation as one of the most progressive and
successful farming men in the county.
On June 23, 1904, at Upland, was solemnized the marriage of
Harrv T. Connelly, with Miss Edith Kline. Mrs. Connelly was bom
in Mill Grove, Blackford county, Indiana, August 5, 1874, and is a
woman of splendid education and thorough culture. Her schooling
was in Hartford City, and in the well known private school kept by
Mrs. Bleaker. For eleven years ]\Irs. Connelly was a successful teacher
in Hartford City, and in Upland. Her father is Henry J. Kline, who
for the past twenty years has had his home in Upland, and in early
years made a record as one of the popular teachers in this part of the
state.
Mr. and Mrs. Connelly have five children : D. Gretchen, who is now
in school at Upland; Barbara H., also in school; Marjorie E., Phillip,
and Roger Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Connelly are members of the Upland
Methodist church, and he has fraternal associations with the Masonic
Order at Upland, and the Royal Chapter at Hartford City.
Edgar Thornburg. One of the prospering farmers of Grant county,
Edgar Thornburg is one whose success has been won entirely as the
result of his own well directed efforts. He had no fortune given to
him by families, and early in life had the courage to marry and estab-
lish a" home for himself," and since that time has steadily prospered,
until he is reckoned as one of the substantial nuni of Monroe township.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 693
In that township he purchased a home place of seventy-four acres of
land, and in 1912, as au indication of his progressive farming efforts,
he harvested one thousand bushels of corn, seven hundred bushels of
oats, cut seven tons of hay and shipped to market about fifty hogs.
His fai-m is not only a profitable business, but is an attractive home
place, where he and his family enjoy life. His large brick house is
located on a hill, with land sloping down from it, and among other im-
provements are some good barns, while all the farm is kept in good
condition. Edgar Thornburg was bom May 9, 1863, in Henry county,
Indiana, a son of Alfred M. and Emeline (Wallace J Thornburg. His
father was born in North Carolina, and the mother in Payette county,
Indiana. Her parents were natives of New Hampshire, and she died
in 1872 in ilarion. Grandfather Benjamin Thornburg emigrated from
North Carolina to Henry county, among the pioneei-s. Alfred M.
Thornburg, the father, was a carpenter by trade, and moved to Marion
in 1871. He lived there until February, 1886, when he went west to
Los Angeles, California. The five children were Edgar; George of
Los Angeles; Elmer of Marion; Mrs. Aletha L. Beck, who died in De-
cember, 1911 ; and Mrs. Ida Belle Fruchey of Marion.
After the death of the mother, several of the children were placed
in the homes of friends to be cared for and reared. In this way Edgar
Thornburg entered the home of Samuel R. Thompson of Monroe town-
ship, where he was reared to manhood. When he was twenty-two years
old he married and moved to the Holloway farm, where he spent fifteen
years. Shortly after moving to the Holloway place in 1886 he bought
sixty acres of land, and after selling that in 1901 bought his present
homestead.
ilr. Thornburg was married in 1886 to Slartha A. Hodson, a daugh-
ter of Jonathan Hodson. Their two children are ilrs. Alma N. Boiler,
of Center to^^^lship, wife of Lee Boiler, and they have one daughter,
Helen Louise: and Hazel, who was married November 12, 1913, to OUie
Thurman. Mv. and Mrs. Thornburg are also rearing an orphan child,
Oscar Wickum. In polities Mr. Thornburg allies himself with the Pro-
hibitionists and he and his family worship with the Methodist church.
Nixon Winslow. Llany lives have entered into the foundation of
Grant county, and none of them more worthy to be considered in a
history of pioneer personalities than the late Nixon Winslow, wdio for
many years was prominent as a business man, farmer and banker and
public spirited citizen in Fairmount township and city.
Like many other of the early Grant county pioneers, Nixon Winslow
was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, June 28, 1831. He died
at his home in Fairmount City, May 25, 1910. His parents were Thomas
and Martha (Bogue) Winslow. His father was born in Randolph county,
July 14, 1795, and his wife in the same state on August 3, 1802. She
was a daughter of John and Lydia (White) Bogue, who were married
in 1797. John Bogue was a son of ilarmaduke and Sarah (Robinson)
Bogue, who were natives of England, and w^io died at a good old age
in Randolph county. North Carolina. They were what is known as Fox
Quakers. John Bogue and wife Lydia died in Randolph county, North
Carolina, when in the prime of life, leaving four daughters, all young.
These daughters came north, were married, had large families, and
were all identified with Grant county. The oldest of the daughters of
John Bogue was Mary, better known as Polly, who married Phineas
Henly, and lived and died in Grant county. Thomas and Martha Wins-
low came to Grant county in 1836, entering land and living there until
694 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
their death in Fairmount township. They were both Charter members
of the Old Northern Quarterly Quaker Meeting in that township.
Thomas Winslow and wife were married iu North Carolina about 1829,
she being his second wife. His first wife who died in North Carolina
was ^Millieent Gazan, who left four children at her death.
The late Nixon "Winslow, who was the oldest child of his mother,
Martha Bogue, was five j-ears old when the familj^ moved to Grant count.y,
and here he grew up on his father's farm in Fairmount township. His
education was obtained iu the local schools, and from the time he
started out on his own account, he steadily prospered. He bought some
land of his own two miles east of Fairmount city, and some yeai-s later
bought one hundred and sixty acres just outside the city limits on the
east, and on that land spent his final years. As already stated, he was
one of the most successful farmers and able business men in the county.
He was one of the organizers and for many years was president of the
Citizens Exchange Bank of Fairmount, having sold his interest and
retired from the office only a short time before his death. Among other
public things to which he contributed his efforts and means was the
Fairmount Academy, and also the Quakers church in the city. He
served as trustee and elder of the church, holding the latter office at
the time of his death. Though no politician in any sense he was a regu-
lar supporter and voter for the Prohibition interests.
In Jonesboro, in the Friends church and according to the strict
forms of the Quaker ceremonies, the orthodox faith, Nixon "Winslow
was married October 25, 1854, to Miss Cynthia Ann Jay. Her marriage
introduces another interesting family into this biographical sketch. She
was born in Miami county, Indiana, May 5, 18:^2, and when seventeen
years old came to Mill township in Grant county. Her parents were
Denny and Mary (Jones) Jay, her father a native of North Carolina,
and her mother of Ohio. Her mother was a daughter of Elisha and
Susanna (Hollingsworth) Jones, natives of Georgia, and early settlei-s
in Ohio, where they located government land near Troy in Miami county.
There Susanna Jones was killed by a stroke of lightning, while in the
prime of her life. Her husband married the second time and continued
to live in Miami county until his death at a good old age. Denny Jay
and wife on coming to Grant county located on the ilississiuewa River,
north of Jonesboro, where they had their home until their lives came
to a peaceful close, his at the age of sixty-one and hers when sixty-three
years old. They were active members, and both were elders in the Jones-
boro Quaker IMeeting. In the Jay family were four sons and five daugh-
ters, three of them being: Jesse and Lambert B., and IMrs. "Winslow.
Jesse Jay is a farmer on the old Mill township homestead, is married and
has a family, while his younger brother lives in Grant county, and is a
genial bachelor, being a farmer by occupation.
To the marriage of Nixon "Winslow and wife were born seven chil-
dren, one of whom, Marcus Alden, died at the age of two and a half
years. The living children who grew up are mentioned as follows : Le-
vina, wife of John Kelsie, a prosperous farmer, and a former county
commissioner living in Fairmount township, has a family of children.
"Webster J is retired and lives in Fairmount, his first wife having been
Mary Jean who died leaving children, of whom two are living ; his sec-
ond marriage was to Ora Winslow. daughter of J. P. Winslow. and there
were no children bv the second union. Ella, maiden lady, resides with
her mother in Fairmount, and between the mother and daughter there
exists a strong affection and many mutual sympathies, which render the
declining days of Mrs. Winslow specially pleasant. Thomas D. is a
farmer in Liberty township, and has twice married, his first wite being
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 695
Eva Pearson, who left three children, of whom two are living, and his
second wife is Anna Ellis, by whom there is one daughter. The next
two children of the family are Ancil and Clinton, both of whom are given
more specific mention elsewhere in these pages.
Ancil Winslow, the youngest but one of the children of Nixon and
Cynthia Winslow, was born in Fairmount township, December 29, 1864.
He is deservedly regarded as one of the most enterprising and success-
ful farmers and business men of Grant county. With the precedent of
several generations of solid family success behind him, he has not failed
to meet the expectations of family and friends, and among his asso-
ciates is called a hustler, which very accurately described his character
as a business man.
Duriug his youth he was reared and trained in a good Christian
home, and was taught the lessons of industry and honor. He was also
a student in the local schools, and completed his education at Fairmount
Academy. In 1889 Mr. Winslow bought one hundred and eighty acres
of fine farm land on section seventeen of Fairmount township. There
he later constructed in 1904, probably one of the handsomest and most
comfortable rural residtnces to be found anywhere in Grant county.
It is a thoroughly modern structure, and while built to harmonize with
its surroundings and on the basis of utility, its is really as luxurious as
many of the best city homes. The farm establishments ccnitain all the
improvements that would be expected of the best Grant county home-
steads, excellent barns, equipment of outbuildings and machinery of
every kind, and the farm is well stocked with high grade cattle, hogs
and horses. Mr. Winslow grows a great deal of alfalfa and feeds prac-
tically every pound of the crops produced on the land to his stock. He
uses a silo with a capacity of eighty tons. His success has lain especially
along the line of stock raising and on his place he grows many varieties
of fruit also.
At Marion. JMr. Winslow married Ida Elliott, a daughter of Isaac
and Mary (Small) Elliott. Her parents still live in Fairmount, and
her father was born on the site now occupied by the Soldiers' Home of
Grant county, the land having been entered by his father, direct from
the government. Isaac Elliott and wife are hale and hearty old people,
and both have been members of the Quaker faith since birth. Mrs. Ida
Winslow is the only daughter and child of her parents. She graduated
from the Marion high school and the Fairmount Academy, and is a
woman of cultured tastes and an excellent homemaker. She is the mother
of two children. Isaac R. was born June 7. 1893, graduated from Fair-
mount Academj', and is now a student in Earlham College. Marcus R.
was bom December 17, 1901, and is now attending the grade schools.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Winslow were born to membership in the Quaker
church.
Benj.vmin Franklin Van Vactor. A well known resident of Center
township, Benjamin Franklin Van Vactor has been an important factor
in agricultural circles of Grant county, and his popularity is well de-
served, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending in-
tegrity, unabated energy, and an industry that never flags. While he
has been an exceedingly busy man, with large personal interests, he
has ever been public spirited, and is thoroughly interested in whatever
tends to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the
community where he has resided all of his life. He was born on a farm
about one" mile west of his present home, March 12. 1857, and is a son
of Joseph and Margaret Burkel Van Vactor.
696 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Joseph Van Vaetor was born in Holland, and on emigrating to the
United States, settled in Ohio, where his first wife, a native of Prussia,
died. After his second marriage he came to Center township. Grant
countj-, Indiana, and took up a tract of eighty acres across from the Sol-
diers' Home to the east, there continuing to reside until his death Sep-
tember 10, 1867, at which time he was the owner of five hundred and
eighty acres of land. Mr. Joseph Van Vaetor was a faithful member
of the Methodist church, and took an active interest in its work, liberally
supporting its various movements. He was the father of four chil-
dren, all of whom are living at this time: Joseph, who is is engaged in
farming in ^lonroe township ; Benjamin F.. of this review ; C. E., who
was for twenty years cashier of the First National Bank of JMarion, and
is now superintendent of the United States Glove Factory in that city :
and j\Iary E., who married Roland Ratliff, principal of public schools
of Danville, Illinois.
Benjamin Franklin Van Vaetor was educated in the public schools
of Center township, and was about eighteen years of age when he com-
pleted his education and turned his entire attention to farming, in
which he had been formerlj- engaged only during the summer months.
Some six years later he was married and took up his residence about
one-half mile east of his present home, and since that time has continued
to add to his property, until he now owns two hundred and twenty-five
acres. In addition he has a one-sixth interest in nine hundred and sixty
acres of land in North Dakota. He is a skilled farmer, employing raocl-
ern methods in his work, and securing excellent returns for the work he
expends upon his property. His fellow citizens have recognized his
general worth and the confidence and esteem in which he is held is evi-
dence of the confidence he has inspired in those who know him.
In 1881 ]\Ir. Van Vaetor was married to ]Miss Jennie Caldwell, who
was born and reared iii Center township, where she secured her educa-
tion in the public schools. Mrs. Van Vaetor is a daughter of Nicholas
and Anna (Nelson) Caldwell. Nicholas Caldwell was a native of Vir-
ginia, near Harpers Ferry, while his wife was born in Grant county,
Indiana. Three children have been born to Mr. Van Vaetor and wife:
Grace L., a graduate of the common schools, is now the wife of Burr
VTolff, formerly of Center township, but now residing in ^Montana on a
tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land, and they have five chil-
dren — Faye Anna, Francis W., Ivan, "Wayen W., and Lavon C. Lea
A., formerly a teacher of music, is now the wife of Claude J. Stout,
living near Ambrose, North Dakota, and they have one child, Lena
Audra. Leo C, a bright lad of ten years, is living at home and a student
in the public schools. Mr. and ilrs. Van Vaetor are consistent members
of the Griffin Chapel of the ^lethodist church. He is a Democrat in
his political views, although not active, and his fraternal connection is
with the F. M. B. A.
Thomas J. Brookshire. No more estimable citizen may be found in
Liberty township, nor no more capable and prospering farmer than
Thomas J. Brookshire, who has been a resident of the state all his life and
of Grant county since 1867. A veteran of the Civil war. his record is
one of the highest honor and integrity, and he enjoys the unqualified
esteem of the best people of his township, and wherever he is known. Ho
was born in Henry county. Indiana, on November 26, 1844, the son of
Emsley and Elizabeth (Shelley) Brookshire. The father was a native of
North" Carolina, and the mother of Tennessee, both of whom came to
Indiana in the early days of their lives. The father entered land in
Henry county, and in addition to his farming acti^^ties, was widely
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 697
known as an itinerant preacher of tlie Wesleyan faith. He lived and
died on the laud he obtained from the government, there rearing a family
of ten children, of whom two are yet living at this writing. Besides
the subject, the only other survivor is Sarah A., who married Joshua
Xuby of the state of California, and there resides. Three of their sons,
among which was Thomas J. of this review, served in the Civil war.
Thomas J. Brookshire was reared on the Heni-y county farm of his
parents, and attended the district schools of his community. He was
still very young when he enlisted in Company E of the Ninth Indiana
Cavalry from Henry county, of which he was made first corporal, and
he rendered a sei-vice approximating almost three years during the
course of the war, the same being characterized by the most valiant action
throughout. He was discharged in 1865, when the last gun had been
fired, and the period of his service embraced some of the most exciting
campaigns of the long civil conflict. He participated in the Vicksburg
campaign and the Atlanta Campaign ; and fought in many of the most
hotly contested battles of the war. Following his discharge he returned
to the Henry county farm, devoting himself quietly to farm life.
In 1866 he married Clementine Akers, of Rush county, Indiana, and
to them were born ten children, six of whom are living at this writing.
They are Leroy; Anna, the wife of John Dare; Jesse, living in ^Missouri;
Cornelius, living near Hackelmau ; Nixon H., of Liberty township ; and
Nettie, the wife of Leroy Saders. Sixteen grandchildren have been
added to the progeny of the family, and one great-grandchild, James
Frederick Smith.
The year 1867 marked the removal of the family from Henry county
to Grant county, and here he has a fine farm of two hundred and eighty
acres in Liberty township. In the years that passed he has acquired
title to a goodly bit of land in the county, at one time owning as high as
five hundred acres. His present holdings, however, are sufficient for
his demands, and here he is busy in the breeding of Percheron and Bel-
gian horses, while the finest grade of shorthorn cattle may be found
on his place. He has prospered all his days in his farming enterprise,
and his neighbors know him for a successful man, as well as one of the
most trustworthy men in the township, where he has a wide circle of
stanch friends, as have the other members of his worthy family. He
helped organize the Citizens Bank of Fairmount, was a director of the
institution for several years and now a heavy stockholder and a director
of the Fairmount State Bank.
Mr. Brookshire is a member of the G. A. R., and has served the local
post as commander at times. He and his family are members of the
Wesleyan church at Backcreek, taking an active part in the varied enter-
prises of that body, and in his politics Mr. Brookshire is a Progressive
Republican. He is a man who ever manifests a good citizen 's interest in
political affairs relative to his own community at least, and is now serv-
ing on the Advisory Board of his township, where he has performed a
valuable service for the town. He is known to be one of the progi-essive
men of the county, not content to live in the past, but up and doing with
the most advanced men of his community in both thought and action.
George D. Lindsay. Although George D. Lindsay has lived in
Marion, Indiana, for comparatively a few years only, he has come to
be an important factor in the business life of the city and has taken a
prominent part in its civic and political affairs. Mr. Lindsay is a law-
yer by profession and in his position as part owner and manager of the
Marion Chronicle, he has had much to do towards influencing the minds
of the people. He is a man of splendid education and fine mental abil-
698 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
ity and with the legal training and experience he has had he is extremely
well fitted for the position which he holds.
George D. Lindsay was born at ifcKeesport. Pennsylvania, on the
30th of iMarc-h. 1862. He is the son of David G. and Janet (Nichol;
Lindsay, both of whom were born in Scotland. They came to America
in 1860 and settled at jMcKeesport, Pennsylvania, but some time after-
wards settled on a farm in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where
they now reside.
George D. Lindsay attended the public schools of ^IcKeesport and
then took a business course in a Pittsburg business college. He later
attended Washington-Jefferson College, at Washington, Pennsylvania,
where he majored in history. He next became a student in Wooster
College, at Wooster. Ohio, and upon leaving college he began life as a
teacher. He was principal of the Belmont Academy at Belmont, Penn-
sylvania, for some time and was superintendent of public instruction
at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for a year. He next read law in the office
of Judge John S. Robb at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
In 1889 I\Ir. Lindsay graduated from the McCormiok Theological
Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, and entered the ministry of the Presby-
terian church. He held the pastorates in Ionia, Michigan, Galena, Illi-
nois, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and served as
summer supply in man3' of the largest churches in the country, three
times representing his presbj'tery as Commissioner to the General As-
sembly. While in the ministry Mr. Lindsay frequently occupied the
lecture platform, speaking in lecture courses, at school commencements
and on special occasions such as Jlemorial Day, Fourth of July, etc.
It was in 1907 that Mr. Lindsav came to !^Ia^ion. He here opened a
law office and has been engaged in the practice of his profession ever
since. In 1912 Mr. Lindsay bought an interest in the Marion Chron-
icle and assumed the business management of it. He has not only made
the paper a financial success, but he has also made it a power to Marion
and Grant county. In addition to these interests Mr. Lindsay is general
manager, secretary and treasurer of the Commercial Printing Company
of Marion. ]\Iarion's largest job printing concern.
He has been active in all matters pertaining to the civic improve-
ment of ]Mai'ion and in the enforcement of the law, being one of tlie fac-
tors in the fight for a clean city. He has been one of the leading men in
the fight for local option, and in every movement that lias the progress
of the cit.v as its aim he is found on the firing line.
In 1889, on the 11th of July, ilr. Lindsay was married to Emma
Breed, a daughter of Richard E. Breed, of Chicago. Five children were
born to this union, Katharine, David, Jeannette, Sarah and Richard.
Mr. Lindsay is a member of the Country and Golf Clubs of ilarion.
In politics he is a member of the Repulilican party.
Eleazar Newby. The Newby family, today one of the prominent
and well thought of families of Grant county, has been identified with
the county since 1830, in which year Thomas Newby. the father of
Eleazar Newby, whose name introduces this review, came as a lad of
six years to make his home with an uncle, who reared the oi-phaned
child. The family has had a large and worthy part in the development
and growth of the county and the communities that have represented
the homes of the various members of the family in the passing years
have benefited generously from the infiuences and activities of these
men.
One of the oldest American families extant, the Newbys have played
a worthy part in the life of the country. They are descended from
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 699
sturdy English stock, the first of the uaiue having located on these shores
prior to the earliest struggles of the American colonies in their quest
for independence, and men of the name have borne arms in the defence
of whatever cause the eountiy has taken up from then down to the
present time. A branch of the family in the eighteenth century set-
tled in North Carolina, and from that branch have come the Newbys
who have lent their powers to the upbuilding of Grant county. The
first of the name who will be mentioned specifically in these columns is
Eleazar Newby, graudsire of the subject, who bears the same name. He
was born in North Carolina, and passed his life in that state. He died
while yet in the prime of his manhood, being survived by his widow,
who in her maiden days was Mary Winslow, of a fine old Carolina fam-
ily. She bore him one son, Thomas W., who became the father of the
subject, and after the death of her husband she married Daniel Thomas.
They took up their residence in Fairmount township, where they passed
their remaining years, and left one son, William Thomas.
Thomas W. Newby was born in Randolph county, North Carolina,
in 1824, and he was two years of age when his father died. He was
taken into the home of liis uncle, Cajie Newby, and in 18.30 came with
them to Grant county, Indiana. He was reared in his uncle's home and
was brought up in the faith of the Quakers, his uncle being a stanch ad-
herent of the faith and a powerful example to his fellow men all his
days. Thomas W. Newby had in him those qualities that ever make for
signal success and prosperity in the life of the man who possesses them.
He devoted his life to agi'icultural activities, and was one of the few
men of his day who amassed in the neighborhood of a million dol-
lars. He gave to each of his six children an eighty-acre farm, well de-
veloped and rich in improvement, as well as giving to each a large sum
of money in cash. He was recognized as one of the foremost men of the
county, as well as one of the richest of his time. He died at his old home
in Fairmount township on December 7, 1903, when he was seventy-nine
years of age. Mr. Newby was a Whig in earl.y life, and later became a
Republican. He was a man of the most estimable qualities, and his ster-
ling character made him an influence in his community tliat was far-
reaching and beneficent at all times. In his citizenship he was a man
among men, and his opinion in matters of civic duty and political Cjues-
tions of all manner was one that was eagerly sought by his contempora-
ries. When he died he was truly mourned and his loss is still felt in
those places where he was best known.
In Fairmount township, Mr. Newby married Sarah Hill, who was
born in Randolph county. North Carolina, on December 7, 1824, and
who was a daughter of Aaron and Nancy (Win,slow) Hill. They came
as pioneers to Grant county and entered land in the vicinity of Back
Creek church, where they passed the remainder of their lives. They
were Quakers, and were stanch and sturdy folk, who won and retained
the esteem of their fellow townspeople as long as they lived. They
were among the founders of the Back Creek church of Friends, and
were among the influential people of their community. Six children
were born to Thomas and Sarah Newby, and they lived to see their off-
spring filling worthy places in the town and county. Mrs. Newby died
when she was eighty-six years and three months of age. and she too had
been prominent in the church of the Friends.
Eleazar Newby was the eldest of the six children born to Thomas
and Sarah Newby, and of that number three are now deceased. He
was born on the family homestead on June 15. 1851. He was educated
in the public schools and early began to devote himself to the business of
farming. In 1875 he took up his residence on his present fine farm of
700 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
eighty acres in Section 7, ilill township, and that place has been brought
to a state of etifieieucy that is second to none in the county today. In
18SS he built his present commodious house on the place, having pre-
viously, in 1883, reared ample barns for the needs of the farm. He is
undeniably one of the most successful farming meu in the county. His
place is known as Forest Home, a name especially fitted to the actuali-
ties, for a magnificent grove of native forest trees adorns the grounds
about tlie house.
^Lr. Newby was married in 1881 in Jefferson township to Miss Celia
Mitchener, who was born in this county and here has spent her life thus
far. She is a daughter of Albert and Elizabeth JMitchener, natives of
the state of Pennsylvania. They came to Grant county soon after their
marriage and settled in Jefferson township, where they died in their
old age.
To ilr. and Mrs. Newby have been born six children concerning
whom brief mention is here made as follows : Mary E. married Charles
Pitt, and they live in North Jonesboro. They are the parents of Geneva,
Lucile and James Pitt. Elsie is the wife of Edgar Neal. of Grant
county, and their children are named Hildreth, Harold and Donald.
Gertha M. and Adelphia I. are both unmarried and make their home
with their parents ; while Jessie is the wife of Vergil Craig, and they
also reside with the home folks. The joungest child, Clessie L., attends
the public school.
j\Ir. and ]Mrs. Newby were both reared in the Quaker religion, and
have imparted to their children the sterling characters that have been
their most marked qualities. They are members of the New Reformed
Friends Church, somewhat recently brought into being through a reor-
ganization, and Mr. Newb.y is a stanch Prohibitionist, and the power
of his example has been one of the most potent influences for good that
his community has felt in its citizenship.
Garn Jett. One of the younger generation of farming men of Mill
township is Garn Jett, who has, since locating in Grant county, devoted
his entire time to general farming. Thus far he has enjoj-ed a reason-
able measure of success, and he is ranked among the more solid and
stable agricultural men of his township, ilr. Jett, however, is no mere
tyro at the business of agriculture for he comes of an old Virginia fam-
ily that for generations back have devoted themselves to the soil. His
widowed mother even now maintains her residence on the fine family
plantation of some four hundred acres, and members of the Jett family
have in many instances proven themselves masters of the business.
The Jett family is one that has for many years been established in
Scott county, Virginia, and the first of the name who shall enter into
this recital was John Jett, the paternal grandfather of Garn Jett of
this review. All of John Jett's life was spent in Scott county and was
devoted to farming. He came of one of the finest of Virginia families,
and his life was one of singular completeness in his communitj'. A
slave holder and a man of considerable wealth, he busied himself chiefly
with the care of his magnificent plantation of 2.000 acres, and in the
ante-bellum days he was indeed a power to be reckoned with in the
agricultural activities of Scott county. He was bom in 1802, and died
in 1877. after having sutfered heavy losses as a result of the Civil war,
from which he never really recovered.
John Jett married Irena Wolff, who was also born and reared in Scott
county, and she survived her honored husband by some years, death
claiming her on February 15, 1895, when she was just turned eighty
years of age. She and her husband were both members of the Meth-
odist church, South, and he was an ardent Democrat.
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 701
Three sons were born to John and Irena Jett, — William, Stephen
and John Jr. The two last named served in the Confederate army dur-
ing the Civil war, and Stephen lost an arm while a Confederate soldier.
He is now a resident of Boone count.y, Indiana, and has two sons.
John Jett Jr. died in Scott county, leaving a widow and one daughter.
"William Jett was born in Scott county on the old home plantation
in 1852, and he died on January 14, 1910, when he was but fifty-eight
years of age. He spent his entire life on the old home place, and in his
native community was married, in early manhood, to Miss Susan Smith,
a sister of Pascal Smith, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this
review. She, too, was a Scott county native, and all her life was
passed within its confines. She was born in 1853, and is still living on
the old homestead of 400 acres. Since the passing of the father, Wil-
liam H. Jett, in 1910, I\Irs. Jett, with two younger sons, has had the
care of the plantation and they have done justice to the task in hand.
Seven children were born to William and Susan Jett, and of that
number Garn Jett of this review is the eldest born. He was reared and
educated in the home community, and when he was married in 1898 he
was then just twenty-three years of age, his birth having having oc-
curred on March 5, 1875. He married ^liss Catherine Smith, who was
born on October 30, 1887, a daughter of John S. and Eliza (Pope) Smith,
both now residents of Scott county, Virginia, where they have long made
their home. They have devoted themselves to farming activities all
their days, and are among the prominent people of their community.
Soon after his marriage, Mv. Jett came to Grant county, and in
1909 he purchased in Mill township a small place of seventy-eight
acres, all of which is under cultivation, and which js in a high state of
productiveness. Small grains and a quantity of clover comprise his
crops, and the farm is well stocked and in every way reflects the enter-
prise and ambition of its proprietor.
Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jett, — Margaret
born February 14, 1896, a freshman student in Fairmount Academy,
and Irene, bom on May 25, 1898, and a student in the local public
schools.
Considering that Mr. Jett has only spent fifteen years in the county,
he has gained a place of no little prominence therein, and is reckoned
among the progressive and influential men of the town and county. He
is a Democrat, and possesses qualities that make for a high degree of
efficiency in citizenship, so that his influence in and about the com-
munity is one of the finest order. He and his family have a host of
good friends in their new home, and are well content with the results
of their migration to the north.
Clayton S. Wright. Success consists in a steady betterment of
one's material conditions, and an increase of one's ability to render
service to others. IMeasured by this standard, one of the exceptionally
successful men of Liberty township is Clayton S. Wright, proprietor of
the attractive and beautiful Beech Grove farm on section thirty-five.
About thirty years ago, when he took the step which precipitates most
young men "into the serious work of life, and causes them to measure
their ability with awkward circumstances — got married — he had a small
capital of about five hundred dollars. From that point his career has
been one of steady growth to independence, until he is now justly con-
sidered one of the most substantial men in liis township. At the same
time he has accepted the many opportunities to show his good citizen-
ship, and his work and influence has helped to make Liberty township a
better place to live in.
702 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
The birthplace of Mr. Wright was just three-quarters of a mile from
where he now lives. He was boru there, February 13, 1860, Moses and
Elizabeth (Hollingsworth) Wrigjit, his parents, both spent the latter
years of their life on the old homestead in Liberty township. Moses
Wright was a native of Tennessee, and was brought, when a boy, to Henry
coiuity, Indiana, where he grew up, was married, and after a short time,
about 1850. moved to Grant county, locating in Liberty township, on
the estate where the son Clayton S. was born. They held membership
in the Wesleyan church, but after the father's death the mother found
a home in the Friends church. They were the parents of six children,
only two of whom are now living, the brother of Clayton being Thomas C.
Wright, a farmer in Wabash count}', Indiana. Catherine died at the
age of fourteen ; Lydia, also deceased, became the wife of Clinton Moon ;
Jacob, died when about thirty-five years of age, and Alpheus died at
the age of twenty-two.
Clayton S. Wright was reared on a farm, had a district school educa-
tion, and lived the existence of the average farmer boy of Grant county,
alternating between school in winter and farm work in summer. That
was his bringing up until he was about nineteen years old, and he then
gave his attention to the home place and woi'ked for his mother, until
he was married.
On March 4, 1882, Mr. Wright married Mary Harvey, who was bora
.iust across the road from where they now reside. She was educated in
the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of nine chil-
dren : Harvey A., is a graduate of Fairmount Academy, of the Pacific
College at Newberg, Oregon, and from Earlham College at Richmond,
Indiana, and is now superintendent of the Grade and High School of
Fountain City, Indiana. Adda E., who gi-aduated from Fairmount
Academy and Earlham college, with the degree of A. B. has been a very
successful teacher, and since 1910 has been a member of the faculty of
the Fairmount Academy. Ora E., also a graduate of Earlham College, is
superintendent of Friendsville Academy, at Friendsville, Tennessee.
Vida, graduated from Fairmount Academy, and is a student of music.
Mahlon M. graduated from the Academy at Faimiount. Lester B. is a
student in the Fairmount Academy and Frank completed his course
in the common schools in 1913, is now a student at the Fairmount Acad-
emy. Ralph H., was born June 10, 1903, and Ruth E., the youngest, was
born June 9, 1909. Great credit is due to Mr. and Mrs. Wright for
their liberality and care in providing exceptional educational advan-
tages for their children. The older ones are all college graduates, and
are proving themselves worthy and useful and worthy members of the
community.
The Wright family have membership in the Friends church at Little
Ridge in Liberty township. Mr. \Vright is one of the trustees of the
Fairmount Monthly i\Ieeting, and is at the head of the local church. In
politics he supports the Prohibition cause. His fine farm lies one mile
south and three miles west of Fairmount, on the rural free delivery
route No. 21. It comprises one hundred and forty acres of land, and
has been brought to a high state of cultivation, and improvement.
Albert R. Lazure. The United States Glass Company, which was
organized as a corporation in 1891 with main offices at Pittsburg, Penn-
sylvania, established and began the operation of its plant at Gas City in
1893, and this has ever since been one of the important industries of Grant
county, and a very large contributing factor to the prosperity of the
immediate locality. The president of the corporation is Marion G.
Bryce, Ernest Nickel is secretary and treasurer, general factory man-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 708
ager is William M. Anderson, all these gentlemen being at Pittsburg.
The Gas City plant is known as Factoiy U. The output consists of
table glass ware, packers' goods, lamps and lantern globes, and special
novelties and custom work. The plant at Gas City employs about three
hundred and thirty people on the average, and its output in terms of
weight amounts to about a million pounds each mouth. Besides other
staple lines, they turn out a large amount of bar goods. The products
are shipped all over the United States and for export to most civilized
countries.
The factory comprises a sixteen-pot furnace, and a continuous ten-
ring tank, and some automatic machinery is employed. The local man-
agers and officials are Albert R. Lazure, superintendent; D. J. McGrail,
factory manager; Harry M. Kelly, sales manager; H. Taudte, manager
of the mould department; J. C. Adams, manager of the shipping de-
partment; H. P. Lazure, manager of selecting; A. F. Wiegel, night
manager of the factory; James D. Denning, assistant factory manager.
The Gas City plant was constructed during the winter of 1892-93,
and began operations in May, 1893. The original reasons for establish-
ing the plant here was of course the plentiful supply of natural gas.
That was the fuel used until 1903, at which time the factory was equipped
with gas producers, which have since been relied upon for the greater .
part of the fuel. However, in the finishing department, fuel oil and
natiiral gas are combined. The power plant consists of four one hun-
dred and fifty horse-power boilers. This power is used in many wa.ys. for
driving the electric generators, for producing compressed and volumn
air, and in other ways. Volumn air is used not only for cooling the
moulds, but is necessary to supply ample quantities of fresh and cool
air in the work-rooms and about the fvirnaces. The factory has all
facilities for sanitary conditions, and is regarded as a model in this
respect by factory inspectors.
The fundamental materials used for the production of glass are
sand, soda ash. lime, and potash. To these are added in various combi-
nations such chemicals as manganese, arsenic, and powder blue, special
machinery being employed to mix these various ingredients. Two grades
of glass are manufactured, and different mixing is recjuired for each.
The pot furnace glass is the more expensive, and of the higher quality,
being a glass of greater brilliancy and quality. In the pot furnace there
are sixteen clay pots, each with a capacity of one and a half tons, and
when each pot is filled with the ingredients, it is hermetically sealed, and
is kept closed until the melting process is finished, at which time the
seal is removed and the actual work of converting the molten mass into
glassware is begun. This process requires about twenty-four hours for
each pot. In the continuous tank are mixed and melted the materials
for the cheaper grades of ware. This furnace receives the raw material
from the rear, the fire coming in direct contact with the material, and
the molten composition is drawn off from the front of the tank. The
company also manufacture on its own grounds all the packing barrels
aud cases used for shipping the ware, and this in itself is a considerable
industry, since many thousands of barrels are manufactured each year.
Mr. Lazure has been associated with the Gas City Plant since April,
1893, before it began operations, and took charge as superintendent in
October of the same year. Next oldest among the local officials is Mr.
Denning, assistant factory manager, who has been connected with the
business since 1894, and has held his present position since November,
1913. Albert R. Lazure was born at Bellaire, Ohio, a noted center of
glass industry, on December 13, 1869. After graduating from high
school in 188'6. he at once accepted employment with W. A. Gorby of
704 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
the Bellaire Goblet Compauy. In 1889 he went to Findlay, Ohio, did
general otSce work there, and in 1892 took charge of the glass factory
at Findlay, and continued until it was dismantled in January, 1893.
During the following months he traveled in Canada and the United
States, until locating permanently in Gas City.
In 1901 Mr. Lazure was married in Jonesboro to Miss Daisy B.
Bates, who was born and reared and educated at Jonesboro, and was
for some time a student of music in the conservatory at Fort Wayne.
They have one child, IMarjorie, three and a half years old. ilr. Lazure
and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he
is a trustee, and he served four years in the city council, and on Novem-
ber 4, 1913, was reelected for another period of four years, being chair-
man of the board. He affiliates with Jonesboro Lodge of Masons, with
the Knight Templar Commandery at ]\Iarion and of the JIarion Lodge.
B. P. 0. E. He is regarded as one of the leading men of Gas City, and
having been identified with one of its most important industries since
the beginning has filled a very useful place in the community.
Albert Frank Seiberling. Probably one of the leading enterprises
in its line in the world, the Indiana Rubber and Insulated "Wire Com-
pany has been developed to its present large proportions by a group
of progressive, energetic and enterprising business men, whose fortunes
are connected with this industry, and who have prospered with its re-
markable prosperity. Ever since its organization, during a period of
more than twenty years, Albert Frank Seiberling has held a responsible
position with this concern, and has contributed much to its growth and
steady advancement. A man of foresight, judgment and modern ideas,
in the capacities of assistant treasurer, member of the board of directors
and general superintendent, he is assisting his associates to still further
forward the company's interests, but at the same time has found leisure
in which to help other public-spirited men in their activities for the
puHic welfare, and in social life has become widely known in Jonesboro.
Mr. Seiberling was born at Doylestown, Ohio, ilay 16, 1866. the third
of the six children born to James H. Seiberling, president of the com-
pany, a sketch of the family being found in the father's sketch on an-
other page of this work. Mr. Seiberling was given good educational
advantages, first attending the public and high schools of Doylestown
and later attending Eastman's Business College, at Poughkeepsie. New
York, where he received his diploma with the class of 1886. He received
his introduction to business life with the Diamond Plate Glass Com-
pany, of Kokomo, Indiana, of which his father was a director, and with
which the son continued to be associated during a period of two years,
between the time of leaving Eastman and going to Kokomo. Later he
joined his father in the manufacture of farming machinery at Doyles-
town, and continued there until 1891, when he helped to organize the
Indiana Rubber and Insulated "Wire Company. At that time he was
made secretary of the concern, but in 1892 became superintendent, and
in that same year joined the board of directors. The superintendency
of this large business carries with it a great load of responsibilities.
There are 400 people employed in the plant, manufacturing approxi-
mately $1,250,000 worth of goods annually, the product being automo-
bile tires and inner tubes, a full line of rubber goods of all kinds, bi-
cycle tires (about 1,000 per day fall and winter and 1.800 per day spring
and summer) and insulated wire. The business was organized for the
manufacture of the last-named product, but after three years began
making rubber goods, and this has since become one of the most im-
portant features of the trade. The company has the reputation of
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 705
making goods that are unexcelled in quality, a reputation that is being
steadfastly maintained. Every market of any size the world over car-
ries a line of these Indiana goods, and the company has done nmch to
spread the name and fame of Jonesboro as a manufacturing center.
^Mr. Seiberliug is a man of energy and one able to achieve results. His
associates rely upon him absolutely and he has never given them reason
to regret their confidence.
In 1892, not long after coming to Jonesboro, Mr. Seiberling was
united iu marriage with Miss Angle B. Cline, who was born at Elwood,
Indiana, July 30, 1S70, but who was reared and educated in Jonesboro.
She is a daughter of Adam H. Cline, a business man of Jonesboro, and
a stalwart citizen and supporter of the Republican party. Mrs. Cline,
whose maiden name was Mary Thamburg, died in middle life, .Mrs. Sei-
berliug at that time being twelve years of age. She was a devoted mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and a capable. Christian woman.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seiberling, namely : Paul
A., a graduate of the class of 1913, Marion High School, and now a
student in Purdue University, where he is taking a course in chemical
engineering; Mary Katharine, aged twelve years, who is attending the
Jonesboro graded schools ; the oldest and youugest died in infancy. Mr.
and ilrs. Seiberling are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
eliurcli. and have been active in its various movements and charities.
3Ir. Seiberling is a Republican in his political views, and, whUe he has
not been an office seeker, has fulfilled the duties of citizenship as a mem-
ber of the town board for thirteen years, and has been able to do much
for his adopted locality. Fraternally he is popular as a member of
the Masons, iu which he belongs to the Blue Lodge and Chapter at
Jonesboro and the Commandery at Marion, and also holds membership
in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the local lodge of the
Knights of Pythias.
John H. Waldeon has taken no inconsiderable part in the public
affairs of Gas City, where for more than twenty-five years he has
been identified with business affairs as a carpenter and contractor.
It was his distinction to have been the first city treasurer elected after
the incorporation of Gas City, and he served as a clerk of the old town
board, and has twice been a member of the city council as aldei-man. In
business he is one of the successful men, and is well known in the com-
munity.
Born in Adams county, Ohio, October 16, 1856, John H. Waldron
came to Grant count}' when six years old. His mother, then a widow,
located at Jalapa iu Pleasant township, where he grew up and learned
the trade of carpenter under Stephen Sherman. With the exception of
four years he has been in business on his own account, since he acquired
the principals and details of the trade.
Mr. Waldron is a sou of Elijah and Lydia (Ross) Waldron. His
father was a native of Ohio, as was his wife, and they were married iu
Adams county, locating on a farm on Brush Creek. He followed a com-
bination of arming and coopering. A skilled mechanic, he did consid-
erable business as a maker of tubs, and buckets and other woodenware.
These wares were manufactured out of cedar. The father died in
Adams county in 1861, when about thirty-six years of age, and left
his widow with two sons, the other being Elijah A., who died iu
Mill township of Grant county in 1909, when fifty-three years old, and un-
married. The mother brought her children to Jalapa in Grant county in
1861. Later she married, but had no children by her second union. Her
death occurred in Japala in 1873, when forty-nine years old. She was a
member and a regular attendant of the Methodist Protestant church.
Vol. 11—17
706 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Mr. J. H. Waldrou was married iu Pleasant township to Miss Lydia
Grindle, who was born in Pleasant township in 1865, and was reared
and educated there. She separated from her husband after the birth
of two children, one of whom died in infancy, and the other is Lena
Ethel, wife of WiUiam Scott, of Marion. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have no
children.
Mr. Waldron for his second wife was married in Union City, Indi-
ana, to J\Irs. Delia Hoff. She was born in this state in April, 1859, was
reared and educated here, and by her marriage to John Hoff has three
living children : Earl, who is an electrical engineer at Fort Wayne, is
married and has two children ; Charles D., a photogi'apher of Fort
Wayne, is unmarried; and Bessie lives at home with her mother and is
a thoroughly educated young woman. Mrs. Waldron is a member of
the Christian church, and Mr. Waldron has membership in two fra-
ternal societies, with Jonesboro Lodge No. 109 of the Masons, and with
Jonesboro Lodge No. 82 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In politics he is a Democrat, and his various promotions to public posi-
tions have come through the medium of that party, although his indi-
vidual popularity in the city would be sufficient to elect him without
party affiliation. In 1908 Mr. Waldron built a fine home at the corner
of Short and North A Streets, and he and his family enjoy the best
comforts of life in that attractive residence.
Israel S. Benbow. This well known citizen of Grant county lives
eight miles south of Marion, on the Liberty and Green township pike,
near Oak Ridge, where he is the owner of a weU-cultivated tract of
land. Mr. Benbow has long been identified with the agricultural
interests of this section, and has also been active in public life, serving
as a member of the board of county commissioners of Grant county
for three years. He was born on a farm in Monroe township. Grant
county, Indiana, July 8, 1868, and is a son of Thomas and Hannah E.
(Jenkins) Benbow.
Thomas Benbow was also born in Grant county, Indiana, June 11,
1836, and was a son of Evan Benbow, the latter being a son of John
Benbow, who came to Grant county, Indiana, as early as 1833 from
Guilford county. North Carolina, and settled on a farm in Mill town-
ship, among the pioneers. Thomas Benbow adopted the vocation of
farming in his youth, and was so engaged in Monroe township at the
time of the outbreak of the Civil War. With other young men of his
community he enlisted for service iu the LTniou army, becoming a
private in the Fifty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with
which he served until the close of hostilities. When peace was declared
between the North and the South, Mr. Benbow resumed his farming
operations, and for a long period continued to be engaged therein in
Monroe township, but is now living retired from active life, having a
comfortable home at Gas City. He was married in 1858 to Hannah E.
Jenkins who survives him. She was born in Monroe township. Grant
county, Indiana, a daughter of Israel Jenkins, a pioneer of Grant county,
Indiana. Israel S. is the eldest of their children.
Israel S. BenboAV received his education in the district schools of
Monroe township, which he attended during three months each winter,
the rest of the year being spent in assisting his father and brothers in
the work of the homestead. It was but natural that he should adopt
farming as a vocation, and at the time of his marriage he located on
his present farm, a handsome property which he has developed to a
high state of cultivation. Mr. Benbow is the owner of eighty-two
acres in Liberty township and eighty acres in section 13, Center town-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 707
ship, all of this property having been acquired through the medium of
his own efforts. He carries on general farming and has also been
successful in the raising of stock, and is recognized as one of the
progressive, intelligent men of this part of the county.
On Februai-y 28, 1893, Mr. Beubow was united in marriage with
Miss Belle Nelson, the daughter of James R. Nelson, and a member of
an old and honored Grant county family, ilr. and Mrs. Benbow have
had no children. They are consistent members of the New Light
Christian church, and have been liberal in their support of its move-
ments. For many years j\Ir. Benbow has been stalwart in his support
of the principles and candidates of the Republican party, and has
served his fellow-townsmen as county commissioner of Grant county, a
position to which he was elected in 1907 and held for three years, and
as justice of the peace in Monroe township, before he was married, a
capacity in which he acted two years. In "both of these offices he
displayed ability and a conscientious regard for the duties of public
service, winning the confidence of his townsmen, a confidence that he
has been able to retain to the present time.
Francis H. Wimpy. The late Francis H. Wimpy was a man of many
excellent and admirable qualities, and his untimely passing at the early
age of thirty-seven years was a decided loss to that community in which
he made his home, and where he was highly esteemed and regarded of
all who knew him. He came of an old Southern family, and he was
born on his father's farm, to eighty acres of which he succeeded on the
death of his father, the date of his birth being August 4, 1870. He died
at his home in Mill township on February 2.5, 1907, leaving a widow and
one daughter to mourn his loss.
Francis Wimpy was the son of Robert and Sarah (Hocket) Wimpy.
The father was a native son of Georgia, and his parents were of an old
Georgia family, still well known in that state. They passed their entire
lives there, their son Robert being the first of that immediate branch
of the Wimpy family to migrate to the north. Robert Wimpy was a
young man when he first came to Indiana, and soon after he settled in
Grant county he met and married Sarah Hocket. the marriage taking
place in Mill township. She was a native of Ohio, born in Clinton
county, and was the daughter of John and Mary (Noradack) Hocket,
both of Ohio. Thej' came to Indiana before the Civil war broke out, and
here in the wilds of Grant county they purchased land that was destined
to be changed into a fruitful farm under their tireless efforts. They
improved a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, bringing it to a fine
state of subjection, and there they passed their remaining days. They
were full of years when they died, he being at the age of eighty-four and
she having passed her eighty-second milestone. They were life long
members of the Friends church, and were fine and sturdy specimens of
American citizenship all their days. They had two sons and two daugh-
ters. One son, Barkley Hocket, still lives, and is a resident of Gypsum,
Colorado.
Sarah (Hocket) Wimpy died on August 13, 1875, when her infant
son, Francis H. Wimpy of this review, was nine days old. She was
born in 1832, and when she married Mr. Wimpy in Mill township, they
began life on the old Hocket farm. They had just built a new home
on the place when she died, and the house is now occupied by the widow
of her son, Francis.
After the death of his first wife, Robert Wimpy married a Miss
Rush, who is still living. She has a residence in South Carolina, and
708 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
she is past seventy years of age. When Mr. "Wimpy died on May 15,
1899, they were residing at Winchester, Indiana, and after his death
she went to South Carolina, as has been stated. Mr. Wimpy and
both his wives were members of the Jonesboro Friends church, and he
was a Republican in his politics. He was a soldier of the Confederacy
in the Civil war, but so strong were his convictions in favor of the north
that he deserted at Gettysburg and came north, thereafter giving his
undivided sympathy and support to the Union cause.
By his second marriage Mr. Wimpj^ became the father of three chil-
dren, — Mida, Clayton and William. The two first named are stiU liv-
ing, and both are single. Two sons were born of his first marriage. Asa
N., the first born, is now connected with the Marion National Bank,
and is married to Millie, a daughter of Noah Small.
Francis H. Wimpy, the second born son, was reared to farm life on
the old home place, and in young manhood he came into possession of
eighty acres of the homestead upon the passing of his father. Here his
widow now resides, with their daughter. Mr. Wimpy was married in
]\lill township on December 4, 1889, to Miss Corintha B. Clark, who
was born in Jefferson township. Grant county, Indiana, on March 26,
1870. She was reared and educated in MiU township and since the
death of her late husband she has operated the farm most successfully.
She is what is generally known as a "hustler," and her farm is second
to none in condition and improvements, ilrs. Wimpy is the daughter
of Simon B. and Julia (Nottingham) Clark. The father was born in
Pennsylvania, on June 22, 1832, and he was five years old when his
family came to Indiana and settled in Fairmount to\\mship, Grant
county. Here the father of Simon Clark, James Clark, died on May
14, 1878, at a fine old age. His wife was Sarah Simons, who died some
fourteen years after her husband, when she was ninety-three years of
age. They were stanch old Methodist people and reared a large family,
among which Simon B., father of Mrs. Wimpy, was the youngest but
one. His wife, Julia Nottingham, was born at Muncie, Indiana, on July
3, 1835, and died in Grant county on May 30, 1888. She, too, was a
Methodist. They had ten children, two of which died in infancy, and
the remaining eight are still living, all but one being married and having
children. One of Mrs. Wimpy 's brothers, John B. Clark, is assistant
postmaster at Marion.
To Francis H. Wimpy and his wife one daughter was born, — Ursula
"Wimpy, whose natal day is November 11. 1896. She was educated at
the Deer Creek School, and is now living at home with her mother.
Mrs. Wimpy is a member of the Methodist church, but her daughter is
affiliated with the church of the Friends as a member. They are among
the most highly esteemed people of the township, and are much admired
for the sturdy and independent qualities that have marked then- careers,
especially since the death of the husband and father.
LoRA A. Prickett. The business enterprise of Gas City has no
stronger nor better managed institution than the Custer Lumber Com-
pany, of which Lora A. Prickett is the active head. He is one of the
progressive younger business men of that community.
Mr Prickett, who represents one of the old families of Grant county,
was born in Pleasant township, near Japala, September 5, 1874. His
boyhood was spent on his father's homstead, and his education was sup-
plied by the public schools and the Marion Business College of Marion.
In 1896 he was taken in as a clerk and general all-around man with The
Humphrevs Lumber Company of :Marion. He readily adapted himself
to the business, and in 1900 was sent to Gas City to manage the branch
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 709
office of the company. The business has a long record, having been
established in Marion thirty-five years ago by D. Humphreys and Com-
pany. The original firm was at 14th and Washington streets, Marion,
Indiana, and at the junction of Main Street and the Pennsylvania Rail-
way tracks, Gas Citj', a site peculiarly appropriate for shipping facil-
ities and the general convenience of the trade.
In 1900 ]\Ir. Prickett joined Joseph L. Custer, a member of the Hum-
phreys Lumber Company, and together they took over the Gas City end
of the business as a separate concern, and carried on a partnership ar-
rangement under the name of the Custer Lumber Company. In 1905
the company was incorporated with a capital stock of twelve thousand
dollars and with the following officers: Joseph L. Custer, president;
R, J. Custer, vice president ; and L. A. Prickett, secretary-treasurer and
manager. In 1907 Joseph L. Custer died and the subseciuent changes
in the personnel of the company brought about its following officers
and directors : Mrs. L. A. Prickett, president ; T. A. Prickett, vice presi-
dent ; and Lora A. Prickett, secretary-treasurer and general manager.
The company is a close corporation, owned and managed by the Prickett
family, and Mr. Prickett is the largest holder of stock and practically
proprietor and active head of the flourishing concern. They do a big
business as dealers in all kinds of building material, and in their mills
manufacture an extensive line of interior finishings. From four to five
skilled workmen are constantly employed in the milling department,
besides those who look out for the office details and the general work
of the lumber j^ard. The advertising motto of this concern is : " Good
wood goods," and it has been the ambition of the proprietors and it
can be said of them that they have succeeded in fulfilling to the very
letter the standard kept up in this motto. Although their business is
of a local character, they send out frequently carload lots to outside
points.
Concerning the Prickett family the genealogical record places it
in Grant county at the very early times, and they were certainly here
before the Indians had left the country. Mr. Prickett is the grandson
of "William Prickett, whose residence when first known was in the state
of Ohio. He was married in Pennsylvania to Catherine Rice. While
William Prickett and wife were living in Ohio on a farm, their son,
who became later the Rev. Thomas Prickett, and the father of the Gas
City business man, was born November 1st, 1826. A few years later,
when Thomas was still a child, the Pricketts left Ohio, and settled in
Grant county, in the wilderness of Pleasant township. William Prickett
was thus one of the hardy pioneers, and was assisted in his strenuous
efforts to make a home by his loyal wife and his youthful son, Thomas.
They cleared up the land, and in time had improved a good farm near
Jalapa. There William Prickett and his wife died when old people,
and held in the highest respect by all the community. They were
among the leading members of the First Methodist religious organiza-
tion in Pleasant township.
Rev. Thomas Prickett was reared on a farm, followed farming as
his regular vocation and the means of support for his family, and with
that combined his work as a local preacher in the Methodist church. He
was a useful citizen in every walk, is still well remembered in his sec-
tion of the county. Late in life he returned to Sweetser, where his
death occurred in 1897. He was for many years a Democrat, but some-
time before his death became a staunch Prohibitionist, and was a man
who voted his principles. He was twice married, and his first wife was
Miss Susanah Alexander. She died in the prime of life leaving three
children. She was one of the active workers in the Methodist church,
710 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
and assisted her husband in religious affairs. Rev. Thomas Prickett
married for his second wife Miss Nancy White. Mrs. Prickett, who
is now seventy-nine years of age, still in possession of all her faculties
and a highl^v respected woman, lives on west Third Street in Clarion,
and all her active career has been as a worker and prominent member
of the Methodist Episcopal church. She is a native of Randolph county,
Indiana, having been born at an early time in that county's history.
She came to womanhood in Grant county, and has lived here long
enough to have witnessed nearly all the improvements which have been
made by white men. She became the mother of five sons and five daugh-
ters, and Lora A. Prickett was next to the youngest in her family.
Mr. L. A. Prickett was married in Grant county to Miss Anna Sharon,
who was born in Franklin township in the suburbs of Marion, in 1877.
With a public school education, she entered upon life's duties well pre-
pared and has proved not only a good home maker, but a good business
woman. Her parents were James and Nancy (Lytle) Sharon. Her
parents were natives of Grant county, and spent most of their time in
Franklin township, though some years ago they took up their residence
in Sweetser, where Mr. Sharon died in 1902. Mrs. Sharon makes her
home in that village, and is now seventy-nine years of age. Both were
old-time Methodists, and honest upright people, a certain definite moral
influence in their community, where they were always esteemed for
their sterling worth, ilr. Prickett and wife are the parents of three
children: Martha Helen Gwendoline, aged eleven years and now attend-
ing the public schools of Gas City; Richard Carlton, aged five years;
and Mary Adelaide, eighteen months old at this writing. Mr. Prickett
has just completed a fine new bungalow home in the best residential
section of East Main Street, and there he and his family are prepared
to enjoy the best comforts of domestic existence. They are active mem-
bers of the First Methodist Church, ilr. Prickett being an official in
the society, and he is well known in fraternal affairs, having passed the
different chairs of the Masonic Lodge, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, having represented the last two in
the Grand Lodge, and is also affiliated with the Improved Order of Red
Men. In politics he is a Democrat.
ASHTON HORNEB. Among the large class of substantial, progressive
farmers and stockraisers who make their home in Grant count.v, none
are more deserving of mention because of their contributions to the
development of their community than Ashton Horner, the owner of a
well developed tract of land in IMill township. Mr. Horner has the
added distinction of belonging to an old and honored family of Grant
county. His grandfather, John Horner, was a native of the Keystone
state, and after his marriage to a Pennsylvania girl moved to Preble
county, Ohio, and in 1840 made removal to Grant county, Indiana. Mr.
Horner was a farmer b.v vocation and for many years carried on opera-
tions on his Mill township property, the farm upon which stood the old
pottery at Gas City. But he also devoted his attention to preaching
the Gospel as a Primitive Baptist minister. He experienced the various
hardships and privations of the pioneer preacher, being forced to cover
great spaces of country on horse-back, and gave his services freely where
needed without thinking of remuneration. Of the children of this sturdy
and God-fearing pioneer. John, Jr., the father of Ashton Horner, was
born in Preble county, Ohio, in 1826. He was still a lad when he accom-
panied his parents to Grant county, and here he grew to manhood as
a pioneer youth, dividing his time between the hard, unremitting work
of clearing the home farm from the heavy timber, and securing such
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 711
educational advantages as were offered during the short winter terms
in the primitive subscription schools, held for the most part in log
cabins. When he was ready to establish a home of his own, he was
married to Miss Clarissa McCormick, of Fairmouut township, a daugh-
ter of Robert McCormick, a pioneer of that township and at one time
one of the largest landholders in this part of the county, having two
and one-half sections in his several farms, the gi-eater part of this land
being located adjacent to the Muncie turnpike in Mill township.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. John Horner settled in Mill
towTiship, and there both became the owners of eighty-acre farms, ilr.
Horner met an accidental death, being killed October 8, 1870, by the
fall of a tree, and the mother subsequently contracted a second marriage,
being united with George Horner. They spent the remainder of their
lives in Mill township, and there the mother passed away in 1903, at
the age of seventy-two years, the husband having passed away some
time before.
Ashton Horner was born March 16, 1860, in Fairmount township,
was here reared and educated, and learned the various things essential
for the successful farmer to know. In 1908 he purchased his present
farm, a tract of seventy acres lying in section 10, Mill township. Here
he has made many improvements which have increased not alone the
homestead's beauty, but its value as well. He has two drilled wells,
two red barns, of substantial character and modern design, and a large
white residence, fitted with the latest comforts and conveniences. His
other buildings, for the shelter of his grain, implements and stock, are
commodious, sanitary and well-lighted, and, taken all in all, this set
of farm buildings compares favorably with any in the township. Wliile
general farming has occupied the greater part of his time and attention,
he has also met with a full measure of success in raising stock, and at
this time is making a specialty of Short Horn and Jersey cattle, and
Duroc and Poland-China hogs. Among his associates, Mr. Horner is
known as a man of the utmost integrity, whose word is synonymous with
honorable dealing.
Mr. Horner was married at Upland, Indiana, to Miss Maggie Burns,
who was born September 22, 1858, in the city of Tolpdo, Ohio, and came
to Grant county as a baby, following which she yed at Matthews,
Indiana, continuously until the time of her marriage. She is a daugh-
ter of John and Mary (McConnell) Burns, natives of Ireland, who came
to the United States as young people and were married in New York.
They M'ere residents of Toledo, Ohio, for some time after their marriage,
but ultimately came to Grant county, and spent the remainder of their
lives at Matthews, the father dying there in 1893, at the age of sixty
years, and the mother dying in 1911, when eighty years old. Mr. and
Mrs. Horner are the parents of the following children : Maude V., who
was educated in the public and high schools and now resides with her
parents : Nellie May, a member of the graduating class of the Jones-
boro High school, 1915, also living with her parents; and Eva, who
died as a child of eighteen months, the result of an accident. Mr. and
Mrs. Horner are members of the Presbyterian church and have been
active in supporting its various movements. In political matters Mr.
Horner is a Republican, but he has not cared for the activities of public
life.
Benjamin F. Dickey. One of the big farmers of Grant county, a
far-sighted business man, the accumulator of a generous prosperity,
Ben.iamin F. Dickey about forty years ago, after his marriage, began his
career as a renter. He has lived the quiet, plain life of a farmer, and
712 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
in his character the love of land, of peace and industry, have been cardinal
\'irtues. His success, which has been of a large and worthy nature has
been won as the result of his own well directed efforts, and he has pi'oved
himself an eflScient farmer, aud a valuable citizen, ilr. Dickey is o^vner
and proprietor of what is known as The ^laples Farm, in section thirty-
three of Liberty township, situated one mile south and four miles west
of Fairmount, on the rural deliveiy route No. 21.
Benjamin F. Dickey was born in Fayette county, Indiana, March 14,
1841. a son of William and Jane (Miller) Dickey. William Dickey was
a son of Hugh and ilargaret (Spence) Dickey. The father of Hugh
Dickey was reared and married in the north "of Ireland, from which
country he set out on a sailing vessel about the time of the Revolutionary
war for America. During the voyage the ship was foundered, and ail
the women and children were taken off by Ihe crew in the life boats. As
the boat in which his famil}- were placed was pulling away from the
vessel, the father in his anxiety and despair leaped into the water, and
seized the edge of the boat, and hung on until the captain struck off his
hands with a sabre, cutting him loose, so that he was lost. The family
were saved and came on to the L'nited States, locating first in Pennsyl-
vania, and afterwards moving to Kentucky, locating in Scott county near
Georgetown. From there Hugh Dickey moved to Batavia, Ohio, and
finally to Fayette county, Indiana, where he was one of the pioneer set-
tlers and lived until his death. William Dickey, father of Benjamin F.,
was born in 1797 m Kentucky, moved from there to Ohio, and accom-
panied the family to Fayette county, Indiana, where he grew to manhood
and was married. His wife. Jane Miller, was a daughter of John
Miller, who was bona near ;\Iarion courthouse, on the little Pedee river
in South Carolina.. From that state he uumigrated ^^ith his family to
Tennessee, where he lived a year, then moved to Georgetown, in Scott
county. Kentuckj^, where he was a farmer for about twelve years, and
about 1816 located in Fayette county, Indiana, which was his home until
his death. William Dickey and wife moved to Grant county, Indiana,
in 1870, and there spent the rest of their ives. In their family were
eight children, four sous and four daughters, and two are now living.
The brother of Benjamin F. is John M., a retired farmer in Fairmount.
William S. Dickey, another of the sons was killed while serving in the
navy near Charleston. S. C, during the Civil war. All the others grew
up and had families of their own.
^Ir. Benjamin F. Dickey was reared on a farm in Fayette county,
Indiana, and lived at home until he was twenty-nine years of age. As
a boy he had the advantage of the district schools during the winter, and
was trained to the vigorous pursuits of the farm in the summer seasons.
His school days were finished when he was about eighteen, and at the
age of twenty-one he rented his father's farm and it was conducted under
his successful management until he was twenty-nine years of age. He
accompanied his parents to Grant county in 1870, but soon returned to
Fayette county.
In the latter county on October 11, 1871, occurred liis marriage to
Miss Cecelia Tingley. who was born and reared in Fayette county,
received her education in the local schools. Her father. Dr. U. B.
Tingley was for many years a practicing physician in Harrisburg of
Fayette county. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dickey located on
the farm, which is now a portion of their fine country establishment.
Buying forty acres of land, Mr. Dickey ^nth the aid of his wife set himself
energetically to its cultivation and improvement, gradually extended his
buildings, fences and ai-e:i of cultivated land, and at the same time
added to his acreage from time to time, until his home place now com-
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 713
prises three hundred and sixty acres in one body. Besides that he is
the owner of one hundred and sixty acres elsewhere in Liberty township,
and altogether has five hundred and twenty acres in that township,
besides one hundred and sixty acres in Green township. Besides these
generous landed possessions he is the owner of property in Marion and
Fairmount.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dickey was born one son, Oscar
Dickey, on December 26, 1874. He grew up on the home farm, received
a gooci education, and has taken up the vocation of his father for whom he
is the practical manager of the large estate under the family ownership.
Mr. Dickey spends most of his time supervising his large property
interests, and does little of the practical work of the farm. He and his
wife are active members of the church of Christ at Rigdon. In politics
his vote was cast in the Republican interests for a number of years, but
during the past twenty-eight years he has always cast his ballot for the
Prohibition ticket. Mr. and Mrs. Dickey have preferred to spend their
declining years on their beautiful and attractive home place in the coun-
try, and have surrounded themselves with many comforts and advan-
tages, at the same time enjoying the increasing respect and esteem of
all who know them.
Jesse Jay. It was in the year 1849 that Denny Jay settled in Grant
county, and from then until now there have been found men of the
name living worthily in and about the county, carrying on the name,
which is one of the old southern origin, and generally conducting them-
selves in a manner becoming and praiseworthy. They have filled useful
places in the civic life of their various communities, and have builded
homes that have reflected credit upon themselves and their progeny.
They have come to be property holders, all generations having tilled
the soil to excellent advantage, and best of all, they have been citizens
of a high type from first to last.
Jesse Jay, representing the second generation of the family in Grant
county, has been no exception to the general rule of the family. He
is the grandson of Jesse Jay, born in South Carolina and the scion of a
stanch old southern family of Quakers. More than a hundred years ago
he was wedded in the Quaker church of his native community and with
his bride set out for the north in search of a new home in a new land.
They settled in Miami county, Ohio, at a time when the country was
in a wholly iinimproved and almost uncivilized state, located on a wilder-
ness farm, and there passed their remaining days. He died at a fine
old age, in 1840.
Of Jesse Jay's children, Denny Jay was the youngest, and he became
the father of Jesse Jay of this review. He was boi'n in Miami county,
Ohio, in 1808, soon after the arrival of the parents in the north, at a
time prior to the incorporation of the state as such, and it should be
mentioned here that his parents were among the leaders in the organi-
zation of the Friends church in Ohio. Denny Jay was reared in Miami
county, farm life being his portion, and there in young manhood he
married Mary, the daughter of Elisha Jones. Of the latter it should be
said that he was born and reared in South Carolina, and there was mar-
ried ; that he came early in life to Miami county, Ohio, where his daugh-
ter, Mary, was born in 1807, and that they passed the remainder of
their lives in Miami county, well known as farming people and as fine
old Quakers.
It was in 1849 that Denny Jay, accompanied by his wife and their
five children, came to Indiana and settled on a 200 acre farm along the
Mississinewa River in Mill township. They paid for their land $17.00
714 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
per acre in gold, and it is a notable fact that they carried the golden
coins in a bag that had its resting place under the seat of the buggy in
which they made the long and tedious trip. The farm today is one of
the ideally located ones in the district, and part is owned and occupied
by Jesse Jay. In that early daj' Mr. Jay found a ready market for
his every product, and they prospered there as long as they lived. The
father died in 1870 and his widow survived him for three years. She
was one year older than her husband, having been born in 1807. Mr.
and Mrs. Jay were early membei-s of the Back Creek Quarterly Meet-
ing Association, and he was for some years an Elder in the church.
Politically, Mr. Jay was in early life a Whig, but later he became a
Republican with the birth of the new party, and he voted for John C.
Fremont.
Of their five sons and five daughters, nine grew to years of matu-
rity. All married but three of the nine. Three of the nine are yet
living, — Jesse Jay of this review; a brother, Lambert B., for the past
thirt.y-two years a resident of Kansas and now about sixty-one years
of age; and Mrs. Cynthia Anne Winslow, aged eighty-two years. One
brother, David, a graduate of the law department at Ann Arbor, Mich-
igan, died at the untimely age of twenty-five years, though most of the
others reached middle age before they passed on.
Jesse Jaj' was born on February 17, 1840, in Miami county, Ohio,
and he was nine years old when the family came to Grant county. Bar-
ring three years, he has spent the entire time here since the family
migration thither in 1849. He was reared on the home farm which is
now his property, or at least eighty-five acres of it is his, his place being
one of the fine ones of the township, lying along the Marion and Jones-
boro pike, and being admirably located for convenience and a pleasant
outlook. Fine and commodious buildings grace the place, and his is one
of the best kept and most productive farms in the township, according
to common repute.
Mr. Jay was married in Fairmount on February 16, 1865, to Miss
Susan Winslow, born near Fairmount village on August 2, 1846, and a
daughter of Jesse Winslow, a representative of the old and honored
Winslow family, already mentioned more or less fully in the history of
the Winslow family appearing elsewhere in this work.
Mr. and Mrs. Jay have four children, concerning whom the following
brief facts are set forth.
Lawrence, the eldest, is employed by the United States Glass Com-
pany at Gas City; he married Miss Louise Richardson and they have
two children, Erasta and Jessie, who live at home.
Adelpha, the wife of L. R. Gift, a druggist of Converse, Indiana, is
the mother of six childi-en : Wendel, Weldon, Juanita, Mary A., Robert
and Elizabeth. The older children have received college educations,
and the younger ones will doubtless share in the same privileges as
they reach the proper age.
Mary became the wife of Albert Kiser, who is employed in the tire
department of the Indiana Rubber Plant; they make their home with
Mr. and Mrs. Jay and have one daughter. Fay Sue.
Watson D. is now assistant cashier of the Jonesboro State Bank, and
he is one of the most progressive young business men of the town. He,
like his brothers and sister, was given a splendid education, and is
proving himself a capable man in matters of finance, having in charge
the entire business of the Jonesboro institution with which he is con-
nected, including loans, etc. He is making excellent progress in his
work, and -will doubtless be heard from in fields higher up in the future.
He is unmarried and makes his home with his parents.
BLACKFORD AiND GRANT COUNTIES 715
The parents and their sons and daughters are members of the Quaker
church, and Mr. Jay and his sous are stanch Republicans and citizens
of the most approved type. Their place in popular contideuce and
esteem is no uncertain one, and they enjoy the friendship of a large
circle of genuine friends in and about Jonesboro.
"Watson D. Jay. In estimating the financial strength of Grant
county the banks and bankers of its smaller municipalities are deserv-
ing of very prominent mention, for they are the tributaries of larger
financial institutions and have an important part in swelling the stream
of the county's prosperity. To the town bank comes the farmer from
the surrounding countryside and deposits the golden fruits of his toil.
From the proprietor of that bank his customers may ask and receive
sound financial advice. He is their friend and adviser as well as their
banker. The farm loan, that solid rock of fiuancial investment, is placed
with him or is negotiated through some larger banking institution
through his agency. Upon the stability and security of these smaller
banks as well as upon the honor and integrity of those in control of
them, rests the whole superstructure of the confidence and trust reposed
in them.
In this connection may be given a short review of one of Grant
county's substantial citizens. "Watson D. Jay, assistant cashier of the
Citizens Bank of Jonesboro, an institution which has long occupied an es-
tablished place in public confidence. Mr. Jay is a native of the county,
having been born on a farm in Fairmount township, May 2, 1872, a son
of Jesse Jay, a sketch of whose career will be found on another page
of this work. Mr. Jay's education was secured in the public schools
of Marion, the Normal school of that city, from which he secured his
diploma, and the Stenographic Institute of Indianapolis. For five
years he was employed in a business office in Gas City, and then became
identified with banking in the First National Bank of Marion, where he
arose to the position of teller and remained for ten years. He then came
to his present position as assistant cashier of the Citizens Bank of Jones-
boro, and during the past three j'ears has been in practical charge of
its affairs. The institution was founded in 1905 under the present offi-
cials and is a branch of the Gas City Bank, being practically under the
same management, although operated as a private bank under state
supervision. The shareholders have a combined net worth of over $1,-
500,000, which is a pledge for the security of its depositors, and the
stock of the bank is largely held by local business men. Mr. Jay has
shown himself an able and conservative banker, who may be absolutely
depended upon to protect the best interests of the bank and its patrons.
He is courteous and obliging, and during his period in Jonesboro has
made and retained numerous friends. He has been active in local mat-
ters, although not a politician, and still makes his home ^vith his father
on the old Jay farm.
"While a resident of :Marion, November 16, 1913, Mr. Jay was mar-
ried to Miss Marian F. Stover, who was born in Grant county and edu-
cated in the high school, daughter of "William J. and Rose (Housley)
Stover, natives of this state, who were married in Grant county and
now are residents of Clarion, where the father is connected with a large
business house. Mrs. Stover is a member of the Baptist church, and
both she and her husband are well known in their community. Their
two younger daughters, Elizabeth and ilargaret, reside at home and
are still pursuing their studies. Mr. and Mrs. Jay are attendants of
the Friends church. He is well known in fraternal circles having passed
through the chairs of Masonic Blue Lodge No. 109, and Lodge No. 102,
716 BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES
Knights of Pythias, and has represented both in the Grand Lodge of
the state.
DeWitt Carter. Courageous grasping of opportunities, steadfast
effort and hard, honest toil — these have been the means through which
DeWitt Carter, of Jonesboro, has brought himself to a position among
the leading men of Grant county. Not only this, but he has gained
among them the reputation of being a clear headed man whose advice is
always sound, and now occupies a position in the office of the Indiana
Rubber and Insulated Wire Company, Jonesboro. Indiana. ]\Ir. Carter
was born on his father's farm in Jlill township. Grant county, Indiana,
April 29, 1873, and is a son of "William and Elizabeth (Knight) Carter.
George and Mary (Buller) Carter, the grandparents of DeWitt Car-
ter, were natives of North Carolina and at a very early date left the Old
North state and came overland to Grant county, here entering from the
Government what became known as the William Carter farm, and which
still bears that name. They erected a farm in the woods, living in the
meanwhile in a little log cabin and sharing in the hardships and priva-
tions always incident to life in a pioneer community. They became well
and favorably known throughout their locality, and were regarded as
substantial, Christian people and as devout members of the L^nited
Brethren church, in the faith of which they died. AVilliam Carter was
born in 1847 on the old homestead farm in Mill township, and there
gi-ew up to agi-icultural pursuits, in the meantime securing his educa-
tion in the early district schools. At the time of his father's death he
became the o^vner of the home land, which he subsecjuently converted
into one of the finest farms in the county, fitted ^"ith every modern im-
provement known to country life. He erected a handsome white house,
and two large and well-equipped barns, with every improvement, one
for stock and one for grain, each with cement floors, while the latter had
accommodation for sixty-five tons of hay and one thousand bushels of
grain. The water was secured from a drilled well and drawn by a gaso-
line engine and modern machinery did all of the hea%7- work. Fine live
stock of all kinds were bred here. ^Ir. Carter taking a particular inter-
est in this branch of agricultural work. On this fine property he died in
1911. aged sixty-four years, while the mother still survives at the age of
sixty-one years and is making her home in the vicinity of ilarion. She
belongs to the Friends church at ^Marion, with which the father was
also connected. A man of great industry and strict integrity. Mr. Car-
ter occiipied a prominent place in his community, and as a citizen al-
ways demonstrated his willingness to support measures which promised
to be of benefit to the community in which he lived and labored.
The only child of his parents. DeWitt Carter received his early
education in the public schools, following which he took a course in Fair-
mount Academy, being graduated in 1892. At that time he received his
introduction to business life as assistant cashier of the First National
Bank and later, in 1909. was made cashier of the Citizens Bank of Jones-
boro. He was also for one year connected with the First State Bank of
Gas City, and in 1912 became a stockholder and employee of the Indiana
Rubber and Insulated Wire Company.
Mr. Carter was married to iliss Grace Lawson. who was born in 1878
in Grant county, Indiana, educated in ]\Iarion High school. Her mother
makes her home with Mr. and :Mrs. Carter. They have one daughter:
Colene. born April 8. 1895. and now a student in Jonesville High school,
class of 1914. Mr. and ^Mrs. Carter are Methodists. He is a member
of Masonic Blue Lodge and the Knights of Pythias and Tribe of Ben
Hur. In polities a strong Republican, he has been a real worker in
BLACKFORD AND GRANT COUNTIES 717
the cause of progress and advancement in his city, was a former mem-
ber of the city board, and is now a member of the board of school di-
rectors.
Samuel Small. Owning and occupying a farm of one hundred and
sixty acres, in the southeast quarter of section thirty-one of Franklin
township, Samuel Small is one of the men whose careei's have been effect-
ive and valuable contribution to the progression and history of Grant
county. He is now past his eightieth birthday and has spent the greater
portion of his career in Grant county.
Samuel Small is a native of Henry county, Indiana, where he was
born November 25, 1831, a son of Nathan and Polly (Small) Small, the
parents being distantly related. The father was born in Highland
county, Ohio, and the grandfather came from Virginia. Nathan Small's
wife came from Guilford county. North Carolina. Nathan Small was a
lx)y when he moved to Ind
