ML
97 7.201
D37po
1180303
©ENeAUOGY COL-L-feCrtlON
3 1833 02299 7867
A PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL
RECORD
OF
DELAWARE COUNTY,
IIStDI^^ISt^V,
CONTAINING BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF
Prominent and Representative Citizens
TOGETHER WITH BIOGRAPHIES AND PORTRAITS OF ALL THE
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES,
AND BIOGRAPHIES OF THE
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA.
CHICAGO:
A. W. BOWEN & CO.,
h
PI^EK
118C303
IN placing this Portrait and Biographical Record of Delaware county, Ind.,
before the citizens of this county, the publishers can conscientiously claim
that they have (carried out in full every promise made in their Prospectus.
They point with pride to the elegance of the binding of the volume, and to the
beauty of its typography; to the superiority of the paper on which the work is
printed, and to the truthfulness depicted by its portraits, and to the high class
of art in which the latter are finished. The few typographical errors oontained
within its leaves are such as will occur in any volume on its first i)uliIication,
and they are so trival as to liardly merit even a passing notice. Each and every
biographical sketch has been submitted for correction and approval to the person
for whom it was written, and therefore any error of fact, if there be any, is
solely due to the person for whom the sketch was prepared. Differences in the
spelling of surnames of members of the same family are due to the mutations of
time, or residence in different locations, and in some instances these discrepancies
have been explained — in others, no explanation has been made. The publishers
would here avail themselves of the opportunity to thank the citizens of the
county for the uniform kindness with which they have regarded this undertak-
ing, and for the many services rendered in assisting in the gaining of necessary
information.
Confident that our efforts to please will fully meet the approbation of the
public, we are, Respectfully,
A. W. BOWEN & CO., Puhlhhers.
Jaxuary 1, 3 894.
'\
IN
, J
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on, C. E
on. J. P
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G. F.
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ly, E.
ay, S.
ige, D
nith, A
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H. B.
E. S..
J. v..
H
C
P
n, O. E
J
y, P. H.
J
y, B..
, A. J
, W. D
, J. M
". N..
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t, B....
t, O. L.
ig", J. D.
W
er, B.
.M...
N...
, C. L
t, W
O....
R.
T....
, S .
, E. ■W
D. A.
E....
J. L..
J. W.
W
y, F..
J. H..
n, J. I
,F. L
s, M..
.
Bowers, N. . .
Bowers, R. . .
Bowles, T. J
Boxell, G....
Boyce, C. W
BoYce, Mrs. M,
Boyd, C
Bradbury, A. B
Bradbury, B. P
Braddock, M. C
Brady, A. W. . .
Brady, T. J. . . .
Braninier, D. E
Brainmer, H. . .
Brandon. W. R.
Brandt, D
Branson, H. . . .
Bright, J. D., ..
Brindel, G
Brock. J
Brooks, G. W...
Brotherton, W.
Brotherton, W.
Brown, A
Brown, C
Brown. Mrs. H.
Brown, J. S
Broyles, Mrs. H.
Broyles, T.
Bryan, Brothers
Bryan, R. J..
Bryan, W. R.
Buchanan, J,
Buckles, A...
Buckles, J. S.
Budd, C. A...
Budd, S. O...
Bullock, J. C.
Bunch, R. A.
Burk, J
Burson, J. W
Calaway, W...
Cammack, D. . .
Campbell, A. .
Campbell, A. . .
Campbell, D .
Campbell, R, P
Carmichael, J. .
Carmichael. O.
Cassell, J
Casterline, J. P.
Cathcart. C. W.
Cecil, Z. W....
Chapman, A. W
Chase, I. J
Cheeseman, Mrs,
Chilcote. F. L
Church, C. H
Clark, A. S..
76
211
212
213
213
690
214
643
219
Clark, W. T 608
Claypool, M. S 235
Clemens, W. A 791
Cleveland. S. G.... 117
Cleveng-er, J 717
Cline, T 717
Coffin, W. H 582
Colby, H 691
Colfax, S 164
Collett, J 161
Cooley, W. S 609
Cooper, W. H..M... 236
Cottrell, D. W.... 236
Cowing-, G 237
Crabbs, O. W 240
Cranor, O.N 240
Cromer, G. W 241
Cox. W 766
Crawford, J. W 645
Crooks, C 692
Cropper, I. N 241
Crozier, G 243
Cunning-ham, A. B. 718
Cunningham, M. A. 719
Curtis, Mrs. R. C. . . 646
Daniels, F 740
Darter, H. H 647
Davidson, J 720
Davis, E. E 531
Davis, J. W 171
Davis, L. W 693
DeHaven, A. T 532
Depoy, M. E 533
Devoe, A 533
Devoe, O. H 695
Dick, P. B 253
Dill, N. C 534
Downing, J. R 648
Dragoo, B. S 649
Dragoo, J. W 245
Drake, J. W 246
Driscoll, W. E 246
Drumm, E 583
Drumm, J 584
Duckwall, J. F 249
Dudelston, C 694
Duke, G. W 767
Dung-an, J. W 251
Dunn, J 791
Dunn, J. C 792
Dunn, R 252
Dunning, P. C 133
Dyer, S 516
147
Eber, J. E..
608
Eiler, J. C...
530
Elliott, G. L
233
Ellis, F
531
Ellis, S. M..
Ellison, G
Elrod, F. A,...
Emerson, C. . . .
Emerson, W. C.
Evers, J. N....
Fay, G. W
Fenwick, C...
Ferguson, J., .
Fillmore, M... .
Fitch, G. N...
Flannery, J . . .
Flemings, A.J.
Fleming, C. A.
Fleming, N. J..
Fletcher, D...
Flinn,J
Flowers, D. W.
Fortuer, W. H.
Franklin, L. A.
Franklin, P. W
Fudge, C. B....
Fudge, J. S
Galliher, C. W.
Galliher, M....
Galliher, M. J..
Galliher, Mrs. :
Garfield, J. A..
Garrard, J
Gates, H. N....
Gibson, W
Gilbert, Miss J.
Gilbert, T. H..
Gilmore, W. P.
Goddard, J. A..
Good, A. H
Goodrick, I. G..
Grant, U. S
Gray, I. P. .
Gray, J. M.
Gray, J. T.
Gray, W....
Green, G. R.
Greene, G. W.
Gregory, R. S
Gribben,B. F.
Griesheimer, J,
Griffith, R. C.
Groover, S
Guthrie, T. S.,
Gwinn, A ....
Haimbaugh, F. D
Haines, C
Haines, D. T. .
Hamilton, A..
Hamilton, M. .
Hamilton, S. .
Hammond, A. A
INDEX.
Hancock, G
.. 299
Jones, G. W
539
McDonald, J. E
... 158
Neely, C. F. W. .
.. 393
Hancock, Mrs. ^
.. 656
Jones, H. A
799
McHardie, E. L
... 543
Neely, T. S
.. 394
McKiUip, T....
McKimmey, J. ]
Neff, W. H
Newman. S.J...
.. 625
.. 589
Hannan.E. P...
.. 537
Jones,!,. J
322
?... 360
Hanneg-an, E. A.
.. 153
Jonsonbough, G ..
569
McKimmey, J. W.. 623
Nichols, G
.. 627
Harman, J
.. 655
Jordan D
161
McKinley, J. W
McKinleV, R...
800
Nickey, F. B....
Nickey, J. F....
.. 396
.. .395
Harman, J. W..
.. 653
Jordan, W. A
724
... 663
Harring-ton, T. E
.. 300
McLain.D. A..
... 365
Nicodemus, C...
.. 627
Harrison, B
.. 121
Kabrich, G. W. . . .
619
McLaughlin, G.
N. 365
Noble, J
.. 149
Harrison, W. H.
.. 53
Keesling. G. W. . .
725
McNairv, S....
... 746
Noble, N
.. 130
Harrison, W. H.
.; 127
Keesling, S. C. ..
323
, )
Nutting, Mrs. S.
Z. 272
Madill, A
Madison, J
.. 544
... 33
Hartle, S. J
.. 768
Kemper, G. W. H.
324
Oerther, J. J
.. 666
Hartley, J. J. . . .
.. 301
Kern. J. E
620
Mahoney, Mrs.
L.. 664
Ofterdinger, A..
.. 728
Hartley, J. M...
.. 585
Kerwood, A. L. . . .
326
Manor. J. S . . .
... 699
Orr, D. P
.. 771
Hartley, Mrs. H.
E. 586
Kessler, J. P
519
March, W
. . . 366
Orr, J
. . . 602
Hasting-s, S. G..
.. 302
Kidnocker. M. 0..
328
Marks, E
. . . .")45
Overniire, H....
.. 667
Hathaysraj', S
.. 303
Kilgore, C.W
330
Marquell, H. M
. . . 544
Overmire, L. D.
.. 668
Mar.sh, J
Marsh, J. R...
Owen. R. D
Hays, J. C
.. 614
Kiinbrough, C. M.
331
... 371
Marsh, \V. E. H
Marsh, W. M. . .
... 371
... 370
Parker. A. B. ..
Parkison. G. W.
.. 548
.. 669
Heath, J. W.,...
.. 304
I'^irby, J. M
333
538
Kirby T
^^"^
Marshall. M. . .
Marshall. R... .
707
Parkison. S
Parks, S
670
Hefel. A. C
. . 655
Kirby, T. P
334
. . . 624
Heifner, D
. . 567
Kirby, W. W
^^S
664
Patterson, A. F.
Patterson, P. W,
519
Heiiisohn, J. A.
. . 305
Kirkman, J
587
Martin, J. S...
.. 372
... 513
Helm. P. A
. . 721
. . 140
Kitts, C. A
Klein, H. C
335
336
Patterson, R. I. .
Paxton, C. M, .
. . . 396
Hendricks, T. A.
Matthews, C. . .
... 148
.. 549
Hendricks. W...
.. 129
Koons. G. H
338
May. J
... 747
Peacock, W. H..
. . . 628
Hensley, J. W...
.. 6.S7
Koons, Mrs. J.V. H
343
Mavnard, W...
... 800
Pence, A. M....
.. 749
.. 658
Koon.s, W. P
344
Meeks, J. A ...
... 379
Pence, A. W
.. 803
Koontz. Mrs. M. . .
Krohn, J. S
661
541
Meeks. J. W...
Meeks, M. L...
... 377
... 378
Perduie, A
Perkins, J. W...
. 400
.. 397
Highlands. H. H
.. 305
Higman^G.N..
.. 306
Krohn, W. F
540
Meeks, O. L. . . .
. . . 375
Petenson, D. N..
.. 700
Himes. G. W....
.. 615
Meeks, R
. . 376
Peterson, J. F. .
.. 701
. . 722
Lane, H. S
139
Meeks, W. A...
. . . 378
Peterson, W....
.. 702
307
Lenird S
696
Messersmith, H
Michael, D
.... 379
. . . 546
Pettit J
155
Hines, J. R ....
308
Lenger, G. F
345
Petty, J. S
.. 399
Hitchcock. W. R
. . 309
Eeavell, J. M....
,';42
Miller, A
... 665
Phillips, C
.. 629
HoLsing-er. J.,..
.. 616
Ivefavour. J
^-1''
Miller, A. H...
Phillips, Mrs. M,
Phillips, N. H...
Phinney. A. J...
V. 549
Holsinger, J. T.
.. 616
Leffler. J. G
Lefter. B. F
34,=;
.. 400
Hooke. L. J
Miller, J
... 3.81
.. 404
Honck, J
Houck. .J. W. ..
.. 617
.. 618
Leiion family
.597
Miller. R. N....
Mitchell. D. C.
Mitchell, H . . .
... 666
Pierce, F
. . 72
Lenox, I
621
... 382
Pierce, J. S
.. 550
Hou-senian. E. F
Lo^yellen. J. O....
,346
Mock, A. R....
387
Pittser, W
.. 671
Hovey, A. P....
.. 146
Lewis family
596
Mock, J. D
... 384
Pixlev, W. N...
.. 405
Howard, I
.. 796
.. 659
598
90
Mock, J. F
Mock, M. G . . . .
... ,383
Polk, J. K
Port, T
Ho^yell, D. P. . . .
Lincoln. A
.. 405
Hummel, J. R...
.. 310
:: 743
Lindsev, J
726
Moffett L
747
Porter, A. G....
144
Hupp, J. G
Hurley, J. J... .
Lo-sh, J
622
Moomaw. C. F.
... 802
Powell, J
Hyer, H
Losh. J
Lotz.O. J
662
349
Moore, A
Moore, C. W. ..
... 570
. . 466
Powers, B. P
Powers, M
.. 406
. . 411
Jackson, A
4:;
697
350
744
Moore. D. B....
Moore. L
. ... 699
... 571
Pratt D. D
Puckett, E. J. . .
Quick, J. A
Jackson. F. G. . .
.. 310
.. 724
.. 723
Ludlow, J. B
McAllister. A. J..
.. 412
Jackson, J. -B. ..
Jackson. J. H...
Moore, W. J...
... .599
.. 589
James, M
.. 312
McClung. J. H....
353
Moore, W. M...
. . . . 748
Janney, A. F
.. 798
McConnell, A
622
Moore, W. R...
... .388
Racer, D. C
.. 703
Jefferson, T
29
McConnell, E
745
Moreland. J
... 749
Ralston, B.F....
.. 629
Jennings, J
.. 128
.. 94
Morrow, W. E..
Morton, O. P. ..
. . . 546
... 136
Ratcliff, A. H ..
Ray, J. B
Johnson, A
McCormick, M....
570
.. 130
Johnson, A. L. .
.. 315
McCormick.Mi,ssM
Motsenbocker, J
M. 769
Rea,Mrs. I
.. 271
Johnson, J. C...
.. 316
H
726
Munn, G. W...
... 392
Reasoner, O. I. .
McCreery, T
McCulloch J
587
355
Munsev. D. O..
Murray, A. L. .
Murray, A. P. .
Murray, W. H.
. . 803
... 770
... 547
... 600
Reece.J. N
Rees, J
Rees, J. H
Rees, L
.. 730
731
Johnson, R. A. .
.. 568
661
Jones, A
McCulloch, G. F..
McDaniel, J. E....
l^S
.. 730
.. 413
Jones, G. R
.. 321
Reticli. D. S 772
Keplofrle, J 630
Reynolds, B l>31
Reynolds, J. H 632
Kibble, C 414
Ribble, W 415
Rice. J. H 671
Richardson, J. W.. 590
Ricliev, W. S 416
Ried,"S. M.... 419
Rigdon, J 804
Riiey, J. W 162
Rinker, A 751
Rinker, D 752
Rinker, J. L 632
Roads, H 420
Robinson, G. W.... 421
Roller,. J 633
Rose, T. F 422
Ross, J. C 422
Rowlett, D. E 805
St. Clair, A..... 127
Sample, C. P 426
Sample, K. G 428
Sanders, J, F 428
Schlegel, E. S 754
Schleg-el, H. C 753
Schlegel, J. C 754
Schleg-el, Miss M. F. 754
Schlegel, W. H 753
Schmidt, W, G 429
Scott, D 591
Shafer, G 430
Shafer, J. \V 431
Sharp, O. M 775
Sharp, T 806
Sharp, W 755
Shaw, L 482
Shepp, J 755
Shepp, G. W 433
Sherry, W. P 433
Shewmaker,D.H.H, 435
Shick, C. A 438
Shick, L 436
Shideler, A, L 438
Shideler, W. S 776
Shields, E. A 439
Shipley, C. E 440
Shirey, L. E 775
Shirk, A 704
Shirk, H 705
Shirk, W 706
Shivelv, D, M 672
Shockley, V 633
Shoemaker, J 756
Shroyer, S.J 551
Shuttleworth, H. . . 732
Silverburg, A. C. .. 443
Simonton, D 572
Simpson, J 592
Singleton, J, A 443
Skiff, C 604
Slinger, A. J 444
Slinger, T.J 446
Slouiker, D. W. ... 552
Smell, E 446
Smith, J. H 448
Smith, L. S 449
Smith, M. C
447
Turner. R
638
Smith. M.R
706
Turner, W. D
486
Smith. O. H
151
Turpie. I)
157
Smith, S. 13
553
Tuthill,T
{i3!)
Smith, W. R
450
Tuttle. A
635
Snider \
Tuttle, Mrs. E
Tuttle, .J. S
fw6
637
Snider, W
(>34
Snodgrass, R. M. .
(,73
Tuttle, M. L
6,!6
Snyder, A
777
Tyler, J
57
Snyder, E.G. A...
7.57
Snyder. W. H
454 1
Undervyood, J
593 1
Snyder. W. R
453 '
1
Sprankle, R
455
Van Buren, M
49
Springer, C. W, . . .
634
Vigo, F
1(1
Spurgeon, W. A...
456
Voorhees, D. W .
1(,0
Staft'ord, G. A
,^56
}
Stafford. J. E
554 '
Wachtell, C. S. . . .
487 !
Stafford. J. H
554
Walker, J
677 '
Stafford. J. R
=55
Walker, M
678 1
Staft'ord. J. Kilcv,
Wallace, D
131 1
Stafford. T
574
Wallace, L
163 !
Stafford. \V. H . . .
Walling, Q
487
Stewart, E. R
75^
Walling. W
488
Stewart, P. V... .
759
Warfel, J
678
Stewart, T. C
b74
Warner, R
489
Stiffler.J
453
Washington, G....
21
Stouder, A, C
459 !
639
Stradling, E. H...
778 1
Watson, J
679
Stradling, J
460
Watson, W. F
4S9 1
Stradling, R, W, . .
575
Weayer, N. G
710 1
Stradling. W
461
Wellington. J. R..
r,sO 1
Streeter, J. L
462
Wliitcnnib.J
132 I
Strong, A. B
558
White. A. S
152 j
Strong, H
White, J. D
Strong, N. B
559
Whitely. W. N
514 I
Stucky, C
. 463
Whiteman; G. W..
562 ;
Summers, H. C...
. 760
Whitney. E
734
Summers, W
. 761
Wiggerlv. J
I'.SO !
Sunderland, S. K.
. 7bl
Wilcox. nl. J.IC, ..
4'il
Sunderland, W...
762
Wilcnx. n. ly
4'il
Swain. J
. 463
Wilclerniuth. f. F.
4^12
Swain, O. H
. 365
Wildman.J. F
495
Swift, J
. 675
Will, H
735 j
Syphers, G, W. . . .
. 560
WiUard, A. P
134
Williams, J. D
143
Taylor, E
. 779
Williams, J. S
496 1
Taylor, W
. 149
Williams. W, H...
604
Taylor, Z
. 63
Williamson, A
577 1
Templar, C. B
. 473
Wilson, G. V
711 1
Tempter, J. N
. 469
Wilson, J. W
503
. 708
Wilson, S. H
711 1
Thomas, J. M
. 474
Wilson, V
497
Thotnas, S.K
. 576
Winans, H. C
504
Thompson, M
. 162
Wingate, J.N
561
Thompson, R. W..
. 170
Wingate, J, W....
712
Thompson, W
. 732
Winton, R
. 505
Thompson, W. A..
. 474
Witt. E
. 506
Thoruburg, E
. 733
Wolf. A
. 209
Thornbnrg, J....
. 709
Wood. J
. 578
Thornburg, J. H..
. 734
Wood, J. C
. 512
Tindall, O. H....
. 560
Wood, W. H. H...
511
Tipton, J
. 150
Woolverton.Mrs. R
. 564
Tom, J. H
. 475
Worley, I
. .565
Trent, I, N
. 476
Wright, I
. 681
Trowbridge, D. L
. 592
Wright, J. A
. 134
Truitt. Mrs. A. A
. 482
Wysor. J. H
517
Truitt, J ■
, 481
Tuhey. E
. 484
Yingling, Mrs. R.
. 682
Turner, M
. 485
Yockey, A
. 736
Young, W.H. F.... 518
Younts, G. W 713
Younts, W. H 780
Governors and Rep, Meu.
liakor. C l.ii.
Higger. S 132
Boon, R 129
Bright, .1. D 154
Cathcart, C. W 156
Chase, I. J 147
Colfax, S 164
CoUett, J 161
Davis. J. W 171
Dunning, P. C 133
Fitch, G. N 1.S6
Gray, LP 144
Hammond, A. A... 135
Hanna, R 151
Haniiegan, E. A. . . 153
Harrison, W. H 127
Hendricks, T. A... 140
Hendricks, W 129
Hovey, A. P 146
Jennings, J 128
Jordan, D 161
Lane, H. S 139
McDonald, J. E... 158
Matthews, C 148
Morton, O. P 136
Noble, J 149
Noble. N 130
Owen. R. D 169
Pettit, J 155
Porter. A. (i 144
Po.sey, T 127
Pratt. D. V 157
Ray, J. B 130
]{iley, J. W 162
St. Clair, A 127
Smith, O. H 151
Taylor, W 149
Thompson, M 162
Thompson, R. W. . . 170
Tipton, J 1.50
Turpie, D 157
Vigo, F 171
Voorhees, D. W.... 160
Wallace, D 131
Wallace, L 163
Whitcomb,J 132
White. A. S 1.52
Willard, A. P 1.^4
Williams, J. D 143
Wright, J. A 134
Presidents.
Adams, J , 25
Adams, J. y 41
Arthur, C. A.-. 113
Buchanan, J. .. ^. . . 76
Cleveland, S. G.... 117
Fillmore, M 68
Garfield. J. A 109
Grant. U. S 93
Harrison. B....' 121
Harrison, W. H... 53
INDEX
Hayes, R. B 102
Gibson, Mrs. C, be-
Lenox, MissH. A.,
Ross, J. C, facing.. 422
Jackson, A 45
tween 612 and.... 613
between 620 and..
621
Sanders, J. F., fac'g 428
Jefferson, T 29
Gibson, W. C, be-
Lenox,I.bet.620and 621
Schlegel, H. C, be-
Johnson, A 94
tween 612 and. ... 613
Lewellen, J. O., fac-
tween 752 and. .. . 7i3
Lincoln, A 90
Goddard,J. A 276
ing
346
Schlegel, Mrs.L. J.,
Madison, J 33
Goddard, Mrs. M.. . 277
Lewis, W., facing..
598
between 752 and.. 753
Monroe, J 37
Good, A. H 595
McCIung, J. H., fac-
Shafer, J. W., facing 421
Pierce, F 72
Green, G. R 281
ing
353
Sharp, Mrs. M., be-
Polk, J. K 60
Greene, G.W, facing 283
McConnell, J.,fac'g
354
tween 754 and.,. . 755
Taylor, Z 63
Gregory, R. S.,fam-
McCormick, M
174
Sharp, T 174
Tyler, J 57
Van Buren, M 49
McKillup, T
McLaughlin, G. N.
358
Sharp, W., between
754 and 755
Harailton,A., facing 296
362
Washington, G 21
Hancock, Mrs. N..
McLaughlin, Mrs.
Shipley, C 441
facing 656
O.J
363
Shoemaker, J., fac'g 756
Portraits
Harman, J. .between
March, Mrs. M., be-
SkifF,C.,bet. 604and 605
652 and 653
tween 366 and... .
367
Skiff, Mrs. L., be-
Andes, Mrs. M. S.,
Harman,Mrs.L., be-
March, W., between
tween 604 and 605
between 736 and . . 737
tween 652 and 653
366 and
367
Snyder, E.C., fac'g 757
Andes, R. A., be-
Harrington, T. E.,
Martin, J. S
373
Snyder, W. R 452
tween 736 and. .. . 737
facing 300
Marshall, R., facing
624
Stewart, E. R., be-
Anthony, E. C 184
Hastings,S.G., fac-
Mitchell, D. C. be-
tween 758 and. .. . 759
Anthony.Mrs. R. G. 185
ing 302
tween 382 and
383
Stewart, Mrs. M.,
Anthony, S. P 179
Hensley, J. W., fac-
Mitchell, Mrs. E.,
between 758 and. 759
Armitage, Mrs.C.E. 191
ing 657
between 382 and .
383
Stififler family, be-
Armitage, D. R... 190
Highlands, H. H.,
Mock, J. D., between
tween 458 and. .. . 459
Bender,C.L., facing 199
facing 305
384 and
385
Swain, O. H., fac'g 465
Beouv, O., facing.. 200
Hines, Mrs. A., be-
Mock, J. F., between
Templer, C.B 472
Bowers, N., facing. 738
tween 308 and 309
384 and
385
Templer, J. N 468
Trowbridge, D., fac-
Bowles,T. J., facing 203
Hines,J.R., between
Mock, M. G
385
Brandon, W. S., fac-
308 and 309
Mock, Mrs. M. D...
385
ing 592
ing 739
Hitchcock, W. E.,
Moore, A., between
Truitt, Mrs. A. A. . 479
Bunch, Mrs. M. A. 217
facing 309
570 and
571
Truitt, J 478
Bunch, R. A 216
Holsinger,J., facing 616
Moore, Mrs. M. A.,
Wildermuth, C. F.. 493
Burson, J. W 222
Holsinger, J. T., be-
between 570 and.
571
Wildman, J. F 494
Cammack, D 224
tween 616 and. .. . 617
Moore, W. R.. facing
388
Williams, S. J., fac-
Chapman, A. W. . . . 231
Holsinger, Mrs. M.
Neely,C. F. W., fac-
ing 605
Cooper, W. H. M.,
C,between616and 617
ing-
393
Willsou,Mrs.E., be-
facing 236
Hurley, J. J., facing 743
Parkison, S., facing
670
tween 496 and.... 497
Cranor, O. N., fac'g 240
Jackson, Mrs. E.,
Peterson, Miss E.
Willson, v., between
Cromer, G.W.,fac'g 241
between 722 and. 723
E.. facing
701
496 and 497
Crozier,G.W., fac'g 243
Jackson, J. H., be-
Petty, J. S., facing.
399
Witt, E 508
Cunningham, A. B.,
tween 722 and.. . . 723
Phillips,N.H., fac'g
401
Witt, Mrs. E. F.... 509
facing 718
James, M., facing.. 312
Pierce, C, between
Cunningham, M. A. 174
Dungan, Mrs. E.,
Johnson A L 318
750 and
751
Presidential Portraits.
Johnson, Mrs. F. M. 319
Pierce, Mrs. R., be-
between 250 and. . 251
Johnson,J.C., fac'g 321
tween 750 and....
751
Adams, J 24
Dungan, J. W., be-
Johnson,R.A., fac'g 468
Pittser, Mrs. E.. be-
Adams, J. Q 40
tween 250 and.... 251
Jones, G. R., be-
tween 670 and. . . .
671
Arthur, C. A 112
Driscoll, W. E 247
tween 322 and. .. . 323
Pittser,W.. between
Buchanan, J 77
Duckwall,J.T., fac-
Jones, J.H., between
670 and
671
Cleveland, S. G 116
ing 249
744 and 745
Port, Mrs. C, be-
Fillmore, F 69
Eber,J.E., between
Jones, Mrs. M., be-
tween 404 and
405
Garfield, J. A 108
252 and 253
tween 322 and. .. . 323
Port,T.,bet.404and 405
Grant, U.S 99
Eber, Mrs. J. E.,
Jones,Mr. M.J., be-
Powell, J., facing. .
572
Harrison, B 120
between 252 and. . 253
tween 744 and 745
Powers, M ..
408
Harrison, W. H.... 52
Eiler, J. C 255
Jordan, Mrs. M.,be-
Powers, Mrs. M. E.
409
Haves, R. B 103
Elliott, G. E 256
tween724 and 725
Reasoner, O. I., fac-
Jackson. A 45
Ellison, Mrs. A. C.
Jordan, W. A., be-
773
Jefferson, T . 28
between 740 and.. 741
tween 724 and 725
Rees, L., between
Johnson, A 95
Ellison, G., between
Keesliug, S. C, fac-
412 and
413
Lincoln, A 91
740 and 741
ing 323
Rees, Mrs. M. A.,
Madison, J 32
Evers, J. M., facing 261
Keller, H. J., facing 324
between 412 and.
413
Monroe. J 36
Flowers, D. W., be-
Kemper, G. W. H.,
Reynolds, B.. be-
Pierce, F 73
tween 650 and 651
facing 325
tween 630 and
631
Polk, J. K 61
Flowers,Mrs.M., be-
Koons, G. H 340
Reynolds, Mrs. E.,
Taylor, Z 65
tween 650 and 651
Koons,Mrs.J.V.H. 341
between 630 and..
631
Tvler, J 56
Galliher, M 268
Lefter. B. F.,facing 763
Richey, W. S
417
Van Buren, M 48
Galliher. Mrs. R... 269
Lenox, Mrs. A. C,
Robinson, G. W..
Washington, G 20
Gibson, W, bet. 612, 613
between 620 and . 621
facing
421
"^^
PRESIDENTS
TLINITED STT^^TES
G. WASHINGTON.
PRESIDENTS OE THE UNITED STATES.
^^^EORGE WASHINGTON was born
■ ^\ in Westmorland county, Va. , Febru-
\^^ ary 22, 1732. His parents were
Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washing-
ton. His great-grandfather, John Washing-
ton, came from England to Virginia about
1657, and became a prosperous planter. He
had two sons, Lawrence and John. The former
married Mildred Warner and had three children,
John, Augustine and Mildred. Augustine, the
father of George, first married Jane Butler,
who bore him four children, two of whom,
Lawrence and Angustine, reached maturity.
Of six children by his second marriage, George
was the eldest, the others being Betty, Sam-
uel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred.
Augustine Washington, the father of George,
died in 1743, leaving a large landed property.
To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed
an estate on the Potomac, afterward known
as Mount Vernon, and to George he left the
parental residence. George received only
such education as the neighborhood schools
afforded, save for a short time after he left
school, when he received private instructions
in mathematics.
He was an acknowledged leader among his
companions, and was early noted for that
nobleness of character, fairness and veracity
which characterized his whole life.
When George was fourteen years old he had
a desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant
was secured for him, but through the opposi-
tion of his mother the idea was abandoned.
Two years later he was appointed surveyor to
the estate of Lord Fairfax. In this business
he spent three years. In 1751, though only
nineteen years of age, he was appointed ad-
jutant with the rank of major in the Virginia
militia, then being trained for active service
against the French and Indians. Soon after
this he sailed to the West Indies with his
brother Lawrence, who went there to restore
his health. They soon returned, and in the
summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a
large fortune to an infant daughter, who did
not long survive him. On her demise the estate
of Mount Vernon was given to George.
Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as
lieutenant-governor of Virginia, in 1752, the
militia was reorganized, and the province
divided into four military districts, of which
the northern was assigned to Washington as
adjutant-general. Shortly after this a very
perilous mission was assigned him. This was
to proceed to the French post near Lake Erie
in north-western Pennsylvania. The distance
to be traversed was between 500 and 600 miles.
Winter was at hand, and the journey was to
be made without military escort, through a
territory occupied by Indians. The trip was a
perilous one, and several times he came near
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
losing his life, yet he returned in safety and
furnished a full and useful report of his expe-
dition. A regiment of 300 men was raised in
Virginia and put in command of Col. Joshua
Fry, and Major Washington was commissioned
lieutenant-colonel. Active war was then begun
against the French and Indians, in which
Washington took a most important part. In
the memorable event of July 9, 1755, known
as Braddock's defeat, Washington was almost
the only officer of distinction who escaped
from the calamities of the day with life and
honor. The other aids of Braddock were dis-
abled early in the action, and Washington
alone was left in that capacity on the field In
a letter to his brother he says: "I had four
bullets through my coat, and two horses shot
under me, yet I escaped unhurt, though death
was leveling my companions on every side. "
An Indian sharpshooter said he was not born
to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken direct
aim at him seventeen times, and failed to hit
him. After having been five years in the
military service, he took advantage of the fall
of Fort Duquesne and the expulsion of the
French from the valley of the Ohio, to resign
his commission. Soon after he entered the
legislature, where, although not a leader, he
took an active and important part. January
•7. 1759. he married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge)
Custis, the wealthy widow of John Parke
Custis.
When the British parliament had closed
the port of Boston, the cry went up through-
out the provinces that "The cause of Boston
is the cause of us all." It was then, at the
suggestion of Virginia, that a congress of all
the colonies was called to meet at Philadel-
phia, September 5, 1774, to secure their com-
mon liberties, peaceably if possible. To this
congress Col. Washington was sent as a dele-
gate. On May 10, 1775, the congress re-
assembled, when the hostile intentions of Eng-
land were plainly apparent. The battles of
Concord and Lexington had been fought.
Among ths first acts of this congress was the
election of a commander-in-chief of the colo-
nial forces. This high and responsible office
was conferred upon Washington, who was still
a member of the congress. He accepted it on
June 19, but upon the express condition that
he receive no salary. He would keep at exact
account of expenses and expect congress to
pay them and nothing more. The war was
conducted by him under every possible disad-
vantage, and while his forces often met with
reverses, yet he overcame every obstacle, and
after seven years of heroic devotion and match-
less skfll he gained liberty for the greatest
nation of earth. On December 23, 1783,
Washington resigned his commission as com-
mander-in-chief of the army to the continental
congress sitting at Annapolis, and retired im-
mediately to Mount Vernon.
In February, 1789, Washington was unan-
imously elected president. In his presidential
career he was subject to the peculiar trials in-
cidental to a new government; trials from lack
of confidence on the part of other govern-
ments; trials for the want of harmony between
the different sections of our own country; trials
from the impoverished condition of the coun-
try, owing to the war and want of credit;
trials from the beginnings of party strife
At the expiration of his first term he was
unanimously re-elected. At the end of this
term many were anxious that he be re-elected,
but he absolutely refused a third nomination.
On the 4th of March, 1797, he returned to
his home, hoping to pass there his few remain-
ing years free from the annoyance of public
life Later in the year, however, his repose
seemed likely to be interrupted by war with
France. At the prospect of such a war he was
again urged to take command of the armies.
He chose his subordinate officers and left to
JOHN ADAMS.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
25
them the charge of matters in the field, which
he superintended from his home. In accepting
the command he made the reservation that he
was not to be in the field until it was neces-
sary. In the midst of these preparations his
life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he
took a severe cold from a ride in the rain,
\\ hich, settling in his throat, produced inflam-
mation, and terminated fatally on the night
of the 14th. On the iSth his body was borne
with military honors to its final resting place,
and interred in the family vault at Mount
\'ernon.
The person of Washington was unusually
tall, erect and well proprotioned. His features
were of a beautiful symmetry. He commanded
respect without any appearance of haughtiness,
and was ever serious without being dull.
Vj*OHN ADAMS, the second president
M and the first vice-president of the
m 1 United States, was born in Braintree,
, now Quincy, Mass. , and about ten
miles from Boston, October 19, 1735. His
great-grandfather, Henry Adams, emigrated
from England about 1640, with a family of
eight sons, and settled at Braintree. The
parents of John were John and Susannah
(Boylston) Adams. His father was a farmer
of limited means, to which he added the busi-
ness of shoemaking. He gave his eldest son,
John, a classical education at Harvard college.
John graduated in 1755, and at once took
charge of the school in Worcester, Mass. This
he found but a "school of affliction," from
I which he endeavored to gain relief by devot-
! ing himself, in addition, to the study of law.
! For this purpose he placed himself under the
tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He
i was well fitted for the legal profession, pos-
sessing a clear, sonorous voice, being ready and
fluent of speech, and having quick perceptive
powers. In 1764 he married Abigail Smith, a
daughter of a minister, and a lady of superior in-
telligence. Shortly after his marriage (1765)
the attempt of parliamentary taxation turned
him from law to politics. He took initial steps
toward holding a town meeting, and the resolu-
tions he offered on the subject became very
popular throughout the province, and were
adopted word for word by over forty different
towns. He moved to Boston in 1768, and
became one of the most courageous and prom-
inent advocates of the popular cause, and was
chosen a member of the general court (the
legislature) in 1770.
Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first dele-
gates from Massachusetts to the first conti-
nental congress, which met in 1774. Here he
distinguished himself by his capacity for busi-
ness and for debate, and advocated the move-
ment for iddependence against the majority of
the members. In May, 1776, he moved and
carried a resolution in congress that the colo-
nies should assume the duties of self-govern-
ment. He was a prominent member of the
committee of five appointed June 11, to pre-
pare a declaration of independence. This
article was drawn by Jefferson, but on Adams
devolved the task of battling it through con-
gress in a three days' debate.
On the day after the Declaration of Inde-
pendence was passed, he wrote a letter to his
wife which, as we read it now, seems to have
been dictated by the spirit of prophecy.
"Yesterday," he says, "the greatest question
was decided that ever was debated in America;
and greater, perhaps, never was or will be
decided among men. A resolution was passed
without one dissenting colony, 'that these
United States are, and of right ought to be,
free and independent states.' The 4th of
July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the
history of America. I am apt to believe it
will be celebrated by succeeding generations,
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
as the great anniversary festival. It ought to
be commemorated as the day of dehverance
by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God.
It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows,
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illu-
minations from one end of the continent to the
other, from this time forward for ever. You
will think me transported with enthusiasm, but
I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and
blood and treasure, that it will cost to main-
tain this declaration, and support and defend
these states; yet, through all the gloom, I can
see the rays of light and glory. I can see
that the end is worth more than all the means;
and that posterity will triumph, although you
and I may rue, which I hope we shall not."
In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was ap-
pointed a delegate to France to co-operate
with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who
were then in Paris, in the endeavor to obtain
assistance in arms and money from the French
government. He left France June 17, 1779.
In September of the same year he was again
chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself
in readiness to negotiate a treaty of peace and
of commerce with Great Britain, as soon as
the British cabinet might be found willing to
listen to such proposals. He sailed for France
in November, from there he went to Holland,
where he negotiated important loans and
formed important commercial treaties.
Finally a treaty of peace with England
was signed January 21, 1783. The re-action
from the excitement, toil and anxiety through
which Mr. Adams had passed threw him into
a fever. After suffering from a continued
fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he
was advised to go to England to drink the
waters of Bath. While in England, still
drooping and desponding, he received dis-
patches from his own government urging the
necessity of his going to Amsterdam to nego-
tiate another loan. It was winter, his health
was delicate, yet he immediately set out, and
through. storm, on sea, on horseback and foot,
he made the trip.
February 24, 1785, congress appointed
Mr. Adams envoy to the court of St. James.
Here he met face to face the king of England,
who had so long regarded him as a traitor,
As England did not condescend to appoint
minister to the United States, and as Mr.
Adams felt that he was accomplishing but lit-
tle, he sought permission to return to his own
country, where he arrived in June, 1788.
When Washington was first chosen presi-
dent, John Adams, rendered illustrious by his
signal services at home and abroad, was
chosen vice president. Again at the second
election of Washington as president, Adams
was chosen vice president. In 1796, Wash-
ington retired from public life, and Mr. Adams
was elected president, though not without
much opposition. Serving in this office four
years, he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, his
opponent in politics.
While Mr. Adams was vice president the
great French revolution shook the continent
of Europe, and it was upon this point which
he was at issue with the majority of his
countrymen led by Mr. JefTerson. Mr. Adams
felt no sympathy with the French people in
their struggle, for he had no confidence in
their power of self-government, and he utterly
abhorred the class of atheist philosophers who
he claimed caused it. On the other hand
Jefferson's sympathies were strongly enlisted
in behalf of the French people. Hence origi-
nated the alienation between these distin-
guished men, and two powerful parties were
thus soon organized, Adams at the head of
the one whose sympathies were with England,
and Jefferson led the other in sympathy with
France. In 1824, his cup of happiness was
filled to the brim, by seeing his son elevated
to the highest station m the gift of the people.
d
i
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
29
The 4th of July, 1826, which completed
the half century since the signing of the Dec-
laration of Independence, arrived, and there
were but three of the signers of that immortal
instrument left upon the earth to hail its
morning light. And, as it is well known, on
that day two of these finished their earthly
pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as to
seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr.
Adams had been rapidly failing, and on the
4th, he found himself too weak to rise from his
feed. On being requested to name a toast for
the customary celebration of the day, he ex-
claimed "Independence FOREVER." When
the day was ushered in, by the ringing of bells
and the firing of cannons, he was asked by
one of his attendants if he knew what day i-t
was.' He replied, "Oh yes; it is the glorious
fourth of July — God bless it — God bless you
all." In the course of the day he said, "It is
a great and glorious day." The last words he
uttered were, "Jefferson survives." But he
had, at one o'clock, resigned his spirit into the
hands of his God. The personal appearance
and manners of Mr. Adams were not particu-
larly prepossessing. His face, as his portrait
manifests, was intellectual and expressive, but
his figure was low and ungraceful, and his
manners were frequently abrupt and uncourte-
ous.
'HOMAS JEFFERSON, third presi-
dent of the United States, was born
April 2,1743, at Shadwell, Albermarle
county, Va. His parents were Peter
and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson, the former a
native of Wales, and the latter born in Lon-
don. To them were born six daughters and
two sons, of whom Thomas was the eldest.
When fourteen years of age his father died.
He received a most liberal education, having
been kept diligently at school from the time
he was five years of age. In 1760 he entered
William and Mary college. Williamsburg
was then the seat of the colonial court, and it
was the abode of fashion and splendor. Young
Jefferson, who was then seventeen years old,
lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine
horses, and was much caressed by gay society,
yet he was earnestly devoted to his studies,
and irreproachable in his morals. In the
second year of his college course, moved by
some unexplained inward impulse, he discarded
his horses, society, and even his favorite violin,
to which he had previously given much time.
He often devoted fifteen hours a day to hard
study, allowing himself for exercise only a run
in the evening twilight of a mile out of the city
and back again. He thus attained very high
intellectual culture, and excellence in philoso-
phy and the languages. The most difficult
Latin and Greek authors he read with facility.
Immediately upon leaving college he began
the study of law. For the short time he con-
tinued in the practice of his profession he rose
rapidly and distinguished himself by his energy
and acuteness as a lawyer. But the times
called for greater action. The policy of
England had awakened the spirit of resistance
of the American colonies, and the enlarged
views which Jefferson had ever entertained
soon led him into active political life. In 1769
he was chosen a member of the Virginia house
of burgesses. In 1772 he married Mrs.
Martha Skelton, a very beautiful, wealthy and
highly accomplished young widow.
Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shad-
well, there was a majestic swell of land, called
Monticello, which commanded a prospect of
wonderful extent and beauty. This spot Mr.
Jefferson selected for his new home; and here
he reared a mansion of modest yet elegant
architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon,
became the most distinguished resort in our
land.
80
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
In 1775 he was sent to the colonial con-
gress, where, though a silent member, his
abilities as a writer and a. reasoner soon be-
came known, and he was placed upon a num-
ber of important committees, and was chairman
of the one appointed for the drawing up of a
declaration of independence. This committee
consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Rob-
ert R. Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman,
was appointed to draw up the paper. Frank-
lin and Adams suggested a few verbal changes
before it was submitted to congress. On June
28, a few slight changes were made in it by
congress, and it was passed and signed July 4,
1776. What must have been the feelings of
that man — what the emotions that swelled his
breast — who was charged with the preparation
of that declaration, which, while it made
known the wrongs of America, was also to
publish her to the world, free, sovereign and
independent !
In 1779 Mr. Jefforson was elected successor
to Patrick Henry, as governor of Virginia. At
one time the British officer, Tarleton, sent a
secret expedition to Monticello, to capture the
governor. Scarcely five minutes elapsed after
the hurried escape of Mr. Jefferson and his
family, ere his mansion was in possession of
the British troops. His wife's health, never
very good, was much injured by this excite-
ment and in the summer of 17S2 she died.
Mr. Jefferson was elected to congress in
1783. Two years later he was appointed
minister plenipotentiary to France. Return-
ing to the United States in September, 1789,
he became secretary of state in Washington's
caijinet. This position he resigned January i,
1794. In 1797, he was chosen vice president
and four years later was elected president over
Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as vice president.
In 1804 he was re-elected with wonderful
unanimity, and George Clinton, vice president.
The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second
I administration was disturbed by an event
; which threatened the tranquility and peace of
the Union; this was the conspiracy of Aaron
Burr. Defeated in the latfe election to the
vice presidency, and led on by an unprincipled
: ambition, this extraordinary man formed the
! plan of a military expedition into the Spanish
territories on our southwestern frontier, for the
purpose of forming there a new republic.
In 1809, at the expiration of the second
term for which Mr. Jefferson had been elected,
he determined to retire from political life.
For a period of nearly forty" years, he had
been continually beTore the public, and all
that time had been employed in offices of the
greatest trust and responsibility. Having thus
devoted the best part of his life to the serv-
ice of his country, he now felt desirous of
that rest which his declining years required,
and upon the organization of the new adminis-
tration, in March, 1809, he bade farewell for-
ever to public life, and retired to Monticello.
The 4th of July, 1826, being the fiftieth
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence,
great preparations were made in every part of
the Union for its celebration, as the nation's
jubilee, and the citizens of Washington, to
add to the solemnity of the occasion invited
Mr. Jefferson, as the framer, and one of the
few surviving signers of the Declaration, to
participate in their festivities. But an illness,
which had been of several weeks' duration, and
had been continually increasing, compelled
him to decline the invitation.
On the 2d of July, the disease under
which he was laboring left him, but in such a
reduced state that his medical attendants en-
tertained no hope of his recovery. From this
time he was perfectly sensible that his last
hour was at hand. On the next day, which
was Monday, he asked, of those around him,
the day of the month, and on being told that
JAMES MADISON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
83
it was the 3d of July, he expressed the earnest
wish that he might be permitted to breathe
the air of the fiftieth anniversary. His prayer
was heard — that day, whose dawn was hailed
with such rapture through our land, burst
upon his eyes, and then they were closed for-
ever. And what a noble consummation of a
noble life! To die on that day, — the birth of
a nation— the day which his own name and
own act had rendered glorious; to die amidst
the rejoicings and festivities of a whole nation,
who looked up to him, as the author, under
God, of their greatest blessings, was all that
was wanting to fill up the record of his life.
Almost at he same hour of his death, the kindred
spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear him
company, left the scene of his earthly honors.
In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin,
rather above si.x feet in height, but well formed;
his eyes were light, his hair, originally red, in
after life became white and silvery; his com-
plexion was fair, his forehead broad, and his
whole countenance intelligent and thoughtful.
He possessed great fortitude of mind as well
as personal courage; and his command of tem-
per was such that his oldest and most intimate
friends never recollected to have seen him in a
passion. His manners, though dignified, were
simple and unaffected, and his hospitality was
so unbounded that all found at his house a
ready welcome. In conversation he was fluent,
eloquent and entusiastic; and his language was
remarkably pure and correct. He was a
finished classical scholar, and in his writings
is discernable the care with which he formed
his style upon the best models of antiquity.
'^T^AMES MADISON, fourth president of
J the United States, was born March 16,
/» 1 1 75 I , and died at his home in Virginia,
June 28, 1836. He was the last of the
founders of the Constitution of the United
States to be called to his eternal reward.
The Madison family were among the early
emigrants to the New W'orki. landing upon the
shores of the Chesapeake but fifteen years
after the settlement of Jamestown. The father
of James Madison was an opulent planter, re-
siding upon a very fine estate called " Mont-
pclier, " Orange county, Va. The mansion
was situated in the midst of .scenery highly
picturesque and romantic, on the west side of
Southwest Mountain, at the foot of Blue
Ridge. It was but tv\enty-five miles from the
home of Jefferson at Monticello. The closest
personal and political attachment existed be-
tween these illustrious men from their c;:iiy
youth until death.
The early education of Mr. Madison was
conducted mostly at home under a private
tutor. At the age of eighteen he was sent
to Princeton college, in New Jersey. Here he
applied himself to study with the most im-
prudent zeal; allowing himself for months, but
three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. His
health thus became so seriously impaired that
he never recovered any vigor of constitution.
He graduated in 1871, when a feeble boy, but
with a character of utmost purity, and with a
mind highly disciplined and richly stored with
learning.
Returning to Virginia, he commenced the
study of law and a course of extensive and
systematic reading. This educational course,
the spirit of the times in which he lived, all
combined to inspire him with a strong love of
hberty, and to train him for his life-work of a
statesman.
In the spring of 1776, when twenty-five
years of age, he was elected a member of the
Virginia convention, to frame the constitutipn
of the state. The next year (1777) he was a
candidate for the general assembly. He re-
fused to treat the whisky-loving voters, and con-
sequently lost his election; but those who had
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
witnessed the talent, energ;y and public spirit
of the modest young man, enlisted themselves
in his behalf, and he was appointed to the
executive council.
Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson
were governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison
remained member of the council; and their
appreciation of his intellectual, social and
moral worth, contributed not a little to his
subsequent eminence. In the year 1 780, he
was elected a member of the continental con-
gress. Here he met the most illustrious men
in our land, and he was immediately assigned
to one of the most conspicuous positions
among them. For three years Mr. Madison
continued in congress, one of its most active
and influential members. In the year 1784,
his term having expired, he was elected a
member of the Virginia legislature.
No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison
the utter inefficiency of the old confederacy,
with no national government, with no power
to form treaties which would be binding, or to
enforce law. There was not any state more
prominent than Virginia in the declaration,
that an efficient national government must be
formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison car-
ried a resolution through the general assembly
of Virginia, inviting the other states to appoint
commissioners to meet in convention at Ann-
apolis to discuss the subject. Five states only
were represented. The convention, however,
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madison,
urging all the states to send their delegates to
Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft a consti-
tution for the United States, to take the place
of that confederate league. The delegates met
at the time appointed. Every state but Rhode
Island was represented. George Washington
was chosen president of the convention; and
the present constitution of the United States
was then and there formed. There was, per-
haps, no mind and no pen more active in
framing this immortal document than the mind
and pen of James Madison.
The constitution, adopted by a vote of 81
to 79, was to be presented to the several states
for acceptance. But grave solicitude was felt.
Should it be rejected we should be left but a
conglomeration of independent states, with
but little power at home and little respect
abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the
convention to draw up an address to the peo-
ple of the United States, expounding the prin-
ciples of the constitution, and urging its adop-
tion. There was great opposition to it at first,
but it at length triumphed over all, and went
into effect in 1789.
Mr. Madison was elected to the house of
representatives in the first congress, and soon
became the avowed leader of the republican
party. While in New York attending con-
gress, he met Mrs. Todd, a young widow of
remarkable power of fascination, whom he
married. She was in person and character
queenly, and probably no lady has thus far
occupied so prominent a position in the very
peculiar society which has "constituted our re-
publican court, as Mrs. Madison.
Mr. Madison served as secretary of state
under Jefferson, and at the close of
his administration was chosen president.
At this time the encroachments of Eng-
land had brought us to the verge of war.
British orders in council destroyed our com-
merce, and our flag was exposed to constant
insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace.
Scholarly in his taste, retiring in his disposi-
tion, war had no charms for him. But the
meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's
blood boil, even now, to think of an American
ship brought to upon the ocean by the guns of
an English cruiser. A young lieutenant steps
on board and orders the crew to be paraded
before him. With great nonchalance he selects
any number whom he may please to designate
1180303
JAMES MONROE,
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
87
as British subjects; orders them down the
ship's side into his boat; and places them on
the gun-deck of his man-of-war to fight, by
compulsion, the battles of England. This
right of search and impressment, no efforts of
our government could induce the British cabi-
net to relinquish.
On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President Madi-
son gave his approval to an act of congress de-
claring war against Great Britain. Notwith-
standing -the bitter hostility of the federal
party to the war, the country in general ap-
proved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March,
181 3, was re-elected by a large majority, and
entered upon his second term of office. The
contest commenced in earnest by the appear-
ance of a British fleet early in February, 18 13,
in Chesapeake bay, declaring nearly the whole
coast of the United States under blockade.
The emmperor of Russia offered his services
as mediator. America accepted; England re-
fused. A British force of five thousand men
landed on the banks of the Patuxet river, near
its entrance into Chesapeake bay, and marched
rapidly, by way of Bladensburg, upon Wash-
ington.
The straggling little city of Washington
was thrown into consternation. The cannon
of the brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed \
through the streets of the metropolis. The 1
whole population fled from the city. The
president, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White ;
House, with her carriage drawn up at the door
to await his speedy return, hurried to meet 1
the officers in a council of war. He met our
troops utterly routed, and he could not go '
back without danger of being captured. But
few hours elapsed ere the presidential mansion,
the capitol, and all the public buildings in
Washington were in flames.
The war closed after two years of fighting,
and on February 13, 181 5, the treaty of peace
was signed at Ghent.
On the 4th of March, 1817, his second
term of office expired, and he resigned the
presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe.
He retired to his beautiful home at Montpelier
and there passed the remainder of his days.
On June 28, 1836, then at the age of eighty-
five years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi-
son died July 12, 1849.
>^AMES MONROE, the fifth president of
M the United States, was born in West-
/» 1 moreland county, Va. , April 28, 1758.
He joined the colonial army when every-
thing looked hopeless and gloomy. The num-
ber of deserters increased from day to day.
The invading armies came pouring in; and the
tories not only favored the cause of the mother
country, but disheartened the new recruits,
who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect
of contending with an enemy whom they had
been taught to deem invincible. To such brave
spirits as James Monroe, who went right on-
ward undismayed through difficulty and danger,
the United States owe their political eman-
cipation. The young cadet joined the ranks
and espoused the cause of his injured country,
with a firm determination to live or die with
her strife for liberty. Firmly, yet sadly, he
shared in the melancholy retreat from Harlaem
Heights and White Plains, and accompanied
the dispirited army as it fled before its foes
through New Jersey. In four months after
the Declaration of Independence, the patriots
had been beaten in .seven battles. At the bat-
tle of Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the
act of charging upon the enemy he received a
wound in the left shoulder. As a reward for
his bravery, Mr. Monroe was promoted a cap-
tain of infantry; and, having recovered from
his wound, he rejoined the army. He, how-
ever, receded from the line of promotion by
38
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
becoming an officer on the staff of Lord Ster-
ling. During the campaigns of 1777 and 1778,
in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown
and Monmouth, he continued aid-de-camp;
but becoming desirous to regain his position in
the army, he exerted himself to collect a regi-
ment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed
owing to the exhausted condition of the state.
Upon this failure he entered the office of Mr.
Jefferson, at that period governor, and pursued
with considerable ardor the study of common
law. He did not, however, entirely lay aside
the knapsack for the green bag; but on the in-
vasions of the enemy, served as a volunteer
during the two years of his legal pursuits.
In 1782, he was elected from King George
county a member of the legislature of Virginia,
and by that body he was elevated to a seat in
the executive council. He was thus honored
with the confidence of his fellow citizens at
twenty-three years of age; and at this early
period displayed some of that ability and apti-
tude for legislation, which were afterward
employed with unremitting energy for the pub-
lic good, he was in the succeeding year chosen
a member of the congress of the United States. -
Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfec-
tions of the old confederacy, he was opposed
to the new constitution, thinking, with many
others of the republican party, that it gave too
much power to the central government, and
not enough to the individual states. In 1789,
he became a member of the United States sen-
ate, which office he held for four years. Every
month the line of distinction between the two
great parties which divided the nation, the
federal and the republican, was growing more
distinct. The two prominent ideas which now
separated them were, that the republican party
was in sympathy with France, and also in
favor of such a strict construction of the con-
stitution as to give the central government as
little power, and the state governments as
much power, as the constitution would war-
rant. The federalists sympathized with Eng- ^
land, and were in favor of a liberal construc-
tion of the constitution, \\hich would give as
much power to the central government as that
document could possibly authorize.
Washington was then president. England
had ■ espoused the cause of the Bourbons
against the principles of the French revolu- ,
tion. All Europe was drawn into the conflict. 1
We were feeble and far away. Washington ;
issued a proclamation of neutrality between
these contending powers. France had helped
us in the struggle for our liberties. All the
despotisms of Europe were combined, to pre-
vent the French from escaping from a tyranny
a thousand-fold worse than that which we had
endured. Col. Monroe, more magnanimous
than prudent, was anxious that, at whatever
hazard, we should help our old allies in their
extremity. It was the impulse of a generous
and noble nature. He violently opposed the
president's proclamation as ungrateful and
wanting in magnanimity.
Washington, who could appreciate such a
character, developed his calm, serene, almost
divine greatness, by appointing that very
James Monroe, who was denouncing the policy
of the government, as the minister of that
government to the republic of France. Mr.
Monroe was welcomed by the national conven-
tion in France with the most enthusiastic
demonstrations.
Shortly after his return to this country, Mr.
Monroe was elected governor of Virginia, and
held the office for three years. He was again
sent to France to co-operate with Chancellor
Livingston in obtaining the vast territory
then known as the province of Louisiana,
which France had but shortly before obtained
from Spain. Their united efforts were suc-
cessful. For the comparatively small sum of
fifteen millions of dollars, the entire territory
J. Q. ADAMS.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
41
of Orleans and district of Louisiana were
added to the United States. This was prob-
ably the largest transfer of real estate which
was ever made in all the history of the world.
From France Mr. Monroe went to England
to obtain from thac country some recognition
of our rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate
against those odious impressments of our sea-
men. But England was unrelenting. He
again returned to England on the same mis-
sion, but could receive no redress. He re-
turned to his home and was again chosen gov-
ernor of Virginia. This he soon resigned to
accept the position of secretary of state under
Madison. While in this office war with Eng-
land was declared, the secretary of war re-
signed, and during those trying times the du-
ties of the war department were also put upon
him. He was truly the armor-bearer of Presi-
dent Madison, and the most efficient business
man in his cabinet. Upon the return of peace
he resigned the department of war, but con-
tinued in the office of secretary of state until
the expiration of Mr. Madison's administra-
tion. At the election held the previous au-
tumn Mr. Monroe had been chosen president
with but little opposition, and upon March 4,
I 8 17, was inaugurated. Four years later he
was elected for a secs>nd term.
Among the important measures of his presi-
dency were the cession of Florida to the United
States; the Missouri compromise, and the
"Monroe doctrine.". This famous "Monroe
doctrine," was enunciated by him in 1823. At
that time the United States had recognized
the independence of the South American
states, and did not wish to have European
powers longer attempt to subdue portions of
the American continent. The doctrine is as
follows: "That we should consider any at-
tempt on the part of European powers to ex-
tend their system to any portion of this hemi-
sphere as dangerous to our peace and safety,"
and "that we could not view any interposi-
tion for the purpose of oppressing or controll-
ing American governments or provinces in any
other light than as a manifestation by Euro-
pean powers of an unfriendly disposition to-
ward the United State. ' This doctrine imme-
diately affected the course of foreign govern-
ments, and has become the approved senti-
ment of the United States.
At the end of his second term Mr. Monroe
retired to his home in Virginia, where he lived
until 1830, when he went to New York to live
with his son-in-law. In that city he died on
the 4th of July, 1831.
>^OHN OUINCY ADAMS, the sixth
M president of the United States, was
« 1 born in Ounicy, Mass., on the iith of
July, 1767. His mother, a woman of
exalted worth, watched over his childhood
during the almost constant absence of his
father.
When but eleven years old he took a tear-
ful adieu of his mother, to sail with his father
for Europe, through a fleet of hostile British
cruisers. The bright, animated boy spent a
year and a half in Paris, where his father was
associated with Franklin and Lee as minister
plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted the
notice of these distinguished men, and he re-
ceived from them flattering matks of attention.
Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned to
•this country, in 1779, ere he was again sent
abroad. Again John Quincy accompanied his
father. At Paris he applied himself with great
diligence, for six months, to study; then accom-
panied his father to Holland, where he entered
first a school in Amsterdam, then the univer-
sity at Leyden. About a year from this time,
in 1781, when the manly boy was but fourteen
years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana,
42
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
our minister to the Russian court, as his pri-
vate secretary.
In this school of incessant labor and of
ennobling culture he spent fourteen months, and
then returned to Holland through Sweden,
Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. This long
journey he took alone, in the winter, when in
his sixteenth year. Again he resumed his
studies, under a private tutor, at Hague.
Thence, in the spring of 1782, he accompanied
his father to Paris, traveling leisurely, and
examining architectural remains, galleries of
paintings and all renowned works of art. At
Paris he again became associated with the
most illustrious men of all lands in the con-
templations of the loftiest temporal themes
which can engross the human mind. After a
short visit to England he returned to Paris,
and consecrated all his energies to study until
May, 1785, when he returned to America.
After leaving Harvard college at the age
of twenty, he studied law for three years. In
June, 1794, being then but twenty-seven years
of age, he was appointed, by Washington, res-
ident minister at the Netherlands. Sailing
from Boston in July, he reached London in
October, where he was immediately admitted
to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinck-
ney, assisting them in negotiating a commer-
cial treaty with Great Britain. After thus
spending a fortnight in London, he proceeded
to the Hague.
In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to
Portugal as minister plenipotentiary. On his
way to Portugal, upon arriving in London, he
met with despatches directing him to the court
of Berlin, but requesting him to remain in
London until he should receive his instruc-
tions. While waiting he was married to an
American lady to whom he had been previ-
ously engaged — Miss Louisa Cathe.ine John-
son, daughter of Mr. Joshua Johnson, Ameri-
can consul in London.
He reached Berlin with his wife in Novem-
ber, 1797; where he remained until July,
1799, when having fulfilled all the purposes of
his mission, he solicited his recall. Soon after
his return, in I802, he was chosen to the sen-
ate of Massachusetts from Boston, and then
was elected senator of the United States for
six years, from the 4th of March, 1 804. His
reputation, his ability and his experience,
placed him immediately among the most prom-
inent and influential members of that body.
Especially did he sustain the government in its
measures of resistance to the encroachments
of England, destroying our commerce and in-
sulting our flag.
In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in
the presidential chair, and he immediately
nominated John Quincy Adams minister to St.
Petersburg. Resigning his professorship in
Harvard college, he embarked at Boston, in
August, 1809. While in Russia, Mr. Adams
was an intense student. He devoted his at-
tention to the language and history of Russia;
to the Chinese trade; to the European system
of weights, measures, and coins; to the
climate and astronomical observations; while
he kept up a familiar acquaintance with the
Greek and Latin classics. All through life the
Bible constituted an important part of his
studies. It was his rule to read five chapters
every day.
On the 4th of March, 181 7, Mr. Monroe
took the presidential chair, and immediately
appointed Mr. Adams secretary of state.
Taking leave of his friends in public and pri-
vate life in Europe, he sailed in June, 1819,
for the United States. On the 1 8th of August,
he again crossed the threshold of his home in
Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon-
roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued
secretary of state.
Some time before the close of Mr. Mon-
roe's second term of office, new candidates
*
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ANDREW JACKSON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
46
began to be presented for the presidency.
The friends of Mr. Adams brought forward
his name. It was an exciting campaign.
Party spirit was never more bitter. Two
hundred and sixty electoral votes were cast.
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. Craw-
ford, forty-one; Henry Clay, thirty-seven.
As there was no choice by the people, the
question went to the house of representatives.
Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mj.
Adams, and he was elected.
Mr. Adams was, to a very remarkable de-
gree, abstemious and temperate in his habits;
always rising early, and taking much exercise.
When at his home in Quincy, he has been
known to walk, before breakfast, seven miles
to Boston. In Washington, it was said that
he was the first man up in the city, lighting
his own fire and applying himself to work in
his library often long before dawn.
On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams
retired from the presidency, and was succeeded
by Andrew Jackson. John C. Calhoun was
elected vice president. The slavery question
now began to assume protentous magnitude.
Mr. Adams returned to Quincy and to his
studies, which he pursued with unabated zeal.
But he was not long permitted 10 remain in
retirement. In November, 1830, he was
elected representative to congress. For sev-
enteen years, until his death, he occupied the
post as representative, ever ready to do brave
battle for freedom, and winning the title of
"the old man eloquent." Upon taking his
seat in the house, he announced that he should
hold himself bound to no party. He was
usually the first in his place in the morning,
and the last to leave his seat in the evening.
Not a measure could be brought forward and
escape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr.
Adams fought, almost singly, against the
proslavery party in the government, was sub-
lime in its moral daring and heroism. For
persisting in presenting petitions for the aboli-
tion of slavery, he was threatened with indict-
ment by the grand jury, with expulsion from
the house, and also with assassination, but
no threats could intimidate him, and his final
triumph was complete.
On the 2 1 St of February, 1848, he rose on
the floor of congress, with a paper in his hand,
to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell,
again stricken by paralysis, and was caught in
the arms of those around him. For a time
he was senseless, as he was conveyed to the
sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious-
ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around
and said, "This is the end of earth;" then
after a moment's pause he added, "I am con-
tent." These were the last words of the sixth
president.
HNDREW JACKSON, the seventh
president of the United States, was
born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C,
March 15, 1767, a few days after his
father's death. His parents were from Ireland,
and took up their abode in Waxhaw settle-
ment, where they lived in deepest poverty.
Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally
called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent
boy. His features were coarse, his form un-
gainly; and there was but very little in his
character, made visible, which was attractive.
When only thirteen years old he joined the
volunteers of Carolina against the British in-
vasion. In 1 78 1, he and his brother Robert
were captured and imprisoned for a time at
Camden. A British officer ordered him to
brush his mud-spattered boots. "I am a
prisoner of war, not your servant," was the
reply of the dauntless boy. The brute drew
his sword, and aimed a desperate blow at the
head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew
PRESIDE3S1TS OF THE UNITED STATES.
raised his hand, and thus received two fearful j
gashes — one on the hand and the other npon I
the head. The officer then turned to his [
brother Robert with the same demand He
also refused, and received a blow from the
keen-edged saber, which quite disabled him,
and which probably soon after caused his
death. They suffered much other ill-treat-
ment, and were finally stricken with the small-
pox. Their mother was successful in obtain-
ing their e.xchange, and took her sick boys
home. After a long illness Andrew recovered,
and the death of his mother soon left him en-
tirely friendless.
Andrew supported himself in various ways,
such as working at the saddler's trade, teaching
school and clerking in a general store, until
17S4, when he entered a law office at Salis-
bury, N. C. In 1788, he was appointed solicit-
or for the western district of North Carolina,
of which Tennessee was then a part. This in-
volved many long and tedious journeys amid
dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson
never knew fear.
In I 79 1, Jackson was married to a woman
who supposed herself divorced from her former
husband. Great was the surprise of both
parties, two years later, to find that the con-
ditions of the divorce had just been definitely
settled by the first husband. The marriage
ceremony was performed a second time, but
the occurrence was often used by his enemies
to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor. During
these years he worked hard at his profession,
and frequently had one or more duels on hand,
one of which, when he killed Dickinson, was
especially disgraceful.
In January, I 796, the territory of Tennes-
see then containing nearly 80,000 inhabitants,
the people met in convention at Kno.wille to
frame a constitution. Five were sent from each
of the eleven counties. Andrew Jackson was
one of the delegates. The new state was en-
titled to but one member in the national house
of representatives. Andrew Jackson was chosen
that member. Mounting his horse he rode to
Philadelphia, where congress then held its
sessions — a distance of about 800 miles.
Jackson was an earnest advocate of the
democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He
admired Bonaparte, loved France and hated
England. As Jackson took his seat, Gen.
Washington, whose second term of office was
then e.xpiring, delivered his last speech to
congress. A committee drew up a compli-
mentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson
did not approve of the address, and was one
of the twelve who voted against it. He was
not willing to -say that Gen. Washington's
administration had been "wise, firm and
patriotic."
Jackson was elected to the United States
senate in 1797, but soon resigned. Soon after
he was chosen judge of the supreme court of
his state, which position he held for six years.
When the war of 18 12 with Great Britain
commenced, Madison occupied the presidential
chair. Aaron Burr sent word to the president
that there was an unknown man in the west,
Andrew Jackson, who would do credit to a
commission if one were conferred upon him.
Just at that time Gen. Jackson offered his
services and those of 2, 500 volunteers. His
offer was accepted, and the troops were assem-
bled at Nashville. As the British were hourly
expected to make an attack upon New Orlean.=,
where Gen. Wilkinson was in command, he
was ordered to descend the river with 1,500
troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition
reached Natchez; and after a delay of several
weeks there, the men were ordered back to
their homes. But the energy Gen. Jackson
had displayed, and his entire devotion to the
comfort of his soldiers, won him golden
opinions; and he became the most popular man
in the state. It was in this expedition that his
M. VAN BUREN.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UMTED STATES.
toughness gave him the nickname of "Old
Hickory."
Soon after this, while attempting to horse-
whip Col. Thomas H. Benton, for a remark
that gentleman made about his taking a part
as second in a duel, in which a younger brother
of Benton's was engaged, he received two
severe pistol wounds. While he was lingering
upon a bed of suffering news came that the
Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh
from Florida to the lakes, to exterminate the
white settlers, were committing the most
awful ravages. Decisive action became neces-
sary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone
just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and
unable to mount his horse without assistance,
gave his amazing energies to the raising of an
army to rendezvous at Fayettesville, Ala.
The Creek Indians had established a strong
fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa
river, near the center of Alabama, about fifty
miles below Fort Strother. With an army of
2,000 men. Gen. Jackson traversed the path-
less wilderness in a march of eleven days. He
reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horse-
shoe, on the 27th of March, 18 14. The bend
of the river enclosed 100 acres of tangled
forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow
neck the Indians had constructed a formidable
breastwork of logs and brush. Here 900 war-
riors, with an ample supply of arms were as-
sembled. The fort was stormed. The fight
was utterly desperate. Not an Indian woald
accept of quarter. When bleeding and djing,
they would fight those who endeavored to spare
their lives. From ten in the morning until
dark, the battle raged. The carnage was awful
and revolting. Some threw themselves into
the river; but the unerring bullet struck their
heads as they swam. Nearly every one of the
900 warriors was killed. This closing of the
Creek war enabled us to concentrate all our
militia upon the British, who \\ere the allies of
the Indians. No man of less resolute will than
Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian
campaign to so successful an issue. Immedi-
ately he was appointed major-general.
Late in August, with an army of 2.000
men, on a rushing march. Gen. Jackson went
to Mobile. A B.itish fleet came from Pensa-
cola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored
near the little fort, and from both ship and
shore commenced a furious assault. The battle
was long and doubtful. At length one of the
ships was blown up and the rest retired.
Garrisomng Mobile, Jackson moved his
troops to New Orleans, and the battle of New
Orleans, which soon ensued, was in reality a
very arduous campaign. Here his troop-^.
which numbered about 4.000 men, won a
signal victory over the British army of about
9,000. His loss was but thirteen, while the loss
of the British was 2,600.
The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to
be mentioned in connection with the jircsi-
dency. but, in 1824, he was defeated by Mr.
Adams. He was, however, succefsful in the
election of 1828, and was re-elected for a
second term in 1832. In 1829, he met with
the most terrible affliction of his life in the
death of his wife. At the expiration of his two
terms of office he r.-tired to the Hcrmitngo,
where he died June 8, 1S45. The last years
of Jackson's life were that of a devoted chris-
tian man.
QARTIN \"AN BIRKN. the eighth
president of the I'jiited .States, was
born at Kinderhook. N. Y., Decem-
' ber 5, 1782. He died at the same
place, July 24, 1862, and his body rests in the
cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain
granite shaft fifteen feet high, bearing a sim-
ple inscription about half way up on the face.
The lot is unfenced, unbordcred or unbounded
50
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
by shrub or flower. His ancestors, as his
name indicates, were of Dutch origin, and
were among the earliest emigrants from Hol-
land to the banks of the Hudson. His father
was a farmer, residing in the old town of
Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch
lineage, was a woman of superior intelligence
and exemplary piety. At the age of fourteen,
he had finished his academic studies in his na-
tive village, and commenced the study of law.
As he had not a collegiate education, seven
years of study in a law office were required of
him before he could be admitted to the bar.
Inspired with a lofty ambition, and conscious
of his powers, he pursued his studies with in-
defatigable industry. After spending six years
in an office in his native village, he went to
the city of New York, and prosecuted his
studies for the seventh year.
In 1803, Van Buren, then twenty-one
years of age, commenced the practice of law
in his native village. The great conflict be-
tween the federal and repnblican parties was
then at its height. Van Buren was in cordial
sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and
eloquently espoused the cause of state rights;
though at that time the federal party held the
supremacy both in his town and state. His
success and increasing reputation led him, after
six years of practice, to remove to Hudson,
the county seat of his county. Here he spent
seven years, constantly gaining strength by
contending in the courts with some of the
ablest men who have adorned the bar of his
state.
Just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson,
Mr. Van Buren married a lady alike distinguished
for beauty and accomplishments. After
twelve short years she sank into the grave,
the victim of consumption, leaving her hus-
band and four sons to weep over her loss. In
18 1 2, when thirty years of age, he was chosen
to the state senate, and gave his strenuous
support to Mr. Madison's administration. In
181 5, he was appointed attorney-general, and
the next year moved to Albany, the capital of
the state.
While he was acknowledged as one of the
most prominent leaders of the democratic
party, he had the moral courage to avow that
true democracy did not require that "univer-
sal suffrage" which admits the vile, the de-
graded, the ignorant, to the right of governing
the state. In true consistency with his demo-
cratic principles, he contended that, while
the path leading to the privilege of voting
should be open to every man without distinc-
tion, no one should be invested with that
sacred prerogative, unless he were in some
degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue
and some property interests in the welfare of
the state.
In 1 82 1 he was elected a member of the
United States senate, and in the same year he
took a seat in the convention to revise the
constitution of his native state. His course in
this convention secured the approval of men
of all parties. In the senate of the United
States, he rose at once to a conspicuous posi-
tion as an active and useful legislator. In
1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the
presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re-
elected to the senate. He had been, from the
beginning, a determined opposer to the ad-
ministration, adopting the state rights view in
opposition to what was deemed the federal
proclivities of Mr. Adams,
Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen
governor of the state of New York, and ac-
cordingly resigned his seat in the senate.
Probably no one in the United States con-
tributed so much towards ejecting John Q.
Adams from the presidential chair, and placing
in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van
Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation
or not, he certainly was regarded throughout
W. H. HARRISON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
58
the United States as one of the most skillful
sagacious and cunning politicians. It was sup-
posed that no one knew so well as he how to
touch the secret springs of action; how to pull
all the wires to put his machinery in motion;
and how to organize a political army which
would, secretly and stealthily, accomplish the
most gigantic results. By these powers it is
said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay,
Mr. Webster, and secured results which few
thought then could be accomplished.
When Andrew Jackson was elected presi-
dent he appointed Mr. Van Buren secretary
of state. This position he resigned in 1831,
and was immediately appointed minister to
England, where he went the same autumn.
The senate, however, when it met, refused to
ratify the nomination, and he returned home,
apparently untroubled; was nominated vice
president in the place of Calhoun, at the re-
election of Pres. Jackson; and with smiles
for all and frowns for none, he took his place
at the head of that senate which had refused
to confirm his nomination as ambassador.
His rejection by the senate aroused all the
zeal of Pres. Jackson in behalf of his repudi-
ated favorite; and this, probably more than
any other cause, secured his elevation to the
chair of the chief executive. On the 20th of
May, 1836, Van Buren received the demo-
cratic nomination to succeed Gen. Jackson as
president of the United States. He was
elected by a handsome majority, to the delight
of the retiring president.
His administration was filled with exciting
events. The insurrection in Canada, which
threatened to involve this country in war with
England, the agitation of the slavery question,
and finally the great commercial panic which
spread over the country, all were trials to his
wisdom. The financial distress was attributed
to the management of the democratich party,
and brought the president into such disfavor
that he failed of re-election. With the ex-
ception of being nominated for the presidency
by the free soil democrats, in 1848, Mr. Van
Buren lived quietly upon his estate until his
death.
He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal
habits, and, living within his income, had now
fortunately a competency for his declining
years. It was on the 4th of March, 1841,
that Mr. Van Buren retired from the presidency.
From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still
exerted a powerful influence upon the politics
of the country. From this time until his death,
on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty
years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman
of leisure, of culture and of wealth; enjoying
in a healthy old age, probably far more happi-
ness than he had before experienced amid the
stormy scenes of his active life.
Wi
ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the
ninth president of the United
States, was born at Berkeley, Va. ,
Feb. 9, 1773- His father, Benja-
min Harrison, was in comparatively opulent
circumstances, and was one of the most dis-
tinguished men of his day. He was an inti-
mate friend of George Washington, was early
elected a member of the continental congress,
and was conspicuous among the patriots of
Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the
British crown. In the celebrated congress of
1775, Benjamin Harrison and John Hancock
were both candidates for the office of speaker.
Mr. Harrison was subsetjuently chosen
governor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected.
Having received a thorough common-
school education, William Henry Harrison
entered Hampden Sidney college, where he
graduated with honor soon after the death of
his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia
54
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
to study medicine under the instructions of
Dr. Rush and the guardianship of Robert
Morris, both of whom were, with his father,
signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles,
and notwithstanding the remonstrances of his
friends, he abandoned his medical studies and
entered the army, having obtained a commis-
sion of ensign from President Washington. He
was then but nineteen years old. From that
time he passed gradually upward in rank until
he became aid to Gen. Wayne, after whose
death he resigned his commission. He was
then appointed secretary or the Northwestern
territory. This territory was then entitled to
but one member in congress, and Capt. Harri-
son wa,s chosen to fill that position.
In the spring of 1800 the Northwestern
territory was divided by congress into two
portions. The eastern portion, comprising
the region now embraced in the state ot Ohio,
was called "The Territory northwest of the
Ohio." The western portion, which included
what is now called Indiana, Illinois and Wis-
consin, was called the "Indiana territory."
William Henry Harrison, then twenty-seven
years of age, was appointed by John Adams,
governor of the Indiana territory, and imme-
diately after, also governor of upper Louisi-
ana. He was thus ruler over almost as
extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the
globe. He was superintendent of Indian af-
fairs, and was invested with powers nearly
dictatorial over the now rapidly increasing
white population. The ability and fidelity
with which he discharged these responsible
duties may be inferred from the fact that he
was four times appointed to this office — first
by John Adpms, twice by Thomas Jefferson
and afterward by President Madison.
When he began his administration there
were but three white settlements in that al-
most boundless region, now crowded with
cities and resounding with all the tumult of
wealth and traffic. One of these settlements
was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville;
one at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the
third a French settlement.
The vast wilderness over which Gov.
Harrison reigned was filled with many tribes
of Indians. About the year 1806, two extra-
ordinary men, twin brothers, of the Shawnese
tribe, rose among them. One of these was
called Tecumseh, or "The Crouching Pan-
ther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or "The
Prophet." Tecumseh was not only an Indian
warrior, but a man of great sagacity, far-
reaching foresight and indomitable persever-
ance in any enterprise in which he might
engage. He was inspired with the highest
enthusiasm, and had long regarded with dread
and with hatred the encroachment of the
whites upon the hunting grounds of his fath-
ers. His brother, the Prophet, was an orator,
who could sway the feelings of the untutored
Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops be-
neath which they dwelt.
Gov. Harrison made many attempts to
conciliate the Indians, but at last the war
came, and at Tippecanoe the Indians were
routed with great slaughter. October 28,
1 8 12, his army began its march. When near
the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made
their appearance and inquired why Gov. Har-
rison was approaching them in so hostile an
attitude. After a short conference, arrange-
ments were made for a meeting the next day,
to agree upon terms of peace. But Gov. Har-
rison was too well acquainted with the Indian
character to be deceived by such protestations.
Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en-
campment, he took every precaution against
surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow
square. End slept upon their arms. The
troops threw themselves upon the ground for
rest; but every man had his accourtrements
JOHN TYLER.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
57
on, his loaded musket by his side, and his
bayonet fixed. The wakeful governor, be-
tween three and four o'clock in the morning,
had risen, and was sitting in conversation with
his aids by the embers of a waning fire. It
was a chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling
rain. In the darkness, the Indians had crept
as near as possible, and just then, with a sav-
age yell, rushed, with all the desperation
which superstition and passion most highly
inflamed could give, upon the left flank of the
little army. The savages had been amply
provided with guns and ammunition by the
English. Their war-whoop was accompanied
by a shower of bullets. The camp-fires were
instantly extinguished, as the light aided the
Indians in their aim. With hideous yells, the
Indian bands rushed on, not doubting a speedy
and entire victory. But Gen. Harrison's
troops stood as immovable as the rocks around
them until day dawned; they then made a
simultaneous charge with the bayonet, and
swept everything before them, and completely
routed the foe. Gov. Harrison now had all
his energies tasked to the utmost. The Brit-
ish, descending from the Canadas, were of
themselves a very formidable force; but with
their savage allies, rushing like wolves from
the forest, searching out every remote farm
house, burning, plundering, scalping, torturing,
the wide frontier was plunged into a state of
consternation which even the most vivid imagi-
nation can but faintly conceive. Gen Hull
had made the ignominious surrender of his
forces at Detroit. Under these despairing
circumstances, Gov. Harrison was appointed
by President Madison commander-in-chief of
the Northwestern army, with orders to retake
Detroit, and to protect the frontiers.
Harrison won the love of his soldiers by
always sharing with them their fatigue. His
whole baggage, while pursuing the foe up the
Thames, was carried in a valise; and his bed-
ding consisted of a single blanket lashed over
his saedle. Thirty-tive British officers, his
prisoners of war, supped with him after the bat-
tle. The only fare he could give them was beef
roasted before the fire, without bread or salt.
In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a
member of the national house of representa-
tives, to represent the district of Ohio. In
congress he proved an active member; and
whenever he spoke, it was with force of reason
and power of eloquence, which arrested the
attention of all the members.
In 18 19, Harrison was elected to the sen-
ate of Ohio; and in 1S24, as one of the presi-
dential electors of that state, he gave his vote
for Henry Clay. The same year he was
chosen to the United States senate.
In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison
brought him forward as a candidate for the
presidency against Van Buren, but he was de-
feated. At the close of Mr. Van Buren's
term, he was re-nominated by his party, and
Harrison was unanimously nominated by the
whigs, with John Tyler for the vice presidency.
The contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson
gave all his influence to prevent Harrison's
election; but his triumph was signal.
The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel
Webster at its head as secretary of state, was
one of the most brilliant with which any presi-
dent had ever been surrounded. In the midst
of these bright and joyous prospects, Gen.
Harrison was seized by a pleurisy-fever, and
after a few days of violent sickness, died on
the 4th of April; just one month after his in-
auguration as president of the United States.
>T^OHN TYLER, the tenth president of
m the United States, was born in Charles
A 1 City county, Va. , March 29, 1790.
At the early age of twelve, John entered
William and Mary college and graduated with
58
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
much honor when but seventeen years old.
He devoted himself with great assiduity to the
study of law, partly with his father and partly
with Edmund Randolph, one of the most dis-
tiguished lawyers of Virginia.
At nineteen years of age, he commenced
the practice of law. His success was rapid
and astonishing. It is said that three months
had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case
on the docket of the court in which he was not
retained. When but twenty-one years of age,
he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in
the state legislature. He connected himself
with the democratic party, and warmly ad-
vocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison.
For five successive years he was elected to the
legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous
vote of his county.
When but twenty-six years of age, he was
elected a member of congress. Here he acted
earnestly and ably with the democratic party,
opposing a national bank, internal improve-
ments by the general government, a protective
tariff, and advocating a strict construction of
the constitution, and the most careful vigilance
over state rights. His labors in congress were
so arduous that before the close of his second
term he found it necessary to resign and retire
to his estate in Charles City county, to recruit
his health. He, however, soon after consented
to take his seat in the state legislature, where
his influence was powerful in promoting public
works of great utility. He was then chosen,
by a very large majority of votes, governor of
his native state. His administration was sig-
nally a successful one, and his popularity
secured his re-election.
John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-
crazed man, then represented Virginia in the
senate of the United States. A portion of the
democratic party was displeased with Mr.
Randolph's wayward course, and brought
forward John Tyler as his opponent, and
Tyler was the victor. In accordance with his
professions, upon taking his seat in the sen-
ate, he joined the ranks of the opposition. He
opposed the tariff; he spoke against and voted
against the bank as unconstitutional; he stren-
uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, re-
resisting all projects of internal improvements
by the general government, and avowed his
sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullifica-
tion; he declared that Gen. Jackson, by his op-
position to the nullifiers, had abandoned the
principles of the democratic party. Such was
Mr. Tyler's record in congress — a record in
perfect accordance with the principles which
he had always avowed.
Returning to Virginia, he resumed the
practice of his profession. There was a split
in the democratic party. His friends still re-
garded him as a true Jeffersonian, gave him a
dinner, and showered compliments upon him.
He had now attained the age of forty-six.
Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg,
for the better education of his children; and
he again took his seat in the legislature of Vir-
ginia.
By the southern whigs, he was sent to the
national convention at Harrisburg to nominate
a president in 1839. The majority of votes
were given to Gen. Harrison, a genuine whig,
much to the disappointment of the south, who
wished for Henry Clay. To conciliate the
southern whigs and to secure their vote, the
convention then nominated John Tyler for
vice president. Thus it happened that a whig
president, and, in reality, a democratic vice
president were chosen.
In 1 84 1, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated vice
president of the United States. In one short
month from that time Pres. Harrison, died and
Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own sur-
prise and that of the whole nation, an occu-
pant of the presidential chair. This was a new
test of the stability of our institutions, as it
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
was the first time in the history of our country
that such an event had occurred Mr. Tyler
was at home in WilHamsburg when he received
the unexpected tidings of the death of Pres.
Harrison. He hastened to Washington, and
on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high
and responsible office. Gen. Harrison had
selected a whig cabinet Should he retain
them, and thus surround himself with counsel-
ors whose views were antagonistic to his own .'
or, on the other hand, should he turn against
the party which had elected him and select a
cabinet in harmony with himself, and which
would oppose all those views which the whigs
deemed essential to the public welfare.' This
was his fearful dilemma, and so he invited the
cabinet which Pres. Harrison had selected to
retain their seats.
The whigs carried through congress a bill
for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the
United States. The president, after ten day's
delay, returned it with his veto. He suggested,
however, that he would approve of a bill
drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed.
Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and
privately submitted to him He gave it his
approval. It was passed without alteration,
and he sent it back with his veto. Here com-
menced the open rupture. It is said that Mr.
Tyler was provoked to this measure by a pub-
lished letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a
distinguished \'irginia whig, who severely
touched the pride of the president.
The opposition now exultingly received the
president into their arms. The party which
elected him denounced him bitterly. All the
members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Web-
ster, resigned. The whigs of congress, both the
senate and the house, held a meeting and issued
an address to the people of the United States,
proclaiming that all political alliances between
the whigs and Pres. Tyler were at an end.
Still the president attempted to conciliate.
He appointed a new cabinet of distinguished
whigs and conservatives, carefully leaving out
all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon
found it necessary to resign, forced out by the
pressure of his whig friends. Thus the four
years of Mr. Tyler's unfortunate administra-
tion passed sadly away. More and more,
however, he brought himself into sympathy
with his old friends, the democrats, until at
the close of his term, he gave his whole influ-
ence to the support of Mr. Polk, the demo-
cratic candidate for his successor.
On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from
office, to the regret of neither party, and
probably to his own unspeakable relief. His
first wife. Miss Letitia Christian, died in
Washington, in 1842; and in June, 1844,
Pres. Tyler was again married, at New York, to
Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many
personal and intellectual accomjilishments.
The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed
mainly in retirement at his beautiful home —
Sherwood Forest, Charles City county, Va.
A polished gentleman in his manners, richly
furnished with information from books and
experience in the world, and possessing bril-
liant powers of conversation, his family circle
was the scene of unusual attractions. With
sufficient means for the exercise of a generous
hospitality, he might have enjoyed a serene
old age with the few friends who gathered
around him, were it not for the storms of civil
war which his own principles and policy had
helped to introduce.
When the great rebellion rose, which the
state rights and nullifying doctrines of John C.
Calhoun had inaugurated, Pres. Tyler re-
nounced his allegiance to the United States,
and joined the confederates. He was chosen
a member of their congress; and while engaged
in active measures to destrr)y, by force of arms,
the government over which he had once pre-
sided, he was taken sick and soon died.
60
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
>Y'AMES KNOX POLK, the eleventh
M president of the United States, was
A J born in Mecklenburg county, N. C,
November 2, 1795. His parents were
Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a
son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located at the
above place, as one of the first pioneers, in
1735-
In the year 1806, with his wife and chil-
dren, and soon after followed by most of the
members of the Polk family, Samuel Polk emi-
grated some two or three hundred miles farther
west, to the rich valley of the Duck river, Tenn.
Here, in the midst of the wilderness, in a
region which was subsequently called Maury
county, they reared their log huts, and estab-
lished their homes. In the hard toil of a new
farm in the wilderness, James K. Polk spent
the early years of his childhood and youth.
His father, adding the pursuit of a surveyor to
that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth
until he became one of the leading men of the
region.
Very early in life, James developed a taste
for reading and expressed the strongest desire
to obtain a liberal education. His mother's
traininghad made him methodical in his habits,
had taught him punctaality and industry, and
had inspired him with lofty principles of
morality. His health was frail; and his father,
fearing that he might not be able to endure a
sedentary life, got a situation for hirn behind
the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial
pursuits. He remained in this uncongenial
occupation but a few weeks, when at his
earnest solicitation his father removed him,
and made arrangements for him to prosecute
his studies. Soon after he sent him to Mur-
freesboro academy. In the autumn of 18 15 he
entered the sophomore class in the university
of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. He grad-
uated in 1S18, with the highest honors, being
deemed the best scholar of his class, both
in mathematics and classics. He was then
twenty-three years of age. Mr. Polk's health
was at this time much impaired by the assi-
duity with which he had prosecuted his studies.
After a short season of relaxation he went to
Nashville, Tenn., and entered the office of
Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk
renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jack-
son, who resided on his plantation, the Her-
mitage, bnt a few miles from Nashville.
James K. Polk was a popular public speaker,
and was constantly called upon to address the
meetings of his party friends. His skill as a
speaker was such that he was popularly called
the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man
of unblemished morals, genial and courteous
in his bearing, and with that sympathetic na-
ture in the joys and griefs of others which ever
gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr.
Polk was elected to the legislature of Tennes-
see. Here he gave his strong influence towards
the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the
presidency of the United States.
In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss
Sarah Childress, of Rutherford county, Tenn.
His bride was altogether worthy of him — a
lady of beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825,
Mr. Polk was chosen a member of congress.
The satisfaction which he gave to his constit-
uents may be inferred from the fact, that for
fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was
continued in that office. He then volunta'"ily
withdrew, only that he might accept the
gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In congress
he was a laborious member, a frequent and
popular speaker. He was always in his seat,
always courteous; and whenever he spoke it
was always to the point, and without any am-
bitious rethorical display.
During five sessions of congress, Mr. Polk
was speaker of the house. Strong passions
were roused, and stormy scenes were witness-
ed; but Mr. Polk performed his arduous duties
James k. polk.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
to a very general satisfaction, and a unani-
mous vote of thanks to him was passed by the
house as he withdrew on the 4th of March,
1839-
On the 14th of October, 1839, took the
oath of office as governor of Tennessee at
Nashville. In 1841, his term of office ex-
pired, and he was again the candidate of the
democratic party, but was defeated. On the
4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated
president of the United States. The verdict
of the country in favor of the annexation of
Texas exerted its influence upon congress; and
the last act of the administration of President
Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint res-
olution of congress, passed on the 3d of March,
approving of the annexation of Texas to the
American Union. As Mexico still claimed
Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican
minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his
passports and left the country, declaring the
act of the annexation to be an act hostile to
Mexico.
In his message. President Polk urged that
Texas should immediately, by act of congress,
be received into the Union on the same foot-
ing with the other states. In the meantime,
Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas
to hold the country. He was sent first to
Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the
western boundary of Texas. Then he was
sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to
the Rio G. ande, where he erected batteries
which commanded the Mexican city of Matamo-
ras, which was situated on the western banks.
The anticipated collision soon took place, and
war was declared against Mexico by President
Polk. The war was pushed forward by Mr.
Polk's administration with great vigor. Gen.
Taylor, whose army was first called one of
"observation," then of " occupation," then of
" invasion," was sent sent forward to Monte-
rey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter.
were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. It
was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administra-
tion that the war was brought on.
" To the victors belong the spoils." Mex-
ico was prostrate before us. Her capital was
in our hands. We now consented to peace
upon the condition that Mexico should sur-
render to us, in addition to Texas, all of New
Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Califor-
nia. This new demand embraced, exclusive
of Texas, 800.000 square miles. This was an
extent of territory e(]ual to nine states of the
size of New York. Thus slavery was securing
eighteen majestic states to be added to the
Union. In the prosecution of this war, we
expended 20,000 lives and more tluin $100,-
000,000. Of this more than .$1 5,000,000 were
paid to Mexico.
On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk re-
I tired from office, having served one term.
The next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen.
Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr.
Polk rode to the capitol in the same carriage
with Gen. Taylor; and the same evening, with
Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Ten-
nessee. He was then but fifty-four years of
age. He had ever been strictly temperate in
all his habits, and his health was good. With
an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated
mind, and domestic ties of the dearest na-
ture, it seemed as though long years of tran-
quility and happiness were before him. But
the cholera — the fearful scourge — was then
sweeping up the valley of the Mississippi.
This he contracted, and died on the i 5th of
June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth year of his age.
H
ACH,\RY TAYLOR, twelfth presi-
dent of the United States, was born
on the 24th of November, 1784, in
Orange county, Va. His father,
1 Colonel Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and
64
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
a distinguished patriot and soldier of the Revo-
lution. When Zachary was an infant, his
father, with his wife and two children, emi-
grated to Kentucky, where he settled, a few
miles from Louisville. In this frontier home,
young Zacnary could enjoy but few social and
educational advantages. When six years of
age he attended a common school, and was
then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather
remarkable for bluntness and decision of char-
acter. He was strong, fearless and self-reli-
ant, and manifested a strong desire to enter
the army to tight the Indians who were rav-
aging the frontiers.
In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining
for him the commissiou of lieutenant in the
United States army; and he joined the troops
which were stationed at New Orleans under
Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married
Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one
of the first families of Maryland.
Immediately after the declaration of war
with England, in 18 12, Capt. Taylor (for he
had then been promoted to that rank) was put
in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wa-
bash, about fifty miles above Vincennes.
This fort had been built in the wilderness by
Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe.
It was one of the first points of attack by the
Indians, led by Tecumseh. Its garrison con-
sisted of a broken company of infantry num-
bering fifty men, many of whom were sick.
Early in the autumn of 18 12, the Indians,
stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon
the fort. Their approach was first indicated
by the murder of two soldiers just outside of
the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possi-
ble preparation to meet the anticipated as-
sault. On the 4th of September, a band of
forty painted and plumed savages came to the
fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt.
Taylor that in the morning their chief would
come to have a talk with him. It was evident
that their object was merely to ascertain the
state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor,
well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept
them at a distance. The sun went down; the
savages disappeared, the garrison slept upon
their arms. One hour before midnight the
war-whoop burst from a thousand lips in the
forest around, followed by the discharge of
musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every
man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every
man knew that defeat was not merely death,
but in the case of capture, death by the most
agonizing and prolonged torture. The savages
succeeded in setting fire to one of the block-
houses. Until six o'clock in the morning, this
awful conflict continued. The savages then,
baffled at every point, and gnashing their teeth
with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gal-
lant defense, was promoted to the rank of
major by brevet.
Until the close of the war. Major Taylor
was placed in such situations that he saw but
little more of active service. He was sent far
away into the depths of the wilderness, to
Fort Crawford, on Fox river, which empties
into Green bay. Gradually he rose to the
rank of colonel. In the Black-Hawk war,
which resulted in the capture of that renowned
chieftain, Col. Taylor took a subordinate but
a brave and efficient part. For twenty-four
years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defense
of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in
employments so obscure, that his name was
unknown beyond the limits of his own imme-
diate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was
sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians
to vacate that region and retire beyond the
Mississippi, as their chiefs, by treaty, had
promised they should do. The services ren-
dered here secured Col. Taylor the high ap-
preciation of the government; and as a reward,
he was elevated to the rank of brigadier-gen-
eral by brevet; and soon after, in May, 1838,
Z. TAYLOR.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
was appointed to the cliief command of the
United States troops in h'lorida. After two
years of such wearisome employment, Gen.
Ta}lor obtained, at his own request, a change
of command, and was stationed over the de-
partment of the southwest. This field em-
braced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and
^.eorgia. FZstablishing his headquarters at
Fort Jesup, in Louisiana, he removed his
family to a plantation which he purchased
near Baton Rouge. Here he remained for
five years, buried, as it were, from the world,
but faithfully discharging every duty imposed
upon him.
In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard
the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande,
the latter river being the boundary of Te.xas,
which was then claimed by the United States.
Soon the war with Me.xico was brought on,
and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma,
Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the
Mexicans. The rank of major-general by
brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor,
and his name was received with enthusiasm
almost everywhere in the nation, Then came
the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, in
which he won signal victories over forces much
larger than he commanded. His careless
habits of dress and his unaffected simplicity,
secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, the
sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready."
The tidings of the brilliant victory of
Buena Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm
over the country. The whig party decided to
take advantage of this wonderful popularity
in bringing forward the unpolished, uncul-
tered, honest soldier as their candidate for the
presidency. Gen. Taylor was ::stonished at
the announcement, and for a time would not
listen to it; declaring that he was not at all
qualified for such an office. So little interest
had he taken in politics that, for forty years,
he had not cast a vote.
Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker
nor a fine writer. His friends took possession
of him, and prepared such few communica-
tions as it was needful should be presented to
the public. The popularity of the successful
warrior swept the land. He was triumph-
antly elected over two opposing candidates —
Gen. Cass and I£x-Pres. Martin \'an Buren.
Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the
good old man found himself in a very uncon-
genial position, and was, at times, sorely per-
plexed and harassed. His mental sufferings
were very severe, and probably tended to has-
ten his death. The pro-slavery party was
pushing its claims with tireless energy, expLcli-
tions were fitting out to capture Cuba; Cali-
fornia was pleading for admission to the
Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar
her out. Gen. Taylor found the political con-
flicts m Washington to be far more trying to
the nerves than battles with Mexicans or
Indians.
In the midst of all these troubles. Gen.
Taylor, after he had occupied the presidential
chair but little over a year, took cold, and
after a brief sickness, of but little over five
days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. His last
words were: " I am not afraid to die. I am
ready. I have endeavored to do my duty."
He died universally respectsd and beloved.
Gen, Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted
with Gen, Taylor, gave the following graphic
and truthful description of his character:
"With a good store of common sense. Gen.
Taylor's mind had not been enlarged and re-
freshed by reading, or much converse with the
world. Rigidity of ideas was the consequence.
The frontiers and small military posts had
been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant
for his rank, and quite bigoted in his igno-
rance. His simplicity was child-like, and
with innumerable prejudices, amusing and in-
corrigible, well suited to the tender age.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Thus, if a man, however respectable, chanced
to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat
a little on one side of his head; or an officer
to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling
from an outside pocket — in any such case, this
critic held the offender to be a coxcomb (per-
haps something worse), whom he would not,
to use his oft repeated phrase, 'touch with a
pair of tongs.' "
(D
ILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth
president of the United States, was
born at Summer Hill, Cayuga
county, N. Y. , on the 7th of Janu-
ary, 1800. His father was a farmer, and,
owing to misfortune, in humble circumstances.
Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar
Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said
that she possessed an intellect of very high
order, united with much personal loveliness,
sweetness of disposition, graceful manners and
exquisite sensibilities. She died in 1831;
having lived to see her son a young man of
distinguished promise, though she was not per-
mitted to witness the high dignity which he
finally attained.
In consequence of the secluded home and
limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed
but slender advantages for education in his
early years. The sacred influences of home
had taught him to revere the Bible, and had
laid the foundations of an upright character.
When fourteen years of age his father sent
him some hundred miles from home, to the
then wilds of Livingston county, to learn the
trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was
a small village, where some enterprising man
had commenced the collection of a village
library. This proved an inestimable blessing
to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent
in reading. Soon every leisure moment was
occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge
became insatiate, and the selections which he
made were continually more < levating and
instructive. He read history, biography,
oratory, and thus gradually there was en-
kindled in his heart a desire to be something
more than a mere worker with his hands; and
he was becoming, .almost unknown to himself,
a well informed, educated man.
The young clothier had now attained the
age of nineteen years, and was of fine per-
sonal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor.
It so happened that there was a gentleman in
the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means
and of benevolence — Judge Walter Wood —
who was struck with the prepossessing appear-
ance of young Fillmore. He made his
acquaintance, and was so much impressed
with his ability and attainments that he ad-
vised him to abandon his trade and devote
himself to the study of law. The young man
replied, that he had no means of his own, no
friends to help him, and that his previous edu-
cation had been very imperfect. But Judge
Wood had so much confidence in him that he
kindly offered to take him into his own office,
and to loan him such money as he needed.
Most gratefully the generous offer was ac-
cepted.
In 1823, when twenty-three years-of age,
he was admitted to the court of common pleas-
He then want to the villa:^e of Aurora, and
commenced the practice of law. In this
secluded, peaceful region, his practice of
course was limited, and there was no oppor-
tunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame.
Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of
great moral worth, and one capable of adorn-
ing any station she might be called to fill —
Miss Abigail Powers.
His elevation of character, his untiring in-
dustry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as
an advocate, gradually attracted attention;
MILLARD FILLMORE.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
71
and he was invited to enter into partnership
under highly advantageous circumstances,
with an elder member of the bar in Buffalo.
Just before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he
took his seat in the house of assembly, of the
state of New York, as a representative from
Erie county. Though he had never taken a
very active part in politics, his vote and his
sympathies were with the whig party. The
state was tiien democratic, and he found him-
self in a helpless minority in the legislature,
still the testimony comes from all parties, that
his courtesy, ability and integrity, won, to a
very unusual degree, the respect of his asso-
ciates.
In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to
a seat in the United States congress He en-
tered that troubled arena in some of the most
tumultuous hours of our national history. The
great conflict respecting the national bank
and the removal of the deposits was then
raging.
His term of two years closed, and he re-
turned to his profession, which he pursued
witii increasing reputation and success. After
a lapse of two years he again became a candi-
date for congress; was re-elected, and took his
seat in 1837. His past experience as a repre-
sentative gave him strength and confidence.
The first term of service in congress to any
man can be but little more than an introduction.
He was now prepared for active duty. F"ill-
more was now a man of wide repute, and his
popularity filled the state, and in the year
1847 he was elected comptroller of the state.
Fillmore had attained the age of forty-
seven years. His labors at the bar, in the
legislature, in congress and as comptroller,
had given him very considerable fame. The
whigs were casting about to find suitable can-
didates for president and vice-president at the
apdroaching election. Far away, on the
waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough
old soldier, who had fought successful battles
with the Mexicans, which had caused his
name to be proclaimed in trumpet-tones all
over the land. But it was necessary to asso-
ciate with him, on the same ticket, some man
of reputation as a statesman. Under the in-
fluence of these considerations, the names of
Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became
the rallying cry of the whigs, as their candi-
dates for president and vice-president. The
whig ticket was signall\- triumphant. On the
4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugu-
rated president, and Millard Fillmore vice-
president, of the United States.
On the 9th of July, 1850, Pres. Taylor,
but one year and four months after his inaugu-
ration, was suddenly taken sick and died. By
the constitution, vice-Pres. Fillmore thus be-
came president. He appointed a very able
cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Web-
ster was secretary of state.
Fillmore had very serious difficulties to
contend with, since the opposition had a ma-
jority in both houses. He did everything in
his power to conciliate the south; but the pro-
slavery party in the south felt the inadequacy
of all measures of transient conciliation. The
population of the free states was so rapidlj- in-
1 creasing over that of the slave states that it
J was inevitable that the power of the govern-
ment should soon pass into the hands of the
free states. The famous compromise meas-
I ures were adopted under Fillmore's adininistra-
j tion, and the Japan expedition was sent out.
On the 4th of March, 1853, Fillmore, having
served one term, retired.
In 1856, Fillmore was nominated for the
presidency by the "know nothing " party, but
was beaten bj- Mr. Buchanan. After that
Fillmore lived in retirement. During J:he ter-
[ rible conflict of civil war, he was mostly silent.
1 It was generally supposed that his sympathies
! were rather with those who were endeavoring
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
to overthrow our institutions. He lived to a
ripe old age, and died in Buffalo, N. Y. ,
March 8, 1S74.
BRANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth
president of the United States, was born
m Hillsborough, N. H., November 23,
1804. Franklin was a very bright
and handsome boy, generous, warm-hearted
and brave. He won alike the love of old and
young. The boys on the play ground loved
him. His teachers loved him. The neigh-
bors looked upon him with pride and affection.
He was by instinct a gentleman; always speak-
ing kind words, doing kind deeds, with a
peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what
was agreeable. Without developing any pre-
cocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to
books, he was a good scholar; in body, in
mind, in affections, a finely developed boy.
When sixteen years of age, in the year
1820, he entered Bowdoin college at Bruns-
wick, Maine. He was one of the most popu-
lar young men in the college. The purity of
his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of
his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial
nature, rendered him a universal favorite.
There was something very peculiarly winning
in his address, and it was evidently not in the
slightest degree studied; it was the simple out-
gushing of his own magnanimous and loving
nature.
Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Erank-
lin Pierce commenced the study of law in the
office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most
distinguished lawyers of the state, and a man
of great private worth. The eminent social
qualities of the young lawyer, his father's
prominence as a public man, and the brilliant
political career into which Judge Woodbury
was entering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce
into the fascinating, yet perilous, path of po-
litical life. With all the ardor of his nature
he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the
presidency. He commenced the practice of
law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to
represent the town in the state legislature.
Here he served for four years. The last two
years he was chosen speaker of the house by a
very large vote.
In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was
elected a member of congress. Without tak-
ing an active part in debates, he was faithful
and laborious in duty, a d ever rising in the
estimation of those with whom he was associ-
ated. In 1837, being then but thirty-three
years of age, he was elected to the senate of
the United States, taking "his seat just as Mr.
Van Buren commenced his administration.
He was the youngest member in the senate.
In the year 1834 he married Miss Jane Means
Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom-
plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn
every station with which her husband was
honored. Of the three sons who were born to
them, all now sleep with their parents in the
grave.
In the year 183S, Mr. Pierce, with grow-
ing fame and increasing business as a lawyer,
took up his residence in Concord, the capital
of New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his
accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce at-
torney-general of the United States; but the
offer was declined in consequence of numer-
ous professional engagements at home and the
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He
also about the same time declined the nomi-
nation for governor by the democratic party.
The war with Me.xico called Mr. Pierce to the
army. Receiving the appointment of briga-
dier-general, he embarked with a portion of
his troops at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of
May, 1847. He took an important part in
this war, proving himself a brave and true
soldier.
J
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FRANKLIN PIERCE.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
75
When Gen. Pierce reached his home in
his native state he was received enthusiastic-
ally by the advocates of the Mexican war, and
coldly by its opponents. He resumed the
practice of his profession, very frequently tak-
ing an active part in politiaal questions, giving
his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of
the democratic party. The compromise meas-
ures met cordially with his approval; and he
strenuously advocated the enforcement of the
infamous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked
the religious sensibilities of the north. He thus
became distinguished as a "northern man with
southern principles." The strong partisans
of slavery in the south consequently regarded
him as a man whom they could safely trust in
office to carry out their plans.
On the I2th of June, 1852, the democratic
convention met in Baltiir,ore to nominate a
candidate for the presidency. For four days
they continued in session, and in thirty-five
ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds
vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown
for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delega-
tion brought forward his name. There were
fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen.
Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the
forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes, and
all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield
Scott was the whig candidate. Gen. Pierce
was chosen with great unanimity. Only four
states — Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky
and Tennessee — cast their electoral votes
against him. Gen. Franklin Pierce was there-
fore inaugurated president of the United States
on the 4th of March, 1853.
His administration proved one of the most
stormy our country had ever experienced. The
controversy between slavery and freedom was
then approaching its culminating point. It
became evident that there was an "irrepress-
ible conflict" between them, and that the
nation could not long exist "half slave and
half free." President Pierce, during the whole
of his administraiion, did everything he could
to conciliate the south; but it was all in vain.
The conflict every year grew more and more
violent, and threats of the dissolution of the
dissolution of the Union were borne to the
north on every southern breeze.
On the 4th of March, \X-^-, President
Pierce retired to his home in Concord. Of
three children, two had died, and his only sur-
viving child had been killed before his eyes by
a railroad accident; and his wife, one of the
most estimable and accomplished of ladies,
was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour
of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left
alone in the world without wife or chikl.
Such was the condition of affairs when
Pres Pierce approached the close of his four
years' term of office. The north had become
thoroughl}- alienated from him. The anti-
slavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages,
had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual
ability and social worth of Pres. Pierce were
forgotten in deep reprehension of his adminis-
trative acts. The slaveholders of the south,
also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he
had advocated those measures of government
which they approved, and perhaps, also, feel-
ing that he had rendered himself so unpopular
as no longer to be able acceptably to serve
them, ungratefully dropped him, and nomi-
nated James Buchanan to succeed him.
When the terrible rebellion broke forth,
which divided our country into two parties,
Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles
which he had always cherished, and gave his
sympathies to that pro-slavery party with
which he had ever been allied. He declined
to do anything, either by voice or pen, to
strengthen the hand of the national govern-
ment. He continued to reside in Concord
until the time of his death, which occurred in
October, 1869. He was one of the most genial
76
PRESlDENTri OF THE UNITED STATES.
and social of men, an honored communicant
of the Episcopal church, and one of the kind-
est of neighbors. Generous to a fault, he con-
tributed liberally for the alleviation of suffer-
ing and want, and many of his townspeople
were often gladdened by his material bounty.
>^ AMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth presi-
m dent of the United States, was born in
^ 1 Franklin county, Pa., on the 23d cf
April, 1791. His father was a native
of the north of Ireland; a poor man, who had
emigrated in 1783, with little property save his
own strong arms. Five years afterward he
married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a
respectable farmer, and, with his young bride,
plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim,
reared his log hut, opened a clearing with his
a.x. and settled down to perform his obscure
part in the drama of life. In this secluded
home, where James was born, he remained for
eight years, enjoying but few social or intel-
lectual advantages. When James was eight
years of age his father removed to the village
of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at
school, and commenced a course of study in
English, Latin and Greek. His progress was
rapid, and at the age of fourteen he entered
Dickenson college, at Carlisle. Here he de-
veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand
among the first scholars of the institution. His
application to study was intense, and yet his
native powers enabled him to master the most
abstruse subjects with facility. In the year
1809, he graduated with the highest honors of
his class. He was then eighteen years of age;
tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of
athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened
with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He
immediately commenced the study of law in
the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the
bar in 18 12, when he was but twenty-one
years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his pro-
fession, and at once took undisputed stand
with the ablest lawyers of the state. When
but twenty-si.x years of age, unaided by coun-
sel, he successfully defended before the state
senate one of the judges of the state, who was
tried upon articles of impeachment. At the
age of thirty it was generally admitted that he
stood at the head of the bar.
In 1820 he reluctantly consented to run as
a candidate for congress. He was elected,
and for ten years he remained a member of
the lower house. During the vacations of
congress, he occasionally tried some important
case. In 1831, he retired altogether from the
toils of his profession, having acquired an
ample fortune.
Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the
presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister
to Russia. The duties of his mission he per-
formed with ability, which gave satisfaction to
all parties. Upon his return, in 1833, he was
elected to a seat in the United States senate.
He there met, as his associates, Webster,
Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated
the measures proposed by Pres. Jackson, of
making reprisals against Fcance, to enforce
the payment of our claims against that country;
and defended the course of the president in
his unprecedented and wholesale removal from
office of those who were not supporters of his
administration. Upon this question he was
brought into direct collision with Henry Clay.
He also, with voice and vote, advocated e.x-
punging from the journal of the senate the
vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for re-
moving the deposits. Earnestly he opposed
the abolition of slavery in the District of Co-
lumbia, and urged the prohibition of the circu-
lation of anti-slavery documents by the United
States mails.
Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the presi-
JAMES BUCHANAN,
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
dency, Mr. Buchanan became secretary of
state, and as such took his share of the re-
sponsibihty in the conduct of the Mexican war.
Mr. Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces
by the American troops into the disputed ter-
ritory was not wrong, but for the Mexicans to
cross the Rio Grande into that territory was a
declaration of war. Mr. Buchanan identified
himself thoroughly with the party devoted to
the perpetuation and extension of slavery, and
brought all the energies of his mind to bear
against the Wilmot Proviso. He gave his ap-
proval of the compromise measures of 1850,
which included the fugitive-slave law. Mr.
Pierce, upon his election to the presidency, hon-
ored Mr. Buchanan with the mission to England.
In the year 1856, a national democratic
convention nominated Mr. Buchanan for the
presidency. The political conflict was one of
the most severe in which our country has ever
engaged. All the friends of slavery were on
one side; all the advocates of its restriction
and final abolition, on the other. Mr. Fre-
mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery,
received 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan
received 174, and was elected. The popular
vote stood i.,34i,264, for Fremont, 1,838,160
for Buchanan. On March 4, 1S57, Mr. Bu-
chanan was inaugurated. Mr. Buchanan was
far advanced in life. Only four years were
wanting to fill up his three score years and
ten. His own friends, those with whom he
had been allied in political principles and
action for years, were seeking the destruction
of the government, that they might rear upon
the ruins of our free institutions a nation
whose corner stone should be human slavery.
In this emergencj', Mr. Buchanan was hope-
lessly bewildered. He could not, with his
long avowed principles, consistently oppose
the state-rights party in their assumptions.
As president of the United States, bound by
his oath faithfully to administer the laws, he
could not, without perjury of the grossest kind,
unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the
republic. He therefore did nothing. Mr.
Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery
party was such, that he had been willing to
offer them far more than they had ventured to
cla"im. All the south had professed to ask of
the north was non-interference with the sub-
ject of slavery. Mr. Buchanan had been
ready to offer them the active co-operation of
the governn^ent to defend and extend the in-
stitution. As the storm increased in violence,
the slave holders claiming the right to secede,
and Mr. Buchanan avowing that congress had
no power to prevent it, one of the most piti-
able exhibitions of governmental imbecility
was exhibited the world has ever seen. He
declared that congress had no power to enforce
its laws in any state which had withdrawn, or
which was attempting to withdraw from the
Union. This was not the doctrine of Andrew
Jackson, when, with his hand upon his sword
hilt, he exclaimed. "The Union must and shall
be preserved."
South Carolina seceded in December, i860,
nearly three months before the inauguration of
Prcs. Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in
listless despair. The r,;bel flag was raised in
Charleston; Fort Sumter was besieged; our
forts, navy yards and arsenals were seized;
our depots of military stores were plundered;
and our custom houses and post offices were
appropriated by the rebels. The energy of
the rebels, and the imbecility of our executive,
were alike marvelous. The nation looked on
in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glide
away and close the administration, so terrible
in its weakness. At length the long looked for
hour of deliverance came, when Abraham
I Lincoln was to receive the scepter.
i The administration of President Buchanan
1 was certainly the most calamitous our country
has experienced. His best friends cannot re-
90
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
call it with pleasure. And still more deplor-
able it is for his fame, that in that dreadful
conflict which rolled its billows of flame and
blood over our whole land, no word came
from his lips to indicate his wish that our
country's banner should triumph over the flag
of the rebellion. He died at his Wheatland
retreat, June i, 1868.
HBRAHAM LINCOLN, the sixteenth
president of the United States, was
born in Hardin county, Ky. , Febru-
ary 12, 1809. About the year 1780,
a man by the name of Abraham Lincoln left
Virginia with his family and moved into the
then wilds of Kentucky. Only two years after
this emigration, still a young man, while work-
ing one day in a field, he was stealthily ap-
proached by an Indian and shot dead. His
widow was left iu extreme poverty with five
little children, three boys and two girls.
Thomas, the youngest of the boys, was four
years of age at his father's death. This
Thomas was the father of Abraham Lincoln,
the president of the United States, whose
name must henceforth forever be enrolled with
the most prominent in the annals of our world.
When twenty-eight years of age Thomas
Lincoln built a log cabin of his own, and mar-
ried Nancy Hanks, the daughter of another
family of poor Kentucky emigrants, who had
also come from Virginia. Their second child
was Abraham Lincoln. The mother of Abra-
ham was a noble woman, gentle, loving, pen-
sive; created to adorn a palace, doomed to
toil and pine, and die in a hovel. "All that I
am, or hope to be," exclaims the grateful son,
"I owe to my angel mother."
When Abraham was eight years of age, his
father sold his cabin and small farm, and
moved to Indiana, where two years later his
mother died. Abraham soon became the
scribe of the uneducated community around
him. He could not have had a better school
than this to teach him to put thoughts into
words. He also became an eager reader. The
books he could obtain were few; but these he
read and re-read until they were almost com-
mitted to memory. As the years rolled on,
the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot
of humanity. There were joys and griefs,
weddings and funerals. Abraham's sister
Sarah, to whom he was tenderly attached, was
married when a child of but fourteen years of
age, and soon died. The family was gradually
scattered. Thomas Lincoln sold out his
squatter's claim in 1830, and emigrated to
Macon count)', 111. Abraham Lincoln was
then twenty-one years of age. With vigorous
hands he aided his father in rearing another
log cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this
until he saw the family comfortably settled,
and their small lot of enclosed prairie planted
with corn, when he announced to his father
his intention to leave home, and to go out into
the world and seek his fortune. Little did he
or his friends imagine how brilliant that
fortune was to be. He saw the value of educa-
tion and was intensely earnest to improve his
mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the
ruin which ardent spirits were causing, and
became strictly temperate; refusing to allow
a drop of intoxicating liquor to pass his lips.
And he had read in God's word, "Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord thy God in
vain;" and a profane expression he was never
heard to utter. Religion he revered. His
morals were pure, and he was uncontaminated
by a single vice.
Young Abraham worked for a time as a
hired laborer among the farmers. Then he
went to Springfield, where he was employed in
building a large flat-boat. In this he took a
herd of swine, floated them down the Sanga-
mon to the Illinois, and thence by the Missis-
A. LINCOLN.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
sippi to New Orleans. In this adventure his
employers were so well pleased, that upon his
return they placed a store and mill under his
care. In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black
Hawk war, he enlisted and was chosen cap-
tain of a company. He returned to Sangamon
county, and although only twenty-three years
of age, was a candidate for the legislature, but
was defeated. He soon afterward received
from Andrew Jackson the appointment of post-
master of New Salem. His only postoffice
was his hat. All the letters he received he
carried there ready to deliver to those he
chanced to meet. He studied surveying and
soon made this his business. In 1834 he
again became a candidate for the legislature,
and was elected. Mr. Stuart, of Springfield,
advised him to study law. He walked from
New Salem to Springfield, borrowed of Mr.
Stuart a load of books, carried them back and
began his legal studies. When the legislature
assemDled he trudged on foot with his pack on
his back 100 miles to Vandalia, then the cap-
ital. In 1 836 he was re-elected to the legislature.
Here it was he first met Stephen A. Douglas.
In 1839 he removed to Springfield and began
the practice of law. His success with the jury
was so great that he was soon engaged in
almost every noted case in the circuit.
In 1S54 the great discussion began between
Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery
question. In the organization of the republi-
can party in Illinois, in 1856, he took an
active part, and at once became one of the
leaders in that party. Mr. Lincoln's speeches
in opposition to Senator Douglas in the con-
test in 1858 for a seat in the senate, form a
most notable part of his history. The issue
was on the slavery question, and he took the
broad ground of the Declaration of Independ-
ence, that all men are created equal. Mr.
Lincoln was defeated in this contest, but won
a far higher prize.
The great republican convention met at
Chicago on the i6th of June, i860. The del-
egates and strangers who crowded the city
amounted to 25,000. An immense building
called "The Wigwam," was reared to accom-
modate the convention. There were eleven
candidates for whom votes were cast. William
H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman
had long filled the land, was the most prom-
inent. It was generally supposed he would be
the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however,
received the nomination on the third ballot.
Little did he then dream of the weary years of
toil and care, and the bloody death, to which
that nomination doomed him; and as little did
he dream that he was to render services to his
country which would fix upon him the eyes of
the whole civilized world, and which would
give him a place in the affections of his coun-
trymen, second only, if second, to that of
Washington.
Election day came and Mr. Lincoln re-
ceived 180 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and
was, therefore, constitutionally elected presi-
dent of the United States. The tirade of
abuse that was poured upon this good and
merciful man, especially by the slaveholders,
was greater than upon any other man ever
elected to this high position. In February,
1 86 1, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington,
stopping in all the large cities on his way,
making speeches. The whole journey was
fraught with much danger. Many of the
southern states had already seceded, and sev-
eral attempts at assassination were afterward
brought to light. A gang in Baltimore had
arranged, upon his arrival, to "get up a row,"
and in the confusion to make sure of his death
with revolvers and hand grenades. A detect-
ive unraveled the plot. A secret and special
train was provided to take him from Harris-
burg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected
hour of the night. The train started at half
94
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
past ten; and to prevent any possible com-
munication on the part of the secessionists
with their confederate gang in Baltimore, as
soon as the train had started the telegraph
wires were cut, Mr. Lincoln reached Wash-
ington in safety and was inaugurated, although
great anxiety was felt by all loyal people.
In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln
gave to Mr. Seward the department of state,
and to other prominent opponents before the
convention he gave important positions.
During no other administration have the
duties devolving upon the president been so
manifold, and the responsibilities so great, as
those which fell to the lot of Pres. Lincoln.
Knowing this, and feeling his own weakness
and inability to meet, and in his own strength
to cope with the difficulties, he early learned
to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in deter-
mining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his
trials, both personal and national. Contrary
to his own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln
was one of the most courageous of men. He
went directly into the rebel capital just as the
retreating foe was leaving, with no guard but a
few sailors. From the time he had left
Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been
made for his assassination, and he at last fell
a victim to one of them. April 14, 1865, he,
with Gen. Grant, was urgently invited to
attend Ford's theater. It was announced that
they would be present. Gen. Grant, however,
left the city. Pres. Lincoln, feeling, with his
characteristic kindliness of heart, that it would
be a disappointment if he should fail them,
very reluctantly consented to go. While
listening to the play an actor by the name of
John Wilkes Booth entered the box where the
president and family were seated, and fired a
bullet into his brains. He died the next morn-
ing at seven o'clock, and now, if never before,
the nation was plunged into the deepest mourn-
ing, and truly mourned the "country's loss."
HNDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth
president of the United States, was
born December 29, 1808, in Raleigh,
N. C. When Andrew was five years
of age, his father accidentally lost his life
while heroically endeavoring to save a friend
from drowning. Until ten years of age, An-
drew was a ragged boy about the streets, sup-
ported by the labor of his mother, who ob-
tained her living with her own hands. He
then, having never attended a school one day,
and being unable either to read or write, was
apprenticed to a tailor in his native town. A
gentleman was in the habit of going to the
tailor's shop occasionally and reading to the
boys at work there. He often read from the
speeches of distinguished British statesmen.
Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of
more than ordinary native ability, became
much interested in these speeches; his ambi-
tion was roused, and he was inspired with a
strong desire to learn to read. He according-
ly applied himself to the alphabet, and, with
the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen,
learned his letters. He then called upon the
gentleman to borrow the book of speeches.
The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only
gave him the book, but assisted him in learn-
ing to combine the letters into words. Under
such difficulties he pressed onward laboriously,
spending usually ten or twelve hours at work
in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest
and recreation to devote such time as he could
to reading.
He went to Tennessee in 1826 and located
at Greenville, where he married a young lady
who possessed some education. Under her
instructions he learned to write and cipher.
He became prominent in the village debating
society, and a favorite with the students of
Greenville college. In 1828 he organized a
workingman's party, which elected him alder-
man, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which
i
ANDREW JOHNSON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
97
position he held three j-ears. He now began
to take a hvely interest in poHtical affairs,
identifying himself with the working classes to
which he belonged. In 1835 he was elected
a member of the house of representatives of
Tennessee. He was then just twenty-seven
years of age. He became a very active mem-
ber of the legislature, gave his adhesion to the
democratic party, and in 1840 " stumped the
state," advocating Mairtin Van Buren's claims
to the presidency in opposition to those of
Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he ac-
quired much readiness as a speaker, and ex-
tended and increased his reputation.
In 1 84 1 he was elected state senator; in
1S43 he was elected a member of congress,
and by successive elections held that important
post for ten years. In 1853 he was elected
governor of Tennessee, and was re-elected in
1855. In all these responsible positions he
discharged his duties with distinguished ability
and proved himself the friend of the working
classes. In 1857 Mr. Johnson was elected a
United States senator.
Years before, in 1S45, he had warmly ad-
vocated the annexation of Texas, stating,
however, as his reason, that he thought
this annexation would probably prove
"to be the gateway out of which the sable
sons of Africa are to pass from bondage to
freedom, and become merged fn a population
congenial to themselves." In 1850 he also
supported the compromise measures, the two
essential features of which were, that the white
people of the territories should be permitted
to decide for themselves whether they would
enslave the colored people or not, and that
the free states of the north should return to j
the south persons who attempted to escape
from slavery.
Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his
lowly origin; on the contrar}', he often took
pride in avowing that he owed his distinction
to his own exertions. "Sir," said he oIt the
floor of the senate, "I tio not forget that I
am a mechanic; neither do I forget that Adam
was a tailor and sewed fig leaves, and that our
Saviour was the son of a carpenter."
In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of
i860, he was the choice of the Tennessee
democrats for the presidency. In 1861, when
the purpose of the southern democracy became
apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of
the Union, and held "slavery must be held
subordinate to the Union at whatever cost."
He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly im-
periled his own life to protect the Unionists of
Tennessee. Tennessee having seceded from
the Union, President Lincoln on March 4,
1862, appointed him military governor of the
state, and he established the most stringent
military rule. His numerous proclamations
attracted wide attention. In 1864 he was
elected vice-president of the United States, and
upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 1865,
became president. In a speech two days later
he said: "The American people must be
taught, if they do not already feel, that trea-
son is a crime and must be punished; that the
government will not always bear with its ene-
mies; that it is stroag not only to protect, but
to punish. '■•" "■ The people must under-
stand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes
and will surely be punished." Yet his whole
administration, the history of which is so well
known, was in utter inconsistency with, and
the most violent opposition to, the principles
laid down in that speech.
In his loose policy of reconstruction and
general amnesty he was opposed by congress;
and he characterized congress as a new rebel-
lion, and lawlessly defied it in everything pos-
sible to the utmost. In the beginning of 1868,
on account of "high crimes and misdemean-
ors," the principal of which was the removal
of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten-
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
ure of Office act, articles of impeachment
were preferred against liim, and ttie trial began
March 23.
It was very tedious, continuing for nearly
three months. A test article of the impeach-
ment was at length submitted to the court for
its action. It was certain that as the court
voted upon that article, so would it vote upon
all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the presi-
dent guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces-
sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced
acquitted, notwithstanding the great majority
against him. The change of one vote from
the not guilty side would have sustained the
impeachment.
The president for the remainder of his
term was but little regarded. He continued,
though impotently, his conflict with congress.
His own party did not think it expedient to
renominate him for the presidency. The bul-
let of the assassin introduced him to the presi-
dent's chair. Notwithstanding this, never
was there presented to a man a better oppor-
tunity to immortalize his name and win the
gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He
retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., tak-
ing no very active part in politics until 1875.
On January 26, after an e.xciting struggle, he
was chosed by the legislature of Tennessee
United States senator in the forty-fourth con-
gress, and took his seat in that body at the
special session convened by President Grant
on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July,
1875, the ex-president made a visit to his
daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn.
When he started on his journey he was appar-
ently in his usual vigorous health, but on
reaching the residence of his child the follow-
ing day was stricken with paralysis, rendering
him unconscious. He rallied occasionally, but
finally passed away at 2 a. m., July 31, aged
sixty-seven years. He was buried at Green-
ville, on the 3d of August, 1875.
aLYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth
president of the United States, was
born on the 29th of April, 1822, of
christian parents, in a humble home,
at Point Pleasant, on the banks of the Ohio.
Shortly after his father moved to Georgetown,
Brown county, Ohio. In this remote frontier
hamlet, Ulysses received a common school
education. At the age of seventeen, in the
year 1839, he entered the Military academy at
West Point. Here he was regarded as a solid,
sensible young man of fair abilities, and of
sturdy, honest character. He took respect-
able rank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he
graduated, about the middle in his class, and
was sent as lieutenant of infantry to one of
the distant military posts in the Missouri terri-
tory. Two years he passed in these dreary
solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasper-
ating Indians.
The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant
was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi.
His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was
no chance here for the exhibition of either
skill or heroism, nor at Resaca de la Palma,
his second battle. At the battle of Monterey,
his third engagement, it is said that he per-
formed a signal service of daring and skillful
horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its
ammunition. A messenger must be sent for
more, along a route exposed to the bullets of
the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient
learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of
his horse, and hanging upon one side of the
animal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety.
From Monterey he was sent, with the Fourth
infantry, to aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of
Vera Cruz. In preparation for the march to
the city of Mexico, he was appointed quarter-
master of his regiment. At the battle of
Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first
lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at
Chapultepec.
U. S. GRANT.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
101
At the close of the Mexican war, Capt.
Grant returned with his regiment to New
York, and was again sent to one of the mili-
tary posts on the frontier. The discovery of
gold in California causing an immense tide of
emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt.
Grant was sent, with a battalion, to Fort
Dallas, in Oregon, for the protection of the
interests of the immigrants. Life was weari-
some in those wilds. Capt. Grant resigned
his commission and returned to the states;
and having married, entered upon the cultiva-
of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He had
but little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil
not remunerative, he turned to mercantile
life, entering into the leather business, with a
younger brother, at Galena, 111. This was in
the year i860. As the tidings of the rebels
firing on Fort Sumter reached the ears of
Capt. Grant in his counting room, he said —
"Uncle Sam has educated me for the army;
though I have served him through one war, I
do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. I
am still ready to- discharge my obligations. I
shall therefore bcukle on my sword and see
Uncle Sam through this war, too."
He went into the streets, raised a company
of volunteers, and led them, as their captain,
to Springfield, the capital of the state, where
their services were offered to Gov. Yates. The
governor, impressed by the zeal and straight-
forward executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave
him a desk in his office, to assist in the volun-
teer organization that was being formed in the
state in behalf of the government. On the
15th of June, 1 86 1, Capt. Grant received a
commission as colonel of the Twenty-first
regiment of Illinois volunteers. His merits as
a West Point graduate, who had served for
fifteen years in the regular army, were such
that he was soon promoted to the rank of
brigadier general and was placed in command
at Cairo. The rebels raised their flag at Pa-
ducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee river.
Scarcely had its folds appeared ere Gen. Grant
was there. The rebels iled. Their banner
fell, and the stars and stripes were unfurled
in its stead.
At Belmont, a few days later, he sur-
prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort
Henry won another victory. Then came the
brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation
was electrified by the victory, and the brave
leader of the boys in blue was immediately
made a major general, and the military dis-
trict of Tennessee was assigned to him.
Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew
well how to secure the results of victory. He
immediately pushed on to the enemy's lines.
Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg
Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg,
were Gen. Pemberton made an unconditional
surrender of the city with over 30,000 men
and 172 cannon. The fall of Vicksburg was
by far the most severe blow which the rebels
had thus far encountered, and opened up the
Mississippi from Cairo to the gulf.
Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate
with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas,
and proceeded to New Orleans, where he was
thrown from his horse and received severe
injuries, from which he was laid up for months.
He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans
and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a won-
derful series of strategic and technical measures
put the Union army in fighting condition.
Then followed the bloody battles of Chatta-
nooga, ^ Lookout Mountain and Missionary
Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with
great loss. This won for him unbounded
praise in the north. On the 4th of February,
1864, congress revived the grade of lieutenant
general, and the rank was conferred on Gen.
Grant. He repaired to Washington to re-
ceive his credentials and enter upon the duties
of his new office.
102
FRESJDENTrf OF THE UNITED STATES.
Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took
charge of the army to concentrate the widely
dispersed national troops for an attack on
Richmond, the nominal capital of the rebel-
lion, and endeavor there to destroy the rebel
armies which would be promptly assembled
from all quarters for its defense. The whole
continent seemed to tremble under the tramp
of these majestic armies, rushing to the de-
cisive battle field. Steamers were crowded
with troops; railway trains were burdened
with closely packed thousands His plans
were comprehensive and involved a series of
campaigns, which were executed with remark-
able energy and ability, and were consummated
at the surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865.
The war was ended. The Union was
saved. The almost unanimous voice of the
nation declared Gen. Grant to be the most
prominent instrument in its salvation. The
eminent services he had thus rendered the
country brought him conspicuously forward as
the republican candidate for the presidential
chair. At the republican convention held at
Chicago May 21, 1868, he was unanimonsly
nominated for the presidency, and at the
autumn election received a majority of the
popular vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral
votes. The national convention of the repub-
lican party which met at Philadelphia on the
5th June, 1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomi-
nation for a second term by a unanimous vote.
The selection was emphatically indorsed by
the people five months later, 292 electoral
votes being cast for him.
Socn after the close of his second term.
Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip
around the world. He visited almost every
country of the civilized world, and was every
where received with such ovations and demon-
strations of respect and honor, private as well
as public and official, as were never before
bestowed upon any citizen of the United States.
He was the most prominent candidate
before the republican national convention in
1880 for a renomination for president. He
went to New York and embarked in the
brokerage business under the firm name of
Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain,
wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was
sent to the penitentiary. The general was
attacked with cancer in the throat, but suffered
in his stoic like manner, never complaining.
He was re-instated genera! of the army and
retired by congress. The cancer soon finished
its deadly work, and July 23, 1885, the nation
went in mourning over the death of the illus-
trious general.
kJ^ UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nine-
1/^ teenth president of the United States,
J|_^P was born in Delaware, Ohio, October
4, 1822, almost three months after
the death of his father, Rutherford Hayes.
His ancestry, on both the paternal and mater-
nal sides, was of the most honorable character.
It can be traced, it is said, as far back as
1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two
Scottish chieftains, fighting side by side with
Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce.
Both families belonged to the nobility, owned
extensive estates, and had a large following.
Misfortune overtaking the family, George
Hayes left Scotland in 1680, and settled in
Windsor, Conn. His son George was born
in Windsor, and remained there during his
life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married
Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his
marriage until his death in Simsbury, Conn.
Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and
was a manufacturer of scythes at Bradford,
Conn. Rutherford Hayes, son of Ezekiel and
grandfather of President Hayes, was born in
New Haven, in August, 1756. He was a
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
105
farmer, blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He
emigrated to Vermont at an unknown date,
settling in Brattleboro, where he established a
hotel. Here his son, Rutherford Hayes the
father of President Hayes, was born. He was
married, in September, 1813, to Sophia Bir-
chard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors
emigrated thither from Connecticut, they hav-
ing been among the wealthiest and best fami-
lies of Norwich. Her ancestry on the male
side are traced back to 1635, to John Bir-
chard, one of the principal founders of Nor-
wich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers
in the Revolutionarj' war.
The father of President Hayes was an in-
dustrious, frugal and open-hearted man. He
was of a mechanical turn, and could mend a
plow, knit a stocking, or do almost any-
thing else that he chose to undertake. He
was a member of the church, active in all the
benevolent enterprises of the town, and con-
ducted his business on christian principles.
After the close of the war of 1812, for reasons
inexplicable to his neighbors, he resolved to
emigrate to Ohio.
The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that
day, when there were no canals, steamers, nor
railways, was a very serious affair. A tour of
inspection was first made, occupying four
months. Mr. Hayes determined to move to
Delaware, where the family arrived in 1817.
He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malarial
fever, less than three months before the birth
of the son, of whom we now write. Mrs.
Hayes, in her sore bereavement, found the
support she so much needed in her brother
Sardis, who had been a member of the house-
hold from the day of its departure from \'er-
mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had
adopted some time before as an act of charity.
Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak,
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble at
birth that he was not expected to li\e beyond
a month or two at most. As the months
went by he grew weaker and weaker, so tiiat
the neighbors were in the habit of inejuiring
from time to time "if Mrs. Hayes' baby died
last night." On one occasion a neighbor, who
was on familiar terms with the family, after
alluding to the boy's big head, and the moth-
er's assiduous care of him, said in a bantering
way, "That's right! Stick to him. You have
got him along so far, and I shouldn't wonder
if he would really come to something yet."
"You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes.
"You wait and see. You can't tell but I
shall make him president of the United States
yet." The boy lived, in spite of the universal
predictions of his speedy death; and when, in
1825, his older brother was drowned, he be-
came, if possible, still dearer to his mother.
The boy was seven years old before he
went to school. His education, however, was
not neglected. He probably learned as much
from his mother and sister as he would have
done at school. His sports were almost wholly
within doors, his playmates being his sister
and her associates. His uncle Sardis Birchard
took the deepest interest in his education; and
as the boy's health had improved, and he was
making good progress in his studies, he pro-
posed to send him to college. His preparation
commenced with a tutor at home; but he was
afterwards sent for one year to a professor in
the 'Wesleyan university, in Middletown, Conn.
He entered Kenyon college in 1838, at the
age of sixteen, and was graduated at the head
of his class in 1842.
Immediately after his graduation he began
the study of law in the office of Thomas Spar-
row, Esq., in Columbus. Finding his oppor-
tunities for study in Columbus somewhat
limited, he determined to enter the law school
at Cambridge, Mass., where he remained two
years. In 1845, after graduating at the law
school, he was admitted to the bar at Marietta,
106
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
Ohio, and shortly afterward went into practice
as an attorney-at-Iaw with Ralph P. Buck-
land, of Fremont. Here he remained three
years, acquiring but a limited practice, and
apparently unambitious of distinction in his
profession.
In 1S49 he moved to Cincinnati, where his
ambition found a new stimulus. Two events,
occurring at this period, had a powerful intiu-
ence upon his subsequent life. One of these
was his marriage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb,
daughter of Dr. Jam^s Webb, of Chilicothe;
the other was his introduction to the Cincin-
nati Literary club, a body embracing among
its members such men as Chief Justice Salmon
P. Chase, Gen. John Pope, Go\-. Edward F.
Noyes, and man}' others hardly less distin-
guished in after life. The marriage was a
fortunate one in every respect, as everybody
knows. Not one of all the wives of our presi-
dents was more universally admired, rever-
enced and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and
no one did more than she to reflect honor
upon American womanhood. The Literary
club brought Mr. Hayes into constant associa-
tion with young men of high character and
noble aims, and lured him to display the
qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and
modesty.
In 1856 he was nominated to the office of
judge of the court of common pleas; but he
declined to accept the nomination. Two
years later, the office of city solicitor becoming
vacant, the city council elected him for the
unexpired term.
In I 86 1, when the rebellion broke out, he
was at the ;jenith of his professional life. His
rank at the bar was among the first. But the
news of the attack on Fort Sumter found him
eager to take up arms for the defense of his
country.
His military record was bright and illus-
trious. In October, 1861, he was made
lieutenant-colonel, and in August, 1862, pro-
moted colonel of the Seventy-ninth Ohio regi-
ment, but he refused to leave his old comrades
and go among strangers. Subsequently, how-
ever, he was made colonel of his old regiment.
At the battle of South Mountain he received a
wound, and while faint and bleeding displayed
courage and fortitude that won admiration
from all.
Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment,
after his recovery, to act as brigadier-general,
and placed in command of the celebrated
Kanawha division, and for gallant and meri-
torious services in the battles of M''inchester,
Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, he was pro-
moted brigadier-general. He was also brevet-
ted major-general, "for gallant and distin-
guished services during the campaigns of 1864,
in West Virginia." In the course of his
arduous services, four horses were shot from
under him, and he was wounded four times.
In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to con-
gress, from the Second Ohio district, which
had long been democratic. He was not pres-
ent during the campaign, and after his elec-
tion was importuned to resign his commission
in the army; but he finally declared, "I shall
never come to Washington until I can come
by the way of Richmond." He was re-elected
in 1866.
In 1867, Gen. Hayes was elected governor
of Ohio, over Hon. Allen G. Thurman. a popu-
lar democrat. In 1869 was re-elected over
George H. Pendleton. He was elected gov-
ernor for the third term in 1875.
In 1876 he was the standard bearer of the
republican party in the presidential contest,
and after a hard, long contest was chosen
president, and was inaugarated Monday, March
5. 1875.
He served one full term of four years, then
retired to his peaceful home, where he expired
January 17, 1893.
J. A. GARFIELD.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
109
>rr'AMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth pres-
J ident of the United States, was born
/» 1 November 19, 1831, in the woods of
Orange, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. His
parents were Abram and Ehza (Ballou) Gar-
field, both of New England ancestry and from
families well known in the early history of that
section of our country, but had moved to the
Western Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle-
ment.
The house in which James A. was born
was about 20x30 feet, built of logs, with the
spaces between the logs filled with clay. His
father was a hard working farmer, and he soon
had his fields cleared, an orchard planted, and
a log barn built. The household comprised
the father and mother and their four children —
Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and James. In
May, 1823, the father, from a cold contracted
in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At
this time James was about eighteen months
old, and Thomas about ten years old. He
now lives in Michigan, and the two sisters live
in Solon, Ohio, near their birthplace.
The early educational advantages young
Garfield enjoyed were very limited, yet he
made the most of them. He labored at farm
work for others, did capenter work, chopped
wood, or did anything that would bring in a
few dollars. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever
ashamed of b'S orign, and he never forgot the
friends of his struggling childhood, youth and
manhood, neither did they ever forget him.
When in the highest seats of honor, the
humblest friend of his boyhood was as kindly
greeted as ever.
The highest ambition of young Garfield
until he was about sixteen years old was to be
a captain of a vessel on Lake Erie. He was
anxious to go aboard a vessel, which his
mother strongly opposed. She finally con-
sented to his going to Cleveland, with the
understanding, however, that he should try to
obtain some other kind of employment. He
walked all the way to Cleveland. After
making many applications for work, and try-
ing to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meet-
ing with success, he engaged as a dri\er for
his cousin, Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Penn-
sylvania canal. He remained at this work
but a short time when he went home, and
attended the seminary at Chester for about
three years, when he entered Hiram and the
Eclectic institute, teaching a few terms of
school in the meantime, and doing other work.
This school was started by the Disciples of
Christ in 1850, of which church he was then
a member. He became janitor and bell-ringer
in order to help pay his way. He then be-
came both teacher and pupil. In the fall of
1854, he entered Williams college, from which
he graduated in 1856, taking one of the high-
est honors of his class. He afterwards re-
turned to Hiram college as its president. Dr.
Noah Porter, president of Yale college, says of
him in reference to his religion:
' 'President Garfield was more than a man
of strong moral and religious convictions. His
whole history, from boyhood to the last,
shows that duty to man and to God, and de-
votion to Christ and life and faith and spiritual
commission were controlling springs of his
being, and to a more than usual degree."
Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, November 11, 1858,
who proved herself worthy as the wife of one
whom all the world loved and mourned. To
them were born seven children, five of whom
are still living, four boys and one girl.
Mr. Garfield made his first political
speeches in 1856, in Hiram and the neighbor-
ing villages, and three years later he began to
speak at county mass meetings, and became
the favorite speaker wherever he was. Dur-
ing this year he was elected to the Ohio
senate. He also began to study law at Cleve-
110
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
land, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar.
The great rebelHon broke out in the early part
of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once resolved
to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to de-
fend the old flag. He received his commission
as lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-second reg-
iment of Ohio volunteer infantry, August 14,
I861, He was immediately put into active
service, and before he had ever seen a gun
fired in action, was placed in command of four
regiments of infantry and eight companies of
cavalry, charged with the work of driving out
of his native state the officer (Humphrey Mar-
shall) reputed to be the ablest of those, not
educated to war, whom Kentucky had given to
the rebellion. This work was bravely and
speedily accomplished, although against great
odds. President Lincoln, on his success com-
missioned him brigadier-general, January 10,
1862; and as "he had been the youngest man
in the Ohio senate two years before, so now
he was the youngest general in the army."
He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, in
its operations around Corinth and its march
through Alabama. He was then detailed as a
member of the general court-martial for the
trial of Fitz-John Porter. He was then
ordered to report to Gen. Rosecrans, and was
assigned to the chief of staff. The military
history of Gen. Garfield closed with his brill-
iant services at Chickamauga, where he won
the stars of the major-general.
Without an effort on his part Gen. Gtrfield
was elected to congress in the fall of 1862
from the Nineteenth district of Ohio. This
section of Ohio had been represented in con-
gress for sixty years mainly by two men —
Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua R. Giddings. It
was not without a struggle that he resigned
his place in the army. At the time he entered
congress he was the youngest member in that
body. There he remained by successive re-
elections until he was elected president in 1 8S0.
Of his labors in congress Senator Hoar says:
"Since the year 1864 you cannot think of
a question which has been debated in congress,
or discussed before a tribunal of the American
people, in regard to which you will not find,
if you wish instruction, the argument on one
side stated, in almost every instance, better
than by anybody else, in some speech made in
the house of representatives or on the hustings
by Mr. Garfield."
Upon January 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was
elected to the United States senate, and on
the 8th of June, of the same year, was nom-
inated as the candidate of his party for presi-
dent at the great Chicago convention. He was
elected in the following November, and on
March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably
no administration ever opened its existence
under brighter auspices than that of President
Garfield, and every day it grew in favor with
the people, and by the first of July he had
completed all the initiatory and preliminary
work of his administration and was preparing
to leave the city to meet his friends at Will-
iams college. While on his way and at the
depot, in company with Secretary Blaine, a
man stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and
fired directly at his back. The president
tottered and fell, and as he did so the assassin
fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the left
coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting no
further injury. For eighty days, all during
the hot months of July and August, he lingered
and suffered. He, however, remained master
of himself till the last, and by his magnificent
bearing was teaching the country and the
world the noblest of human lessons — how to
live grandly in the very clutch of death. He
passed serenely away September 19, 1883, at
Elberon, N. J., on the seashore, where he had
been taken shortly previous. The murderer
was tried, found guilty and executed, in one
year after he committed the foul deed.
C. A. ARTHUR.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
113
a"
[ESTER A. ARTHUR, twenty-first
president of the United States, was
born in Franklin county, Vermont,
on the 5th of October, 1830, and is
the oldest of a family of two sons and five
daughters. His father was the Rev. Dr.
William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, who
emigrated to this country from the county
Antrim, I reland, in his eighteenth year, and
died in 1875, in Newtonville, near Albany, N.
Y. , after a long and successful ministry.
Young Arthur was educated at Union col-
lege, Schenectady, N. Y. , where he excelled
in all his studies. After his graduation, he
taught school in Vermont for two years, and
at the expiration of that time went to New
York, with $500 in his pocket, and entered
the office of ex-Judge E. D. Culver as student.
After being admitted to the bar he formed a
partnership with his intimate friend and room-
mate, Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention
of practicidg in the west, and for three months
they roamed about in the western states in
search of an eligible site, but in the end re-
turned to New York, where they entered upon
a successful career almost from the start.
Gen. Arthur soon afterward married the daugh-
ter of Lieut. Herndon, of the United States
navy, who was lost at sea. Congress voted a
gold medal to his widow in recognition of the
bravery he displayed on that occasion. Mrs.
Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthur's nomi-
nation to the vice presidency, leaving two
children.
Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal
celebrity in his first great case, the famous
Lemmon suit, brought to recover possession of
eight slaves who had been declared free by
Judge Paine, of the superior court of New
York city. It was in 1852 that Jonathan
Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with
his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas,
when they were discovered and freed. The
judge decided that they could not be held by
the owner under the Fugitive Slave law. A
howl of rage went up from the south, and the
Virginia legislature authorized the attorney
general of that state to assist in an appeal.
William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur
were employed to represent the people, and
they won their case, which then went to the
j supreme court of the United States. Charles
O' Conor here espoused the cause of the slave
holders, but he too, was beaten by Messrs.
Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken
toward the emancipation of the black race.
Another great service was rendered by
Gen. Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Liz-
zie Jennings, a respectable colored woman,
was put off a Fourth avenue car with violence
after she had paid her fare. Gen. Arthur sued
on her behalf, and secured a verdict of $500
damages. The next day the company issued
an order to admit colored persons to ride on
their cars, and the other car companies quickly
followed their example. Before that the Sixth
avenue company ran a few special cars for col-
ored persons and the other lines refused to let
them ride at all.
Gen. Arthur was a delegate to the conven-
tion at Saratoga that founded the republican
party. Previous to the war he was judge-ad-
vocate of the Second brigade of the state of
New York, and Governor Morgan, of that
state, appointed him engineer-in-chief of his
staff. In 1 86 1, he was made inspector gen-
eral, and soon afterward became quartermas-
ter-general. In each of these offices he ren-
dered great service to the government during
the war. At the end of Gov. Morgan's term
he resumed the practice of the law, forming a
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and then Mr.
Phelps, the district attorney of New York,
was added to the firm. The legal practice of
this well known firm was very large and lucra-
tive; each of the gentlemen composing it was
114
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
an able lawyer, and possessed a splendid local
reputation, if not indeed one of national
extent.
Arthur was appointed collector of the port
of New York by President Grant, November
2 1, 1872, to succeed Thomas Murphy, and
held the office until July 20, 1878, when he
was succeeded by Collector Merritt. Mr.
Arthur was nominated on the presidential
ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the
famous national republican convention held at
Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the
greatest political convention that ever assem-
bled on the continent. It was composed of
the leading politicians of the republican pai'ty,
all able men, and all stood firm and fought
vigorously and with signal tenacity for their
respective candidates that were before the
convention for the nomination. Finally Gen.
Garfield received the nomination for president
and Gen. Arthur for vice-president. The
campaign which followed was one of the most
animated known in the history of our country.
Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of the
democratic party, was a popular man, and his
party made a valiant fight for his election.
Finally the election came and the coun-
try's choice was Garfield and Arthur. They
were inaugurated March 4, 18S1, as president
and vice-pi-esident. A few months only had
passed ere the newly chosen president was the
victim of the assassin's bullet. The remarka-
ble patience that Garfield manifested during
those hours and weeks, and even months, of
the most terrible suffering man has often been
called upon to endure, was seemingly more
than human. It was certainly God-like.
During all this period of deepest an.xiety Mr.
Arthur's every move was watched, and be it
said to his credit, that his every action dis-
played only an earnest desire that the suffer-
ing Garfield might recover, to serve the re-
mainder of the term he had so auspiciously
begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested
in deed or look of this man, even though the
most honored position in the world was at any
moment likely to fall to him.
At last God in his mercy relieved President
Garfield from further suffering. Then it be-
came the duty of the vice president to assume
the responsibilities of the high office, and he
took the oath in New York, September 20,
1 88 1. The position was an embarrassing one
to him, made doubly so from the facts that all
eyes were on him, anxious to know what he
would do, what policy he would pursue, and
whom he would select as advisers. The duties
of the office had been greatly neglected during
the president's long illness, and many import-
ant measures were to be immediately decided
by him; and still farther to embarrass him he
did not fail to realize under what circumstances
he became president, and knew the feelings of
many on this point. Under these trying cir-
cumstances President Arthur took the reins of
the government in his own hands; and, as em-
barrassing as was the condition of affairs, he
happily surprised the nation, acting so wisely
that but few criticised his administration. He
served until the close of his administration,
March 4, 1885, and was a popular candidate
before his party for a second term. His name
was ably presented before the convention at
Chicago, and was received with great favor,
and doubtless but for the personal popularity
I of one of the opposing candidates, he would
have been selected as .the standard-bearer of
I his party for another campaign. He retired
! to private life carrying with him the best
wishes of the American people, whom he had
served in a manner satisfactory to them and
I with credit to himself. Although not a man
of the transcendent ability possessed by the
lamented Garfield, Mr. Arthur was able for
the emergency he was so unexpectedly called
1 to fill, and was a worthy successor to his chief.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
117
^"V'TEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND, |
•^^^^ the twenty-second and twenty-fourth
\^J president of the United States, was
born in 1837, in the obscure town of
Caldwell, Essex county, N. J., and in a little
two-and-a-half story white house which is still
standing, characteristically to mark the hum-
ble birth-place of one of America's great men
in striking contrast with the old world, where
all men high in office must be high in origin
and born in the cradle of wealth. When three j
years of age, his father, who was a Presbyte-
rian minister with a large family and a small
salary, moved by way ofthe Hudson river and
Erie canal to Fayetteville in search of an in-
creased income and a larger field of work. [
Fayetteville was then the most straggling of '
country villages, about five miles from Pompey s
Hill, where Gov. Seymour was born. At the
last mentioned place young Grover commenced '
going to school in the "good old-fashioned I
way," and presumably distinguished himself
after the manner of all village boys in doing I
the things he ought not to do. Such is the
distinguishing trait of all village geniuses and
independent thinkers. When he arrived at
the age of fourteen years he had outgrown the
capacity of the village school and expressed a
most emphatic desire to be sent to an acad-
emy. To this his father decidedly objected.
Academies in those days cost money; besides,
his father wanted him to become self-support-
ing by the quickest possible means, and this
at that time in Fayetteville seemed to be a '
position in a country store, where his father
with the large family on his hands had consid-
erable influence. Grover was to be paid $50 1
for his services the first year, and if he proved
trustworthy he was to receive $100 the second |
year. Here the lad commenced his career as j
salesman, and in two years he had earned so
good a reputation for trustworthiness that his
employers desired to retain him longer.
But instead of remaining with this firm in
Fayetteville, he went with the family in their
removal to Clinton, where he had an oppor-
tunity of attending a high school. Here he
industriously pursued his studies until the
family removed with him to a point on Black
river known as the Holland Patent, a village
of 500 or 600 people, fifteen miles north of
Utica, N. Y. At this place his father died,
after preaching but three Sundays. This
event broke up the family, and Grover set out
for New York city to accept, at a small salary,
the position of " under-teacher " in an asjlum
for the blind. He taught faithfully for two
years, and although he obtained a good repu-
tation in this capacity, he concluded that
teaching was not his calling for life, and, re-
versing the traditional order, he left the city to
seek his fortune, instead of going to a city.
He first thought of going to Cleveland, Ohio,
as there was some charm in that name for him;
but before proceeding to that place he went to
Buffalo to ask the advice of his uncle, Lewis
F. Allan, a noted stock breeder of that place.
After a long consultation, his uncle offered
him a place temporarily as assistant herdkeeper
at $50 a year, while he could "look around."
One day afterwards he boldly walked into the
office of Rogers, Bowers & Rogers of Buffalo,
and told them what he wanted, A number of
young men were already engaged in the office,
but Grover's persistency won, and he was fin-
ally permitted to come as an office boy and
have the use of the law library for the nomi-
nal sum of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he
had to pay for his board and washing. The
walk to and from his uncle's was a long and
rugged one; and, although the first winter was
a memorably severe one, yet he was neverthe-
less prompt and regular. On the first day of
his service there, his senior employer threw
dcwn a copy of' Blackstone before him with a
bang that made the dust fiy, saying, "That's
118
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
where they all begin." A titter ran around
the little circle of clerks and students, as they
thought that was enough to scare young Gro-
ver out of his plans; but in due time he mas-
tered that cumbersome volume. Then, as
ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland exhib-
ited a talent for executiveness rather than for
chasing principles through all their metaphysi-
cal possibilities. "Let us quit talking and go
and do it," was practically his motto.
The first public office to which Mr. Cleve-
land was elected was that of sheriff of Erie
county, N. Y., in which Buffalo is situated;
and in such capacity it fell to his duty to in-
flict capital punishment upon two criminals.
In 1 88 1 he was elected mayor of the city of
Buffalo on the democratic ticket, with especial
reference to the bringing about certain reforms
in the administration of the municipal affairs
of that city. In this office, as well as that of
sherifT, his performance of duty has generally
been considered fair, with possibly a few ex-
ceptions, which were ferreted out and magni-
fied during the last presidential campaign. As
a specimen of his plain language in a veto
message, we quote from one vetoing an iniqui-
tous street. cleaning contract: "This is a time
for plain speech, and my objection to your
action shall be plainly stated. I regard it as
the culmination of a most bare-faced, impu-
dent and shameless scheme to betray the in-
terests of the people and to worse than squan-
der the people's money." The New York Sun
afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve-
land's administration as mayor of Buffalo, and
thereupon recommended him for governor of
the Empire state. To the latter office he was
elected in 1882, and his administration of the
affairs of state was generally satisfactory. The
mistakes he made, if any, were made very
public throughout the nation after he was nomi-
nated for president of the United States. For
this high office he was nominated July i i ,
1884, by the national democratic convention
at Chicago, when other competitors were
Thomas F. Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas
A. Hendricks, Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G.
Thurman, etc. ; and he was elected by the
people by a majority of about a thousand over
the brilliant and long-tried James G. Blaine.
President Cleveland resigned his office as gov-
ernor of New York in January, 1885, in order
to prepare for his duties as the chief executive
of the United States, in which capacity his term
commenced at noon on the 4th of March, 1885.
For his cabinet officers he selected the follow-
ing gentlemen: For secretary of state, Thomas
F. Bayard, of Delaware; secretary of the
treasury, Daniel Manning, of New York; sec-
retary of war, William C. Endicott, of Massa-
chusetts; secretary of the navy, "William C.
Whitney, of New York; secretary of the inte-
rior, L. O. C. Lamar, of Mississippi; post-
master-general, Wm. F. Vilas, of Wisconsin;
attorney-general, A. H. Garland, of Arkansas.
In November, 1892, Mr. Cleveland was re-
elected to the presidency by the democratic
party, the candidate of the republican party
being their ex-chief, Benjamin Harrison, a
sketch of whom follows this. The popular
vote on this occasion stood: Cleveland, 5,556,-
562; Harrison, 5,162,874; the electoral vote
was 277 for Cleveland, and 145 for Harrison.
During the early part of his first administra-
tion, Mr. Cleveland was married to Miss
Frances Folsom of Buffalo, N. Y. , and in Oc-
tober, 1 89 1, a daughter, Ruth, came to bless
the union, and later a second daughter was
born. The first act of Mr. Cleveland, on tak-
ing his seat for his second term, was to convene
congress in extra session for the purpose of re-
pealing the Sherman silver bill, and accordingly
that body met September 4, 1893, and both
houses being democratic, the bill, in accord-
ance with the recommendation of the presi-
dent, was unconditionally repealed.
^
B. HARRISON.
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
121
^V^ ENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty-
mf^ third president, is the descendant of
J^ P one of the historical families of this
country. The head of the family
was a Major General Harrison, one of Oliver
Cromwell's trusted followers and fighters. In
the zenith of Cromwell's power it became the
duty of this Harrison to participate in the
trial of Charles I, and afterward to sign the
death warrant of the king. He subsequently
paid for this with his life, being hung October
13, 1660. His descendants came to America,
and the next of the family that appears in his-
tory is Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, great-
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and
after whom he was named. Benjamin Har-
rison was a member of the continental con-
gress during the years 1774-5-6, and was one
of the original signers of the Declaration of
Independence. He was three times elected
governor of Virginia.
Gen. William Henry Harrison, the son of
the distinguished patriot of the Revolution,
after a successful career as a soldier during the
war of 1812, and with a clean record as gov-
ernor of the Northwestern territory, was
elected president of the United States in 1840.
His career was cut short by death in one
month after his inauguration.
President Benjamin Harrison was born at
North Bend, Hamilton county, Ohio, August
20, 1833. His life up to the time of his grad-
uation by the Miami university, at Oxford,
Ohio, was the uneventful one of a country lad
' of a family of small means. His father was
I able to give him a good education, and nothing
; more. He became engaged while at college
to the daughter of Dr. Scott, princioal of a
K female school at Oxford. After graduating,
he determined to enter upon the study of the
law. He went to Cincinnati and there read
law for two years. At the expiration of that
time young Harrison received the only inher-
itance of his life; his aunt, dying, left him a
lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy
as a fortune, and decided to get married at
once, take this money and go to some eastern
town and begin the practice of law. He sold
his lot, and with the money in his pocket, he
started out with his young wife to fight for a
place in the world. He decided to go to
Indianapolis, which was even at that time a
town of promise. He met with slight encour-
agement at first, making scarcely anything the
first year. He worked diligently, applying
himself closely to his calling, built up an ex-
tensive practice and took a leading rank in the
legal profession. He is the f ather of two
children.
In i860 Mr. Harrison was nominated for
the position of supreme court reporter, and
then began his experience as a stump speaker.
He canvassed the state thoroughly, and was
elected by a handsome majority. In 1862 he
raised the Seventeenth Indiana infantry, and
was chosen its colonel. His regiment was
composed of the rawest of material, but Col.
Harrison employed all his time at first master-
ing military tactics and drilling his men; when
he therefore came to move toward the east
with Sherman his regiment was one of the
best drilled and organized in the army. At
Resaca he especially distinguished himself,
and for his braverp at Peachtree Creek he was
made a brigadier general. Gen. Hooker speak-
ing of him in the most complimentary terms.
During the absence of Gen. Harrison in
I the field the supreme court declared the office
of the supreme court reporter vacant, and
another person was elected to the position.
I From the time of leaving Indiana with his
regiment until the fall of 1864 he had taken
I no leave of absence, but having been nomi-
nated that year for the same office, he got a
\ thirty-day leave of absence, and during that
I time made a brilliant canvass of the state, and
122
PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
was elected for another term. He then started
to rejoin Sherman, but on the way was
stricken down with scarlet fever, and after a
most trying siege made his way to the front in
time to participate in the closing incidents of
the war.
In 1868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-elec-
tion as reporter, and resumed the practice of
law. In 1876 he was a candidate for governor.
Although defeated, the brilliant campaign he
made won for him a national reputation, and
he was much sought, especially in the east, to
make speeches. In 1880, as usual, he took
an active part in the campaign, and was
elected to the United States senate. Here he
served six years, and was known as one of the
ablest men, best lawyers and strongest de-
baters in that body. With the expiration of
his senatorial term he returned to the practice
of his profession, becoming the head of one of
the strongest firms in the state of Indiana.
The political campaign of 1888 was one of
the most memorable in the history of our coun-
try. The convention, which assembled in
Chicago in June and named Mr. Harrison as
the chief standard bearer of the republican
party, was great in every particular, and on
this account, and the attitude it assumed upon
the vital questions of the day, chief among
which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest in
the campaign throughout the nation. Shortly
after the nomination delegations began to visit
Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This
movement became popular, and from all sec-
tions of the country societies, clubs and dele-
gations journeyed thither to pay their respects
to the distinguished statesman. The popu-
larity of these was greatly increased on ac-
count of the remarkable speeches made by
Mr. Harrison. He spoke daily all through the
summer and autumn to these visiting delega-
tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent
were his speeches that they at once placed
him in the foremost rank of American orators
and statesmen. On account of his eloquence
as a speaker and his his power as a debater,
he was called upon at an uncommonly early
age to take part in the discussion of the great
questions that then began to agitate the coun-
try. He was an uncompromising anti-slavery
man, and was matched against some of the
most eminent democratic speakers of his state.
No man who felt the touch of his blade de-
sired to be pitted with him again. With all
his eloquence as an orator he never spoke for
oratorical effect, but his words always went
like bullets to the mark. He is purely Ameri-
can in his ideas and is a splendid tj'pe of the
American statesman. Gifted with quick per-
ception, a logical mind and a ready tongue, he
is one of the most distinguished impromptu
speakers in the nation. Original in thought,
precise in logic, terse in statement, yet withal
faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as the
sound statesman and brilliant orator of the
day. His term of office as president of the
United States expired on March 4, 1893, when
he surrendered the high position to Stephen
Grover Cleveland, allusion to which fact is
made on a preceding page.
%<v<
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
AND . .
REPRESENTATIVE MEN,
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN,
HRTHUR ST. CLAIR, one of the most
noted characters of our early colonial
days, was a native of Scotland, being
born at Edinburg, in 1735. Beconri-
ing a surgeon in the British army, he subse-
quently crossed the Atlantic with his regiment
and thenceforward was identified with the
history of this country until the day of his
death. Serving as a lieutenant with Wolfe in
the memorable campaign against Quebec, St.
Clair won sufficient reputation to obtain ap-
pointment as commander of Fort Ligonier, Pa. ,
where a large tract of land was granted to him.
During the Revolutionary war he espoused the
colonial cause, and before its close had risen
to the rank of major general. In 1785 he was
elected a delegate to the Continental congress
and afterward became its president. After the
passage of the ordinance of 1787, St. Clair
was appointed first military governor of the
Northwest territory, with headquarters at Fort
Washington, now Cincinnati. In 1791 he
undertook an expedition against the north-
western Indians, which resulted in the great
disaster known in western history as "St.
Clair's defeat." On November 4 the Indians
surprised and routed his whole force of about
1,400 regulars and militia, in what is now
Darke county, Ohio, killing over 900 men and
capturing his artillery and camp equipage.
Gen. St. Clair held the office of territorial
governor until 1802, when he was removed by
President Jefferson. He returned to Ligonier,
Pa., poor, aged and infirm. The state granted
him an annuity which enabled him to pass the
last years of his life in comfort. He died near
Greensburgh, Pa., August 31, 181 8, leaving a
family of one son and three daughters.
at
ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, first
(territorial) governor of Indiana, and
ninth President of the United States,
was a native of Virginia, born in
the town of Berkeley, Charles City county,
February 9, 1773, [See presidential sketch.]
HOMAS POSEY, the last governor of
Indiana territory, was born near Alex-
andria, Va., on the 9th day of July,
1750. His educational training was
limited, being confined to the branches taught
in the different schools of those days. In
1774 he took part in the expedition originated
by Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, against the
Indians, and was present at the battle of
Mount Pleasant. At the close of the war Mr.
128
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
Posey went back to his home in Virginia, but
did not long pursue his peaceful vocations,
being called upon, the following year, to take
the part of the colonies in their struggle for
liberty against the mother country. He par-
ticipated in the battle of Bemis Heights, as
captain in Col. Morgan's command; in 1779
was colonel of the Eleventh Virginia regiment,
and afterward commanded a battery under
Gen. Wayne. He bore a gallant part in the
storming of Stony Point, was at the capitula-
tion of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and continued
in the service some time after peace was
declared. In 1793, he was appointed brigadier
general in the army of the Northwest, and,
being pleased with the appearance of the
country, settled in Kentucky not long after.
In that state he was a member of the state
senate, being president of the body from
November 4, 1805, to November 3, 1806, per-
forming the duties of lieutenant governor at
the same time. He removed to Louisiana in
1 812, and afterward represented the state in
the senate of the United States. While a
resident of Louisiana he was appointed gov-
ernor of Indiana territory, by President Mad-
ison, and in May, 18 13, he moved to Vin-
cennes, and entered upon the discharge of his
official duties. When his term as governor
expired by reason of the admission of Indiana
into the Union, Col. Posey was appointed
Indian agent for Illinois territory, with head-
quarters at Shawneetown, where his death
occurred March 19, 1818.
>Y'0NATHAN JENNINGS, the first gov-
J ernor of Indiana, was born in Hunter-
/H V don county, N. J., in the year 1784.
His father, a Presbyterian clergyman,
moved to Pennsylvania shortly after Johna-
than's birth, in which state the future gov-
ernor received his early educational training
and grew to manhood. He early began train-
ing himself for the legal profession, but before
his admission to the bar he left Pennsylvania
and located at Jeffersonville, Ind., where he
completed his preparatory study of the law,
and became a practitioner in the courts of
that and other towns in the territory. He
was subsequently made clerk in the territorial
legislature, and while discharging the duties
of that position became a candidate for con-
gress, against Thomas Randolph, attorney
general of the territory. The contest between
the two was exciting and bitter, the principal
question at issue being slavery, which Mr.
Randolph opposed, while his competitor was
a firm believer in the divine right of the insti-
tution. Jennings was elected by a small
majority. He was re-elected in 181 1, over
Walter Taylor, and in 181 3 was chosen the
third time, his competitor in the last race
being Judge Sparks, a very worthy and popular
man. Early in 18 16, Mr. Jennings reported a
bill to congress, enabling the people of the
territory to take the necessary steps to convert
it into a state. Delegates to a convention to
form a state constitution were elected in May,
1S16, Mr. Jennings being chosen one from the
county of Clark. He was honored by being
chosen to preside over this convention, and in
the election which followed he was elected
governor of the new state by a majority of
1,277 votes over his competitor, Gov. Posey.
In this office he served six years, also acting
as Indian commissioner in 1818 by appoint-
ment of President Monroe. At the close of
his term as governor, he was elected as repre-
sentative in congress, and was chosen for four
terms in succession. He was nearly always
in public life and filled his places acceptably.
He died near Charleston, July 26, 1834.
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
129
,V^ ATLIFF BOON, who became gov-
I /^T ernor of Indiana upon the resignation
J ,P of Jonathan Jennings, September 12,
1 822, was born in the state of Georgia
January 18, 1781. When he was young his
father emigrated to Kentucky, setthng in War-
ren county. Rathff Boon learned the gun-
smith trade in Danville, Ky. , and in 1809
came to Indiana and settled on the present
site of Boonville, in what is now Warrfck
county. In the organization of this county
he took a prominent part, was elected its first
treasurer, in the session of 18 16-17 he was a
member of the house of representatives, and
in 1818 was elected to the state senate. In
1 8 19 he was elected lieutenant governor on
the ticket with Jonathan Jennings, whom he
succeed, as stated above. He was re-elected
to the office of lieutenant governor in 1822,
but resigned that office in 1824, to become a
candidate for congress, to which he was elected
in August of the same year. He was re-elected
in 1829-1831-1833-183S and 1837, serving
most of the time as chairman of the com-
mittee of public lands. In 1836 he was a
candidate for United States senator, but was
defeated by Oliver H. Smith. His congres-
sional career ended March, 1839, and a few
months afterward he removed to Missouri,
settling in Pike county. In that state Gov.
Boon became active in public affairs, and was
one of the leading men of the state. Placing
himself in antagonism to Col. Thomas H.
Benton, who then controlled the politics of
Missouri, he incurred the latter's deadly
enmity. He again became a candidate for
congress in 1844, but his death on November
20th of that year put an end to his earthly
career. Mr. Boon was a pioneer of two states
and left the impress of his character upon
both.
vx
ILLIAM HENDRICKS, governor of
Indiana from 1822 to 1825, was
born at Ligonier, Westmoreland
county, Pa., in 1783. His parents
were Abraham and Ann (Jamison) Hendricks,
descendants from old families of New Jersey.
William Hendricks was educated at Cannons-
burg, Pa., and shortly after his graduation, in
1 8 10, went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he
studied law in the office of Mr. Carry, sup-
porting himself in the meantime by teaching
school. In i8i4he removed to Indiana, and
located at Madison, which continued to be his
home during the rest of his life. He began
the practice of law at Madison, where he was
also identified with journalism for some time,
and shortly after his removal to the state he
was made secretary of the territorial legisla-
ture at Vincennes. In June, 18 16, he was
appointed secretary of the constitutional con-
vention, and in August of the same year was
elected as the first and sole representative to
congress from the newly created state, serving
three successive terms. He discharged the
duties of his high position with so much
acceptability that at the end of his third term,
1822, he was elected governor of the state
without opposition. Before the expiration of
his term as governor, the legislature elected
him a senator of the United States, and on
February 12, 1825, he filed his resignation as
governor. In 1831 he was re-elected, and at
the expiration of this term, in 1837, he retired
to private life and never afterward took upon
himself the cares of public office. In 1840
he was one of the state electors on the Van
Buren ticket, and it was during the campaign
of that year that he contracted a disease from
which he suffered the remainder of his life.
Gov. Hendricks was a man of imposing ap-
pearance. He was six feet in height, hand-
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
some in face and figure, and had a ruddy com-
plexion. He was easy in manner, genial and
kind in disposition, and was a man who at-
tracted the attention of all and won the warm
friendship of many. He was brought up in
the Presbyterian faith, early united with that
church, and lived a consistent, earnest, chris-
tian life. The Indiana Gazette of 1850 has
the following mention of him: "Gov. Hen-
dricks was for many years by far the most
popular man in the state. He had been its
sole representative in congress for six years,
elected on each occasion by large majorities,
and no member of that body, probably, was
more attentive to the interests of the state he
represented, or more industrious in arranging
all the private or local business intrusted to
him. He left no letter unanswered, no public
office or document did he fail to visit or
examine on request; with personal manners
very engaging, he long retained his popu-
larity." He died May 16, 1850.
>rr*AMES BROWN RAY, governor of Indi-
M ana, was born in Jefferson county, Ky. ,
^J February 19, 179).. Early in life he
went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and after
studying law in that city he was admitted to
the the bar. He began the practice at Brook-
ville, Ind., where he soon ranked among the
ablest and most influential of an able and
ambitious bar.
In 1822 he was elected to the legislature.
On the 30th of January, 1824, Lieut. Gov. Rat-
liff Boon resigned his office, and Mr. Ray was
elected president pro tempore of the senate,
and presided during the remainder of the ses-
sion. He was governor of the state from 1825
to 1 83 1, and during this time was appointed
United States commissioner with Lewis Cass
and John Tipton, to negotiate a treaty with
the Miami and Pottawatomie Indians. The
constitution of the state prevented the gov-
ernor from holding an office under the United
States government, in consequence of which
he became involved in a controversy. He
remembered the difficulty Jonathan Jennings
had encountered under like circumstances, and
sought to avoid trouble by acting without a
regular commission, but his precaution did not
save him from trouble. Through his exertions
the Indians gave land to aid in building a road
from Lake Michigan to the Ohio river. Gov.
Ray was active in promoting railroad concen-
tration in Indianapolis, and took an active
part in the internal improvement of the state.
At the expiration of his term of office he
resumed the practice of law, and in 1837 was
candidate for congress in the Indianapolis dis-
trict, but was defeated by a large majority.
This want of appreciation by the public soured
him, and in later years he became very eccen-
tric. In 1848, while at Cincinnati, he was
taken -with the cholera, which terminated in
his death, August 4, of that year. In person
Gov. Ray, in his younger days, was very pre-
possessing He was tall and straight, with a
body well proportioned. He wore his hair
long and tied in a queue. His forehead was
broad and high, and his features denoted intel-
ligence of high order. For many years he was
a leading man of Indiana, and no full history
of the state can be written without a mention
of his name.
^>^^ OAH NOBLE, fourth governor of
I ■ Indiana, was born in Clark county,
I ^ Va. , January 15, 1794. When a
small boy he was taken by his parents
to Kentucky, in which state he grew to man-
hood. About the time Indiana was admitted
into the Union, Mr. Noble came to the state
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
131
and located at Brookville, where, a few years
later, he was elected sheriff of Franklin county.
In 1824 he was chosen a representative to the
state legislature from Franklin county, in
which body he soon became quite popular and
gained a state reputation. In 1826 he was
appointed receiver of public moneys to suc-
ceed his brother, Lazarus Noble, who died
while moving the office from Brookville to
Indianapolis, in which capacity he continued
with great acceptability until his removal, in
1829, by President Jackson. In 1830 he was
appointed one of the commissioners to locate
and layout the Michigan road. In 1831 he
was a candidate for governor, and although a
whig, and the democracy had a large majority
in the state, he was elected by a majority of
2,791. This was remarkable, for Milton Stapp,
also a whig, was a candidate, and polled 4,422
votes. In I834 Gov. Noble was a candidate
for re-election, when he was also successful,
defeating his competitor, James G. Reed, by
7,662 votes. In 1839, after his gubernatorial
term had expired, he was elected a member of
the board of internal improvements. In 1841
he was chosen a fund commissioner, and the
same year was effered by the president of the
United States the office of general land com-
missioner, which he declined. Gov. Noble
died at his home, near Indianapolis, February
8, 1844. Gov. Noble had a laudable ambition
to go to the United States senate, and in 1836
was a candidate to succeed William Hen-
dricks, but was defeated by Oliver H. Smith.
In 1839 he was again a candidate to succeed
Gen. John Tipton, but was defeated by Albert
S. White on the thirty-sixth ballot. Oliver H.
Smith says that Gov. Noble "was one of the
most popular men with the masses of the state.
His person was tall and slim, and his consti-
tution delicate, his smile winning, his voice
feeble, and the pressure of his hand irresisti-
ble. He spoke plainly and well, but made no
pretense to oratory. As governor he was very
popular, and his social entertainments will
long be remembered."
5>^ AVID WALLACE, governor of Indi-
I I ana from 1837 to 1840, was a native
^^_^ of Mifflin county. Pa., born April 24,
1799. He removed with his father
to Brookville, Ind., when quite young, and in
early manhood began the study of law in the
office of Miles Eggleston, a distinguished jurist
of that day. In 1823 he was admitted to the
bar and soon obtained a large practice. He
served in the legislature from 1828 to 1830,
and in 1831 was elected lieutenant governor
of Indiana, and re-elected in 1834. In 1837
he was elected governor over John Dumont,
an able and distinguished lawyer, who lived at
Vevay, on the southern border of the state.
During his periods of service as legislator and
lieutenant governor, he was active as an advo-
cate of internal improvements and in estab-
lishing a school system, and he was elected
governor upon those issues.
In 1 84 1 he was elected to congress from
the Indianapolis district, defeating Col. Nathan
B. Palmer. As a member of the committee
on commerce, he gave the casting vote in favor
an appropriation to develop Col. S. T. B.
Morse's magnetic telegraph, which vote had
great weight in defeating him for re-election in
1843. At the expiration of his term in con-
gress he resumed the practice of law, which he
continued uninterruptedly until 1850, when he
was elected a delegate to the constitutional
convention from the county of Marion. In
1856 he was elected judge of the court of com-
mon pleas, which position he held until his
death, on the 4th of September, 1859. Gov.
Wallace was twice married. His first wife was
a daughter of John Test, and his second a
132
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
daughter of John H. Sanders. The latter still
lives and is prominent in reformatory and
religious work. When a young man, Gov.
Wallace had a well proportioned body, but in
his later years its symmetry was marred by an
undue amount of flesh. He h9.d black hair,
dark eyes, and a ruddy complexion. He was
cultured and well bred, his address was good
and his manners unexceptionable. He was a
laborious and impartial jurist, a painstaking
executive, and as an orator had few equals in
the nation.
^~V*AMUEL BIGGER, who succeeded
•^^^T David Wallace as governor of Indi-
k^^ ana, was born in Warren county,
Ohio, March 20, 1802, and was the
eldest son of John Bigger, a western pioneer,
and for many years a member of the Ohio leg-
islature. He was prepared for college in his
own neighborhood, graduated with honors from
the university at Athens, and afterward began
the study of law. In 1829 he removed to Lib-
erty, Ind,, where he was duly admitted to the
bar, and soon secured a lucrative practice. He
remained at Liberty but a short time, remov-
ing thence to Rushville, where his public life
began in 1834 as representative of Rush coun-
ty in the state legislature. He was re-elected
in 1835, and shortly after the expiration of his
term was chosen judge of the eastern circuit,
a position for which he proved himself ably
qualified, and which he held in an acceptable
manner for many years. In 1 840 he was nomi-
nated for governor by the whig state conven-
tion, and after an exciting race was elected,
defeating Gen. Tilghman A. Howard. He was
a candidate for re-election in 1843, but was
defeated by James Whitcomb. After the ex-
piration of his gubernatorial term. Gov. Big-
ger moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., and resumed
the practice of law, which he continued until
his death, September 9, 1845. "Gov. Bigger
possessed talents of a high order, rather sub-
stantial than brilliant. His judgment was
remarkably sound, dispassionate and discrimi-
nating, and it was this chiefly that made him
eminently a leader in every circle in which he
moved, whether in political life, at the bar, or
society at large." He was a man of fine form
and presence He was six feet two inches in
height and weighed 240 pounds. His hair was
black, his eyes a blue hazel, and his complex-
ion dark. The expression of his face was kind
and benignant, and denoted goodness of heart.
He was a patriotic citizen, an incorruptible
judge, and an executive officer of very respec-
table ability.
>^AMES WHITCOMB was born near
J Windsor, Vt., December i, 1795. His
m J father removed to Ohio, and settled
near Cincinnati, when James was quite
young, and it was there upon a farm that the
youthful years of the future governor and
senator were passed. He received a classical
education at Transylvania university, subse-
quently studied law, and in March, 1822, was
admitted to the bar in Lexington, Fayette
county, Ky. Two years later he came to Indi-
ana and located at Bloomington, where he soon
became known as an able advocate and suc-
cessful practitioner. In 1826 he was appointed
prosecuting attorney of his circuit, and in the
discharge of the duties of this office traveled
over a large scope of country and became
acquainted with many leading men of the state.
In 1830 and 1836 he was elected to the state
senate, where he did much to stay the progress
of the internal improvement fever which was
then at its highest point. In October, 1836,
President Jackson appointed Mr. Whitcomb
commissioner of the general land office, to
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
which he was reappointed by President Van
Buren, and served as such until the expiration
of the latter's term of office. Early in 1841
he returned to Indiana and resumed the prac-
tice of law in Terre Haute, where he soon
acquired a large and lucrative business. He
was at that time one of the best known and
most popular members of his party, and at the
democratic state convention of 1843, he was
nominated for governor of the state. His op-
ponent was Samuel Bigger, whom he defeated
by a majority of 2,013 votes. Three years
afterward he was re-elected, beating Joseph G.
Marshall, the whig candidate, by 3,958 votes.
When he became governor he found the state
loaded down with debt, upon which no inter-
est had been paid for years, but when he left
the office the debt was adjusted and the state's
credit restored. He also, by his efforts, crea-
ted a public sentiment that demanded the
establishment of benevolent and reformatory
institutions, and he awakened the people to
the importance of establishing common schools
and providing a fund for their maintenance.
During his term of office he raised five reg-
iments of infantry that represented the state
in the war wfth Mexico. The legislature of
1849 elected Gov. Whitcomb to the senate of
the United States, for which high position he
was well qualified by talent, by education and
by experience. Owing to feeble health he
was unable to discharge his senatorial duties
as he wished, and he died from a painful dis-
ease when he had served little more than half
the term. In 1843 he wrote a pamphlet
entitled, "Facts for the People," the most
effective treatise against protective tariff ever
known. As a lawyer, Mr. Whitcomb ranked
among the ablest in the country, and as gov-
ernor will always be remembered as one of the
ablest of the distinguished men who have
occupied that position. Gov. Whitcomb was
compactly and strongly built; he was some-
what above the average size of man; he had a
dark complexion and black hair. His features
were good and expressive, and his manners the
most elegant. He was a talented and an
honest man, and when the roll of Indiana's
great men is made up, among the first in the
list will be the name of Whitcomb.
,>^ ARIS C. DUNNING was born in Guil-
1 m ford county, N. C., in March, 1806,
^ but emigrated to Indiana with his
mother and elder brother, and located
at Bloomington in 1823. He studied law and
was admitted to practice about 1830. In 1833
he was elected to represent Monroe county in
the state legislature, and was three times
re-elected. In 1836 he was elected to the
state senate from Monroe and Brown counties,
and remained there until 1840, when he vol-
untarily retired. He was chosen as a demo-
cratic presidential elector in 1 844, and during
the campaign exhibited extraordinary energy
and ability as a public speaker. In 1846 he
was elected lieutenant governor on the demo-
cratic ticket, and when Gov. Whitcomb was
elected to the United States senate, Mr. Dun-
ning succeeded him as governor. After his
retirement in 1850, he practiced his profession
for many years, having meantime declined a
nomination for congress. In 1 860 he was a
delegate to the Charleston and Baltimore
national conventions, where he distinguished
himself as an earhest advocate of Stephen A.
Douglas, and subsequently worked assiduously
for that statesman's election to the presidency.
At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861,
Mr. Dunning identified himself with the Union
cause, and throughout the war rendered val-
iant aid to the country. In 1861 he was
elected to the state senate without distinction
of party. Subsequently he was elected twice
as president of the senate. Goveror Dunning
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
was twice married, first to Miss Sarah Alex-
ander, and the second time to Mrs. Ellen D.
Ashford. Ex-Gov. Dunning takes high rank
as one of the self-made men of Indiana, and
he filled the many positions of honor and trust
conferred upon him with great credit to him-
self and to the entire satisfaction of the cit-
izens of Indiana.
>j*OSEPH A. WRIGHT, for seven years
m governor of Indiana, was born in Wash-
/»! ington, Pa, April 17, 1810. In 1819
his family moved to Bloomington,
Ind., where he and his two brothers assisted
their father at work in a brickyard, and in the
brick business generally. In 1822 his father
died and he, then fourteen years of age, hav-
ing but little if any aid from others, was left
entirely upon his own resources. He attended
school, and college about two years, and while
at college was janitor, rang the bell and took
care of the buildings. It is said that what
little pocket money he had was made by gath-
ering walnuts and hickory nuts in the fall and
selling them to students in the winter. He
subsequently studied law with Craven P. Hes-
ter, of Bloomington, and began the practice of
his profession, in 1829, at Rockville, Park
county, where he met with good success from
the start. In 1833 he was elected to the state
legislature, and in 1840, the year of the Har-
rison political tornado, was chosen a member
of the state senate. He was also elected dis-
trict attorney for two terms in 1836 and 1837,
and later was appointed by President Polk
United States commissioner to Texas. In
1843 he was elected to congress from the
Seventh district, over Edward McGaughey, by
three majority, and served until Polk was in-
augurated, March 4, 1845. In 1849 he was
elected governor of Indiana, under the old
constitution, and in 1852 was re-elected by
over 20,000 majority^ and served until 1857.
In the summer of the latter year he was
appointed minister to Prussia, by James
Buchanan, and as such served until 1861. In
1862 he was appointed by Gov. Morton United
States senator, and sat in the senate until the
next January. He was appointed commis-
sioner to the Hamburg exposition in 1863,
and in 1865 went again to Prussia as United
States minister, and remained there until his
death, which occurred at Berlin March 11,
1867. Gov. Wright will be best remembered
as governor of Indiana, his services in the
general assembly, aenate and congress being
too brief for him to make much impression in
any of those bodies.
As governor, he was an important factor
in shaping legislation and molding public
opinion. He was an orthodox democrat of
the straightest sect, stood high in the councils
of his party, and contested with Jesse D.
Bright for the leadership, but without success.
He was strong with the people but weak with
the leaders. In personal appearance Gov.
Wright was tall and raw-boned. He had a
large head and an unusually high forehead.
His hair was light and thin his eyes blue, and
his nose and mouth large and prominent. He
was an effective speaker, mainly on account
of his earnestness and simplicity. While not
the greatest man in the state, he was one of
the most influential; and to his honor be it
said, his influence was exercised for the public
good. Economy and honesty in public life,
and morality and religion in private station,
had in him an advocate and an examplar.
HSHBEL PARSONS WILLARD was
born October 31, 1820, at Vernon,
Oneida county, N. Y, , the son of
Col. Erastus Willard, at one time
sheriff of Onedia county. He pursued his pre-
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
paratory studies in the Oneida Liberal insti-
tute, and when eighteen years of age entered
Hamilton college in the class of 1842. After
graduating from that institution he studied
law for some time with Judge Baker, of his
native county, and later emigrated to Michi-
gan, locating in the town of Marshall, where
he remained for over a year. He then made
a trip to Texas on horseback, and on his
return stopped at Carrollton, Ky. , and there
taught school. After this he taught for some
time at Louisville, but subsequently left the
school room for the political arena. In the
contest for the presidency in 1844, between
Clay and Polk, young Willard began stumping
for the latter, and during the campaign made
a speech in New Albany, Ind., which made
such a favorable impression that many of the
first men of the town solicited him to come
and settle among them. He soon afterward
located in New Albany which place remained
his home nntil his death. He at once opened
a law office, but was compelled to encounter a
very able bar, in consequence of which his
practice for some time was by no means lucra-
tive. The first office he held was that of com-
mon councilman. He took pride in the place
and won the good opinion of the people irre-
spective of party. In 1850 he was elected to
the state legislature, and from that time until
his death he occupied a conspicuous place in
the public mind. Such was his career in the
legislature that when the democratic conven-
tion of 1852 convened the delegates were met
by an overwhelming public sentiment demand-
ing the nomination of Willard for lieutenant
governor. The demand was recognized and
the nomination made. He filled this office
until 1856, when he was elected governor,
after a very bitter and e.xciting political con-
test. In the summer of i860 his health gave
way, and he went to Minnesota in quest of
health, which he did not find, but died there
on October 4th of that year. Gov. Willard
was the first governor of Indiana to die in
office. The people, without respect to party,
paid homage to his remains, and a general
feeling of the most profound sorrow was felt
at his untimely taking off. "In person Gov.
Willard was very preposessing. His head and
face were cast in finest molds, his eyes were
blue, his hair auburn, and his complexion
florid. A more magnetic and attractive man
could nowhere be found, and had he lived to
the allotted age of mankind he must have
reached still higher honors."
HI^RAM ADAMS HAMMOND, who
succeeded to the governorship on the
death of A. P. Willard, by virtue of
his office of lieutenant governor, was
a native of Vermont, born in the town of
Brattleboro, March 21, 18 14. He came to
Indiana when six years of age, and was raised
near Brookville, where he began the study of
law in the office of John Ryman, a lawyer of
note in that town. He was admitted to the bar
in 1835, moved to Columbus, Bartholomew
county, in 1840, where he was afterward
chosen prosecuting attorney, an office which
he filled with more than ordinary ability. In
1846 he became a resident of Indianapolis,
and the following year removed to Cincinnati,
Ohio. He returned to Indianapolis in 1849,
and in 1850 was chosen first judge of the com-
mon pleas court of Marion county. In 1852
he emigrated to California, and for some time
practiced his profession in San Francisco.
He soon returned to his adopted state, loca-
ting in Terre Haute, where he resided until
his election as lieutenant governor in 1852.
He made a most excellent presiding officer of
the senate, his rulings being so fair and his
decisions so just that even his political oppo-
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
nents bestowed encomiums upon him. On
the death of Gov. Willard, in i860, Mr. Ham-
mond became governor, and as such served
with dignity until the inauguration of Gov.
Lane, in January, 1861. Gov. A.A.Hammond
was not a showy man, but he was an able
one. He possessed an analytic and logical
mind, and was remarkably clear in stating his
positions when drawing conclusions. When
in his prime he was a fine specimen of physi-
cal manhood. He was of medium height,
compactly built, and of dark complexion.
His head was large and well shaped, while the
expression of his countenance was mild and
gentle. Frank in manners, honorable in his
dealings, and dignified in his deportment, he
commanded the esteem of all with whom he
came in contact.
aONRAD BAKER, governor of Indiana
from 1867 to 1873, was born in
Franklin county, Penn., February 12,
1 8 1 7. He was educated at the Penn-
sylvania college, Gettysburg, and read law at
the office of Stevens & Smyser, and was ad-
mitted to the bar in the spring of 1839, at
Gettysburg, where he had a lucrative practice
for two years. He came to Indiana in 1841,
and settled at Evansville, where he practiced
his profession until after the commencement
of the rebellion. He was elected to the lower
house of the general assembly of Indiana in
1845, and served one session, elected judge of
the district composed of the counties of Van-
derburg and Warrick, in 1852, in which capac-
ity he served about one year, when he re-
signed. In 1856 he was nominated for
lieutenant governor by the republican party
without his knowledge, on the ticket with
Oliver P. Morton. They were defeated by
Willard and Hammond. In 1861 Mr. Baker
was commissioned colonel of the First cavalry
regiment of Indiana volunteers, which he or-
ganized, and with which he served until Sep-
tember, 1864, in which year he was elected
lieutenant governor. In 1865 Gov. Morton
convened the general assembly in special ses-
sion, and immediately after delivering his
message, started for Europe in quest of health,
leaving Col. Baker in charge of the executive
department of the state government. Gov.
Morton was absent five months, during which
time the duties of the executive office were
performed by Lieut. Gov. Baker. In Febru-
ary, 1867, Gov. Morton was elected to the
senate of the United States, in consequence of
which the duties of governor devolved upon
Mr. Baker. He was unanimously nominated
by the republican convention of 1868, for
governor, and was elected over Thomas A.
Hendricks, by a majority of 961 votes. He
served as governor with ability and dignity,
until the inauguration of Mr. Hendricks in
1873, since which time he has been engaged
in the practice of law in Indianapolis, being a
member of one of the strongest and most
widely known firms in the state.
OLIVER PERRY MORTON, Indiana's
great war governor and United States
senator, was born in Saulsbury,
Wayne county, Ind., August 4, 1823.
The family name was originally Throckmorton,
and was so written by the grandfather, who
emigrated from England about the beginning
of the Revolutionary war and settled in New
Jersey. Gov. Morton's father was James T.
Morton, a native of New Jersey, who moved
in an early day to Wayne county, Ind. , where
he married the mother of Oliver P., whose
maiden name was Sarah Miller. Of the early
life of Gov. Morton but little is known.
When a boy he attended the academy of Prof.
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
137
Hoshour, at Centerville, but owing to the
poverty of the family, he was taken from
school, and at the age of fifteen, with an older
brother, began learning the hatter's trade.
After working at his trade a few years, he de-
termined to lit himself for the legal profession,
and with this object in view he entered the
Miami university in 1843, where he pursued
his studies vigorously for a period of two
years. While in college he earned the repu-
tation of being the best debater in the institu-
tion, and it was here that he developed those
powers of ready analysis and argument which
made him so celebrated in after life. He be-
gan his professional reading in the office of
Judge Newman, of Centerville, and after his
admission to the bar was not long in rising to
an eminent place among the successful law-
yers of Indiana. In 1852 he was elected cir-
cuit judge, but resigned at the end of one
year and afterward increased his knowledge
of the profession by an attendance at a Cin-
cinnati law school. On resuming the prac-
tice the number of his friends and legal cases
rapidly increased, and his reputation soon ex-
tended beyond the limits of his own state. As
a lawyer he possessed the faculty of selecting
the salient points of a case and getting at the
heart of a legal question. His mind was
massive and logical, and he could apply great
principles to given cases, discard non-essen-
tials and reach decisive points. Mr. Morton's
political career was of such a brilliant char-
acter that his great achievements in the arena
of statesmanship, his wonderful power as an
organizer, won for him a recognition from the
strongest opponents, and faith in his powers,
and the lasting fealty and admiration of thous-
ands of friends until he reached the highest
point among the great American statesmen.
Up to his thirty-first year, Mr. Morton
was a democrat. The county in which he
lived was largely whig, thus virtually preclud-
ing him from holding elective offices. He
was opposed to the extension of slavery, how-
ever, and upon the organization of the repub-
lican party he entered the movement, and in
1856 was one of the three delegates from
Indiana to the Pittsburgh convention.
His prominence was such that in 1856 he
was unanimously nominated by the new party
for governor of Indiana, against Ashbel P. Wil-
lard, an able and brilliant speaker, the superior
of Mr. Morton as an orator, but his inferior as
a logician and debater. These two distin-
guished men canvassed the state together, and
drew immense crowds. The speeches of Wil-
lard were florid, eloquent and spirit-stirring,
while Mr. Morton's style was earnest, convinc-
ing and forcible. He never appealed to men's
passions, but always to their, intellect and rea-
son, and whether in attack or defense, proved
himself a ready, powerful debater. Although
beaten at the polls, he came out of the contest
with his popularity increased, and with the
reputation of being one of the ablest public
men in the state. In i860 he was nominated
for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Hon.
Henry S. Lane, with the understanding that if
successful he should go to the senate, and Mr.
Morton become governor. He made a vigor-
ous canvass, and the result of the election was
a republican success, which placed Mr. Lane
in the senate and Mr. Morton in the guberna-
torial chair. From the day of his inauguration
Mr. Morton gave evidence of possessing extra-
ordinary executive ability. It was while filling
this term as governor that he did his best pub-
lic work and created for himself a fame as
lasting as that of his state. A great civil war
was breaking out when he became governor,
and few so well cornprehended what would be
its magnitude as he. He was one of the first
to forsee the coming storm of battle and most
active in his preparations to meet it. Perceiv-
ing the danger of a dilatory policy, he visited
138
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
Washington soon after the inauguration of
President Lincoln, to advise vigorous action
and to give assurance of Indiana's support to
such a pohcy. He commenced preparing for
the forthcoming conflict, and when Sumter
was fired on, April 12, 1861, he was neither
surprised nor appalled. Three days after the
attack, President Lincoln called for 75,000
men to put down the rebellion, and the same
day Gov. Morton sent him the following
telegram :
"Indianapolis, April 15, 1861.
" To Abraham Lincoi^n, President of the United
States: On behalf of the state of Indiana, I tender
you, for the defense of the nation, and to uphold the
authority of the g-overninent, 10,000 men.
" OwvEK P. Morton,
" Governor of Indiana."
In seven days from the date of this offer
over three times the number of men required
to fill Indiana's quota of the president's call
offered their services to the country. Never
in the world's history did the people of a state
respond more cheerfully and more enthusias-
tically to the call of duty, than did the people
of Indiana in 1861. This record of the state,
which Mr. Morton was instrumental in plan-
ning, reflects imperishable honor on his name,
and from that time forth he was known through-
out the nation as the ' ' Great War Governor. "
During the entire period of the war he per-
formed an incredible amount of labor, coun-
seling the president, encouraging the people,
organizing regiments, hurrying troops to the
field, forwarding stores, and inspiring all with
the enthusiasm of his own earnestness. His
labors for the relief of the soldiers and their
dependent and needy families were held up as
matters of emulation by the governors of other
states, and the result of his efforts seconded by
the people was that during the war over
$600,000 of moneys and supplies were col-
lected and conveyed to Indiana soldiers in
camp, field, hospital and prison. The limits
of a sketch like this forbid a detailed account
of Gov. Morton's public acts. He displayed
extraordinary industry and ability, and in his
efforts in behalf of the soldier justly earned
the title of "The Soldiers' Friend." The
legislature of 1862 was not in accord with the
political views of Gov. Morton, and it refused
to receive his message, and in other ways
treated him with want of consideration and
respect. It was on the point of taking from
him the command of the militia, when the
republican members withdrew, leaving both
houses without a quorum. In order to carry
on the state government and pay the state
bonds he obtained advances from banks and
and county boards, and appointed a bureau
of finance, which for two years made all dis-
bursements of the state, amounting to more
than $ 1 , 000, 000. During this period he refused
to summon the legislature, and the supreme
court condemned his arbitrary course, but the
people subsequently applauded his action. By
assuming great responsibilities he kept the ma-
chinery of the state in motion and preserved
the financial credit of the commonwealth by
securing advances through an eastern banking
house to pay the interest on the public debt.
In 1 864 he was again nominated for governor
against Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, whom he
defeated by an overwhelming majority. These
two distinguished men made a joint canvass
of the state, and passed through it with the
utmost good feeling.
In 1865 Gov. Morton received a partial
paralytic stroke, affecting the lower part of
the body, so that he never walked afterward
without the use of canes. His mind, how-
ever, was in no wise affected by the shock,
but continued to grow stronger while he lived.
In January, 1867, he was elected to the United
States senate, and immediately thereafter re-
signed the governorship to Conrad Baker, who
served the remainder of the gubernatorial
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
term. In 1873 he was re-elected to the senate
and continued a leading member of that body
while he lived. In the senate he ranked
among the ablest members, was chairman of
the committee on privileges and elections,
was the acknowledged leader of the republi-
cans, and for several years exercised a deter-
mining influence over the course of the party.
He labored zealously to secure the passage of
the fifteenth amendment, was active in the
impeachment proceedings against Andrew
Johnson, and was the trusted adviser of the
republicans of the south. In the national
republican convention of 1876 he received
next to the highest number of ballots for the
presidential nomination, and in 1877 was a
member of the celebrated electoral commis-
sion. In 1870 President Grant offered Sen-
ator Morton the English mission, which was
declined. After visiting Oregon in the spring
of 1877, as chairman of a committee to inves-
tigate the election of Senator Grover, of that
state, he suffered another stroke of paralysis,
which terminated in his death, November ist,
of the same year. The death of no man, with
the exception of President Lincoln, ever cre-
ated so much grief in Indiana as did that of
Senator Morton, and he was mourned almost
as much throughout the entire nation. On
the 17th of the next January, Mr. McDonald
offered in the senate a series of resolutions in
relation to Senator Morton's death, which were
unanimously adopted. In speaking on these
resolutions, Mr. McDonald said: "Naturally
combative and aggressive, intensely in earnest
in his undertakings, and intolerant in regard
to those who differed with him, it is not
strange that while he held together his friends
and followers with hooks of steel, he caused
many, whose patriotism and love of country
were as sincere and unquestioned as his own,
to place themseles in political hostility to him.
That Oliver P. Morton was a great man is
conceded by all. In regard to his qualities as
a statesman, men do differ now and always
will. But that he was a great partisan leader
— the greatest of his day and generation — will
hardly be questioned, and his place in that
particular field will not, perhaps, be soon sup-
plied." Senator Burnside said: " Morton was
a great man. His judgment was good, his
power of research was great, his integrity was
high, his patriotism was lofty, his love of
family and friends unlimited; his courage
indomitable." The following is from Senator
Edmonds: " He was a man of strong passions
and great talents, and as a consequence a
devoted partisan. In the field in which his
patriotism was exerted it may be said of him,
as it was of the Knights of St. John, in the
holy wars, ' In the fore front of every battle
was seen his burnished mail and in the gloomy
rear of every retreat was heard his voice of
constancy and courage.'" The closing speech
upon the adoption of the resolutions was made
by his successor, D. W. Voorhees, who used
the following: "Senator Morton was without
doubt a very remarkable man. His force of
character cannot be over estimated His will
power was simply tremendous. He threw
himself into all his undertakings with that
fixedness of purpose and disregard of obstacles
which are always the best guarantees of
success. This was true of him whether en-
gaged in a lawsuit, organizing troops during
the war, conducting a political campaign, or a
debate in the senate. The same daring,
aggressive policy characterized his conduct
everywhere. "
*y ^ ENRY SMITH LANE, for two days
l'^^ governor of Indiana, was born Feb-
^ F ruary 24, 181 i , in Montgomery county,
Ky. He secured a good practical
education, and at the age of eighteen com-
140
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
menced the study of law. Soon after attain-
ing his majority he was admitted to the bar,
and in 1835 came to Indiana and located at
Crawfordsville, where he soon obtained a good
legal practice. His winning manners made
him very popular with the people, and in 1837
he was elected to represent Montgomery county
in the state legislature. In 1840 he was a
candidate for congress against Edward A. Han-
negan, whom he defeated by 1,500 votes. He
was re-elected the next year over John Bryce,
and as a national representative ranked with
the ablest of his colleagues. He took an
active part in the presidential campaign of
1844, and made a brilliant canvass throughout
Indiana for his favorite candidate, Henry Clay.
On the breaking out of the Mexican war, Mr.
Lane at once organized a company, was
chosen captain, and later became a major and
lieutenant colonel of the regiment, and fol-
lowed its fortunes until mustered out of the
service.
In 1858, Col. Lane was elected to the
United States senate, but, owing to opposition
on the part of democratic senators, he did not
take his seat. February 27, i860, he was
nominated by acclamation for governor, and
was elected over Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks
by a majority of about 10,000 votes. Two
days after the delivery of his first message.
Gov. Lane was elected to the senate of the
United States. He at once resigned the gov-
ernorship, the shortest term in that office on
record in Indiana. In the senate, Mr. Lane
did not attain any great distinction, as it was
not the place for the exercise of his pecular
talents as an orator, which were better suited
to the hustings than to a dignified legislative
body. When Col. Lane's senatorial term ex-
pired, he returned to his home in Crawfords-
ville, and never afterward held public ofifice
except the appointment of Indian commis-
sioner, by President Grant. He was chosen
president of the first national convention that
assembled in 1856, and nominated John C.
Fremont. It is worthy of note that every
nomination ever conferred upon him was by
acclamation and without' opposition in his
party. In person. Col. Lane was tall, slender
and somewhat stoop shouldered. His face
was thin and wore a kindly expression. In
his later days, the long beard he wore was
white as snow. He moved quickly, and his
bearing was that of a cultured man. He de-
parted this life at his home in Crawfordsville,
on the 1 8th day of June, 1881.
HOMAS A. HENDRICKS was the
son of Maj. John Hendricks, and the
grandson of Abraham Hendricks, a
decendant of the Huguenots, who
emigrated to New Jersey and thence to Penn-
sylvania, prior to the Revolution. Abraham
Hendricks was a man of remarkable force of
character. He was elected to the Pennsyl-
vania assembly first in 1792, and served four
terms, the last ending in 1798. William Hen-
dricks, second governor of Indiana, preceded
his brother John in moving to this state from
Ohio, and had gained much notoriety as a tal-
ented and public man when Major John finally
concluded to risk his fortune in the wilds of
the new west. John Hendricks, prior to 1829,
resided with his family at Zanesville, Ohio.
His wife, whose maiden name was Jane
Thompson, and a niece, were the only mem-
bers of the Thompson family who emigrated
west, the others remaining in Pennsylvania
and other eastern states, where some of them
gained enviable reputations in iaw, medicine,
politics and ministry. Shortly after their
marriage John Hendricks and wife moved to
Muskingum. Ohio, where they lived for some
time in a rude log house, one story, one room.
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
one door and two windows, built of round logs
and chinked and daubed after the pioneer
fashion. In this little domicile were born two
sons, Abraham and Thomas A. The last
named, Thomas A., was born September 7,
1819. The next year, 1820, lured by the
brilliant career of William Hendricks, hereto-
fore spoken of, Maj. John ^Hendricks, with his
little family, removed to Madison, Ind. , then
the metropolis of the state. Two years later (
the family removed to Shelby county, at that ]
time a wilderness, and settled on the present [
site of Shelbyville. Here the father com-
menced to erect a house and carve a career
for their hopeful son, then scarcely three years
of age. A dwelling was soon constructed,
trees felled, and a farm opened, and the
Hendricks house early became a favorite stop-
ping place for all who saw fit to accept its hos-
pitalities. The future vice president received
his early educational training in the schools of
Shelbyville, and among his first teachers was
the wife of Rev. Eliphalet Kent, a lady of ex-
cellent culture, fine education, graceful, and
nobly consecrated to the Master, to whom Mr.
Hendricks was largely indebted for much of
his training and success. Having completed
his course in the common schools, he entered
Hanover college in 1836, where he remained
for the greater part of the time until 1841.
On leaving college he returned to Shelbyville,
and commenced the study of law in the office
of Stephen Major, then a young lawyer of
brilliant attainments and considerable tact and
experience. In 1843 ^r. Hendricks went to
Chambersburg, Pe
where he entered the
law school, in which Alexander.was instructor,
N
a man of distinguished ability, extensive learn-
ing, and much experience as judge of the six-
teenth judicial district of that state. After
eight months' arduous work in this institution,
he returned to Shelbyville, passed an exam-
ination, and was the same year admitted to the 1
bar. His first case was before Scjuire Lee,
his opponent being Nathan Powell, a young
acquaintance, who had opened up an office
about the same time. The case was a trivial
one, yet the young attorneys worked hard and
with the vim of old practitioners for their re-
spective clients. Mr. Hendricks won, and
after complimenting Mr. Powell upon his ef-
fort, he gracefully served the apples which had
been generously furnished by an enthusiastic
spectator. Thus started the young advocate
who was destined to become one of the na-
tion's greatest and most beloved statesmen.
In 1843, he formed the acquaintance of Miss
Eliza Morgan, who was the daughter of a
widow, living at North Bend, 'and two years
later, September 26. 1845, the two were
united in the bonds of wedlock.
So soon as Mr. Hendricks emerged from
boyhood, his success as a lawyer and public
man was assured. Having established an
office in Shelbyville, he gained in a short time
a fair competence, and soon became one of
the leading attorneys of the place. As an
advocate he had few equals, and as a safe
counselor none surpassed him at the Shelby
county bar. In the year 1 848 Mr. Hendricks
was nominated for the lower house of the gen-
eral assembly, was elected after a brilliant
canvass, and served his term with marked dis-
tinction. In 1850 he was chosen a delegate
to the state constitutional convention, in the
deliberations of which he took an active part,
having served on two very important commit-
tees, and won distinction by a brilliant speech
upon the resolution relative to the abolition of
the grand jury system. The following year
was the beginning of Mr. Hendricks' career in
national politics. He was nominated for con-
gress at Indianapolis, May 16, 1851, over
several other candidates, made a vigorous
canvass, and was elected by a decided majority
over Col. James P. Rush, the whig candidate.
142
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
In congress he progressed with signal ability,
and was called to act on some of the most
important committees, and soon won a national
reputation. Scarce had congress adjourned
when he was required to make another cam-
paign, for the constitution had transferred the
congressional elections to even years, and the
month to October. The whig candidate, John
H. Bradley, of Indianapolis, was a brilliant
man and a public speaker of rare attainments,
whom Mr. Hendricks defeated by a largely
increased majority. In 1854, when the north-
ern whigs were in a chaotic condition, pro-
slavery, anti-slavery, free-soilers, abolitionists,
know-nothings and democrats commingling in
a storm of confusion a "fusion" state and
congressional ticket was formed for the oc-
casion. Opposed to Mr. Hendricks was Lucian
Barbour, a talented lawyer of Indianapolis,
who exerted himself to combine all the oppo-
nents of democracy. Mr. Hendricks made a
vigorous and manly contest, but was defeated,
after which he retired to his profession and his
home at Shelbyville. In 1855 he was ap-
pointed by President Pierce general land com-
missioner, in which capacity he served nearly
four years, and i860 was nominated for gov-
ernor of Indiana against Henry S. Lane.
After a brilliant and able canvass, during
which the two competitors spoke together in
nearly every county of the state, defeat again
came to Mr. Hendricks. In the same year he
moved to Indianapolis, where he lived until
his death. In January, 1863, he was elected
to the United States senate, which position
he held for six years. In 1872 he was again
nominated for governor, his opponent being
Gen. Thomas Brown, a man of ability and
enviable reputation. This campaign was
peculiar in one particular. The republicans
had infused the crusaders with the idea that
they were the salvation of their cause, while
the democracy opposed all sumptuary laws.
Yet Mr. Hendricks went before the people as
a temperance man — opposed to prohibition,
but willing to sign any constitutional legisla-
tion looking toward the amelioration of crime
and the advancement of temperance. He was
elected and kept his pledges to the letter. He
always kept his pledges inviolate, and ever
remained true to h^s friends. He had a high
sense of duty, and a spirit of philanthropy
pervaded his whole nature. In 1876 he was
nominated for the vice presidency on the dem-
ocratic ticket with Samuel J. Tilden, of New
York, and of this election it was claimed they
were flagrantly defrauded by returning boards
and the electoral commission. In 1880 the
name of Thomas A. Hendricks was placed in
nomination for the presidency at Cincinnati,
by Indiana, and his nomination was strongly
urged in the convention. In 1884 he was a
delegate to the Chicago convention, and as
chairman of the Indiana delegation presented
in fitting terms and masterly manner the name
of Joseph E. McDonald for the presidency.
After the latter had positively refused to
accept the second place on the ticket, Mr.
Hendricks was unanimously chosen, and the
successful ticket for 1884, the first in twenty-
five years, became Grover Cleveland and
Thomas A. Hendricks. But few greater calam-
ities ever befell the people than the death of
Vice President Hendricks, which occurred on
the 25th day of November, 1885, at his home
in Indianapolis, of heart disease. Mr. Hen-
dricks was one of the nation's greatest men;
deep, broad-minded, diplomatic and, above all,
a true man. His acts and speeches in con-
gress, both in the house and senate, his defense
of what he conceived to be right, his labors
for the poor, the oppressed and the wronged
of every class in this and other countries, were
of great interest to his people and worthy of
emulation by all. His devotion to his party,
his candor and honesty of purpose, his noble
I
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
143
ambition to serve the people faithfully, his
philanthropy and universal love of mankind,
all combined to make hirti one of the noblest
of men. Strong in his convictions, yet court-
eous to opponents; great in intellect, yet
approachable by the humblest of men; high in
position, he met every man as his equal;
independent in thought, self-reliant in prin-
ciple, and rich in pleasant greeting to all whom
he met; though dead, he yet lives in the hearts
of the people, and his noble characteristics
stand out in bold relief as beacon lights to
guide and direct generations yet to be.
>-T»AMES D. WILLIAMS was born in
M Pickaway county, Ohio, January i6,
A 1 1 80S, and moved with his parents to
Indiana in 181S, settling near the
town of Vincennes, Knox county. He grew
to manhood there, and upon the death of his
father, in 1828, the support of the family de-
volved on him. He received a limited educa-
tion in the pioneer log school-house, but, by
mingling with the best people in the neighbor-
hood, he obtained a sound practical knowledge
of men and things, which, in a great measure,
compensated for his early deficiency in liter-
ary studies, so that when, on reaching his ma-
jority, he was unusally well versed for one in
his circumstances. He was reared a farmer,
and naturally chose agriculture for his life
work, and followed it with much more than
ordinary success, until the close of his long
and useful life. Gov. Williams entered public
life, in 1839, as justice of the peace, the duties
of which he discharged in an eminently satis-
factory manner for a period of four years, re-
signing in 1843. In the latter year he was
elected to the lower house of the state legisla-
ture, and from that time until his election to
the national congress, in 1874, he was almost
continuously identified with the legislative
service of the state. Few men in Indiana
have been so long in the public service, and
few have been identified with more popular
legislative measures than he. It is to him
that the widows of Indiana are indebted for
the law which allows them to hold, without
administration, the estates of their deceased
husbands, when they do not exceed $300 in
value. He was the author of the law which
distributed the sinking fund among the coun-
ties of the state, and to him are the people
largely indebted for the establishment of the
state board of agriculture, an institution that
has done much to foster and develop the agri-
cultural interests of Indiana. He was a dele-
gate to the national democratic convention at
Baltimore in 1872, and in 1873 was the nom-
inee for United States senator against Oliver
P. Morton, but the party being in the minor-
ity, he was defeated. He served in the
national house of representatives from Decem-
ber, 1875, till December, 1876, when he re-
signed, having been elected governor in the
latter year. The campaign of 1876 was a
memorable one, during which the opposition,
both speakers and press, ridicnled the demo-
cratic nominee for governor, making sport of
his homespun clothes ond plain appearance,
but the democracy seized upon his peculiari-
ties and made them the watchwords of victory.
Gov. Williams, or Blue Jeans, as his friends
were pleased to call him, was a man of the
strictest integrity, and was known as a careful,
painstaking executive entering into the minu-
test details of his office. He was self-willed
and self-reliant, and probably consulted fewer
persons about his official duties than any of
his predecessors. In personal appearance.
Gov. Williams was over six feet high, remark-
ably straight, had large hands and feet, high
cheek bones, long sharp nose, gray eyes, and
a well formed head, covered profusely with
144
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
black hair. He was courteous in his inter-
course with others, a good conversationalist,
and possessed in a very marked degree shrewd-
ness and force of character. He died in the
year 1880.
HLBERT G. PORTER.— Among the
self-made men of Indiana, none
stand higher or have a more note-
worthy career than the distinguished
gentleman whose name heads this sketch. Al-
bert G. Porter was born in Lawrenceburg, Ind. ,
April 20, 1824. He graduated at Asbury uni-
versity in 1843, studied law, was admitted to
the bar in 1845, and began to practice in
Indianapolis, where he was councilman and
corporation attorney. In 1853 he was ap-
pointed reporter of the supreme court of Indi-
ana, and was subsequently elected to the same
position by a very large majority of the voters
of the state. He was elected to congress
from the Indianapolis district in 1858, on the
republican ticket, overcoming an adverse
democratic majorit}' of 800, which he con-
verted into a majority for himself of 1,000.
Two years subsequently, he was re-elected by
a smaller majority. On March 5, 1878, he
was appointed first comptroller of the United
States treasury, which position he filled with
distinguished ability until called therefrom to
become a candidate for governor of Indiana on
the republican ticket. He resigned, and en-
tered into the campaign of 1880, which will
ever be memorable in the history of the state.
After a canvess of remarkable bitterness and
excitement, in which every inch of ground
was stubbornly contested, Mr. Porter was
elected governor by a handsome majority. He
held the office from 1881 to 1884, his adminis-
tration being regarded by friend and foe, alike,
as on of the ablest in the history of the state.
Mr. Porter has for many years ranked as one
of the ablest and most successful lawyers in
Indiana, and his " Decisions of the Supreme
Court of Indiana " (5 vols., 1853-6), are re-
garded as among the best of their kind in the
state. Besides his talent in politics and law,
Mr. Porter enjoys a literary reputation of no
mean rank, attained chiefly from his law writ-
ings and lectures. He is especially good
authority on matters relating to pioneer his-
tory in the west, and has in preparation a
history of Indiana, which will undoubtedly
rank as a classic in that line of literature. At
this writing (September, 1890), Mr. Porter
occupies the position of United States minister
to Rome, which high honor was conferred
upon him by his friend. President Harrison.
ISAAC P. GRAY is a native of Pennsyl-
vania, having been born near Downing-
town, in Chester county, October 18,
1828. His father, John Gray, moved
to Ohio and settled near Urbana, when Isaac
was almost eight years old. Within a short
time thereafter his parents removed to near
Dayton, Ohio, but did not long remain there,
when they moved to New Madison, Darke
county, Ohio, where young Gray grew to man-
hood and became proprietor of a dry goods
store. He married Eliza Jaqua, a few years
his junior, and the daughter of Judson and
Jaqua, who resided about two miles from
New Madison, in a neighborhood (which had
a postoffice) called Yankee town. Gray's
parents are of Quaker descent, but they never
adhered to the society Their ancestors came
over with William Penn and took a prominent
part in early colonial times. On November
30, 1855, Isaac P. located at Union City, Ind.,
his family then consisting of his wife and two
baby boys, Pierre and Bayard S. From the
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
145
time of his arrival he became one of the lead-
ing citizens of the then small town. He was
always active, energetic and progressive, and
no work or enterprise in the town was consid-
ered without his advice and counsel, and in
many cases financial co-operation. He always
bore a prominent part in all public matters and
was depended upon to speak for the interests
of the place.
He was engaged in the dry goods business
for a while after he came to Union City, then
in the banking business, finally drifting into
the law, where by reason of his pleasant
speech, excellent judgment of human nature
and the happy faculty of condensing and mak-
ing plain his thought, he became a successful
advocate.
After a few years of practice in the law,
however, the civil war came on, and Gray,
being a strong unionist, was appointed colonel
of the Fourth Indiana cavalry, which position
he held from September 4, 1862, to February
II, 1864. He also raised and organized the
147th regiment Indiana volunteers, mustered
in March 13, 1865, Col. Peden ; mustered out
August 4, 1865. He was also colonel of the
105th Indiana (minute men). Served five
da3's —July 12-17, '863. At the close of the
war he became a banker, organizing with Hon.
N. Cadwallader, the Citizens' bank, of which
he is a prominent stockholder and vice presi-
dent. In 1866 he was candidate of the anti-
Julian wing of the republican party for con-
gress Entered the law in 186S, and was
state senator of Randolph county in 1868-72,
on the republican ticket, of which body he
took position as a leading member. In 1870,
he was appointed by Presidant Grant consul to
St. Thomas, West Indies, and confirmed by
the senate, but declined. In 1872 he was ap-
pointed a delegate at large for the state of
Indiana to the national liberal republican con-
vention at Cincinnati, and, by that conven-
tion, was made the member, for the state of
Indiana of the liberal republican national ex-
ecutive committee.
Dissatisfied with the administration of Gen.
Grant, he joined the Greeley liberal move-
ment in 1872, and from that time on acted
with the democrats. In 1876 the democratic
state convention nominated him by acclama-
tion for lieutenant governor, and he was elected
to that office in October, 1876. In 1880 he
was a candidate for governor before the demo-
cratic state convention, and lost the nomina-
tion by four votes, but was named by accla-
mation a second time for lieutenant governor.
In the general democratic defeat incurred in
October, 1880, Col. Gray shared the catas-
trophe. But, by the death of Gov. J. B. Wil-
liams, in November, 1880, Lieut. Gov. Gray
was promoted to the position of governor of
Indiana, which honor he sustained with appro-
priate dignity, addressing the legislature in
perhaps the most voluminous message ever
presented by any occupant of the gubernatorial
chair to any legislative body. In 1884 he
received the democratic nomination for gov-
ernor, to which position he was triumphantly
elected in the fall of that year, and for four
years served in a manner so satisfactory to
his partisan friends that he became the recog-
nized leader of the democratic party in Indi-
ana, and it has always been insisted by his
supporters that his name, on the ticket with
Cleveland, in 1888, would have that year
secured the presidency of the United States to
the democratic party. In the spring of 1894
Mr. Gray was appointed by the Cleveland
administration United States minister to the
republic of Mexico.
Isaac Pusey Gray is a man about five feet
ten inches high, well proportioned and stands
erect, with a semi-military carriage, and
weighs about 180 pounds; his hair was black
and curly, but is now somewhat tinged with
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
gray; bold, prominent forehead, a full, frank,
plump and florid face, strongly indicative of a
high order of intelligence, and light blue eyes,
beaming with good nature. His face is un-
adorned except with small chin whiskers.
Suave of address and of kind disposition. He
is always cordial and pleasant with strangers
and extremely sociable among his friends and
acquaintances. He enjoys the society of his
friends. Perhaps one of the elements of his
great popularity and steadfast hold upon his
friends, is his freedom from any aristocratic
reserve, and yet no one has a keener sense of
the demands of true dignity; a man of great
decision and firmness, yet always respectful of
others' feelings. The home Gray left in Union
City was and is to-day one of its finest resi-
dences, a spacious brick dwelling located on a
large plat of ground. He has built and owned
some of the best residence properties in the
city. He took great pride in his house, which
was nicely furnished and supplied with a fine
library, where he and his wife, who were
great readers, gratified their literary tastes.
Mrs. Gray is a blonde of medium height,
with gray eyes, well defined features, clear
complexion, good figure, easy and graceful
carriage. She is regarded as a fine looking
lady, whose years rest upon her with becom-
ing grace and dignity. By descent she comes
from an honorable French family, whose
ancestors at an early date settled in New
England and New York.
His son Pierre, the elder, graduated at the
Indiana State university in 1874, and his
younger son, Bayard S. , graduated at De
Pauw university in 1876. Pierre followed his
graduation by a course of law, and has ever
since practiced his chosen profession, except
while he acted as private secretary to his father
as governor, 1885-1889. He is now associ-
ated with his father, in the practice, at Indian-
apolis. Pierre was married, about ten years
ago, to Miss Kate Alma McDonald of Union
City; they have no children. Bayard S.,
after returning from his alma mater, studied
in his father's law office, but soon thereafter
took up journalism, in which he made a brill-
iant success He has however abandoned
that field and located in Chicago, where he is
again at the law. Like his father, Bayard S.
has a taste for politics, and being a fluent
speaker, with an unlimited vocabulary, he has
taken a more or less active part in politics
since his majority. Since his removal to Chi-
cago he has achieved considerable prominence
and is now regarded as one of their public
speakers.
HLVIN P. HOVEY.— This gentleman,
who was elected governor of Indiana
in 1888, has had a notable career,
both civil and military. He was
born in 1821, in Posey county, Ind. , where he
has spent his whole life. After a common
school education, he studied law and was ad-
mitted to the Mt. Vernon bar in 1843, where
he has practiced with success. The civil posi-
tions he held previous to the war were those
of delegate to the constitutional convention of
1850; judge of the third judicial circuit of Indi-
ana from 185 1 to 1854, and judge of the su-
preme court of Indiana. From 1856 to 1858
he served as United States district attorney
for the state. During the civil war he entered
the national service as colonel of the Twenty-
fourth Indiana volunteers, in July, 1 86 1. He
was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers
on April 28, 1862, and breveted major-general
for meritorious and distinguished services in
July, 1864. He was in command of the east-
ern district of Arkansas in 1863, and of the
district of Indiana in 1 864-1 865. Gen. Grant,
in his official reports, awards to Gen. Hovey
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
147
the honor of the key battle of the Vicksburg
campaign, that of Champion's Hill. This is
no small praise; also, it is remembered that
military critics, in view of the vast conse-
quences that flowed therefrom, have ranked
Champion's Hill as one of the five decisive
battles of the civil war, and second in impor-
tance to Gettysburg alone. Gen. Hovey re-
signed his commission on October i8, 1865,
and was appointed minister to Peru, which
office he held until 1870. In 18S6 he was
nominated for congress by the republicans in
the Evansville district, which theretofore had
steadily given a large democratic majority.
Gen. Hovey's personal popularity and military
prestige overcame this, and he was elected by
a small majority. In congress, he attracted
attention by his earnestness in advocating
more liberal pension laws, and every measure
for the benefit of the ex-Union soldiers.
Largely to this fact was due his nomination
for the governorship of Indiana, by the repub-
lican party in 1888, the soldier element of the
state being a very important factor in securing
his nomination, and his subsequent election.
In his social relations. Gov. Hovey has always
been very popular, and his family circle is one
of the happiest in the state. Though a strong
partisan, he is never abusive or vindictive, and
at every trial of strength at the polls, he has
received strong support from many personal
friends in the ranks of the opposite party.
IRA J. CHASE was born in Clarkson,
Monroe county, N. Y. , December 7,
1834. His father, Benjamin Chase,
moved into Orleans county, where most
of Ira's years were spent up to the age twenty.
After leaving the public school of that day,
he attended the Milan (Ohio) seminary and
Medina academy. At twenty he accompanied
his father to Illinois, driving a team much of
the time alone through Michigan and Indiana,
landing in Chicago in the spring of 1855.
Farming, merchandising and school teaching
filled up the time until the war broke out. In
1857 he united with the Christian church.
March 24, 1859, he married Miss Rhoda J.
Castle, of Cook county. In 1861 he was the
first man to enlist in the town of Barrington,
111. He assisted in raising a company of men
and was unanimously elected first lieutenant.
The enlistments were so numerous that the
government could not accept them all, and
the organization disbanded, a part going into
company C, Nineteenth Illinois, June 17, 1861,
of which Chase was made sergeant, This
regiment saw hard and continuous service from
the start, being always on the move, serving
in Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee the first
year of the war. While in camp at Elizabeth-
town, Ky., he heard the news of the birth of
his second child. He was appointed drill ser-
geant and placed on special duty, owing to
poor health. In this capacity the Eighteenth
O. V. I. officers invited him to aid in drilling
their men, as they were fresh from the farms
of their state. A petition, signed by Col.
Stanley, Lieut. Col. Grim, for years chief
justice of Iowa, and Major C. H. Grosvenor,
famous as a soldier and statesman, was pre-
sented to the field officers of the Nineteenth
Illinois, asking for his transfer to a lieutenancy
in the Eighteenth Ohio. This was endorsed
by Gen. J. B. Turchin, brigade commander,
and by Maj. Gen. O. M. Mitchell, division
commander, but denied by Maj. Gen. Buell,
department commander. Our soldier was in
the seige of Nashville. 1862; was discharged
and returned home from Nashville in 1863,
and entered into business, but sold out, owing
to a long and very serious illness of his wife
that left her blind and lame for years. He
prepared himself for the ministery and became
148
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
pastor of the Christian church in Mishawaka
in 1867, and has served at LaPorte, Wabash
and Danville. For a period of time he la-
bored in Pittsburgh and Peoria. He has been
prominent in G. A. R. circles, was twice de-
partment chaplain and once department com-
mander. In 1886, while in California, he was
nominated for congress by the fifth district.
Upon his return he accepted and made his
first political campaign. Col. C. C. Matsonhad
received his fourth nomination. His average
majority for the three terms previous had been
about 1,800. In 1886 it was 532. In 1888
Mr. Chase was spoken of for governor, and
though there was no activity manifested re-
ceived a handsome vote. Gen. Hovey was
nominated and private Chase was nominated
for lieutenant governor by acclamation. He
served two terms as presiding officer of the
senate.
On the death of Gen. Hovey he served the
state as governor from November 24, 1891, to
January 8, 1893. At the state convention
called by the republicans to nominate state
officers, Gov. Chase was nominated by accla-
mation to succeed himself. He entered into
the campaign with all the earnestness of his
nature, and everywhere it has been said that
no man ever fought a harder fight.
aLAUDE MATTHEWS, who at this
time fills most acceptably the office
of governor of Indiana, was born in
Bethel, Bath county, Ky. , December
14, 1845. His father, Thomas A. Matthews,
was a farmer, and also for a time a commis-
sion merchant at Maysville. His paternal
grandfather, Capt. George Matthews, com-
manded a company of soldiers at the battle of
the River Thames, in the war of 181 2.
Through his mother, Eliza (Fletcher) Mat-
thews, Mr. Matthews traces his origin to
one of the most worthy names in the common-
wealth, and his maternal grandfather, Jefferson
Fletcher, represented the Bath district in the
national house of representatives in the days
Henry Clay. Young Matthews attended such
I schools as the county of his nativity afforded
until his fifteenth year, then removed to Mason
county, Ky., his father having purchased a
farm near Maysville. Here the schools were
of a better class, and he availed himself of
their advantages by riding six miles each way
daily. In 1863 he entered Center college,
Danville, Ky. , where he graduated in June,
1867. January i, 1868, he married Miss
Martha Renick Whitcomb, only daughter of
James Whitcomb, one of the honored gov-
ernors of this state, from 1843 to 1849. The
marriage took place in Ross county, Ohio,
where Mrs. Matthews is connected on her
mother's side with the Renicks, well known for
their wealth and public spirit. The young
people moved to Vermillion county, Ind. , in
1869, where Mr. Matthews settled down to
the occupation he had chosen for his life work,
the useful and honest calling of farming. His
capacity for public affairs, and the evidence he
gave of sensible ideas as to public needs, led
to his selection by the democrats of Vermillion
county, in 1877, as their candidate for repre-
sentative in the legislature. That he was well
appreciated by his neighbors was shown by
some five hundred republicans of his county
voting for him, and he had the honor of being
the first democrat elected from that county of
heavy adverse majorities. His record in the
legislature was a fine one, and in 1880 he had
a strong following for lieutenant governor. In
1882 Mr. Matthews was a candidate for state
senator in his district, and cut down the
republican majority of 900 to 300. In August,
1890, he was nominated by the democrats for
secretary of the state and triumphantly elected
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
149
at the ensuing election, his phiraHty reaching
the astonishing and almost unparalleled figure
of 20,000, in round numbers. His conduct of
the office of secretary of state was so satisfac-
tory to the people, that he was called upon to
head the democratic state ticket in 1892.
Although being a candidate before the state
convention for renomination as secretary of
state, he was nominated candidate for gov-
ernor, and in the following November elected
to that office by a plurality of nearly 7,000,
leading the state ticket by several hundred
votes, and higher than the average upon the
electoral vote. He was inaugurated governor
January 9, 1893, and is now, with the same
earnestness and conscientious regard of public
duty, performing the work of that office. Gov.
Matthews, while faithfully attending to his
duties as a state officer, still keeps up his
interest in farming and the class of workers to
which he belongs. He has done much in the
way of improving the breeds of cattle and
domestic animals by importing valuable speci-
mens, and was the founder of the Short Horn
Breeders' association of Indiana, the first asso-
ciation of the kind ever organized in the
United States. He was also originator of the
American Short Horn association of the United
States and Canada. While his business is
that of farming, he is. nevertheless, a fluent
speaker, and withal a man of fine address and
genial manners. Mr. Matthews has three
children; the eldest, Mary, is the wife of Sen-
ator Cortez Ewing, of Greensburg; Renick
Seymour Matthews, who, after a course
in the Rose Polytechnic institute, is fitting
himself in electrical engineering, and Miss
Helen, a school girl, aged fifteen. Mr. Mat-
thews is a man of positive character and
strong intellect, and no man is more loyal in
his citizenship, more faithful in his friendship,
more devoted in his home life, or more worthy
the regard of his fellow men.
at
ALLER TAYLOR, one of the first
senators from Indiana, after her
admission as a state, was born in
Lunenburg county Va., before
1786, and died there before 1826. He re-
ceived a common school education, studied
law, served one or two terms in the Virginia
legislature as a representative from Lunenburg
county. In 1805 he settled in Vincennes,
Ind., having been appointed a township judge.
He served as aid de camp to Gen. William H.
Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, and in
the war of 181 2-1 5. On the admission of In-
diana as a state, he was elected United States
senator, and at the close of his term was re-
elected, serving from December 12, 18 16, un-
til March 3, 1825. He was a man of fine lit-
erary attainments and a prominent political
leader of his day.
'^t'AMES noble was the son of Thomas
M T. Noble, who moved from Virginia to
A 1 Kentucky, near the close of the eight-
eenth century James Noble grew to
manhood in Kentucky, and after his marriage,
which was consummated before he had at-
tained his majority, began the study of law in
the office of Mr. Southgate, of Covington.
After finishing his legal studies and being ad-
mitted to the bar, he removed to Brookville,
Ind., and commenced the practice of his pro-
fession, and soon became known as one of the
most successful lawyers and most eloquent ad-
vocates of the Whitewater country. When
Indiana became a state Mr. Noble represented
Franklin county in the constitutional conven-
tion, in which he was chairman of the legisla-
tive and judiciary committees. In August,
1 8 10, he was elected a member of the first
legislature under the state government, which
met at Corydon, November, 1816, and ad-
150
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
journed January, 1817. November 8, 18 16,
the general assembly, by a joint vote, elected
James Noble and Waller Taylor to represent
Indiana in the senate of the United States.
" In the senate Gen. Noble had for associates
the ablest men the country has yet produced.
He was not dwarfed by their stature, but
maintained a respectable standing among
them." He remained in the senate until his
death, which occurred February 26, 1831.
Mr. Noble was a large, well proportioned man
of fine address and bearing. He was a good
lawyer and as a speaker was very effective be-
fore a jury or promiscuous assembly. Person-
ally he was quite popular and his warm heart
and generons nature made him the idol of the
people of his section of the state.
^^^EN. JOHN TIPTON was born in
H ^\ Sevier county, Tenn., August 14,
\^Jr 1786, and was the son of Joshua
Tipton, a native of Maryland, a man
who possessed great positiveness of character,
with keen preceptions and uncommon execu-
tive ability. These peculiarities induced him
to remove from his native state and settle in a
home further west, where he afterward became
a leader in the defense of the frontier against
tne hostile Indians. He was murdered by the
savages on the i8th of April, 1793. Left thus
early in life ii^ the midst of a frontier settle-
ment, surrounded by the perils incident there-
to, the son, inheriting the sagacity and self-re-
liance of his father, soon began to develop
that positive energy of character which dis-
tinguished his after life. In the fall of 1807,
with his mother and two sisters and a half-
brother, he removed to Indiana territory and
settled near Bringley's Ferry, on the Ohio river,
where he purchased a homestead of fifty acres,
which he paid for out of his scanty earnings,
making rails at fifty cents a hundred. These
early experiences laid the foundation of
his future success in life. June, 1809, he en-
listed in a company recruited in his neighbor-
hood, which was soon afterward ordered to
the frontier for the protection of the settle-
ments. September, 181 1, the company en-
tered the campaign which terminated in the
battle of Tippecanoe. Early in that memor-
able engagement all his superior officers were
killed, and he was promoted to the captaincy,
when the conflict was at its height. Subse-
quently he rose, by regular gradation, to the
rank of brigadier general. At the first elec-
tion under the state constitution, he was
chosen sheriff of Harrison county, which po-
sition he filled two terms, and in 18 19 was
elected to represent this county in the state
legislature. While a member of that body he
served on the committee to select a site for
the location of the state capital, which selec-
tion was made in June, 1820, and approved
January, 1S21. He was re-elected in 182T,
and at the following session was chosen one of
the commissioners to locate the boundary line
between the states of Indiana and Illinois. In
March, 1823, he was appointed by Pres. Mon-
roe general agent for the Pottawatomie and
Miami Indians on the upper Wabash and Tip-
pecanoe rivers, and immediately thereafter
moved to Ft. Wayne, the seat of the agency.
At his instance the agency was removed from
Ft. Wayne to Logansport, in the spring of
1828, where he continued to discharge the
functions of his trust with fidelity and success.
At the session of the legislature, December,
1 83 1, he was elected United States senator
from Indiana, to fill the vacancy occasioned
by the death of Hon. James Noble, and was
re-elected at the session of 1832-33, for a full
term of six years. While a member of that
distinguished body, he was noted for the
soundness of his judgement and the independ-
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
151
ence of his actions on all questions involving
the interests of the state or general govern-
ment. He opposed the views of President
Jackson in reference to the re-charter of the
United States bank, and recognized no party
in determining the line of duty, always acting
from motives of public right. As a civilian
and citizen, he was alike successful in direct-
ing and executing, to the extent of his power,
whatever purpose his conscience approved or
his judgment dictated. After locating in
Logansport he directed his energies toward
the development of the natural resources of
that town and surrounding country, and to
him more than to any other man is due the
credit of supplying the settlements with grist
and saw-mills and other improvements, and
for taking the initial step which led to the or-
ganization of the Eel river seminary, at that
time one of the best known educational insti-
tutions of northern Indiana. He was also pro-
prietor of four additions to the town of Lo-
gansport, and was interested with Mr. Carter
in the plan and location of the original plat
thereof. Mr. Tipton was twice married, the
first time to Miss Shields, who died within two
years after their marriage. The second time
was in April, 1825, to Matilda, daughter of
Capt. Spier Spencer, who was killed at the
battle of Tippecanoe. The second Mrs. Tip-
ton died in the spring of 1839, about the close
of her husband's senatorial career. Gen. Tip-
ton closed an honorable life on the morning
of April 5, 1839, in the full meridian of his
usefulness, and received the last sad honors of
his masonic brethern on Sunday, .April 7,
1839.
SO BERT HANNA was born in Laur-
ens district, S. C. , April 6, 1786,
and removed with his parents to
Indiana in an early day, settling in
Brookville as long ago as 1802. He was
elected sheriff of the eastern district of Indiana
in 1809, and held the position until the organ-
ization of the state government. He was
afterward appointed register of the land office,
and removed to Indianapolis in 1825. In
1 83 1 he was appointed United States senator,
to fill the unexpired term caused by the death
of James Noble, and served with credit in that
capacity from December, of the above \ear,
until January 3, 1832, when his successor took
his seat. He was afterward elected a member
of the state senate, but suffered defeat, when
making the race for re-election. He was acci-
dentally killed b\- a railroad train while walk-
ing on the track at Indianapolis, November 19,
1859.
OLIVER HAMPTON SMITH, congress-
man and senator, was born on
Smith's island, near Trenton, N. J.,
October 23, 1794. He attended
school near his home at intervals until 18 13,
at which time, owing to the death of his
father, he was thrown upon his own resources.
He afterward found employment in a woolen
mill in Pennsylvania, and, on attaining his
majority, received $1,500 from his father's
estate, which he soon lost in an unfortunate
business investment. Mr. Smith came to In-
diana in 1817, and settled at Rising Sun, Ohio
county, but, in a short time, moved to
Lawrenceburg, and began the study of -law.
In March, 1820, he was licensed to practice,
and soon afterward removed to Versailles, Ripley
county, where he opened an office, but, be-
coming dissatisfied with the location, in a few
months he located at Connersville, thence in
1839 flioved to the state capital. In August,
1822, he was elected to the legislature from
Fayette county, and while a member of that
body served as chairman of the judiciary com-
mittee, an important position, and one usually
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
given to the ablest lawyer of the body. In
1 824 he was appointed prosecutor of the third
judicial district, and in 1826, became a candi-
date for congress against Hon. John Test, who
had represented the district for three full terms.
He made a vigorous canvass, and defeated his
popular competitor by 1,500 majority. Mr.
Smith served with distriction in congress, and
was ever attentive and industrious in his pub-
lic duties. In December, 1836, he was a can-
didate for United States senator, his competi-
tors being Noah Noble, William Hendricks and
Ratliff Boon. He was elected on the ninth
ballot. In the senate, Mr. Smith was chair-
man of the committee on public lands, and
took great pride in the place, which he filled
with distinguished ability. In 1842 he was a
candidate for re-election, but was defeated by
Edward A. Hannegan; in March, 1843, his
senatorial services terminated. Soon after his
return home, his attention was directed to
railroads, and Indianapolis is mainly indebted
to him for the building of the Indianapolis &
Bellfonte road, now known as the "Bee Line."
In 1857 he commenced writing a series of
sketches for the, Indianapolis Journal on early
times in Indiana, which attracted much atten-
tion, and which were afterward brought out in
book form. This volume is valuable as a rec-
ord of early Indiana times, and contains
much information not otherwise noted. Mr.
Smith died March 19, 1859. As a political
speaker, he exhibited much the same qualities
and powers of mastery that he did as a forensic
speaker, but he was less successful on the
stump, because argument and close reasoning,
which were his mode of dealing with political
questions, were not as popular as anecdotal
and declamatory style. "As a lawyer, Mr.
Smith was ever true to the interest of his client,
and in the prosecution of his cases in court, he
displayed much zeal and earnestness. He was
an honest opponent, and very liberal in his
practice, and yet very capable, and sometimes
ready to seize upon the weakness or oversight
on an adversary. His career at the bar was a
successful one, and he well merited the high
tribute paid to his memory at the time of his
death." "In person, Mr. Smith was five feet
ten inches in height and weighed about 180
pounds. He was broad chested, and large
from the waist up. His eyes were dark, his
hair was black and stood up upon his head.
He had large shaggy eyebrows, and the general
contour of his features denoted energy, pluck
and endurance. His place is in the front rank
of the great men of Indiana."
HLBERT S. WHITE, one of the most
scholarly of Indiana's distinguished
men, was born in Blooming Grove,
N. Y. , October 24, 1803. He gradu-
ated from Union college, that state, in 1822,
in the same class with Hon. William H. Sew-
ard, and after studying law for some time at
Newburg, was licensed to practice his profes-
sion in 1825. Soon after this, he came to
Indiana and located at Rushville, thence, one
year later, moved to Paoli and subsequently
took up his permanent abode in Lafayette.
In 1830 and 1831 he was assistant clerk of
the Indiana house of representatives, and
served as clerk of the same from 1832 to 1835.
In 1833 he was candidate for congress against
Edward A. Hannegan, by whom he was de-
feated. "He had neither the brilliancy nor
the eloquence of Mr. Hannegan, but was the
superior of that erratic man in education, cul-
ture and in most of the qualities which go to
make up the successful man." In 1837 he
was more successful, having been elected to
congress by an overwhelming majority over
Nathan Jackson. The year previous, he was
on the whig electoral ticket, and in the elec-
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
15S
toral coHepje cast his vote for William Henry
Harrison. In iS^qIk? was elected to succeed
Gen. John Tipton in the United States sen-
ate, the struggle having been an animated one,
requiring thirty-six ballots divided among Mr.
White, Noah Noble and Col. Thomas H.
Blake. He entered the senate a young man,
but his training eminently fitted him for the
duties of that distinguished body, in the delib-
erations of which he bore an active part. He
strenuously opposed the annexation of Texas,
as he did every measure which was calculated
to extend the'area of slavery. "He was of a
conservative temperament, and usually voted
with the moderate men of his party, but he
was conscientiously an anti-slavery man and
always acted with those who strove to confine
slavery to the territory it then polluted." He
was active in securing grants of land to aid in
the extension of the Wabash & Erie canal,
and took a prominent part in shaping legislation
to promote other internal improvements. On
the expiration of his term, Mr. White resumed
the practice of law, but soon abandoned the
profession and entered actively into the busi-
ness of railroad building. He was president
of the Indianapolis & Lafayette railroad from
its organization until 1856, and during a part
of that time was at the head of the Wabash
& Western railway. In i860 he was again
called into public life as a member of congress,
where his thorough knowledge of political and
state affairs soon enabled him to take high
rank. He was made chairman of a select com-
mittee, raised to consider the question of com-
pensated emancipation, and also reported a
bill appropriating $180,000,000 to pay loyal
men for their slaves, and $20,000,000 to aid
in the colonization of freedmen. His con-
gressional career was eminently honorable, but
he failed of a renomination, mainly on account
of his action in regard to the emancipation
question. In January, 1864, he was appointed
by President Lincoln United States judge for
the district of Indiana, to till the vacancy
caused by the death of Ilnn, Caleb H. Smith.
He soon atla])tecl liimsrll to his new position,
and had he lived, would have proved a worthy
successor of his eminent jiredecessor. His
term was cut short by his death, which oc-
curred on the 4th day of September, 1 864.
"Mr. White had but little in ronnnon with the
typical western pioneer, aiul it is therefore
somewhat strange that he should have reached
the eminence he did. He never sunk his man-
hood nor lowered his self-respect, by trying to
get down to the level of every man that ap-
proached him. He was in no sense a dema-
gogue, and never sought to curry favor by
pretending to be what he was not. He was
always dignified and always a gentleman." In
personal appearance, Mr. White was below
the medium height, quite spare and had a nar-
row visage with a prominent Roman nose.
Physically he was weak, but intellectually
ranked with the strong men of the state and
nation. "He was one of the first men of the
Wabash country, and of the state, and his
name will not be forgotten while learning and
scholarship are chesished and honor and pat-
riotism revered."
eDWARD A. HANNEGAN was a na-
tive of Ohio, but in early life moved
to Kentucky, and settled at Lexing-
ton, where he grew to manhood. He
received a liberal education, and after several
years spent in the study of law. was admitted
to practice at the Lexington bar at the early
age of twenty-three. Not long after this he
settled at Covington, Ind. , where he opened
an office and practiced his profession with flat-
tering success for a number of years. He
soon entered the political arena and ere long
154
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
was honored by an election to the state legis-
ture, in the dehberations of which he soon
took an active and brilliant part. His career
in the legislature brought him into prominent
notice, and in January, 1833, he was elected
to the congress of the United States, defeating
Albert S. White, afterward his colleague in the
senate. In 1840 he was again a candidate for
congress, but after a very exciting contest was
defeated by Hon. Henry S. Lane, afterward
governor and United States senator. In 1842,
much to the surprise of every one, Mr. Han-
negan was elected United States senator, de-
feating Oliver H. Smith and Tilghman A.
Howard on the sixth ballot. He took his seat
in the senate on the 4th of December, 1843,
and served until March 4, 1849, during which
time he made several speeches which attract-
ed the attention of the country. While a
member of that body his votes were always in
accord with his party. In March, 1849, Presi-
dent Polk nominated him for minister to Prus-
sia, but being unfit for diplomacy by nature
and habit it is no wonder that his career at
Berlin added nothing to the character of the
government he represented. He was recalled
the next January, and with that recall the pub-
lic life of the brilliant but erratic statesman
ended. He returned to his home at Coving-
ton, and the next year was defeated in a race
for the legislature, which he took much to
heart and which served to drive him further
into the convivial habits which ultimately
proved his ruin. The habit of drink con-
tinued to grow upon him until in a fit of
drunken -frenzy he took the life of one whom
he dearly loved — his brother-in-law, Capt.
Duncan. The two had been drinking deeply
and angry words passed between them. Mr.
Hannegan finally went into a separate apart-
ment, but was followed by Capt. Duncan, who
applied some bitter epithets to him and
slapped him in the face. Upon this Mr. Han-
negan seized a dagger and buried it to the
hilt in Duncan's body, the effect of which was
death the following day. He was not indicted
and tried for this killing, the universal senti-
ment of the people being in his favor. He re-
moved to St. Louis, in 1857, and on the 25th
of January, 1859, he died in that city. Mr.
Hannegan was warm in his friendships and
had a large personal following. His manners
were elegant, and he was ardent, impulsive
and undaunted, thinking, acting and speaking
with the utmost freedom. In person he was
below the medium height, firmly and compact-
ly built, but in after years became quite cor-
pulent. He was a charming companion, and
as an orator was more eloquent than logical.
"He was not a profound man nor a great
scholar, but what he lacked in profundity he
made up in brilliancy, and his deficiency in
scholarship was largely compensated for by
his quick wic and fertile imagination, and his
power to express himself in the choicest lan-
guage. He was of Irish descent, and inherited
many of the characteristics of that warm-
hearted, impulsive race."
>T^ESSE D. BRIGHT, for twenty years a
m leading politician of Indiana, was born
^ 1 in Norwich, N. Y. , December 18, 181 2,
and came to this state when a boy, lo-
cating with his parents at Madison, where he
grew to manhood's estate. He received an
academic education, and after a preparatory
course of reading was admitted to the bar,
where his talents soon won for him a conspic-
uous place among the successful lawyers of
Indiana. He was not profound in the philos-
ophy of jurisprudence, but, being a fluent
speaker and quite popular with the people, he
succeeded in gaining a lucrative practice, which
extended throughout the counties of the lower
AND REPRESEXTATIVE MEX.
Wabash and elsewhere. He was elected
judge of probate in Jefferson county, and sub-
sequently received the appointment of United
States marshal for Indiana, and it was wiiile
holding the latter office that he laid tlic found-
ation of his political career. In the forties,
he made the race for the state senate against
Williamson Dunn and Shadrack Wilber, whom
he defeated, and in that body was soon recog-
nized as the leader of the party. In fact, he
was a born leader of men, and alwa\s stood
at the fore-front of the line. In 1845 he was
lieutenant governor on the ticket with James
Whitcomb, and such was the ability he dis-
played in the discharge of the duties of that
position, that the senators and representatives,
with all of whom he sustained relations of the
warmest friendship, afterward elected him to
the senate of the United States. At this time
he was barely eligible to a seat in the senate,
on account of his age, being the youngest man
ever elected to that distinguished body. In
1850, he was a candidate for re-election
against Hon. Robert Dale Owen, who subse-
quently withdrew from the contest, thus mak-
ing Mr. Bright's election without opposition.
In 1856, his term having expired, he again
sought a re-election, which was granted him
after a memorable contest which was decided
by the United States senate, in a strictly party
vote. In the senate, Mr. Bright ranked high
as a connnittee worker, and enjoyed great per-
sonal popularity. Such was his standing that
on the death of Vice President King, in 1853,
he was elected president pro tempore of the
senate, which he filled with ability until the
inauguration of John C. Breckinridge, in 1857.
In the latter year, when forming his cabinet.
President Buchanan offered Mr. Bright the
secretaryship of state, which position he saw
fit to decline. He continued a senator until
1862, when he was e.xpelled for disloyalty, by
a vote of thirty-two to fourteen. The princi-
pal proof of his crime was in recommending to
Jefferson Davis, in March, 1861, Thomas Lin-
coln, of Te.xas, a person desirous of furnishing
arms to the confederacy. Mr. Bright organized
and led tiic Breckinridge party in Indiana in
i860, and in stumping for the brilliant young
Kentuckian gave the movement all the force
and vitality it had in this state. He left Indi-
ana soon after the legislature of 1863 refused
to return him to the United States .senate, and
took up his residence in Kentucky, in the legis-
lature of which state he subsequcntl\- scr\c(i
two terms. In 1874, he removed to Balti-
more, in which city he died on the 20th of
May, 1875, of organic disease of the heart.
Mr. Bright had a splendid physique, and
weighed about 200 pounds. He had a good
head and a good face, but was inqierious in
manner and brooked no opposition from either
friend or foe. -'He was the Dantmi i.f Indiana
democracy, and was both loved and feared by
'his followers. "
>Y*OH\ PETTIT was born at Sackctfs
i Harbor, N. Y., July 24, 1S07. an.l
^y died in Lafayette, Ind., June 17, 1S77.
After receiving a classical education
and studying law, he was admitted to the bar
in 1838, and ctjunnenced the practice of his
profession at Lafayette, Ind He soon became
active in state politics, was in the legislature
two terms and served as United States district
attorne}' He was elected to congress as a
democrat in 1842, re-elected to the next con-
gress and served with distinguished ability in
that body from December 4, 1843, to March
3, 1849. He was a democratic elector in
1852, and in January, 1853, was chosen
United States senator to fill the unexpired
term occasioned by the death of James W'hit-
comb, serving as such until March 3, 1855,
156
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
during which time he earned the reputation of
an able and painstaking legislator. In 1859
he was appointed, by James Buchanan, chief
justice of Kansas, and in 1870 was elected
supreme judge of Indiana He was a delegate
to the Chicago democratic convention in 1864,
and as a political leader wielded a strong in-
fluence in Indiana in a number of state and
national contests. He was renominated for
supreme judge in 1876, but owing to scandals
connected with the court, which excited popu-
lar indignation, he was forced off the ticket,
and the name of Judge Perkins substituted.
aHARLES W. CATHCART, of whose
public and private history but little is
now known, was born on the island
of Madeira, in 1809. He received a
liberal education and early in life shipped as a
sailor, and after a number of years spent on
the sea located, in 183 1, at La Porte, Ind.,
where he engaged in farming. He served sev-
eral years as land surveyor, was a representa-
tive in the legislature, and in 1845 was an
elector on the democratic ticket. He was
elected to the congress of the United States in
1845-47, re-elected the latter year to serve
until 1849, and was afterward appointed to
fill the unexpired term occasioned by the
death of James Whitcomb. He served as
senator from December 6, 1852, to March 3,
1853, and at the expiration of his term re-
turned to La Porte county, where his death
subsequently occurred.
^""^^RAHAM N. FITCH was born in Le
■ ^^ Roy, Genesee county, N. Y. , on the
\^M 5th of December, 1810, and is said
to have been the first white child
born in that town. His grandfather was a
soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his
father, a soldier in the war of 1812, was
wounded at the battle of Queenstown. Mr.
Fitch received a liberal education, and in
early life chose the medical profession for a
life work, and completed a course of study in
the same in the college of physicians and sur-
geons of western New York. He came to
Indiana in 1834, and settled at Logansport,
where his successful career soon won for him
the reputation of one of the most skillful sur-
geons and thorough practitioners in the west.
In 1844 he accepted a professorship in Rush
Medical college, at Chicago, and occupied the
chair of theory and practice during the years
1844-47. Though not naturally a politician,
Dr. Fitch, from force of circumstances, was
drawn into the arena of politics, where his
commanding talents and energy marked him
as the people's choice. In 1836 and again in
1839, he was chosen to represent Cass county
in the state legislature. Subsequently, at the
election in August, 1847, he was chosen to
represent his district in the lower house of
congress, holding that responsible position
until 1852. During his membership he was
active and efficient in the discharge of his
duties, earning the reputation of a good legis-
lator. His legislative capacity was further
tested by an experience in the senate of the
United States, commencing in 1860-61. The
honorable distinction acquired in subordinate
legislative positions was not dimmed by his
senatorial experience, and he left that distin-
guished body with a record of which posterity
need not be ashamed. Although a democrat
in political affiliations, he always esteemed
principals above mere partisanship and was
not slow to manifest disapprobation when his
party seemed disposed to pursue a course of
policy in antagonism to his better judgment.
In the triangular contest for the presidency
between Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Douglas and Mr.
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
157
Breckinridge, he gave his undivided support
to the last named gentleman, influenced there-
to by a belief that his election would prevent
the threatening civil war. Again, when his
party rallied to the support of Mr. Greeley, he
manifested his dissent by supporting Mr.
O'Conor for the presidenc}-. When the war
came on, he raised a regiment, the Forty-sixth
Indiana, and at its head entered the federal
service. He did brilliant service in several
campaigns, but owing to an injury received by
the falling of his horse, .was compelled to leave
the service before the expiration of the war.
Since the close of the war, he has continued
to practice his profession, not interfering in
political affairs except to preserve the integ-
rity of his inherent ideas with the vigor of his
palmier days, opposing whatever he conceives
to be wrong in civil and political affairs. In
personal appearance. Dr. Fitch is a remarkable
specimen of physical manhood, having a well
knit frame and a courtly dignity which
bespeaks the polished gentleman. In his
prirrte he appeared a knight among men, and
while a member of the United States senate
is said to have been the finest looking man in
that bod)-.
,V^^ AVID TURPIE was born in Hamil-
I I ton county, Ohio, in 1829, graduated
/^^_^ at Kenyon college, studied law, and
began practice at Logansport, Ind.,
in 1849. He was a member of the legislature
in 1852, was appointed judge of the court of
common pleas in 1854, and of the circuit court
in 1856, which post he resigned. He was
again a member of the state house of repre-
sentatives in 1856, and was elected to the
United States senate from Indiana, as a dem-
ocrat, in place of Jesse D. Bright, who had
been expelled, serving from January 22 to
March 3, 1863. Nearly twenty-four years
afterward he was again called on by his party
to represent them in the senate, to which
body he was elected by the Indiana legislature,
at the session of 1886-7, after a memorable
struggle. His opponent was Benjamin Harri-
son, afterward elected president, and he was
defeated by the votes of one or two independ-
ents in the legislature, whe held the balance
of power between the two great parties, which
were almost equally divided in voting strength
among the members. Mr. Turpie enjoys the
reputation of being one of the ablest constitu-
tional lawyers in Indiana, and is also graded
high as a man of literary attainments.
<y^ AXIEL D. PRATT w.is born at Pal-
I I ermo, Maine, October 24, 1813, and
/^^ died at Logansport, Ind., June 17,
1877. His father was a physician
and the son of David Pratt, a revolutionary
soldier, of Berkshire county, Mass. Mr.
Pratt's early years were years of excessive toil,
necessitated by the circumstances of his fath-
er's family. His early education was acquired
in the district schools of Madison county, N.
Y., and in 1825 he entered the .seminary at
Cazenovia, that state, and two years later
entered Hamilton college, from which he
graduated in 183 i. He was a natural orator,
and as a classical scholar was rarely excelled.
Immediately after graduating he accepted a
professorship in Madison university, and with
the means thus earned began the study of law.
In the spring of 1832, he decided to move
west. Accordingly he set out for Cincinnati,
making a part of the journey on foot, and later
made his way to Rising Sun, Ind., where he
taught a term of school. Subsequently he en-
tered the law office of Calvin Fletcher, at
Indianapolis, and in 1836 located in Logans-
port, at that titnd- a mere opening in the
158
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
wilderness. The bright promises of his early
youth were soon fully realized, for no sooner
was he admitted to the bar than he rapidly
rose in his profession, and in a few years the
fame of the eloquent young advocate resounded
throughout northern Indiana. He was one
who never courted notoriety, but he made
himself a necessity in the field of action, and
it was often a race between litigants to see
who could reach his office first. At the time
of his election to the United States senate in
1869, he was recognized as the ablest lawyer
in northern Indiana, and his fame was not
confined to this state alone, but extended
throughout the western country. For twenty-
five years he was without a rival in northern
Indiana, before a jury. Gov. Hendricks and
Sec. Thompson divided the palm with him in
the south and west parts of the state. His
eminent merits were recognized, and in 1 847
he was nominated for congress, but was de-
feated by Charles Cathcart. In 1848, he was
one of the presidential electors, and in 1851-
53 was elected to the legislature, and soon be-
came the leader in the house. In i860 he
was secretary of the national convention at
Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln
for the presidency, and attracted great atten-
tion by his eloquence and commanding pres-
ence. During the war Mr. Pratt was a zeal-
ous and patriotic advocate of the Union cause.
In 1863 he received the unanimous vote of his
party, then in the minority, for United States
senator, and in 1868 was elected to congress
by a handsome majority. In 1868 the legisla-
ture, without solicitation on his part, promoted
him to the United States senate. It was un-
fortunate that he entered that body so late in
life, as he was then tifty-si.x years of age, and
with the exception of two terms in the state
legislature was without public training. The
artificial restraint thrown around him in the
national capital disgusted him, and interfered
with his splendid oratorical powers. As it
was, however, he was recognized as one of the
ablest men of that body during the period of
his service, and although he made but few
speeches, those he delivered were sound, log-
ical and comprehensive. For six years he was
a member of both claim and pension com-
mittees, and for two years was chairman of
the pension committee. Millions of dollars
were allowed and dis-allowed on his recom-
mendation. So conscientious was he that
Wendell Phillips once remarked that ' ' Pratt is
the most absolutely honest man I ever knew."
Upon the expiration of his ^erm as senator, at
the solicitation of Pres. Grant he took charge
of the internal revenue department. In 1876,
the republicans urged Mr. Pratt to become a
candidate for governor of the state, but he de-
clined. Personally Mr. Pratt was one of the
most cheerful and genial of men, and in his
social life, and all his associations, shed an in-
fluence around him which was like sunshine.
Although he never sought literary honors, his
talents could not be unappreciated, and in
1872 Hamilton college conferred upon him
the honorary degree of LL. D. In appear-
ance he was above the average height, being
over six feet and correspondingly portly. His
presence was dignified and he moved among
men as one born to command. In his death
the nation lost one of its faithful public serv-
ants, the state a great man, the legal profes-
sion one of its ablest members and the com-
munity one of its best citizens.
>Y*OSEPH E. Mcdonald was bom in
M Butler county, Ohio, August 29, 18 19,
A 1 the son of John McDonald, a native of
Pennsylvania, and of Scotch descent.
Maternally, Mr. McDonald is descended from
French Huguenot ancestr}'. His mother,
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
159
Eleanor (Piatt) McDonald, was a native of
Pennsylvania and a woman of superior order
of intellect. Seven years after the death of
John McDonald she married John Kerr, who
moved with his family to Montgomery county,
Ind., in the fall of 1826. Joseph McDonald
was seven years of age when the family moved
to Indiana, and until his twelfth year he lived
upon the home farm. In his twelfth year he
became an apprentice at the saddler's trade in
Lafayette, in which capacity he served out
five years, studying law in the meantime, for
which he early manifested a decided taste. At
the age of eighteen he entered Wabash col-
lege, began the study of the higher branches,
supporting himself mainly by plying his trade
when it was possible for him to do so. He
afterward became a student in the Asbury
university, and in 1842 began the systematic
study of law at Lafayette, Ind., in the office
of Zebulon Beard, one of the leading lawyers
of the state. He was nominated for the office
of prosecuting attorney before his adfnission to
the bar, and was elected to that position over
one of the prominent lawyers of Lafayette.
He was re-elected prosecutor, and discharged
the duties of that office for a period of four
years. In the fall of 1847, he moved to
Crawfordsville, which place was his home
until 1859. In 1849 he was elected from the
old eighth district and to the twenty-first con-
gress, and served one term, and in 1856 was
elected attorney general of Indiana, being the
first chosen to this office by the people. He
was re-elected in 1858, and served two terms.
In 1864 he was nominated for governor of
Indiana by the democratic state convention,
and made a joint canvass with Oliver P. Mor-
ton, the republican nominee. At the election
he received 6,000 more votes for governor
than the state ticket did in 1862, but. Mr.
Morton was elected by nearly 20,000 votes.
Throughout his entire life he has strictlv
adhered to his resolution to follow the law and
make a success of the profession, and as a
lawyer he has for years ranked among the
most successful and profound in the nation.
He was elected to the United States senate
for si.\ years, to succeed David D. Pratt, and
entered upon the duties of that position March
5, 1875. While a member of that body he
was chairman of the committee on public
lands, a member of the judiciary committee,
took a conspicuous part in the debates on
finance, and ranked as one of the ablest law-
yers in that body of distinguished men. He
served with distinction until 1881, since which
time he has given his attention principally to
the practice of of his profession, though taking
an active part in political affairs, being one of
the recognized leaders of the democracy in the
United States. He made the principal argu-
ment for the objectors in the count of the
electoral vote of Louisiana before the electoral
commission appointed to determine the result
of the presidential election in 1876. In the
national democratic convention, held in Chi-
cago in 1884, Mr. McDonald's name was pre-
sented as a candidate for the presidential
nomination, and he had a strong following in
the delegation from a number of states. He
is and always has been a representative demo-
crat of the Jeffersonian school, and beliexes
that the true idea of democracy is to preserve,
unimpaired, all the rights reserved to the
states respectively, and to the people, without
infringing upon any of the powers delegated to
the general government by the constitution.
"He believes in the virtue of the people, and
in their ability and purpose to maintain their
institutions inviolate against the assaults of
designing men." "As an orator, both at the
bar and on the hustings, he is cool, logical and
forcible, and as a citizen, he has the confi-
dence and respect of all who know him,
regardless of political creeds." "His \iews
160
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
are broad and comprehensive on all questions
of public interest, and his steadfastness of pur-
pose, his honest desire of accomplishing what
is best for the people, have given him a home
in their hearts and won for him the greatest
honors they had to bestow."
^.y^ ANIEL W. VOORHEES was born
I 1 in Butler county, Ohio, September
/^^_y 26, 1827, and was brought to Indiana
by his parents when two months old.
The family settled in Fountain county, where
Mr. Voorhees grew to manhood on a farm
about ten miles from the town of Covington.
His father, Stephen Voorhees, was a native of
Mercer county, Ky. , and a descendant of an
old Holland family, many representatives of
which were among the early settlers of the
eastern states in the time of the colonies. His
mother was Rachel (Elliot) Voorhees, born in
Maryland of Irish ancestry, and married
Steqhen Voorhees in the year 1821. The early
farm e.xperience of Mr. Voorhees proved of
great value to him in after life, and served to
bind him in ties of sympathy with the com-
mon people. He graduated from the Asbury,
now DePauw, university, at Greencastle, in
1 849, and soon afterward entered the law office
of Lane & Wilson, Crawfordsville, and on
his admission to the bar, began the practice of
his profession at Covington, Fountain county,
where he soon effected a co-partnership with
Hon. E. A. Hannegan in 1852. In June, 1853,
Mr. Voorhees was appointed by Gov. Wright
prosecuting attorney of the circuit court, in
which position he soon established a fine repu-
tation as a criminal lawyer. In 1856 he was
nominated by acclamation democratic candi-
date for congress, but was defeated by 230
majority in a district previously republican by
2,600. In 1857 he removed to Terre Haute,
and the following year was appointed United
States district attorney for the state of Indi-
ana by President Buchanan. He was elected
to congress in i860 and 1862, and in 1864 was
again a successful candidate, but in the last
election his majority of 634 votes was contested
by his competitor, Henry D. Washburn, who
obtained the seat. He was again elected in
1868, re-elected in 1870, but in 1872 was de-
feated by Hon. Morton C. Hunter. In 1859
Mr. Voorhees was retained as counsel to defend
Col. Cook, who was arrested with John Brown
as an accomplice of the latter in the celebrated
Harper's Ferry raid, and his speech at the
trial was one of the greatest ever delivered
before an American jury, and it gained him a
national reputation. It was listened to with
rapt attention by a vast audience, and was
afterward published all over the country, and
in Europe in several different languages. Mr.
Voorhees was appointed November 6, 1877, to
succeed Gov. Morton in the United States
senate, ahd has served by successive re-elec-
tions in that distinguished body until the pres-
ent time. From his entrance into public life
he has occupied a conspicuous place in the
eyes of the public, and at the bar, on the stump
or in the halls of national legislation, he has
been a man of mark. His powers as a parlia-
mentary orator and a statesman are a portion
of the history of the nation, and as a party
leader few if any have exercised as great an
influence upon the people of Indiana as he.
"From the sobriquet of the Tall Sycamore of
the Wabash, so often applied to him, it will be
inferred that he is of tall stature, which is the
case, as he is over six feet in height and weighs
over 200 pounds. He carries himself erect,
and his commanding presence and dignified
bearing make him a conspicuous figure in the
senate chamber." During his term of service
in the senate he has been assiduous in his
attention to the public needs. He is always
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
161
and authority on subjects relating' to biolof,'iral
work.
present and allows no measure of his political
opponents to pass without the severest scru-
tiny, and with him vigilance is the price of
liberty.
^V^ R. DAVID J. JORDAN.— The above
I I named gentleman is one of the most
/^^_^ prominent of that coterie of scientific
writers who have done so much to
attract attention to the physical resources of
Indiana. For many years Prof. Jordan has
been president of the state university. He
was educated at Cornell university, and after-
ward studied biology under the famous Agassiz,
in his celebrated summer school, Penikese is-
land. Coming west, Jordan taught his spec-
ialty in the university of Wisconsin, Indianapo-
lis high school, Butler university and finally the
Indiana university, of which his talents even-
tually made him president. Prof. Jordan de-
voted most of his attention for many years to
the study of the habits and classification of the
fishes of North America. On this subject he
has published over 200 papers, besides a large
work which has become a standard authority
on ichthyology. In enthusiastic pursuit of his
favorite study. Dr. Jordan made a fine and
extensive collection of nearly ten thousand
specimens of fishes, reptiles and birds, but un-
fortunately these were all destroyed by a dis-
astrous fire in 1883. With characteristic
energy he set to work to repair the damage,
and soon had a better collection than ever.
He has been a voluminous writer on scientific
subjects; the greater part being devoted to his
specialty, the fishes of the western states. He
has gathered around him, at Bloomington, a
school of students who have grown up under
his care, imbibed his tastes, and greatly assist-
ed him in his scientific researches. The re-
sult of their conjoint labors and writings has
been to make the state university the center
eK()I<. JOHN COLLETT, tiu' mo.st
distiiiguishL'd of Indiana geologists,
is a native of tiiis state, having been
born in Vermillion county in 1828 and
graduated at Wabash college in 1847. He
has taken an active part in politics, having
been state senator, state house conimissicmer,
state statistician and state geologist, l^ut his
chief fame and his chief claim upon the grati-
tude of his state, are based upon his work as a
scientist. Prof. Collett's life has been studi-
ous, useful to the geology of Indiana, and has
done more than any other person to make
known the natural resources of the state, es-
pecially to advertise to the world the \alue of
its coal measures and stone quarries. Chiefly
through his efforts, the building stone of In-
diana has been introduced to commerce, and
is now used extensively for the construction of
public buildings in all parts of the Union. He
proved its superiority by a series of tests.
From 1880 to 1884, he was state geologist,
and for many years previously had served as
an assistant in that office, to which he contri-
buted his most earnest labor and the riches of
his well stored mind. In 1884, he published
the first and best geological map of the state
ever issued, and has written voluminously on
all subjects relating to the geology of the state.
There is not a county he has not visited and
studied, nor one with those geological history,
dating far back into the dim twilight of the
pre-historic periods, he is not so familiar as to
be able to trace and read like an open book.
Prof. Collett belongs to that useful class of
citizens which, while not obtaining the passing
applause and glittering fame that is conferred
upon the politician in high office, confer more
lasting benefits upon mankind and arc of more
162
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
actual value to a state than all its politicians
put together. Indiana needs more John Col-
letts and fewer "statesman" of the Col. Mul-
berry Sellers and Senator Dillworthy type.
(D
AURICE THOMPSON.— There is
no more picturesque personality in
the Hoosier state than the poet,
^ naturalist, essayist, story writer and
publicist, whose name heads this sketch. A
native of the south, he possesses the frank-
ness, ardor, geniality of disposition and fervent
feelings so characteristic of the warm latitudes.
His home, however, since the war has been in
Indiana, with whose institutions and people he
has become thoroughly identified. Mr.
Thompson's tastes are literary and his occupa-
tion and fame lie in that direction, but occa-
sionally he takes an excursive flight into poli-
tics, more by way of diversion than otherwise.
He has served one or two terms as member of
the lower house of the legislature, and one
term also as state geologist by appointment of
Gov. Gray. He prefers, however, to wander
over the fields and woodlands, watching the
habits of birds, and studying nature in all her
varying moods. On these subjects he writes
most entertainingly in stories, in poems, and
in magazine essays. He is a born naturalist
and is never so happy as when studying the in-
teresting flora and fauna of his adopted state.
He views naturS with the eye of an artist, and
describes her charms with the heart of a poet.
One of his books covering these subjects, en-
titled "Sylvan Secrets," is as charming as an
Arabian tale. "The Red-head Family" is a
bird sketch of the most delightful description,
in which the imaginings of a poet, and the
word painting of an artist are mingled with,
and give color to, ornithological information of
the most exact kind because gathered by a
student of nature in actual contact with what
he describes. Bird song, nest building, bird
anatomy, the loves, hates, trials and habits of
the songsters of the grove, are themes which
this poet-naturalist has enriched with the ap-
preciation of a Thoreau, and the descriptive
powers of a Goldsmith. One of his articles, a
gem of its kind, describes the habits of the
mockidg-bird in his native southern haunts.
Mr. Thompson says, what is not generally
known, that the mocker sometimes sings as it
flies, after the manner of the skylark, and he
dwells at length, on one of these "descending
songs," which the mocker poured forth as he
fluttered on ecstatic wing from branch to
branch, and finally, by slow degrees, to the
earth, where he fell exhausted with the efforts
to produce his own exquisite melody. Mr.
Thompson is a voluminous magazine writer
and covers a wide variety of topics with un-
flagging ability. He is a conspicuous member
of that galaxy of literary stars who have shed
such luster upon Indiana since the war period,
and contributed so much to give her high rank
in the world of letters.
>^AMES WHITCOMB RILEY.— Some
M fifteen or twenty years ago there
A 1 commenced to appear in various pa-
pers of Indiana poems in dialect, re-
lating to homely phases of human life and
touching on those domestic topics that are
common to every fireside. At first they only
attracted the attention of a few, but by de-
grees their fame spread as they were more and
more appreciated, and people began to en-
quire the author of such pieces as "The Old
Swimmin' Hole," "When the Frost is on the
Punkin and the Fodder's in the Shock," "The
Flying Islands" and other gems, the charac-
teristics of which were a gentle humor, always
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
accompanied by a rich vein of tenderest
pathos. Usually these poems purported to be
written by "Mr. Johnson, of Boone," or some
other bucolic individual unknown to fame.
Most of them were published in the various
newspapers edited by the late George C.
Harding, himself a universal genius of the
first water, and always in sympathy with ris-
ing literary talent, which he did more than
any other newspaper proprietor of the state
to foster and develop. Hy degress it leaked
out that the author of the popular dialect
poems was none other than James Whitcomb
Riley, a young man of Hancock county, who
from the rude life of a farmer boy found him-
self drifting irresistibly into rhyme, like the
noted Mr. Wegg. In the course of time, Mr.
Riley's fugitive pieces were collected and
published in a volume, which was succeeded,
at intervals, by others of a similar tenor, all
of which were were warmly welcomed and
generally read by lovers of that kind of verse
which deals with lowl\- human nature, and as
it comes from the heart of the writer, goes di-
rectly to the hearts of the readers. Soon Mr.
Riley had a state reputation and was wel-
comed everywhere with affection as the typi-
cal "Hoosier Poet." It was not until the
national meeting of authors in New York, in
the winter of 1886-87, that Riley's fame
spread across the state lines and extended to
boundaries that are touched by the two great
oceans. The select critics of literatare in the
east fell easy victims to his genial personal
address and platform ability, and when the
meeting adjourned, Mr. Riley was, by general
consent, placed high up on the temple of fame
alongside of the most popular American poets.
After that, he figured conspicuously on the
lecture platform as a reciter of his poems,
and has been much sought after for concert
and lyceum work. Mr. Riley is a distinctive
Hoosier product and his poems are rich with
the flavor of the soil from which their author
sprang. He has done much to give Indiana high
rank in the literary world, and for this, as well
as for the intrinsic merits of his compositions,
enjoys a warm place in the hearts of his fellow
citizens of the Hoosier state.
*y-» KWIS W.U.LACE.— Though a sol-
I r (iier of distinction in tW(i wars, it is
I Jl not as a military man that Gen. Wal-
lace has achieved his principal fame.
It has been rather with the pen than the
sword he has conquered, and no Indianian has
carved his name so high on the literary temple
as the distinguished subject of this sketch. A
son of Gov. l)a\id \\'allace, he was born in
Brookvillc, Ind.. on the lOtli of April, 1S27.
He received a conniion school education and
was studying law when the Mexican war roused
him from his reveries. He served in that war
with credit as a first lieutenant, and at its close
resumed his profession, which he practiced
chiefly in the cities of Covington and Craw-
fordsville, Ind. He scrveti a term of four
years in the state senate, but never took kindly
to politics. At the breaking out of the civil
war, he was appointed adjutant general of In-
diana, soon after becoming colonel of the
Eleventh Indiana volunteers, with which he
served in West \'irginia, participating in the
capture of Roinney and the ejection of the
enemy from Harper's I'erry. He became a
brigadier general of volunteers in the fall of
1 861, led a division at the capture of Fort
Donelson, and displayed such ability as to
receive a major general's commission in the
following spring. He participated conspicu-
ously in the fated field of Shiloh. In 1864 he
was assigned to the command of the middle
department, with headquarters at Baltimore,
Md. With 5,800 men, he marched to the
164
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
banks of the Monocacy, and there offered bat-
tle to the overwhelming forces of Gen. Jubal
A. Early, who, with 28,000 men, was march-
ing triumphantly upon the national capital.
On the afternoon of the 9th of July, hard by
the railroad bridge that spans the Monocacy,
near Frederick, Md. , was fought one of the
bloodiest engagements of the war, in propor-
tion to the number engaged. Gen. Wallace
was entrenched behind stone fences that
stretched along the heights near the bridge and
at right angles with the river. McCausland's
cavalry, which led the vanguard of Early's
army, -crossed the stream and made a vigorous
assault upon Wallace's lines, but, after a very
spirited and bloody engagement, they were
forced to retreat, but took up and held a posi-
tion in the rear. Soon thereafter a long line
of infantry were seen fording the Monocacy,
and filing right under cover of hills and trees
to a position in front of Gen. Wallace's center.
These troops were the famous ' ' Stonewall
brigade," formerly made immortal by Jackson,
but now consolidated with other seasoned vet-
erans into a division commanded by Major
Gen. John C. Breckinridge. They deployed
and were ordered to advance directly to the
assault of Gen. Wallace's main position. The
onset was furious and the fatalities on both
sides many hundreds in a few minutes. The
Union troops resisted stubbornly, but were
finally forced to give way, and the hundreds of
dead bodies observable on the field after the
fight showed how bravely they had endeavored
to stem the tide of invasion. Though defeated.
Gen. Wallace and his troops had accomplished
the important duty of delaying Early until
reinforcements could reach Washington.
Gen. Wallace was second member of the
court that tried the assassins of Lincoln and
president of that which convicted Wirz of the
Andersonville prison horrors. In 1878 Gen.
Wallace was governor of Utah and served
from 1 88 1 to '85 as minister to Turkey. He
has lectured extensively and is one of the most
popular of the platform speakers of the day.
His chief fame, however, rests upon his
authorship of the religio-historical novel,
"Ben Hur; a Tale of the Christ," of which
over 290,000 have been sold without diminu-
tion in the demand. It has already become
an American classic, and takes front rank
among the imaginative works of the world.
Other popular works by Gen. Wallace are,
"The Fair God," a story of the conquest of
Mexico, "Life of Benjamin Harrison" and
"The Boyhood of Christ." No other Indian-
ian has done so much to give his state high
rank in the field of polite literature.
^~^ CHUYLER COLFAX, statesman, and
•^^^^T vif^s president of the United States,
^^ y was born in the city of New York,
March 23, 1823. His grandfather.
Gen. William Colfax, was a native of Con-
necticut, and served with distinction in the
war of American independence. His father
died before his son's birth, as did also a sister,
and thus he became the only child of his wid-
owed mother. The early years of Mr. Colfax
were spent in his native city, where he attend-
ed the public schools and afterward became
clerk in a store. In 1836 he came to Indiana,
and located at New Carlisle, St. Joseph coun-
ty, where he again entered a store as clerk,
and in 1841 he became a resident of South
Bend, in which city he subsequently received
tne appointment of deputy auditor. In 1842
he was active in organizing a temperance soci-
ety at South Bend, and continued a total
abstainer throughout his life. At this time he
reported the proceedings of the state senate
for the Indianapolis Journal, and in 1844
entered the political arena as a public speaker
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
169
for Henry Clay. In 1845 he became editor
and proprietor of the St. Joseph Valley Reg-
ister, of which he was also founder, and he
continued its publication for a period of eight-
een years. He was secretary of the Chicago
harbor and river convention in 1847, and in
1848 was elected secretary of the national
whig convention, at Baltimore, which nomin-
ated Gen. Zachary Taylor for the presidency.
He was a member of the Indiana constitution-
al convention of 1850, and in 1851 received
the whig nomination for congress. His oppo-
nent was Hon. Graham N. Fitch, an able pol-
itician and and a fine speaker, with whom he
engaged in a joint canvass, during which the
two men traveled over 1,000 miles and held
over seventy discussions. The district was
strongly democratic, yet Mr. Colfax was
defeated by only 200 votes. In 1852 he was
a delegate to the national convention which
nominated Gen. Scott for the presidency, and
in 1854 was elected to the Thirty-fourth con-
gress by the memorable majority of 1,776
votes, although the same district in previous
years gave a democratic majority of 1,200. In
1858 he was again triumphantly elected to
congress, and served as a member of that body
by successive elections until 1869. He was
elected speaker of the house in December,
1863, and on April 8th, of the following year,
he descended from the chair to move the
expulsion of Mr. Long, of Ohio, who had
made a speech favoring the recognition of the
southern confederacy. The resolution was
afterward changed to one of censure, and Mr.
Colfax's action was generally sustained by
Union men. On the convening of the Thirty-
ninth congress, Mr. Colfax was again elected
speaker by 139 votes, his opponent, Mr.
Brooks, of New York, receiving but thirty-six.
March 4, 1867, he was for the third time
chosen speaker, and his skill as a presiding
officer, often shown under very trying circum-
stances, gained the applause of both friends
and political opponents. In Mav, 1 SfiS, the
republican national cunvcntion at Chicago
nominated him on the first ballot for vice pres-
ident. Gen. Grant being the presidential nom-
inee, and the ticket having been successful, he
took his seat as president of the senate March
4, 1869. In August, 1 87 1, the president
offered him the position of secretary of state
for the remainder of his term, but he declined.
In 1872 he was prominently mentioned as a
presidential candidate, and the same year he
refused the editorship of the New York Trib-
une. "In 1873, Mr. Colfax was implicated in
the charges of corruption brought against
members of congress who had received shares
in the credit mobilier of America. The house
committee reported that there was no ground
for his impeachment, as the alleged offense, if
committed at all, was committed before he
became vice president." "He denied the
truth of the charges and his friends have
always regarded his character as irreproacha-
ble." His latter years were spent mostly in
retirement at his home in South Bend, and in
delivering public lectures, which he freciuenth'
did, before large audiences. The most popu-
lar of his lectures was that on "Lincoln and
Garfield." He died at Mankota, Minn,, Jan-
uary 13, 1885.
,>^ OBERT DALE OWEN was the son
|/^ of Robert J. Owen, a celebrated
J 9 English reformer, who was born in
1 77 1 and died 1858. He was born
near Glasgow, Scotland, November 7, 1801,
and after receiving a liberal education in his
native country, came to the United States in
1823 and settled at New Harmony, Posey
count)', Ind. In 182S, in partnership with
Mrs. Frances Wright, he began the publica-
170
GOVERNORS OF INDIANA
tion of a paper called the Free Enquirer,
which made its periodical visits about three
years. He was three times elected to the
Indiana legislature, and in 1843 was elected to
congress, in which body he served until 1847,
having been re-elected in 1845. When in
congress he took a prominent part in the set-
tlement of the northwestern boundary dispute,
and was largely instrumental in establishing
the Smithsonian institute at Washington, of
which he became one of the regents, and
served on the building committee. He was a
delegate to the cohstitutional convention in
1850, and no one bore a more prominent part
in the deliberations of that body than he. In
1853 he was appointed charge d' affaires at
Naples, and in 1855 was minister at Naples,
holding the position until until 1858. During
the civil war he was a firm supporter of the
Union, and one of the first to advocate the
emancipation of the slaves. Mr. Owen was a
firm believer in the doctrines of spiritualism,
and was fearless in his advocacy of the same.
He inherited the communistic notions of his
father, who had failed in numerous attempts
to carry the system into practical operation,
and he also signally failed in his attempts to
accomplish a similar purpose. His scholastic
attainments were of the highest order, and he
possessed a mind well stored with general
knowledge. He was indeed a man of tran-
scendent ability and may justly be regarded as
one the greatest, as well as one of the best,
men Indiana has ever claimed. He contribut-
ed largely to the literature of his day, and the
following is a partial list of his best know
works: "Moral Physiology," "Discussion
with Original Bachelor on the Personality of
God, and the Authenticity of the Bible,"
"Hints on Public Architecture," "Footfalls
on the Boundaries of Another World," "The
Wrong of Slavery and tne Right of Emancipa-
tion," "Beyond the Breakers," a novel,
"The Debatable Land Between this World
and the Next," "Treading My Way," an au-
tobiography. Mr. Owen departed this life at
Lake George, N. Y. , January 24, 1877, aged
seventy-six years.
,>^ ICHARD W. THOMPSON, ex-sec-
I /^ retary of the navy, is a native of Vir-
l ^P ginia, born in Culpeper county, June
9,1809.. In the fall of 1831 he emi-
grated to Indiana, and taught school in the
town of Bedford, afterward establishing the
Lawrence county seminary, which he con-
ducted about one year. Abandoning school
work he embarked in the mercantile business
in Lawrence county, and while thus engaged
began the study of law. He was admitted to
the bar in 1834, and the same year he was
elected a member of the Indiana legislature,
in which body he not only displayed great
ability and foresight, but was also instrumen-
tal in shaping much important legislation. In
1838 he was returned to the house, and the
following year was chosen state senator, of
which he was president pro tempore on the
occasion of the resignation of Lieut. Gov.
Wallace. In 1841 he was elected to the
United States congress over Hon. John W.
Davis, but declined a renomination to the
same position, and in 1843 removed to Terre
Haute, in which city he has since resided.
He was a presidential elector on the Harrison
ticket in 1840, zealously supporting Gen. Har-
rison in public speeches, and by his pen, and
was a defeated candidate for elector on the
Clay ticket in 1844. In 1847 he was again
elected to congress by the whig party, and be-
came prominent in national legislation during
his term, but at its expiration retired from
public life. In 1849 he was appointed United
States minister to Austria, by Gen. Taylor,
AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
171
but declined to accept the honor, and was also
tendered several other appointments by the
general government, all of which he saw fit to
refuse. During the war for the Union he was
active and rendered valuable service to his
country, was commandant of Camp Dick
Thompson, near Terre Haute, and also served
as provost marshal of the district. He was
again a presidential elector on the republican
ticket in 1864, and a delegate to the national
conventions of that party in 1878, and 1876,
in the latter of which he nominated Oliver P.
Morton for the presidency. In i S67-69 he
was judge of the eighteenth circuit of the state,
and on March 12, 1877, he entered Pres.
Hayes' cabinet, as secretary of the navy. He
served nearly^^through the administration, but
resigned the position in 1881, to become chair-
man of the American committee of the Pana-
ma Canal company. Mr. Thompson has
written many political platforms, and obtained
a reputation for his ability in formulating
party principles. He is an eloquent and effec-
tive speaker, and a man of benevolence and
unassuming manners.
aOL. FRANCIS VIGO, whose name is
prominently identified with the early
history of Indiana, was born in the
kingdom of Sardinia in 1 740, and
died at Vincennes, Ind., in 1836. Until 1778
he was a resident of the Spanish port of St.
Louis, where, as an Indian trader, he acquired
the title of the "Spanish Merchant." He re-
moved to Vincennes a short time previous to
its capture by Gen. George Rogers Clark,
whom he was instrumental in assisting, for
which he was afterward arrested by the British
as a spy. In the Illinois campaigns of 1778
and 1779, Col. Vigo rendered valuable service
to the arm\' of ("lark l.\- :ulv:iiicing large sums
of money for food and clnlliiii^. Tiuough his
patriotism and sclf-sacrilice, he served the
army and gave victory to the cause of the col-
onies of the west. He was made commandant
of the militia of Vincennes in 1790, and in
iSiowasone of Gen. Harrison's confidential
messengers to the Indians. His name will
ever be associated with the early history <>(
the Wabash vallcv.
>Y*OHX \V. D.WIS. one nf Indiana's most
M noted men, was born in C'umbcrland
/* 1 county, Peini., July 17, 1799, and
. died in 1859. He was well educated
and graduated in medicine at Baltimore in
1 82 1, shortly afterward removing to Carlisle,
Ind. He was soon embarked on a political
career and graduated for the purpose in that
universal and popular school, the state legis-
lature. He served several years in that bod\',
and was chosen speaker of the house in 1832.
In 1834 he was appointed a commissioner to
negotiate a treaty with the Indians. He was
elected to congress by the democrats, and
served from December 7, 1835, until March 3,
1837, was re-elected, and again served from
1839 until 1 84 1, and from 1843 till 1847.
During his last term he was speaker ol the
house of representatives, having been elected
on December i, 1845. He was United States
commissioner to China in 1843-50, and gov-
ernor of Oregon in 1853-54. He presided over
the convention held at P>altimore in 1852, that
nominated Franklin Pierre for the presidency.
Mr. Davis was a strong man and a party leader
of long continued popularity and well recog-
nized ability. He was also a derided feature
of the list of self-made Indiana publicists.
'^^
DELAWARE COUNTY,
INDIANJ^.
THOS. SHARP.
MATHEW Mccormick.
M. A. CUNNINGHAM.
MIINCIE CITY AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
ai
'ILLIAM ABBOTT, a retired farmer
and prominent citizen of Centre
township, Delaware county, Ind.,
was born in Warren county, Ohio,
December 15, 1833, son of James and Rose
(Keenan) Abbott. James Abbott was born
where the city of Cincinnati now stands, Feb-
ruary 27, 1794. He was a son of Aaron Ab-
bott, of Enghsh extraction, who was born near
Boston, Mass., but reared in Warren county,
Ohio. Shortly after the removal of the family
to that county the colony was attacked with
cholera, and Mr. Abbott was one of the few
who survived the scourge. Soon after the
birth of his son, James, he died, and all pre-
vious records of the family were lost. James
Abbott was reared in Warren county, and
there learned the trade of cabinet maker.
While yet a minor he enlisted in the war of
1812, and in 18 13 was in one of the vessels on
Lake Erie during the battle between Commo-
dore Perry of the Lawrence and the British
fleet. His service did not extend over very-
many months, and after his return home he
located at Lebanon, Ohio, where he worked
at his trade, remaining here until his marriage
June 19, 1823. After this event he removed
to Miami county, Ohio, where he engaged in
farming for about twelve years, when he re-
moved, in 1S47, to Indiana and became one of
the early pioneers of Delaware county. He
purchased a fine farm of one hundred and sixt\-
acres, located about one mile east of Granville,
in Niles township, and there remained until
his death, which occurred October 14, 1874.
His wife died April 16, 1881, and both were
laid side by side in the Granville cemetery,
where a modest stone marks their last resting
place. Mr. Abbott was a successful business
man and became possessed of considerable
propcrt}-. Both he and his wife were mem-
bers for many years of the Free Will Baptist
church. In his early days he was a whig, but
upon the birth of the republican party he joined
that and supported its principles through Tife.
He became the father of seven children: Aaron,
who died in 1862; John K.. a resident of
Miami county, Ohio ; Ellen, deceased ; William ;
James D., a resident of Delaware county;
George, a resident o! Albany, this county, and
Sarah E., wife of Amos Wilson, of Henry
county, Ind.
William Abbott was born on the farm in
Warren county, Ohio, and, like all farmer
lads of that time, was early in life inured to
hard labor. While still young he learned the
176
MUNCIE CITY
trade of carpenter, and when there was no
work to be performed on the farm he busied
himself working at his trade. His educational
advantages were very limited, and at the age
of eighteen years he began life for himself, en-
gaging in farming and working at the carpen-
ter trade. For several years he rented land,
but in 1866 he bought eighty acres in Niles
township, this county. At the age of twelve
years he had accompanied his father to Dela-
ware county. After purchasing his farm he
engaged in work upon it for some years, but
in the fall of 1872 he moved into Muncie,
where he conducted a private restaurant and
hotel, which is now known as the Abbott
house and is managed by a Mr. Braun of the
the same place. In 1879 Mr. Abbott retired
from this business, and two years later con-
nected himself with the Citizens' National bank
as director, which position he still holds.
After leaving the hotel Mr. Abbott was ap-
pointed courtroom bailiff, serving as such for
seven years. He has a beautiful home of
eight acres at Riverside, one of the most valu-
able pieces of property in the neighborhood.
June I, 1856, Mr. Abbott was married, in
Delaware county, to Miss Frances M. Adset,
born in Warren county, Ohio, daughter of J.
and Mary Adset. Four children have been
born of this marriage: Josephine, deceased;
Marion; John C, an official in the bank, and
an infant, deceased. Mr. Abbott enlisted in
the service of his country, February 8, 1865,
in company B, One Hundred Forty-seventh
Indiana volunteer infantry, for one year, and
served uutil July i, 1865, at Cumberlan, Md.,
but was not called upon for active duty.
Politically Mr. Abbott affiliates with the
republican party and has served as a justice of
the peace in Niles township for eight years.
Mrs. Abbott is a member of the Methodist
church, and the famil) occupies a position of
the greatest respectibility and prominence.
aHARLES E. ADAMSON has become
well known to all the principal busi-
ness houses throughout the country
as a patent attorney and the owner
and patentee of the "Adamson Process Imita-
tion Typewriting," wnich is much in use in the
large cities for a certain class of printing. Mr.
Adamson was born in Howard county, Ind.,
Aug. 25, 1 86 1, and is a son of Edom Adam-
son, a native of Indiana, whose birth occurred
in the township of Mt. Pleasant, Delaware
county, in the year eighteen hundred and thir-
ty-five. The father of Edom Adamson was
Andrew Jackson Adamson, who is remembered
as one of the pioneers of Delaware county and
a prominent factor in the early developement
of the section in which he resided. When a
young man, Edom Adamson located in How-
ard county, and there married Miss Lydia
Timmons, and engaged in agricultural pur-
suits. Subsequently, in 1872, he removed to
Iowa, where he followed his chosen calling
until 1878, when he returned to Howard coun-
ty, wnere his death occurred in 1884. Edom
Adamson was one of the brave men who left
family and fireside and offered their lives upon
the altar of their country during the dark peri-
od of the great civil war. In 1861 he enlisted in
company A, One Hundred and Thirtieth Indi-
ana volunteer infantry, with which he served
until the cessation of hostilities, and with
which he took part in a number of bloody bat-
tles and campaigns. For many years he was
a prominent member of the Christian church,
and he bore the reputation of a christian gen-
tleman against whose character no breath of
suspicion was known to have been uttered. Of
the five children born to Edom and Lydia
Adamson two daughters and one son are
deceased, and two sons, Charles E. and
Andrew Gilmore, reside in Muncie.
Charles E. Adamson accompanied his par-
ents to Iowa when • nine years of age and
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
177
received his principal education in the schools
of that state. Upon the return of the family
to Howard county, he came to Muncie, and in
the spring of 1883 established his present busi-
ness, that of a general practice in the law per-
taining to patents and the obtaining of patents.
In this department of the legal profession he is
considered an authnrity and very successful,
and such has been the growth of his extensive
business that at this time he requires the
assistance of a large number of clerks in the
Muncie office, and in his branch offices in
\\^ashington and Chicago. Mr. Adamson is a
broad-minded, keen business man, and his suc-
cess for one so young in years has been much
beyond the ordinary. He has been identified
with a number of the leading enterprises of
Muncie, was a charter member of the first
board of trade of the city and one of the first
gas well companies. He also subscribed to the
Citizens' Enterprise company. Fraternally he
belongs to Muncie lodge, I. O. O. F. In 1881
Mr. Adamson and Miss Louisa E. Polk (daugh-
ter of Dr. Robert Polk, an old and respected
citizen of Centre township, Delaware county),
were united in marriage, and one daughter,
Anna Leo, has been born to their union. Re-
ligiously Mr. Adamson subscribes to the Uni-
versalist creed.
>T^ONATHAN P. ADAMSON, deceased,
J was one of the energetic, enterprising
nt J and sagacious merchants of Muncie in
her palmy days. A son of Jonathan
and Ruth (Williams) Adamson, he was born
near Economy, Wayne county, Ind., Decem-
ber 16, 1818, and until forty-five years old
lived on his native farm. He was largely self-
educated, but his acquired knowledge excelled
in its extent that of many who had had more
extended advantages for securing school
advantages. After having passed nearly a half
century in the pursuit of agriculture, he dis-
posed of his eighty acre farm in Wayne coun-
ty, and about May i, 1865, or three weeks
after the surrender of Gen. R. E. Lee, at
Appomattox C. H., \'a. (April 9, 1865), Mr.
Adamson came to Muncie, Delaware county,
Ind., and engaged in mercantile trade, going,
first, into the grocery business, having for his
partner his nephew, B. R. Adamson; he then
changed to the dry goods trade, with Mr.
Hammer for his partner; later he resumed the
traffic in groceries, with James N. Cropper as
partner, and still later with Riley Jones, with
whom he remained associated until within two
weeks of his death, June 17, 1890, when he
sold out. He met with great success as a
merchant, especially with farmers, as he was
genial and sociable, and well posted in farm-
ing topics, as was quite natural, from his long
personal experience in agriculture. He was
of a religious turn of mind, but it was not
until 1862 that he was baptized. In that year
he united with the church in Jacksonburg,
Wayne county, and on coming to Muncie, he
and wife became prime movers in organizing
the First Christian church, in which he at once
became an elder and faithfully filled the posi-
tion until the end. In politics he was a pro-
nounced partisan but never an office seeker,
yet for nine years, as a matter of duty to his
fellow citizens, he filled the office of justice of
the peace in Wayne county. He was first a
free soiler, then a republican, and was lastly
an ardent prohibitionist.
November 22, 1838, Mr. Adamson was
most happily united in marriage to his now
venerable life companion, Emily Macy, daugh-
ter of Reuben and Lucinda (Petty) Macy.
This lady is also a native of Wayne county,
Ind., and was born in 1822. There were no
children born to their union, but they reared
to useful maturity two girls and one boy, viz:
Lucinda Hammer (a niece of Mrs. Adamson),
178
MUNCIE CITY
now the wife of Thomas McCulloch, a farmer
of Delaware county; John Adamson, a nephew,
who fell in the defense of the Union, and last-
ly, they adopted Nettie Adamson, at the age
of three years, whom they educated in the best
institutions of learning in the city, and who
was married to William Fadely, of Muncie.
Mr. and Mrs. Adamson, up to the time of his
demise, had been companions over fifty-two
years, and November 22, 1888, celebrated the
golden anniversary of their wedding. " G. W.
T. ," writing at Union City on the melancholy
occasion of the death of Mr. Adamson, for
publication in one of the daily journals, makes,
among others, the following appropriate re-
marks:
' ' Jonathan P. Adamson was born and raised
in "Wayne county, Ind. In 1861 he heard the
writer of this preach the primitive gosple, the
first among our people he ever heard. After
this he heard others of our preachers. 1862
he was baptized on a profession of faith in the
Christ, and to the day of his death he lived a
faithful christian. He died on June 17, 1890,
at the age of seventy-one years, six month and
one day. I had been intimately acquainted
with him for twenty-nine years. In the year
1865 he removed to Muncie, Delaware county,
Ind., and became closely allied to the cause
there, and through his personal efforts, as
much, or more than any other, was due the
planting of our cause in that city. He was an
officer in the church in Muncie from its organ-
ization till his death. He was an upright
citizen; as a business man, energetic and ap-
preciated by all; outspoken on all leading
questions, favoring what he conceived to be
right and against the wrong. The only
question with him was: Is it right.' If so, he
did it. He had been afflicted for a number of
years with catarrhal trouble, and was confined
to his room about five months. The writer
talked with him often about the future. He
was willing and ready to depart and be with
Christ. He was one of the noble men of earth,
a known quantity. His word was as good as
his bond. He never betrayed a friend or
truckled to any schemes. I think he would
have died rather than consent to a wrong.
He was one who enlisted during the war, and
he was always on duty, never having a fur-
lough. May our kind father raise up some
one to take his place in the church. The
writer spoke to a large concourse of friends
and neighbors, who had gathered to pay a
tribute of respect to him, from Rev. xlv 13,
after which at the close of a beautiful day, as
the sun was low in the west, we laid him in
the beautiful cemetery at Muncie, to rest until
Jesus shall call him to his final reward. For
his faithful companion who walked side by
side with him in all his efforts to do good for
nearly fifty-two years, we pray the consola-
tions of the gospel of the grace of God.
'Rest, brother, rest, till Jesus calls, and we
shall meet again.'" G. W. T.
a APT. EDWIN C. ANTHONY, the
son of one of Muncie's greatest bene-
factors as well as one of her earliest
settlers, was born at Cincinnati, Ohio,
May 29, 1818. In order to fully show his in-
timate relationship with the growth of Muncie,
it is necessary to revert somewhat liberally to
the career of his father, Dr. Samuel P. An-
thony, who was born December 2, 1792, in
Lynchburg,, Va., and at the age of twenty
years, removed with his father to Ohio. Dur-
ing the war of 1 81 2, he served as a teamster
in the United States army, and after the close
of the war (in 18 14), went to Cincinnati,
Ohio, where he and his father started the first
tobacco manufacturing establishment west of
the Alleghany mountains, and conducted a
DR. S. P. ANTHONY.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
181
very successful tobacco and general merchan-
dise trade for several years. While at Cin-
cinnati he studied medicine, and after com-
pleting his medical education, removed to
Clinton county, Ohio, where he was engaged
for three years in the practice of his profession.
At the end of that time he removed to Cedar-
ville, in that state, where he was engaged in
the practice for an equal length of time. He
then located at Muncie, Ind. , in 1831,- where
he spent the residue of his life, practising med-
icine and selling merchandise. He invested
largely in real estate, purchasing thousands of
acres in this and adjoining counties, and, by
close attention to business, amassed a large
fortune, which, at the time of his death, was
variously estimated at from $250,000 to $500,-
000. He opened a general merchandise store
at Muncie, shortly after his arrival here, and
for more that forty years was identified with
that branch of the public interests of the
town. He practised medicine for more than
twentj'-iive years, and, during that time, es-
tablished a fine reputation as a successful
physician. He was active in all public enter-
prises which seemed to him calculated to pro-
mote the interests of this city, and county.
When the Belle fontaine & Indianapolis rail-
road was advocated, he at once enlisted to
help the project along, by taking stock to the
amount of several thousand dollars, and per-
sonally soliciting subscriptions to the road.
He served as one of the directors of this road,
and, later, was elected president, in which
capacity he served about a year. He then re-
signed and was succeeded by Hon. John
Brough, of Ohio, and again became director.
He was president of the Fort Wayne & South-
ern railway, and a director of the Lafayette,
Muncie & Bloomington railway.
He was active in the affairs of Muncie to
the very last, and even on the day preceding
his death, he transacted his business as usual,
and at evening, repaired to the residence of
his son, with whom he was living. He felt no
premonitions of what was to come until late
in the night, when he was seized with violent
pains, which culminated in paralysis, and, at
I o'clock on Saturday morning, July 22, 1876,
he died. He was twice married — first in 181 7,
to Miss Narcissa Haines, who died in May,
1858, leaving one son — Edwin C. ; In 1859
he married Miss Emily V. \'annaman, who
now resides in Muncie.
Capt. Edwin C. Anthony, the son of Dr.
Samuel P. and Narcissa (Haines) Anthony,
attained distinguishment equal to that of his
father, but chiefly as a merchant and a pro-
moter of the interests of Muncie. After hav-
ing been fully educated at Richmond, Ind., he
entered the store of his father at Muncie, and
then became his partner and so continued
until the war of the rebellion burst forth.
Then Edwin C. Anthony valiantly went to the
front, raising a company of cavalry that was
assigned to the army or the Cumberland, and
of which he was commissioned captain. In
the winter of 1861-62 he had an arm broken,
his health altogether ruined and he was com-
pelled to resign his commission and returned to
Muncie, where, after he recovered his health, he
entered the dry goods business in which he
continued until his father's death, when he.
somewhat exhausted, sought relief by passing
the winters for nearly ten years at the south.
In Florida, during these ten closing years of
his life, he became greatly interested in land
on which were developed phosphate mines,
tjiat were discovered in Marion county, that
state, in 1889. This interest, the care of his
realty and care of his live stock at "Six Miles,"
where he had extensive live stock farms, occu-
pied his attention during the last decade of his
life, which ended at his farm in Florida, known
as Anthony, June 7, 1884, at the age of sixty-
MUNCIE CITY
The marriage of Capt. Anthony took place
on the 30th day of September, 1849, to Miss
Rebecca G. Vannaman, daughter of Joseph
and EHzabeth (Campbell) Vannaman, at that
time residents of Centerville, Wayne county,
Ind. The parents were from Philadelphia,
but Mrs. Anthony was born in Ohio, during a
temporary stay of the parents in that state on
their journey to Indiana. To the marriage of
Capt. Edwin C. and Rebecca G. Anthony were
born six children, viz: Florence Virginia, wife
of Henderson Swain, fruit grower of Anthony,
Fla. ; Samuel P. , who is still interested in the
management of the immense phosphat indus-
try established at Ocala, Fla. ; Edwin C. , Jr. ,
who died at the age of twenty-eight; Ella,
who was the wife of George Gamble, of Mtln-
cie, but who died at the early age of twenty-
five years; Charles H., whose sketch is given
more in detail in close connection with this,
and Addie Anthony, the deceased wife of
Frank Robinson. Mrs. Rebecca G. Anthony
still lives on the old homestead, in Muncie, an
honored and respected lady, whose many acts
of charity, indeed, command the respect
bestowed upon her. To her, the sight of suf-
fering on the part of others is something not
to be borne, and her willing heart and ready
purse in some way find a means of affording
instant relief. Quick in her response to every
cry of distress or every call of charity, she has
won the gratitude of hundreds of hearts in
Muncie, and will hold it until the uttermost
end.
aHARLES H. ANTHONY, real estate
dealer and capitalist of Muncie, Ind.,
is a son of E. C. and Rebecca G.
Anthony, of whom mention is made
elsewhere, and was born in Muncie May 10,
1858. Muncie, also, gave his earlier education,
which was supplemented with a two years'
course at the Chester (Pa.) Military college.
In 1877, having become interested in business
with his father, he visited Florida and made
investments in lands, and in 1880 planted a
sixty-acre orange grove, which he brought to
full fruition and five years later sold to an
English syndicate. His land investments in
Florida were greatly increased, and he now
owns a large number of acres, containing beds
or the -most valuable phosphates, which he
mines and ships for fertilizers to European
markets for use on impoverished soils. But
his active mind is not content alone with the
handling of real estate in Florida. The in-
dustrial interests of Muncie and development
also claim much of his attention. He is presi-
dent of the Economy Co-operative Gas com-
pany, of which he was the principal organizer,
and a member of the Citizens' Enterprise com-
pany, is likewise a stockholder in the Delaware
county National bank, and his handling of
real estate in the city, as dealer and agent, is
something immense. In 1880 he and his
mother sold in the city and environs over 420
acres of- land, now known as the Muncie
Land company's Addition, the Gray Addi-
tion, and the Anthony Park Addition.
In 1887, Mr. Anthony erected the superb
building known as the Anthony block on the
northwest corner of Walnut and Jackson
streets, which has not its equal in the state.
The development of natural gas has always
been a matter of peculiar interest to him, in-
asmuch as in that great product he foresaw a
source of wealth unequaled by any other than
his native city. He was among the first to
become financially interested in drilling in the
Muncie field, and has not yet relinquished the
concern he has felt in this great factor of
Muncie's prosperity. In 1884 he became a
partner in the extensive real estate firm of
Heath, Lenon & Anthony, so well known in
the city and throughout the county.
EDWIN C. ANTHONY.
REBECCA G. ANTHONY.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
187
Fraternally he is a member of Delaware
lodge. No. 46, F. & A. M., and the Muncie
commandery and chapter, and also of the B.
P. O. E., and the I. O. R. M. In politics he
is a republican. His marriage took place
February 10, 1887, to Miss Harriet B.
Mitchell, daughter of Dr. Harvey Mitchell, and
this union has been blessed with tlie birth of
one child, Harvey M. Anthony, now four years
old.
^y^AVID R. ARMITAGE, M. D., was
I I for many years a distinguished phj-
^^^_^ sician and surgeon of Muncie and.
occupied the front rank among the
successful medical men of central Indiana. Dr.
Armitage was born near Portsmouth, Ohio,
October 22, 1831. When he was eight years
of age his parents and grandparents removed
to the wilds of Delaware county, Ind., and
settled the farm about three miles southwest
of the city of Muncie, on what is now the Mid-
dletown turnpike, where the grandparents, the
doctor's father and mother, and lastly the doc-
tor himself, resided until their respective
deaths. Mr. Armitage availed himself of the
best education possible as he grew to manhood,
and for several years was engaged in teaching,
in which profession he acquired an enviable
reputation. He early evinced a decided pref-
erence for the medical profession, and, after
the death of his first wife, began to study the
same in the office of Dr. Samuel V. Jump, at
New Burlington, Ind., under the able instruc-
tion of whom he made rapid and commendable
progress. He completed his professional edu-
cation by a thorough course in the Michigan
university, Ann Arbor, and also the Ohio
Medical college, of Cincinnati, graduating from
both of these well known institutions, after
which he began the practice of his chosen call-
ing at Chesterfield, Ind. , where his ability won
for him much more than a local reputation.
While at Chesterfield he became acquainted
with Miss Clara E. Sharpe, a very estimable
lady, who subsecjuently became his wife. Miss
Sharpe was born in South Salem, Ross county,
Ohio. April 27, 1840, and is a daughter of
Robert and Ann (Davis) Sharpe, natives of
Ohio, who moved from Ross and Union
counties, Ohio, in 1851. In the latter county
Robert Sharpe served as sheriff four years, but
in 1883 moved to Kansas, where he died in
June, 1892, his wife, however, having pre-
ceded him to the grave in Union county. Ohio,
in 1863. They were the parents of four rhil-
dren, viz: Matilda ; William, killed in tiie
army; Russell, of Middletown, Ind., and
Clara B., wife of Dr. Armitage. The parents
of these were devout members of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church, of which the father had
been appointed a class leader by Adam Poe,
an essential factor in that religious body.
To the union of Dr. Armitage and Miss Sharpe
was born one child, Nellie M., February 7,
1869, now the wife of Charles B. Fudge, to
whom she was married June 14, 1892, Mr.
Fudge is a son of John S. Fudge (whose sketch
appears elsewhere in the volume), and was
born in Xenia, Ohio, September 24, 1863.
He was educated in the common schools and
remained at home until twenty years of age,
when he engaged as a clerk in a clothing store
at Albany, Ind., where he remained two years,
! and then came to Muncie, and entered the
j employ of Bliss & Keller, clothiers, etc., and
! is now their genial and obliging foreman. To
Mr. and Mrs. Fudge has been born one child
—Mildred Marie— May 10, 1893. Mr. Fudge
is in politics a republican. Fraternally, he is
an Odd Fellow, and a member of Muncie
lodge. No. 74, and of Canton Muncie, No. 4,
Patriarchs Militant.
After his marriage. Dr. Armitage moved to
his farm southwest of Muncie, where, during
the many years that remained of his life, he
MUNCIE CITY
devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits
in connection with the practice of his profes-
sion. As a physician, Dr. Armitage was suc-
cessful in all the term implies, and no man in
the community, where he was raised and
lived so long, enjoyed a greater degree of
popularity of the people. He was indeed the
friend of the common people, and to him it
seemed a special pleasure to relieve the suffer-
ings of the aged with whom he had been asso-
ciated from his early boyhood, He was a
public-spirited man, and took an active and
prominent part in all enterprises having for
their object the moral and material welfare of
the community and county. In religion he
was an earnest member of the Methodist
church, and, as such, did much to the growth
of that denomination in Delaware and other
counties. He was also member of Delaware
lodge, No. 146, Free and Accepted Masons,
and of Muncie Commandary, No. 18, Knights
Templar and was a chartered member of Rich-
woods lodge. No. 499, Knights of Honor. In
a business sense, the doctor exercised prudence
and forethought, and during his life accumlat-
ed a comfortable competence for his wife and
daughter, both of whom live in Muncie at this
time. He died suddenly at his home August
21, 1 89 1, at the age of sixty years, and left,
as his choicest legacy to his family, a name
against which no breath of suspicion was ever
known to have been uttered. He was
mourned by all who knew him, and in his
death Delaware county lost one .of its most
successful physicians and high minded philan-
thropic citizens.
HGAGE ARRASMITH, the leading
photographer of Muncie, Ind., was
born near Eaton, Preble county,
Ohio, February 17, 1859, son of R
B. and M. J. (Lewis) Arrasmith, the former a
native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky,
who were married in Putnam county, Ind , in
1848, and moved to Preble county, Ohio, in
the same year. In i860 Mr. Arrasmith, Sr. ,
changed his residence to Miami county, Ind.,
where he engaged in farming until 1880
Since 1880 he has led a retired life, engaging
a tenant to work his farm. Mr. and Mrs.
Arrasmith, Sr. , were Universalists in religious
convictions and in this belief Mrs. Arrasmith
died July 21, 1886, her remains being laid to
rest in Miami county, Ind. They were the
parents of seven children, as follows: Emma
L. , wife of John Parks, Peru, Ind. ; Willie and
Alonzo, deceased; Horace F. , of White county,
Ind. ; Mary, wife of C. Strode, of Miami
county, Ind. ; A. Gage and L Josephine, wife
of S. A. Holt, of London, Ohio.
A. G. Arrasmith was reared on the home
farm and when but eighteen years of age en-
gaged, as an apprentice for two years, with
J. Wharton of Wabash, Ind., in a photograph
gallery. For the three following years he
studied as a portrait artist and became
thoroughly competent to undertake all classes
of fine art work. Until 1886 he led a roving
life, traveling through many states, mostly en-
gaged in the practice of his chosen profession.
Finally, deciding to locate, he selected Muncie
as his place of residence, and purchased the
gallery he is now in, and equipments, and has
since been recognized as the leading photog-
rapher of Delaware county, Ind. Mr. Arra-
smith's success has been very marked and is
due to the excellent quality of the work and
to his faithfulness in the smallest detail. He
began with very limited capital, but by his
energ}', the excellence of his work and his
courteous manner, has placed his studio in the
front rank and has made it popular with all
classes.
February i, 1888, Mr. Arrasmith married
Miss Ida M. Miller, of Hartford City, Ind.,
DAVID R. ARMITAGE, M. D.
MRS. CLARA E. ARMITAGE.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
who was born April ii, 1862, a dauf:;hter of
Samuel and Marj^aret (Bruc) Milltr. One
child has been born to this union, a son,
Glenn. Politicallj- Mr. Arrasmith is a repub-
lican, and socially he is connected with I. O.
O. F. lodge No. 74, and also of the Twa Twa
tribe of Red Men.
BENRY B. ATHEY was born in Hard.v
count}-, a part of what is now the
county of Grant, in the state of \'ir-
ginia, on the 27th day of September,
1853. His father, Daniel Lewis Athey, was a
native of New York, but early accompanied
his parents to Virginia, and from early boy-
hood was engaged in driving cattle to the
eastern markets, principally to Philadelphia
and New York city, before the days of rail-
roads. He married Lavina C. R. Smith,
daughter of Henry Smith, Esq., of Virginia,
and became the father of eleven children, six
girls and five boys, nine of whom are living at
this time, Henry B. being the eldest son. Mr.
and Mrs. Athey left Virginia in 1855, emigrat-
ing to Illinois and settling in the county of
Piatt when that part of the state was almost
wholly unimproved. Mr. Athey is now living
in Farmer City, Dewitt county. 111., practical-
ly retired from active life. He has followed
agriculture, in which he has met with reason-
able success, is independent in his political
views, and' for a number of years has been an
active member of the Methodist church. He
is essentially a self-made man, his sole capital
on reaching his new home in the west amount-
ing to but $5, from which insignificant begin-
ning he succeeded, by his unaided efforts, in
acquiring a comfortable competence.
At the age of two years, Henry B. Athey
was taken by his parents to Illinois, in which
state he grew to manhood on a farm, and early
became accustomed to the hard work incident
to that useful occupation. His early educa-
tional training, owing to circumstances over
which he had no control, was sadly neglected,
and his attendance at school was limited to
about eighteen months, divided among several
years. His first school experience was in a
little frame smokehouse upon his father's farm,
and the teacher, b\' no means a classical
scholar, received his pay by the subscriptions
of his patrons. Possessing an inquiring mind,
Mr. Athey was not content to remain in igno-
rance of books, and by wide reading and self-
culture, together with a practical education
acquired from contact with business men in
various capacities, he has since become a well
informed man.
At the age of twenty he left the parental
roof and began life for himself as a farm labor-
er, and later found employment in a lumber
yard, in which he subsequently purchased an
interest. He continued in the lumber business
for a period of seven years, selling out at the
end of that time and accepting a position as
traveling salesman for the Champion Machine
company, of Springfield, Ohio, in which ca-
pacity he continued until 1889. While trav-
eling for this firm, Mr Athey in June, 1883,
located in Muncie and for some time thereafter
kept books for R. H. Mong. Subsequently he
became manager of the Muncie Foundry and
Machine company, in which he now owns a
one-fifth interest, but he still looks after the
business of the establishment, which owes
much of its present success to his careful fore-
sight.
March 27, 1878, Mr. Athey was married to
Miss Ella L. Green, daughter of George W.
and Nancy (Fleming) Green, who has borne
him one child, a daughter, Georgia G. Athey,
born December 24, 1879. Mrs. Athey was
born September 24, 1854 on W'alnut street
this cit\-. In politics Mr. Athey is a democrat.
194
MUNCIE CITY
and as such wields an influence for his party
in Muncie and Delaware county. He served
in the village council of Mansfield, 111., for four
years ; acted as treasurer or tax collector for
some time in the county of Piatt, that state,
and for one year served as village clerk and
afterward as trustee for the village of Mans-
field. Air. Athey is not identified with any
church or religious order — being quite liberal
in his views concerning all movements having
for their object the welfare of his fellow-men.
He is progressive, takes an^ active interest in
the material developement of Muncie, and is
deserving of mention with its representative
citizens.
OLIVER E. BALDWIN, one of the
leading grocers of Muncie, is a native
of Wayne county, Ind., and dates his
birth from the 30th day of September,
1830. His father, Elias Baldwin, a North
Carolinian, was brought to Indiana when a
mere child, and in early manhood worked at
the tanner's trade in Wayne county, later en-
gaging in agricultural pursuits, which he con-
tinued to follow until his death, in January,
1892. Financially, Elias Baldwin was more
than ordinarily successful, and he was fortunate
in accumulating a comfortable portion of this
world's goods. He was a member of the So-
ciety of Friends, a republican in his political
affiliations, and in every relation of life proved
himself to be a high minded, an honorable man,
and a true type of the courteous christian gen-
tleman. His wife, whose maiden name was
Lydia Hough, was a daughter of William
Hough, a prominent citizen of Wayne county,
and she became the mother of six children,
namely: Ella, Emma, Alice, Oliver E.,
Charles and Mary, all living but the first
named, who died in 1890.
Oliver E. Baldwin remained under the
parental roof until his eighteenth year, assist-
ing his father on the farm and attending the
country schools at intervals in the meantime.
His first practical experience in life was as a
clerk in a drug store at Fountain City, where
he remained two years, at the end of which
time he accepted a position as salesman in a
grocery house at the same place, continuing in
the later capacity for a period of about eight-
een months. In 1884 he came to Muncie and
accepted a position in the wholesale grocery
house of Jos. A. Goddard, in whose employ
he continued until the latter part of 1887,
from which date until 18S9 he was similarly
employed with James N. Cropper, one of the
leading grocery dealers of Muncie. In the
latter year, Mr. Baldwin purchased an interest
in the grocery house of A. B. Phillips on Main
street, and the firm of Phillips & Baldwin con-
tinued until 1 89 1, when Mr. Baldwin became
sole proprietor. He has since conducted the
business with success and financial profit, his
patronage having constantly increased until,
at this time, he is recognized as one of the
leading dealers in general groceries in the city.
Mr. Baldwin possesses superior business quali-
fications and by judicious management has
built up a large and remunerative trade. He
has accumulated a competence of worldly ef-
fects, enjoys the prosperity acquired by years
of industry, and occupies a deservedly con-
spicuous place among the successful commer-
cial men of Delaware county. Socially he is
very popular, and fraternally he is prominent-
ly identified with the Improved Order of Red
Men, belonging to Muncie tribe. No. 144.
A republican in politics, he has never been an
office seeker. He is a birth right member of
the Society of Friends, and his daily life and
conversation are practical exemplifications of
the pure precepts of that simple but sublime
faith.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
195
Mr. Baldwin was married in the year 1882
to Miss Sadie E. Lister, daughter of John and
Judith Lister, of Randolph county, to which
union two children, Earl L. and Clarence W. ,
have been born, both living. Mrs. Baldwin is
a respected member of the same religious or-
der to which her husband belongs.
5>^ETERH. D. BANDEY, late promi-
W W nent manufacturer of Muncie, was
£ born in Westminster, London, Eng-
land, on the 27th of February, 1837.
He came to the United States at the age of
eighteen years, and settled in Iowa, where a
brother who had preceded him resided ; later,
he located at Indianapolis, where he remained
for a limited period, and about the year 1858
came to Muncie, Ind., where for some time he
was employed as a laborer in a saw mill. Sub-
sequently, he purchased an interest in the
mill, which, under the firm name of Matthews,
Ryan & Bandey, did a very successful business
for some time, the name afterwards changing
to Matthews & Bandey. Eventually, Mr.
Bandey became sole proprietor of the mill,
which, under his efficient management, con-
tinued to do an increasing business until it be-
came necessary to enlarge its capacity in order
to meet the demands of trade ; accordingly,
new and improved appliances were added
from time to time, including a full set of
machinery for planing lumber, and the estab-
lishment soon became one of the leading
manufacturing enterprises of Muncie. Under
the name of The Bandey Planing mill it was
operated with the most gratifying success until
Mr. Bandey's death, since which time it has
been under the able management of T. J.
Zook with Miss Maud Bandey as assistant,
and is still one of the firmly established and
financially successful manufacturing establish-
ments of Delaware county.
Mr. Bandey took an active interest in the
material prosperity of the city of his adoption,
and as a business man he was straightforward,
upright and honorable ; as a citizen, he was
highly regarded in business and social circles,
and he enjoyed the respect and confidence of
the community in an eminent degree. He
never desired nor sought for political honor or
office, although he filled several positions of
trust and responsibility with the most com-
mendable fidelity. In early life he was not
favored with any peculiar advantages and his
success was entirely due to the indomitable
will and energy which he displayed in all his
undertakings. In 1868 Mr. Bandey was mar-
ried in Muncie to Miss Mary E. Zook of
Philadelphia, Pa., daughter of John A. and
Anna M. Zook, who moved west when Mrs.
Bandey was a mere child. To Mr. and Mrs.
Bandey were born five children, two of whom,
Maud and Charline, are living at this time.
For his standing as a representative business
man as well as for his strict integrity and
nobility of character Mr. Bandey was held in
the highest esteem by the people of Muncie,
and his death, which occurred on the 21st day
of April, 1882, was universallj regretted by
all classes. Of his character and standing in
the community, the subjoined e.xtracts from
the press of Muncie upon the occasion of his
demise furnish a good and correct expression,
as they do also of his life and career while a
resident of this city.
"Mr. Bandey was a zealous member of the
Masonic order for many years and was an of-
ficer in the Masonic council at the time of his
death. He united with the Universalist
church in 1870 and was a faithful attendant
at the services at the church until disease pre-
vented further attendance. Several times
was Mr. Bandey elected to represent his ward
in the council, and that he tilled the office
conscientiousl)- and well is a fact well known
196
MUNCIE CITY
to all who are acquainted with his history.
In business he was comparatively successful,
and leaves property sufficient to keep his fam-
ily in comfortable circumstances if properly
managed. As a mechanic Mr. Bandey was
without a superior in his line, and he leaves
numerous monuments to attest his architectur-
al skill in many of the fine buildings that had
been erected under his supervision in this city
and county during the quarter of a century
that he was a resident among us. Mr. Ban-
dey, like all other men, had his faults, but
they were few. He was a man of firm con-
victions and did not hesitate to express his
opinions whenever the occasion required. He
was a man of principle, and honesty was one
of the component parts of his composition.
He never made a promise that he thought he
could not fulfill. His word he considered as
good as his obligation. It has been said that
'when a good man dies the people mourn.'
In the death of Mr. Bandey we have lost a
good man, an honest and upright and a patri-
otic citizen and we mourn his loss as such."
Mrs. Bandey, a lady of many noble quali-
ties of mind and heart and a true helpmeet to
her husband through his many struggles and
successes, departed this life on the iith day
of January, 1892, aged forty-five years. As
already stated the elder daughter, Maud Ban-
dey, is assistant manager of the planing mill,
and in the discharge of the duties of that posi-
tion she displays business qualifications of a
very high order.
'^-t'AMES M. BARNES was born in Mun-
M cie, October 25, 1855, a son of William
/• 1 and Eveline (Wachtell) Barnes, who
became citizens of Delaware county in
1837. Wm. Barnes was, by occupation, a
cabinet maker and carpenter and followed this
trade all of his life, until his death, July 17,
1890. He was considered the finest mechanic
in Muncie, he being the last of his family.
His widow still makes her home in this city.
Both were members of the Presbyterian
church. Politically he was a .democrat, a man
of strict views and always ready to uphold his
church or party. Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Barnes
were the parents of seven children, as follows:
Millie J. , Calista A. , Ella, James M. , John W. ,
Bertha and Bessie.
James M. Barnes received a good educa-
tion, and, at the age of twenty-one, began to
learn the trade of photographer, entering a
gallery first in Muncie, and then working at
various places, learning all of the newest and
most approved methods, until 1890, at which
time he permanently located in this city at his
present stand, and has since that time carried
on a very successful business. He has dis-
played much talent in his line, turning out
some very superior and satisfactory work and
bids fair to become known in a much larger
territory, in the near future. Mr. Barnes has
the manner of a successful business man, being
courteous and pleasant to all, thus making his
gallery a desirable one in every way. Frater-
nally Mr. Barnes has connected himself with
the order of Knights of Pythias, uniform rank,
in which he is an active and interested mem-
ber. Mr. Barnes was married May 3, 1893,
in Muncie, to Mattie E. Suber, born October
25, i860, in Delaware county, daughter of
Robert P. and Hanna Suber, also natives of
this county.
^y'^ERRY N. BARR, the eminent horse-
1 m man of Muncie, Ind., was born at
J Wheeling, Delaware county, Ind.,
October 29, 1857, and is a son of
Arnold and Emily (Heath) Barr. The father
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
197
died when Perry was but six years of age, and
when seven years old his mother moved to
Muncie with her three children. Here Perry
attended school until twelve, when he lost his
mother also, and was thus left to shift for
himself in the wide world. For about five
years he worked in a grocery, and at the age
of seventeen went to learn the carriage trim-
ming business with Cook & Kinsley, remain-
ing with them two years, when he went to
Bellefontaine, Ohio, where he completed his
apprenticeship. He worked, next, as a jour-
neyman in Marion, Urbana and Springfield,
Ohio, and then started on his travels, which
carried him through nine states. Eventually
settling at Bucjrus, Ohio, he bought a half
interest in a carriage shop, which interest he
sold out two years later, returned to Muncie,
and worked at his trade for some years, mak-
ing large wages by turning out a larger amount
of work than the average. In 1882 Mr. Barr
married Miss Flora T. Sears, of Muncie. Mr.
Barr is a K. of P. and a member of the I. O.
R. M., in which latter he has passed all the
chairs, and is also a member and trustee of
the grand lodge of Indiana. He is also local
agent for the Farmers' and Stock Breeders'
Live Stock Insurance company, and is the
owner of the filly Blondie G., by Bonnie
Doon, dam Blue Bull. Mr. Barr became first
identified with the horse interests of Indiana
by the purchase of the bay mare Cuba, as an
undeveloped four year old. She won her
maiden race in the Delaware county trot of
1888, and in 1890 faced the starter in twenty-
one races, of which she won first money sev-
enteen times and a place in every race, going
into winter quarters with a record of 2:29^.
The rare speed and endurance of the gallant
little mare enlisted Mr. Barr's interest in and
resulted in the purchase of her stoutly bred
and excellent sire, Bonnie Doon, 5322, in
1890. He is perhaps the best living son of
the great Blue Bull, 75, his maternal lines
tracing direct to Sweet's Mambrino, Alexan-
der's Abdallah, and a thoroughbred founda-
tion. Bonnie Doon's roll of honor includes
Cuba, 2:25.\, Maud M., 2:30, and a number
of other young csndidates for 2:30 records.
The progeny of Bonnie Doon make typical
carriage and buggy horses, and will contribute
their full share to the improvement of the
horse stock of the country. Mr. Barr has
fitted up convenient and healthful breeding
stables on West Main street, which also con-
tain the black stallion Abdallah King (grand-
son of Abdallah, 15, sire of Goldsmith Maid,
2:14), and other well bred stock. Mr. Barr is
an intelligent horseman, and is active as a
promoter of the country's live stock interests,
whose stables have already taken a foremost
position among the best in the county. In
politics, Mr. Barr is a stanch democrat.
kJ^ ARRINGTON BEHYMEK, the gen-
\c^ tleman for whom this biography is
J^^J written, is a well known resident of
Delaware county, Ind., an ex-soldier
and one of her most esteemed citizens. Mr.
Behymer was born in Clermont county, Ohio
January 10, 1833, a son of John and Nancy
(Leach) Behymer. The former, born in the
state of Virginia in 1803, is consequently now
ninety years of age, but still retains his facul-
ties in a remarkable degree, and has led a
good, benevolent life, residing at present in
Clermont county, Ohio, where he married in
1830. He saw the full growth of the county
and all of his active life was spent in farming
or in following the carpenter trade until 1875,
at which time he retired from business. Eight
of his family of thirteen children are yet living
and are heads of families themselves. He is
198
MUNCIE CITY
a republican in politics and still takes great
interest in the progress of public affairs.
Barrington Behymer was reared on the old
home farm, where he remained until twenty-
five years of age, and enjoyed excellent edu-
cational advantages, attending first the com-
mon schools, and later spent two terms at
what is known as the Farmers college near
Cincinnati, Ohio. At the age of twenty years
he began teaching school, and, with the ex-
ception of three years spent in the army, ■ re-
mained in the educational field until 1865,
teaching in all about twenty terms. On the
lOth day of September, 1861, he enlisted in
company A, Fifth Ohio cavalry, and served in
Gen. Grant's division in Tennessee, Mississippi
and Alabama, and in March, 1862, for gallant
and meritorious conduct was promoted batta-
lion sergeant major. One year later this rank
was abolished by act of congress, after which
Mr. Behymer was made regimental sergeant
major, in which capacity he served until March
10, 1864, when he was promoted second lieu-
tenant of compan}' L, Fifth Ohio cavalry. He
continued in the latter capacity until honor-
ably discharged from the service October 27,
1864, at which time he resumed the arts of
peace at his home in Ohio. During his period
of service Mr. Behymer took part in the bat-
tles of Shiloh, where he was engaged two days;
Big Hatchet, Cold Water, Mission Ridge,
Lookout Mountain, and various other fights
and skirmishes.
In 1865 Mr. Behymer moved to Jennings
county, Ind., and served as deputy circuit
court clerk there for a period of three years, at
the end of which time he returned to Ohio and
engaged in teaching school during the winter
of 1869-70. He embarked in the mercantile
business in the spring of 1872, which he fol-
lowed during the years of 1872 and 1873, and
in 1875 resumed teaching, which profession he
followed successfully during the succeeding
three years. In 1888 he once again engaged
in the goods business in the county of Cler-
mont, Ohio, where he remained until the
spring of 1884, when he removed to the town
of Mason, in the same state, thence after a
short time returned and purchased the same
property he had sold in Clermont county, and
from the fall of 1884 to the spring of 1887 was
engaged in the goods business, with a miscel-
laneous assortment of merchandise. In the
spring of 1888 he removed to Indiana, locating
in the city of Muncie, where, the following
year, he was appointed justice of the peace, in
which capacity he has since served, having
been re-elected in 1890. He was also admit-
ted to the bar as an attorney at law, and in
addition to his official duties gives considerable
attention to the legal profession. Mr. Behy-
mer was married in his native county, April 7,
1866, to Miss Lizzie McDonnald, also a native
of Clermont county, born on the iith day of
December, 1848, the daughter of David and
Ann (Wheeler) McDonnald, parents of Scotch
and English ancestry respectively. Three chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Behy-
mer— the first an infant named Pearl, who died
at the age of three weeks ; the others, Anna,
who is still with her parents, and Arthur L. ,
an error clerk in the railway mail service at
Cincinnati. In his political affiliations Mr.
Behymer is a stanch supporter of the republi-
can party, and he is one of the prominent
members of the G. A. R. of Muncie. He is a
man of much more than ordinary intelligence,
has been a wide reader and close observer and
has decided views upon all the leading ques-
tions of the day, which he has no hesitancy in
expressing. He is widely and favorably known
in the city of his residence and possesses in an
eminent degree the esteem and confidence of
his many friends and neighbors. He has ac-
quired an enviable reputation as an attorney,
and gained a lucrative practice.
C. L. BENDER.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
199
aHARLES L. BENDER, formerly the
senior partner in the great clothing
firm of Bender & Shoemaker, pro-
prietors of the Globe clothing house
of Muncie, but now the sole successor to the
business, is a native of Yorktown, Mount
Pleasant township, Delaware county, Ind. ,
and was born September 27, 1855. His
father, John Bender, was born in Strassburg,
Germany, and in 1850 came to the United
States, locating in Philadelphia. He was then
a young man, and while in the city of Broth-
erly Love learned shoemaking. In 1852 he
came to Indiana and took up his residence in
Hagerstown, Wayne county, and in the same
year married Miss Gertrude Simon. From
Hagerstown he moved to Yorktown, where he
resided four years, and then moved to Salem
township, where he worked for a year in a
tannery, and then moved to Daleville, where
he now has his residence, and is still engaged
in tanning. His marriage with Miss Simon
was blessed by the birth of four sons and five
daughters, named as follows: John, drowned
at the age of four, at Yorktown; Charles L. ,
whose name opens this sketch; Rosetfa A.,
now Mrs. Charles Smock; Mary E., wife of
S. J. Simmons, of Muncie; William H., de-
ceased; Edward P., salesman; Augusta, Allie,
deceased, and Nellie.
Charles L. Bender engaged in the affairs of
life for himself at the early age of twelve, go-
ing to Chesterfield, Madison county, Ind.,
where he learned carriage painting, and gained
his early schooling. He then carried on the
business awhile on his own account, next
clerked in a general store at Daleville, next
was employed in frescoing, worked awhile at
Indianapolis, then returned to Daleville, where
he went into business for himself again for a
season, and then went into the dry goods
store of J. B. Garrett, as clerk, and next
took the management of the dry goods
and grocery store of J. H. DusaTig. In
1877 he came to Muncie and was a clirk
in the Kirby house for two iminths, after
which he went to Anderson as clerk for E. M.
Ha}s & Son, later clerked for Samuel Rose.
March 10, 1880, he returned to Muncie and
clerked for Parker & Powell, then proprietors
of the Globe clothing house, which was a small
concern at that time and located on east Main
street; the store was subse(]uently sold to
James Boyce and others, and Mr. Bender was
given the management. Two years later Mr.
Bender formed a partnership with J. P. Shoe-
maker, a wealthy grain merchant of Middle-
town, Ind., and together they purchased the
stock of the Globe, the business of which, un-
der the efficient management of Mr. l>cndcr,
so increased that within a short time enlarged
quarters had to be secured, and the west end
of the Boyce block was selected, where an
immense trade was done, until Mr. Bender, in
the summer of 1893, purchased the entire con-
cern, and now carries the largest stock of
clothing and gentlemen's furnishing goods ever
seen in eastern Indiana, and the Globe is doing
a larger trade than ever at the same old stand
of Bender & Shoemaker.
Charles L. Bender was married May 19,
1880, to Miss Isabel Gray, and the couple re-
side in an elegant mansion on east Main street.
Although not a member of any church, Mr.
Bender is a moral man in every respect and is
highly respected by the whole community. He
is a prominent Odd Fellow, is a Knight of
Pythias and a member of the B. P. O. E. He
is liberal in his donations to school and church
and his private acts of charity are munificent,
but by no means ostentatious. Although yet
quite young, Mr. Bender has reached much
prominence as a business man, and his success
has been the result of his individual merit.
He is affable and appreciative of his custom-
ers' wants, and always reliable.
200
MUNCIE CITY
at
'ILLIAM BENNETT has for some
years been a prominent citizen of
Delaware county, and at this writ-
ing is one of the strong financial
men and leading spirits of the city of Muncie.
Mr. Bennett is a native of Ohio, born Septem-
ber 4, 1826, in the county of Pickaway, to
which John and Sarah (Downs) Bennett moved
a number of years ago from Delaware.
William is the sixth child of the above couple,
and he grew to manhood in his native county,
in the schools of which he received his educa-
tional training. Reared on the farm he laid
the fouddation of a character which in later
years has enabled him to accumulate vastly
more of this world's goods than usually !alls
to the lot of the average man. In 1849, he
was united in marriage to Miss Rhoda Van-
Buskirk of Pickaway county, Ohio, daughter
of John and Sophia Van Buskirk ; she died in
the spring of '74, leaving three daughters and
one son: oldest. Sophia, wife of James O. Day,
of Madison county, Ohio ; Mary, wife of James
McClimons of Madison county, Ohio ; Laura,
wife of Fred W. Heath of this city, and Win-
field Scott, who died at twenty-one years and
three months, and, some years thereafter, Mr.
Bennett followed the pursuit of agriculture near
his old home. Later Mr. Bennett removed to
the county of Madison, near Mt. Sterling,
where he remained for eight years, a part of
which time was devoted to his chosen calling
but later, owing to impaired health, he was
compelled to abandon the active work of the
farm. Mr. Bennett became a resident of
Indiana in the year of 1882, locating in the
thriving city of Muncie, where he has since
resided. In 1868, he purchased real estate in
Mt. Pleasant township, also became the pos-
sessor of valuable farming lands in the town-
ship of Harrison, also a farm in Salem township,
and at different times made judicious invest-
ments in various parts of the county until he
finally became the largest owner of real estate
in Delaware county. In addition to his holdings
in the county, Mr. Bennett is also largely pos-
sessed of Muncie real estate, and real estate in
Pickaway and Madison counties, Ohio. He
has two farms in Pickaway county of 700 and
400 acres respectively, and one farm in Madi-
son county of 287 acres, very valuable — which,
with the other possessions, are the legitimate
result of his wise foresight. He is a large
stockholder in the Co-operative Gas company
of Muncie, is, also, prominently identified with
the Cammack Gas company, beside taking an
active interest in various other industrial en-
terprises and other movements.
Mr. Bennett is now in the sixty-seventh
year of his age, possesses in a marked degree
his faculties both mental and physical, and, is
still quick of preception and prompt in decis-
ion. His success in life is to be attributed to
a naturally well endowed mind, plus caution,
energy, frugality, integrity and earnest en-
deavor, which qualities have established a
character above reproach and gained for him
the esteem and confidence of many. Politi-
cally a republican, he has never been promi-
nent us a partisan, preferring to give his en-
tire attention to his business enterprises; reli-
giously the Methodist church represents his
creed, and for some years he has been an ac-
tive member of the High street congregation
of Muncie.
Mr. Bennett remarried December 17, 1874
to Miss Mary Maddux of Pickaway county,
Ohio, by whom he has had one child, named
Pearl R. , who still resides at home.
OWEN BEOUY, deceased, was born
near Wheeling, Delaware county,
Ind., January 22, 1852, and was a son
of Edmond Beouy, mention of whom
will be found in detail in another portion of
C)yU^^ //]^^iru^^'
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
201
this volume. Although in early life trained to
be a tiller of the soil, he, even as a boy,
evinced a fondness for horseflesh, which in-
creased-in intensity as the }ears rolled on, and
at his majority he engaged almost exclusively
in buying and selling animals, and eventually
became one of the most extensive dealers in
eastern Indiana, and certainly the largest ship-
per, by far, in Delaware county. A few years
before his death he was employed by a Boston
firm to purchase and ship, on their account,
every animal that was suited to their trade,
and for this one firm he, in a single year,
shipped 836 horses, in addition to supplying
the wants of his other customers. More than
a year prior to his death his health broke down,
and for several weeks he passed his time at
Hot Springs, Ark. , with the hope of recupera-
ting, but, on returning to his home, although
he felt much improved, his restless industry
caused a relapse, which again laid him on a
sick bed, from which, a few days later, his
gentle spirit took its flight November i 5, 1892.
Mr. Beouy was a man invariably recognized as
being generous to a fault, and as kind as he
was generous ; and the community has lost
few better men. He was a charter member of
Twa Twa tribe, I. O. R. M., but his impaired
health precluded his taking even the initiatory
degree. His worship was within the pale of
the Methodist Episcopal church, and the last
sad funeral rites were conducted at his former
residence, at the corner of Jefferson and Gil-
bert streets, by Rev. James M. Lewis, of Dun-
kirk, Ind. , and Rev. George H. Hill, pastor of
the High street M. E. church, of Muncie.
The marriage of Mr. Beouy occurred in
Jonesboro, Ind., September 7, 1889, the bride
being Miss Emma Taylor, a most amiable
young lady, with whom he became acquainted
shortly after first making his headquarters in
the "Magic" city, and until his last hour the
union was one of unallo}ed happiness. Mrs.
Hcouy was born at Irwin, in Westmoreland
county, Pa., March 2>). 1S59, daughter of
George W. and Caroline 1 Bossard) Tavlor.
eDW'ARI) W. BISHOP, the leading
insurance man of Muncie, was born
in Worthington, Franklin county,
Ohio, March 21, 1847. His father,
William Bishop, was born at Poughkeepsie, N.
Y. , January 23, 1802, the son of John Bishop,
who with his wife and family emmigrated to
Ohio in 18 18, locating in what is nowWester-
ville, Franklin county, of which part of the
country- he was one of the earliest pioneers.
W'illiam Bishop assisted his father in clearing
land which the latter purchased from the gov-
ernment, and remained with his parents until
failing health induced him to go to Sulphur
Springs, Va., where he learned the saddler's
trade. Returning to Ohio he established him-
self in that business at Worthington, where,
at the age of twenty-eight, he married Char-
lotte Wolcott, daughter of Judge Wolcott of
Franklinton, Ohio. In 1854 he disposed of
his saddlery interests at Worthington and en-
gaged in the hotel business for a number of
years. In an early day William Bishop was
largely instrumental in locating the college at
^\'orthington, and later was very successful in
establishing the Ohio Wesleyan university at
Delaware. He was a leading member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics
was originally a whig, but afterward a repub-
lican. For several years prior to the civil
war, he was connected with the Under Ground
railroad, and his barn was used as a hiding
place for escaping slaves. The following are
the names of the children born to William and
Charlotte Bishop : Celia, Erville B., Luella,
Edward W. and F"rank W. In addition to
the above there were four that died in infancy
202
MUNCIE CITY
unnamed, and Luella is now deceased. Mrs.
Bishop died during the cholera scourge of
1850. Mr. Bishop died at Worthington,
Ohio, about the year 1870, at an advanced
age.
Edward W. Bishop was three years of age
when he was called upon to part with his
mother. He spent his boyhood days in his
native county, attended at intervals the coun-
try schools, and, at the early age of fifteen,
enlisted, at Camp Chase, Ohio, in company C,
One Hundred and Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer in-
fantry; was mustered in, August, 1862, as a pri-
vate, but within a short time was promoted adjut-
ant's orderly, and served in the army of the Cum-
berland until August, 1863, when, on account
of impaired health, he received an honorable
discharge. Returning home, he was for some
time employed as clerk in a general store, and
later accepted the position of bookkeeper in a
manufacturing establishment at Mount Vic-
tory, Ohio, where he remained ten months.
In September, 1866, he came to Muncie, Ind. ,
and accepted a clerical position in the Bee
Line office for eight months, and was then
appointed the company's agent at Winches-
ter, and filled the latter position for eleven
years. Mr. Bishop next engaged as traveling
salesmen for a mercantile firm of Hagerstown,
Md. , passed three years on the road, returned
to Muncie, and again entered the employ of
the Bee Line Railroad company, continued for
a limited period, and then became agent for
the L. E. & W. for about three years. He
then renewed his connection with the Bee
Line, which in the meantime had been
changed to the C, C, C. & St. L. R. R ,
becoming cashier in the freight department at
Muncie, where he remained for three years,
and then, owing to ill health, was compelled
to resign.
His next venture was the insurance business,
which he has since conducted upon quite an ex-
tensive scale in Muncie, representing at this time
twenty of the leading companies of the world
and carrying policies for many large manufac-
turing establishments of the city. Mr. Bishop
was married October 20, 1869, to Miss Elsie
Dana, daughter of Dr. Marcus Dana of Fos-
toria, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are the par-
ents of three children, namely: ErvilleD. , Mar-
cus S. and Charlotte L., all living. Socially
he occupies a prominent place in the society
of Muncie and in politics supports the princi-
ples of the republican party. In the Masonic
fraternity he stands high, having taken a num-
ber of degrees, including that of Sir Knight,
and he is also an active worker in the G. A.
R. Erville D. Bishop was born November 6,
1870, received his education in the Muncie
schools, graduating in 1891, after which he
became associated with his father in business.
November 7, 1892, he was united in marriage
with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Prutz-
man. Marcus, the second son, is a bright in-
telligent lad of thirteen, and Charlotte is a
charming Miss of eleven years.
>^OHN H. BLOOR, D. D. S., Muncie,
M Ind., was born in Mansfield, Ohio,
«1 July 6, 1864, and is the son of Will-
iam and Jane E. (Au) Bloor. His
youthful days were passed in Mansfield, and
while yet attending public schools had begun
the study of dentistry, during vacations, in the
office of Dr. C. M. Roe — graduating from a pub-
lic school in 1884 and pursuing his studies an-
other year. In 1885 and 1886 he attended
the Ohio Dental college at Cincinnati, and be-
gan practice at Fredericktown, Ohio, and then,
in 1 89 1, went to Indianapolis, Ind., as assist-
ant demonstrator of crown and bridge work
in the Post Graduate school of prosthetic
dentistry, and at the same time attended the
'^ 41
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^ln^
P^
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3&,r^..^^ e^.^.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Indiana Dental college, from which he re-
ceived the degree of D. D. S. He next went
to Louisville, K}'. , where he took an interest
in the New York Dental company, incorpor-
ated under the laws of the state of Kentucky,
and September 20, 1892, opened a branch of-
fice of the company in Muncie, with parlors in
the Wildermuth block, 2o8.\ south Walnut
street. The doctor has made an excellent
reputation in Muncie, as elsewhere, and makes |
a specialty of crown and bridge work, con-
sidered, to-day, the highest branch of dentist- |
ry, and is, in the largest cities, the practical
test of proficiency in the art. i
Dr. Bloor was happily married, in 1888, to i
the accomplished daughter of H. E. Kendall,
of Mansfield, Ohio. The doctor is a member
of tne I. O. O. F. and of the Knights of
Pythias, and he and wife enjoy the respect of
a large circle of friends and social acquaint-
ances, while the doctor's professional stand-
ing is with the highest.
BARRA L. BOTKIN is a native of Ran-
dolph county, Ind., born April 7,
1868, and is a son of William T. and
Martha (Cropper) Botkin. He re-
ceived his preliminary education at the com-
mon schools of the county, passed through the
three terms of the normal school at Winches-
ter, and then began the study of veterinary
science at London, Ont., with Dr. J. H. Ten-
nant, in October, 1888, and for two years pur-
sued a private and practical course of study
under that distinguished practitioner. He en-
tered the Ontario Veterinary college, at Tor-
onto, in the fall of 1890, and took another
regular course for two years, being in actual
practice with his old preceptor during vaca-
tions, and graduated March 25, 1892. During
his terms of study he received the silver medal
for the best examination in pathology, and also
the gold medal for the general examination in
the sessions of 1891-92 in a class of 164 stu-
dents from the United States, Canada, Eng-
land, Scotland, Ireland, the West Indies and
South America. In the spring of 1 892 Dr.
Botkin located in Muncie, supplied with all the
appliances and instruments necessary to per-
form any surgical operation. In connection
with his veterinary work, he makes a spec-
ialty of dental surgery, in which he has
acquired considerable skill. A liberal patron-
age has already been given to him, and as soon
as his qualifications shall have been known
more generally he will not, by any means, be
left with idle time on his hands. The doctor
fully appreciates the exacting demands which
the conscientious practice of veterinary science
entails, and is prepared to meet them. It is a
science whose representatives have made all
the more important by the application of vital
as well as medical truths in recent years,
among which are the "germ theory of di.sease"
by Pasteur (himself a veterinarian), and oth-
ers of similar importance.
HOMAS J. BOWLES, M. D., one of
the most talented members of the
medical profession in the county of
Delaware, Ind., is a native of the
state, having been born in Rush county, July
24, 1836. His parents were James and Sarah
A. (Smith) Bowles, natives of Kentucky, who
settled in Rush county, Ind., about 1826.
James Bowles was of English extraction, was
born in 1807, and was reared to farming and
stock raising. Having married Miss Smith in
his early manhood, he took his departure by
wagon from Kentucky to Indiana in 1826, and
here settled among the pioneers of Rush
county. His wife, and one Kentucky born
MUNCIE CITY
child, Christina, were his companions, and
after his arrival in Rush county, Ind., there
were born to him five others; one infant, Paul,
that was born and died in Kentucky, found its
final repose in that state. Indiana gave birth
to Joseph, Thomas J., Mary A,, James H.
and Amanda. The father of this family,
James Bowles, although not highly educated
at school, was a man of deep reading and
deeper observation, and still deeper thought.
He held a sympathy and a communion with
all nature, and was a lover of man — a philan-
thropist. He was active in all enterprises cal-
culated for the promotion of the well being of
the inhabitants of his adopted county of Rush,
and set an example to the younger members
of the community by accumulating acres to the
number of i,ooo, in order to show that in real
estate there is a command over the respect of
fellow men that is absent when there is no tangi-
ble property to show that the individual has at
least strained his sinews and bent his thought
toward giving an evidence that he meant to
deserve and win the esteem of his fellows.
He took great interest in educational affairs,
and was never niggardly in assisting their ad-
vancement. In his early life he was an ardent
whig, and a great admirer of Henry Clay, and
later became as strong an adherent of Abraham
Lincoln. In physical stature he was robust,
but of medium build. Sickness was a stranger
to him until within a few months of his death,
which occurred in his eighty-sixth year, in
September, 1892. In religious matters he was
as deep thoughted as in worldly affairs, and
by the world was thought to be agnostic.
Mrs. Sarah A. (Smith) Bowles, of German
parentage, was a woman of strong mind and
clear thought, but of devout christian instinct
and charitable tendencies. She died at the
age of seventy-six, a consistent member of the
Christian church.
Thomas J. Bowles was in his early days
inured to farm life among the pioneers of In-
diana on his father's homestead, and inherit-
ing all his father's intelligence and shrewdness,
developed not only the complete farmer but
the perfect man. His earlier school days were
passed in the subscription schools of his
neighborhood, and the thirst for knowledge
there acquired was further whetted under the
celebrated A. R. Benton, of Fairview, under
whom he studied three years. He next en-
tered the office of Dr. A. C. Dillon, near
Rushville, and for two years gave his whole
attention to the study of medicine. In 1858,
toward the latter part of the year, he entered
the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, from
which he finally graduated in 1867. His
first practice had been at Windsor, Randolph
county, Ind., where he made his mark and
kept his patients until his return from college
in 1867. After another course of study he re-
sumed his practice at Blountsville with re-
newed success, until 1874, when he came to
Muncie. Here he at once leaped into a fore-
most professional position, but his love for
study was not satisfied, and another course
was taken at Bellevue hospital. New York,
and at Chicago (111.) Rush Medical college.
Thus equipped for the practice of his chosen
profession, he has since made Delaware and
adjoining counties the scene of his professional
triumphs; Muncie, however, has been his home
and the seat of his chief success, and here
medicine and surgery have found their pro-
foundest exponent in him. He was an organ-
izer of a number, and is a member of all, the
medical socities and associations of the cit)',
county and state, and his lectures and contri-
butions have received from the members of
them all the most marked attention. In poli-
tics he is a republican, but has never been an
office seeker nor a partisan. Ardent in his
advocacy of principle, he lends a willing hand
and voice to the promotion of his party's cause.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
and as early as the days of John C. Fremont's
campaign made numerous eloquent and effect-
ive speeches in favor of free soil, as republi-
canism was then called.
Dr. T. J. Bowles is a man of rare and
superior attainments; an extensive reader,
especially of works of advanced minds, scien-
tific and otherwise; is keenly alive to the
interests of humanity; a bitter opponent of
dogmatic theology, believing it to be an ene-
my to human progress; an agnostic in belief,
the doctor is an evolutionist and endorses
Darwin's theory to the letter, believing that
the evils of the world must be cured by the
moral and intellectual growth of mankind; a
man with an ardent desire to elevate the
standard of intelligence and morality in our
own city, and a faithful worker to attain that
end, he has been the originator and principal
organizer of several societies that have accom-
plished great good in this direction, namely — the
Scientific and Literary association; Literary
Fireside; Home Circle and Ethical society.
His peculiar mental attainments have fitted
him for the work in hand. He is probably che
best extemporaneous speaker in the city of
Muncie. Florid in expression, a good debater,
deeply in earnest, frequently sharp and incisive
in his remarks, but of the most tolerant dispo-
sition; a man of refined tastes, neat in person,
temperate and industrious, a good neighbor, a
good husband, an indulgent parent and firm
friend. His benevolence makes him a philan-
thropist. Science, art, ethics and literature
absorb his attention and study, and all associ-
ations for their culture and promotion meet
with his hearty support. He has made him-
self acquainted with ancient and modern phil-
osophy and various theologies and mythologies,
both modern and ancient.
The doctor was married October 14, i860,
to Miss Sophora Spangler, a daughter of Henr\-
and Anna (Reves) Spangler, who resided near
the historic battle ground of Gettysburg, Pa.,
and were of German descent. Mrs. Bowles was
born in March, 1841, and is a member of a
family composed of thirteen rhildren, all of
whom were remarkable for their physical vigor
and the purity of their German characteristics.
Her early education was obtained at the com-
mon schools of her native state, but her liter-
ary training is chiefly due to the doctor. She
has been a diligent student and an omniverous
reader, and is thoroughly in sympathy with her
husband. She is remarkably acute as a critic
in the mythologies, the theologies and the
philosophies of ancient and modern times, and
is altogether companionable. She is the
mother of seven children, born in the following
order: Herschel, Homer, Ardella, Leora,
Ada, Herbert and Herman, of whom, however,
Herbert and Ardella are deceased. The doc-
tor and his family are most highly esteemed in
Muncie, and the refined society of the city is
always rejoiced at their presence within its
circle.
a'
HARLES W. BOYCE, the Muncie
electrician, was born in Alliance, Ohio,
December 27, 1866, and is a son of
James and Eliza I^oyce, who came to
Muncie, Ind., when their son Charles W.,
with whose name we open this sketch, was
but four years of age. The latter received his
education in the schools of Muncie and at the
Miami Commercial college, Dayton, Ohio.
At the age of seventeen he went to Portland,
Ore., where for two years he was a pressman
in a printing office, and in 1885 clerked for a
dry goods house. In 1887 and 1888 he worked
as pressman at Des Moines, Iowa, on the
State Register, whence he went to Chicago,
and for a time was in the press department of
Rand, McNally cS: Co. Next he became a
traveling salesman for Randall, Hall & Co.,
MUNCIE CITY
for a brief period, and then engaged for two
years as superintendent for his father in his
electric plant. Fort Wayne, Ind., was the
next scene of his operations, and there he
became manager of the Jenney Electric Manu-
facturing company, and assisted them in
putting in a plant at Evansville, Ind., and
ether points. In 1891 the Falher block was
burned, and Mr. Boyce was called in to re-
wire it. He has ever since been superintend-
ent of the Heat, Power & Light company,
the plant being now situated at the corner of
Elm and Willow streets, Muncie. This com-
pany has four Edison incandescent dynamos,
two Brush arc dynamos, about five miles of
wire, fifty arc lights and 1000 incandescent,
with uninterrupted service.
Mr. Boyce was married, in 1889, to Miss
Minnie, daughter of Charles P., and Nancy
(Humphries) Thomas, of Fortville, Ind., the
union being blessed with one child, James G.
Mrs. Boyce is a lady of remarkable literary
talent, and the following extract from a metro-
politan daily, will give an adequate idea of
some of her work in this line:
"Tragedies, comedies, romances are being
lived all around us — it is the art of the story
teller to give our every day experiences that
touch of nature which makes all the world
akin. Hoosier life is fertile and teeming with
an element which is found nowhere else ; a
humorous and a pathetic side which delights
the world at large, and from this element
springs the popularity of our own inimitable
James Whitcomb Riley. No less popular are
the wholesome and clever story delineations of
Minnie Thomas Boyce. Her ' Punkin Holler'
sketches, first appearing in the Chicago Inter
Ocean, have been widely copied and no less
widely admired. 'Bertha Jane,' which was
published in the Ladies' Home Journal, is a
story of much power. Mrs. Boyce adds to
her talent as a story writer fine abilities as an
elocutionist. She writes her own recitations
and never fails to delight an audience. She
composes rapidly and is more fortunate than
most young writers in that she finds a ready
market for MSS. Most of writers have their
special hours for composition, her's are in the
evening when the cares of the day are over.
Mrs. Boyce has on hand a series of 'Hoosier
Stories' which will appear in book form in the
near future ; her original recitations may also
be given to the public at a later date. She
gives great promise in the developement of
that western literature of which we are so
justly proud and which is second to none in
the world of literary art."
HLLISON B. BRADBURY, M. D.,
deceased, was born in Wayne coun-
ty, Ind., September 17, 1842, and
was one of fourteen children born to
Abner M. and Mary (Boyd) Bradbury. Alli-
son B. Bradbury received his preparatory edu-
cation in the public schools of his native
county, and this was supplemented by a course
in the Ann Arbor (Mich.) university. After
graduating from the medical department of
that institution of learning he entered on the
practice of his chosen profession at Milton,
Wayne county, Ind., in the spring of 1865,
having taught school for several years just
prior to his finally engaging in practice. In
1868 and 1869 he attended the college of
Physicians and Surgeons, at Brooklyn, N. Y. ,
for which he had been prepared by a course of
study under Dr. Griffis, of Middletown, Ind.,
and in February, 1872, resumed his practice at
Milton, Ind., for a short time, afterward re-
siding at Cambridge City, Ind., where he met
with flattering success, and felt justified in re-
maining until 1879, when he was called to the
more extensive and remunerative field of Mun-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
207
cie, where he held a prominent position in the
practice until his death,. January 23, 1892.
The marriage of the doctor was a most felici-
tous one and took place July 26, 1863, to Miss
Sarah Burr, who was born in Middletown,
Ind., September 9, 1843, the daughter of
Chauncy and Jane (Williams) Burr, both pio-
neers of Henry county, Ind., the former a tan-
ner by trade, and one of the most highly re-
sjjected citizens of Henry county, in which lie
served as justice of the peace for over fnrt\-
years.
To the union of Dr. Bradbury and Miss
Burr were born three children, vi/: Bertrand
F., Zerelda (deceased), Jane, a teacher in the
city schools of Muncie. It was just about the
time of the occurrence of his marriage that the
doctor entered the one hundred days' service,
which time he served with effective gallantry
in the One Hundred and Thirt}-seventh
Ohio national guards. Dr. Bradbury was
a prominent republican and an active work-
er from principle and not from aspiration
to any public office. Although many times he
sought to fill public office, he never acquiesced
to his friends except to assume the office of
secretary of the board of health of Muncie,
which he filled creditably for a number of
years. His death came suddenly, the result of
an accident, and was a shock to his many
friends, as he was a man dearly loved by all
and filled a niche in society and his profession
which can never be filled. He was a pioneer
in spirit and purchased 400 acres of land near
Carmack station in the wildest state, and
transformed it into one of the best farms in the
county.
Bertrand F. Bradbury was born August i O,
1866, and was a son of Allison and Sarah
(Burr) Bradbury. His education was acquired
at the public schools, and at the age of eight-
een he began his business life by becoming a
clerk in the store of J. B. Knowlton, imple-
ment dealer, and luxt as book-keeper for J.
Vogt, nicrciuint tailor, with whom he remained
three years, after which time, in November,
1889, in company with Lee Shaw, engaged in
the hat trade, and since i S92 has been con-
ducting the establishment on his sole account,
making hosts of friends.
*w ^ ON. ARTHUR W. BKADY, mayor of
|f^ Muncie, is a nati\e of Delaware
jL,r courrty, Ind., born on the 13th day
of January, 1865, the son of Gen.
Thomas J. and Emeline (Wolfe) Brady. After
receiving a primary education in the schools
of Muncie and attending a preparatory school
in New Preston, Conn., Mr. Bradj', in 1883,
entered Yale college, in which he completed
the prescribed course, graduating in the class
of 1887 with the degree of B. A. He then
studied law in the office of K. C. Bell, of Ft.
Wayne, Ind., one year, entered the law de-
partment of the university of Michigan at Ann
Arbor, and graduated in the year 1889. Mr.
Brady, in the fall of the above yeaX, was ad-
mitted to the Delaware county bar; has done
an extensive legal business in the courts of
Delaware county and the United States court,
and in 1890 was made local attorney for the
L. E. & W. R. R., which position he still re-
tains. Mr. Brady is a democrat in his politi-
cal affiliations, and in 1891 was nominated by
his party for the office of mayor or Muncie, to
which, with the assistance of independent re-
publican voters, he was elected by the hand-
some majority of 660. He has the honor of
being the youngest man ever elected to this
responsible position, and he has discharged
the duties of the office in a manner highly
creditable to himself and satisfactory alike to
his friends and to those who opposed him po-
litically.
MUNCIE CITY
Mr. Brady is a man of much more than or-
dinary mental capacity, and with his facuhies
well disciplined by collegiate training he has
already arisen to a prominent place among his
professional brethren of the Delaware county
bar. Mr. Brady is an affable gentleman,
courteous and kind hearted, and his integrity
and worth have made him quite popular not
only with his professional associates but with
all classes of his fellow citizens of the city of
Muncie. He was one of the organizers of the
Ancile club, of which he has served as direct-
or, and belongs to Muncie lodge. No. 443, A.
F. & A. M. ; also to Welcome lodge, K. P.
@EN. THOMAS J. BRADY was born
in the city of Muncie, Delaware coun-
ty, Ind., on the 12th day of Febru-
ary, 1840. His father, John Brady,
the second son of William and Julia Ann
(Lerch) Brady, was born in Warren county,
Ohio, September 30, 1803. John Brady, in
March, 1824, removed to Indiana, settling at
Richmond, where, on the i6th of March,
1825, he was united in marriage to .Mary
Wright, who, with her mother, had immi-
grated to Indiana from Maryland in 1824.
Afterward, he removed to Muncie, in 1836.
John Brady served as associate judge from
1 841 to 1 85 1 and as postmaster from 1847 to
1 86 1. Subsequently, in 1865, he was elected
mayor of Muncie, and filled the office from
that date until 1867. In 1871 he was chosen
a member of the city council and served until
1873. From 1878 to 1880 he served as town-
ship trustee, and for many years was one of
the city commissioners. He died in the year
1884, deeply lamented by all who knew him.
The following are the names of his children:
William, died at an early age, Samuel F. ,
Thomas J. and Edward W.
Thomas J. Brady was educated in the
Delaware county seminary and at Asbury
universit}' at Greencastle, Ind. After gradu-
ating, he entered the office of Hon. Thomas J.
Sample of Muncie as a student. During the
winter of 1S58-59, he served in the capacity
of clerk to the judiciary committee of the
state senate. After being admitted to the bar,
he removed to Bethany, Mo., but one year
later returned to Muncie, served as census
enumerator in 1 860, and the same year was
appointed principal of the Washington schools,
which position he held during one winter. At
the breaking out of the war Gen. Brady raised
the first company that went from Delaware
county, in 1861. This company was at first
assigned to a provisional regiment organized
by Gov. Morton, with Gen. Lew Wallace in
command, to assist in averting the danger that
menaced the national capital. The company
from Delaware county, however, became com-
pany C, Eighth Indiana infantry — three
months' service. They served under Gens.
McClellan and Rosecrans in West Virginia.
Subsequently Capt. Brady's company became
company A, and the regiment was assigned to
the department of Missouri. Shortly after the
battle of Pea Ridge, Capt. Brady became
major of the regiment, which afterward formed
a part of Gen. McClernand's corps in Missis-
sippi.
Gen. Brady participated in the battle of
Port Gibson, the Black River and Champion
Hills campaigns, and was also active-
ly engaged during the siege of Vicks-
burg. On the 19th of September, 1863,
he was made the recipient of a colonel's
commission by Gov. Morton. His regi-
ment was the One Hundred and Seven-
teenth Indiana infantry, six months' troops.
The term of enlistment of the One Hundred
and Seventeenth expired in 1864, and, on the
loth of October of that year. Gen. Brady was
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and
Fortieth regiment Indiana volunteer infantry,
over one half of which he raised by his own
efforts during the summer of that year. With
this regiment he went to Nashville, to Mur-
freesboro', Tenn., and finally to garrison duty
at Fort Rosecrans, where he remained during
the siege of Nashville. He participated with
his command in all the engagements in the
vicinity of Murfreesboro, and the regiment af-
terward formed a part of the Third brigade.
First division. Twenty-third army corps, un-
der the command of Gen. Cox. In 1865 the
regiment took part in the storming of Fort
Anderson, and subsequently was engaged in
the action at Town Creek bridge. The regi-
ment was mustered out of service July i i ,
1865, and within a short time thereafter Col.
Brady was honored with a promotion by brevet
to the rank of brigadier general of volunteers.
In the winter of 1863-64 Gen. Brady returned
to Muncie and was united in marriage to Miss
Emeline, daughter of Adam Wolfe, on the
loth day of May of the latter year, and at the
close of his army life, he resumed the practice
of his profession. The children born to his
marriage are named Arthur W. , Elizabeth W.
and Winfield E. Brady.
In 1868 he purchased the Muncie Times.
In 1870 he was appointed, by Pres. Grant, to
the consulate of the island of St. Thomas,
West Indies, and on this account he severed
his connection with the Times. In 1874,
while on leave of absence, he was appointed
chairman of the republican state central com-
mittee. He resigned his position as consul
in 1875, and was soon after appointed super-
visor of internal revenue for the states of Ohio
and Indiana. Subsequently he was transferred
from this district to the one embracing Ken-
tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana. In July, 1876, Gen. Grant ten-
dered him the position of second assistant
which he accepted, but
lice when he has resided
postmaster gener;i
resigned in 1881,
at the east.
Adam Wolfe, hitc i>n>iniiicnt nierriiant of
Muncie, Ind., was born in Washington county,
Pa. , December 9, 1807 His paternal grandfather
came from Germany before the American Rev-
olution and settled in Little York, Pa. , where
he married, and afterward moved to Wash-
ington county, that state. The father of
Adam Wolfe was John Wolfe, and his mother
was Catherine Devore. Adam Wolfe was the
seventh of eleven children, all of whom
reached adult age and reared large families.
During his infancy his parents moved to
Coshocton county, Ohio. His time was. most-
ly employed on the farm until he attained his
majority, at which time his father died. In
1829 he engaged in the mercantile business at
New Guilford, Coshocton county, where he
remained until May, 1830, at which time,
owing to his partner's dishonesty, he was
obliged to abandon the mercantile trade, hav-
ing lost the greater part of his capital. Sub-
sequently he embarked in the goods business
in the town of W^estfield, where he remained
until 1 84 1, at which time he went into the
pork packing business. He soon lost all he
had accumulated and became heavily involved
in debt. From 1842 to 1855. he engaged in
the manufacture and sale of fanning mills in
connection with the mercantile business, and
during this period amassed a large fortune. In
1855 Mr. Wolfe moved to Muncie, Ind., in
which state he had previously opened three
stores, and for some time thereafter was
engaged in the banking business in Marion and
Columbia City. Prosperity attended his
enterprises, and besides two banks he became
the owner of five stores, one in each of the
counties of Delaware, Madison, Grant, Hunt-
ington and Blackford.
Politically Mr. Wolfe was a democrat and
MUNCIE CITY
cast his first presidential vote for Andrew
Jackson. His large business prevented his
engaging actively in politics, and, though often
urged, he always refused to accept office. Mr.
Wolfe was married, April 26, 1832, to Miss
Elizabeth Elliott, daughter of Samuel Elhott
of New York, by which union he had seven
children, of whom the following are now liv-
ing : Sabina W. Willson, of Marion, Ind., and
Clara E. Bell, of Ft. Wayne, Ind.
Mr. Wolfe was steadily engaged in business
for over half of a century, and the large for-
tune he accumulated proved him to be pos-
sessed of superior ability. He gained his
wealth honorably and used it worthily, and he
was a liberal contributor to both public and
private charities and assisted in building
schools, colleges and churches. He had many
admirable traits of character, being so kind,
forbearing and conscientious that his home
life was always peaceful, and his relations
with others were never known to be broken by
a quarrel. It is said that he had no enemy,
and the entire community regarded him as an
excellent man and a model merchant. His
death occurred March 20, 1892.
^^^EORGE W. BROOKS, proprietor of
■ ^\ of Brooks' creamery, was born in
\^M Cumberland county, N. J., Septem-
ber, II, 1850, a son of Lewis M.
and Rachael (Wilson) Brooks, natives of New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, respectively. He
was reared in Chester county, Pa. , and was
educated in the excellent public schools of his
district, later serving a three years' apprentice-
ship to the trade of miller. In 1872, Mr.
Brooks came west and located in Delaware
county, Ind. , engaging in farming on what is
now known as the Galliher addition, two
years later purchasing a farm in Hamilton
township and living upon the same until 1886,
when he moved into the city of Muncie. In
June, 1887, he established his present pros-
perous creamery business, success having
attended it from the beginning. Now the out-
put is as much as 150,000 pounds of butter
yearly, the most of which goes to supply the
home market, the excellence of the product
causing its ready sale. Politically Mr. Brooks
is a republican; he also is a member of the
I. O. O. F. and of the Order of Red Men, In
1880, he married Miss Naomi Moore, the
daughter of Aaron Moore, of Hamilton town-
ship, but she was removed by death, January
10, 1885, leaving one daughter, Mary Ernes-
tine. Mr. Brooks is a member of Grace
Methodist Episcopal church of Hamilton town-
ship, and is considered one of the best and
most prosperous citizens of the community.
at
ILLIAM BROTHERTON, deceased
lawyer of Muncie, was born near
Winchester, Va., October 3, 1826.
His father, John Brotherton, was a
native of Yorkshire, England, and after coming
to America, engaged in farming. His mother,
whose maiden name was Mary P. Hodge, was
born in Virginia. They removed in 1835 to
Greene, county, Ohio, when their son William
was nine years of age. His early education was
largely obtained by earnest study at home, al-
though good use was also made of the meager
advantages afforded by a country school. In
1849, he gratified his long cherished desire to
study law, by becoming a student in the office
of Judge Moses Barlow, of Xenia, Ohio, and in
1 85 1, was admitted to the bar. Selecting
Muncie, Ind , as the field of his future efforts,
Mr. Brotherton at once removed thither, and
commenced the practice of law. With limited
pecuniary means, without influence, and an
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
211
entire stranger in the place, he entered upon
the toilsome way for legal distinction. He
gradually gained a lucrative practice, and also
interested himself in politics, in which his
abilities soon obtained general recognition.
In 1853, only one year after his arrival in
Muncie, he was elected district attorney of the
common pleas court for the counties of Dela-
ware, Grant, and Blackford, served two years,
and in 1855 was elected prosecuting attorney
of the Seventh judicial circuit.
The republican party had just begun the
struggle for supremacy, and on that ticket, in
185S, Mr. Brotherton was elected to a seat in
the legislature as representative from Dela-
ware county. The nomination was accepted
only by the urgent solicitation of friends. At
the close of the term, in accordance with a
resolution expressed at his election, he resumed
the duties of his profession, and never after-
ward permitted himself to be made a candi-
date for any political office. In 1853 he mar-
ried Miss Martha Richardson, of Centerville,
Ind. They have three children, Lillie B.,
wife of W. H. Halliday, of Columbus, Ohio;
Wm. R., attorney of Muncie, and Mamie M.
Mr. Brotherton's great independence of spirit,
of which his life was a constant illustration,
is shown particularly in the fact that when
he was prosecuting attorney, and his duties
requiring him to travel over the country, he
refused the gift of a horse, proffered by his
parents. He was a man of liberal religious
opinions, and broad views, of a generous, sym-
pathetic, and retiring disposition, and very
humorous, which latter feature made him very
companionable. In his domestic relations he
was one of the most amiable of men, his home
being the scene of perfect harmony. He was
one of the ablest lawyers and most highly
respected citizens of Delaware county. He
continued in the practice of his profession until
his death, which occurred July 11, 1888.
William R. Brotherton, son of William Broth-
erton, spoken of above, was born in Muncie,
Ind., July 28, 1858, graduated fn.ni the high
school of Muncie in 1878, studied law with
his father and was his able office assistant. In
1888 he was admitted to the bar, since which
date he has conducted his deceased father's
legal business with the most satisfactory
results.
^V^ EV. ABRAHAM BUCKLES, late of
I /^ Muncie, was born in Ohio, August
M .r 26, 1799, and died at his home, near
Muncie, Ind., October 9, 1878, in
the eightieth year of his age. His father,
John Buckles, was a native of Virginia, to
which his grandfather, Robert Buckles, emi-
grated from England before the Revolution,
and settled at a place afterward known as
Bucklestown. Abraham was married, Sep-
tember 3, 1818, to Elizabeth Shanks, a lady
of German and Welsh descent. After the
marriage he removed to Springfield, Ohio,
and thence to Miami county in that state. In
1829 he was ordained minister of the Baptist
church. In October, 1833, he removed, with
his family, to Delaware county, Ind., and
settled on a farm near Muncie, where he re-
sided till the close of his life. Soon after his
arrival in that neighborhood he organized the
Muncie Baptist church, and served as its pas-
tor forty-five years without other reward than
a consciousness of the faithful discharge of
duty. In the early part of his life Mr. Buck-
les held various political offices, and in 1839
was elected to a seat in the general assembly
from Delaware county, a position which he
filled with honor. Mr. Buckles had five chil-
dren: Hon. Joseph S. (see sketch); Thomas
N., now in California; John S. , deceased,
formerly an able lawyer in Geneseo, 111 ; Mary
(Mrs. Goble); and Ellen (Mrs. Campbell), who
died a few years ago.
212
MUNCIE CITY
>^UDGE JOSEPH S. BUCKLES, of
m Muncie, was born near Springfield,
/» 1 Ohio, July 29, 1 819, a son of
Rev. Abraham and Elizabeth (Shanks)
Buckles. His mother was Elizabeth Shanks,
whose parents were Joseph and Eleanor
(Clawson) Shanks, respectively of Scotch and
German descent. Joseph Buckles lived till he
was fourteen years old in Miami county,
Ohio, to which his father had removed several
years before; and then, in 1833, went to Mun-
cie. This has ever since been his home, ex-
cept during a period of nine months spent in
Blackford county. Much of his time was
necessarily employed in the work on the farm
and little could be devoted to school; but
while he did attend he studied most diligently.
Such was his thirst for knowledge that when
obliged to labor all day he pursued his studies
at night by the light of an open fire-place. In
this manner, aided to some extent by pri-
vate instruction, Mr. Buckles acquired pro-
ficiency in the common branches and some ac-
quaintance with general history. He now be-
gan, at the age of nineteen, the labors of a
district school teacher. While thus engaged,
in 1838 he was urged by Mr. Kennedy, then
member of congress from this district, to com-
mence the study of law. This he did in Mr.
Kennedy's office and was admitted to practice
in the circuit court in 1841, and in the state,
supreme, and the federal courts in September,
1850. After practicing about five years, Mr.
Buckles was elected prosecuting attorney for
the Sixth circuit. At the close of the term of
two years he was chosen state senator from the
district composed of the counties of Grant and
Delaware; and while in the senate was chosen
chairman of the judiciary committee. In
1857, at the expiration of his term, he re-
turned, and devoted his time to his clients un-
til 1858, when he was elected judge of the
Seventh judicial circuit. In this position he
remained twelve years, and then resumed
practice in the state and federal courts. Dur-
ing the campaign of 1872 Judge Buckles
served as a senatorial elector, and canvassed
the greater part of the state. Prior to 1S80 he
was a free-soil democrat; but then deemed it his
duty to support President Lincoln's admin-
istration, and has ever been strongly attached
to the republican party.
Judge Buckles also took a prominent part
in the organization of the United party in the
state of Indiana during the war. As already
stated he resumed the practice of his profes-
sion at the expiration of his official term in
1 870 and was actively engaged in the courts
of Delaware and other counties in eastern
Indiana until 1886, when he practically retired
from business life. In the latter year he was
elected to the state legislature, in which he
served one term, and while a member of that
body served on the agriculture and finance
committees. In the development of the great
gas fields of Indiana, Judge Buckles has acted
a very important part. He is a stockholder
and president of the York Prairie Manufactur-
ing company and is also a member of the Cit-
izens' Enterprise company of Muncie. Judge
Buckles was one of the originators of the
Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington railroad,
and is its attorney and a member of its board
of managers; he was also instrumental in the
construction of the Fort Wayne & Southern
railway, and became the treasurer and general
financial agent of the company. He married,
January 27, 1842, Catharine H. Williams.
She was born in Ohio, and was a daughter of
Abel and Rebecca Williams, the former of
whom is of Scotch descent. To Mr. and Mrs.
Buckles were born eight children, four of
whom are living: Elizabeth, wife of Captain
A. K. Lindsey, of Kansas; Rebecca, now Mrs.
J. W. McCrea; Josie, wife of William E.
Yost, of Muncie; and Cora, wife of William
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
213
McVay, who resides in Sterling, Kan. Mrs.
Buckles died September, 1888, and in Decem-
ber of the following year the judge was united
in marriage with Miss Louisa S. Schroerlucke,
of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Judge Buckle's farm contains 680 acres of
choice land, with good buildings. For twenty
years he has been successful in politics, and
one of the leading lawyers in that part of the
state in which he resides. The circuit in
which he administered the duties of judge
embraced five of the most populous counties.
He is a man whose mind is controlled by a
motive power that does not require the advan-
tage of wealth and influence to attain success,
but steadily and surely advances. Judge
Buckle's e.xample should encourage every as-
piring youth to feel that, however dark the
future may appear, perseverance, with a con-
scientious regard for truth, will win a just
reward. He has never deviated from that
rigid rule of honor that ought to actuate and
govern a true man.
^'^AMUELO. BUDD, senior member of
•^^^ the famous dental firm of Budd & Son,
r\,^J Muncie, Ind., is a native of West-
chester county, N. V., and was born
November 23, 1829. His parents, John P.,
and Hebe (Sands) Budd, were also natives of
New York state, the former of whom was of
Scotch and French extraction and the latter of
English parentage. To John P. and Hebe
there were but two children born — Susan and
Samuel O. The family came to Union county,
Ind., in 1836, and settled near Fairfield, where
Samuel O. was reared on a farm until twenty
years of age. In April, 1S53, they came to
Muncie, but in the meantime Samuel O. had
learned both the carpenter's trade and gun-
smithing, and on arriving in Muncie opened a
gunsmith shop and carried on tlir business until
i860. He then began the stud)- of dentistry
with Drs. Riley & McCormick, and in a short
time, under their preceptorship, he became a
proficient in the art. In iS^i he ojicncd a
dentist's office, but still continued doing odd
jobs at gunsmithing. By 1863 his fame as a
dentist had become established, and from that
time on he has devoted his entire attention to
the science. He has been a hard student and
is thoroughly posted in his profession, has
made an excellent reputation and enjoys a
lucrative practice.
Dr. Budd was married, in 1853, to Miss
Indiana Allen, daughter of John Allen, a
pioneer of Franklin county, Ind. ; this lady
was born November i, 1834, and has become
the mother of five children, viz: Ada S. A.,
now Mrs. Edwin p:ilis; Chester Allen, who
entered into business with his father Jidy 15,
1879; Rose; wife of William S. Stewart; Mary,
deceased, and John M. The doctor and his
amiable wife are members of the Universalist
church being charter members of their church
society. In his earlier days the doctor was a
republican in politics, but in i 884 he became
a prohibitionist and now is one of the stanchest
advocates of that cause. He is a royal arch
Mason, and as a member of society he and
family enjoy the sincere respect of their
neighbors, and as professional men he and his
son hold positions among the foremost dentists
of Muncie.
a HESTER ALLEN BUDD, i,l the firm
of Budd & Son, the famous dental
surgeons of Muncie, Ind., is a native
of the city and was born March 13.
1S57, and of whom furtluT mention of his
parentage has been made abo\e. Chester A.
i has passed his whole business career in Mun-
214
MUNCIE CITY
cie and all of his social career. From her
high school he graduated in June, 1875, fol-
lowing which date he entered the Ohio college
of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati, and after
graduating in 1879 returned to Muncie and en-
gaged in practice with his father, and from
that date on has filled a foremost position in
the profession in all its various branches, pros-
thetic and theoretical. He was most happily
married, September 18, 1879, to Miss Fran-
ces L. Corbly, who was born in Mount Wash-
ington, Hamilton county, Ohio, December 20,
1854, a daughter of William and Louise (Den-
ham) Corbly, a most respectable family now
residing in Muncie, having come to the state
in 1874. Seven children have been born to
bless this union and are named Alma S.,
William O., Ada May, Chester F., Bessie E. ,
Frank W. and Allen M. Mr. Budd is a mem-
ber of Muncie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O. F., and
the Muncie encampment. No. 30. In politics
he is a republican, and with his wife he is a
member of the Universalist church.
<>^OBERT A. BUNCH, M. D., one of
I /^ the most successful physicians and
M .P surgeons of Muncie, was born Octo-
ber 28, 1852, in the town of Portland,
Jay county, Ind. Paternally he descended
from French ancestry, and on the mother's
side traces the history of his family back to
Ireland. His grandfather, William Bunch,
left France in an early day, emigrating to the
United States and settling in North Carolina.
He served with distinction in the war of 181 2,
and many years ago moved to Indiana, set-
tling in the town of Portland, thence later
moved to Plymouth, Marshall county, where
his death occurred at the advanced age of
eighty-nine years. The doctor's maternal
grandfather was born in Ireland, from which
country he emigrated to Virginia, and after
residing in that state a number of years became
a resident of Ohio. Ishmael Bunch, the doc-
tor's father, was born in North Carolina and
came to Indiana at the age of thirty, settling
west of Portland, in Jay county, where he en-
gaged in farming and stock raising. He mar-
ried, at the age of thirty-five. Miss Margaret
Bishop of Greene county, Ohio, by whom he
had five children, namely, Dixon M., Robert
A., Nathan E., John A. and Elizabeth N. Of
these, Robert A., Nathan E. and John A. are
living at this time. Ishmael Bunch died on
the 25th day of February, 1865, at his home
in Jay county, after an illness of almost two
years.
Dr. Bunch attended the public schools of
Portland until his fifteenth year, and then en-
tered Liber college. Jay county, which he
attended five terms, supplementing his educa-
tion in that institution by a course in the
Northern Indiana Normal school at Valparaiso.
He early signified his intention of becoming a
physician, and after finishing his literary course
he began reading medicine in the office of
Gillam & Allen of Portland, under whose
instruction he continued for some time, and
then began the practice of his profession at
DeSoto, a small village in Delaware county.
With a laudable desire to increase his profes-
sional knowledge, Dr. Bunch entered the
Eclectic Medical institute of Cincinnati, Ohio,
in which he completed the prescribed course,
graduating in June, 1881. He continued the
practice at the town of DeSoto for a number
of years, and then sought a wider- field in
Muncie, moving to the latter city in 1889,
where he has since established a large and
growing practice and earned the reputation of
one of the most successful physicians in Dela-
ware county. So extensive has his practice
become that he has found it necessary to em-
ploy an assistant, and his professional business
R. A. BUNCH, M. D.
MRS. R. A. BUNCH.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
219
at this time is perhaps larger tlian that of any
other medical man in Muncie. Dr. Bunch
combines, with a thorough knowledge of his
profession, the sympathizing nature and tender
touch of the true healer; and he has earned
the reputation of the poor man's friend, never
turning any one away on account of inability
to remunerate him for services rendered. He
has good business tact, and his careful judg-
ment, diligence, and faithful application to
his profession, have secured him not only a
very large and lucrative practice, but have
made him exceedingly popular with all classes
of people with whom he has had professional
or other relations. He is a man of good pres-
ence and dignified bearing, benevolent in all
the term implies, and is certainly entitled to
prominent mention among the representative
men of Delaware county. Dr. Bunch was
married April 20, 1877, to Miss Mary A. Bair,
and his home has been brightened by four
interesting children : Bessie G., RoUie H.,
Freddie L. , and Morrell McK., all living.
EON. JOHN \V. BURSON was born
August 21, 1820, at the Burson
homestead in Springfield township,
Bucks county. Pa. , within five miles
of the town Bursonville. His parents were
Dr. Edward and Jemima (Stroud) Burson,
who removed from Bursonville to Stroudsburg,
Pa. , and subsequently to Wilmington, Ohio.
His father was an able physician, practiced
both in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and died at
Waynesville, Ohio, in 1852. His mother died
at Richmond, Ind., in 1863. His paternal
grandparents were David and Lydia (Will-
iams) Burson. Lydia Williams was one of a
numerous family who settled near the Dela-
ware river, above Bristol, and not far from
Irvina. Dr. Burson's father was a native of
Wales and settled in America about the mid-
dle of the eighteenth century. The matertial
grandparents were Col. Jacob and ICli/abcth
(McDowell) Stroud. Jacob was the foundiT
of Stroudsburg, now a flourishing and beauti-
ful village situated above the Delaware Gap.
In the campaign of the English against the
French, Col. Stroud, although a young officer,
served on the staff of Gen. Wolfe, and was
present at the death of his general at the
storming of Quebec.
In the year of 1 837, Mr. Burson accompanied
his father's family to Clinton county, Ohio,
where for seven years his time was employed
in superintending a farm near Wilmington
Subsequently he learned the carpenter's trade,
and worked in Ohio and afterward at LaPorte,
Ind. Returning from the latter city to Ohio,
he was engaged in mercantile pursuits with
the means saved from his earnings as a me-
chanic. He possessed the qualties of a suc-
cessful business man, more as the endowment
of nature than the result of education, and, in
1 848, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was
elected teller of the Eaton branch of the old
State Bank of Ohio, where he remained for
about four years. It was during this period
that he formed the acquaintance of his devoted
wife, Mary E. Wilson, to whom he was united
in marriage February 19, 1851.
In 1853, he left the Eaton branch bank,
and with John Hunt founded the Cambridge
City bank, at Cambridge City, Ind. In the
great financial crisis of a few years later, this
was one of the few banks that withstood the
shock. In 1856, he came to Muncie and
formed the Muncie branch of the State I^ank
of Indiana, with a capital of $100,000, which
was soon increased to $150,000. In 1S65,
this bank was reorganized under the national
bank act, with a capital of $200,000, and a
surplus sum of $100,000, and Mr. Burson was
its ca.shier. In 1S71, the capital increased to
$300,000, the surplus remaining as before.
220
MUNCIE CITY
For a number of years Mr. Burson was a di-
rector of the "Bee Line" railway, and a di-
rector of the Lafayette, Muncie & Blooming-
ton railway at the time of his decease. In
politics he was a republican, and served as a
member of the state central committee from
this district from 1868 to the time of his de-
mise. Once only did he permit himself to be-
come a candidate for office. This was in 1 870,
wh^n he was elected state senator from the
districts composed of the counties of Delaware
and Madison.
After an illness of three weeks, Mr. Burson
passed peacefully away on September 21,
1872. The obsequies took place on the 24th,
and a special train draped in mourning carried
the Masonic order of neighboring cities,
together with a large number of friends, to
mourn the loss of the deceased. Business was
suspended in Muncie, and the entire county
was in mourning. The funeral services were
conducted according to the rites of the Mason-
ic order, and the corpse was in charge of the
Muncie commandery. No. 18, of which he
was a member. Raper commandery, and the
members of the Scottish Rite order, from Indi-
anapolis, were also in attendance. Among
the distinguished visitors who came to mingle
their tears with those of the bereaved family,
was ex-Gov. Oliver P. Morton, between
whom and Mr. Burson a strong personal
friendship had existed for many years. Dur-
ing that terrible period embraced between the
years of 1861 and 1865, Gov. Morton had no
firmer friend, no truer ally, and none to whom
he could look with more positive assurance of
encouragement and assistance, than Mr. Bur-
son. Nothing was thought too extravagant,
when represented as a need of the nation's
defender; no journey was too tedious or too
dangerous for him to undertake, and what-
ever sum of money was asked by ' 'the war
governor" of Indiana to further his plans or
relieve the wants of the Indiana soldiers, it
was cheerfully and unhesitatingly advanced.
He became a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church in 1858, and, throughout
his life was a faithful attendant upon its serv-
ices and means of grace. He was a consist-
ent and enthusiastic Free Mason and a Knight
Templar. He received the orders of knight-
hood in Raper commandery. No. i, at Indian-
apolis, July 8 and 22, 1863; was a charter
member of the Muncie commandery, No. 18,
and took the thirty-second degree of Masonry
(Scottish rite), at Cincinnati, Ohio. At the
annual conclave of the grand commandery his
death was referred to in touching language by
the grand commander in his address, and both
branches of the general assembly of Indiana
adopted appropriate resolutions, while the sen-
ate chamber was draped for a period of thirty
days. In the church and in the Sunday
school, in political and commercial affairs, his
voice was heard, and his influence felt and
acknowledged; and his keen judgment and
scrupulous principles made him a safe and val-
ued counselor in matters affecting public or
private interests.
at
ILLIAM CALAWAY, proprietor of
one of the largest sale and livery
stables in Muncie, Ind., was born
in Wabash county, this state, in
November, 1855, and was reared in the town
of "Wabash, where his father, Stephen Cala-
way, kept hotel. William attended school
until thirteen years old, and then, of his own
accord, left home and made his way to Wich-
ita, Kan., did any work he could handle until
seventeen, and then for a year and a half
carried the mail between Wichita and Chey-
enne, a distance of 1 20 miles. He next
bought a feed yard at Wichita, but sold out at
the expiration of two years, returned to Indi-
^^^.
i
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
225
ana, and traded in and shipped horses for a
year at Fort \\'ayne; thence he went to Ko-
konio, Ind., and for six years carried on a
Hvery stable, and afterward owned stables at
Liberty, then at Dublin, and again at Liberty,
where he also bought and shipped horses in
partnership with Hollis Beard. Here he sold
out to his partner and came to Muncie in
August, 1893, bought a livery stand on Frank-
lin street, and also owned a feed yard on Elm
and Main streets for a time, then sold and
purchased his present barn, on Gilbert street,
of Milt Hamilton. This is the largest and
most popular livery, feed and sale stable in
the city, as 510 horses have been sheltered in
it at one time, and it is here where the semi-
monthly Delaware county horse sales were
held. Mr. Calaway also carries a full line of
rigs for hire, at the lowest rates, and his ani-
mals are among the best in the land. He has
owned such thoroughbreds as Wild Duck,
winner in Illinois and Iowa, and the Kentucky-
bred horse. Kill Dove, that won several places
in Ohio in 1891 ; also several trotters and pa-
cers of note.
Mr. Calaway was married, in 1880, to Rosa
McCarty, of Marion, Ind. , but lost his lady in
1886. In June, 1887, he married Miss Helen
Rood, of Liberty, Ind., and this union has
been blessed with four children, viz: Mary,
Gertrude, Homer and Ma.\. Mr. Calaway is
a <member of the I. O. O. F. , and as a busi-
ness man he is regarded as strictly upright and
without guile. Socially he is popular, and is
agreeable in his intercourse with his fellow-
men, accommodating and obliging.
jV^AVID CAMMACK.— The grain and
I I lumber bu'feiness of the city of Mun-
/^^^ cie, of late years, has become quite
extensive and profitable, and among
the prominent men interested therein is the
gentleman whose name introduces this biogra-
phy. David Cammack was born in Wayne
county, Ind., January 25, 1846, and is the son
of Nathan H. and Priscilla (Morris) Cammack,
natives of Indiana and North Carolina, respect-
ively, the father for many years a successful
manufacturer of woolen goods in Wayne
county, this state. David Cammack received
his elementary education in the public schools,
and later became a student of Earlham college,
Richmond, Ind., where he pursued his studies
until December, 1 863, at which time he entered
the army as private in company K, One Hun-
dred and Twenty-fourth Indiana volunteer
infantry, with which he served until the close
of the war. His regiment formed a part of
the army of the Cumberland, and during his
period of service he participated in many of
the noted and hard-fought battles of the south-
western campaign, through all of which he
passed without receiving an injury. After
peace had once more descended upon the land,
he returned home and became a partner with
his father in the manufacturing business, which
he continued until his removal to Cambridge
City in the year 1869. He early became pro-
ficient in the manufacture of woolen goods, and
all the clothing worn by himself until his
twenty-eighth year was made from goods
woven with his own hands. In Cambridge
City he began dealing in lumber, and after a
successful continuance there of ten years re-
moved to what is known as Cammack Station,
Delaware county, and began the manufacture
of hard-wood lumber, which he has since con-
ducted upon an extensive scale in connection
with the buying and shipment of grain.
In 1890 Mr. Cammack was instrumental in
organizing the Muncie Coil Hoop company, of
which -he was president until F"ebruary, 1892.
In a business sense Mr. Cammack is thorough-
going and progressive, and the varifius enter-
prises which have inured so greatl}- to the ad-
MUNCIE CITY
vancement of this flourishing city have found
in him an earnest friend and Hberal benefactor.
At this time he is president of the Co-opera-
tive Fuel Gas company, and he was the princi-
pal mover and is now the executive head of
what is known as the Cammack Gas company,
the success of which is directly traceable to his
efforts. He is also a potent factor and promi-
nent member of the Citizens' Enterprise com-
pany, and was a member of the Indiana State
Cracker company, and acted as its president,
and also vice-president of the Muncie Indus-
trial Loan company, and also the vice-presi-
dent of the Muncie Savings and Loan com-
pany.
In 1 891 Mr. Cammack effected a co-part-
nership with J. L. Streeter and William Marsh
under the name of D. Cammack & Co. , which
firm does a very extensive grain business, hav-
ing warehouses at Cammack, Royerton and
Selma. In 1883 the station and post office at
the point known as Cammack were named in
honor of David Cammack, through whose
efforts so much has been accomplished toward
the material development and upbuilding of
this section of the gas belt. He is proprietor
of a large lumber mill at Mulberry, Ind. ,
which does a very extensive and lucrative bus-
iness, and is also prominently identified with
various other enterprises which have resulted
in great good to the country. Mr. Cammack
is prominently identified with the Masonic fra-
ternity, belonging to Muncie lodge, chapter,
council and commandery, also to the Indiana
consistory, S. K., the Murat temple, N. M. S.,
and the Muncie lodge of B. P. O. E. He
was an organizer, and at this time is past sa-
chem of the Cammack White Feather tribe,
I. O. R. M., and is also a prominent member
of Williams post, G. A. R., of Muncie. Po-
litically Mr. Cammack is uncompromisingly
republican and adheres to the doctrines of his
party as persistently as he attends to his other
duties of life. Mr. Cammack is in every re-
spect a representative business man, and his
success in his various enterprises has been the
result of superior intelligence, directed and
controlled by wise forethought. He has an
elegant home in Muncie, his residence being
among the finest in the city, the building alone
representing a capital of over $8,000, and the
furnishing, all of which is of the latest and
most improved pattern, cost the sum of $5,000.
In 1873 Mr. Cammack and Miss Ella E. Mar-
son, daughter of John Marson of Cambridge
City, Ind., became man and wife, and three
children have been born to their union: Ralph,
Grace May and Adda. The first named was
born in 1880, and lost his life in an accident
at the Cammack mills on the 17th day of July,
1885. Mrs. Cammack and daughters are
members of the Baptist church, but Mr. Cam-
mack, himself, adheres to the simple Quaker
belief of his forefathers.
^>^ OBERT P. CAMPBELL, a success-
I /^ ful business man, well and favorably
J ,P known in the city of Muncie, was
born in Zanesville, Muskingum coun-
ty, Ohio, July 27, 1857, a son of Thomas and
Margaret (Smith) Campbell. The father was
a native of England, born in the city of
Carlysle, April 13, 1825, and eame to the.
United States in 1845, locating in Zanesville,
Ohio, where he became a leading druggist and
where he resided until 1886. In the latter
year he removed to Baltimore, Md., where he
died November 29, 1887. He was a brave
soldier in the war of the rebellion, and was a
popular citizen and business man in the city
where he resided. His wife died on the 5th
of April, 1869. She bore her husband five
children, whose names are as follows: Robert
P., Maria, Thomas, editor of the Laborers'
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Journal of Zaiiesville, Ohio; Lizzie, ami Mar-
garet, deceased.
Robert P. Campbell was reared in his native
city and enjoyed exceptional advantages for
obtaining an education, graduating with honors
from the high school at a comparatively early
age From his fifteenth year he evinced a de-
cided preference for the trade of book binding,
to which he devoted all of his spare moments
and in which he acquired an unusual degree
of skill and proficiency. This trade requires
extreme nicety of labor and an eye skilled to
form and color, and such was the talent dis-
played by young Campbell that the firm of
Sullivan & Brown of Zanesville received him
as an apprentice, the result of which was his
retention by this well known house for a period
of eleven years Here he became a skilled
workman, but afterward acquired a more
thorough knowledge of the trade in the great
establishments of Dayton, Columbus, Balti-
more and Chicago, following which, he located
in the city of Lima, Ohio, where he carried on
a successful business until his removal to Mun-
cie in December, 1892 Since locating in the
latter city Mr. Campbell's success has fully
met his expectations, and he now has a tastily
arranged office and business room in the Boyce
block, which is supplied with all the modern
appliances for book binding and the making
of blank books of every description. He is
thoroughly familiar with every detail of his
business, has an extensive and constantly in-
creasing patronage, and his reputation as a
skillful workman in every line of the trade is
already much more than local. In the affairs
of business and of every day life Mr. Camp-
bell's actions are governed by a high sense of
honor, and since locating in Muncie he has
gained the confidence of all with whom he has
come in contact. Socially he is quite popular,
and those whom he meets or with whom he
has business or other relations unite in pro-
nouncing liim a most congenial, companion-
able and courteous gentleman.
Mr. Campbell was married in Zanesville,
Ohio, October 30, 1879, to Miss Ella Emery,
daughter of James and Catharine (Watson)
Emery, natives of Tyrone, Ireland, who be-
came citizens of Zanesville in the year 1842.
Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Campbell, namely: Robert, deceased; Clar-
ence R., Robert P., Jr., and Ruth. Mr. and
Mrs. Campbell are members of the Methodist
church, in which they are highly regarded.
Politically Mr. Campbell is a supporter of the
republican party, belongs to the Sons of Vet-
erans and is a member of the Roval Arcanum.
\y^ EV. OLIVER CARMICHAEL, of the
I /^ Christian church, Muncie (retired),
M .F was born in Monroe township, Dela-
ware county, Ind., in 1841, and is a
son of Patrick and Louisa (Gibson) Carmichael.
He was reared on a farm four miles south of
Muncie, and remembers when the city was but
a small village. He was educated in the com-
mon schools of Delaware county until he had
passed his twentieth birthday, when he enlist-
ed in company E, Nineteenth I. V. I., under
Col. Sol Meredith, and was assigned to the
army of the Potomac, being soon promoted to
first sergeant. His first heavy engagement
was at the second battle of Bull Run; then at
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Here, on
the first day of the battle, he sustained a gun-
shot wound back of the right knee; was taken
to the hospital (the court house), but owing to
the vast amount of work to be done by the
surgeons, his wound was neglected for two
weeks, and gangrene set in; being sent to the
hospital at Baltimore, he was confined for
three months, the gangrene in the meanwhile
MUNCIE CITY
eating in a large hole in the flesh and render-
ing the whole side of the lower part of the
limb devoid of sensation. He was then trans-
ferred to the Twenty-second Veteran Reserve
corps, being unfit for further field service, and
put on guard duty at Washington until honor-
ably discharged, July 29, 1864, after three
years' service He then returned to the farm
in Delaware county, on which he remained
until 1875, when, his health having further
failed, he located in Muncie, and taught
school at various intervals until about 1880.
About the year 1865 he had united with the
Christian church, in which he became an
active worker, filling the position of elder for
a long period. About 1 880 he began regular
ministerial work, preaching at different points
in Delaware county, principally as pastor at
Smithfield, Pleasant Run, Royerton, Switzer,
Centre, Swazee, and Converse, and after fer-
vent and eloquent pleading for the cause of
his Master, closed his labors about 1892 on
account of failing health.
Mr. Carmichael was married, in 1864, to
Miss Martha, daughter of John add Mary
(Thompson) Losh, of Delaware county. Five
children blessed this union, viz: Otto, on the
the editorial staff of the Detroit Journal;
Milton, city editor of the same paper, and also
former assitant chief of the Muncie fire depart-
ment; Wilson, cutter in a custom tailoring es-
tablishment at Indianapolis; Jesse, reporter on
the Muncie News, and Mary, at home, Mr.
Carmichael is a member of the Williams post,
G. A. R. , and in politics is a stalwart repub-
lican.
^>^ EV. VALENTINE G. CARMICHAEL
I /<^ is a native of Delaware county, Ind. ,
I ,y and a member of one of the earliest
pioneer families of the present town-
ship of Monroe. His father, Patrick Car-
michael, was born in Ohio, the son of Andrew
Carmichael, a descendant of an Irish family,
representatives of which came to the United
States at an early period of the country's his-
tory. Patrick Carmichael came to Delaware
county with his parents as early as 1827, lo-
cating on government land in Monroe town-
ship, a part of his original entry being now
owned by Rev. Valentine G. He cleared a
farm, taught school for some years in an early
day, and about the year 1839 or 1S40 was
united in marriage with Miss Louisa Gibson,
daughter of Valentine and Catharine (Harrold)
Gibson, who became residents of the county
of Delaware as early as 1825, moving to this
part of the state from Tennessee. Patrick and
Louisa Carmichael reared a family of fifteen
children, namely. Oliver; Milton, member of the
Fifty-seventh Indiana volunteers, died while in
the service ; Andrew, also died while serving his
country in the late war, member of the Sixty-
ninth regiment, Indiana troops ; Valentine G. ;
Eliza, wife of J. J. Clevenger ; Mary A., de-
ceased ; Charles ; Catharine, married to Joseph
Stiffler, resides in South Dakota ; William,
deceased ; John, deceased ; Ephraim F. , re-
sides in Muncie ; George W., also a resident
of Muncie; Firmin V., lives with his mother
on the old homestead ; Margaret, deceased,
and Coloston, deceased. Patrick Carmichael
was one of the well known pioneers of Dela-
ware county, and during a long and very useful
life earned the reputation of a straightforward
and honorable man. He was a member of the
church of Christ and supported the principles
of the republican party, although descended
from a family noted for its adherence to the
democratic faith. He departed this life on
the home farm and was laid to rest at the old
cemetery in Monroe township.
Valentine G. Carmichael was born July
29, 1845, in the township of Monroe, and
passed his youthful years on a farm, attending
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
229
in the meantime the country schools, in which
he pursued his studies until his eighteenth
year. He attended two terms in Muncie high
school, and in the fall of 1866 entered Wabash
college at Crawfordsville, in which institution
he took a three years' course, making substan-
tial progress. On leaving college he returned
to Delaware county, and for a number of years
thereafter was acti\ely engaged in educational
work, having taught in all seventeen terms,
thirteen of which were in District No. i, in
Monroe township. As a teacher, Mr. Car-
niichael was careful and painstaking, and he
brought to his work a mind well disciplined by
long and careful study, which earned for him
the reputation of being one of the ablest
instructors of Delaware county. His success
in the field of education is sufSciently attested
by the fact of his having been retained for so
many successive years in one place. Mr. Car-
michael united with the church of Christ in
the year i S69, and shortly thereafter began
his first public religious work as a teacher in
the Sunday school, and he was also frequently
called upon to address other religious assem-
blages. For a period of eighteen years he
taught the infant class, and in 1S74 entered
upon the active duties of the ministry, preach-
ing at different points throughout the country,
principally for congregations unable to support
a regular pastor. For this work he received
no pecuniary remuneration worthy of mention,
supporting himself in the meantime by teach-
ing and from the proceeds of his farm. On
August 14, 1869, Mr. Carmichael was united
in marriage with Samantha B. Tidd, daughter
of Moses and Sarah (Golden) Tidd, of Ohio,
to which union two children have been born;
Anna, wife of Sherman Whitney, and Lacy,
wife of Frank W. Ross, both daughters resid-
ing in Monroe township.
Mr. Carmichael resided upon his farm until
February, 1892, when he rented out the
place and moved to Muncie, since which time
he has devoted nearly all his time to the active
work of the ministry, preaching at different
points, his present charges being at Woodland,
III., and Frankton, Ind. In his ministerial
work he has been very successful, and through
his instrumentality many have been induced
to unite with the church and start upon a
better life. He has always been an uncom-
promising enemy of the liquor traffic and
carries his ideas of intemperance beyond the
mere indulgence of intoxicants, and his life has
been singularly free from those habits, which
destroy so many men. He never remembers
of swearing a single oath, and five cents spent
years ago for tobacco represent the sum total
of his money invested in narcotics of any kind.
Financially Mr. Carmichael has met with
gratifying success, being in possession of a
comfortable competence gained by his own
efforts. His life has indeed been one of great
activity and usefulness, and the future awaits
him with bounteous rewards.
'^j'OHN CASSELL. a well-to-do farmer
M and popular citizen of Centre township,
A 1 is a native of Virginia, born in the
county of Wythe, on the 23d day of
July, 1825. David Cassell, his father, was
born in Pennsylvania and married, in Virginia,
Catherine Keesling, of Wythe county, who
bore him ten children, seven of whom are liv-
ing at this time. David and Catherine Cassell
spent their married life in Virginia, where
their deaths occurred in 1866 and 1867
respectively. They are remembered as most
excellent people, popular in the commimity
where they resided, and were for a number of
years devoted members of the Lutheran
church. John Cassell was reared to manhood
MUNCIE CITY
in his native county and state, received his
education in such schools as the country
afforded, and on attaining his majority began
life for himself as a farmer, which useful voca-
tion he has since successfully followed. He
resided in Virginia until 1871, at which time
he moved to Indiana, locating in Monroe
township, Delaware county, where for a peri-
od of two years he farmed land for a part of
the proceeds. In 1873 he purchased eighty
acres of land where he now resides, in addi-
tion to which he also owns seventy-eight acres
of land in the township of Hamilton. Mr.
Cassell was married in Wythe county, Va. ,
June 10, 1858, to Mary F. Umbarger, who
was born in the same county and state on the
1 2th day of October, 1838. The parents of
Mrs. Cassell, Michael and Nancy (Cassell)
Umbarger, were both natives of Virginia, and
descendants of old German families that set-
tled in the Dominion state at an early period
of its history. To the marriage of John and
Mary Cassell have been born four children:
Martin L. , of Delaware county, Ind. ; Nancy
C, wife of William N. Williams; Margaret,
who lives with her parents, and Berton,
deceased.
Mr. Cassell participated in the late war as
a private in company C, Fifty-first regiment
Virginia infantry, enlisting in 1863 and serv-
ing until August of the following year. He
received a severe wound in the side at the bat-
tle of Sniggersford, Va. , shortly after going to
the front, and from July 1 8 until September 20
was in the disabled list at Winchester, where
his hurt was properly cared for. ;For some
time after returning to his home, owing to the
effects of his wound, Mr. Cassell worked at
the shoemaker's trade, but when sufficiently
recovered he resumed the pursuit of agricul-
ture, to which he has since devoted his atten-
tion. He is a representative citizen, a suc-
cessful farmer, and one of the substantial men
of the neighborhood where he resides. In his
political affiliation he is a republican, and in
religion he and wife are communicants of the
Lutheran church.
HBRAM W. CHAPMAN.— Prominent
among the well known and success-
ful business men of Muncie and Dela-
ware county is Abram W. Chapman,
who was born in Brooke county, W. Va. , on
6th day of April, 1837. His father, Thomas
W. Chapman, also a native of the same coun-
ty and state, was born June 21, 181 5, the son
of William and Eli/abeth Chapman. Until
the age of twenty-two, Thomas W. Chapman
remained with his parents upon the farm, and
then married and later removed to a place of
his own in the same county, where he followed
the pursuit of agriculture for the period of
three years. At the end of that time he re-
moved to Stark county, Ohio, where he be-
came a very extensive farmer and stock raiser
among the most celebrated in the state, and
after remaining there until 1889 removed to
Indiana, locating in Muncie, where he at present
resides. Thomas W. Chapman was for many
years prominently identified with the political
history of Ohio, and at one time represented
the counties of Stark and Carroll in the general
assembly. He met with most gratifying suc-
cess as a stock raiser, and by careful foresight
and successful management accumulated a
handsome fortune, the greater part of which
he has since shared with different members of
his family. When twenty-two years of age he
married Rebecca Warner, daughter of John
and Rebecca (Howenstein) Warner of Penn-
sylvania, and raised a family of six children,
whose names are as follows: Abram W. ,
William M., Clara A., Maria, Elizabeth E.
^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
288
and Alice, all living- with the exception of
AVilliam M. The mother of these children
died 1 89 1, and her remains were laid to rest
in the Home cemetery, Stark county, Ohio.
Abram W. Chapman grew to manhood in
Stark county, Ohio, early became inured to
the rugged usages of life on the farm, and at
the age of fifteen entered Heidelberg college at
Tiffin, where he pursued his studies until his
eighteenth year, making substantial progress
in the higher branches of learning in the mean-
time. On the completion of his education he
returned home and assisted his father on the
farm until his marriage, at the age of twenty-
five, to Susannah Walter, daughter of Capt.
John and Elizabeth Walter of Tuscarawas
county, Ohio, when he acquired a farm of his
own and pursued agriculture and stock raising
in his native state until July, 1885. At that
date he disposed of his farm and purchased a
tract of improved land adjoining the city of
Muncie, Ind. , coming into possession of the
same a short time prior to the discovery of
natural gas in October, 18S6. The discovery
of gas at once caused all real estate in the
vicinity of Muncie to increase very rapidly in
value, and in the spring of 1887 Mr. Chapman
sold his farm at a greatly advanced price, re-
alizing from the sale a very valuable consider-
ation. W^ith wise forethought he at once
engaged in real estate transactions and loan
business, effecting a co-partnership therein
with J. W. Ream, and the firm thus consti-
tuted was soon conducting a very extensive
business in both of these lines.
Mr. Chapman soon afterward organized the
well known Muncie Savings & Loan compa-
pany, with a capital of $1,000,000, of which
he has since been the executive head, and
which, under his prudent management, has
proved one of the most successful financial
enterprises ever established in the city. The
almost unprecedent success of this company-
induced Mr. Chapman and other progressive
business men to organize a new association,
which was effected in 1892, and which, like
the former, is now on the high road to pros-
perity. In his real estate transactions Mr.
Chapman has been signally fortunate, and in
this line he easily leads the business in Muncie
and Delaware county. As a business man he
has few equals in the cit\-, and in his trans-
actions of various kinds he has been governed
by principles of the highest honor. Politically,
he wields a potent influence for the democratic
party. For a period of five years he has held
the office of city commissioner, and in March,
1893, was appointed, by the governor, a com-
missioner of the metropolitan police system of
Muncie, being at this time chairman of the
board. His first wife, by whom he had no
children, died in January, 1886, and subse-
quently, November, 1888, he was united in
marriage with Miss Emma Ankeney of Greene
county, Ohio, who bore him three children,
all of whom died in infancy. Mr. Chapman
is a Presbyterian in his religious belief, and an
earnest worker for and liberal contributcr to
the congregation in Muncie.
aHARLES H. CHURCH, a prominent
business man of Muncie and one of
the city's popular and highly esteemed
citizens, is a native of New York,
born on the 7th day of May, 1839, in the
county of Chenango. His father, William
Church, also a native of the same county, was
born in the year 1806 at Church Hollow, a
small hamlet named in compliment to the
family, and was a descendant of one of the
early pioneers of that section of the Empire
state. For a number of years William Church
was engaged in the mercantile business in
234
MUNCIE CITY
Chenango county, and later carried on the
same Hne of trade in the county of Orange,
where his death occurred in 1890 at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-four years. He was a
man of more than ordinary mental endow-
ments, took an active interest in all public
matters, and at one time represented his
county in the general assembly of New York,
in which body he served two sessions. Politi-
cally he was an ardent supporter of the old
whig party, and religiously was for many years
a leading member of the Presbyterian church
in the community where he resided. His first
wife, the mother of Charles H. Church, bore
him five children, three sons and two daugh-
ters, only two of whom are living at this time,
one in Muncie and one at Susquehanna, Pa.
Charles H. Church, when but three years
of age, suffered the loss of that dearest of all
earthly friends — mother — and his youthful
years were passed in his native village, in the
schools of which he received the rudiments of
an English education. Subsequently he pur-
sued the higher branches of learning in a local
academy of Chenango county, and obtained
his first insight into the active business of life
as a clerk in his father's store, in which capac-
ity he continued until embarking in mercan-
tile trade for himself, at the age of twenty-one,
at Coventry, a small country town. He con-
tinued at this point for two years, doing a
very encouraging business in the meantime,
and then abandoned merchandising, and for
five years thereafter dealt extensively in live
stock and wool in Chenango and adjoining
counties, frequently extending his business
operations throughout various parts of the
Western Reserve, Ohio. At the of twenty-
six, Mr. Church was united in marriage with
Miss Lou Tyler, daughter of Henry P. and
Ann Tyler, natives of Vermont, but at that
time residents of the Buckeye state. Imme-
diately after his marriage, Mr. Church en-
the mercantile and grain trade at
New London, Ohio, in both of which lines his
success was very marked, and he also estab-
lished the First National bank in that city, of
which he was vice president and manager for
a period of about fourteen years. Disposing
of his various business interests in New Lon-
don, Mr. Church, in the spring of 1886, came
to Muncie, Ind. , and assisted in organizing
the Delaware County bank, of which he was
cashier, which was succeeded by the Dela-
ware County National bank, of which he also
became cashier. He was the prime mover in
the organization of the Hathaway Investment
company, of which he has since been a di-
rector; is secretary of the Muncie Street Rail-
way company, and for several years has been
treasurer of the Muncie Savings & Loan asso-
ciation, in the establishment of which he bore
a prominent part In all his business transac-
tions Mr. Church has shown himself to be a
man of uncommon sagacity and discreetness
of judgment, of scrupulous integrity and gen-
tlemanly demeanor. In all public enterprises,
having for their object the general good of his
adopted city, his name and individual efforts
have always been foremost, and in all the at-
tributes of honorable manhood, honesty of pur-
pose and uprightness of character, he stands
prominent, enjoying in full measure the friend-
ship and good will of all with whom he has been
associated. Financially his success has been
commensurate with the activity displayed
throughout a long and varied business career,
and he is certainly entitled to a conspicuous
place among the representative self-made men
of the county of Delaware. Mr. Church cast
his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin-
coln, since which he has been a supporter of
the republican party, but is not a partisan in
the sense of seeking official preferment. He
is the father of two children: William H.
and Earnest, both living in Muncie.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Q ARC US S. CLAYPOOL, proprietor
of Alameda Place, the famous stock
farm, of Muncie, was born near
Connersville, Fayette county, Ind.,
August I, 1 85 1, and is the son of Austin B.
and Hannah A. (Petty) Claypool, of Indiana.
Marcus S. lived in Wayne county, on a farm,
until ten years of age, when the family re-
turned to Connersville, Fayette county, at
which place he received his preparatory edu-
cation ; then he attended school at Dublin,
Wayne county, and eventually graduated from
Asbury (now DePauw) university, in 1872. In
July of the same year he came to Muncie, and
for seven years was assistant cashier of the
Bank of Muncie. In 1879 he was sept to
Colorado as agent for the Victor and Yandes
consolidated silver mining companies, and
also there became the treasurer and secretary
of the consolidated Columbia Tunnel & Mining
company, which he organized, and remained
in the country until 1884, when he returned to
Muncie, and has here since devoted his atten-
tion to the breeding of trotting horses, Jersey
cattle and Shropshire sheep. Like his father,
he had always been a lover or trotting horses,
and as far back as 1875 he had secured some
well bred mares and had patronized such fa-
mous stallions as Blue Bull (75) and Hamble-
tonian Tranby — the best bred in Indiana at
the time — securing some superior road horses,
that, however, were not trained for speed.
John E. Burson, brother-in-law of Mr. Clay-
pool, had established the stock farm at
Alameda Place, now in the Riverside addition,
and on his removal to St. Louis, Mo., Mr.
Claypool bought from him three stallions and
six mares — the stallions being Happy Traveler,
2:27 1-2, son of Hambletonian Prince, dam
Lady Larkin by Little Jack; Gift, Jr., still in
stud, and Stansifer's Woful ; the si.x mares
were by such sires as Hailstorm, Bonny Scot-
land, etc. Mr. Claypool has now at Alameda
Place three high-bred stallions, sired by the
best producing sons of such animals as George
Wilkes, Electioneer and Harold, further en-
riched by the best producing dams from other
renowned sires of trotting families. They are
Agricola, son of Gambetta Wilkes : first dam
by Princeps ; second dam by Volunteer ; third
dam. Flora Belle (2:22 3-4). Messala, son of
Norval (2:14 1-4): first dam by Onward (2:25
1-4), second dam, Blanche Armour (2:26),
third dam by Pilot, Jr., Russellami, by Lord
Russell : dam. Lamia by Onward. Following
these are the great stock horses Silvertone, by
Happy Traveler, dam Little Dolly (dam of
Gift, Jr., 2:27 1-2); Wilkes Pilot, son of
Hambletonian Wilkes ; dam by Mambrino
Chief, Jr., making him brother in blood to
Phebe Wilkes (2:11); Gift, Jr. (2:271-2),
sire of Sable Gift (2:24 1-4), also of Monk,
(2:30) and others, and his son Edgewood, out
of a daughter of Hambletonian Tranby. The
entire collection of richly bred dams, colts and
fillies number thirty-two head. The registered
Jersey herd number nine, including the blood
of Tormentor, Landseer's Fancy, and Signal.
The Shropshire flock contains eighteen head,
registered from the best imported strains.
The farms include forty-eight acres at Alameda
Place, 400 acres east of Muncie adjoining
the city limits, and other extensive tracts in
Centre township.
Mr. Claypool has been secretary of the
Delaware county board of agriculture for sev-
eral years, and a member of the state board ;
also a member of the Indiana Trotting and
Pacing Horse Breeders' association, and secre-
tary of the Eastern Indiana Jersey Cattle
Breeders' association, and is thoroughly posted
in everything that pertains to live stock in all
its characteristics.
The marriage of Mr. Claypool took place
at Muncie, Ind., Jan. 14. 1880, to Miss Eliza-
beth Burson, daughter of the late John W.
MUNCIE CITY
Burson, banker of Muncie, whose sketch will
be found in another part of this volume.
m
'ILLIAM H. M. COOPER, one of
the prominent members of the Del-
aware county bar, and a man who
has achieved an extensive acquaint-
ance through the medium of his abstract office,
was born in Bartholomew county, Ind., Octo-
ber 13, 1840, son of Henry and Lucy (Wil-
liams) Cooper, natives respectively of the
counties of Decatur, Ind., and Clarke, Ohio.
Mr. Cooper is the eldest of a family of seven
children born to the above parents. He
received his primary education in the common
schools, subsequently took a course in Marion
academy, and after completing his literary
studies in the academy at Greencastle, began
teaching, which profession he followed very
successfully for several months. In 1859 he
located in Perry township, Delaware county,
and on the 2nd day of July, 1861, entered the
army, enlisting in company K, Nineteeth Indiana
volunteer infantry, with which he shared the
vicissitudes and honors of war until August 28,
1863, when he was honorably discharged from
the service, on account of wounds received at
the second battle of Bull Run. In r865 Mr.
Cooper was elected recorder of Delaware coun-
ty and served in that position for a period of
five years, after which he took a course of law
in the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor,
having previously taken a commercial course
at the Bryant & Stratton business colleges at
Indianapolis and Cincinnati. He was admit-
ted to the Delaware county bar in the year
1 87 1, and has since practiced his profession at
Muncie, where his well known legal abilities
have won for him a large and lucrative busi-
ness.
For many years Mr. Cooper has been en-
gaged in the abstract business, in which he has
become very proficient, being considered
authority upon all matters pertaining to real
estate in Muncie and Delaware county. Mr.
Cooper is prominently identified with a num-
ber of fraternal organizations, including Wil-
liams post, G. A. R. ; the I. O. O. F. , encamp-
ment and canton; Indianapolis lodge, B. P.
O. E. ; Improved Order of Red Men; the
Independent Order of Foresters; the Indiana
Society Sons of the Revolutfon, in all of which
organizations he is an active and valued mem-
ber. In politics he is a stanch republican,
and, as such, his counsels have been of valua-
ble service and have contributed much to his
party's success in a number of local and gen-
eral campaigns. Mr. Cooper was married, in
1868, to Miss Susannah N. Ellis, daughter of
John H. Ellis, of Muncie, the fruit of which
union is one child, Carrie T. , wife of A. G.
Adamson. Mr. Cooper and family are attend-
ants of the Presbyterian church of Muncie, and
they move in the best social circles of the city.
Throughout the entire county of Delaware,
Mr. Cooper has the reputation of an honora-
ble man and painstaking attorney, and when
he assumes charge of a case his clients well
know that all that can honestly be done in
their favor will be performed. He has a com-
prehensive knowledge of legal principles,
exhibits great skill in the management of his
cases, is faithful to clients and friends in all
his business transactions, and in all relations
of life is a true type of the honorable profes-
sional man and christian gentleman.
5>^ANIEL W. COTTRELL, M. D.—
I I Prominent among the successful
/^^_^ members of the medical profession of
Muncie, Delaware county, Ind., oc-
curs the name of Dr. Daniel W. Cottrell, who
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
was born in the town of Scott, Cortland
county, N. Y., January 4. 183S. His parents
were Peleg S. and Mar}- Jane (Small) Cottrell,
the former of whom was a native of western
Rhode Island, a lineal descendant of William
Cottrell, who settled there in 1669; while the
mother was a native of Gilmanton, N. H.,
and taught for five years in the Lancaster
school of Albany, N. Y. In 1S51 the family
removed to Fayette county, A\'. Va., where
they remained for ten years, removing to Indi-
ana in 1 861. Upon arrival in the last named
state they settled in Daleville, Delaware county,
where the mother died one year later. The
father survived for ten years, dying in 1872.
Both parents were members of the Seventh
Day Baptist denomination and were most ex-
cellent people. Dr. Cottrell is the eldest of
the four sons and two daughters that composed
his father's family. He received his literary
education at the Homer academy, N. Y. , and
by private instruction in West Virginia. In
order to read medicine, in 1856 he went to
Allegany county, N. Y., and studied under
Dr. Brayton Babcock. Finishing his course,
Dr. Cottrell practiced medicine from 1859 to
1 86 1 in West Virginia, but at the latter date
came with the family to Daleville, Delaware
county, Ind., following his profession there
until 1 88 1, when he located in Muncie, where
he has since remained, engaged in his life call-
ing. In addition to his studies under Dr.
Babcock, Dr. Cottrell attended lectures in the
medical department of the university of New
York during the winter of 1858-9, at which
time he began the practice of his profession.
In August, 1863, Dr. Cottrell enlisted in the
Third Indiana battery, and served until the
close of the war.
The marriage of the doctor occurred
December 8, 1859, with Miss Emily Jane
McVey, of West \'irginia. Their married life
was a short one, as she died April 5, 1863,
leaving one cln-ld, nelphilia Loui.^e, wife of
Motley H. Flint, United Slates post olfice in-
spector for the Pacific coast, residing in Los
Angeles, Cal. In 1867 Dr Cottrell married
again, his second wife being Miss Catherine
Drennen, of Delaware county, Ind., b\- whom
he has had two children — John Francis and
Charles Orrin. Dr. Cottrell is a member of
the County Medical society and the Delaware
District Medical societ)-. Politically he is a
republican and supports the nominees of his
party whenever occasion demands. Dr.
Cottrell is an earnest and painstaking physi-
cian and fully merits the trust reposed in him
by the people of Muncie. During a twelve
years' residence in the city lie has built up a
fine practice, which is steadily increasing.
@RANVILLE COWING. -Joseph Cow-
ing, father of the gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch, was
born in the city of Carlisle, England,
September 12th, 1800. He received a fair
education in Dumfries, Scotland, came to
America in 18 19, landing in Alexandria, Va. ,
where he worked at his trade as a tailor.
Later he visited relatives in Washington, D.
C. , and after remaining there a short time
went with Nathaniel Horner, who afterwards
became his brother-in-law, to Weston, W.
Va., where he married Miss Rachel Hor-
ner and located. In 1830 he removed to Fair-
field, Greene county, Ohio, where he pursued
his trade and acquired some property. In
1840 he removed to Andersonville, Franklin
county, Ind., at which place he served as post
master for a period of twelve years. In 1853
he removed to the county of Delaware and
bought a farm near Muncie, where he resided
until i860, at which time he removed to De-
catur county. Six years later he retunred to
MUNCIE CITY
Delaware county, where he made his home un-
til the death of his wife, after which, until his
own death on 6th of May, 1878, he lived with
his children. His wife, Rachel Horner, was
born in Hardy county, May 10, 1803, married
in 1820 and died January 18, 1873, a consist-
ent member of the Methodist church. Mrs.
Cowing's great-grandfather, Richard Horner,
was a native of Scotland and came to America
with Lord Baltimore. For services rendered
the colony he obtained a patent for 10,000
acres of land lying between Annapolis and
Baltimore. After his death his son, also
named Richard, became sole heir, who, dying,
left his estate to Benj. Horner, the grand-
father of the subject of this mention. Benj.
Horner was for three years a sailor and after-
ward served as soldier in the army of Gen.
St. Clair, from which he was honorably dis-
charged September 14, 1800. To the union
of Joseph and Rachel (Horner) Cowing were
born nine children, three girls and six boys,
two of the former dying in early childhood.
Granville Cowing was born March i, 1824,
near the town of Weston, Lewis county, Va.
He learned to read, before six years old, by
attending school taught by an old lady in her
own house near his home. In 1830 he accom-
panied his parents to Fairfield, Ohio, where
he remained for nine years, in the meantime
attending school in the winter and working on
farms during the summer seasons. In August,
1839, he went to Rushville, Ind., to live with
his brother-in-law, in whose establishment he
learned the trade of a tailor. Soon finding
this business distasteful, he abandoned it to
become a printer in the office of the Rushville
Whig, a newspaper started in 1840 by P. A.
Hackleman, to aid the election of Gen. Harri-
son to the presidency. After serving an ap-
prenticeship of three years, he continued in
the office until the year of 1 845, at which time,
in partnership with N. W. Cox, a life-long
friend, he purchased the paper and published
it for about three years, when, on account of
ill health, Mr. Cox retired from the business,
disposing of his interest to another party. In
the fall of 1 849 Mr. Cowing also sold his inter-
est in the paper and went to Washington, D.
C, traveling over the Alleghanies by stage
coach to Cumberland, Md. , where, for the first
time in his life, he saw a railroad, on which
he traveled until reaching his destination.
He spent his first year at the capital in the
office of the National Era, the great anti-
slavery organ, which was then introducing
tJncle Tom's Cabin to the public in its weekly
issue. The paper was edited by Dr. Gamaliel
Bailey and John G. Whittier, the poet, was
printed by Buell & Blanchard, and its office
was much frequented by the great anti-
slavery leaders, Seward, Chase, Hale, Gid-
dings, and others. Clay, Calhoun and Web-
ster were engaged at the time in public affairs,
and were familiar figures in the national capi-
tal. In the fall of 1850 Mr. Cowing was ap-
pointed to a place in the second auditor's
office of the treasury department by Thomas
Corwin, where, for six years, he settled all
accounts of officers of the army for all com-
pany arms and warlike stores required in
active service. These duties often brought
him in contact with many men who afterward
became great leaders in the late civil war.
His health suddenly failed in the beginning
of 1857, and, obtaining leave of absence for
three months, he returned to Indiana in the
hope that the change might benefit him, but
it did not; consequently he resigned his posi-
tion. Before leaving Washington city, D. C ,
J. T. Ouisenberry, a friend with whom he had
been associated in office for six years, fell heir
to 2, 100 acres of land near San Antonio, Tex-
as, and offered to give him 100 acres of it if
he would go there with him, settle upon it and
become his neighbor. This generous offer was
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
280
declined with thanks, mainly beiause Mr.
Cowing believed that ci\il war couKl not long
be averted and he had no desire to be a citi-
zen of a southern state when hostilities began.
Since his return to Indiana in 1857, Mr. Cow-
ing has resided on the same farm near Mun-
cie — a period of thirt\-five years — cultivating
farm crops and small fruits, and during that
time he has been a constant contributor to
horticultural magazines and newspapers. The
strawberrj' has been his favorite fruit, and he
was the first, and, for many years, the only
person in Delaware county, who cultivated it
largely for market.
On September 2, 1S51, Mr. Cowing was
united in marriage to Miss Ann Fitzgerald, of
Washington, who died February 16, 1853,
leaving one child, Frances Alice, whose death
occurred on the i6th day of December, 1854.
On the 1 8th of February, 1855, Mr. Cowing
married Mrs. Lucy O'Farrell, to which union
have been born three sons and one daughter:
Lewis G. , George Edward, Hugh A. and Flor-
ence. Lewis is one of the leading fruit grow-
ers of Delaware county and an enthusiastic
horticulturist; George Edward died at the age
of six years, and Hugh is one of the promi-
nent physicians of Muncie.
The following is a brief sketch of the re-
maining children of Joseph and Rachel
Cowing. John G. Cowing was born Septem-
ber 25, 1825, became a painter, married and
settled at Andersonville, Franklin county,
where he still resides. He enlisted at the be-
ginning of the civil war and was made a con-
firmed invalid at the siege of Forts Henry and
Donelson by reason of exposure to snow and
ice while in the trenches. Cultivating fruits
is his favorite employment. Joseph L. Cow-
ing was born in Virginia in 1826, became- a
tailor, located in New Salem, Rush county,
Ind., where he served as post master for many
years and also several terms as township trus-
of
SSo. Alvin
acijuircd a
tee. He dic<l in tlu- au
M. Cowing was born in N'irgini;
limited education in the ordinary schools, and,
when old enough, K'arned tlie tailor's trade,
in which he became quite proficient. He
married Miss Judith Kemper of Clarksburg,
Ind., and, soon afterward, with Mr. Jefferson
Kemper, purchased the Rushville Republican,
which he published for several years. Subse-
quently he disposed of his interest in the paper
and removed to Montezuma, Iowa, where he
founded another newspaper. He was elected
clerk of the Iowa legislature, and afterwards
became one of its members, and in i860
bought his father's farm near Muncie, Ind., to
which he at once removed. August i, 1862,
he enlisted in the Sixty-ninth regiment Indiana
volunteers, was made lieutenant in company
B, and received his death wound at Richmond,
Ky., on the 30th of the same month, while
endeavoring to rally his men toward the close
of the battle. William J. Cowing was born
in Ohio and entered the printing office of his
brother Granville in 1848. He owned and
edited the Rushville Republican for several
years, and in 1861 received an appointment in
the treasury department of Washington city.
He remained in the national capital until the
breaking out of the war, when he resigned
his place and established a daily paper
in Alexandria city, Va., which he published
until the war ended. He was secretary of
state under the restored government of \'ir-
ginia, and afterwards received a place in the
department of agriculture, which he retained
until his death, in October, 1893. George
W. Cowing was born in Ohio— became a
printer, and was long employed in the govern-
ment printing office in Washington city.
During the war he was coimected with the
quartermaster's department. He died Janu-
ary 16, 1873, and his body was laid to rest
in Beech Grove cemetery at Muncie, Ind.
240
MUNCIE CITY
OSCAR W. CRABBS.— Conspicuous
among the representative and suc-
cessful business men of the city of
Muncie is Oscar W. Crabbs, who
was born in Montgomery county, Ohio,
March 12, 1852. His parents, Benj. F.
and Louise (Folcarth) Crabbs, are natives
of the same county and state, where they now
reside. Oscar W. Crabbs early manifested
great aptitude for business, and at the age of
seventeen embarked upon his commerical
career by dealing in coal, wood, hay, grain,
etc. , in which lines his success was fully com-
mensurate with his expectations. In 1885 he
located in Muncie, Ind., and engaged in buy-
ing, pressing and shipping hay, from which
has been developed his present business — one
of the most successful of the kind in the city.
He deals extensively in wheat, corn, clover,
seeds, etc., and from long practice and wide
experience has so learned to manage his busi-
ness that prosperity has attended his efforts.
Mr. Crabbs is a member of the Co-operative
Gas company of Muncie, and is now looking
after the city's interest as a member of the
common council from the First ward, in which
body he is chairman of the important commit-
tees on water works, cemetery and judiciary.
Politically he is a republican and stoutly sup-
ports the party with which he is identified,
believing that its principles inure to the best
interests of the country. Mr. Crabbs was
married in 1872 to Miss Mary E. Hosier,
daughter of Robert Hosier of Montgomery
county, Ohio, to which union have been born
three children, namely: Claudia Burdelia,
Frank Dodds and Robert Benj. Mr. Crabbs
holds to the creed of the Methodist church,
and with his family belongs to the Muncie
congregation, in which he holds the position
of trustee. He was one of the members of the
building committee, and to him is largely due
the credit of pushing forward to completion
the present magnificent church edifice
which the congregation worships.
OZRO N. CRANOR, a leading mem-
ber of the Delaware county bar and
state senator for the counties of Del-
aware and Randolph, was born in
Wayne county, Ind., September 4, 1855, and
is a son of John and Elizabeth (Study) Cranor,
both families pioneer settlers of Wayne coun-
ty. John Cranor, however, was born in
Ohio, July 6, 1828, but has passed his whole
life, so to speak, in Wayne county, having
been brought here by his parents in the fall of
the year of his birth. He now has his resi-
dence in Dublin, that county, and has been a
minister in the United Brethren church for
thirty-three years. Mrs. Elizabeth (Study)
Cranor, also a native of Wayne county, Ind.,
was born April 7, 1830. The maternal grand-
mother of Ozro N. Cranor bore the maiden
name of Lomax, and her family settled in
what is now Wayne county, Ind., as early as
1811.
Ozro N. Cranor is the second eldest in a
family of five children. His preliminary edu-
cation was obtained at the common schools of
his native county, and this was supplemented
by attendance at the Hartsville and Otterbein
universities. In the spring of 1876 he went
to Vermillion county, and for six years taught
school, and while there, on the 4th day of
September, 1878, was married to Miss Mattie
J. Arrasmith, but insatiate Death stepped in
ere little more than a year had passed, and
claimed the bride as his own. Her death
occurred September 28, 1879, but she left her
husband a pledge of her love — Bertha — born
June 23, 1879. In 1882, Mr. Cranor came to
Delaware county, and November 23, 1883,
chose for his second wife Miss Victoria L. ,
0. N. CRANOR.
I
^
w -»<^
//^. Of: A
^A-c^-TX-c^^ ly
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
241
daughter of Capt. John and Ehza B. Koss, and
to this happy union have been born two chil-
dren— John R., born August 27, 1884, and
Gifford B. , born May 21, 1893. Mr. Cranor
having duly prepared himself, began the prac-
tice of law in Muncie in 1889, and in this pro-
fession he soon forged his way to the front.
In politics he is a republican through and
through, is a worker for his party, and is as
popular in its ranks as he is before
the general public. In 1888 he was elected
to represent his fellow citizens of Del-
aware county in the lower house of the
state legislature, and so well did he take
care of their interests during the term, that he
was sent back to the state capital in 1892, as
joint senator from the counties of Delaware
and Randolph, of which office he is still the
incumbent. Mr. Cranor is a member of Mun-
cie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O. F. , and of Muncie
Encampment, No. 30, and he and wife are
consistent and faithful members of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church. As a professional
man his success has been most gratifying, and
as a member of society his gentlemanly de-
portment has won him hosts of friends.
@EORGE W. CROMER, one of the
enterprising and successful members
of the Delaware county bar, and a
prominent politician of this part of
the state of Indiana, was born in Columbus,
Madison county, Ind. , May 13, 1857, a son of
Joshua and Mary (Shultz) Cromer, natives of
Maryland, and Wayne county, Ind., respect-
ively. These parents moved to Salem town-
ship, Delaware county, in 1857, where they
purchased a farm and where they now reside.
George W. Cromer in early life attended the
public schools in Salem township and supple-
mented his elementary education by a full
course in the State university, at Bloomington,
from which he graduated in 1882. Thus
thoroughly equipped, he was ready to choose
a profession, and, deciding upon the law,
entered the office of Ellis & Walterhouse in
1883, and so great was his application and
natural ability that one year later he was ad-
mitted to the Delaware county bar. Since
that time he has been kept busy practicing in
the district, county and state courts, and has
succeeded in building up a large and lucrative
legal business, being one of the most success-
ful lawyers of the city of Muncie, which has
long been known for its men of high legal at-
tainments.
Politically, Mr. Cromer is a republican, and
has always been an active and energetic
worker for his party. In 1892 he was chair-
man of the county central committee and a
member of the state republican committee for
the Sixth congressional district. He was
elected prosecuting attorney for the Forty-
sixth judicial district in 1886, was re-elected
in 1888, and discharged the duties of that po-
sition in a manner highly creditable to himself
and eminently satisfactory alike to his friends
and to those opposed to him politically.
Fraternally he is a member of the B. P. O.
E., the I. O. R. M. and the I. O. O. F. He
is also a member of the Evangelical Lutheran
church. He is considered one of the rising
men of the city, and his career is watched
with much interest by his friends, who predict
for him a future of great promise.
>nr'AMES N. CROPPER was born in Ran-
m dolph, county Ind., February 7, 1838,
A 1 son of Bela W. and Elizabeth Cropper.
Bela W. Cropper was a native of
Woodford, county Ky., where he grew to man-
hood on a farm, and later followed boating on
242
MUNCIE CITY
the Ohio river, in which business he continued
with a reasonable degree of success for some
years. He married, in his native state, Ehza-
beth Ashby, who was born in Henry county,
Ky. , and after a brief residence in Ohio and a
return to Kentucky, moved to Indiana about
1833, setthng in Randolph county, eight miles
southwest of Winchester, where he engaged
in agricultural pursuits. Bela W. and Eliza-
beth Cropper represented a parentage of four-
teen children, five of whom are living at this
time, the youngest of the family being James
N. He was for many years an active mem-
ber of the Regular Baptist church, being a
deacon, and also serving as clerk of the asso-
ciation. He was for many years a justice in
the township of West River, and achieved
considerable reputation in his community as a
local politician, first as a whig and later as a
republican. He was one of the pioneers of
Randolph county, being among those who en-
tered the county at a time when but little
effort had been made to disturb the original
possessors of the soil — the savage red man and
.the wild beast of the forest. He possessed
many noble traits of mind and heart, which
have been reproduced in his descendants, and
died at his home in West River township,
Randolph county, at a ripe old age deeply la-
mented by all who knew him His widow sur-
vived him a short time, and now rests by his
side in the cemetery at Huntsville near his old
home.
James N. Cropper was reared to agricul-
tural pursuits on the homestead in Randolph
county, and early became familiar with all the
details of farm life. His primary education
was acquired in the country schools, the train-
ing thus received being afterwards supplement-
ed by a course in what was known as the
Farmers' academy. Jay county, in which insti-
tute he made such commendable progress that
within a short time he was sufficiently ad-
vanced in his studies to procure a license
enabling him to teach in the public schools.
He served as local correspondent for the coun-
ty papers and contributed to them and other
publications numerous articles on topics of
public interest. He was engaged as teacher
in the winter seasons until the breaking out of
the war, at which time he deemed it his duty
to assist in preserving the Union. According-
ly, on the 19th of July, 1862, he enlisted as
private, and was mustered into the service at
Indianapolis, as a sergeant, August 19, same
year, in which capacity he continued until his
promotion to the lieutenancy a few months
later. He discharged the duties of the latter
position in a creditable manner until 1864,
in July of which year, owing to the consolidat-
ing of his regiment into a battalion, and death
at home, and with the consent of his com-
manding officer, he resigned his commission,
returned home and engaged in farm work and
teaching. On the i6th day of November,
1865, Mr. Cropper and Sallie A. Mills, daugh-
ter of Rufus K. and Elizabeth J. (McPherson)
Mills, were united in the bonds of wedlock,
remaining for one year thereafter on a farm in
Randolph county. In 1866 Mr. Cropper
embarked in the general mercantile trade at
the town of Huntsville, where he remained for
about four and one-half years, at the end of
which time he disposed of his stock, the busi-
ness not proving remunerative, and located in
Muncie, where, for some months, he was var-
iously employed, working for a livelihood at
whatever he could find to do. This was a
trying period in his life, but he encountered
and successfully overcame obstacles which
would have discouraged many a man of less
determination and will power. Among the
different occupations in which he was engaged
after coming to this city were wood sawing,
gathering corn for neighboring farmers, market
gardening, and various other kinds of labor.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
and teaching school in the country in winter.
He was appointed and accepted the position of
deputy township appraiser and assessor, and
served five terms. He also served as deputy
sheriff cf Delaware county under Andrew J.
Slinger, the duties of which position he dis-
charged in an eminently satisfactory manner
for a period of two years. He then clerked
with different mercantile firms of the city until
1883, when he effected a co-partnership in the
grocery trade with Jonathan P. Adamson,
which relationship was severed two years later,
Mr. Cropper purchasing the entire stock and
continuing the business very successfully until
June, 1892. He disposed of his stock in that
year and retired from mercantile pursuits,
since which date he has given his attention
almost exclusively to his real estate interests
in Muncie, being one of the principal movers
in the Riverside addition, where his holdings
are large and very valuable.
Mr. Cropper is a commendable example of
what may be accomplished by perseverance
and prudent management, and he has shown
himself to be a man of discreet judgment,
scrupulous integrity and gentlemanly de-
meanor. That he has been successful in his
various business enterprises is sufficiently at-
tested by his present conspicuous standing in
Muncie, where only a few years ago he arrived
without any capital worthy of mention, save a
well formed determination to make the best of
very discouraging surroundings and to over-
come obstacles which to the majority of men
would have appeared practically insurmount-
able. He is not identified with any church,
but affiliates with the Society of Friends, as
also does his wife. He served as superintend-
ent of the Mission Sunday school of this
society for several years, commencing with its
organization. Since attaining his legal ma-
jority, he has exercised his elective franchise
in behalf of the republican party, the princi-
ples of which he believes to be for the best
interest of the country. Mr. and Mrs. Cropper
have one child, a daughter, Ina C., wife of
F. B. Nickey, one of the leading business men
of Muncie.
@EORGE W. CROZIER, general man-
ager of The Crozier Washing Machine
company, is one of the progressive
citizens who serve to build up and
improve any community in which fortune has
placed them. Mr. Crozier was born in Piqua,
Ohio, July 21, 1847, a son of William. J. and
Ann (Ross) Crozier, the former a native of
Scotland, and an early settler of Piqua,
and the latter a native of the same county.
They now reside near Toledo, Ohio.
George W. Crozier was educated in the
public schools of Defiance, Ohio, after which
he learned the machinist's trade, displaying a
natural aptitude for mechanical work. In
1873 he opened a foundry and machine shop
at Napoleon, Henry, county, Ohio, which he
conducted until 1879, when he removed to
Columbia City, Ind., and changed his business,
becoming the proprietor of the Central house.
In 1883 he came to Muncie, and soon after
this invented a patent buggy top, and engaged
in manufacturing the same for four years, also
manufacturing the Crozier gas regulator, of
which he was also the inventor.
In 1 890 Mr. Crozier was so fortunate as to
patent something which filled a long felt want,
this being the now celebrated Crozier washing
machine, and he at once began the manafac-
ture of them, in January, 1892, organizing the
Crozier Washing Machine company, and be-
coming general manager of the same. This
company does the largest business in their line
of any firm in the city. He is a stockholder
in several co-operative gas companies, and is a
member of the Citizens' Enterprise company.
244
MUNCIE CITY
and is socially connected with the I. O O. F.
and the I. O. R. M. Politically he is a demo-
crat, and stanchly upholds the principles of
his party.
In 1872 Mr. Crozier was married to Miss
Mary A. Rogers, daughter of Joseph Rogers,
of Henry county, Ohio, but he was called
upon to mourn her death in 1881. She left a
family of five children, as follows: Gary, May,
Elta, Leroy and Walter. In 1886, Mr. Cro-
zier married Mrs. Jennie Ray, of Muncie, a
lady of many fine qualities, and a member of
the Baptist church.
ai
ALTER L. DAVIS, the well known
journalist and business man of
Muncie, is a native of Warren
county. Pa. , born October 2 1 , 1850,
in the town of Youngsville. His father, Wil-
lard J. Davis, also a native of the same county
and state, was born May 17, 1828, the son of
Abraham and Ruth (Mead) Davis, whose an-
cestors came to the United States from Wales
a great many years ago. Willard J. Davis
still lives upon the farm where he was born, a
part of which is embraced within the corporate
limits of Youngsville, and is perhaps the largest
bee raisers in the state of Pennsylvania — his
apiary consisting of over five hundred stands,
the product of which finds sale in Philadelphia
and other large eastern cities. He married, in
1849, Miss Laura Littlefield, daughter of
Stephen and Elizabeth (Mead) Littlefield, of
Warren county, Pa. , a union blessed with the
birth of four children: Walter L. , Homer F.,
James H., who died at the age of eleven years,
and Mary Alice. Willard J. is a prominent
member of the Methodist Episcopal church in
the town where he resides, and for a period of
fort}' years has been leader of the choir in the
congregation of Youngsville. He has served
as justice of the peace for a number of terms,
has been a member of the school board for
more than twenty years, and is a man of
much more than ordinary mental endowments.
Walter L. Davis was reared on the home
place at Youngsville, and received his early
educational training in the schools of that
town, which he attended until his nineteenth
year. He finished his studies in the high
school of Muncie, Indiana, to which city he
came in 1 869, and on quitting school accepted
the position of salesman with his uncle, P. F.
Davis, a dealer in agricultural implements.
He was thus employed from 1870 to 1877, re-
tiring from the business in the latter year and
purchasing an interest, with Col. J. D. Will-
iams, in the Muncie Courier-Democrat, with
which paper he was connected for two years.
He then became city editor of the Muncie
Daily News, and one year later, in partner-
ship with Charles Alf Williams, purchased an
interest in the Muncie Democrat, which paper
he managed very successfully during the cam-
paign of 1880. Disposing of his interest in
the Democrat to L. A. Kirkwood, Mr. Davis
resumed his former position on the News, and
continued in that capacity until 1885, in
December of which year he again purchased
the Democrat, consolidating it with the Mun-
cie Herald, forming a partnership in the news-
paper business with Thomas McKillip, editor
of the latter, a relationship which continued
until August, 1889, when he Sold out and be-
came manager of the paper which he had
formerly owned. He filled the latter position
two and one-half years, when he retired from
journalism, and in May, 1892, accepted the
position of assistant secretar}- of the Muncie
Savings & Loan company, one of the most
successful associations of the kind in the state
of Indiana. Mr. Davis was one of the original
directors of this enterprise, and to his activity
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
245
and judicious management is the association
indebted for much of its present prosperity.
Mr. Davis was married October 8, 1879,
to Isadora F. Morehouse, daughter of Henry
and Mary (Hiatt) Morehouse, of Michigan.
To this union one child has been born: Ethel,
whose birth occurred March 17, 1882. Mr.
Davis belongs to the Masonic fraternity.
Knights of Maccabees and the National Frater-
nal union. In politics he is a democrat, and
at this time holds the position of deputy state
supervisor of oil inspection in the state depart-
ment of geology. Mr. Davis is a man of good
business tact, and his knowledge of men, and
his experience as a journalist and newspaper
man, have enabled him to discharge with credit
the duties of the various positions to which,
at different times, he has been called. He
enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellow
citizens of Muncie, and is one of the city's most
intelligent and progressive business men.
>^OHN WORTHINGTON DRAGOO was
M born in Perry township, Delaware
« 1 county, Ind., May 7, 1858, the son of
William and Amelia (Gibson) Dragoo,
old settlers of the county, and highly respected
residents of their township. William Dragoo,
the father of John W., was a native of West
Virginia, as it is now known, but at the early
age of seven years, was brought to Delaware
county by his father, who entered eighty acres
of land in Perry township, the patent being
signed by Andrew Jackson, and this land never
changed hands until the death of the patentee,
when it was divided among his heirs. William
Dragoo was a member of a family of seven
children that reached maturity, and had the
advantage of an excellent education that he
acquired at the schools of Muncie and New-
castle, having as classmates such young men
as Judge Shipley and C. Spilker, of Muncie,
and others that became famous in later life.
The early business life of William Dragoo was
that of a general merchant at New Burlington,
Delaware county, but later on he withdrew
from mercantile trade and engaged in the pur-
suit of agriculture, which he followed most
successfully until his retirement from active
labor to pass the remnant of his days at the
residence of his son, John W., in Muncie.
John W. also was reared a farmer, and was
educated at the public schools. At fifteen
years of age he relinquished his studies, and
at twenty-one left the farm, and for five years
was employed in school teaching and in at-
tending schools of a higher grade. The next
five years found him again on the farm, and
from the expiration of that time until the
present the school room has again been the
field of his labor. He has in all taught over
fifty months, included in which period are a
term of one year as superintendent of the
Yorktown schools and his present superin-
tendency of the schools of Congerville. He
has reached a high position in the estimation
of his fellow citizens, and by them was elected
county assessor in the winter of 1892.
The marriage of Mr. Dragoo took place
May 7, 1884, to Miss Frances R. Jump, the
accomplished daughter of Dr. S. V. Jump, of
New Burlington, and four children have been
the fruit of this happy union, viz: Charles,
Earl, Nina F., Mary L. and Charlene. In
politics, Mr. Dragoo is a republican, and fra-
ternally he is a Patriotic Son of America. He
has led a studious and industrious life, has
been faithful and energetic in the discharge of
his professional and public duties, and has
proven himself to be in every respect fully
worthy of the responsible trusts reposed in
him. The family hold a position in society of
which they may well feel proud.
246
MUNCIE CITY
>^OSIAH W. DRAKE, an ex-soldier and
■ well known citizen of Muncie, Ind.,
A 1 was born in Brown county, Ohio, Jurie
3, 1 841, a son of Robert and Melissa
(Gardner) Drake. They were natives of Ohio,
and after marriage followed farming. In 1851
they came to Hamilton county, Ind. , where
they now reside. Josiah W. Drake received
a common school education, and engaged in
business on his own account in 1865, begin-
ning the harness making in Boxley, Hamilton
county, Ind. He was appointed post master
of the village by Andrew Johnson, serving in
that capacity for one year. He then engaged
in saw and flour milling, following these occu-
pations for two years, and then spent one
year in Orange county, at French Lick, for
the benefit of his health. Becoming some-
what better, he returned to Hamilton county
and engaged for one year in selling Wheeler
& Wilson sewing machines; then located at
Berlin, Clinton county, Ind. , where he fol-
lowed the mercantile business for one year,
but sold this and removed to Circleville, same
county, where he engaged in painting for the
four succeeding years. At the end of that
time he took a contract for supplying the ties
for the L. E. &. W. R. R. for one year, and
then removed to Muncie, continuing in the
employ of the same road in the bridge depart-
ment. Mr. Drake's war record is an honor-
able one, and his pension of six dollars a month
was valiantly earned. In July, 1861, he en-
listed in company B, Thirty-ninth Indiana
volunteers, and at the expiration of his term
of service re-enlisted at Ringgold, Ga. , in Feb-
ruary, 1863, serving in company B, Eighth
Indiana cavalry. He participated in many
hard skirmishes and took part in the battle of
Chickamauga, being finally discharged at
Wilmington, N. C. In 1885 Mr. Drake en-
gaged in the restaurant business, and has since
continued in the same line, becoming pro-
prietor of the LaClede, October 13, 1892.
Mr. Drake was married in Hamilton county,
Ind., October 6, 1866, to Miss Aman-
da Phillips, who was born in Morgan county,
Ind., daughter of Thomas Phillips, a native of
North Carolina. Three children have been
born of this marriage — Myrtle and two infants,
all deceased. Politically Mr. Drake is a dem-
ocrat, and is one of the sterling citizens of the
flourishing city of Muncie.
Wi
ILLIAM EDGAR DRISCOLL, B.
S., M. D., is one of the prominent
professional men of Muncie, a native
son of Indiana, born in Centre
township, Delawai-e county, near where the
Indiana Iron works now stand, on the 6th day
of October, 1858. His parents were John and
Maria (Gibson) Driscoll. The doctor received
a liberal education, graduating from Purdue
university, Lafayette, Ind., in June, 1882, fol-
lowing which he entered upon the study of
medicine under the guidance of Dr. S. V.
Jump, of New Burlington. He further took a
full course at the Medical college of Ohio, at
Cincinnati, where he graduated March, 1886,
after which he began the practice at Cowan,
Delaware county, where he resided for two
years. In June, 1888, Dr. Driscoll located
permanently in Muncie, where he has since
enjoyed a large share of the remunerative
practice, and where his superior medical
knowledge has won for him a conspicuous
place among the successful medical men of
central Indiana. In April, 1886, he was
elected coroner of Delaware county, and filled
the office by successsive re-elections for the
six succeeding years.
Doctor Driscoll is well known among his
professional associates, being a member of the
Delaware County Medical society, of which he
i^.0.
Cy! ^-^ey^^^>2<a:^^s
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
was formerly president; belongs to the Dela-
ware District Medical society, and the State
Medical society of Indiana. In 1892, his ad-
vice and good judgment were secured for the
city by an election to the common council
from the Third ward, and he is now serving in
that body as a member of the police, street,
and educational committees, and is also chair-
man of the library board, in which organization
he has taken a very active interest. Dr.
Driscoll was appointed by Gov. Matthews to
attend the first Pan-American medical con-
gress, held at Washington, D. C , September
5 to 8, 1893, in which he represented his state
in the lectures on hygiene, and quarantine
and infectious diseases. Politically Dr. Dris-
coll is a republican, and, fraternally, belongs
to Muncie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O. F. , and to
Delaware lodge, No. 46, A. F. & A. M. He
was one of the incorporators of the Muncie
Silver Ash institute, and is physician in charge
of the same at this time. He is a member of
the Citizens' Enterprise company, and of
various other projects having for their object
the public good, and he is progressive and en-
terprising in all those terms imply. Profes-
sionally the doctor stands high in Muncie.
His mental faculties, thoroughly disciplined
by collegiate and professional training, enable
him to keep pace with the advancement of
medical science; his success is due as much to
his original experiments and investigations, as
to his extensive reading. On the 29th day of
September, 1886, Dr. Driscoll and Maggie J.,
daughter of Samuel Chapman, of Oxford, Ind.,
were united in marriage, and one child has
come to gladden their home, namely: John
C. Driscoll. Mrs. Driscoll is a lady of cult-
ure, refinement, and rare intelligence, having
graduated in the same class with her husband
at Purdue university. Dr. and Mrs. Driscoll
are highly respected members of the High
street Methodist church of Muncie, and they
move in the best social circles nf the city.
The attention of the reader is called to the
fine portrait of the doctor on the o|)posite
page.
>T^OSEPH F. DUCKWALL, eminent as
m an attorney at law of Muncie, was born
/• 1 near Batavia. Clermont county, Ohio,
July 8, 1834. His father was a
wealthy and prosperous farmer, and the early
life of Joseph F. was spent upon the paternal
farm. The pursuit of agriculture not being
suited to his inclinations, at the age of nine-
teen, he left the farm and engaged in teaching,
having received his early education in the
common schools and the academy. In 1853
he entered the Ohio Wesleyan university at
Delaware, Ohio, where he remained nearly
three years, defraying the principal portion of
his expenses with his earnings as a teacher.
He is liberally educated, and a gentleman of
fine culture and extensive information. His
maternal grandfather, Thomas Foster, was a
soldier in the war of 1812, and was in Hull's
infamous surrender, of which he could not
speak except with deep indignation. His
grandmother was the sister of the well known
pioneer Methodist minister, Rev. Wm. H.
Raper. His mother, Elizabeth (Foster) Duck-
wall, was the cousin of Randolph S. Foster,
D. D., now a bishop of the M. E. church.
In June, 1857, Joseph F. Duckwall came
to Muncie and engaged in the publication of
the Muncie Messenger, of which he was editor
and proprietor. In August, 1858, he moved
his press to Anderson, and started the Madi-
son County Republican, which he continued
to publish until March, 1859, when he was
compelled to suspend its publication for want
of patronage. In this unfortunate venture he
lost all that he possessed. He returned to Mun-
cie, and on June i, 1859, was married to Miss
250
MUNCIE CITY
Addie Jones, daughter of Wm. F. Jones, ex-
mayor of Muncie, and soon after he was em-
ployed as principal of the Muncie public
schools, which position he held during the
school year. In the summer of i860, at the
solicitation of the Hon. Walter March, who
kindly gave him financial aid, he purchased
the Eastern Indiana Courant, the name of
which he changed to The Delaware County
Free Press, which he continued to edit and
publish until the fall of 1867, when he sold
the Press to Hon. Alfred Kilgore. The Free
Press was a republican journal of the radical
type, and was an able advocate of republican
principles. Its columns doubtless contributed
largely to the creation of that sterling republi-
can sentiment which has long been the boast
and pride of the people of Delaware county.
His paper was regarded as one of the ablest in
the state, and its editor acknowledged to be
an able and forcible writer by all. His paper
was admired for its independence and fearless
advocacy of the right, regardless of policy or
pecuniary gain or personal advantage.
In the year 1869 Mr. Duckwall went to
Greenfield, Mo., and engaged in the practice
of law, and soon took position in the front
ranks of his profession. His ability as a law-
yer soon received public recognition. In 1 874,
without his knowledge or consent, his name
was placed upon a ticket as a candidate for
prosecuting attorney of the Twenty-fifth judi-
cial circuit, and came very near being elected.
In the campaign of 1876, his services were
demanded on the stump, and he made a large
number of speeches in the interests of the
republican party. In the fall of that year the
republican convention of Greene county, held
at Springfield, placed him before the people
as a candidate for attorney general of the
state, and instructed its delegates to vote for
him in the state convention. He received
similar endorsements from several other county
conventions of southwestern Missouri, and
when it is considered that he had not even
thought of being a candidate for that office,
this action is a high compliment to his ability
and worth. The state was overwhelmingly
democratic, and a place, upon the republican
ticket was solely one of honor, and he made
no effort to secure the nomination. In the
fall of the same year he was nominated, by
acclamation, by the republican convention of
Dade county, for prosecuting attorney, and
the nomination so made was tendered to him
with a request that he accept the same, which
he did, and was elected. This office he held
for two years, discharging its duties with sig-
nal ability and fidelity. Immediately after
the expiration of his term of office he returned
to Muncie, where he resumed the practice of
law. Soon after his return he was solicited to
become the editor of The Daily Times, which
position he accepted and occupied nearly two
years.
Mr. Duckwall has been prominently identi-
fied with the politics of Delaware county for
many years, and has contributed with his pen
and upon the rostrum to the advancement of
the cause of republicanism and good govern-
ment. He not only wields a trenchant pen,
but is a forcible and entertaining public
speaker. In addition to the positions of pub-
lic trust held by him, above mentioned, he
was the first city clerk of Muncie, and also
city attorney, having been elected to the form-
er and appointed to the latter. These offices
he filled faithfully and acceptably to the peo-
ple. As a lawyer, Mr. Duckwall is recognized
as one of high rank and scholarly attainments,
and well equipped in every branch of the pro-
fession. Although he has never allowed the
use of his name as a candidate, he has been
favorably mentioned as a candidate for judge
of the Delaware circuit court, and his eminent
fitness and qualification for the position are,
^^«^Ct^^^i^^^^^^j?*^-«-«-^
MRS. E. DUNGAN.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
251
by those wlio know him, fully recognized.
As a citizen, he is honest, upright and exem-
plar}-, and universally respected. He is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and is regarded as a conscientious christian
gentleman. He has practically retired from
the practice of his profession, and is living a
peaceful and quiet life in his pleasant home in
Riverside, resting from the labors of an active
and busy life, and rationally enjoying the
fruits of his toil and the confidence and esteem
of his fellow men.
>T^OHN W. DUNGAN, proprietor of the
m Glendale Jersey farm, and an old and
A J honored resident of Delaware county,
was born in Fayette county, Ind., June
2, 1824, a son of Benjamin and Margaret
(Mitchell) Dungan. The former was born in
Bucks county, Pa., and was the son of John
Dungan, a native of Ireland, who had come to
America many years prior and located in New
York state, later removing to Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Dungan married in Butler county,
Ohio, and removed with his family to Fayette
county, Ind. , in quite an early day, where he
engaged in farming (following the occupation all
his life), and became the father of ten children
the record of whom is as follows: Rebecca,
Elias, William, Elizabeth, Esther and James,
all deceased; John W. , Joseph A., of Muncie;
Isaac J., a farmer of Missouri, and Benjamin
W., deceased. The mother died January 22,
1836, and the father September 15, 1855,
both members of the Baptist church. Politi-
ically, Mr. Dungan was a whig. After the
death of his wife he removed to Delaware
count}', in 1836, and remained here until 1853.
John W. Dungan was reared to hard work
on the farm and had very limited opportunities
of becoming educated. He remained with his
father until 1842, at which time he came to
Muncie and engaged with Thomas S. Neelcy
in the blacksmith trade, which he followed
until 1859, when he was elected sheriff of
Delaware county, serving in this position un-
til he enlisted, October 19, 1864, in the Union
army for one year. Before the expiration of his
term of service he was honorably discharged,
May 8, 1865, at Indianapolis. After his re-
turn from the war, Mr. Dungan engaged in
working at his trade, which he continued until
1869, then sold implements for three years,
and from 1873 to 1877 was employed as sales-
man in a hardware store. At the end of that
time he was re-elected to the office of sheriff
and served from August, 1877, to August,
1 88 1, when he retired to his farm adjoining
the city. He had purchased eighty acres of
land in 1879, and has forty acres now in Part-
wico.
In Muncie, October 18, 1848, he married
Miss Edith Dragoo, who was born in Preston
county, W. Va. , in 1827, a daughter of Will-
iam and Elizabeth (Prunty) Dragoo, natives
of Virginia, of Irish ancestry, who came to this
county in 1838, being among the pioneers.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Dungan bear the
following names: George, a resident of Mun-
cie; Leonidas, a blacksmith of this city; Cor-
nelia A., deceased; Walter R., deceased; Caro-
line, the wife of William Weeks, of Muncie;
Jessie J., the wife of George Carmichael, a
farmer of the county; Willie, deceased; Nettie,
at home, and Harry F. , a commission mer-
chant, in company with D. T. Haines, Jr.
The parents are members of the Methodist
church and have brought up a fine, moral
family. Politically, Mr. Dungan is a republi-
can, and was assessor of his township three
terms, street commissioner two years, and has
taken a great interest in the progress of the
county. He is a member of the Masonic
252
MUNCIE CITY
order and of I. O. O. F lodge, No. 74.
Mr. Dungan is the proprietor of a fine farm
whicli is known all over the county as the
home of some of the finest thoroughbred
Jersey cattle in this part of the state. He
has made a success of, and takes great inter-
est in, the breeding of these and other fine
cattle.
,>'^-OBERT DUNN, senior member of
1 /^ the firm of Dunn Lime & Sewer Pipe
I ^P company, contractors for plastering,
and wholesale and retail dealers in
lime, hair, cement, plaster of paris, fire brick,
fire clay, etc., is one of the representative
business men of Muncie, and a highly respected
citizen of Delaware county. He was born
October 11, 1830, in Abbeville district, S. C,
the son of James and Bethome (Evans) Dunn.
The father was a farmer, which vocation he
carried on in his native state in connection
with shoemaking, and later in Fayette county,
Ind. , where he moved in 1832, settling near
the town of Connersville. In 1833 he moved
to Rush county, this state, where he resided
for two years, and then became a resident of
the county of Hancock, where he made his
home until 1846, at which time he located in
Marion county, where his wife's death oc-
curred in I 847. Subsequently he removed to
Indianapolis, where he resided for a limited
period, and then returned to his farm in Mari-
on county, but did not long remain there,
moving, within about one year, to the southern
part of the state, and eventually returning to
the county of Fayette. In 1851 he went back
to his native state. South Carolina, and after
a few years' residefice there, returned to Fay-
ette county, in the year 1858. His second
wife was Polly Simms. James Dunn was the
father of eight children, namely: Elizabeth j.,
deceased; Robert, whose name introduces this
sketch; James R. , deceased; Nancy, who lives
in Chicago; Martha G., deceased; Andrew J.,
of Indianapolis; William Thomas, deceased,
and George, a citizen of Marion county, Ind.
Robert Dunn, the second of the above
children, was reared on a farm until 1848, at
which time he began learning the trade of
plastering in Indianapolis, and with the ex-
ception of two years spent in farming in Rush
county, has followed that vocation ever since.
He became a resident of Muncie in the year
1888, and now does a very extensive and lu-
crative business as a plasterer, beside dealing
very largely in the articles enumerated in the
introduction of this sketch — his place on west
Dumont street being one of the well known
business houses of the city. Mr. Dunn has
been twice married; the first time, in August
1850, to Miss Martha Day, who was born in
Marion county, this state, in 1830, the daugh-
ter of Mark and Elizabeth Day, of Ohio. To
this union were born five children: William
L. , associated with his father; Mary A.,
Richard W. , also his father's associate; Har-
vey E. of Muncie, and George E. , who works
at the tailoring business. The mother of
these children, a most excellent christian
woman, and for many years a member of the
Methodist church, died in the year 1869. In
1870 Mr. Dunn married his present wife,
Mrs. Eliza J. W^olfe, of Rushville, Ind. Mr.
Dunn is a republican in politics and fraternal-
ly belongs to the I. O. O. F. Since his re-
moval from Rushville to Muncie in the year
above noted, he has succeeded in building up
a large and lucrative business, and as a skilled
workman he has been extensively employed in
the city and throughout the country. He is
one of the substantial citizens of Delaware
county, and in a modest way has contributed
his full share toward its development and
prosperity.
^^^t^'^rnjiA & S^&€^-\^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
^y^R. PETER B. DICK, one of the
I I most prominent and most experienced
A^^_^ medical practitioners of Muncie.
Ind., is the youngest son of Hierony-
mus and Mary Ann (Brunner) Dick, and was
born in Highland county, Ohio, April 27, 1838.
At the age of eight years he was brought to
Indiana by his mother, who located in Jay
county on a farm near North Salem, where
she resided until Peter B. was about thirteen
years old, when the family moved to a farm
near Union City, Randolph county, where our
embryo physician received his preparatory ed-
ucation at the common schools, and in 1856
took a course at Liber college, paying his own
way from his own earnings. At the age of
sixteen, he entered the store of L. D. Lambert
as clerk, and there passed five or six years in
the capacity mentioned, but utilized the win-
ters in teaching school in Randolph county.
Finally he became a partner with Mr. Lambert
for two years in a store on the Ohio side of
Union City, reading medicine in the meantime
with Dr. Noah Simmons of that place. He
made most rapid progress, and in 1867 grad-
uated from the Eclectic Medical institute of
Cincinnati, Ohio. His practice was begun at
Daleville, Ind., whence he went to Union
City, and thence to western Kansas, where he
met with the most flattering success, but,
after six years, ill health compelled him to re-
linquish the profitable field and return to In-
diana; accordingly, in 187S, he established
himself in Muncie, where he has ever since en-
joyed a high position in the esteem of the
general public and in that of his fellow pro-
fessionals. He is an active member of the
State Medical society and keeps well abreast
of the progress made in medical science.
The doctor was first married, in 1863, to
Miss Martha Vale, who became the mother of
two children, both of whom died in infancy,
and in 1 867 the doctor also suffered the afflic-
tion of the loss of the motiier and wife. The
second marriage of the (li_)ctor occurred at
Daleville. Ind., in 1870. to Miss Sallic Slicpji,
who, in 1S73, bore one son, Kenneth Dick,
now an operator for the Western Union Tele-
graph company, at Muncie. In politics. Dr.
Dick is a republican, and while in Kansas was
elected coroner of Kane county, by that party,
an office which he held at the time of leaving.
He is an Odd Fellow, and has jxissed all the
chairs of his lodge. For twenty-fi\'e }'ears he
has been a member of the Disciples' church,
and for many years has been very active in
the Sunday school work of that denomination.
The father of Dr. Dick was a native of Ran-
dolph county, Va. , was a large land owner,
and moved to Ohio about the }ear 1833 ; he
settled near Hillsboro and died about 1840,
leaving a widow and eight children — three
sons and five daughters — who subsequently
moved to Jay county, where the widow kept
her family together until her removal to Ran-
dolph county. Her death took place in 1878,
at the age of eighty-four, in Olmstead county,
Minn., at the home of her son, John Dick.
She was a woman of very strong character and
a sincere Christian, adhering faithfully to the
tenets of the Baptist church. There are five
of her eight children still living; viz: Harriet,
wife of William Stooksberry, a farmer of Ran-
dolph county, Ind.,; Rhoda, married to Ben-
jamin Curtis, farmer of Delaware county, Ind. ;
John, farmer of Minnesota ; Elizabeth, wife of
L. D. Lambert, attorney, and Dr. Peter B. ,
whose name opens this sketch. The three
deceased were Henry, the second son, who
was a soldier in the Eighty-fourth Indiana in-
fantry, and while on detail duty was killed by
a sharpshooter just before the battle of Atlanta;
Mary, wife of Hiram Grice, of Ja\- coimty,
Ind., died about 1854; Rebecca, the wife of
Tate Wright, a merchant of Illinois, died in
1874.
254
MUNCIE CITY
'^j'AMES E. EBER, a successful agricul-
J turist of Centre township, Delaware
A 1 county, of which he is a native, is the
son of Henry and Susan Eber. Henry
Eber was a native of Germany, came to Dela-
ware county when twenty-eight years old, locat-
ing in Muncie, where he married Susan Clark,
who bore him the following children: John, de-
ceased ; William H., deceased ; Mary, wife of
A. Drumn, of California, and James E., whose
name appears at the head of this sketch ;
George, and Catharine, deceased. On locating
in Muncie, Henry Eber engaged in the busi-
ness of brewing, which he followed for two
years, and then purchased a tract of land in
Centre township, and began tilling the soil.
Financially he was quite successful, owning at
one time 462 acres of valuable land in Dela-
ware county, besides other property, which
entitled him to a prominent place in the ranks
of those who were more than ordinarily
wealthy. He accumulated a handsome estate,
and left all of his children in very comfortable
circumstances. His religious belief was em-
bodied in the Presbyterian creed, and his first
wife, a most excellent christian lady, was a
member of the Catholic church. She died
May 20, 1862, and Mr. Eber afterwards
married Nancy Alban, who departed this life
in 1879; Mr. Eber was called to his final re-
ward on the 26th day of January, 1876.
James E. Eber was reared in Delaware
county and assisted his father on the farm un-
til the latter's death. His education was re-
ceived in the common schools, and on the 22nd
day of June, 1872, he was united in marriage
to Miss Bitha Scott, who was born in Adams
county, Ohio, August 8, 1852, daughter of
David and Sarah (Ham) Scott. Mr. and Mrs.
Scott were both natives of Ohio; the former of
German parentage, and the mother descended
from Irish ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Eber have
an interesting family of six children, namely:
Ida, Lee, Katie, Stella, Pearl and Earl. One
child, Emma, died December 13, 1890. As
already stated, Mr. Eber is a successful agri-
culturist, and no one would question his high
standing as a representative citizen of Centre
township. His beautiful farm of 190 acres is
well improved, and in addition to tilling the
soil, he pays considerable attention to live
stock, breeding and dealing in the same quite
extensively. He is a democrat in his political
belief, fraternally belongs to the Improved
Order of Red Men, and with his wife is a
communicant of the Methodist church. Mr.
Eber takes a father's pardonable pride in his
family; his children are certainly very promis-
ing, and bid fair to grow to manhood and
womanhood, an honor to their parents and a
blessing to the community.
'^t'OHN C. EILER, a prominent business
m man and a justice of the peace, of
/• 1 Muncie, Ind. , was born in Troy, N. Y. ,
March 4, 1838, a son of Jacob and
Bena (Fetzer) Filer. The parents removed
from New York to Ohio, and from there, in
1849, to Wabash county, Ind., and were pio-
neers of that county. Mr. Eiler accompanied
his parents to Ohio when four years of age,
and when eleven years old came with them to
Wabash county, Ind., where he grew to
maturity, and received his education in the
public schools. His first position of public
trust was that of deputy clerk of Wabash
county, which office he acceptably filled for
several years. In 1858, he removed to
LaGrange county, Ind. , and was made depu-
ty clerk of that county until 1859, at which
time he came to Muncie. In 1861 he was
appointed a clerk in the census department at
Washington, D. C, but in 1862 he was trans-
fered to the pension department, where he
-J^ C^^<^;.,^^^^^.<x^;fcT-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
257
continued until 1865, when he was forced to
resign his position on. account of poor health;
he then returned to Muncie and engaged in
the horticultural business. This built up his
shattered health, and, at a special session of
the house of representatives, in 1872-3, he
was appointed file clerk. In March, 1875, he
was appointed post master at Muncie, under
Pres. Grant, serving in this position for eight
years. In June, 1883, he was appointed jus-
tice of the peace, and was elected to the
office in 1884, 1888 and 1890. In the last
year he was made a member of the city coun-
cil, in which he served one year and then
resigned. Politically, he has been an ardent
worker in the republican party from its organ-
ization to the present time, and was chairman
of the republican central committee of Dela-
ware county in 1890 and 1891.
Mr. Eiler was admitted to the bar in 1859,
but has never practiced his profession. He
now conducts an insurance and loan business
in connection with his duties as justice of the
peace. His social instincts have caused him
to connect himself with the Muncie lodge of
I. O. O. F. , and he is a charter member of the
Citizens' Enterprise company. In the spring
of 1 89 1, Mr. Eiler received the nomination of
his party for the office of mayor of Muncie,
but owing to a defection in the party, the
whole ticket — mayor, marshal and treasurer-^
was defeated. With the exception of one year,
from 1877 to 1883, Mr. Eiler was the editor
of the Muncie Times, and editor and proprie-
tor from July 1881, to January, 1883.
On the first of January, 1862, he was
married to Miss Margaret B. Cassady, of
Delaware county, and is the father of two
children, Annie and Erma. He and family
are connected religiously with the Presbyter-
ian church of Muncie, and are among the
most esteemed residents of the city. Mr.
Eiler has always been regarded as a conserva-
tive and profound thinker, guided by principles
of strict justice and goodness ol heart, and
void of all e\il intent.
@EORGE L ELLIOTT, deceased, for
many years a leading jeweler of Mun-
cie, was born January 28, 1 83 1 , at the
town of Chardon, Geauga county,
Ohio. His parents, Edmund G. and Nancy
(Taylor) Elliott, were natives of New England,
born, reared and married in the state of Mass-
achusetts. Shortly after their marriage they
removed to Ohio, and for a number of years
Edmund Elliott carried on the jewelry busi-
ness at Chardon and Springfield, that state.
Subsequently, he removed to Anderson, Ind.,
where his death occurred after a long, active
and successful business career; his wife follow-
ing him to the grave a short time after. Ed-
mund and Nancy Elliott reared a family of
five children, all sons, namely: Jerome, Al-
fred, George L. , Ozias and Dallas K., of
whom Jerome, Alfred and George L. are de-
ceased.
George L. Elliott began learning the
jeweler's trade at the age of thirteen with his
father, and after acquiring great skill and pro-
ficiency in his chosen calling worked at the
same with his father until about 1854, at
which time he went to Cincinnati, where he
remained for a limited period, returning home
the following year. In May, 1855, he was
united in marriage to Elizabeth Smith, daugh-
ter of John and Ruth (Marshall) Smith of
Greene county, Ohio, removing in August of
the same year to Muncie. Ind., where he rent-
ed a window and engaged in repairing watches,
jewelry, etc., on a very moderate scale.
Later he entered the emplo\- of Armstead
Klein, with whom he remained a short time,
258
MUNCIE CITY
and then opened an establishment of his own
on the corner of Main and Walnut streets,
where he continued the trade for a period of
nearly forty years, during which time he be-
came one of the best known and most popular
business men of Muncie. In all his relations
with his fellow-men Mr. Elliott was the soul
of honor, and his kindness of heart and uni-
form courtesy were the subjects of remark by
all, and became proverbial throughout Muncie
and Delaware county. "Uncle George," as
he was familiarly called, always had a cheer-
ful word and pleasant greeting for every one,
and he was one of those noble characters
whose very presence exerted a genial influence
throughout the community — one of nature's
noblemen, whose honest impulses were mani-
fested in every act of his life. In the home
circle he was a model of gentleness, and his
daughter, with whom he was ever on terms
of the closest intimacy, cannot recall the
memory of an unkind word or act. In his re-
ligious belief Mr. Elliott was a Universalist,
but he encouraged all churches, irrespective of
doctrine or creed, and was ever in hearty sym-
pathy with all movements of a benevolent or
philanthropic nature. Politically he was an
active supporter of the democratic party, and
fraternally was indentified with Delaware
lodge. No. 46, A. F. & A. M., and DeEmber
tribe. No. 30, Improved Order of Red Men.
He was noted as a friend of the poor and
needy, was kindly disposed to all, and died, as
he had lived, possessing the profound respect
and esteem of his fellow-citizens. His death
occurred on the ist day of April, 1892, and
his remains were followed to their final place
of repose by one of the largest funeral corteges
ever seen on the streets of Muncie. Mr.
Elliott was the father of one child, a daughter,
Ida M., wife of John H. Ritter, an able opti-
cian, who resides in the city at the present
time.
BRANK ELLIS was born in Delaware
township, Delaware county, Ind.,
February 12, 1842, a son of John H.
and Phebe (Kirkpatrick) Ellis, both
natives of Ohio, who came to Delaware county
at an early day, and were married in the
county. By trade, the father was a carpen-
ter, but finally engaged in the collection busi-
ness and the practice of law, in Muncie. At
the breaking out of the war he raised company
B, of the Eighty-fourth Indiana, and served
as captain of the same until he was killed at
the battle of Chickamauga, on September 20,
1863. His wife survives him, and now resides
in Muncie.
Frank Ellis is the eldest of ten children,
and received but a limited education in the
township and village schools of that period.
He engaged in brick making for a short period,
and then entered the office of the Delaware
County Free Press, as office bo}', where he re-
mained, except one term of three months, dur-
ing which he taught a country school, until
1862, when he enlisted in his father's company
and served until the close of the war, being
mustered out in June, 1865. After the death
of his father he was made captain of company
B, and he held that position all through the
remainder of the war. He participated in the
battles of Sherman's Atlanta campaign, and
was with Thomas' army at Franklin and Nash-
ville. In 1864 Mr. Ellis was nominated for
the office of treasurer of Delaware county, and
in the fall of that year was elected to the posi-
tion, taking possession of the same in August,
1865. In 1866, he was unanimously renomi-
nated and triumphantly re-elected, serving in
all four years, after which he engaged in mer-
cantile business for some years, in the mean-
time reading law, for which profession he had
a great predilection. He was admitted to the
Delaware county bar in 1882, and immediately
formed a co-partnershjr> — -th Judge Lotz,
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
259
which continued until the latter was called to
the bench, when Mr. Ellis formed a co-part-
nership with John T. Walterhouse.
Mr. Ellis is a prominent and active mem-
ber of the republican party, and has been a
member of the state central committee. He
served as mayor of the city from 1883 to 1885,
and had been a member of the city council
from 1883 to 1 89 1. On February 9, 1891, he
was appointed postmaster of Muncie by Pres.
Harrison, since which time he has efficiently
served the people in that capacity. He is a
member of Williams' Post, No. 78, G. A. R. ,
and was one of the organizers of the Sons of
Veterans. In early life he joined the Dela-
ware lodge, A. F. & A. M., and was one of
the organizers of the Muncie lodge, No. 433,
A. F. & A. M., and is a member of Muncie
commandery. No. 18. Also, he is a member
of Muncie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O. F. , and the
encampment and canton, and the grand lodge
and grand encampment of that order. He is
a charter member of the Red Men, and of the
Elks; and is also a member of the Ancile
club of Muncie.
Mr. Ellis was married, in 1870, to Miss
Mary E. Martindale, daughter of Benjamin F.
Martindale, of Muncie, a well known minister
of the Christian church. Three children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ellis: Elizabeth,
Mary, deceased, and Ethel Joy.
^~V*AMUEL M. ELLIS, of Muncie, Ind.,
•^^^k* was born in Albany, in the same
K^__y state, November 25, 1850, and is a
son of John E. and Phctbe (Kirkpat-
rickj Ellis. When about three years of age
he was brought by his parents to Muncie, and
was here educated in the public schools until
thirteen years old, when he quit, to enter the
army, being then the youngest soldier from
Delaware county, and the only one nf the
nine children in his father's family that did
not graduate from the high school. In 1864
he entered company B, One hundred and Forty-
seventh I. \'. I., and served with the army of
the Cumberland until the close of the war, tak-
ing part at Winchester, Va , and a number of
minor engagements. When hostilities ceased
he went on the Fort Wayne. Muncie & Cincin-
nati railroad as brakeman; as baggage master
from Fort Wayne to Connersville, as yard-
master at Muncie for the same company; was
also in the employ of the "Bee" line for some
years; broke, fired, switched, and was yard mas-
ter and conductor on the Lake Erie & Western
main line, between Sandusk} , Ohio, and
Bloomington, Ills., for a long time — in all.
railroaded over twenty years; and, having
learned the trade of brick making prior to this
time, worked at that trade at intervals about
fifteen years, principally at Muncie. After
relinquishing railroad work, Mr. Ellis, in 1890,
began contracting for brick work in Muncie
and followed that vocation until 1893, when
he leased the McKinjey brick stable, at iio
Howard street, where he transacts a livery,
feed and boarding business, and keeps a full
line of double and single rigs.
Mr. Ellis is vice president of the Muncie
Bricklayers' union, and still keeps a watchful
eye over the interests of his former trade and
craftsmen. He was married, in 1 871, to Miss
Catherine J. Hawk, of Muncie, and is the
father of one son, Harry J. Ellis.
BRANK A. ELROD, city clerk of
Muncie, Ind., a prominent politician
and very pleasant and agreeable gen-
tlemen, was born in Wabash county,
Ind., June 7, 1853, a son of James J. and
Juliet M. (Hess) Elrod, natives of Lawren'
MUNCIE CITY
and Blackford counties, Ind., respectively.
Mr. Elrod, Sr. , was a farmer by occupation
and also a minister of the Methodist Episco-
pal church, being connected with the North
Indiana conference. He was a prominent
Mason, and at his death, in 1858, was buried
with the appropriate ceremonies of the order.
Frank A. Elrod was reared in Cadiz, Hen-
ry county, Ind.,- was educated in the public
schools of that county, and afterward engaged
in mercantile business. In 1881 he made a
trip to Texas, and remained for six years,
employed in the freight department of the
Southern Pacific railroad, but, in 1887, he
returned to Indiana, locating in Muncie,
where he was employed as assistant shipping
clerk for H. Roads & Co. In the spring of
1892 he was elected city clerk and entered
upon the duties of that office in September of
the same year. Politically he is a republican,
and takes an active interest in the manage-
ment of the affairs of his party. He is a mem-
ber of Delaware lodge. No. 46, A. F. & A. M.,
Welcome lodge. No. ^^j, K. of P., and Twa-
Twa tribe. No. 145, I. O. R. M.
Mr. Elrod was married February 21, 1876,
to Miss Emma Personett, daughter of James
Personett, of Henry county, Ind., and has a
family of four children, James, Lizzie, Clara
and Lloyd. He and wife are members of the
High street Methodist church, and are among
the most highly esteemed residents of the city
of Muncie.
QAJ. WARREN CHASE EMERSON
(deceased) was born in New Hamp-
shire, November 7, 18 16, of Eng-
lish ancestry, and graduated from
Harvard university in 1835. For a year or so
he followed teaching, and in 1836 removed to
Preble county, Ohio, where he was engaged
in clerical work for a time, but later resumed
teaching, and afterward became the first post-
master at West Florence. His marriage took
place January 30, 1840, to Eleanor McWhin-
ney, a native of Preble county, Ohio, born
June 6, 1 82 1, and daughter of Matthew and
Temperance McWhinney, of Scotch-Irish an-
cestry. To this union, which was consum-
mated in Preble county, Ohio, were born
twelve children, of whom five boys and five
girls still survive, viz: Joseph, a broker;
Matthew, in the lumber trade; Thomas M.,
traffic manager of the Atlantic Coast Line rail-
road; Charles, publisher of the Muncie City
and Delaware County (Ind.) directory, and an
extensive dealer in real estate; Horace M.,
general passenger agent of the Atlantic Coast
Line railroad; Elizabeth, wife of J. D. Fudge;
Temperance, wife of A. C. Morse; Emmaretta,
wife of Albert H. Williams; Mary A. and
Eleanor. The father remained in Preble
county until February 23, 1864, when he re-
ceived a commission as army paymaster of the
late rebellion, and located his family at Yellow
Springs, Ohio, to receive the benefit of the
excellent schools at that point. He served as
paymaster until November i, 1866. He then
located at Campbellstown, Ohio, where he
was engaged in the mercantile business one
year, and then moved to Marion, Ind., and
was in the employ of the railroad company
three years. In March, 1872, he came to
Muncie and engaged in the manufacture of
staves, heading and plow beams until 1885,
when he retired from active business on ac-
count of ill health. In politics he was a re-
publican, and fraternally was a member of the
A. F. & A. M. ; in religion he was a Congre-
gationalist, and died in that faith, November
3, 1890. He left his family in comfortable
circumstances, and his sons all in prominent
business positions, and his remains were fol-
lowed by a large concourse of mourning rela-
tives, friends and acquaintances to their last
JAS. N. EVERS.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
261
resting place from his late residence on east
Jackson street, Muncie, Ind. His widow, who
is a devout adherent of the Presbyterian church,
is still an honored member of Muncie's best
society, respected and honored by all who
know her.
Charles Emerson, real estate dealer and
publisher of Muncie City and Delaware Coun-
ty Directory, and son of Major Warren C.
Emerson, whose sketch is given in detail above,
was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 9, 1853.
He attended school at Yellow Springs, Ohio,
until fourteen years of age, when he was com-
pelled to quit on account of ill health; he then
engaged, as his first business venture, as assist-
ant to his father in the railway office at Mari-
on, Ind. , until 1872, when, with his parents,
he moved to Muncie and became the super-
vising agent of the Singer Manufacturing com-
pany, which position he held until the spring
of 1873, when, by the advice of his physician,
he went south, locating at Nashville, Tenn.,
where he was engaged by the Howe Sewing
Machine company to travel and establish
agencies throughout eastern Tennessee until
the fall of 1873, when he went to Savannah,
Ga. , and engaged with the New York Publish-
ing company in publishing city, county and
state directories, remaining with the company
for one year. He then engaged in the direc-
tory publishing business for himself, and has
published directories throughout eleven differ-
ent states, gaining a national reputation as a
competent and painstaking publisher. In
1886 he accepted a position with the Singer
Manufacturing company as manager at Rich-
mond, Va. , which position he held until 1889,
when he again engaged in the directory busi-
ness and continued until February i, 1892.
He then came to Muncie, Ind. , and under the
firm name of Lyons & Emerson opened an
office in the real estate and loan business
which firm is now considered one of the lead-
ing real estate firms of the city. Mr. Emer-
son was married November 14, 1881, to Miss
Maggie M. Houston, of Greensboro, N. C,
and this union has been blessed by the birth
of one child, William C.
'^j'AMES N. EVERS.— Among the valua-
M ble industries of the growing city of
A 1 Muncie, that of the Cottage Steam
laundry is deserving of worthy mention.
James N. Evers, its proprietor, is a native of
Indiana, born in the county of Wells on the
17th day of September, 1853, a son of Parry
and Jane (Golliver) Evers. The parents were
both natives of Ohio, but removed to Indiana
shortly after their marriage, settling in Put-
nam county, where Mr. Evers engaged in the
pursuit of agriculture. Later the family re-
moved to Wells county, where Mr. and Mrs.
Evers live a retired life in the pleasant town of
Bluffton. Parry Evers has been a prominent
citizen of Wells county for a number of years,
is public spirited, and a man of great liberality.
He is a republican in his political preferences,
and the father of nine children, whose names
are as follows: Minerva R., James N. , Darius
A., David W. , Anna E., Colonel E., Parry J.,
Cora and Hugh W. Evers.
James N. Evers was reared on the home
farm, attending the country schools at intervals
until sixteen years of age, when he began life
for himself, choosing the useful vocation of
agriculture for an occupation. He continued
tilling the soil until his twenty-si.xth year, at
which time he came to the city of Muncie and
embarked in the mercantile business, making
a specialty of the grocery line, which he car-
ried on with success and financial profit for a
period of six years. He severed his connection
with merchandising in 1890, and established
the Cottage Steam laundry, which he has sue-
262
MUNCIE CITY
cessfully conducted ever since and which under
his judicious management has become the
largest and most profitable enterprise of the
kind in the city. He fitted up his laundry
with all the modern conveniences and improve-
ments at a liberal expenditure of money, and
such has been the constant increase in his busi-
ness that additional appliances have been
added, from time to time, until now fifteen
helpers are employed in order to meet the de-
mands of his growing custom. Mr. Evers has
fully met his expectations in his business ven-
ture, and, as a result of good management and
earnest desire to please his patrons, he has
acquired a reputation much more than local,
and is justly esteemed among the worthy and
reliable business men of Muncie. Socially he
is popular with a large circle of friends in both
city and country, and his public spirit has won
for him a prominent place in the estimation
of his fellow citizens. In his political senti-
ments Mr. Evers is an earnest supporter of
the republican party, and takes an active in-
terest, in its advancement, but prefers to be
considered a worker in the ranks rather than
a seeker after the emoluments of of^ce. Re-
cently he met with a heavy loss by reason of
an accident in his laundry, but, with com-
mendable energy, he has repaired the same,
and greatly enlarged his business by the addi-
tion of the latest and most improved appli-
ances used in his line of work. On the 17th
day of March, 1879, in Columbia City, Ind. ,
Mr. Evers and Miss Lizzie A. Goodwin of
Ohio, daughter of Smith and Sarah (Conway)
Goodwin, were made man and wife. Mrs.
Evers died December 30, 1887, and on the
1 5th day of January, 1889, Mr. Evers was
united in marriage to his present wife, whose
maiden name was Kate Stuckey, a native of
Muncie, and daughter of Christian and Sarah
(Grower) Stuckey. Mr. and Mrs. Evers are
members of the Baptist church, in which they
are highly esteemed. Fraternally, Mr. Evers
is prominently connected with the orders of
P. O. S. of A., Red Men, and Foresters.
^'^EORGE W. FAY.— Among the citi-
■ ^\ zens of Delaware county whose life
\^^^ work is ended, few, if any, are held
in more grateful and affectionate re-
membrance than the late George W. Fay, of
Muncie. Mr. Fay was a native of New York,
born in the month of July, 1832, and his an-
cestors for several generations had resided in
the Empire state In the year 1858 he be-
came a resident of Delaware county, Ind., and
shortly after he arrived in Muncie accepted a
clerkship in the dry goods house of Moses
Neeley, in which capacity he continued for
several years. Subsequently, he effected a
co-partnership in the butchering business with
Cyrus G. Neely. — Mr. Fay becoming widely
and favorably known, not only as a most suc-
cessful business man, but as an eminently
sociable citizen as well. Later Mr. Fay be-
came a street contractor, at which he con-
tinued for several years, and to him is due the
credit of providing Muncie with a system of
streets which, in point of improvement and
general utility, will compare favorably with
those of any other city in central or eastern
Indiana. On abandoning street work he em-
barked in manufacturing, and was thus em-
ployed for some years, meeting with success
and financial profit in the meantime. Mr.
Fay was a prominent member of the Masonic
fraternity, in which he took a number of de-
grees, including that of Sir Knight, and he
was always a man of large sympathy and
christian charity. In all the attributes of
noble manhood Mr. Fay stood prominent
among his fellows, and his one fault, if fault
it may be termed, was an open handed gener-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
osity frequently exercised to his own financial
detriment, but to the great financial benefit of
the numerous beneficiaries of his munificent
generosity.
During a long and active business career,
which of necessity brought him in contact
with all classes, including the many unfortu-
nate individuals who became his debtors, he
was never known to sue on an account or resort
to the courts to collect an obligation, in con-
sequence of which his popularity became great,
and his friends were numerous in Mimcie and
throughout Delaware county. But for his
generous and charitable disposition he could
have acquired a large fortune, but he preferred
to invest his means in those securities which.
always return a princely income to the pos-
sessor, namely: Liberal aid to the deserving
pocr, and a financial as well as a heart-felt
sympathy for all unfortunates who appealed to
him for assistance. In all public and private
charities of Muncie, Mr. Fay's name and indi-
vidual efforts were ever foremost; he served
one term as township trustee, in the discharge
of the duties of which office, as well as those
pertaining to every trust reposed in him, he
brought to bear the strict integrity which char-
acterized his life in all its various relations.
As a citizen, his private character was above
reproach; while his whole life, in whatever
capacity he acted, was devoted to the public
weal — in short, "he was one of those sturdy,
upright and popular men, who, in the course
of a long and useful career, leave their mark
upon the times and the communities in which
they dwell. The death of Mr. Fay occurred
on the 1 2th day of June, 1889. His wife,
Martha A. Braddock, daughter of Joseph and
Margaret J. (Galbraith) Braddock, to whom
he was married in 1876, survives him, as does
also one daughter, Catherine Fay, an accom-
plished young lady of Muncie, just budding
into womanhood.
m:
ILLIAM H. FOKTNER, one of the
most highly respected residents of
the city of Muncie, is a native of
Franklin county, Ind., born De-
cember II, 1838, the eldest of si.\ children —
five sons and one daughter — born to Solomon
H. and Elizabeth E. (James) Fortner, natives,
respectively, of Franklin county, Ind., and the
state of Virginia. William H. was reared on
the farm of his paternal grandfather Levi, a
pioneer of Franklin county, Ind., until fifteen
years of age, having, at the age of nine, lost
his father. At the age of eleven he began
supporting himself, working on the farm in
summer and attending school in winter. In
1853 he went to Greensburg, Ind., and during
one winter worked in a general store and a
hotel for his board; in the spring of 1854 he
became clerk of the hotel and held the posi-
tion nine consecutive years, interlarding the
! time as newsboy, in which last capacity he
carried the first copy of the Cincinnati En-
quirer and Commercial delivered in Greens-
burg. In 1 86 1 he enlisted in Company F,
Seventh I. V. I., in the three months' service,
and did duty in West Virginia at Philippi,
Laurel Hill and Carrick's Ford.
He sold out his paper route in 1863, and
went to work upon a farm, near Greensburg,
for eighteen months in order to regain his
health, and then returned to town and worked
for J. & J. Pool, marble dealers, for fourteen
years, and was then, for six years, in the grain
business with John Emmert. In March, 1885,
he came to Muncie and here engaged in the
wholesale furniture business with L. H. Har-
per, but in the December following sold out
and engaged as yard foreman and bookkeeper
for Joshua Truitt for two years, and then went
into the hotel business, which he followed four
and one half years. In politics Mr. Fortner
is a democrat; fraternally he affiliates with the
I. O. O. F. encampment, No. 42, and Dela-
264
MUNCIE CITY
ware lodge No. 143, and has filled all the
chairs in each branch, and was a trustee for
six years; he is also a member of the I. O. R.
M., the K. of H., of which he was a trustee,
and the K. & L. of H., of which last he has
served as secretary.
The marriage of Mr. Fortner took place
February 18, 1863, to Miss Angelia Dillier,
daughter of Joseph Dillier, a native of France.
Mrs. Fortner is one of the most fashionable
dressmakers of the city, and for years resided
at Greensburg.
*Y-» ONE A. FRANLIN, was born in
I r Delaware county, Ind., July 9, 1863,
1 ^ the son of Pierson W. and Emily
(Dragoo) Franklin. He was reared
in the city of Muncie, in the schools of which
he received a practical English education, and
at the early age of seventeen, began business
upon his own responsibility as a buyer and
shipper of live stock, principally cattle and
hogs, which he shipped to the eastern markets.
He continued in this line until 1886, at which
time he engaged in the livery business, and is
now the proprietor of one of the largest and
most extensively patronized livery barns in
Delaware county.
P. W. Franklin, the father of Lone A., one
of the oldest residents of Delaware county, and
one of its most highly esteemed citizens, was
born in Clark county, Ohio, September 19,
1826. His father, James Franklin, and his
mother, whose maiden name was Catherine
Stover, were both natives of Botetourt county,
Va. , and descendants of early German settlers
of the Old Dominion state. James Franklin
removed with his family to Clark county, Ohio,
early in the twenties, and, in 1831, emigrated
to Delaware county, Ind., settling about one
and a quarter miles southeast of the public
square of Muncie, where he purchased eighty
acres of heavily timbered land. Upon this piece
of land not a stick of timber had been cut, and a
more uninviting prospect would be difficult to
imagine. For a period of nine weeks the
family lived in a rudely improvised camp, on
which the rain poured down in torrents nearly
every day. A small log cabin was in due
time constructed, and in this primitive dwell-
ing, without floor or windows, life in the back
woods began in earnest. Mr. Franklin subse-
quently entered two eighty acre tracts adjoin-
ing his original purchase, and a part of the
homestead farm is now within the corporate
limits of Muncie. On this place James and
Catherine Franklin spent the rest of their
days, rearing a family of eight children, five sons
and three daughters, to manhood and woman-
hood. Mr. Franklin and his good wife were
true types of the hardy pioneers, and their
struggles for years with the hardships and
trials incident to that period, cannot be ap-
preciated by the younger people of the present
generation. They lived to a good old age, the
father reaching the Scriptural allotment of
three score and ten years; the mother was
called to her reward at the age of sixty.
P. W. Franklin was but five years of age
when his father settled in the woods near
Muncietown. The court house square was at
that period covered with hazel brush and logs,
and wild game of any kind was killed. Mr.
Franklin was enabled to attend the indifferent
schools of the country only four or five weeks
each year. He early assisted in removing the
forest growth and developing the farm, be-
came strong and rugged, and remained under
the parental roof until his majority. He then
began life for himself, working in the woods,
and the first winter after leaving home he
split rails for thirty-three cents a hundred,
and later cleared forty acres of land, for which
he received the equivalent of three dollars per
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
265
acre in trade. In the spring of 1848 he found
himself the possessor of $15.00 in money and
a small horse, and with these he started west-
ward for the purpose of herding cattle in Illi-
nois. Until he could secure such employ-
ment as he desired he worked as a farm laborer
at $8.00 per month, but eventually he se-
cured a place as a herder and continued the
same for four or five years. Returning to
Indiana he worked at different occupations for
some time, and, on the i8thdayof December,
1855, was united in marriage to Miss Emily
Dragoo, who was born in Virginia, April 4,
1834, the daughter of William and Elizabeth
(Prunty) Dragoo, early settlers of Delaware
county.
Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Franklin
located a piece of land southeast of Muncie,
upon which about forty acres had been cleared,
and here he and his family resided for twelve
years. He developed a fine farm, and became
one of the leading agriculturists of Centre
township. He came to Muncie for the pur-
pose of schooling his children. He owns a
substantial home on East Jackson street,
which, with his farm of 1 70 acres of highly cul-
tivated land, is the result of his own unaided
efforts. Mr. Franklin still manages his farm,
driving to and from the same each day, and
he yet possesses much of the physical vigor for
which he was noted in the days of his youth
and early manhood. He is a democrat in pol-
itics, and in religion a Methodist. His wife,
also a worthy member of the Methodist church,
is a woman of many excellent traits of char-
acter, and has been a helpmeet to her hus-
band during the long years and many struggles
of their wedded life. Their children are Carl
P., a groceryman; Lone A., liveryman and
stock dealer; Cary, dealer in horses, and
Laura E. , wife of William W. Shirk, hard-
ware dealer of Muncie.
Lone A. Franklin is a splendid example of
what energy and foresight, coupled with a
determination to succeed, can accomplish in
the face of adverse circumstances. He started
out in life for himself empty-handed, and by
his industry, enterprise and perseverance, has
overcome the many difficulties by which his
path was beset, and has steadily worked his
waj- upward to a position which entitles him
to mention with the representative business
men in Muncie. Mr. Franklin has given a
great deal of attention to the horse, and is
considered an authority upon all matters per-
taining to the breeding and training of the
same. In his barn may be seen some very
fine roadsters, among which Charley Ross and
Lady Reece are well known beyond the con-
fines of Muncie. Recently Mr. Franklin has
completed a large and commodious three story
brick barn on Mulberry street, which, in its
various appointments and equipments, is far
ahead of any other barn in Muncie, and second
to but few structures of the kind in the state.
The ground floor of this building embraces an
area of 62^x125 ft., has two fine large halls on
the second floor for the storage of his vehicles,
and the large room on the third floor is used
for an armory and a place of public entertain-
ment. His line of surreys, buggies and car-
riages is very full and complete, representing
the workmanship of the best factories, and his
horses, of which he keeps from eighteen to
twenty head, are in the best condition, and
show the skillful care of their owner.
Mr. Franklin supports the democratic
party by his ballot, and, as every true Ameri-
can citizen should do, takes an interest in po-
litical affairs, although he has never been a
seeker after the honors or emoluments of office.
He is a prominent member of the Masonic
fraternity, belonging to lodge No. 433, of
Muncie, and has also taken the degree of Sir
Knight.
MUNCIE CITY
QARTIN GALLIHER, a deceased
pioneer of Delaware county, Ind.,
was born near Brownsville, Pa.,
April 2, 1809, and was reared in
Monongalia county, Va. (now West Va. )
His early work was at cutting wood in the
mountains of Virginia at twenty-five cents per
cord, and at farm work at $7.00 per month.
In fact, he started in life a poor boy, having,
at the age of three years, lost his father by
drowning, and beginning to earn a living at
the age of eleven. He eventually made a
fortune, however, and by his own unaided ex-
ertions. On first coming west he engaged in
street and turnpike contracting in Covington,
Ky. , and later, in 1840, coming to Muncie
with his savings, amounting at that time, to
about $500. In the meantime, however, he
had married, September 3, 1837, at Carthage,
Ohio, Miss Rhoda A. Ogden.
Martin Galliher, after coming to Muncie
in 1840, opened a store, first where Baldwin's
grocery now is, and later where Duck Everett's
restaurant now stands. He built the three
rooms from the alley west, and of these the
first is still in the family. He continued in
the goods business about nineteen years, and
eleven years of that period were employed
packing pork, having his packing house on
Jackson street, on the present site of Ira Tur-
ner's saloon. In this traffic he hauled pork
to Cincinnati on wagons, and hauled back his
goods for sale in Muncie. He retired from
mercantile pursuits in 1852, and retired to his
farm, and up to within ten years of his death
devoted his attention and industry to develop-
ing his agricultural interests, in which he was
as successful as he had been in his mercantile
affairs. He at one time owned all the land
from Bee line to Ohmer avenue, between
Madison street and Macedonia avenue, between
the railroad and Williard, made four addi-
tions to the city of Muncie, and afterward
bought 100 acres south, making in all, before
selling the Galliher sub-division, 340 acres,
also 10 acres south. In politics Mr. Galliher
was a democrat and a co-worker with Adam
Wolf and Henry Wysor, and was a frequent
delegate to both county and state conventions.
In his religious faith he was a Baptist, and
his wife was the first actual Baptist in Muncie.
He joined the church in September, 1859, and
was a faithful member until his death, June 29,
1887, and was very liberal in donations to-
ward erecting the Baptist church edifice. He
was one of the charter members of the first
Odd Fellows' lodge in Muncie, but was non-
affiliating during the .later years of his life.
In his death Muncie never lost a more useful
citizen, a more enterprising merchant, or a
more charitable man. His surviving children,
who live to do honor to his name, are four in
number, and are Martin Jerome, Susan Zon-
netta, Ida G. and Charles W. , of whom fur-
ther mention will be made elsewhere in these
pages. Six other children were taken away
in infancy.
Mrs. Rhoda A. Galliher was the daughter
of Samuel and Mary (Parnell) Ogden born at
Cedarville, New Jersey, January 29, 1814. At
the age of fifteen she was converted and joined
the Baptist church at Roadstown, New Jersey.
In the year 1 834, before the advent of railroads,
she emigrated to southern Ohio, and Septem-
ber 3, 1837, at Carthage, Ohio, she was mar-
ried to Martin Galliher, then engaged in con-
tracting and building streets and turnpikes in
Ohio and Kentucky. In the year 1840, she
came with her husband to Muncie, Ind.,
then only a hamlet of a few hundred
inhabitants. Here Mrs. Galliher became a
positive and potential factor, in promoting and
building up the religious interests of the town.
Being among the earliest of her denomination
to settle here, her home was the nucleus of
the first Baptist Missionary efforts to plant a
M. GALLIHER.
MRS. RHODA GALLIHER.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
271
church in this community. After nearly a
score of years, in the year 1859, a little band
of twelve believers, of which she was one,
effected a church organization, and from that
time forth she and her worthy husband were its
most devoted members and stanch supporters.
They gave material aid in erecting the old
church on Jackson street, and her munificent
contributions to the new church, made its
erection a possibility. She further contrib-
uted a beautiful memorial window, and made
provision for the pastor's salary for the next
ten years.
The closing years of her life witnessed no
diminution of her interest in the Master's
work. Feeling a profound interest in the
religious welfare of our industrial classes, she,
with her devoted daughter, Mrs. Ida G. Rea,
who contributed the site, and without materi-
al help from others, built Calvary Chapel, a
mission church in that suburb of Muncie,
known as Industry. Thus, with the benedic-
tion of a useful life, of nearly four score years,
service in the Master's Vineyard, she passed
from this life, July 31, 1893, in the blessed
hope of a glorious immortality beyond the
grave.
QARTIN JEROME GALLIHER, son
of Martin and Rhoda A. Galliher,
is a native of Muncie, Delaware
county, Ind. , and was born Febru-
ary 15, 1847. At the age of eleven he went
on his father's farm of 160 acres, which the
elder Mr. Galliher had first become possessed
of in 1852, but which, in 1858, had been but
partially cleared, and improved with a log
cabin and a barn, and this tract Martin J.
assisted in clearing up, and also a tract of
eighty acres to the east, on which are now lo-
cated Ball's glass factory and nail works.
Here he was engaged in farming until the
discovery of natural gas, when, in April, 1887,
217 acres were sold to the Heekin syndicate,
there being only twenty-three acres retained
for the family and known as Galliher's reserve.
This was sub-divided among Mr. Galliher and
his two sisters, Mrs. Rea and Mrs. Nutting.
Mr. Galliher has been living in retirement for
a number of years, in the enjoyment of the
society of his family.
His marriage took place, in this county,
September 24, 1872, to Miss Caroline Moore,
daughter of Parker Moore, and to this happy
union have been born four children, viz: Er-
nest J., Edward M., Homer (deceased at two
years) and Adelbert. Mr. Galliher has been
a member of the Baptist church for twenty
years or more, is a trustee, and was a member
of the building committee when the new
church edifice was in course of construction.
Mr. Galliher has proven himself to be the
worthy son of a worthy sire, and his walk has
been through life such as to show that he is
conscious that he does not live for himself
alone.
IDA (GALLIHER) REA, daughter of
Martin and Rhoda A. Galliher,. was
born on the Galliher homestead at
Muncie, Ind., April 24, 1856, gradu-
ated from the high school in 1872, and was
married, July 3, 1878, to Dr. George N. Rea,
of New Castle, Ind. Dr. Rea was born at
Louisville, near New Castle, Henry county,
Ind., in 1852, and graduated from the Ohio
Medical college in Cincinnati, in 1878. He
practiced medicine with great success at New
Castle and Ft. Wayne until his death, Febru-
ary 19, 1885, when his mortal remains were
laid to rest at New Castle. To the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Rea were born three children.
272
MUNCIE CITY
viz: Clarence G., Rhoda O., and Martin J.,
the latter having died at the age of sixteen
months. On the death of her husband, Mrs.
Rea hastened and ministered with loving hands
to both her father and mother in their last
sickness.
^"V* USAN ZONETTA ( GALLIHER )
•^^^ NUTTING, daughter of Martin and
^^ J Rhoda A. Galliher, was born in June,
1850, opposite the court house, on
Main street, Muncie, Ind. , and was but two
years of age when taken by her parents to live
on the home farm, now within the city limits,
and then the best in Muncie. She graduated
from the high school in 1 869, made a travehng
tour with her father, and in June, 1873, was
married to Edward Nutting, who was born at
Evesham, England, within nine miles of Lon-
don, in 1847, but who, when a young man,
came to the United States, and to Muncie in
1872. He had landed in New York city with
three dollars in his pockets, but he had learned
carpentering in England, was an expert stair
builder and architect, having been entrusted
with the supervision of the new Wysor Grand
opera house here, and is now engaged in de-
signing and contracting. To the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Nutting have been born six children,
Earl Galliher, Esther Louise, Carl Edward
and Eugene, living ; two, Rhoda Alice, aged
two years and eight months, and Beatrice,
aged fourteen months, were taken away within
twelve days of each other, dying from scarlet
fever.
aHARLES W. GALLIHER, theyoung-
est member of the family of Martin
and Rhoda Galliher, was born Oct-
ober 26, 1864. He was educated at
the Muncie schools until within one year of
graduation, when he entered the carriage fac-
tory of J. B. McFarland, of Connersville, for
the purpose of learning the trade of carriage
painting. After an apprenticesnip of two
years at this business, he became a traveling
salesman for the Chicago Eagle Rubber works,
and passed some months in their employ;
then he visited southern Indiana and passed a
year and a half, at the end of which time he
returned to Muncie. In March, 1888, on the
opening of the Boston store in this city, he
took charge of its carpet department, and,
being an accomplished salesman, he has
retained the position ever since. Mr. Galliher
was married June 28, 1888, at Rushville, Ind.,
to Miss Mary E. Boyer, daughter of the late
Rev. Henry Boyer and Amanda (Griffin)
Boyer. He is a member of the order of
Knights of Pythias and of the Knights of Mac-
cabees, and is held in high esteem by the citi-
zens of Muncie generally.
>^EREMIAH GARRARD, a prominent
m real estate dealer of Muncie, is a na-
A 1 tive of Ohio, born in the county of
Warren, January 29, 1S45. His father,
Harvey Garrard, was the son of John and
Mary (Kirby) Garrard, who emigrated to Ohio
from their native state, Pennsylvania, and
settled in Warren county shortly after their
marriage. Harvey Garrard was born March
22, 1812, and grew to manhood on a farm.
At the age of twenty-two, he married Hannah
Gustin, daughter of Samuel Gustin of Warren
county, Ohio, and engaged in farming for him-
self, which calling he followed in his native
state until his removal to Delaware county,
Ind., in the year 1857. He settled in Union
township, where he resided until 1874, at
which time, he retired to the village of Royer-
ton, where his death subsequently occurred.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
278
Harvey Garrard was a man of great industry
and energy, was a republican, and for fifty
years belonged to the Christian church, of
which his good wife was also a faithful mem-
ber. Harvey and Hannah Garrard were the
parents of ten children, namely; Huston,
Amelia, George, Mary, Joseph, Jeremiah,
Clara, Sarah, Emma and an infant (deceased.)
Of these, Huston and Mary are deceased.
Jeremiah Garrard came to Delaware coun-
ty with his parents at the age of twelve years
and was reared on a farm near the village of
Shindler, attending the common schools at
intervals during his minority. In January,
1864, he enlisted in company C, Twenty-first
regiment. First Indiana heavy artillery, army
of the Gulf, under Gen. Canby, who was after-
ward killed by the Modoc Indians in Oregon.
Mr. Garrard participated with his company in
all the battles in which it was engaged, and
bore the hardships of camp life until mustered
out, January 10, 1866, at Baton Rouge, La.,
and on the 21st day of the same month was
honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Ind.
Mr. Garrard returned to Delaware county, and
for some time thereafter attended school for
the purpose of preparing himself for teaching,
but he never saw fit to engage in that profes-
sion. On quitting school, he was united in
marriage to Miss Savanna Green, daughter of
Dr. A. J. and Massy (Johnson) Green, of Dela-
ware county, after which he rented a farm in
Hamilton township and followed agricultural
pursuits for three years. In the fall of 1872,
he engaged in merchandising at the town of
Royerton in partnership with his father-in-law,
and carried on a successful trade until 1880,
in the meantime serving as postmaster of the
town for six or seven years. He next engaged
in the furniture and undertaking business at
Muncie with W. K. Wright, under the firm
name of Wright & Garrard, which partnership
was continued very successfully for four years.
Mr Garrard then became interested with John
K. Ritter, of Muncie, in the manufacture of bed
lounges, mattresses, etc., for nearly two years,
and then became a partner with I. T. Lake in
the general furniture business for three years,
and then sold out and engaged in the real es-
tate and loan business, in partnership with
John A. Keener. The firm of Keener & Gar-
rard has done a very extensive business in
Muncie and Delaware county, and also oper-
ates to a considerable extent in other parts of
the state. Mr. Garrard is a substantial citi-
zen, quiet and unostentatious, and is very
popular with those with whom he has business
or other relations. He is an earnest supporter
of the republican party, and for twenty-five
years has been a consistent member of the
Christain church. He is prominently identi-
fied with several fraternities, belonging to the
G. A. R., I. O. O. F., K. of P. and I. O. R. M.
He belongs to the uniform rank of the Pythian
order, takes an active interest in the branch of
the fraternity known as the Pythian Sisters,
and also belongs to the Rebecca degree in
Odd Fellowship.
EENRY N. GATES, harness maker, ol
Muncie, Ind., is a native of York
county, Pa., born August 4, 1845,
and is a son of John and Mary (Nay-
lor) Gates, who were of Pennsylvania German
e.xtraction, residents of Little York, and who
reared a family of six boys and six girls, nine
of whom are still living, although the parents
are now deceased. Henry N., at the age of
ten, was tajcen to Cumberland county, Pa.,
and placed ^n a farm, on which he lived, at-
tending schbol meanwhile and learning har-
ness making, until the civil war broke out,
when he enlisted, in June, 1862, in the Twen-
tieth Pennsylvania cavalry, company A, at
274
MUNCIE CITY
Mechanicsburg, being then not seventeen years
of age. At the expiration of his term of six
months he re-enlisted for three years and
served until the close of the war. During his
first term he served under Gens. Couch and
Hunter, and fought at Piedmont and in vari-
ous skirmishes. On veteranizing in January,
1863, he was assigned to the consolidated
Twentieth and Twenty-second Pennsylvania
cavalry, which was designated the First Pro-
visional, under Gen. Philip Sheridan, first divis-
ion, second brigade, sixth armycorps,and 1863-
64-65, serving at Gettysburg, Lynchburg,
Ashby's Gap (near which place he was cap-
tured, in Loudoun valley), Cold Harbor, second
Fredericksburg and Winchester. At the latter
place, with thirty others, he was again cap-
tured and taken to Lynchburg, Danville, An-
dersonville and Libby prison, and in all was con-
fined eight months and three days, during
which time Mr. Gates was reduced from 1 50
to ninety-six pounds in weight. At Richmond
he was out on parole thirty days, and in
March, 1865, was released, receiving an hon-
orable discharge from the service July 13,
1865. Returning to Mechanicsburg, he fin-
ished learning the trade of harness making,
worked as journeyman until 1868, and then
moved to Columbiana, Ohio, where he worked
fifteen years. In 1883 he went to Indianapo-
lis, worked at his trade three years, and then
came to Muncie, and from 1886 until August,
1 890, was foreman for Stuckey & Co. , and was
also with Wachtell & Son until J. C. Cun-
ningham opened his store, when he worked
for that gentleman one year and ten months,
then at the old Stuckey stand for seven months,
when he bought out Mr. Cunningham in De-
cember, 1892, and has since been the proprie-
tor of the oldest harness shop in Muncie, on
the west side of the court house, square, carry-
ing the largest and best assorted stock of har-
ness and saddlery, turf goods, etc. , in the city.
The marriage of Mr. Gates took place at
Columbiana, Ohio, October 25, 1871, to Miss
Mary E. , daughter of Samuel and Esther
(Brown) Sheets, and to this union were born
three sons, viz: Robert Egbert, boiler maker,
aged twenty-one years; William Ralph, aged
seventeen, learning harness making with his
father, and John Samuel, aged thirteen, at
school in Orville, Ohio. The mother of these
children was called away March 27, 1893, at
the age of forty-two, and was sadly missed by
her sorrowing family. Mr. Gates is a member
of the Masonic fraternity, but is no longer an
affiliating brother, but he still retains his con-
nection with the G. A. R. He is highly re-
spected by the community, and is regarded as
one of Muncie's most useful citizens.
>T^OSEPH A. GODDARD, prominent
m among the active business men of
A 1 Muncie, was born in Cleveland, Ohio,
December 19, 1840, and is a son of
John H. and Ann (Wilson) Goddard. He
was reared in and near the above city until
his seventeenth year, attended the public
schools, in which he obtained a practical edu-
cation, and attained his majority well equip-
ped to do battle with the world. On leaving
the parental roof he went to Cincinnati, in
which city he found employment in the
grocery business, and, with the exception of
the time spent in the army, continued there
until the year 1874. In 1862, with thousands
of other young men who responded to the
country's call for volunteers, Mr. Goddard
entered the army, enlisting in company M,
Fourth Ohio cavalry, with which he served
for a period of six months, when he was as-
signed to company D, of the same regiment,
with the rank of second lieutenant. Later he
was promoted captain of the. company, be-
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HUPT''
JOS. A. GODDARD.
MRS. JOS. A. GODDARD.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
279
coming; quarter master on the staff of Gen.
W. L. Elliott, and later on the staff of Major
Gen. W. H. Wilson. He was with his com-
mand in several battles of the rebellion,
among which were Chickamauga and Nash-
ville, and served in the army of the Cumber-
land, taking an active part in many of the en-
gagements of the southwestern campaign.
At the close of the war he returned to Cincin-
nati and took service with his former employers,
later becoming a commercial traveler for the
firm, and was thus engaged until his removal
to Indiana in 1874. On locating in Muncie,
Mr. Goddard engaged in the grocery business
with Mr. B. R. Adamson, which partnership
continued until 1880, when the firm dissolved,
Mr. Goddard, at that date, engaging exclusive-
ly in the wholesale trade and eventually be-
coming one of the leading jobbers in Indiana.
He has now an extensive and lucrative busi-
ness, which is constantly increasing and re-
quires the services of three traveling salesmen,
the house supplying the trade in many of the
counties of eastern Indiana, besides being
very extensively patronized by all the grocery
establishments of Muncie. Mr. Goddard is a
self-made man in all that term implies, and
his present high standing in commercial circles
has been attained by his own unaided efforts.
He possesses business qualifications of a high
order, his integrity and honor have never been
questioned, and his fair and upright dealings
have borne legitimate fruits in the large busi-
ness which has made his name popular among
the representative men of Muncie.
Mr. Goddard was one of the organizers of
the Citizens' Enterprise company, and for the
past seven years has held the responsible po-
sition of president of the Muncie school board.
Politically he is a republican. In 1866 Mr.
Goddard was united in marriage to Miss Mary
Hough, daughter of William Hough, of Wayne
county, Ind., to which union three children
have been born, namely: William H., Grace
and Annie — the last named being the wife of
Mr. C. M. Rich. Mr. Goddard and family
are prominent and consistent members of the
Friend's society in Muncie, in the organization
of which he was a leading spirit, and in which
he now holds the position of elder. While
his standing in the commercial world is that of
a first-class business man, sound in judgment
and wise in counsel, he also possesses in a
generous degree the confidence of the public,
and all movements having for their object the
moral and educational welfare of the com-
munity, find in him a liberal patron and gen-
erous benefactor.
Vj'OSEPH MILTON GRAY, the effi-
m cient manager of the Muncie Casket
A 1 company, is a native of Delaware
county, Ind., born November 22, 1854,
on a farm in Salem township. His father,
James M. Gray, was born in Tennessee in
Januar}-, 1S29, went to Ohio when a youth,
and became a resident of Delaware county,
Ind., in early manhood, locating in the town-
ship of Salem, where he carried on farming
for several years. Later he embarked in the
mercantile business at Daleville, where he car-
ried on a fairly successful trade for twenty-
eight years, removing, at the end of that time,
to the city of Anderson, where he engaged in
the sale of buggies and carriages. His first
marriage was consummated with Elizabeth
Shoemaker, of Salem township, who died
November 20, 1866, the mother of seven chil-
dren— two sons and five daughters — Joseph
M. being the third in order of birth. Mr.
Gray's second marriage took place in the year
1868 with Mrs. Mary A. McClanahan, widow
of the late Elijah McClanahan, the union re-
sulting in two children — a son and a daughter
280
MUNCIE CITY
— the latter dying in infancy. For a number of
years James M. Gray has been a leading mem-
ber of the Christian church, and a prominent
Mason. He met with encouraging success in
his various business ventures, but suffered
severe financial reverses during the panic of
1873-
Joseph M. Gray first attended the district
schools, and after the removal of his parents
to Daleville became a pupil in the school of
that village, obtaining thereby a fair English
education. After the death of his mother,
which occurred when he was twelve years old,
he went to live with his uncle, P. M. Rudy,
whose house was his home for about two years,
or until his father's second marriage, when he
returned to the village of Daleville and entered
his father's store. At the age of nineteen he
purchased an interest in the business, which
from that time until the fall of 1881 was car-
ried on very successfully under the firm name
of J. M. Gray & Son, the latter retiring at
that date, and effecting a co-partnership in the
general mercantile and grain business with his
two uncles, J. P. and S. B. Shoemaker, under
the firm name of Shoemaker, Gray & Co.
The relationship thus constituted lasted about
nine years, at the end of which time Mr. Gray
disposed of his interest, and with J. P. Shoe-
maker purchased a controlling interest in the
Muncie Casket works, of which he was made
secretary. Subsequently he assumed general
management of the concern, a position he still
ret^iins, and under his able supervision the
volume^ of business has been greatly increased,
being over one hundred per cent, in excess of
what was done when Mr. Gray became a part-
ner. Mr. Gray has met with the most flatter-
ing success in his various enterprises, and his
judgment is seldom wrong in matters of busi-
ness policy. He possessess rare executive
abilities, is prompt and methodical in the
management of his affairs, not given to specu-
lation, being satisfied with legitimate gains; in
short, he possesses those correct business
principles which when directed and controlled
by good judgment, seldom fail of insuring suc-
cess.
Mr. Gray was married June 24, 1877, to
Miss Jennettia Griffis, daughter of Robert
Griffis, an old and prominent physician of
Middletown, Henry county; two children re-
sulted from this union: Owen Leslie, who
died at the age of twenty-two months, and
Myron Herbert, a bright boy of twelve,
whose birth occurred on the 7th day of Sep-
tember, 1 88 1. Mr. Gray has been a life-
long republican, but his ambition has never
run in the direction of seeking office, never
having been a candidate for any position. He
is a member of the Improved Order of Red
Men and the order of Maccabees, and for some
years has been a prominent Odd Fellow. He
became identified with the Christian church in
1870, since which date his life has been a
practical exemplification of his religious pro-
fession.
^^>^ FORGE R. GREEN, M. D., the
■ ^\ well known physician whose name
\^F introduces this sketch, is one of the
most skillful and experienced of the
city of Muncie, where he has many brother
practitioners. He was born in Hamilton
township, Delaware county, Ind., October 15,
1 85 1, a son of Andrew J. and Massy (Johnson)
Green, and a grandson of William Green, who
was a native of New York and of English
descent. William Green in an early day
moved from from New York to Ohio, and
from that state to Delaware county, Ind.,
where he purchased a tract of land in Niles
township, being among the earliest pioneers
of that section. Andrew J. Green was born
in Athens county, Ohio, and accompanied his
-^■^/2^^
GEO. W. GREENE.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
parents to Delaware county, Ind., when a
child, and was here reared and educated. Af-
ter attaining his majority he engaged in teach-
ing school and also preached in the Christian
church, later practicing medicine and continu-
ing the latter profession for many j'ears. He
was a man of many gifts, mainly self-educated,
and proved his business acumen by the enter-
ing of a tract of land in Hamilton township,
which he cleared and made very valuable.
His death occurred January 5, 1885, his wife
still surviving him and residing in the city of
Muncie. She was a North Carolinian by birth,
and a daughter of James Johnson, who was an
early settler of Wayne county.
Dr George R. Green was reared in Ham-
ilton township, received his literary education
in the high school of Muncie, and after leaving
school engaged in teaching for three years,
read law for one year, and then began the
study of medicine under his father. Subse-
quently, in 1877, he graduated from the col-
lege of Physicians and Surgeons, and the year
following received an ad eundem degree from
the Medical college of Indiana. He was a
very bright and intelligent student, and during
his course was selected from the class to be
assistant to the demonstrator of anatomy, and
graduated with high honors. Actuated by a
commendable desire to excel in his profession,
the doctor has since supplemented his medical
education by a post-graduate course in the
New York Polyclinic, and has also taken pri-
vate instructions in gynecology at New York.
Dr. Green began his medical practice in Roy-
erton, Ind., but in June, 1885, came to
Muncie, where he has since enjoyed an excel-
lent and remunerative practice in Delaware
and adjoining counties. He is a member of
the Delaware County Medical society, the Del-
aware District society, and the Indiana State
Medical society, in the deliberations of which
bodies he has taken an active and prominent
part. He has served as president of the
County Medical society, and is also a member
of the American Medical association. Frater-
nally he has connected himself with the
Masonic fraternity, K. of P. and the A. O. U.
W. , and politically is a republican. Dr.
Green is a married man, his marriage to Miss
Mary E. Monroe, daughter of Hugh Monroe,
of Ohio, having taken place in 1871, and
three children, Dwight, Earl and Bessie, with
Mrs. Green, comprise the pleasant family.
They are all valued members of the Presby-
terian church, in which body the doctor is an
elder.
@EORGE WASHINGTON GREENE.
— The following sketch of this most
estimable gentleman was published
at the time of his decease, in the local
press of Muncie. George Washington Greene
was born in White Hall, Washington county,
N. Y. , October 6, 1829, and died at his resi-
dence in Muncie, Ind., June 30, 1887. Mr.
Greene was one of the early settlers of Muncie.
His mother, whose maiden name was Char-
lotte Gilbert, was a sister to Goldsmith C,
William and Edmund Gilbert, who were
among the pioneers of Muncietown. She was
first married at her home in New York to Mr.
Fuller, who died there, and subsequently she
was united in marriage to George W. Greene,
father of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. and Mrs. Greene and their family, con-
sisting of three children, came to Muncietown
in 1830 and settled on the southeast corner of
Walnut and North streets, where the father
afterward died. Charles H. Greene, a third
son, was born about six weeks after his
father's death. Mrs. Greene was afterward,
November 5, 1837, married to William S.
Collins, and the family then moved to what
has since been known as the "Kirby Pasture
284
MUNCIE CITY
land," on the Middletown pike After the
mother's death the family was broken up, the
children going to different parts of the country,
George W. , or "Wash" as he was familiarly
called, being taken into the family of his uncle.
Goldsmith C. Gilbert, with whom he lived un-
til that gentleman's death in 1844, when he
began working as a farm laborer in the north-
ern part of the county. He did not remain
long in the country, however, but soon came
to Muncie and served an apprenticeship at the
tailor's trade under William Perkins, whose
shop stood on the ground now occupied by
the Little block. He took charge of the busi-
ness when he had "served his time," and,
carried on tailoring until he entered the army.
After his return from the war he was elected
clerk of Delaware county circuit court in 1 866,
and entered upon the discharge of his official
duties August 23, of the following year. He
was re-elected and held the office until August
23, 1875, when he retired with the record of
honorable service, having earned the reputa-
tion of an honest and efficient officer. After
his retirement from office he engaged in no
active business, but occupied his time in look-
ing after his property and managing his farm.
Mr. Greene was married to Miss Nancy H.
Fleming on October 6, 1851 ; she died in Mun-
cie, December 13, 1857, aged twenty-eight
years, three months and twenty-three days.
The first child, George, died at the age of
about six months. Their second and last
child, Ella, wife of H. B. Athey, survives her
father, and her only child bears his name,
Georgie G.
By no means the least interesting part of
the life of George W. Greene is his career as a
soldier. He enlisted in company E, Nine-
teenth Indiana volunteers, July 29, 1861, and
immediately thereafter was commissioned first
lieutenant. Upon the honorable discharge of
Capt. Luther B. Wilson, Lieutenant Greene
was promoted captain of the company, and
was at the head of his men when taken prison-
er at the battle of Gettysburg on the first day
of that memorable fight, July i, 1863. He
was first taken to Libby prison, where he was
confined for ten months, and was one of the
daring fellows who, with Col. A. D. Streight
of Indianapolis, tunneled a way out of the
horrible prison pen and made their escape.
Unfortunately, Capt. Greene was recaptured
and returned to prison. He was then con-
fined in Danville, Macon, and Charleston
rebel prisons until March 12, 1865, at which
time, he was paroled prisoner of war, and dis-
charged at Washington, D. C. After long
confinement in these prison pens in the south
he became very much reduced in body and
spirit, and was very sick and unable to walk.
Capt. Greene never fully recovered from the
effects of his twenty months' starvation and
prison life, and suffered constantly, some-
times severely, with rheumatism and bone
fever, and his death was caused by general
wearing out of a debilitated body. Mr. Greene
was a good and faithful soldier, a brave and
efficient officer, a generous and faithful friend,
and a citizen in whom the people of Muncie
and Delaware county placed the most implicit
confidence. He was known and respected
throughout Delaware county, and in his death
all who knew him realized that they had lost
a friend.
t>^ ALPH S. GREGORY was born in
1^^ Delaware county, Ind., February 28,
I^P 1846. He lived upon a farm until
fifteen years old, when he entered
the high school at Muncie, Ind. After com-
pleting the course of study there he entered
Wabash college, where he continued his
studies until 1862, when he entered the army
as a private soldier in company B, Eighty-
V-rV
^f7^
THE R. S. GREGORY FAMILY.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
fourth Indiana volunteer infantry. He remained
in the army about two years, when, on account
of faihng health, he was honorably discharged
at Shellmound, Tenn., having attained the
rank of orderly sergeant. On returning home,
having regained his health, he again entered
Wabash college and remained there through
the junior year. He then entered Asbury
university, now Depauw university, where he
graduated with honors in the class of 1867.
The year following his graduation he was
superintendent of the high school of the city
of Huntington, Ind. He studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1 869, and has since
continued the practice of that profession. His
practice in both the civil and criminal courts
has been successful and lucrative. He has
won an enviable reputation for himself as an
advocate, and is known throughout the state.
He has won especial distinction in the prac-
tice of the criminal law. He has a large
library of the best text books and law reports,
in addition to which he has a private library
composed of the choicest works on history, art
and literature. He belongs to many of the
leading secret and fraternal societies, such as
the Masons, Knights Templar, Knights of
Pythias, and the Improved Order of Red Men,
and has held many of the great offices in these
societies, and especially in that of the Im-
proved Order of Red Men, in which order he
has been the great Incohonee, which is the
chief officer of the order in the world. He is a
close observer of men and things, and per-
haps no one in Delaware county has a wider
and more intimate acquaintance with the peo-
ple of the state than he. He has always been
a republican since his majority, except in the
campaign of 1892, when his study of the
tariff, and the attitude of certain leading
statesman on the subject of bi-metalism, or
the coinage of gold and silver as money upon
a parity and equality, compelled him to with-
hold his political influence from the success of
the republican candidates. He is a firm be-
liever in bi-metalism, and recognizes that
silver money has been the established friend of
the people, and that without its use as money
the masses must necessarily be at a disadvan-
tage with the rich or the security holders.
He believes the McKinley bill as constructed
was, and is, the most ingeniously prepared
personal legislation that was ever devised by
man. He is not a free trader, but believes in
such a tariff as will sufficiently raise revenues
to maintain the government, and that that
tariff should be so placed as to protect labor
and the industries in the true spirit of Ameri-
can independenoe.
Mr. Gregory has a wife and two children,
Walter Leon, and Florence Madden Gregory.
Mrs. Anna C. Gregory, the mother of these,
was born at Piqua, Ohio, in 1863, a daughter
of Timothy C. Madden, of Irish parentage;
was educated in her native city, and is highly
accomplished in music. The pictures of his
wife and children are in a group in this
volume, on the opposite page from his own.
He is cool in discussion and forms no dislike
for any one who honestly entertains an opin-
ion differing with his.
\^'~\ F- GRIBBEN, the accommodating
\f^\ ticket agent of the " Big 4" railroad
JK^J company at Muncie, Ind., was born
in Pittsburg, Pa., June 4, 1852, and
there attended the public schools until sixteen
years of age, subsequently taking a special
course at book keeping in the high school,
and also served an apprenticeship at iron
molding at Union City, Ind., where his father
was partner in the foundry of White, Gribben
& Co., and served from 1868 to 1871, when
he returned to Pittsburg and worked in the
290
MUNCIE CITY
Westinghouse air brake works, at his chosen
trade, and a year and a half later returned to
Union City and took charge of the Wooley &
Fischers Electric Light company's molding
department for a year; worked three months
in the freight office of the " Big 4" and was
then transferred to Muncie and was baggage
master for eight years, and in August, 1890,
was appointed to his present position. During
his residence in Union City he was city clerk
for seven years, on the Ohio side, and was the
first president of the Delaware county and
Gray club, of Muncie, a democratic organiza-
tion. He was married in Union City, in 1873,
to Miss Laura J. Dill, daughter of John W.
Dill, of Greenville, Ohio, and has two chil-
dren— Pearl M., at home, and Perry A., an
employe of the Kirby house.
Andrew J. Gribben, father of the subject,
B. F. Gribben, was born in Pennsylvania,
in 18 1 8, and settled in Union City, Ind., in
1 868, and engaged in the foundry and machine
business until 1872. While not licensed a
lawyer, he was well posted in legal matters,
and during the last few years of his life was
engaged in real estate transactions. He was
mayor, justice of the peace, and president of
the board of education at different times, and
died in August, 1 890, honored by his fellow
citizens as a useful member of society and as
an upright man. He married Harriet A.
Verner, and had born to him five children,
viz: Mary A., wife of Charles A. Gould, of
Pittsburg ; B. F. , whose name opens this
sketch ; Perry, yardmaster at Anderson ; Belle,
wife of Herman C. Scranton, of Union City ;
and Lizzie M. , wife of James E. Folley, of
Anderson. The mother is still living in Union
City, aged sixty-four.
B. F. Gribben has most successfully won
his way through the world by his almost un-
aided self-exertion, and much credit is due him
for his perseverance.
,>^ OSCOE C. GRIFFITH.— The busi-
I ^^ ness interests of the city of Muncie,
I jf Ind., are well represented by the le-
gal profession, and the subject of the
present sketch has done his share in promot-
ing the various enterprises which have served
to make this place known throughout the
state. Roscoe C. Griffith was born December
15, 1863, in Huntington, Ind., and is the son
of William H. and Seraphina (Clark) Griffith.
William H. Griffith was born in the same
county and state, January 9, 1834, and was
the son of Jesse Griffith, a native of Pennsyl-
vania, and one of the pioneers of Huntington
county. He helped to cut the first road from
Huntington to Goshen, and was one of the
first jurymen in the first court held in Hunt-
ington. Politically he was a democrat and a
man of great prominence at that time. Wil-
liam H. Griffith, his son, was reared on the
farm and subsequently learned the trade of
baker, engaging in that business in South
Charleston, Ohio, but afterward returned to
Huntington county, Ind., where he followed
his chosen calling for a number of years. He,
too, was a member of the democratic party,
as his father had been; also was a prominent
Mason, and treasurer of his home lodge for
many years. He reared a family of seven
children, six of whom are yet living, as fol-
lows: AdorahJ., wife of Frank H. Minnich,
of Muncie; David M., of Huntington; Roscoe
C, Leota S., at home; Charles E., of Muncie:
and Clark C.
Roscoe C. Griffith received his education
in the schools of Huntington, graduating from
the high school of that city in 1883, and in
October of the same year entered the law
department of the university of Michigan, at
Ann Arbor, in which he completed the pre-
scribed course, graduating in June, 1885, and
receiving the degree of B. of L. He began
the practice of his profession in Huntington,
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
and in 1886 he was appointed deputy prose-
cutor of that county, but resigned the office in
March, 1888, to remove to Muncie, where he
has since conducted a very successful legal
business, and now is the attorney for the Mun-
cie Savings & Loan association. In May,
1890, Mr. Griffith was made manager of the
Galliher sub-addition to the city, and filled
that position until September, 1892, when he
resigned it to engage in a general real estate
business, and in February, 1889, became a
partner in the insurance agency of Shipley &
Wright. Fraternally, Mr. Griffith is a char-
ter member of Muncie lodge. No. 38, Knights
of Maccabees, being past commander in the
same, and is also a member of the K. of P.
Politically he is a democrat, and his counsels
and advice are of value to the party. Mr.
Griffith was married August 12, 1886, to Miss
Clara L. Marson, daughter of John Marson, of
Wayne county, Ind. Both he and wife are
members of the First Baptist church. Mr.
Griffith is one of the enterprising citizens of
Muncie, progressive and active, and not only
urges others to duty but sets the example, put-
ting his own shoulder to the wheel. He is
one of the organizers of the Citizens' Enter-
prise company, and has devoted time and en-
ergies to the success of that corporation,
besides taking an active interest in all move-
ments having for their object the moral and
material welfare of his adopted city, with the
growth and development of which he has
been- so prominently identified.
*w ^ ON. THOMAS S. GUTHRIE, a well
l'^^ known and prominent citizen of Indi-
l^^P ana, is a native of Ohio, born in
Madison county, that state, August
10, 1830, the son of John C. and Jency J.
Guthrie, who emigrated to Ohio in the year
1826 from Campbell county, Va. The family,
although poor, had always been honorable and
highly respected, and consisted of the parents,
eleven sons and one daughter. At the time
of their settlement in Madison county, the
country was comparatively a wilderness — bear
and deer were yet frequently seen, and game
of all kind was found in great abundance.
With his brothers, Thomas early engaged in
agricultural labor and assisted in clearing up
five farms — four in Ohio and one near Winter-
set, Iowa, about the year 1849 or 1850. At
the age of twenty-two, Mr. Guthrie found
himself with but limited educational training,
there being no school nearer than the town
of Mechanicsburg, distant about nine miles
from his home. This obstacle, however, did
not deter him from carrying out his intention
of receiving an education. Accordingly, he
made arrangements to walk the distance on
Monday mornings and return home on Friday
evenings, and so well did he succeed in his
studies, that in 1853 he received a certificate
entitling him to teach in the public schools.
His first effort in this direction was in the
town of Carysville, Champaign county, Ohio,
where he remained some months, teaching
during the winter and working at manual
labor during the summer season. He was
ambitious to succeed, and during this period
studied medicine, and later practiced to some
extent at Millerstown, Ohio, during 1856-57,
but did not long continue in that profession.
On March i, 1856, he was married to Miss
Mary A. Comer, and they had born to them a
son, J. A., and twenty-two years later a
daughter. Ruble. From early boyhood Mr.
Guthrie had been religously inclined, and at
the age of nineteen connected himself with
the Methodist church, but sometime after-
ward, his views having undergone a change,
withdrew from that religious body and joined
the Universalists in 1853, with which demomi-
292
MUNCIE CITY
nation he has since been prominently identi-
fied. He preached a sermon in Palestine,
Shelby county, in 1854, but did not formally
engage in the work of the ministry until 1858,
at which time he was received into fellowship
with the Ohio convention. Since that date
he has served as pastor of Universalist churches
in Eaton, Cleveland and Springfield, Ohio,
and at Lafayette and Muncie, Ind., in the
latter place filling the pulpit for a period of
eleven years. As a preacher, Mr. Guthrie is
eloquent and logical, and for years has been
considered one of the ablest expounders of the
peculiar doctrine of his denomination in cen-
tral Indiana. He is a pleasing and popular
orator, and for special occasions is frequently
sent for at long distances, going to Cleveland,
Ohio, Bloomington, 111., and other cities on
such missions. As already stated, Mr.
Guthrie's early educational advantages were
somewhat hmited, and, feeling the need of
more extended literary knowledge, he entered
college at Canton, N. Y., in 1870, being at that
time forty years of age, and made rapid and
substantial progress in the various higher
branches of learning.
Mr. Guthrie at one time engaged in busi-
ness, which, proving very successful, enabled
him to accumulate a handsome competence,
and he is now living in very comfortable cir-
cumstances. At the breaking out of the great
civil war he responded to his country's call
for volunteers, and enHsted, dechning the po-
sition of captain of his company, but ten days
later was promoted chaplain and served in
that capacity until the discharge of the regi-
ment at the expiration of its term of service in
1864. During his military career he partici-
pated in a number of engagements, including
the taking of Lexington, Va., battle of Cum-
berland, and Hunter's defeat at Lynchburg, in
the last of which he, with his comrades, endured
great suffering. He was honorably discharged
September 2, 1864, and has a military record
of which he feels deservedly proud. He is a
member of the Grand Army and of the Loyal
Legion, and proudly wears a badge placed
upon him by ex-Pres. Hayes, who was at that
time commander of the Loyal Legion com-
mandery.
Inheriting the Virginia blood of his ances-
tors, Mr. Guthrie grew up pro-slavery in name
and a democrat, but at the early age of twelve
years began to oppose the nefarious institu-
tion of African servitude, which led to a com-
plete change in his political convictions. He
voted for John C. Fremont and for all suc-
ceeding republican candidates for the presi-
dency, and has contributed largely to the suc-
cess of the republican party in nearly every
local and general election for the last quarter
of a century. Mr. Guthrie was elected a
member of the Fifty-seventh general assembly
of the state by a majority of 1,456. He fig-
ured fairly in the legislative body. He intro-
duced bills on free text books; to forbid the
playing of base ball on Sunday; on local
option; on fees and salary, and favored the
bill that did pass, and labored to have it take
effect at the publication of the laws. He also
introduced a bill, the object of which was to
prevent capital punishment. Mr. Guthrie is
now permanently located in Muncie, and has
been prominently identified with a number of
its principal business interests, having been a
charter member of the Economic Gas com-
pany, the first co-operative gas company of
the city. He takes pleasure in recalling the
stirring scenes of the late war, is popular with
the surviving comrades of company B, One
Hundred Fifty-second Ohio volunteer infantry,
and is a member of the G. A. R. Post at
Springfield, Ohio. He is also prominent in
Masonic circles, having taken a number of
degrees, including that of Sir Knight, and
belongs to the lodge meeting in Muncie.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
BRANK D. HAIMBAUGH, editor of
the Muncie Herald, was born in Fair-
field county, Ohio, in September,
1856, and is a son of David and
Margaret N. • (Leonard) Haimbaugh. The
family came to Indiana, and located in Fulton
county in 1863, and here he was thoroughly
trained to the hard labor of tilling the soil,
being the only boy in the family.
Until seventeen years of age he pursued
his studies in the common schools preparatory
to teaching, and an attendance at the Roches-
ter high school, from which he graduated in
1878. In 1880 he completed the scientific
course at the Western Indiana Normal school
at Valparaiso, from which he also graduated.
The five years following he was engaged in
teaching, during four of which he was princi-
pal of the Brookston (Ind.) Academy. In
1885, without any solicitation on his part, the
trustees of his native county, Fulton, elected
him county superintendent of schools, and
during his two years' incumbency of the office,
through his capability and thoroughness, these
schools were placed upon a very high plane.
In 1887 he engaged in the life insurance
busines in Iowa and Indiana, but, this voca-
tion not proving congenial to his taste, he
bought an interest in the Miami county (Ind.)
Sentinel, in 1889. He did some very excel-
lent editorial work on this journal until April,
1 89 1, when he sold his interest, removed to
Muncie and bought a half share in the Herald,
of which paper he is now the editor. He soon
made his mark as a strong, logical and fear-
less writer, who never hesitates to express his
conviction as to the right or wrong of any
public question. He became very popular
socially and politically, and in 1889 was elect-
ed door-keeper of the Indiana house of repre-
sentatives, and that popularity still clung to
him, as, in 1891, he was again elected door-
keeper, an honor never before conferred on
any individual — that of being elected to the
office for two consecutive terms. In 1893 he
was elected, by a unanimous vote, secretar\ of
the democratic editorial association of the
state, showing the high esteem in which he is
held by his fellow democratic journalists
throughout the state. His acquaintance with
the leading men of Indiana, especially with
those of the democratic party, and his sound
judgment in matters political, although not
professing to be a politician, make him a
valuable factor in party councils, and his voice
is never unheeded. He is a strong tariff re-
former, and is regarded as an eloquent politi-
cal orator, as he handles his subject in the
hustings with the ease and clearness that come
from well-founded convictions.
In May, 1890, Mr. Haimbaugh was united
in marriage with Miss Emma Elginfritz, of
Warsaw, Ind., the union being blessed with
one child, Paul A., whose presence in the
household adds sunshine to the already bright
and happy home of the parents. Mr. Haim-
baugh, it will be perceived, has raised himself
to his present elavated position solely through
his own talents and persevering industry.
aALVIN HAINES, a successful busi-
ness man of Muncie, was born in
Clinton county, Ohio, September 5,
1 841, son of Stacy and Judith Haines,
an appropriate mention of whom is found else-
where in this volume. Mr. Haines was reared
on the home farm until his thirteenth year,
and then removed, with his parents, to the
village of Sligo, Ohio, where he attended
school until eighteen years of age. On quit-
ting school he apprenticed himself to a Mr.
Andrews to learn the blacksmithing trade, at
which he worked for a period of three years,
or until August, 1862, when he entered the
294
MUNCIE CITY
army, enlisting in company I, Seventy-ninth
Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served
until the close of the war. He was with his
command in the Tennessee and Georgia cam-
paigns and participated in all the battles from
Chattanooga to Atlanta, through all which he
passed without receiving the slightest injury.
At one time, he was confined to the hospital
at Nashville on account of sickness, but re-
covered in time to take part in the great battle
fought near that city which resulted in the de-
struction of Hood's army. He was sent to
Goldsborough, N. C, in 1865, and in June of
that year was honorably discharged from the
service at Washington, D. C. Returning
home at the close of the war, Mr. Haines en-
gaged in farming for two years, and then
embarked in the grocery business, which he
carried on with a reasonable degree of success
until March, 1 869, at which time he disposed of
his stock and moved to Muncie.
On coming to this city he engaged in the dry
goods trade until 1878, at which date he began
handling feed, and also embarked in the ice
trade, both of which lines he conducted until
1884, and the former of which occupied his
attention until 1891. In the latter year he
disposed of his feed store and opened a meat
market, which he conducted with success and
financial profit until June, 1893. Mr. Haines
has managed his various business enterprises
with judicious care, and since becoming identi-
fied with the commercial interests of Muncie,
he has been recognized as one of the city's
efficient and progressive citizens. He was
married September 5, 1867, to Mary T. Har-
vey, of Clinton county, Ohio, daughter of
Simon and Ann (Townsend) Harvey, to which
union three children have been born, namely:
Walter H., a business man of Pueblo, Col;
Harvey C, deceased; and Frank, who resides
with his parents at home. Mr. and Mrs.
Haines are consistent members of the Society
of Friends; in politics Mr. Haines is a repub-
lican.
^y^ AVID T. HAINES, one of the repre-
I I sentative business men, and for many
>^^_^ years a prominent citizen of Dela-
ware county, is a native of Ohio and
a member of an old Virginia family which
settled in the "Buckeye" state before the
dawn of the present century. John Haines,
the grandfather of David T. , was born in Vir-
ginia August 15, 1769, and married in Freder-
ick county, W. Va. , December 4, 1792, Eliza-
beth Allen, whose birth occurred on the lOth
day of May, 1768. Shortly after marriage
they moved to Warren county, Ohio, and set-
tled in Wayneville, where he built the first
mill in that part of the state, which began
operations in 1797. Subsequently, he dis-
posed of the mill and moved to Greene county,
Ohio, entered a tract of land in the vicinity of
Xenia, cleared a farm and reared a family of
nine children, eight of whom grew to years of
maturity. He died in November, 1823, and
was buried on the old home farm near Xenia,
where an appropriate monument marks the
place; his wife died in Highland county, Ohio.
Stacy Haines, son of John Haines and father
of David T., was born August 2, 1795, in
Frederick county, Va. , and was united in mar-
riage December 3, 1817, in Highland county,
Ohio, to Judith Terrell, who became the
mother of twelve children; David T. , Noah,
Mary, Amos, Samuel T. , John, Sarah, Stacy
A.,' Martha wife of John Moore; Judith A.,
wife of George Breckney; Edwin A. and Cal-
vin. Of these children David T., Stacy,
Martha, Judith, Edwin A., Calvin and Allen
are still living. Stacy and Judith Haines
were birthright members of the Society of
Friends, to which both branches of the family
have belonged for several generations. The
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
father died October 5, 1854, and on the 6th day
of January, 1861, the mother was called away.
David T. Haines was born in Xc-nia, Ohio,
October i, 1818. He was reared on tlie home
farm in Ohio, and in the common schools
received an education, which, supplemented
by subsequent years of association with the
world, has enabled him to transact the duties
of an active business life. While still younp^.
he was engaged in teaming to Cincinnati,
Dayton and other points, and at the age of
twenty years began learning the tratie of mill-
ing in Clinton county, Ohio, in the mill pur-
chased there by his father in 1838. He con-
tinued the trade for twelve years, and in 1848
he came to Muncie, Ind., where, until 1853,
he was engaged in the wholesale and retail
grocery business. To Mr. Haines is largely
due the credit for the general system of inter-
nal improvements which did so much towards
developing central Indiana and Delaware
county, and in locating the Fort Wayne &
Southern railroad through this part of the
state, of which company he was secretary from
1853 until its failure in I855. He continued
as custodian of the archi\-es, stocks, bonds
and books of the company until 1868, when
they were turned over to John C. Parker, who
attempted to rebuild the road from Jefferson-
ville to Muncie. After the failure of this proj-
ect, he assisted in organizing the company
that built the road from Fort Wayne to this
city, now the Ft. W. , C. & L. , of which he
was secretary and treasurer, and later became
vice-president of the road until sold to Chas.
H. Dalton and others. He was elected an
official in 1868 of the company that construct-
ed the road from Connersville to Fort Wayne,
which was subsequently leased to the Cincin-
nati railroad company, after which he became
secretary and a director of the same line, since
known as the Fort Wayne & Cincinnati road.
He was one of the committee that bought the
iron for the road and the first six engines that
are still in use by the company. He contin-
ued with the company until it disposed of its
interest to a Boston syndicate, and retained
his official connection until the road changed
hands. Practically ]\Ir. Haines had personal
charge of the construction of the road, and it
was by his exertions alone, and careful man-
agement; that the company was enabled to
complete the work at the time specified, in
order to receive the subsidy promised by the
citizens of Muncie and Delaware and Wells
counties. He was identified with the com-
pany until the sale of the line in 1872, at
which time he devoted his attention largely to
the grain trade in Muncie and other points,
and in 1867 began to speculate in Kansas real
estate. In 1865 he began buying grain in
Chicago, later extended his operations in this
line to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1875 became
prominently identified with the Muncie
Machine works, of which he was a director
and of which he afterwards became general
manager. In 1881 Mr. Haines moved to Kan-
sas, where he remained until 1892, at which
time he returned to Muncie.
Mr. Haines was married October 10, 1841,
to Deborah Sever, of Warren county, Ohio,
where her birth occurred on the 1 7th day of
October, 18 19; she bore her husband three
children, namely: Elma, wife of A. G. F.
Janes of Topeka, Kan ; Adelbert, of Kansas
City, Mo., and Melvina, widow of Samuel C.
Gregg. Mrs. Haines died in 1852, and De-
cember 7, 1853, Mr. Haines was united in
marriage with Elizabeth Dragoo, a daughter
of William and Elizabeth (Crantz) Dragoo.
Mrs. Haines is a native of West Virginia and
dates her birth from May 19, 1827. To Mr.
Haines' second marriage three children have
been born: Elizabeth, wife of J. N. Smith;
Allen, of this city, and David T. , a commission
merchant in Kansas City, Mo.
296
MUNCIE CITY
Mr. Haines is a man of the highest stand-
ing in the community, and his reputation has
been gained by a long course of honest and
straightforward conduct. He was a member
of the common council of Muncie for two
terms, and is entitled to the honor of introdu-
cing Odd Fellowship to the city — being a
member of the original lodge organized here
in 1849. He was the original proprietor of
the National hotel, which he conducted three
and one half years under the name of the
Haines house, and it was by his capital that
the building was erected. In his political
affiliations Mr. Haines is a republican, and in
religion is a member of the Society of Friends,
to which denomination his wife and different
members of the family belong.
HRCHIBALD HAMILTON, deceased,
was one of the most successful agri-
culturists and general business men
of Centre township, Delaware county,
Ind., and was born in Monongalia county, Va.
(now West Va.), February 19, 1828, the son
of Stephen and Elizabeth (McAbee) Hamilton.
He was the youngest son in a family of eight
children: Alvin, farmer near Lyndon, Kan.;
Washington, deceased when a young man;
Henry (see sketch of Milton Hamilton),' Selina,
wife of Silas Bates, farmer near Jerseyville,
111. ; Mary, first wife of William Walling, of
Muncie; Thomas, deceased, was a farmer near
Deepwater, Mo. ; Stephen, farmer of Centre
township, and Archibald, whose name heads
this sketch. Archibald was but two and a
half years old when brought to Centre town-
ship, where his father entered 160 acres of
land, on which Archibald was reared, and of
which he in due time became part proprietor
with his father until the latter's death. After
receiving a fair amount of schooling in his
neighborhood, but a still larger amount of
farm training, he started for the gold fields of
California with a company, of which his father
and brother, Stephen, were also members,
and of which party Archibald was the youngest.
Having been fairly successful in the mines,
Archibald returned, in 185 i, and invested $800
of his earnings in a part of the old homestead
and engaged in raising and dealing in live
stock, in which enterprise his brother, Henry,
afterward became associated, and which they
together carried on until some time in 1868,
when the partnership was dissolved. Then
Archibald bought out the other heirs to the
home farm, which then comprised 404 acres,
and took upon himself the care of his parents.
For the last fifteen or eighteen years of his
life, Mr. Hamilton rented out this property
and other that he had accumulated, amount-
to 600 acres of farm land and numerous valu-
able town lots.
In December, 1887, Mr. Hamilton was
married to Miss Harriet Fleming. Her par-
ents, Isaac and Amelia Fleming, were from
Marion county. West Va. , and settled in
Henry county, Ind., in 1855. The father
died in 1857, leaving a widow and seven chil-
dren. His remains were interred in the ceme-
tery at Hillsboro, Ind. In 1865 the widow
removed to Muncie, Ind. , where she ended her
days in March, 1892, at the age of seventy-
nine, leaving as her survivors one son and
three daughters, viz: Hugh H. Fleming, whole-
sale hardware merchant of Sedalia, Mo. ;
Harriet, widow of Archibald Hamilton; Mrs.
Amanda Coffeen, widow of Zelomir Coffeen,
and Lydia, wife of George H. Andrews. Three
children, deceased, were named David, Pres-
ton and Charles.
Archibald Hamilton was called from life
July 5, 1890. He was a man of extraordinary
business sagacity and yet of great tenderness
of heart. His good qualities are summed up
A. HAMILTON.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
in the few sentences following: He was very
liberal with the poor and afflicted; was never
extortionate with his tenants, but always gen-
erous in his benefactions to public enterprises
of merit; he was possessed of remarkable
financial ability and was a wonderful mental
mathematician; he was lenient to an extreme
with his debtors, and seldom made a forclos-
ure, and was, in the full sense of the term, a
large-hearted, sympathetic man. He was a
lover of fine horses and always drove a good
one, and his aesthetic tastes are exemplified
in the remodeling of his late residence, now
occupied by his amiable and ladj'like widow.
His name will be remembered with gratitude
by hundreds of recipients of his bounty, and
his loss deplored by his famil}- till time to them
shall cease.
y'TX ILTON HAMILTON, commission
■ I ■ salesman, sale and livery stable
\^ £ ^ keeper, Muncie, is a native of Dela-
ware county, Ind., born in Centre
township, January 3, 1853. His father, Henry
Hamilton, was a native of West Virginia and
son of Stephen and Ann (McAbee) Hamilton,
who were among the pioneers of Delaware
county, settling, many years ago, about three
miles north of Muncie, upon 380 acres of land
purchased from the government. Henry Ham-
ilton was but eleven years of age when he ac-
companied his parents to this county, and he
grew to manhood amid the stirring scenes of
pioneer times. It is stated that he never knew
the use of a shoe until after his eleventh year,
and during his youth he bore his full share in
contributing toward the support of the family
in their new home in the woods. He received
his educational training in the indifferent
country schools of that period, and at the age
of twenty-four went to Illinois and entered a
tract of government land in HenrN' county, that
state. \Mien thirty-two years old, he was
united in marriage with Mary C. Cpe, daughter
of William and Harriet Coe, of Indiana, and
immediately thereafter disposed of his interest
in Illinois, and, returning to Delaware county,
settled on the old home farm, where he re-
mained, a successful tiller of the soil, until his
death, which occurred on the 17th day of
March, 1884. His wife survived him nearly
two years, departing this life in January, 1886.
Henry and Mary C. Hamilton had a family of
four children, namely: Milton, Millard F.,
William Harry and Carl E. Of the above,
William Harry is deceased; Millard F. and
Carl are at this time engaged in farming and
real estate business in the new state of Wash-
ington.
Milton Hamilton was reared on the home
farm in Centre township and received his
educational training in the district schools.
He remained under the parental roof until his
twentieth year, at which time, thinking to bet-
ter his financial condition in the west, he went
to the distant state of California, where for a
period of seven years he was engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits in Sacramento valley, princi-
pally in the counties of Butte and Napa.
He met. with a fair degree of success as a
farmer, and in 1879 went to Washington terri-
tory, pre-empted land, and there he resided
until his return to Delaware county in the
spring of 1884. From the latter year until
September, 1892, Mr Hamilton was engaged
in farming the old homestead, and then effect-
ed a copartnership with F. Karn in the com-
mission, sale and livery business, which he
has since carried on and in which his success
has been very encouraging. Mr. Hamilton is
well known in business circles in Muncie, and
his financial standing is first class in every
particular. His close attention to his various
lines of business has been marked by careful
forethought, and he has been enabled to accu-
MUNCIE CITY
mulate thereby a handsome property, owning
at this time a valuable farm of 320 acres, be-
side other real estate in the city and county.
He is a director and stockholder in the Farm-
ers' National bank of Muncie, and the business
firm with which he is at present identified is
one of the leading establishments of the kind
in the city.
Mr. Hamilton was married in Puget Sound,
Wash., December 8, 1885, to Hattie C,
daughter of John and Hattie McArdle. This
union has been crowned with the birth of three
children, namely: Hazel, Henry C. , and
Louise — the second child dying in infancy.
Mr. Hamilton's political affiliations are with
the republican party, but he has never been a
partisan in the sense of seeking oiScial prefer-
ment.
^^TEPHEN HAMILTON, of Centre
•^^^k* township, Delaware county, Ind.,
p^^y was born in Monongalia county, W.
Va., December 27, 1825, the son of
Stephen and Anna E. (McAbee) Hamilton,
natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and
Maryland. After their marriage Stephen and
Anna Hamilton settled in Monongalia county,
W. Va., where they made their home until
the fall of 1830, at which time they moved to
Delaware county, Ind., locating on what is
now the Granville turnpike. Centre township,
where they purchased from the government
240 acres of land. To this Mr. Hamilton
subsequently added another tract of 140 acres,
and began life in the backwoods. His first
dwelling was a rude log structure, eighteen by
twenty feet in dimensions, covered with a
clap-board roof held to place by weight
poles, the door made of clap boards fastened
with wooden hinges, while light was admitted
to the interior of the domicile through a
window in which greased paper was used in-
stead of glass. Mr. Hamilton, for some time
after coming to the new country, supplied his
table with the meat of deer, bear, wild turkey
and other game, with which the forests at
that time abounded. He acquired great skill
with a rifle, and no wild animal upon which
he drew his deadly aim was ever known to
have escaped. He was one of the original
" Forty-niners" who sought the gold fields of
far away California, and he started for the
Pacific coast by a private conveyance to Rich-
mond, Ind., thence by stage to Cincinnati, at
which place he took a steamer for New
Orleans and across the gulf to Chagres City.
After crossing the Isthmus of Panama he was
detained for about six weeks, at the end of
which time, in company with a number of
other spirits as daring as himself, he chartered
an English vessel and proceeded to San Fran-
cisco. He was engaged in mining for a period
of eighteen months, during which time he
accumulated considerable money. He re-
turned home by the same route as he went to
Calafornia, resumed farming, and was thus
employed until his death, which occurred on
the 17th day of May, 1872; his wife died
December 11, 1868, on the home farm.
These excellent people were members of the
Episcopal church; they reared a family of
eight children, whose names are as follows:
Alvin, of Osage county, Kan. ; Washington,
deceased; Henry, deceased; Selina, wife of
S. Bates, of Illinois; Mary A., deceased;
Thomas, deceased; Stephen, whose name
opens this sketch, and Archibald, deceased.
Stephen Hamilton was but four years of
age when brought to this county, within the
boundaries of which the greater part of his
subsequent life has been passed. He re-
calls, with pleasure, the exicting scenes of
pioneer life, and amid the rugged duties,
incident to the clearing and developing of
the home farm, he acquired strength of
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
body and determination of will which served
him well in after years. In the primitive log
school house he acquired the rudiments of an
education, and at the age of twenty-three, in
company with his brother Archibald, accom-
panied his father upon the latter's long and
perilous journey to the gold fields of Cali-
fornia. For a period two years and two months
he worked in the mines, and during that time
succeeded in accumulating a considerable sum
of money, which he judiciously invested in
1 60 acres of fine land upon his return to Dela-
ware county. The place he purchased is in
Centre township, and he has since resided
upon the same, being the owner at this time of
a comfortable home and a hightly improved
farm.
Mr. Hamilton was married October 18,
1855, to Miss Rachael Moore, whose birth oc-
curred in Butler county, Ohio, July 8, 1837.
Her parents, Mark and Mary (Davis) Moore,
both natives of Ohio, were married April 4,
1835, and reared the following children:
Zerelda, deceased; Rachael, whose name ap-
pears above; John, a contractor of Muncie;
Robert C, deceased; Anna, of Muncie; Lany,
wife of John Pugh; Virginia, wife of J Smith of
Kansas; Vincent T., of Muncie, a contractor.
The father of these children died November
24, 1 881; the mother still lives and makes her
home in the city of Muncie. The wedded life
of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton has been crowned
by the birth of ten children, whose names are
as follows: Charles E.. of Seattle, Washing-
ton; Lillie Z. , wife of George Shafer; Ann E.,
wife of L. Michner; F"rank E., Henry, Mary
E., deceased; Iva, deceased; Archibald A.,
Grace S. and infant who died unnamed. Mr.
Hamilton is a man of popularity m his com-
munity; prudence and moderation are among
his chief characteristics, and his life has been
governed by pure and just precepts. By suc-
cessful management he has accumulated a
competency of this world's goods, and owns
the fine farm already noted, beside valuable
property in the city of Muncie. He is a re-
publican in politics, and has always taken an
active interest in the material prosperity of
his township and county.
^^^KAXT HANCOCK, contractor, of
■ ^\ Muncie, Ind,, is a son of Watson and
\^W Elizabeth (Davis) Hancock, and was
born in Wayne county, Ind., June 1,
1864. Watson Hancock was born near Ham-
ilton, Ohio, in 1820 or 1821, was married at
College Corner, Ohio, settled in Wayne coun-
ty, Ohio, shortly after that event, thence
moved to Randolph county, where he followed
farming until about 1871, when he settled in
Delaware county, near Yorktown, where he
followed farming for about ten years, and
then moved to Edgar county. 111., where
he and wife are now living — he at the age of
seventy-two years. These parents have ten
children now living, viz: George, a farmer of
Randolph county, Ind. ; Caroline, wife of Jerry
Bennett, of Paris, 111. ; William, in business at
Red Key, Ind. ; Hannah, wife of Frank Reed,
Hildreth, 111. ; Alice, wife of Stephen Johnson,
farmer, of Edgar county, 111. ; David, farmer of
the same county; Grant Hancock; Ida, unmar-
ried, at home with her parents; Watson, a car-
penter, of Muncie, Ind. , and Nora, unmarried,
with her parents.
Grant Hancock, at the age of seventeen,
worked for himself a year in Illinois at farm-
ing* and from that on in Randolph county,
Ind., until twenty-two. But agriculture was
not congenial to his taste, and at the age
named he apprenticed himself at carpentering
— first to John Williams and then to George
Barnett, who were doing much work along the
line of the I. B. & W. railroad in Kan-
300
MUNCIE CITY
dolph county. After two years' work for
these parties he was prepared to do business
on his own account, and began contracting.
He erected a large number of buildings near
Modoc and Losantville, and for three years
met with much success, and then came to
Muncie, in 1889, and began contracting as a
member of the firm of Hancock & Smith for
the first, season. In 1890 he formed a partner-
ship with his brother David for one year,
since which time he has been contracting
alone. His work has been quite extensive
since then, having, since 1892, built ninety-
two dwelling houses, to-wit: Forty for W. A.
Sampson, and thirty-five for A. L. Johnson &
Co., in Gray's addition in 1892, and twenty-
two in the spring of 1893, before the financial
depression came on. In active times his ef-
fective force of employees numbers 100 men.
Mr. Hancock is in politics a democrat, and,
as he believes in "live and let live," assisted in
the organization of the carpenters' union in
Muncie, but resigned in 1892, yet continued to
treat his employees with the same considera-
tion as the other contractors in the city. Mr.
Hancock started at contracting with limited
capital, but by skill, strict business integrity,
promptness in filling his contracts, he has
placed himself at the head of the contractors
of Muncie, as the attendance of patrons at
his office, 406 east Adams street, will attest.
Mr. Hancock was married, in 1886, to Miss
Rosa M. Grubbs of Modoc, Ind., who has
added happiness to this home by the addition
of three bright children — Alvin, Bertha and
an infant son.
HOMAS E. HARRINGTON, the pres-
ent efficient recorder of Delaware
county, was born in Caroline county,
Md. , May 25, 1843, a son of James
and Martha (Numbers) Harrington, natives of
the same state, and of Caroline and Kent
counties, respectively. In 1872 these parents
removed to Henry county, Ind., and located
on a farm where the father died the same
year; the mother survived him until 1889,
departing this life in the city of Muncie. They
belonged respectively to the Methodist Episco-
pal church and Friends' Society, and were peo-
ple eminently respected in the community
where they resided. They were the parents
of seven children, of which family four are
now living, namely: Thomas E. ; Margaret,
wife of John Anderson of Muncie; Lydia M. ,
and J. Harry, an employee of the Indiana
Bridge company. Thomas E. Harrington was
reared in his native county until eighteen years
of age, and received his education in the pub-
lic schools. On the breaking out of the rebel-
lion he entered the army, enlisting, in 1861,
in company D, First regiment Maryland vol-
unteer infantry, and gave three years and
three months to the service of his country.
He was made fife-major of his company, and
during the period of his service participated in
the Gettysburg campaign, was on the block-
ade service, and for some time was under the
command of Gens. Butler, Lew Wallace, Dix
and Brigadier-Com. Lockwood. After being
honorably discharged, he returned to his
native state and engaged in teaching, which
he followed until 1870, when he came to Indi-
ana, where he was similarly employed in
Franklin county until 1874.
In the spring of 1875 ''^r. Harrington lo-
cated in Muncie, and in November of that
year removed to Selma, where he taught
school during the winter seasons and worked
at the carpenter's trade in summers, until the
fall of 1890, at which time he was compli-
mented by his fellow citizens by being elected
to the office of county recorder. In the dis-
charge of the duties of this position Mr. Har-
rington has been uniformly kind and obliging,
y^^ C^-^iyH^ CLAy'\.^<~yt^'^^^
AND CENTRE TOWNSEIIP.
301
and his manner of conducting the affairs of
the office is proof sufficient of the party's wis-
dom in his election. Pohtically, Mr. Har-
rington is and always has been a supporter of
the republican party, and has contributed
largely to its success in several important cam-
paigns. He is post commander of the S. J.
Williams pest, G. A. R., being also adjutant of
the same, and is a member of the Selma lodge,
No. 189, I. O. O. F., in which he is past
grand chief and past grand patriarch; he is
also a member of the Twa Twa tribe of Red
Men. Mr. Harrington's marriage was solem-
nized in December, 1865, with Miss Sue B.
Norris, daughter of William Norris, and they
are the parents of the following children:
Alice L. , wife of C. O. Hanna of Selma, Ind. ;
Dela S., Harry C, William H., Martha V.,
Charles O. (deceased), Lola J., Thomas R.
and Georgia. Mr. Harrington and family are
members of the Methodist church, belonging
to the High street congregation of Muncie,
and are among the most esteemfd residents of
the city. His domestic relations, with the
exception of the sadness occasioned by the
one visitation of death to the family, have
been of the most felicitous nature, and his
public and social positions have been commen-
surate in their pleasant current with the flow
of his domestic huppiness. He has been de-
serving o' all that has been bestowed upon
him, and will ever be able to sustain the high
position he has attained in the esteem of his
fellow men.
>^OHNJ. HARTLEY.— Perhaps no one,
M from choice, would desire to be thrown
f% J upon his own resources at an early age,
but history continually gives the world
examples of successful lives, where the youth-
ful days were full of privation and self denial.
John J. Hartley was born in Freedom, Beaver
county. Pa., September 21, 1856, son of
Charles A. and Barbara (Heffner) Hartley,
natives of Baden Baden, Germany, who set-
tled in Beaver county. Pa., in 1834. The
father was a teacher by profession, had been
educated for the ministry, but never entered
the sacred calling, preferring teaching, and fol-
lowing it in his native country and for some
time after coming to America. He taught in
tee schools of Pittsburg, and later became
the principal of the Trevelyn school, Pennsyl-
vania. He and wife died in Freedom, Beaver
county. Pa.
John J. Hartley received a limited educa-
tion in the public schools, and at the early
age of twelve years left home and for eight
years thereafter acted as agent for Riley &
Sargent and for the Union News company.
He naturally took to business, and during the
years of 1876 and 1877 he rented the privilege
on the limited express trains on the P., Ft.
W. & C. R. R. from Pittsburg to Crestline,
and operated them successfully. In 1877 he
became the manager of the Tremont house at
Mansfield, Ohio, and the same year, June 21,
was united in marriage to Miss Anna Mc-
Sherry, the former proprietor of the Tremont.
In 1882 Mr. Hartley engaged in the man-
ufacture of crackers, which business he con-
tinued one year under the firm name of Pur-
tell, Hartley & Black, but, owing to poor
health, was obliged to dispose of his interests
and turn his attention to other pursuits. In
1884 he engaged in the real estate and insur-
ance business in Mansfield and continued
there very successfully until the spring of
1889, at which date he came to Muncie and
since that time has given his entire attention
to real estate transactions. In 1887 he pur-
chased twelve acres of land and laid out what
is known as the Hartley & Lowenstine addi-
tion to Muncie, a very valuable and desirable
MUNCIE CITY
part of the city. Mr. Hartley has been fore-
most in every enterprise having for its object
the pubhc welfare. He assisted in the organ-
ization of the Muncie Real Estate exchange,
of v^'hich he is the treasurer, and is also a
stockholder in several large manufacturing
plants, and one of the active members of the
Citizens' Enterprise company, in the organi-
zation of which he contributed $ 1,000 and
much of his time. He is recognized as a busi-
ness man of superior ability and marked prob-
ity, and the city of Muncie recognizes in him a
gentleman of exemplary character in the pri-
vate walks of life as well as before the public
gaze. His political attachments, though
strong, are ever held in subservience to his
sense of right, and as a member of the repub-
lican party he is frequently consulted on mat-
ters of interest in both local and general cam-
paigns. He has been active in behalf of the
city's welfare as member of the common coun-
cil, to which body he was elected in 1891, and
in which he served as chairman of the com-
mittee on water works and other important
committees. Fraternally he belongs to the
Masonic order, in which he has taken a num-
ber of degrees, including chapter, commandery
and Scottish rite. He is also a member of
the Pythian fraternity Mr. and Mrs. Hartley
were formerly members of the Congregational
church at Mansfield, Ohio, and now belong to
the First Presbyterian church of Muncie.
^"VETH G. HASTINGS, M. D.— Mun-
•^^^kT cie is a city that rejoices in a number
^\^^ of very efficient and skillful physi-
cians and surgeons, and prominent
among these is Dr. Hastings, who was born in
Henry count), Ind. , March i, 1840, son of
Wilham and Jane (Reece) Hastings. William
Hastings was bo n in Wayne county, Ind. ,
son of William Hastings, a native of North
Carolina, and one of the pioneers of Wayne
county, Ind. The mother of the doctor was a
native of North Carolina, who settled in Henry
county, Ind., in 1823. The doctor's parents
were married in the latter county and began
mar ied life on a tract of land which they
entered and proceeded to clear, residing there
for many years. The father died in that
county in 1854, but the mother still survives,
making her home in Muncie with her son Seth
G. Hastings.
Dr. Hastings is the fourth child in a family
of seven children, and received his education
in the public schools. In the fall of 1859 he
removed with his mother to Richmond, Ind.,
and graduated from the high school of that
city, after which he entered Earlham college,
graduating in the class of 1867. For the next
eight years Dr. Hastings was a most efficient
teacher and superintendent of schools in
Wayne county, later being made the superin-
tendent of the B. C. Hobbs school at Bloom-
ingdale academy. After this he taught three
years in the Wabash public schools, finally
serving most acceptably as superintendent of
the Decatur public schools for three years.
During this time Dr. Hastings devoted some
of his spare time to the study of medicine, and
after filling the last named position at Decatur,
he attended the Homeopathic Medical college,
at Cleveland, Ohio, and finished his medical
course at Cincinnati, graduating in 1877.
After finishing his studies Dr. Hastings began
his practice at Decatur, Adams county, Ind.,
but in 1 887 came to Muncie, where he has built
up an extensive practice. He is a member
of the State Homeopathic Medical association.
Dr. Hastings was one of the organizers of the
prohibition party in Indiana, and since that
time has been a stanch supporter of the same.
In 1892 he was the nominee of the party for
DR. S. G. HASTINGS.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
coroner of Delaware county. February 3,
1870, Dr. Hastings was united in marriage
with Miss Edith Towell, daughter of Isaac
and EHzabeth (Cox) Towell, of Fountain
county, Ind. Mrs. Hastings died November
2, 1889, leaving four children — Alton P.,
Laura Ellen, Williard S. and Carrie Esther.
Dr. Hastings is a member of the Society of
Friends, of Muncie, being very active in both
church and Sunday school work. He has
served as president of the Adams county Sun-
day school union and of the District Sunday
school association, embracing the Sunday
schools of Wayne, Henry, Randolph and Del-
aware counties. Dr. Hastings is deservediy
popular with all the people with whom he is
brought in contact, not only in a professional
way, but as a friend and neighbor. The ca-
reer of Dr. Hastings, as a professional, has
been of the most flattering character, not only
from a financial point of view, but from a
scientific stand point. His reputation as an
exponent of the particular school to which he
belongs is widespread and exalted, and he may
with complacency look upon the long list of
patients his skill has brought him. His stand-
ing in society is commensurate with his stand-
ing as a physician.
^^TEPHEN HATHAWAY, M. D., de-
•^^^ ceased, one of the oldest and most
K^_^ experienced physicians and surgeons
of eastern Indiana, was born near Co-
lumbus, Ohio, August 1 , 1 8 1 9, and was a son
of Erastus and Mercy (Norton) Hathaway,
natives of Massachusetts. He was reared on
a farm, educated primarily in the common
schools, and began the study of medicine under
a private preceptor in Columbus, attended a
medical college at Cleveland, graduated, came
to Delaware county, Ind., in 1844, and prac-
ticed at Granville until the California gold fever
became rife in 1 849. He at once joined a com-
pany of some fifty Muncie and other Delaware
county people and went to the gold fields, where
he passed a year and did fairly well. On his
return he settled in Muncie in practice, and
was also for some years in partnership in the
drug business with John C. Helm. The doc-
tor was favored with a large practice, extend-
ing over a wide area, until about the close of
the civil war, when he retired to a farm of
thirty-three acres at what is now known as
Riverside. Of this he made a nursery and
fruit farm, and carried it on for several years,
closing out the nursery in 1888. He was a
man of great industry and perseverance, but
was stricken with paralysis, and died in April,
1 89 1, in his seventy-second year. His mar-
riage took place May 26, 1853, to Sarah Jar-
rett, daughter of Daniel Jarrett, for many years
a resident of Delaware county. This union
was favored with the birth of nine children, in
the following order: Charles, who died at the
age of eleven years; William, of Lafayette,
Colo. ; D. Jarrett, in the lumber business at
Topeka, Kan. ; May, wife of J. B. Ragan, of
Sidney, Neb.; Stanley, at home; Sherman, in
the stone business at Denver, Colo. ; Lydia,
stenographer, at Pittsburgh, Pa. ; Addie, a ste-
nographer, and Sallie, at home.
Of the old Hathaway homestead, thirty-one
acres constitute a part of the new and attrac-
tive addition to Muncie, known as Riverside.
It is laid out in wide streets, and forms one of
the most desirable and beautiful residence sub-
urbs of the city, is attracting the best class of
business men; possesses good natural drainage
and is underlaid with deep strata of gravel; is
in close proximity to the business portions of
the city, and is entirely free from factories and
other annoyances that mar the quiet peace and
repose of retired domesticity.
304
MUNCIE CITY
^>^ EV. JACOB W. HEATH, was born
I /^T February 23, 1829, in Wayne county,
£ 9 Ind. , and is of English stock; his
great-grandfather, together with two
brothers, crossed the Atlantic, from.their Lon-
don home, and stopped in Maryland, where
the grandfather, Jacob Heath, was born and
reared; and, early in his life, removed to Guil-
ford county, N. C. , where Ralph Heath,
father of Jacob W. , was born, reared and mar-
ried to Miss Mary Tomlinson. After the birth
of three sons and one daughter — the daughter
dying in infancy — the parents decided to move
the young family to the wilds of Indiana, and
in October, 1828, they left their home in the
sunny south, crossing the mountains in the lit-
tle wagon, to Wayne county, Ind., where Mr.
Heath stopped with his family for one year.
During the summer of 1829 Ralph Heath came
to Delaware county, to enter land; less than
200 voters were in the county, and much of
the land, where the city of Muncie now stands
was congress land, subject to entry, at $1.25
per acre. But Mr. Heath finally located in
Salem township, five miles sonthwest of Mun-
cie; built a cabin, and brought his family
here December 25, 1829 — but one family liv-
ing nearer than the little village of Muncie-
town, five miles distant. The growling of
the bear, the scream of the panther, and the
howling of the wolf with all the loneliness of
this wilderness country, were what the father
and mother had to endure. The sons older
than Jacob W. were Albert, now of Hannibal,
Mo.; John W. , of Muncie, and the Rev.
James W. , deceased, who all shared in the
hardships of pioneer life with their father and
mother. The father was a christian man
and was among the first to open his cabin
to the early missionaries of the M. E.
church. This cabin was the preaching
place in the early settlement for years, and
this early training that Jacob W. received
from the early ministers and parents fixed him
in his religious convictions during life.
Jacob W. Heath remained with his parents
until of age attending the district schools dur-
ing the winter and working on the farm dur-
ing the summer. In 1848 and '49, he was a
student in the old Delaware county seminary.
In 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss
Rhoda A. Perdiue, daughter of the Rev. Abner
Perdiue, a pioneer minister, and an early
settler of Delaware county. Mr. Heath, at
the time of his marriage, was engaged in
teaching, but soon engaged in the business of
the farm, and continued in the same till 186S,
when he removed to Muncie, since when his
time has been taken up in the grocery busi-
ness, life insurance and real estate.
Mr. Heath joined the M. E. church when
sixteen years of age. He has filled the offices
of leader, steward, trustee. Sabbath school sup-
perintendent, exhorter, and for the last seven-
teen years, local minister. Mr. Heath became
a member of Delaware lodge, No. 46, Free &
Accepted Masons, in 1856, and is a strong be-
liever in the principles of that order. He has
been for many years a zealous workers in the
cause of temperance, and has been heard from
in almost every pulpit in the county and state.
He attended the constitutional amendment
case of the supreme court, in the city of Des
Moines, Iowa, in 1S83, and did effective work
there.
In politics, Mr. Heath is a republican, and
has been at all times in line with his party, and
taken an active part in all political campaigns
since i860. While Mr. Heath was not in the
army during the dark days of the war, there
was no man in the south part of the county,
where he at that time resided, who did more
for the support of the families of the men who
went to the front, according to his financial
ability. The fruits of J. W. Heath and wife's
marriage, have been six sons and two daugh-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
ters, namely: John B., Frederick W., Perry
S., Fletcher S. , Cyrus R. , Cassie E. and
Mary A., and one son, Arthur, deceased.
Mr. Heath calls to mind, the first death
and funeral, that occurred between the very
small village, of Muncietown and Middletown.
In December, 1833; was present at the funeral,
and saw the few early settlers deposit the
remains of the wife and mother in the silent
and new cemetery; this being the first one
laid to rest in what is know now as the Old
Heath cemetery.
'Srj'ULIUS A. HEINSOHN, proprietor of
M the Kirby house and one of the genial,
A w pleasant and hospitable hosts of Muncie,
is a native of Germany, born June 10,
1837, the son of Andrew and Martha (Drum-
mer) Heinsohn. He was reared and educated
in the country of his nativity, where he
remained until his eighteenth year, at which
time, October i, 1856, he came to the United
States, locating in Louisville, Ky. , where, until
1859, he was engaged as bookkeeper, and in
that year, in company with his brother, George
E. , also of Louisville, came to Muncie, Ind.,
and engaged in the manufacturing business,
which he continued until his return to Louis-
ville in 1 86 1. In that city Mr. Heinsohn again
became bookkeeper, in which capacity he con-
tinued without change until 1872, when he
returned to Muncie, Ind., and became proprie-
tor of the well known Kirby house, which,
under his management, has become one of the
favorite resorts of the traveling public. Since
taking charge of this hotel, Mr. Heinsohn has
twice rebuilt the house, and in its appoint-
ments and modern improvements it is now con-
sidered one of the most complete places of the
kind in the city. During his residence in
Muncie, Mr. Heinsohn has not been unmind-
ful of the city's material advancement, and he
has been a potent factor in many of the impor-
tant measures which have brought prosperity to
this part of the gas belt. He was one of the
organizers of the Muncie Natural Gas company,
and is a director and stockholder in the Muncie
Artificial Ice company, also a charter member
and one of the board of advisers of the Citi-
zens' Enterprise company. In politics Mr.
Heinsohn is an unswerving supporter of the
republican part}-, but has never sought pulitical
distinction, preferring to devote his energies to
his business. In business circles his presence
is always felt, and socially his integrity of
character has made him exceedingly popular
with all classes of his fellow citizens of Muncie.
Mr. Heinsohn was married November 8, 1866,
to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Kirby, of
Muncie, and is . the father of two children,
namely: Thomas Kirby, the present captain of
the Muncie Fencibles, and Sarah Heinsohn.
Mr. Heinsohn and family are members of the
Episcopal church, belonging to the Muncie
congregation, in which he has served as ves-
tryman.
*W ^ H. HIGHLANDS.— In these times
1^^^ of modern invention and improve-
M. .r ment, so much of the comfort of
living is due to the plumber and gas
fitter that the business has become one of the
greatest interest and importance to all. The
efficient and capable business man whose
name introduces this sketch is a practical
plumber and gas fitter, and is also much
more — being one of the city's leading legisla-
tors and one of the most energetic and pro-
gressive among its well known business men.
H. H. Highlands was born in Carroll county,
Ohio, November 8, 1858, and is a son of Daniel
and Mary (Gregory) Highlands, both parents
natives of the same county and state. During
B06
MUNCIE CITY
the late war Daniel Highlands served his
country as private in the One Hundred and
Forty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and died
in the year 1864.
H. H. Highlands received a practical edu-
cation in the public schools, and when eighteen
years of age engaged with the Alliance (Ohio)
Gas Light company, of which in a few years
he was made manager. In 1883 he accepted
a position with the American Water Works
and Guarantee company of Pittsburg, Pa.,
and built the gas works and the electric
plant, also of that city, and the water works
at Connellsville, Pa., and superintended the
construction of the gas plants at Muncie and
Marion, Ind. ; he then returned to Muncie and
for some years had sole charge of the con-
struction of the water and gas company's
plants. In 1887, in partnership with P. T.
Kirby, Mr. Highlands purchased the business
of the Muncie Plumbing company, which,
under the firm name of Highlands & Kirby,
continued until January i, 1891, when Mr.
Kirby retired and Mr. Highlands became sole
possessor. At that date he severed his con-
nection with the American Water Works and
Guarantee company, since which time he has
done an extensive wholesale business, and is
now the leading dealer in chandeliers, gas
fixtures, etc., in Muncie. He is prominent in
many ways in the city, being an important
member of the Masonic fraternity and a
charter member and one of the leading movers
and organizers of that important business as-
sociation, the Citizens' Enterprise company,
which has resulted so greatly to the benefit of
Muncie city and Delaware county. He was
one of the first to drill many of the gas wells
in the vicinity of Muncie, and to his energy,
perseverance and wise foresight is the city
largely indebted for its present position as the
leading city in the great Indiana gas belt.
Politically Mr. Highlands has been a po-
tent factor in the republican party of Delaware
county, and his efforts in behalf of the city
have been rewarded by his election to the
common council, of which body he is a lead-
ing spirit. He is a true guardian of the inter-
ests of the city, a man of clear cut ideas, keen
and thoughtful, and his career as a municipal
legislator proves him to be a true servant of
the people. He also served as chairman of
the judiciary committee in 1891, Mr. High-
lands was married in 1888 to Miss Margaret
H. Smith, daughter of M. C. Smith, Esq., of
Muncie, and has one child — Hubert Highlands.
Mrs. Highlands is a member of the Episcopal
church and a lady of culture, intelhgence and
fine social qualities. The family is much
esteemed in Munc'e, and move in the best
social circles in the city.
^'^EORGE NEWTON HIGMAN, of
■ ^\ Muncie, a popular real estate and in-
^lW surance agent, as well as secretary of
the Mutual Home & Savings associa-
tion, was born in Niles township, Delaware
county, Ind., August 23, 1856. His father, a
native of the state of Delaware, bore the
name of Alexander Higman, and was brought
to Delaware county by his parents. He was
educated in the common schools, and faithful-
ly helped to clear the home farm, which com-
prised 160 acres entered from the government.
Until his father's death, which occurred
August 23, 1855, with a younger brother he
aided in clearing this new home, and later
aided his widowed mother, effecting the most
satisfactory results to the family. In 186 1 he
removed to Albany, and in 1863 to Morriston
(now known as Parker), where he embarked
in the saw milling business, and was making
another success, when he was accidentally-
killed, July 18, 1864, being caught on the saw
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
307
carriage while paying in a log. He had mar-
ried Miss Sarah Coulter, a daughter of Reese
and Rhoda (Pugh) Coulter, and the result of
the union was four boys, named as follows:
George N. , whose name heads this sketch, John
C, Arthur W., and Elmer E., all still living.
George N. Higman was but a lad of seven
years of age when he was left with his three
younger brothers and their widowed mother.
The family resided on a farm in Niles town-
ship, to which they had removed after the
father's death, and there George N. attended
school and worked for neighboring farmers
until his mother's marriage, two years later,
to William T. Hale, when they all moved to
a farm two and a half miles northwest of
Albany, where the step-father died when
George N. was fourteen years of age. On the
settlement of the estate the mother moved to
Blackford county and purchased a farm of
forty acres, and for two and a half years there
passed the time with her children; she then
sold out and bought property in Dunkirk,
where George N. worked at farm labor and
again attended school until he was qualified
to teach. For three terms he taught in Jay
county and then came to Muncie, Delaware
county, and engaged in the real estate busi-
ness, in which he has made so great a success
and to which he afterward added loans, in
December 1883. After the discovery of
natural gas he organized, in '889, the Mutual
Home Savings association, of which he has
been the secretary ever since. He is, also,
a member of the Standard Manufacturing
company, which is engaged in the production
of a very ingenious little invention for stretch-
ing and tacking floor carpets.
Mr. Higman was married September 13,
1 88 1, to Miss Martha A. Sullivan, daughter of
James A. and Margaret (Shaffer) Sullivan of
Jay county, Ind., and their three children
have been named, Paul, Homer and Ruth.
Since his residence in Muncie no person has
1 taken a more lively interest in its progress.
I and real estate has felt the effect of his in-
fluence from the time of his coming. From
the organization of the Real Estate exchange
he has been its secretary, and this fact alone
is indicative of his deep interest in the welfare
of his adopted city.
ary
the
BRANK HINES, one of the progressive
farmers of Centre township and son
of John R. and Abigail Hines, was
born in Delaware county, Ind., Janu-
860. He received a good education
common schools, remained with his
parents on the home farm until obtaining his
legal majority, and then engaged in agriculture
for himself, which vocation he has since
carried on with success and financial profit.
He purchased forty acres of land in 1881, and
subsequently added another forty tract, thus
making a comfortable home and one of the
best farms of its size in the township of
Centre. Mr. Hines believes in the dignity of
his calling and is one of the representative
men of his class in Delaware county. Intelli-
gent, energetic, and possessed of good busi-
ness ability, he has made a success of life,
and he occupies a deservedly high place in the
estimation of his many friends and fellow citi-
zens, all of whom respect him for his many
sterling qualities of manhood. He takes an
active interest in matters political, and since
his twenty-first year has exercised the elective
franchise in behalf of the republican party.
Mr. Hines was married April 4, 1^77, to
Lucy, the accomplished daughter of Caleb and
Rachael Armitage. Mrs. Hines was born
June 29, 1 86 1. Her parents, Caleb Armitage
and Rachael McDonnald, both natives of
Ohio, were married in Centre township, Del-
MUNCIE CITY
aware county, Ind. , in the year 1858. To
Mr. and Mrs. Hines have been born the fol-
lowing children: Ina, Claude, Berl, Grace,
John, Charles, Walter, and Blanche.
'^j'OHN R. HINES is a native of Indiana,
m born in the county of Randolph on the
^1 8th day of June, 1828. His father,
John Hines, was born in North Caro-
lina, in which state his ancestors settled at a
period antedating the struggle for American
independence. Many years ago, John Hines
emigrated to Highland county, Ohio, where
he married Rachael Branson, thence, some-
time after that event, moved to Randolph coun-
ty, Ind., where he lived until 1830, at which
time he became a resident of Delaware coun-
ty, settling in Perry township, where he made
his home for a limited period. Subsequently,
he entered 120 acres of land in the township
of Delaware, where he cleared a good farm
from the woods, and five years later sold the
same and purchased the farm in Perry town-
ship upon which he had previously settled. In
1839, he moved to Monroe township and was
an honored resident of the same until his
death, which occurred in 1865; his wife died
previous to that time, the date of her demise
being June, 1838. John and Rachael Hines
reared a large family, only three of whom are
living at this time, namely: Nolan, of Clarke
county, Iowa; John R., and William, who re-
sides in Kansas. The names of those deceased
are as follows: Buella, Robert, Ellen, Reece,
Elizabeth, Sarah, Lucinda, John and Rachael.
John Hines was originally a whig in his politi-
cal belief, and afterwards became a supporter
of the republican party. He subscribed to
the Universalist creed and believed in the final
restoration and redemption of the entire
human family.
John R. Hines spent the years of his youth
and early manhood amid the stirring scenes of
pioneer times, and, on attaining his majority,
began life for himself as a farmer. He con-
tinued to till the soil until his twenty-third
year, at which time, in the fall of 185 1, he
joined the vast concourse of gold seekers, and
went to California, via the Panama route,
and remained for a period of three years, en-
gaged in mining. He was one the few whose
efforts in this direction were crowned with suc-
cess, and after accumulating a handsome fort-
une, he returned to Delaware county, and for
one year thereafter was engaged in general
merchandising. Since 1856 he has devoted
his attention entirely to agricultural pursuits
and stock-raising, and his success in the voca-
tions has been very marked, and he now occu-
pies a very conspicuous place among the repre-
sentative farmers of the township of Centre.
He ownes 200 acres of valued and highly im-
proved land not far from the county seat, and
in addition to tilling the soil, he has given a
great deal of attention to the breeding and rais-
ing of horses.
Mr. Hines was married December 14, 1856,
in Smithiield, this county, to Abigail Mans-
field, who was born January 10, 1834, the
daughter of Charles and Hannah (Shaffer)
Mansfield, natives of Ohio, and early pioneers
of the county of Delaware. The wedded life
of Mr. and Mrs. Hines was blessed with eight
children: Charles, a resident of Muncie; Han-
nah, wife of O. McConnell; Frank, also a res-
ident of Centre; George, who lives in Kansas;
Elnore, wife of E. Kennedy; Henry R., de-
ceased; Lucy J.; Mark, deceased, and Wil-
liam, of Muncie. The mother of these chil-
dren died in May, 1888, and an appropriate
monument marks her last resting place in the
city cemetery of Muncie. Mr. Hines has a
beautiful home, the abode of plenty and hos-
pitality. He is a man of intelligence, broad
John R . H i n es
Mrs. John R. Nines
y/ ^ . crxDyoL^J^i^^L*
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
300
and liberal views, and anionj; the well-to-do
citizens of Centre township he occupies a
deservedly conspicuous place. He is a repub-
lican in politics, but not a partisan in the sense
of seeking ofifice.
ai
ILLIAM E. HITCHCOCK, one of
the leading manufacturers of Mun-
cie, and a gentleman well known
and highly regarded by all with
whom he comes in contact, is a native of the
state of Connecticut, born on the 30th of
January, 1859, in the city of Meriden. He is
the elder of two children born to E. A. and
Mary A. (Greene) Hitchcock, and was reared
to manhood in Ashtabula, Ohio, to which city
the family removed in his childhood, and in
the schools of which he received a practical
English education. Leaving his books at the
age of fifteen, he accepted the important po-
sition of teller in an Ashtabula bank, the
duties of which he discharged in a very credit-
able manner; and subsequently, from 1876 to
1 879, was bookkeeper for the Meriden Bri-
tannia company, of Meriden, Conn. In the
latter year he severed his connection with the
above company, and, returning to Ashtabula,
embarked in manufacturing, becoming associ-
ated with his father in the manufacture of
skewers, etc., an enterprise which was con-
ducted very profitably in that city until the
removal of the business, in 1884, to Muncie,
this state.
On locating in the latter place, Mr. Hitch-
cock, in partnership with A. L. and J. C.
Johnson, organized the Muncie Skewer com-
pany, for the manufacture of butchers' skew-
ers, flag sticks, trunk slats, dowels, etc., etc.,
an enterprise which has proven eminently sat-
isfactory, the factory at this time having a
daily capacity of over one million skewers, the
product in the several other lines being in
proportion, for all of which there is a great
demand in the markets of the United States
and other countries. As sole manager of this
large and important enterprise, Mr. Hitchcock
has displayed rare executive ability, and his
judgment on all matters of business policy
pertaining to his manufacturing and other
interests is seldom, if ever, called in question
by his business associates. In addition to
looking after the various interests of the firm
with which he is identified, Mr. Hitchcock is
prominently connected with a number of pub-
lic enterprises, being a director in the Muncie
Savings & Loan company. He holds a simi-
lar position with the Industrial Savings &
Loan association, and is also a director of the
Merchants' National bank, of Muncie; presi-
dent and treasurer of the Muncie Transfer
company; and represents his party, the repub-
lican, on the Metropolitan Police board of the
city.
As a business man he is zealous and am-
bitious, and successful in the fullest sense in
which that term is usually accepted; but no
act inconsistent with the strictest honor and
integrity has ever been imputed to him. Ab-
sorbed in the prosecution of his various enter-
prises, he still finds time to devote to political
matters, being, as already noted, a republican,
in the deliberations of which party, in Dela-
ware county, he has been a potent factor.
Fraternally he is a member of the A. F. & A.
M., and in the social circles few stand higher
in the estimation of the best people of Muncie.
The marriage of Mr. Hitchcock was solem-
nized September 30, 1885, with Miss Estelle
Morehouse, of Muncie, a union blessed with
the birth of two children: Edward H. and
Fred W. , the latter of whom, a most interest-
ing boy, was spared to his parents until Octo-
ber 4, 1892, when he was called away, aged
three years, six months and eighteen days.
310
MUNCIE CITY
>T-»ACOB R. HUMMEL, manufacturer and
M dealer in fine confectionery, and pro-
A 1 prietor of the leading bakery of Muncie,
is a native of Indiana, born in Con-
nersville, Fayette county, March lo, 1861.
His parents were George J. and Mary (Smith)
Hummel, who brought him to Delaware
county when but six months of age — conse-
quently nearly all of his life has been passed
within the present limits of Muncie. He
acquired a good English education in the pub-
lic schools, and, at the age of fifteen, went to
Indianapolis and learned the confectioner's
trade, which he worked at there two years and
four months, and in which he became unusu-
ally skillful. On attaining his legal majority,
he became a partner with his father in the con-
fectionery business, which relationship existed
for six years, when he became sole proprietor,
and has since carried on the trade with encour-
aging success. As a manufacturer of fine con-
fectionery, etc. , Mr. Hummel easily leads the
trade in Muncie, and the product of his bakery,
consisting of bread, crackers, all kinds of fine
and fancy cakes, such as are turned out by
first-class establishments, have a large sale in
Muncie and neighboring cities and towns. He
manufactures ice cream for the retail and
wholesale trades, and his ice cream parlor, by
far the finest in the city, is extensively patron-
ized, and has become a popular and favorite
resort during the season when delicious refresh-
ments are looked upon as almost a necessity.
Mr. Hummel possesses fine business qualities,
is thoroughly familiar with every detail of the
trade to which he has devoted so much time
and attention, and his place on east Main
street is one of the well known business houses
of the city. Mr. Hummel is in the prime of
life, has before him a future of much promise,
and by judicious management, he has already
accumulated a comfortable portion of this
world's goods. He is a prominent member of
the Odd Fellows fraternity, belonging to the
subordinate lodge, encampment, canton and
Rebecca branch, and he is also an active
worker in the Pythian order, both in the sub-
ordinate lodge and the uniform rank. He is a
Mason in good standing and has risen high in
the order of Red Men, being one of the lead-
ers of the subordinate lodge, and has also
taken the Pocahontas degree. Politically Mr.
Hummel is a democrat, but he prefers to give
his entire attention to his business instead of
seeking official position at the hands of his fel-
low citizens. Eminently sociable, he is a
favorite with all, and it is but justice to accord
him a prominent place with the popular young
men of Muncie.
BRANK G. JACKSON, M. D., one of
the most efficient members of the
medical brotherhood of Muncie, is a
native of Delaware county, Ind. ,
born November 25, 1858, the son of William
N. and Sarah (Collins) Jackson. The _ father
was a native of Greenup county, Ky. . and a
descendant of an old Virginia family which
emigrated from Loudoun county, that state, to
Ohio many years ago. The mother of the
doctor was born in Delaware county, Ind.,
to which part of the state William N.
Jackson had come with his parents in
the year 1844. Thomas Jackson, the doctor's
grandfather, was one of the pioneers of Mun-
cie, in which city William N. now lives re-
tired from active life. William N. Jackson
was a soldier in the late war, entering the
army, in 1862, as a member of company E,
Nineteenth Indiana infantry, with which he
served until the cessation of hostilities. His
regiment formed a part of the army of the
Potomac, and took part in all the Virginia
campaigns under Gens. Meade, Hooker, Mc-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
811
Clellan, Burnside and Grant, and participated
in forty-nine battles, in all of which Mr. Jack-
son distinguished himself as a brave and gal-
lant soldier. At this time he is adjutant of
of Williams post, G. A. R. , in the organiza-
tion of which he was a leading spirit, and in
politics he wields an influence for the republi-
can party. Religiously he is an active mem-
ber of the Methodist church, as was also his
wife, who died in the year 1879.
Dr. Jackson is the third in a family of
eight children, and was educated in the Mun-
cie schools, graduating from the city high
school in 1878. His early inclinations led
him to select the medical profession for a life
work, and he began preparation for the same
in 1876 with Dr. H. C. Winans, under whose
able instruction he pursued his studies for
some time with most encouraging results.
Subsequently he enlarged his professional
knowledge by attendance at the Ohio Medical
college, Cincinnati, in which he completed the
prescribed course, graduating in 1882. With
a thorough knowledge of his profession he
entered upon the practice of the same, imme-
diately after his graduation, at Mt. Summit,
Henry county, Ind. , where he remained six
years, at the expiration of which period he
removed to Muncie, where he has since resided
and where he now enjoys a large and lucra-
tive practice, yearly becoming better known
and more appreciated. The doctor has met
with much more than ordinary success in his
chosen calling, and stands deservedly high
among his professional brethern of Muncie and
Delaware county. He keeps fully abreast of
the times in all matters pertaining to his pro-
fession, is a close student and wide reader,
and his large experience has won for him a
prominent place in the medical fraternity of
eastern Indiana. The doctor is a member of
the Delaware County Medical society, and is
now serving as secretary of the same. He
was complimented by an offer of its presiden-
tial ofifice, but was compelled to decline the
honor on account of professional duties, which
required his close and constant attention. He
is also a member of the Delaware District soci-
ety, the State Medical society and the
American Medical association, to the
last named of which he has been chosen
delegate a number of times. His connection
with the Masonic order is very prominent,
having served in different official capacities at
different times, and in 1891 was elected
worshipful master of Delaware lodge. No. 46.
He is considered one of the brightest blue
lodge Masons in Muncie, and is widely and
favorably known in the order throughout the
state. The doctor is a charter member of
Walterhouse camp, S. of V., and was also an
original member of New Castle lodge, S. of
v., in the organization of which he took an
active part. For the past two years he has
been surgeon of the Indiana division, and in
1890 was the accredited delegate at large for
the state of Indiana to the national command-
ery, which convened at St. Joseph, Mo. In
addition to the above fraternal orders. Dr.
Jackson is also a member of Twa Twa tribe
of Red Men, in which he is as active as in the
other societies with which he is so prominently
identified.
Politically the doctor is a republican, and
manifests a lively interest in public affairs.
He has been successful financially, having by
close attention to his profession succeeded in
accumulating a valuable property, his real
estate holdings in Muncie being considerable.
In 1892 he was made health officer, being the
first official of the kind in the city, and he has
since discharged the duties of the position
with commendable fidelity. In 1883 Dr.
Jackson was united in marriage with Miss
Jesse Ice, daughter of E. T. Ice, of Mt. Sum-
mit, Ind., to which union two children have
312
MUNCIE CITY
been born, Lola J. and Sarah R. The family
are members of the First Baptist church and
are among the esteemed residents of Muncie,
where they enjoy the respect and esteem of a
large circle of friends.
QILTON JAMES, M. D., late a prom-
inent physician of Muncie, was
born March 4, 1836, near the city
of Greenfield, Ross county, Ohio,
and was one of fourteen children born to
Reuben and Mary James. Eight of these
children are living at this time, five brothers
and three sisters. Dr. James was reared on a
farm and acquired, during his minority, a fair
education, and before reaching manhood's
estate entered the office of Dr. Milton Dun-
lap, an eminent physician of eastern Ohio,
with whom he began the study of medicine.
After a thorough course of reading, he entered
the Ohio Medical college, from which well
known institution he graduated in the year
1859. After completing his medical course he
returned to the office of Dr. Dunlap, with
whom he effected a co-partnership in the prac-
tice of his profession. It was during this
time, and before going into the army, that the
doctor passed through a severe spell of sick-
ness, which was the cause of much suffer-
ing and distress in later years. After recover-
ing his health. Dr. James enlisted, in Decem-
ber, 1863, as surgeon, and was assigned to the
Eighth division, Mississippi squadron, with
headquarters on the United States war ship,
Brilliant. He continued in the service until
November 20, 1865, when he was honorably
discharged and returned to his former home in
Ohio. After a short visit among friends and
the scenes of his boyhood days, a trip was
taken throughout the west, during which he
made a visit to Muncie, where several acquaint-
ances of his had previously settled. It was
while making this visit that he concluded to
open an office in Muncie, and in the spring of
1866 his shingle, bearing the inscription,
" Doctor M. James," was tacked on his office
door. In the following year, although a
stanch democrat, he had so won the esteem
and confidence of the people that he was
elected coroner of the county, which position
he held for two years. He also served the
people as county physician for a term of years,
and was a member of the city council for some
time, having been elected from a republican
ward.
In the year 1874 Dr. James was elected,
by the Indiana legislature, as one of the
trustees of the Deaf and Dumb asylum of
the state, and was again elected in 1876
and 1880, serving continuously in that ca-
pacity for a period of ten years, eight years
of which time he was treasurer of the
board. No breath of suspicion was ever
breathed against his honesty, integrity, or
capability, and when he servered his con-
nection with the asylum, in 1884, the record
made was without spot or blemish. Dr.
James was always regarded an earnest and
hard working democrat, and he served his
party in Delaware county for twenty years as
chairman of the county central committee,
and only relinquished the position at his own
request. He was continued in party work,
however, as one of the election commissioners,
which position he held at the time of his
death. After the election of Pres. Cleve-
land, 1884, at the request of friends. Dr.
James became a candidate for commissioner
of pensions, his claim being pressed by many
old soldiers of the state. He failed, however,
of the appointment, but was offered by the
president a deputy commissionership, which
he declined. He was afterwards tendered the
Muncie postoffice appointment and later a
/ffui^^t^KA. y-;i^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
815
position in the interior department at Washing-
ton, but saw fit to dedine both these honors.
In poHtics, the doctor was a devoted ad-
herent to his party and a recognized leader,
and while he took a prominent part in all
political contests, yet his genial and forgiving
disposition won confidence, esteem and
friendship, that set aside all feelings of party
differences, thus marking him as a man of big
heart and generous disposition. In his pro-
fession, Dr. James stood high as a successful
practitioner, and at the time he was taken
sick he was one of the oldest physicians in the
city. It was his devotion to his patients,
whether rich or poor, that acquired for him a
reputation unconfined to classes, and while
possessed of a large practice, yet his generous
disposition was such that he never acquired
more than a comfortable competency in a
quarter-century in his profession. He was a
charter member of the DeEmber tribe of Red
Men, in the deliberations of which order he
always took an active and prominent part.
Dr. James was united in marriage to Martha
M. Kennedy, youngest daughter of the late
Hon. Andrew Kennedy, on the 29th of Octo-
ber, 1867. Andrew Kennedy was a member
of congress from Indiana from 1841 to 1847,
and in the latter year received the democratic
caucus nomination of the Ind'ana legislature
for United States senator, but died before
being elected to that body. Dr. and Mrs.
James had born to them four children: Philip,
Pearl, Ned and Fanny, the two former dying
in childhood. Ned was born August 31, 1876,
and Fannie July 6, 1880, and both survive to
mourn with the mother and wife the great loss
of husband and father, a trial and sorrow that
none can know except where like afflictions
have been sustained. Dr. James died on the
1st day of April, 1891, and his death was felt
as an almost irreparable loss by all classes in
the city which had so long been his home.
HBBOTT L. JOHNSON, one of the
prominent and successful business men
of Muncie, Ind., and one who has
been largely instrumental in develop-
ing her resourses, was born in Herkimer
county, N. Y. , August 26, 1852, a son of Henry
I. and Eliza (Ferguson) Johnson, both parents
natives of the same state. Mr. Johnson, Sr. ,
was engaged in agricultural pursuits in New
York, but subsequently, in 1864, removed to
Ashtabula, Ohio, at which date he retired
from active business life. In 1881 the family
once more removed, locating in Muncie, Ind. ,
in which city the father departed this life in
1886, but where his widow still resides. Mrs.
Johnson is a devout member of the Methodist
church and has raised a family of eight
children, the subject of this mention being the
seventh in order of birth.
Abbott L. Johnson was reared in Ashta-
bula, Ohio, from the age of twelve to twenty-
one, and received his education in the public
schools. On attaining his majority he started
in business for himself, locating at Bluffton,
Ind., where he engaged in the timber trade.
He had previously been engaged with the
Bentwood works at Ashtabula, and he located
at Bluffton for the purpose of assisting in
starting a plant in that place, which was
afterwards disposed of to J. H. Smith & Co.,
now of Muncie. Soon after starting the Bent-
wood works he engaged in the lumber busi-
ness, remaining in Bluffton four years, at the
end of which time he removed to Montpelier,
associating with himself Mr. J. T. Arnold,
doing business under the firm name and style
of A. L. Johnson & Co. , for seven years, two
years of which Mr. Johnson spent in Montpe-
lier. He then engaged extensively in the lum-
ber business, forming a partnership of seven
years' duration with J. T. Arnold, which firm
soon became widely and favorably known in
business circles throughout the United States.
816
MUNCIE CITY
On locating in Muncie, in 1878, he erected a
lumber mill, and, in partnership with Mr.
Arnold, operated two mills under the firm
name A. L. Johnson & Co., until 1885, at
which time he purchased the entire interest
and became associated with his brother, J. C.
Johnson, and the firm thus constituted still
exists, being one of the leading enterprises of
the city.
In 1883, Mr. Johnson, in partnership with
Mr. W. F. Hitchcock, engaged in the manu-
facture of skewers, etc., and they now do an
extensive business under the firm name of the
Muncie Skewer company. Mr. Johnson is one
of the principal stockholders of the Muncie
Natural Gas company, being vice-president of
the same, and is a stockholder in the Muncie
Water Works company, the Conger Land
company and the Indiana Iron company. In
addition to the above enterprises, he is identi-
fied with the Citizens' Enterprise company, in
the organization of which he was a potent
factor; is president of the Live Poultry Trans-
portation company, of Chicago, which owns
one hundred and fifty cars for the transporta-
tion of poultry, and is also interested as a
stockholder in the Ashtabula Water Works
company, of Ashtabula, Ohio. Beside the
flourishing and important enterprises enumer-
ated, Mr. Johnson, in partnership with George
F. McCulloch, is largely interested in real
estate transactions, owning Johnson's first and
second additions to Muncie, also being inter-
ested in the Gray's addition, one of the very
best in the city.
Throughout his long and successful busi-
ness career Mr. Johnson has been actuated by
the most honorable principles, and his success,
indeed very flattering, is the result of carefully
planned purposes and dignified business trans-
actions. In business circles he enjoys much
more than a local reputation, and to such men
is due the credit of promoting the growth and
prosperity of the enterprising cities of the gas
belt, of which Muncie may be taken as a type.
In his political affiliations Mr. Johnson is a
republican. In the Masonic order he stands
high, having become a member of the chap-
ter, commandery, Scottish rite and of the
Mystic Shrine, and he not only bears the
honors of these degrees, but his daily life is a
practical exemplification of their precepts.
Mr. Johnson was married, in 1872, to Miss
Florence Merriman, daughter of Chas. Merri-
man of Ashtabula, Ohio; a family of three
children has blessed this union, namely: J.
Edgar, Ray P. and Florence Grace. The
family are members of the First Baptist
church of Muncie, in which Mr. Johnson holds
the offices of deacon and trustee. He was
chairman of the building committee of the
new church and contributed liberally, both in
time and money, to the successful completion
of the beautiful edifice in which the congrega-
tion now worships.
>^OHN C.JOHNSON.— The thriving city
M of Muncie, Ind. , is very proud of the
A 1 long list of prosperous and successful
business men who have shown such an
enterprising and progressive spirit, and have
caused the advancement of the place beyond
all reasonable expectations. Among those who
have largely contributed to the progress of the
city, John C. Johnson deserves extended
mention. He was born in Albany county, N.
Y., May 21, 1843, son of Henry I. and Ellax
(Ferguson) Johnson.
At the age of seven years, he accompanied
his parents to Herkimer county, N. Y. , where
he received a common school education, and at
the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Union
army, entering company K, Forty-fourth New
York, known as the "Ellsworth Avengers,"
MRS. A. L. JOHNSON.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
821
and served one year. Being wounded at the
battle of Hanover Court House, he was sent
to the Albany, N. Y., hospital, and from
there to the Lexington Avenue hospital, in
New York city, from which he was discharged,
after recovery. His school days having been
so rudely interrupted, he felt the advisability
of continuing his studies, consequently he en-
tered the Boys' academy at Albany, N. Y. ,
where he continued for two years, making
rapid progress in the meantime. Following
this, he took a course at Bryant & Stratton's
Commercial college, and then entered the
quartermaster's department at City Point, Va.,
under Captain C. E. Jones, in which capacity
he continued until the close of the war.
The next business which Mr. Johnson
undertook was a clerkship with the lumber
firm of H. W. Sage & Co . of Albany, N. Y.,
continuing for fifteen years with the same
house (with the exception of a short time
when he acted as bookkeeper for D. Weidman
& Co. , .wholesale grocers) and thus obtained a
thorough knowledge of the lumber business in
all of its details. In 1882, he removed to
Bridgeport, Conn., and became one of the
organizers of the Bridgeport Lumber company,
and was made secretary and treasurer of the
same. He sold his interests in that concern
in 1884, and purchased an interest in the firm
of A. L. Johnson & Co., of Muncie, moving
to this city in that year and immediately be-
coming interested in public matters. He was
one of the organizers of the Muncie Skewer
company, and in 1891 engaged in the manu-
facture of mineral paints and felt roofing,
which business was placed in a stock company
organized in 1892 and known as the Muncie
Paint & Roofing company, of which he has
since acted as president. He was formerly a
stockholder in the Indiana Bridge company,
but sold his interest in that in 189 1, and is now
a stockholder and one of the prime movers in
the Live Poultry Stock Car company, and is
also largely interested in real estate, particu-
larly in the Johnson and McCulloch additions
to the city of Muncie. He is also stockholder
and director in the Farmers' National bank
and the same in the Delaware County Building,
Savings & Loan association. Mr. Johnson is
a representative type of that substantial class
of business men who, in a great measure,
mold the welfare of the country, for upon the
efforts of such citizens depend, in a large
degree, the vital interests of the people.
Actuated by the loftiest motives, he has ever
conducted his transactions in an honorable
manner, in consequence of which his reputa-
tion in business circles is that of an upright
and dignified christian gentleman.
Politically, Mr. Johnson is a republican,
and has served as a member of the city coun-
cil for the past four years, in which body he
has been chairman of the finance, street, light,
and a member of the sewer and drainage com-
mittees. Fraternally, Mr. Johnson is a mem-
ber of the A. F. & A. M., chapter and com-
mandery, and a member of the George S.
Dawson post, No. 63, G. A. R., of Albany,
N. Y.
In 1873, Mr. Johnson and Miss Martha J.
Hutchison, daughter of David Hutchison, of
Albany, N. Y. , were united in the holy bonds
of wedlock, and one child, Mary E., has been
born to their union. He and wife are active
members of the First Presbyterian church, of
Muncie, of which Mr. Johnson is a trustee
and member of the building coniinittee.
^^^EORGE R. JONES, one the ener-
■ Q\ getic men of Muncie, dealer in gen-
, ^^^W eral groceries, is a native of this city,
I and dates his birth from October 3,
I 1858. His father, Thomas Jones, was born
322
MUNCIE CITY
in Greene county, Ohio, March, 1828; married,
in 1850, Eliza Coffin, and, immediately
thereafter located in Muncie and engaged in
coopering, which trade he followed the greater
part of his life. He is now living a life of
retirement in North View, Muncie, and can
easily recall the time when this flourishing
city was but a country town of a few hundred
inhabitants. He is a democrat in politics,
and a member of the Methodist Protestant
church; his wife belongs to the Christian
church, and they are both highly regarded by
their many friends and neighbors in Muncie.
George R. Jones received his educational
training in the country schools of Centre town-
ship, Delaware county, and, before attaining
his majority, learned the trade of coopering
with his father, and became quite a skilled
workman. He followed his chosen calling un-
til his twenty-second year, and then accepted
a clerkship in the grocery and feed store of J.
P. Adamson, of Muncie, in which capacity he
continued for a period of eight years, acquiring
a thorough knowledge of every detail of the
business in the meantime. Subsequently, in
partnership with his employer, Mr. Adamson,
he purchased the property on Walnut street
now owned by Gilpin & Whetsel, and for five
years sold groceries very successfully. In
1 89 1 he moved to the corner of Howard and
Liberty streets, where he purchased a lot and
erected a comfortable and commodious store
room, which is well stocked with a full line of
choice groceries, notions, etc., and has since
done a very comfortable and safe business. In
fact, Mr. Jones is a successful tradesman, con-
sults the wishes of his numerous customers,
and always keeps on hand a full line of gro-
ceries, etc., found in first class establishments
of the kind. His store is well patronized, and
Mr. Jones is certainly entitled to great credit
for the active part he has taken in the com-
mercial and industrial developement of Mun-
cie. He is what may truthfully be termed an
enterprising business man, and his popularity
has for years been a matter of comment
among his fellow tradesmen of the city. Mr.
Jones was married February 16, 1888, to Mag-
gie McConnel, a native of Delaware county,
Ind., daughter of David and Christina (Saun-
ders) McConnel. Mr. and Mrs. Jones live in
a beautiful home on Liberty street and they
have a great many friends in Muncie. Mr.
Jones is a democrat in poHtics and a member
of the Pythian fraternity; Mrs. Jones is a com-
municant of the Christian church.
*w * EVI J. JONES, general contractor,
I C Muncie, Ind., was born in Owen
[ ^ county, Ind., on a farm, January 23,
1847, and is a son of Warren and
Sarah (Stauffer) Jones, the former a native of
Virginia, and the latter of Pennsylvania.
When Levi J. was a lad of fifteen, the family
settled on a farm in Randolph county, Ind.,
on which he was reared until reaching man-
hood. At his majority, he became owner of a
farm in Washington township, Randolph
county, on which he lived until 1883, when he
sold out and moved to Muncie, Delaware
county, where he teamed for two years, and
then began taking contracts for street improve-
ments, cellar excavations, and other work of
like character, including the City, Anthony,
Ball and Opera House blocks. Young & Kess-
ler's, Darnell's, Wachtell's excavations, and
those for the public schools; Maring Hart
glass works; crushed stone on Ohmer avenue,
Blaine, Tenth, Walnut, Hackley and Main
streets, Kirby avenue and many others; side-
walks on Berlin street; constructed the McCul-
loch boulevard and all the principal streets in
Whitely's first and second additions; has em-
ployed from fifteen to twenty men, run six
GEO. R. JONES.
i
i
1
1 ''-^ .,
\
1
MRS. GEO. R. JONES.
S. C. KEESLING.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
323
teams of his own and hired ten to forty others.
He has planned and built his own handsome
residence on west Jackson street, and has also
had erected five houses on five acres of ground
(Ml west Main street. In j-ears gone by he also
had a contract for several thousand cross-ties
for the railroad from Richmond to Portland,
and, later, a contract with the Grand Rapids &
Indiana road for a hundred and fifty cords per
month for two years.
The marriage of Mr. Jones took place, in
1 87 1, in Randolph county, to Miss Mary A.
Wood (sister of W. H. H. Wood, city engi-
neer), a native of Richmond, Ind. To this
union have been born eight children, vi^: Nel-
lie, Jessie (died at eighteen months), Walter,
Frances, Thomas, Clara, Minnie and Ruby.
The parents of Mr. Jones came to Indiana
with their parents, located in Wayne county,
moved to Owen, and then to Randolph coun-
ty. The father is now seventy-three years of
age and the mother seventy. They have had
born to them eleven children, viz: Melvina
(Mrs. Hinsnaw), died at the age of thirty;
Levi J. ; John Henry, farmer of Randolph
county; Edmond, farmer of Jay county;
■Jacob, teacher in Muncie; Granville, farmer in
Randolph county; Lizzie, at home, unmarried;
Ruth Ellen, wife of Mr. Duke, farmer of
Wayne county; Herod, painter, Cheyenne,
Wyo. ; Hannah (Bryant), whose husband is a
farmer in Randolph county, and Sarah, wife
of a farmer of Wayne county, Ind.
Mr. Jones has acquired an enviable reputa-
tion as a contractor, gives the strongest secur-
ity for the faithful performance of his work,
in\ariably makes his promises good, and does
his work in the best manner possible and
always in accordance with the specifications in
every respect, and is always promptly on time.
His name stands without a blemish both as a
business man and a citizen, and his position in
society is all that could be desired.
•"V'TEPHENC. KEESLING, proprietor
•^^^ of an establishment for the manufac-
^^ y ture of vulcanized rubber roofing, one
of the well known enterprises of Mun-
cie, is a native of Delaware county, Ind., born
February 2, 1850, son of Martin and Coressal
Keesling, well known residents. Mr. Keesling's
boyhood days were spent amid the routine of
farm labor until his seventeenth year, and he
received an education in the common schools,
which he attended at intervals until attaining
his majority. He remained with his parents
until his twenty. first year, at which time he
began life for himself, working for a short
time at different occupations, and then turned
his attention to the mercantile business, which
he carried on for a limited period in Muncie.
Later he was interested in different enter-
prises, and in 1886 went to California, where,
for four years, he was overseer of a marble
quarry, in which he also purchased an inter-
est. At the end of the time noted, he re-
turned to Indiana, and, for one year thereafter
was engaged in merchandising in the city of
Anderson, and then opened a merchant tailor-
ing establishment in Muncie, which business he
carried on until the early part of 1892. In that
year he began the manufacture of the well
known composition, vulcanized rubber roofing,
which he still carries on, and which, as already
stated, has become one of tne well known and
popular enterprises of Muncie. Mr. Keesling's
business is already of large proportions and
the permancy of his establishment in Muncie
is already an assured fact. He has a large pat-
ronage the city and the product of his factory
is being quite extensively introduced through-
out the United States and elsewhere.
Mr. 'Keesling is an earnest supporter of the
republican party and a prominent member of
the order of Red Men. He was married in
Muncie to Catharine M. Eber, daughter of
Henry Eber. One child was born to this
MUNCIE CITY
union — Ray, deceased — and Mrs. Keesling de-
parted this life June i8, 1891.
*w -^ ENRY J. KELLER, so prominent
1^^^ among the self made men of the gas
^ , * belt of Indiana, was born August 15,
1 86 1, in Winchester, Randolph coun-
ty. His father, George Godfried Keller, was
born in Wurtemberg, Germany, June 8, 1827,
came to the United States in 1852, and located
in Bucyrus, Ohio, where he met and married
Elizabeth Kayser. After spending- two years
in Bucyrus, Mr. Keller removed to Winches-
ter, Ind. , where he was engaged in the boot
and shoe business until the spring of 1869, at
which date he embarked in the retail grocery
trade. In 1883 he retired from business and
is now spending his days in the city of Win-
chester. George G. Keller has been an active
man of affairs and has borne a conspicuous
part in the material developement of the city
in which he resides, owning considerable prop-
erty, including residences and two business
blocks. He has been a leading member of the
German Evangelical church for a number of
years, is a geat reader, and ranks among the
most intelligent and progressive men of the
county of Randolph.
Henry J. Keller was rear-ed in Winchester
and spent his youthful years alternately in the
city and on the farm. A common school edu-
cation and the practical knowledge gained in
his father's store ended in the development of
an aptitude for mercantile pursuits, and while
still young he became a clerk for a dry goods
and clothing firm in Winchester. Subse-
quently he was similarly employed with var-
ious business houses of that city, and in Janu-
ary, 1888, he came to Muncie and entered into
partnership with George W. Bliss, of Indian-
apolis, in the retail clothing trade, opening a
large stock of goads in the New Anthony block
on Walnut street. Under the efficient man-
agement of Mr. Keller, his partner being on
the road as traveling salesman the greater part
of the time, the business grew and prospered,
and in time a new and more commodious
apartment suitable to the increasing demands
of the trade was procured in the Little block.
As a business man, Mr. Keller has won a con-
spicious place among the successful retail
dealers of Muncie, and his place contains one
of the largest and most complete stocks of the
kind in the city. He began life, if not in the
field of adversity, at least comparitively un-
aided and dependent almost wholly upon self
support, his capital consisting of a full share
of brain power, energy and an inbred determi-
nation to succeed. Personally Mr. Keller is
very popular, eminently sociable, and, in every
respect, a kind and courteous gentleman.
He belongs to the B. P. O. E. , F. & A. M.
and K. of P., holding official position in the
former order; and he was a leading spirit in
the organization of the Ball Business college
of Muncie, of which he was made treasurer at
the time of incorporation.
The marriage of Mr. Keller and Miss Edna
Haynes, daughter of Jesse G. and Matilda
Haynes, was solemnized on the 2nd day of
April, 1885; three children gladden the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Keller, namely: Esther,
aged five years; Nellie, aged three, and Paul
G. , an infant at this writing.
V^^ENERAL WILLIAM HARRISON
mQ\ KEMPER, M. D., is a native of
^lM Indiana, born in Rush county, Decem-
ber 16, 1839. His parents, Arthur
S. and Patience (Bryant) Kemper, were na-
tives of Kentucky and of German descent.
The doctor's early life was similar in nearly
G. W. H. KEMPER, M. D.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
every respect to that of the majoritj- of coun-
try boys, having been reared on the farm,
with the rugged usages of which he early be-
came famihar. His father died in 1849, and
at the early age of ten years he was compelled
to rely very largely upon his own rescources.
During the succeeding seven years, he was
employed in tiUing the home farm, attending
the common schools at intervals in the mean-
time, in which he acquired a practical English
education, and, later, pursued the higher
branches of learning at the seminary at
Greensburg, Indiana. In 1856 he removed to
Iowa, locating at the town of Montezuma,
where for one year he was employed as clerk
in a dry goods house, at the end of which
time he accepted a position in a printing
office, in which he continued for a period of
two years. He returned to Indiana in the
winter of 1859, from which time until January,
1 86 1, he resided at Greensburg, attending
school as above noted. Having early decided
to make the medical profession his life work,
he began the study of the same, at the age of
twenty-one, in the office of John W. Moodey,
M. D. , under whose instructions he continued
until the breaking out of the war, when he
responded to his country's call, enlisting in
company B, Seventh regiment Indiana volun-
teer infantry, April 24, 1861. This was the
first company to enter the service from Deca-
tur county, and the doctor served for three
months in the capacity of a private. On Sept-
ember 25, 1 86 1, he re-enlisted and was ap-
pointed hospital steward of the Seventeenth
regiment Indiana volunteers, in which capaci-
ty he served until February 20, 1863, when he
was promoted assistant surgeon of said regi-
ment, a position which he creditably filled un-
til the expiration of his term of service, July
27, 1864. While in the army the doctor ac-
companied his regiment throughout its varied
experiences, participating in a number of hard-
fought battles, including Hoover's Gap, Chat-
tanooga, Rock Spring, Chickamauga, McMinn-
ville, Farmington, Mission Ridge, Cleveland,
siege of Knoxville, Dallas, Big Shanty, Noon-
day Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, and the vari-
ous engagements before Atlanta.
During the winter of 1864-5 the doctor
further increased his knowledge of the healing
art by attending a course of lectures at the
university of Michigan, and the following
spring took a course at the Long Island Col-
lege hospital, Brooklyn, N. Y. , from which
well known institution he graduated in 1865.
In the latter year Dr. Kemper located in Mun-
cie, Ind., where he has since been engaged in
the general practice of his profession. He was
coroner of Delaware county from 1870 till
1875, and was one of the examining surgeons
for pensions from May, 1872, to June, 1893,
with the exception of a period of two years,
when he was removed for political reasons.
Dr. Kemper is a member of the Delaware
County Medical society, the Indiana State
Medical society, the American Medical associ-
ation and the National association of Railway
Surgeons, and takes an active interest in the
deliberations of these bodies. In 1879 he was
elected treasurer of the Indiana State Medical
society, and served as such until 1886, when
he was honored by election as its president,
presiding during the session of 1887. The
doctor is not unknown in the field of medical
literature, having at different times contrib-
uted a number of valuable papers on various
medical subjects. He has studied much, and
carefully examined many cases, and being an
original thinker and a clear, logical writer, he
has made known his investigations from time
to time in a number of essays contributed to
various medical journals or read before medi-
cal societies.
Among the contributions from his pen the
following were much discussed: "Operation
MUNCIE CITY
for the Radical Cure of Varicocele," "Ex-
ophthalmic Goiter," "Labor Complicated by
Peritoneal Adhesions of the Uterus," " Biblical
Medicine," "Case of Inversion of Uterus,"
"Retention of Utero of the Dead Fcetus,
Considered Particularly with Regard to its
Effects upon the Mother," "Is Labor Pro-
tracted by Early Spontaneous Rupture of the
Membranes?" "A Case Illustrating the Use of
Intrauterine Injections for the Arrest of Post
Partum Hemorrhage," "Sequel to a Case of
Retained Foetus," "A Case of Podolcoma,"
"A Contribution to Medical Jurisprudence,"
"Four Hundred Obstretrical Cases — Statis-
tics and Observations," "Affections of the
Gall-bladder Tending to Result in Cutaneous
Biliary Fistula," "Ligation of the Femoral
Artery," "Primary Cancer of the Lungs,"
"Angel-wing Deformity," "A Case of Lodge-
ment of a Breech Pin in the Brain; removal
on the second day; recovery," "Antiseptics in
Normal Labor," "One Thousand Cases of
Labor and their Lessons," "A Case of Senile
Gangrene." The above papers and essays
contain much which is of value to the medical
fraternity. They are the fruits of reason and
e.xperience combined, and met with much at-
tention in the medical journals both at home
and abroad.
The doctor has not neglected, as many
practitioners do, to record the result of his
experience for the benefit of others. During
the session of 1875-6, he was assistant to the
chair of obstetrics and diseases of women and
children in the college of Physicians and Sur-
geons of Indiana, and he has achieved flatter-
ing success in the varied fields of surgery and
in the general practice of the healing art. In
1872 he formed a co-partnership in the prac-
tice with Dr. Robert Winton, a successful
physician of Muncie, and at this time is asso-
ciated with Dr. Hugh A. Cowing. The doc-
tor is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, is an earnest advocate of temperance
reform, and labors- zealously in behalf of all
religious, educational and temperance move-
ments, thus setting an example worthy of imi-
tation by his fellow citizens. In his person-
ality. Dr. Kemper realizes the ideal of a suc-
cessful physician and surgeon, adding to a'
quick apprehension and thorough professional
knowledge the gentle manner and sympathetic
heart of a true healer. In every relation with
his fellow man he has borne well his part, and
now enjoys, in full measure, the confidence
and esteem of his brethren in the profession
and of his fellow citizens in all the walks of
life. Dr. Kemper was married August 15,
1865, to Hattie, daughter of William Kemper,
Esq. , of Oskaloosa, Iowa, a union blessed
with the birth of three children, namely:
Georgette Moodey, Arthur Thomson, and
William Winton Kemper.
HSBURY L. KERWOOD traces his
ancestral history back through a
number of generations to England,
from which country his great-grand-
father, Richard Kerwood, with his family,
consisting of wife, two sons and four daugh-
ters, started for the United States about the
year 1792. During the voyage, both himself
and wife fell victims to ship fever and died a
few days subsequent to their arrival. The
captain of the vessel, who was a member of
the Masonic fraternity, to which Mr. Kerwood
also belonged, took a kindly interest in the
welfare of the orphan children and succeeded
in finding them homes. Richard, the grand-
father of the subject of this sketch, was ap-
prenticed to a blacksmith of Bordentown,
N. J., and after mastering the details of his
trade, moved to western Pennsylvania, locat-
ing in Washington county, where he became a
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
827
prominent and highly respected citizen. He
married in New Jersey Mary Minor, who bore
him five sons and two daughters, namely:
Samuel, William, John R., Abia M., Richard,
Nancy and Elizabeth. Richard Kerwood de-
parted this life in Washington county. Pa., in
1838. Mr. Kerwood's maternal ancestors
were of Irish nativity, James Peden, the
grandfather, immigrating to the United States
in an early day and settling in Pennsylvania.
He married Margaret Love, also a native of
Ireland, and in 1835 removed to Ohio, thence
subsequently to Henry county, Ind., where
both he and wife died. The children of James
and Margaret Peden were James, Joseph,
David, Milton, Reuben, Hiram and Eliza-
beth.
Abia Minor Kerwood, father of Asbury L. ,
was born in Washington county. Pa. , where
he grew to manhood, working with his father
at blacksmithing until attaining his majority.
Later he went to Oxford, Ohio, where, in ad-
dition to working at his trade, he attended for
some time the Miami university. He was
married, in 1840, to Miss Rebecca Peden in
Preble county, Ohio, and shortly therafter en-
gaged in mercantile pursuits at Sugar Valley,
a town of that county, where he carried on
business for several years, subsequently en-
gaging in farming. In 1848 he moved to
Wayne county, Ind., where he continued the
pursuit of agriculture, varied by teaching
school at intervals during the winter season,
and in 1852 purchased and removed to a
home on West river in the county of Ran-
dolph. In the fall of 1854 he entered the
ministry of the Methodist church, in which
denomination he had long been a local preach-
er and traveled various circuits for a period of
twenty-five years. In 1879 he was placed on
the superannuated list and spent the closing
years of his life in Muncie, where he died in
April, 1886. The family of Abia M. and
Rebecca Kerwood consisted of four sons — As-
bury L. , David L. , William R. and Albert,
and two daughters, Mary E. and Margaret F.
The eldest son, Asbury L. , was born June
21, 1842, in Preble county, Ohio, and acquired
a fair English education in the common schools
of that and Wayne county, Ind., attending
one term at Liber college, Jay county, after
he was fifteen years of age. In October, 1859,
he was apprenticed to Judge John Brady of
Muncie to learn the trade of saddler and har-
ness making. While thus employed the coun-
try became enveloped in the clouds of civil
war, and he enlisted April 6, 1861, in a com-
pany raised by Gen. Thomas J. Brady for the
three months' service. He accompanied his
command to the front and participated in one
of the first engagements of the war — the battle
of Rich Mountain, W. Va., where he received
a wound in the left arm and right breast,
being the first soldier from Delaware county to
receive injury by rebel bullets.
On the 6th of August, 1861, he was honor-
ably discharged, and in November of the same
year he enlisted in Company F, Fifty-seventh
Indiana volunteer infantary, as duty sergeant.
His regiment went into camp at Richmond,
Ind., thence moved to Indianapolis in Decem-
ber, 1 86 1, and on the 23d day of the same
month proceeded to the scene of conflict, the
first engagement being the bloody battle of-
Shiloh, which was reached after a forced
march of thirty miles. Subsequently, Mr.
Kerwood participated with his regiment in the
following battles: Perryville, Ky. , three days'
battle at Stone River, where for gallant con-
duct he was promoted to rank of first sergeant;
Mission Ridge, Tenn. , Rocky Face Ridge,
Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Moun-
tain, and other battles of the Atlanta cam-
paign, in all of which he earned laurels as a
brave and gallant soldier. Later he was with
his regiment in the battles of Peachtree Creek,
MUNCIE CITY
siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Ga., Franklin,
Tenn., Springhill, Tenn., and Nashville.
February 4, 1865, Mr. Kerwood was
honorably discharged from the service, and
after his return to Indiana was engaged at
school teaching and other pursuits in Wabash
and Hamilton counties, and devoted his time
to the collection of material for the history of
his regiment, which he completed and pub-
lished in the spring of 1868. In the spring of
1866 Mr. Kerwood made a tour of the eastern
states, and upon his return temporarily located
at Fairmount, Grant county, where he worked
at his trade during the summer of that year.
In October, 1867, he settled at Wheeling,
Delaware county, where he made his residence
until 1875. July 22, 1868, Mr. Kerwood and
Mrs. Susan Craw, daughter of William P. and
Sarah Reasoner, and widow of Ephraim Craw,
were united in the bonds of wedlock. At the
republican county convention, 1874, Mr. Ker-
wood received the nomination for the office of
the clerk of the circuit court, and in October
of the same year was elected by the largest
majority on the ticket. He was re-elected in
1878 by a very large majority, and discharged
the duties of his position in a faithful and
able manner until the expiration of his term in
August, 1883. In April, 1884, he was elected
a director in the Citizens' National bank, to
.fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry
Hamilton. In April, 1885, he succeeded
George W. Spilker to the presidency of the
bank, and has since filled that honorable po-
sition to the eminent satisfaction of all con-
cerned. In 1887 Mr. Kerwood became a
member of the city school board, of which he
is now treasurer, and to him is largely due
much of the credit of bringing the schools of
Muncie to their present high state of efficiency.
He was one of the organizers of the Muncie
Land company, of which he has since been a
director and vice-president. For the past five
years he has been a member of the firm of E.
P, Smith & Co., manufacturers of hubs and
spokes, and was one of the original directors
of the Muncie Exploring company, which
drilled the first gas well in Muncie. In addi-
tion to the above enterprises Mr. Kerwood
was a member of the first advisory board of
the Citizens' Enterprise company. It will
thus be seen that Mr. Kerwood's career has
been oneof great business activity. He proved
himself a faithful and efficient officer, and in
all relations of life, whether official, business
or social, he has shown himself to be worthy
of the confidence and esteem of his fellow citi-
zens, and those with whom he comes in con-
tact unite in pronouncing him a true type of
the intelligent and well bred gentleman.
Q ORRIS D. KIDNOCKER, a well-
known miller, was born in Morgan
county, Ohio, October 2, 1837, the
son of Goodlief and Lucinda
(Miller) Kidnocker. The father was a native
of Germany and the mother of Massachusetts.
Goodlief and Lucinda Kidnocker were married
in Marietta, Ohio, and reared a family of eight
children, as follows: Sarah (deceased), Robert,
Malinda, Morris D. , David (deceased), Caro-
line, Samantha and Luther. The father was
a man of unblemished moral character, an
earnest supporter of the republican party, and
was honored by all who formed his acquaint-
ance. He died in January, 1883; his wife
died in March, 1865. Like her husband, she
was a member of the U. B. church and a
woman of eminent respectability.
Morris D. Kidnocker was reared to man-
hood in the county of his nativity, in the
schools of which he received a good education,
and at the early age of seventeen, began
teaching, which profession he followed with
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
creditable success for several years. On at-
taining his legal majority he engaged in the
manufacture of lumber, which business, in
connection with agriculture, he pursued until
1865, when he began the manufacture of flour
in Ross and Hawkins counties, Ohio, to which
calling he has since devoted his attention.
He was married in Hawkins county, Ohio, in
i860, to Clarissa Jane Wiggins, who was born
March 18, 1838, the daughter of John T. and
Nancy (Schultz) Wiggins. The parents of
Mrs. Kidnocker were natives respectively, of
Kentucky and \'irginia, and were among the
early pioneers of the Buckeye state. The
wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Kidnocker was
blessed with the birth of ten children: Ella,
Albert, Silas (deceased), Gilbert, Hattie, Lillie,
Rosie, Alma, Ottie and Wilber (deceased).
The mother departed this life December 22,
1 88 1, and, subsequently, in 1884, Mr. Kid-
nocker was united in marriage with Mrs. Anna
Witt, mother of Enoch Witt, a biographical
mention of whom appears on another page of
this volume. Mr. Kidnocker is a substantial
citizen, and his life, though comparatively
uneventful, has not been unfruitful of good
results and kind deeds in behalf of his fellow-
man wherever he has resided. He thoroughly
understands the business to which so many of
his years have been devoted, and the confi-
dence and respect of the community are his in
a satisfactory degree. He is a supporter of
the republican party and takes an intelligent
interest in public affairs.
>T^UDGE DAVID KILGORE, late of
M Delaware county, was born in Harri-
« 1 son county, Ky., April 3, 1804, the
second in a family of four sons. His
father, Obed Kilgore, was a native of Pennsyl-
vania, but for many years, was a riti/iMi of
Kentucky, where he carried on farming until
1 8 19, when he removed with his family to
Franklin county, Ind. , then a wilderness, but
soon died at the residence of his son David at
the age of eighty-two. Judge Kilgore's mother
was Rebecca (Cusic) Kilgore; she died in
Franklin county, in 1843. After the usual
course of study in the common schools of his
native place and of Franklin county, Ind., Mr.
Kilgore commenced reading law without a
preceptor, but was occasionally aidetl by Gov.
James B. Ray and John T. McKinney, the
latter afterward judge of the supreme court of
Indiana. In 1830, having finished his pre-
paratory studies, he started on foot for Dela-
ware county, carrying all his worldly effects,
which consisted of a small bundle of clothes,
four law books and $4.75 in money. On
reaching his destination, he secured a pre-
emption claim and located upon it, but com-
menced the practice of his profession. In
1832 he was chosen on the whig ticket to
represent Delaware county in the legislature,
was several times re-elected, and in 1836 be-
came speaker of the house. In 1839 Mr.
Kilgore was elected judge of the judicial cir-
cuit, composed of the counties of Randolph,
Delaware, Grant, Jay, Blackford, Madison,
Wells and Adams, and served seven years. In
1850 he was a member of the convention that
revised the state constitution. He was elected
by heavy majorities to the thirty-fifth and
thirty-si.xth congresses, and bore a part in the
exciting discussions that there occurred during
Buchanan's administration. Judge Kilgore
was very active as one of the original builders
of the Bee-Line railway, and was one of its
directors for about twenty years. He was a
stockholder in the Citizens' National bank of
Muncie, and also a stockholder in the Muncie
Natinal bank, and in the First National bank
of Indianapolis. He was chiefly instrumental
MUNCIE CITY
in establishing the Indiana Hospital at Wash-
ington during the first year of the civil war.
Judge Kilgore was a member of the Free
and Accepted Masons and took all the council
degrees. H°e helped organize the republican
party, to which he remained firmly attached.
He was born within the pale of the Presby-
terian church, but afterward changed his rela-
tions and became connected with the Metho-
dist denomination. He married July 4, 1831,
Mary G. Van Matre, daughter of Absalom
Van Matre, a prominent resident of Virginia.
Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore had a family of six sons:
Henry C, who died in infancy; Alfred, who
was a captain in the Thirty-sixth volunteers,
afterward a district attorney and also member
of the legislature three terms; Obed; Tecum-
seh, a surgeon of the Thirteenth Indiana
cavalry; David, also a captain, and James, a
leutenant, both of the Nineteenth infantry.
Alfred Kilgore, late of Muncie, will always
be remembered as one of the most talented
men of Indiana. With an ordinary English
education, he arose by his own active energies
to the high position he occupied at the bar, in
political circles, and in the army. He was the
son of Hon. David Kilgore, and was born
April 7, 1833, on the homestead farm, in
Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county,
where also occurred his death, August 22,
1 87 1. During boyhood he attended the old
seminary at Muncie. On leaving school he
engaged for a year or two in teaching, then
studied law and was admitted to the bar in
1857 in Muncie, where he soon gained an
enviable reputation as a criminal lawyer. Mr.
Kilgore held numerous local offices in the city
and county, prior to i860; but when the first
alarm of war was sounded in 1861, he was one
of the first to offer his services. He recruited
a company, which was assigned as company
B, of the Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteer
infantry, with which regiment he remained,
and participated in all the campaigns of the
army of the Cumberland until the battle of
Shiloh. Though his spirit was brave his body
was too weak to endure the hardships of the
camp and field. Stricken with disease, he
lingered in the hospital for months, then was
brought home to die. His strong will con-
quered the disease in a measure, but only par-
tially, for it was the cause of his death. In
appreciation of his talents and services, his
friends elected him to the state legislature for
two terms. Soon after the expiration of his
term of office he was appointed United States
attorney for the district of Indiana. Mr.
Kilgore married, August 2, 1854, Miss Susan
Shoemaker, now the wife of Hon. James N.
Templer. Of this happy marriage two chil-
dren were born — Charles W. , a young lawyer,
who seems to have inherited his father's
genius, and Mollie G. (Mrs. Davis), a lady of
rare beauty
aHARLES W. KILGORE, son of the
late Hon. Alfred Kilgore, was born
February 20, 1855, inYorktown, Dela-
ware county, Ind. He received his
education in the schools of Muncie and Smith-
son college, Logansport, and at the age of
eighteen began the study of law in the office of
Templer & Gregory, under whose instructions
he continued two years, making rapid progress
in the meantime. He was admitted to the
Delaware county bar in 1874, and his abilities
soon won for him an extensive legal business
as well as a prominent position among the
successful lawyers of Muncie. In 1876 he be-
came associated in the practice with Hon.
O. J. Lotz, and continued the relationship un-
der the firm name of Lotz & Kilgore, until his
election as mayor in 1879, when he retired
from active participation in the law in order to
devote his attention to the discharge of his
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
881
official functions. In the spring of 1893 Mr.
Kilgore became interested in the construction
of the Chicago, Indiana & Eastern railroad
through central Indiana and Delaware county,
and as a director of the same he was chiefly in-
strumental in pushing the enterprise to a suc-
cessful completion. The legal career of Mr.
Kilgore presents a series of continued suc-
cesses, and since his admission to the practice
has been a prominent factor in the Muncie
bar, standing deservedly high in the profes-
sion. Although not as actively engaged in
the practice as formerly, he still maintains an
office and gives his attention to the prosecu-
tion or defense of cases involving interests of
great moment and requiring a high order of
legal talent. For a number of years Mr. Kil-
gore has been identified with various busi-
ness enterprises in Muncie, among which
are the Muncie natural gas plant and
the Muncie Architectural Iron works —
being vice president of the latter, and
devoting to it the greater part of his
attention. He was active in behalf of the
city's interest for some time as a member of
the common council from the First ward, and
while identified with that body was instrumen-
tal in promoting much important municipal
legislation. Mr. Kilgore is a man of decided
opinion and great strength of character, fear-
less in the expression of what he believes to
be right, and an active politician of the Jeffer-
sonian school of democracy. His personal
popularity is very great in Muncie, a proof of
which was his election to the mayoralty, also
his election to the common council from a
ward which has always cast a heavy vote in
favor of the republican nominees. Mr. Kil-
gore was married June 20, 1877, to Addie,
daughter of Milton Hess, of Henry county, a
union which resulted in two children — a son
and daughter: Alfred and Archa.
a HAS. M. KIMBROUGH, clerk of the
Delaware circuit court, and president
and general manager of the Indiana
Bridge company of Muncie, was born
in Clinton county, Ohio, Nov. 5, 1847, and
is a son of Ira and Clarissa (Howland) Kim-
brough, natives of the same county and state.
Mr. Kimbrough was educated in the public
schools, and his early inclinations leading him
to mechanical pursuits, he learned the trade of
blacksmithing, in which he accjuired skill and
proficiency, and which he followed until his
twenty-sixth year. He then engaged in the
mercantile business in Connersville, Ind.,
where he remained until 1876, on April 4 of
which year he removed to Muncie and opened
the first exclusive book and paper store in the
city. His place of business was in the Walnut
street Opera House block, and Mr. Kimbrough
conducted a very successful business in his
line until 1887, at which time he disposed of
his mercantile interest in order to become
manager of the Indiana Bridge company, of
which, two years later, he was elected presi-
dent. This company was established in 1886,
and employs about i 50 persons.
As a loyal citizen Mr. Kimbrough did serv-
ice in defense of the national Union as mem-
ber of company I, Eighteenth Ohio volunteer
infantry, with which he served for a period of
eight months, being discharged at that time at
Augusta, Ga. His official career began in
November, 1890, at which time he was elected
to the responsible position of clerk of the
Delaware county circuit court, the duties of
which he has since ably discharged. As a
member of the common council representing
the Third ward, and as a member on the com-
mittee on finance, he has been instrumental
in effecting much important municipal legisla-
tion. In matters educational, Mr. Kimbrough
was also very energetic, having been a member
of the city school board. As a business man
MUNCIE CITY
he occupies a deservedly prominent place in
the estimation of the people Muncie, and as
presiding officer of the large manufacturing
establishment with which he is identified has
shown executive ability of a very high order.
Personally, Mr. Kimbrough enjoys great popu-
larity, and, irrespective of his position as a
leading republican, has numerous friends
throughout the county, irrespective of party
affiliations. He is one of the busy, thorough-
going, rehable men of Muncie, and as a mem-
ber of the Citizens' Enterprise company
manifests great interest in everything that
pertains to the material welfare of this thriving
city. Fraternally Mr. Kimbrough stands high
in Masonry, in which he has taken a number
of degrees, including both chapter and com-
mandery, and he also belongs to Williams
post. No. 78, G. A. R. In 1870 Mr. Kim-
brough and Miss Margaret A. Curry, daughter
of James and Mary Curry, of Clinton county,
Ohio, became man and wife, and their union
has been blessed by the birth of three children:
Hal C, Frank H. and James Lloyd. Mr.
Kimbrough and family are communicants of
the Methodist Episcopal church, and he holds
the position of trustee in the High street con-
gregation.
• HOMAS KIRBY (deceased).— Proba
bly none of the early settlers of
Muncie were more closely identified
with the town and its growth than
Mr. Kirby. He was one of its earliest as well
as one of its most prominent citizens — having
settled here when Muncie was but a small
clearing in the wilderness, and was still called
by its aboriginal name, "Outainink," by the
Indians who lingered about the former town
of the Delaware tribe. He was a member of
the first mercantile firm in Muncie, and a
leader in all public enterprises. If a sub-
scription was to be raised for a turnpike, rail-
road, or other object of a public nature, he
was always the first to be solicited for his
patronage, and never withheld his bounty.
He was one of the first trustees elected in
Delaware county, but was not a politician,
and never aspired to the public positions to
which his ability entitled him. He was born
in the town of Stockbridge, Mass., December
25, 1804, and, at the age of ten years, became
an apprentice in a woolen factory. While
thus employed, he gained an early education,
by attending school in the winter; but this was
supplemented by practical experience in later
years. In the fall of 1827 he removed to
Richmond, Ind. , and accepted employment at
his trade with Levinas King. One year later
he began to trade in furs, deerskins and gin-
seng, buying about six thousand pounds of
the latter article every year. In 1830, he
removed to Muncie and was engaged in the
mercantile business for five years. In the
meantime he had acquired a large tract of
land (a portion of which is now within the city
limits), and retired from business life, and
devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. He
owned about one thousand acres adjoining
Muncie, and made six additions to the town at
various times, and donated the grounds on
which were erected the Universalist and Pres-
bjterian churches. He was a kind hearted
landlord, and was repeatedly known to sell
lots, and, when subsequent developements
convinced the purchasers that they could not
meet their obligations, instead of foreclosing
the mortgages, he would refund the money
already paid him, purchase the partially com-
pleted buildings at their actual cost, and sell
the lots to some one else. He erected the first
brick store in Muncie, and also a fine hotel
which bears his name. On the 1 5th of July,
1833, he married Miss Sarah Tomlinson, a
native of North Carolina, and daughter of
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Judge Tomlinson, one of the ea-^ly associate
and probate judges of Delaware county. They
had three sons — Thomas Hickman, John M.
and George, now prominent business men of
Muncie, and three daughters — Martha A., — ife
of A. H. Hamilton; Elizabeth, wife of J. A.
Heinsohn, proprietor of the Kirby house, and
Sarah, who died quite young.
About 1829 Mr. Ivirby traveled through
the sparsely settled regions of eastern Indiana,
on foot and on horseback, peddling goods for
Stone & Co., of Dayton, Ohio, and brought
his first stock of merchandise to Muncie by ox
teams from that point. He was uniformly
kind and honorable in his dealings with the
world, and his memory is treasured in the
hearts of all who knew him. He died August
19. 1879- The funeral sermon was preached
by Rev. Marion Crosley, of Fort Wayne, at
the Universalist church, of which society Mr.
Kirby was a member. His remains were in-
terred in Beech Grove cemetery, and the cas-
ket containing his remains was borne to the
grave by Minus Turner, Warren Stewart, Mar-
tin Galliher, John Brady, Thomas S. Neely,
Daniel Pittenger, Robert Meeks, Joseph Strad-
ling, Joseph S. Buckles, J. Henry W^ysor,
Walter March, Marcus C. Smith, Arthur F.
Patterson and Lloyd Wilcoxson.
'^j'OHN M. KIRBY, a prominent business
M man of Muncie and son of Thomas
/• 1 Kirby, whose sketch appears above, is
a native of Delaware county, Ind. ,
born on the 6th day of November, 1839. His
educational training was acquired in the public
schools of his native city, supplemented by a
two years' course in Farmer's college of Cin-
cinnati, in which institution he obtained a fair
knowledge of the higher branches of learning.
His early inclinations led him to embark upon
a business career, and in i860 he engaged in
the hardware trade in partnership with T. E.
Putnam, and the firm thus constituted soon
became one of the leading mercantile estab-
lishments of Muncie. He continued in the
hardware business very successfully until 1889,
and in the meantime, 1879, became interested
with his brothers in the lumber business, with
which line of trade he has since been promi-
nently identified. As a business man Mr.
Kirby enjoys a reputation more than local, and
to him is due in a great measure the present
substantial growth of Muncie, in the material
development of which he has always mani-
fested a very active interest. Quick to foresee,
wise to plan, and possessing business qualifi-
cations of a high degree, he has wrought wisely
and well, and in him have been reproduced the
sterling qualities which for so many years
marked the career of his father.
In his political belief Mr. Kirby is an ar-
dent supporter of the republican party, but
he has never sought nor desired official prefer-
ment. In religion he subscribes to the creed
of the Episcopal church, in which faith the
different members of his family have been
reared and educated. Mr. Kirby is promi-
nently identified with several fraternities, in-
cluding the Royal Arcanum, Independent
Order of United Workmen, and the A. F. &
A. M. , in the last of which he stands high,
having taken the Scottish rite degree, also that
of Sir Knight. On the 14th day of June,
1866, in the city of Muncie, was solemnized
the marriage of John M. Kirby and Mary F.
Putnam, daughter of F. E. Putnam, a union
blessed with the birth of the following chil-
dren: Thomas P. ; Ada, wife of Lewis Over;
Susette and Sarah. The mother of these chil-
dren died August 16, 1887, and on the nth
day of March, 1S91, Mr. Kirby married his
present wife, Mrs. Belle J. Gilbert, who was
born in Muncie, the daughter of John Jack,
Esq., deceased.
334
MUNCIE CITY
@EORGE KIRBY, prominent among
the successful business men and rep-
resentative citizens of the county of
Delaware, was born in Muncie, Ind. ,
on the 6th day of December, 1844. He is the
son of Thomas and brother of T. H. and J. M.
Kirby, and for the greater part of his life has
been a valued citizen and an active business
man of the city of his nativity. He was
reared to manhood in Muncie, in the public
schools of which he acquired his early educa-
tion, and in 1863-4 attended the schools of
Aurora, 111. Returning home in the latter
year he entered the army, enlisting in company
B, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana
volunteer infantry, for the three months' serv-
ice under Capt. Reese, and, after remaining
with his command for a period of four months,
was honorably discharged in September, 1 864,
at Indianapolis. On severing his connection
with the army Mr. Kirby resumed his studies,
and after completing his education returned
home and took charge of his father's business
and was thus employed until the latter's death
in 1879. During the succeeding year he man-
aged the home farm, and in 1886 was elected
treasurer of Delaware county, and immediately
thereafter removed to Muncie and took charge
of the office. He was re-elected in 1888, and
discharged the duties of the office in a highly
satisfactory manner until 1890, since which
time he has been extensively engaged in real
estate transactions in partnership with T. F.
Rose, and through his instrumentality, aided
by the efforts of other progressive men,
a large number of manufacturing estab-
lishments have been located in Muncie,
thus making the city the most enterprising
manufacturing center of the great gas belt.
Mr. Kirby has been a prominent and active
member of the Citizens' Enterprise company,
of which he is a director, and he also served
as trustee of the Manufacturers' association.
much of the success of which is directly trace-
able to his efforts. He is almost constantly
conducting some enterprise that will inure to
the city's advancement, and in him Muncie
and Delaware county find one of their most
substantial, energetic and highly respected
representatives. As an official he displayed
ability of a high order, and his dealings with
his fellows in all relations of life have been
marked by that high sense of honor which has
made him deservedly popular with all with
whom he has come in contact. Mr. Kirby is a
republican in politics, and fraternally belongs
to the Masonic order, in which he occupies a
prominent position, being a Knight Templar
and a member of the Scottish rite branch.
He was married January 14, 1866, to Miss
Kate W. Whipple, who was born in Washing-
ton county, N. Y. , on the 19th day of March,
1846, the daughter of Joab T. and Maria
(Wilson) Whipple, the latter a sister of the
late Volney Wilson, of Muncie. To the mar-
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Kirby have been born
the following children: Wilson W. , teller of
the Citizens' National bank; Marion E. ,
Louise, John M. and Julius T.
HOMAS P. KIRBY is the head of one
of the leading plumbing and gas fit-
ting establishments of Muncie and is
entitled to mention as one of the
city's representative young men. He is a son
of John and Mary Kirby and was born in Mun-
cie, Delaware county, Ind. , on the 4th day of
April, 1867. He was educated in the city
schools, and on attaining his majority began
clerking for his father, in whose employ he
continued for a period of two years, and then
entered upon an apprenticeship for three years
with the Muncie Water company for the pur-
pose of learning the plumbing trade, in which
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
he acquired great proficiency. After becoming
familiar with the details of the business, he
established his present plumbing, gas, steam fit-
ting and sewer work, which, as already stated,
is one of the largest and most successful enter-
prises of the kind in the city of Muncie. In
his business Mr. Kirby has displayed commend-
able energy and foresight, and he has met
with success such as few attain in a much
longer life. He retains, in a marked degree,
the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens
of Muncie, and by inheritance as well as by
steady application, possesses those sterling
qualities essential to the successful manage-
ment of affairs, and which undoubtedly insure
for him a future of much promise and useful-
ness.
Mr. Kirby was married in Muncie on the
5th of July, 1888, to Miss Gertrude Maddy,
whose birth occurred in the year 1867. Mrs.
Kirby is the daughter of William R. Maddy,
and she has borne her husband two children,
namely: Frederick and Edgar. In his relig-
ious views Mr. Kirby subscribes to the Episco-
pal creed, of -which church his wife is also a
member, and in politics he supports the princi-
ples of the republican party. He is prominent
in the Masonic order, having taken a number
of degrees, including that of Sir Knight, and
he is also an active worker in the Pythian
fraternity.
81
W. KIRBY, receiving and paying
teller of the Citizens' National bank
of Muncie, Ind. , was born Septem-
ber 13, 1867, in Muncie city, where
he has since continued to reside. He attended
the Muncie schools during the years of his
minority, and at the age of seventeen obtained
his first insight into the practical affairs of
life as an assistant to his father in the stock
business, with all the details of which he soon
became familiar. Subsequently he took a
course of mechanical engineering in the Rose
Polytechnic institute, Terre Haute, and upon
the election of his father as treasurer of Dela-
ware county, he left his studies and became
deputy county treasurer, the duties of which
he discharged with commendable fidelity;
within a short time of the expiration of the
term of office, however he accepted the posi-
tion of receiving and paying teller in the Citi-
zens' National bank of Muncie. Mr. Kirby is
an accomplished accountant, understanding
thoroughly the many details of banking, and
has already made a creditable record as a safe
and reliable business man. He is energetic
in all he undertakes, enjoys great personal
popularity in his city, and by his honorable
and manly course has succeeded in winning
for himself a prominent position in the estima-
tion of the public. He was united in marriage
January i, 1890, with Miss Carrie Louise, the
accomplished daughter of Dr. Robert and
Elmira Winton, of Muncie. (See sketch of
George Kirby, father of W. W. Kirby. )
aHARLES A. KITTS, of the firm of
Kitts & Everet, real estate dealers,
Muncie, Ind., is a son of Williard
and Lottie (Adams) Kitts, and was
born in Oswego, N. Y., March 8, 1861. He
graduated from Union college, Schenectady,
N Y., in 1884, and in 1885 began the manu-
facture of knit underwear at Canastota, N.
Y., on his own account, but two years later
moved to Piqua, Ohio, where he formed a
joint stock company, with $50,000 capital,
which was incorporated as the Piqua Hosiery
company, and of which he was made general
manager and vice president, and was acti\e in
the manufacture for two years — the company
336
MUNCIE CITY
being still in operation. While in Piqua he
also laid out and developed two or three addi-
tions to the city. At the end of six years he
sold out his interests and organized a land
syndicate, with a capital of $80,000, and went
to San Antonio, Tex., where he sub-divided
Keystone Park, inaugurated street car service,
sold a considerable portion of the tract, and
still retains quite a number of the choice lots.
He was also interested in developing Spring
City, Tenn., and Kanawha, West Va. ,
and his efforts resulted in substantial gains
for both places. In 1891, he became asso-
ciated with W. N. Whitely in his Indiana
gas belt enterprise, Eaton, Ind. , being the
first town to enter into negotiation, and
through the active exertion of Mr. Kitts, a
subscription fund of $80,000 was raised and
1,000 acres of land optioned — the largest
bonus ever raised by an equal population for
the purpose; but, owing to the superior bank-
ing and shipping facilities of Muncie, Mr.
Whitely decided upon that city as his head-
quarters. Mr. Kitts thereupon organized the
Fort Wayne Land & Improvement company,
which took up the Eaton properties, located
the Paragon Paper company and other indus-
tries, and established a bank. Mr. Kitts a' so
actively assisted the Whitely Land company in
developing its property. After Mr. Whitely's
withdrawal, Mr. Kitts formed a syndicate at
Pittsburg, Pa., with $125,000, which pur-
chased the 140-acre tract known as the Wysor
Heights, together with the interests of the
original company, and in the spring of 1893
located the Whitely Malleable Ironworks. Of
this company Mr. Kitts is a director, and with
his partner, E. E. Everet, has general charge
of its large real estate interests. Kitts &
Everet were also the prime movers in devel-
oping Parker, Ind. , where they formed a land
syndicate, and in 1893 disposed of over 200
lots at public sale and located three factories.
Mr. Kitts was married in Chittenango, N.
Y., in 1886, to Miss Hattie Walrath, a gradu-
ate of Vassar college in the class of 1884, and
the accomplished daughter of the late Frank-
lin Walrath, wholesale grocer of Syracuse, N.
Y. To this felicitous union has been born one
daughter — Frances. Mr. Kitts is a chapter
Mason, and as a business man enjoys a most
enviable reputation, not only in Muncie, but
wherever else known.
KC. KLEIN is a son of Armstead M.
and Sarah Klein, and was born in
Delaware county, Ind., November 18,
1842. He was reared to manhood in
Muncie, received a good education, and in
1855 entered as apprentice under his brother,
John A. Klein, to learn the jewelry trade, in
which he early acquired great proficiency.
After serving three years he began, in 1858, to
work at his chosen calling at Richmond, Ind. ,
with Charles Dickenson, and one year later
went south, locating at Vicksburg, where he
carried on business until the breaking out of the
war in 1861, when he returned home and en-
listed in company E, Nineteenth Indiana vol-
unteer infantry, for three years. Owing to
physical disability, he was discharged after a
few months' service, but, after regaining his
health, re-enlisted in the same company in
October, 1861, and shared, with his comrades,
all the vicissitudes of war, until his honorable
discharge at the cessation of hostilities in 1865.
During his period of service he participated in
many of the leading battles of the Virginia
campaign, including, among others, second
battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam,
Fredericksburg, Fitz Hugh Crossing, Chancel-
lorsville, and Gettysburg, in the last of which
he received a severe wound in the hip, which
necessitated his being sent to the United States
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
liospital of Philadelphia. Later he was trans-
ferred to the hospital at Indianapolis, and was
absent from his command for a period of about
four months. After having sufficiently recov-
ered, he rejoined his regiment and took part
in the bloody battles of Mine Run, Wilderness,
Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Wel-
don Railroad, Hatcher's Run, and a number of
lesser engagements, in all of which his conduct
was that of a brave soldier.
He has in his posse.ssion a beautiful record,
in silk, containing the names of corps, brigade
and regiment to which he belonged, and all
the battles in which his command took part.
On returning home he resumed the jewelry
business, being at this time the leader in that
line in Muncie. Since 1878 he has been sole
proprietor of a large establishment which con-
tains a magnificent stock, calculated to meet
all the demands of the current trade. Mr,
Klein is also interested in the manufacture of
artificial ice in Muncie, beside which he has
been a libe al promoter of the various enter-
prises which have given Muncie its present
high standing as the leading manufacturing
city of Indiana. Mr. Klein is a republican,
and fraternally belongs to the Masonic order,
in which he stands high, having taken the
Thirty-second degree. He also belongs to the
society of Elks. Mr. Klein was married Feb-
ruary 19, 1866, to Sarah C. Spilker, of Mun-
cie, and sister of Geo. W. Spilker, mention of
whom is found on another page of this volume.
This marriage was blessed with the birth of
five children, whose names are as follows:
Efifie, deceased; Geo. A., Edward M., Arm-
stead M. and Fred A. Mrs. Klein died No-
vember 17, 18S7, and July 29, 1889, Mr.
Klein was united in marriage with Flora Pat-
terson, of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Klein are
members of the Presbyterian and Methodist
Protestant churches, respectively.
Armstead Mason Klein, the pioneer jeweler
of Muncie, was born at tht' town of Water-
ford, Loudoun county, \'a., on the 26th day
of June, 1S17. His father kept a hotel at
that town, and apprenticed his son for eight
years to a jeweler at Leesburg, \'a. Armstead
reached Newark, Ohio, early in 1837, and.
within a few months thereafter, married Sarah
E. Ethell. In the fall of the same year he
located at Evansville, Ind. , and late in the
fall of 1838 came to Muncie. There were a
few clocks and watches to be repaired in the
village and county, and he found sufficient
work
do to provide a very good livelihood
for his family. About 1846 he opened a shop,
■ the first of its kind in Delaware county, and
situated on west Main street in a little frame
I house. He kept abreast of the times, increas-
ing his stock as occasion demanded, until he
carried a fine line of goods valued at thousands
of dollars. He worked at the bench sixteen
and eighteen hours a day, for many years,
I and only gave up the laborious part of his
[ business to his sons, five years ago.
I His first wife died March 2, 1859, leaving
him with the care of five children, one of whom
has since followed her to the grave, leaving
Henry C., Madison C, William C, and Sarah
E. On the 26th day of June, 1859, he married
Justina Hardy. This union was blessed with
j two children, both now deceased.
' Mr. Klein was a well known citizen, and
j no words of eulogy from our pen could add to
his popularity, or the high grade in which he
was held by all who know him. He was a per-
i sistent worker, always honest and upright in
his business transactions, and in his social rela-
'tions genial and hospitable. In the summer
1 of 1853 he united with the Masonic and Odd
j Fellows' fraternities at Muncie. He was a
Knight Templar in the former, and in the lat-
ter took all the degrees in the subordinate
I lodge and encampment, and was a member of
I the grand lodge of Indiana. He was an ardent
388
MUNCIE CITY
republican in politics, and served four years as
a member of the city council of Muncie.
>T^UDGE GEORGE H. KOONS was born
m April 2, 1848. His parents are Peter
A 1 and Katharine (Rinard) Koons, both
natives of Henry county, Ind. , where
they still live in the old homestead in Blue
River township, respected by all, and loved
most by those who know them best; they are
honest, industrious, hospitable, unpretentious
people. His ancestors were lovers of rural
life, tillers of the soil, and were noted for
industry, thrift and the prompt payment of
debts. He is of German and Anglo-saxon
descent. His grandparents on his father's side
were George and Mary Koons, and on his
mother's side were Nancy (Reddy) Rinard and
George Rinard, who was a local preacher, and
a very ardent abolitionist. His grandmother,
Mary Koons, was a woman of remarkable
memory, always keeping herself thoroughly
posted in the doings of her ten children and
her numerous grandchildren, being able, up to
the time of her death, at the age of eighty-
five years, to give in detail the condition of the
affairs of each and all of them, which she took
great delight in doing, taking to the last the
keenest, liveliest interest in their welfare.
Judge Koons received his education in the
common schools and at the New Castle acad-
emy in Henry county, and at the State univer-
sity at Bloomington. At the age of fourteen
he began teaching in the common schools of
Henry county. While a student at the New
Castle academy, he taught in the country
schools during the winter, and became well
known as a successful common school teacher.
After finishing his course of academic study,
he served four years as superintendent of the
schools of Middletown, Henry county, Ind.,
where he gained an enviable reputation as a
thorough and capable instructor. Having pre-
viously pursued his legal studies under Messrs.
Brown & Polk, attorneys at New Castle, he
entered the law department of the State uni-
versity in 1869, where he graduated with
honors in 1 871, in a class of thirty-three, re-
ceiving the degree of LL. B. After leaving
the university he studied law during that sum-
mer under the instruction and guidance of
Hon. Jehu T. Elliot, of New Castle. In the
of fall '71 he again accepted the position as su-
perintendent of the Middletown schools for
another year, at the close of which he began
the practice of law in that town and remained
there until June of 1874, when he removed to
Muncie, where he has since remained in the
enjoyment of a large portion of the legal busi-
ness of the city and county. For a few years
after coming to Muncie, he struggled along
with apparently indifferent success, but by dint
of industry, pluck, energy and perseverance,
he gradually arose to the front rank among the
lawyers of the Delaware county bar.
Politically, the judge has been a life-long
republican, and at one time was a candidate
for the nomination by his party for the state
legislature, but was defeated in the contest by
the Hon. John W. Ryan. In 1892 he defeat-
ed the Hon. J. N. Templer for the nomina-
tion for judge of the Forty-sixth judicial cir-
cuit of Indiana, at the primary election held in
Delaware county, receiving the nomination of
his party by a large majority of all the votes
cast, and in the fall of that year was elected
by a majority of 2, 024 votes over his democrat-
ic competitor, the Hon. Chas. W. Kilgore,
Rev. E. Holdstock, candidate on the prohibi-
tion ticket, receiving a vote of 214. After his
election, upon receiving his commission he
immediately assumed the duties of his office
and has continued to discharge the same with
the wisdom and dignity expected of him by the
/^ -L^OO-O
I
^:/-i-<y^-^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
848
people. As a judge he is popular alike with
the lawyers and the litigants. He possesses a
clear, judicial mind and enunciates his rulings
with clearness and impartiality, is strictly up-
right and honest and commands the respect
and confidence of the people. He is blessed
in a high degree with those qualities which are
so necessary to success in the profession of
law, and has been recognized for many years
as a sound advocate, an able, safe and wise ,
counselor and adviser. He is a man of broad, '
humanitarian views, thoroughly democratic in
feeling, and in close sympathy with his fellow
men; a lover of all that is real, noble and
good in humanity, and a steadfast friend of
humble, lowly, well-meaning men in all the
walks of life. Fraternally, the judge is a
member of the A. O. U. W. and of the Im-
proved Order of Red Men, and while at col-
lege became a member of the Phi Kappi Psi
Greek fraternity. He was a charter member
of the Literary and Scientific association of
Muncie, out of which grew the Literary Fire-
side, the LTterary Home Circle, and finally the
Ethical society, with the last three of which
societies he and his wife have been prominent-
ly identified, both being charter members.
He was united in marriage September 6,
1 87 1, to Josinah V. Hickman, daughter of
William H. and Clarissa W. Hickman. They
have four children, three of whom a e living.
He is a kind husband and father, and his
home life is a beautiful, quiet, and happy one.
^'TX RS. J. V. H. KOONS is number three
■ I ■ in a family of nine children. Her
V 1 ^ father was William H. Hickman,
whose mother was Josinah Van-
matre Hickman and whose father was Joshua
Lewis Hickman, a pioneer Baptist preacher,
and whoso grandfather was Ezekiel Hickman,
a captain in the Revolutionary war, who
mortgaged a tract of land in Alleghany county,
Pa., to one Isaac Mason and raised a company
of seventy-five men and furnished them with
horses at his own expense.
Her mother was Clarissa Williams, daugh-
ter of Rachael (Ball) Williams and David
Williams of Lebanon, Ohio, whose paternal
grandfather was William Williams, who was
also a soldier of the Revolution, and came
from Wales and was of the family of Roger
Williams. From her mother she inherits her
taste and talent for poetry. Her childhood
was spent in the old home where she was born
near Springport, Henry county, Ind. She
attended the district schools and availed her-
self of the meager advantages the}' afforded,
afterward teaching successfully in the country
schools. Once she received fifteen dollars
more than the sum she had agreed to teach
for, because, in the language of one of the
trustees "She has teached the school better
than a man could teach it."
She early began to write original verses.
The first to receive favorable mention ap-
peared in the Lebanon (Ohio) Western Star,
February 23, i860, and since that time, as
fancy has dictated or opportunity afforded,
she has written stories, sketches and poems,
some of which have gone the rounds of the
papers, receiving their full meed of praise.
Little can be said of interest to biography
lovers of a woman wholly devoted to her home
and domestic duties, doing through all the best
years of her life the lowly work that lay be-
fore her. Only through her poems may
glimpses here and there be had of the heart's
struggle and the soul's great hope. She has
shown us her creed in her peom entitled
"White Days," in which she defines the word
as follows: " The creeds are but notes in the
world's hymn of praise. "
344
MUNCIE CITY
The Muncie Times says of her:
MRS. J. V. H. KOONS.
In Indiana's annals,
"In the long-
Hereafter of her speech and song-,"
besides the names of her Wallace, her Eggles-
ton and her Riley, many -will stand forth as
representatives of all that is best and purest
in the literature of our state. Muncie can at
least boast one truly inspirational poet in the
person of Mrs. J. V. H. Koons. At her beau-
tiful home in Riverside she creates without
any study or effort those gems of melodious
versification which glow with the "humanity
of her sympathy," and which show a delight-
ful familiarity with all that is artistic, tender
and elevating in song. With a magnetic
touch she charms the ear and shows the warm
and tender heart of noble woman and the
friend as well as the true poet. Whatever is
best, purest and truest is voiced in her fervid
and loving strains.
She is the wife of Judge George H. Koons,
and the mother of four children, three of
whom are, Clara, Reda, and George Koons,
jr. Mary Maud, the eldest, died in babyhood.
The reader will view with pleasure, on the
following pages, the life-like portrait of Mrs.
J. V. H. Koons, and also that of her husband,
Judge George H. Koons.
St
'ILLIAM P. KOONS, a prominent
member of the Delaware county
bar and a rising lawyer of eastern
Indiana, was born in the county of
Henry, this state, on the loth day of Decem-
ber, 1862. He is the son of Peter Koons and
brother of Hon. G. H. Koons, the present
judge of the Delaware circuit court. Mr.
Koons attended the country schools and re-
mained on the home farm in Henry county
until his fourteenth year, at which early age
he began to teach, and was thus employed four
consecutive years at the same place. The
school over which young Koons exercised super-
vision had an unsavory reputation, and before
he accepted the position four teachers had
already been compelled to withdraw on ac-
count of the insubordination of a class of
young men who attended for the purpose of
creating a disturbance. Mr. Koons' success
as an instructor is attested by the fact that,
during the four terms which he taught at that
point, he was never compelled to resort to cor-
poral punishment of any kind, a record unpre-
cedented in that locality. Subsequently Mr.
Koons attended three successive years the
Muncie high school, after which he resumed
educational work, teaching six terms in Henry
county at the towns of Messick and Hillsboro,
reading law in the meantime with his brother,
Hon. George H. Koons, of Muncie. After
becoming familiar with the principles of his
profession he was admitted to the Ijarin 1889,
and began the practice with his brother, with
whom he remained until appointed, by Joseph
Leffler, deputy prosecuting attorney. He dis-
charged the duties of that position in a very
able and satisfactory manner until the election
of his brother to the judgeship, after which he
resigned and took charge of the latter's exten-
sive legal business, and has been one of the
active practitioners at the Muncie bar ever
since. Mr. Koons is ambitious and zealous in
his chosen profession, and as a rising lawyer
has undoubtedly a promising future. He is
well grounded in the principles of the law, is
a ready advocate, a wise and safe counselor,
and his abilities are frequently recognized by
his retention in many important and intricate
cases. Mr. Koons was married June 28, 1892,
to Miss Jennie, daughter of Samuel and Cath-
erine (Allender) Downs, of Hillsboro, Ind.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
846
^^EORGE F. LEAGER. deceased, the
■ ^\ famous restaurateur of Muncie, was
\^_^ born in Caroline county, Maryland,
August 12, 'S40. His parents, Ris-
dom and Susan (Digging) Leager, were
also natives of Maryland and were mar-
ried in 1835. The father, however, died
eleven years later, leaving his widow with two
sons, George F. and Thomas, and a daughter,
Mary. George F. Leager was reared on the
old homestead and early inured to hard work
on the farm before the war, he being the oldest
male member of the family after his father's
death. At the outbreak of hostilities he en-
listed in company D, First regiment Maryland
Eastern Shore volunteers, September 11, 1861,
and served until honorablj- discharged, Novem-
ber 2, 1864. He participated in the battle of
Gettysburg and others, but was chiefly on
duty in guarding the peninsula of Maryland
and Virginia. While thus employed he there
met, in 1861, Miss Sarah E. Melson, a daugh-
ter of John and Margaret (Kelley) Melson,
who reside at Accomac C. H., she being then
but thirteen years of age. Mr. Leager was at
that time suffering from some slight disability
incurred in the performance of his duty as
guard, and was in the habit of calling at the
dwelling of the Melson family to obtain supplies
of butter, milk, etc., and thus during his year's
detail as guard, an acquaintanceship sprang
up between himself and the young lady. Af-
ter the war was over Mr. Leager entered a
dry goods store at Greensboro, Md. , where he
was employed some time as clerk, and, in
1 87 1, came to Muncie, where he engaged as
dry-goods clerk for B. Smith for a year.
In 1872 he started a lunch room and con-
fectionery in the Patterson block, opposite the
Walnut street opera house, and at once be-
came popular with the public. He began
with a capital of $600 or $700, but his place
became a favorite resort, and he kept the
same room seventeen years. In the mean-
time, about 1874, a brother-in-law. Rev. R. C.
Jones, who had been in the same regiment
with Mr. Leager, had occasion to visit Virgin-
ia, and while in that state called on the Mel-
son family, met the young lady, who was but
a mere child when Mr. Leager had been doing
guard duty, and found her still single. Mr.
Jones recalled to her mind the Yankee soldier
(if, indeed, she needed any reminder) and sug-
gested a correspondence. The suggestion was
adopted and the result was the union, in 1878,
of the southern belle with the northern war-
rior.
Mr. Leager, however, had been in delicate
health ever after leaving the army, and August
2, 1890, succumbed to the disorder therein
incurred, at the age of fifty years, lacking ten
days. He was an active member of the High
street Methodist Episcopal church, was a
class leader, and a member of the official
board for many years. He was also a charter
member of the Improved Order of Red Men
of Muncie, and a member of the Royal Arca-
num and the G. A. R. Mr. Leager had been
the mainstay of his widowed mother from the
time of his father's death, and the support of
the other bereaved members of the family.
He brought them all with him to Muncie in
1 87 1, and here the mother passed away in
April, 1888, at the age of seventy-three years,
a devout Methodist.
>^OSEPH G. LEFFLER, a prominent
m lawyer of Muncie and prosecuting at-
/• J torney of Delaware county, was born
in Hamilton township, Delaware county,
Ind., December 26, 1864, son of Philip and
Mary (Girard) Leffler, natives of Ohio, both of
whom were brought to this state by their par-
ents in early childhood. The mother of Joseph
346
MUNCIE CITY
G. died when he was but four years of age.
Philip Leffler has always been engaged in ag-
ricultural pursuits in Hamilton township, where
his father, also named Philip Leffler, settled
many years ago, having been one of the pio-
neers of that section. The latter purchased a
large tract of land of the government in the
township of Hamilton, developed a fine farm,
and in connection with agriculture carried on
the tanner's trade, in both of which he was
very successful. The father of Joseph G.
Leffler was a stanch republican in his political
belief, and proved his loyalty to his country,
in 1863, by enlisting and serving gallantly until
the close of the rebellion. Two of his three
children are still living, namely: James Harvey,
a hardware merchant of Albany, and Joseph G.
Joseph G. Leffler passed the years of his
youth and early manhood on his father's farm,
received his primary education in the public
schools, with some further instruction at the
Danville Normal, but he is chiefly self-educated.
When eighteen years of age he was sufficiently
advanced in his studies to secure a teacher's
license, and was employed four consecutive
terms as teacher of the Center school, Hamil-
ton township, where he earned a reputation of
a careful and painstaking instructor.
In 1884 he began reading law in the office
of W. W. Orr and J. C. Mallette, was admit-
ted to the Delaware county bar in 1888, and
by diligent attention to his profession soon
won for himself a conspicuous place among the
successful attorneys of Muncie. Politically
Mr. Leffler is, like his father before him, a re-
pubhcan, and takes an active interest in the
welfare of the party, which, recognizing his
efficient services, has rewarded him by an
election to an important official position. In
1 890 he was elected to the office of county
prosecutor, and in November, 1892, was
honored by a re-election to the same position,
the duties of which he has discharged in a
manner highly creditable to himself and satis-
factory to the people of the county. Mr.
Leffler is an active political worker, an effect-
ive and forcible speaker, and his ability in this
direction has been very effectually employed in a
number of campaigns. He is well informed
in the principles of his profession, untiring in
his efforts to mete out justice to violators of the
law, and has before him a future fraught with
much promise. Fraternally, Mr. Leffler is a
member of Welcome lodge. Knights of Pythias,
is identified with the Improved Order of Red
Men, belongs to the Sons of Veterans, and is
a charter member of the Ancile club. In 1890
Mr. Leffler and Miss Laura Emerson, daugh-
ter of Joseph Emerson, were united in the
holy bonds of wedlock, to which marriage one
child, Mary Eugenia, has been born. Mrs.
Leffler is a valued member of the First Baptist
church and is one of the popular ladies of
Muncie.
>^OHN OSBORN LEWELLEN.— The
M county of Delaware, Ind., has within
/• J its borders many men of prominence in
business circles, well known manufact-
urers, skillful physicians and lawyers of state
reputation; and she is not lacking in those
who have obtained prominence on account of
intellectual merit in other and just as impor-
tant callings. Among the latter Prof. John
Lewellen, the present efficient county superin-
tendent of schools, occupies a conspicuous
place. ■ Prof. Lewellen's birth occurred in the
town of Smithfield, Liberty township, Dela-
ware conty, Ind., on the 31st of July, 1852, a
son of Z. M. and Sarah Ann (Truitt) Lewellen,
natives of Virginia and Indiana, and of Welsh
and English lineage respectively. These par-
ents settled in Delaware county a number of
years ago; the mother died June 3, 1893, but
JNO. 0. LEWELLEN.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
847
the father is still living, being among the old
and substantial residents of Seltna, Liberty
township. Prof. Lewellen is the eldest of a
family of six children. He was reared in
Liberty and Harrison townships, and enjoyed
excellent educational advantages, attending
first the schools of the township and subse-
quently the Methodist college at Xenia, Ohio,
the National Normal school of Lebanon, the
same state, and the Northern Indiana Normal
at Valparaiso, Ind., in the last named of which
he finished the scientific course, graduating in
1877. Following this excellent preparation.
Prof. Lewellen taught one term of school at
the town of Eaton, and then accepted a simi-
lar position at Albany, where he followed the
profession successfully for a period of six
years, conducting a normal school for teachers
in the meantime. In 1883 he was elected
county -superintendent of Delaware county,
and has since discharged the duties of that
position in a highly satisfactory manner, hav-
ing been unanimously re-elected each succeed-
ing term, which fact is not only a compliment
to his ability as an official, but attests his
great personal popularity with the people.
Prof. Lewellen is a man of great force of
character, possesses executive ability of a very
high order, and under his able supervision the
schools of the county have been brought to
their present state of efficiency. The recent
improvements in the grading of the country
schools have been brought about altogether by
his efforts, and through his influence, a class
of teachers of exceptional professional ability
has been secured, and the present high
standard attained by the schools of Delaware
county will compare favorably with that of
any other part of the state. Mr. Lewellen is
the originator of an outline course of study for
district schools, which he has had copy-
righted, and which is being extensively
adopted in a number of counties of Indiana
and other states. As a school official. Prof.
Lewellen is widely and favorably known
throughout Indiana, and his suggestions per-
taining to matters educational are respectfully
listened to in all the conventions of county
superintendents which he attends. Politically,
he is a republican, and as such wields a
potent influence for his party in Delaware
county. He is a member of the Literary
Fireside, and of the Pythian fraternity, in the
latter of which he is past chancellor. He also
belongs to Heart and Hand lodge, No. 361, of
Albany, I. O. O. F. , being past grand in the
same, and is an active member of Muncie
tribe. No. 144, of Red Men, also of F. &.
A. M. Prof. Lewellen was united in marriage
December 25, 1877, to Miss Huldah Eleanor
Crampton, daughter of Mahlon Crampton, of
Harrison township, to which union two chil-
dren have been born, namely: Albert Ross and
Harry Crampton Lewellen. Mr. and Mrs.
Lewellen are members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church, and for the past two years have
been teachers in the Sunday school. While
residing in Albany, Prof. Lewellen officiated
as Sunday school superintendent, and did
much in awakening and keeping alive the
religious interest in that place.
>^OHN W. LITTLE, a prominent real
m estate dealer of Muncie, was born in
/• ■ the city of Philadelphia, Pa., March 13,
1844, the son of John L. and Mary A.
(Wilson) Little. John L. Little was a native
of New Jersey, born in the year 1818, and his
ancestors for several generations lived in that
state. His parents were John and Mercy
(Herbert) Little, both natives o' New Jersey
and the father a farmer by occupation. John
L. Little also was reared on a farm, and
when a young man learned the saddler's trade,
348
MUNCIE CITY
which he followed successfully in the city of
Philadelphia. In after years he engaged in
general merchandising for a coal company in
the interior of the state, but subsequently re-
turned to Philadelphia, where he engaged in
business, and in the spring of 1858 came to
Muncie, Ind. , where until 1866 he dealt quite
extensively in dry goods. In the latter year
he began dealing in sewing machines, and was
thus employed until 1870, at which time he
began the manufacture of feather dusters, es-
tablishing the first and only enterprise of the
kind ever operated in the city of Muncie. He
disposed of his interest in this concern in 1882,
and opened an insurance office and did a very
flourishing business in that line until 1892, on
September 16 of which year his death oc-
curred. He was married in the city of Phila-
delphia, in 1840, to Mary Ann Wilson, who
bore him five children, namely: William L. ,
boot and shoe dealer of Muncie; John W. ,
whose name introduces this sketch; H. W. ,
deceased; Mary, wife of Dr. A. J. Finney;
and D. B. F. , of Elwood, Ind. The mother
of these children, at the age of sixty-eight
years, died in Muncie. Mr. Little was a man
of local prominence in Delaware county, took
an active part in the material development of
Muncie, and erected several buildings which
are among the most substantial in the city.
He was noted for his eminent social qualities,
which made him popular with all, and his be-
nevolence endeared him to a number of fami-
lies of Muncie that received many tokens of
his favor. He was the first man to introduce
the use of coal oil in this city, and, in partner-
ship with Thomas E. Neely, bought the first
sewing machine that was ever used in Dela-
ware county. Following are the names of the
brothers and sisters of John L. Little: Gilbert
C, J. H., Maria, Catherine, Ann, Hannah L. ,
Elizabeth and Jane, all deceased but Hannah,
Elizabeth and Jane.
John W. Little spent the first fourteen
years of his life in his native state, where he
received his early educational training, and in
1858 accompanied his father to Muncie, in the
schools of which city he pursued his studies
until the breaking out of the late rebellion. In
August, 1 86 1, he responded to the countr3''s
call for volunteers, enlisting in company B,
Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteer infantry, for the
three years' service. He was with his com-
mand until honorably discharged, September,
1864, at Indianapolis, a period of three years
and one month, during which time he partici-
pated in a number of bloody battles, including
Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Lookout
Mountain, Mission Ridge, Chickamauga, and
the various engagements of the Atlanta cam-
paign. In 1864, at Resaca, Ga. , he received a
severe wound in the arm, which necessitated
his remaining in the hospital for a period of
three months. After h'is discharge, he returned
to Muncie and embarked in the dry goods
business, -which he continued until 1S66, when
he went to Chicago, thence to Memphis, Tenn.,
where he clerked in a dry goods house until
1868. From the latter year until 1871, he
traveled for a sewing machine company, selling
machines and attachments, and then became a
partner with his father in the manufacture of
feather dusters at Muncie, a relationship which
continued until 1882, when the son became
sole proprietor. After operating his factory
until 1889, he sold out to Chicago parties, and
engaged in real estate and loan business, to
which he has since devoted his entire attention,
and in which he has met with most gratifying
success.
Mr. Little was married, in 1866, to Miss
Flora Case, who died January 2, 1868. On
the 1 1 th day of June, 1871, Mr. Little was
united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Long-
streth of Lebanon, Ohio, who departed this
life on the i6th day of June, 1889. Mr.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Little's third niarriaye was solemnized on the
28th day of December, 1891, in Muncie, with
Miss Eva Hageman of Lebanon, Ohio, daugh-
ter of Joseph and Amanda J. Hageman. Mr.
Little has been a member of the I. O. O. F.
for twenty-five years, and is a member of the
G. A. R. of Muncie, his name appearing on
the charter of the post of this city. From
1885 to 1887 and from 1890 to 1892, he was a
member of the common council of ^tuncie,
and, during that time, looked after the city's
interest by promoting some very important
municipal legislation. A republican in politics,
he has never sought official recognition, but
his party has always found in him a wise coun-
selor and earnest supporter. His religious
faith is that of the Presbyterian creed, and he
and wife are active members of the congrega-
tion worshiping in Muncie. Possessing an
active mind and having been trained to habits
of industry, Mr. Little has made a success of
life, and in the city of Muncie, where so many
of his years have been passed, few enjoy the
confidence and esteem of the public in a more
generous degree. He is always interested in
everything that pertains to the welfare of the
city and county, and his many sterling quali-
ties of manhood have rendered him one of
^^uncie's most useful and respected citizens.
*w ^ ON. ORLANDO JAY LOTZ, judge
1'''^^ of the appellate court of Indiana,
I ^P representing the Fourth judicial dis-
trict, was born January 15, 185 1, in
Jay county, Ind. , son of Jeremiah and Melissa
A. Lotz. The father, whose birth occurred
December, 1824, in Gallia county, Ohio, is a
son of Abraham Lotz, who left the Buckeye
state as early as the year 1830, immigrating to
Indiana and locating in the county of Jay.
For a number of years Jeremiah Lotz followed
the fanner's vocation, but subsequently, about
1863, entered the internal revenue service of
the United States, with which he is still iden-
tified, being the oldest living official in that
department of the government. His wife,
whom he married about the year 1845, and
whose maiden name was Melissa A. Schutt,
was born of German and French parentage
and departed this life in the year 1877 in Ran-
dolph county.
Orlando J. Lotz spent his youthful years
amid the active duties of the farm, received
his rudimentary education in the common
schools, and later pursued the more advanced
branches of learning in the high school of
Fort Recovery, Ohio. Subsequently, he was
engaged, for a limited period, as a teacher,
but having early chosen the legal profession
for his life work, he began the study of law in
1873. Having gained a knowledge of the
principles of his profession, Mr. Lotz entered
the National Law school of Washington, D.
C., in which he completed his prescribed
course, graduating in 1874, and the following
year began the practice in Muncie, Ind. From
the beginning of his professional life Mr. Lotz
exhibited a high order of talent, and won for
himself the reputation of an able and success-
ful lawyer.
In March, 1885, upon the creation of the
Forty-sixth judicial circuit, Mr. Lotz was ap-
pointed judge of the same, and at the ensuing
election, in 1886, was duly chosen his own
successor by the direct vote of the people.
He adorned the circuit bench for a period of
seven years and eight months, at the end of
which time he was called to a higher position
of usefulness, being elected, in 1892, judge of
the appellate court of Indiana from the Fourth
judicial district. As a lawyer. Judge Lotz is
studious, careful and judicious in the prepara-
tion of legal papers, and painstaking and
thorough in their presentation to the court.
350
MUNCIE CITY
He was successful in the practice and came to
the bench with the knowledge that fitted him
for a good judge. Few judges of his age have
acquired so high a reputation for soundness in
the knowledge of the law, and for careful ap-
plication of principles in the investigation and
determination of questions sumitted for his
disposal. Always ready in grasping facts per-
tinent to the issues involved, and fortified by
his convictions of right, he seldom committed
errors of sufficient import to justify reversal at
the hands of the supreme court. As the out-
growth of his legal acumen and power of anal-
ysis, he came upon the bench at a compara-
tively early age, and, leaving that position with
well earned judicial honors, it is but reasonable
to predict for him a career of distinction as a
member of the high tribunal to which he has
so recently been called. Eminently popular
in the profession. Judge Lotz is equally so as a
man and citizen, and is held in great esteem
by his fellow citizens. Politically, he is a
democrat, and as such is recognized as a
potent factor in the councils of his party in
Indiana.
Judge Lotz was united in marriage May i6,
1878, in Muncie, to Miss Amanda Inlow,
daughter of Walter and Rachael Inlow, resi-
dents of Delaware county; one child has been
born of this marriage, a son, Walter J. Lotz.
^^j»AMES B. LUDLOW, the senior- part-
M ner of the firm of Ludlow & Glass,
/• 1 general contractors and builders, with
office at 501 South Jefferson street,
Muncie, Ind., is the son of Israel D. and Eliza
(McMillen) Ludlow, and was born in Miami
county, Ohio, December 4, 1832. He was
reared on a farm, but received an education at
the common schools, which was somewhat
above the ordinary training of farm lads of
that day. In 1850 he entered upon an ap-
prenticeship of three years with Lane &
Buckles, carpenters, at Piqua, Ohio, and,
after fully learning the trade, took a position
as foreman in the door factory of Diltz & Sons,
with whom he remained three years; then fol-
lowed his trade in Troy, Ohio, for nine
months; in April, 1856, he went to Galesburg,
111., and assisted in the erection of Knox col-
lege, and in the fall of 1856 went to Peoria,
and for eight years was foreman for A. J.
Hodges, one of the heaviest contractors of
that city. In the spring of 1864 he came to
Muncie, where he worked for P. H. D. Bandey
and also for Martin Young; later had charge
of the wood work and repairs of the bagging
mill of James Boyce. After this he engaged
for six years years in manufacturing and deal-
ing in furniture, and later was pattern maker
and millwright for the Wysor, Haines & Patter-
son machine shop. About 1883 he went to
Florida, and for five or six years was a con-
tractor in St. Augustine, Chulooto and Oviedo,
meeting with the most flattering success.
About 1888 he returned to Muncie, and for a
year did contracting on his sole account. In
1889 he formed a partnership with Mr. Lee
M. Glass, and established the present thriving
business. Among the edifices erected by this
enterprising firm maj' be named those for
J. W. Heath, M. E. Vandercook, Vernon
Davis, Carl A. Spilker, P. S. Heath, Bowers
Bros., Muncie Glass factory and Young &
Kessler. The firm, which is a progressive one,
pride themselves on the superior character of
their work, and consider it their best recom-
mendation, and this is verified by the fact
that, in 1892, their contracts amounted to
$150,000.00. They employ, in the busy
season, from twenty to fifty hands, and all of
them are first-class workmen. Much credit is
due to both partners for their industry and
intelligent management of their business, as
JAS. H. MCCLUNG.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
they had no outside financial aid at the start:
and, as an illustration of Mr. Ludlow's indomi-
table spirit, it may be mentioned that when he
came to Muncie to remain he walked four
miles to his work night and morning, receiving
$ 1 . 50 per day for his labor.
In 1855 Mr. Ludlow was happily united in ■
marriage with Harriet Merriweather, at Piqua,
Ohio. To this union have been born four
children, viz: Lizzie, who was born in Piqua,
Ohio, but died at Peoria, 111., at the age of
seven years; Ida, born at Peoria, and now at
home with her parents; George W. , who was
born at Peoria in 1 862 ; he was a machinist in
the Indiana Bridge works, but, sad to relate,
was killed while performing his duty, leaving
a bride whom he had married only si.x weeks
previously. The youngest child of Mr. Lud-
low is Lottie M., who was born in Muncie, and
is the wife of Ed. B Tyler, bookkeeper for
the Iron Bridge company. Mr. Ludlow is a
member of Delaware lodge, A. F. & A. M. ;
and he has been a member of the Methodist
Episcopal congregation for forty-two years, is
a trustee of the High street church, and a
member of the building and loan improvement
committee.
To refer to the proximate genealogy of
Mr. Ludlow, it is proper to state that his par-
ents were natives of Cincinnati, and that the
paternal grandparents came from New Jersey
at a very early date, with subjecfs great-
grandfather, who erected the first frame dwell-
ing in that then infant city. They were of
Scotch-Irish stock, and by marriage Salmon
P. Chase was connected with the family. The
maternal ancestors bore the name of McMillen,
and were of Irish Presbyterian descent. Grand-
father McMillen was a magistrate in Cincin-
nati, and at one time had the unbounded au-
dacity to order William Henry Harrison, then
a lieutenant, to be whipped for insubordina-
tion, but the sentence was suspended.
>^AMES H. McCLUNG, of the firm of
J Wildman & McClung, publishers and
A 1 proprietors of the Muncie Times, was
born in New Albany, Ind., February 7,
1834. His father, also named James H., was
a native of Rockbridge county, Va. , born
September 23, 1807; his mother, who bore the
maiden name of Mary Collins, was born in
1 8 10, in Madison county, Ky. . whither her
parents had emigrated from Virginia. The
father died at Fredericksburg, Ind. ; the mother,
who, after her husband's death, had been
married to W. H. Green, a prominent news-
I paper man of the state, died at Brookville,
Ind., June 5, 1887. James H., Jr., led the
uneventful life of a boy about a printing office,
with intervals of attendance at school in win-
ter, until si.xteen years of age, when he was
placed on the footing of a journeyman printer
and was paid journeyman's wages, at that
[ time eight dollars per week. With the excep-
tion of an additional attendance at school in
' 1852, he worked as a journeyman until twenty-
two years of age, and then purchased a half
interest in the office of the Connersville Times,
and in connection with Mr. Green, his step-
father, conducted the paper until December,
[ 1856, when he purchased the office of the
Liberty Herald, then called the Union County
Herald, which he owned and conducted for
almost eleven years. In August, 1856, Mr.
i McClung was married to Miss Clarissa Good-
lander at Connersville. To their happy union
were born three children, two sons and a
daughter, all married and with families of
their own. Mr. McClung enlisted in the early
part of the war in company G, Thirty-sixth
Indiana volunteers. He acted as orderly ser-
geant of his company at Camp Wayne, but
before leaving camp was commissioned as
second lieutenant. He served in various ca-
pacities in the field, being for a time A. A. A.
G. on the staff of Gen. Jacob Ammen; adjut-
354
MUNCIE CITY
ant of his regiment, and captain of his original
company — G. His company was with the
first of Buell's troops to reach the battle field
of Shiloh, and besides many skirmishes and
small engagements was present at Stone River,
Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and
Chickamauga. On the 26th of January, 1864,
Mr. McClung resigned his commission in the
army, and returned to Liberty and assumed
charge of his paper. He has, since selling the
Liberty Herald office in 1867, been connected,
as part owner, with the Connersville Times,
Wabash Plain Dealer and the Muncie Daily
and Weekly Times, purchasing in connection
with his son, Charles, a half interest in the
latter October 24, 1887.
William H. McClung, the eldest son of
James H. McClung, was born in Liberty, Ind.,
in September, 1857, and was married at the
same place to Miss Georgia Pierce, who is now
the mother of four children. William H. is
now the foreman of the composition room of
the Muncie Times. Charles T. McClung was
born in Liberty, Ind., September 28, 1864;
was educated in the common schools in his
native town, and spent his boyhood days in
the office of his father. He was married in
Muncie, Ind., March, 1890, to Miss=/Minnie
Smith, born in Liberty, Ind., in June, 1864,
daughter of E. P. Smith, a prominent manu-
facturer of the city. May McClung, the only
daughter of James H. and Clarissa McClung,
is the wife of F. H. Barton, a bookkeeper of
Champaign, 111., and is the mother of six
children.
>T^OHN McCONNELL was born March
m 22, 1832, in Scioto county, Ohio, the
^ I son of William and Arie (Armstrong)
McConnell. William McConnell was
born April 10, 1807, and his parents were
John and Barbara (Bowman) McConnell, the
father of Scotch-Irish and the mother of Ger-
man ancestry. John McConnell had a family
of seven children, all of whom have passed to
that bourne from which no traveler ever re-
turns. In the year 1832 William McConnell,
came to Delaware county, Ind., and entered
eighty acres of land in section 20, township
20, range 10, and the following year, moved
from Ohio to his new home, in what was then
an almost unbroken wilderness. He lived
upon this place the greater part of his remain-
ing life, and in his declining years moved to
Muncie, where his death occurred in 1878.
On moving to this county the present prosper-
ous city of Muncie was but a mere hamlet of
a few inhabitants, and surrounding the village
was a dense forest, through which wild ani-
mals and the scarcely less wild Indian roamed
at pleasure. Mr. McConnell added to his
original purchase from time to time, and
became the possessor of 160 acres of valuable
land, also some good town property. He was
a man of local prominence, popular with his
friends and neighbors, and served as justice of
the peace for a number of years. His wife
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and died on the 26th day of February,
1863. William and Aire McConnell reared
the following children: Jererriiah, deceased;
Rosanna, deceased; John; Abraham, of West
Virginia; Sarah, wife of George Wilhelm;
Moses, who is living a retired life in Muncie;
Catherine, wife of Samuel Huston. Three
others are dead — Levi, George and William.
As will be seen, by reference to the above
dates, John McConnell was but one year old
when brought by his parents to Delaware
county, in the growth and development of
which he has borne no inconsiderable part.
Reared to manhood amid the scenes of pio-
neer times, his early life, of necessity, was one
of hard work and considerable privation, and
such educational advantages as the country at
J. McCONNELL.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
355
that time afforded were obtained in the old log
school house, which he attended at intervals of
about two months of the year during his mi-
nority. He recalls the primitive log structure,
with puncheon floor, greased paper windows,
slab benches, and large fire place, which took
up about one-fourth of the end of the building,
while the writing desk was made of unplaned
plank, laid upon pins fastened into the wall.
In keeping with the building and its rude fur-
niture was the instruction imparted therein,
notwithstanding which Mr. McConnell laid the
foundation of a practical education. He at-
tended school in Muncie for a brief period and
remained with his parents until his twenty-first
year, at which time he began life for himself
as a farmer, purchasing eighty acres of land in
Blackford county, for which he paid the sum
of $550. Subsequently he exchanged this land
for eighty acres in Monroe township, Delaware
county, which he improved, and upon which he
lived until his removal to his present farm in
section 28, Centre township. His first pur-
chase in the latter township consisted of eighty
acres, to which he afterward added forty acres,
thus making him a very comfortable home and
valuable farm. Besides this he owns his
father's old homestead, a part of which has
been laid out in lots under the name of McCon-
nellsville. This addition consists of 132 lots,
and such has been the growth and develop-
ment of the city that what a few years ago was
a cultivated field, is now a town of itself.
The marriage of Mr. McConnell was sol-
emnized October 7, 1857, in Muncie, with
Margaret Bowers, who was born December 4,
1835, in Perry county, Ohio. The parents of
Mrs. McConnell were George and Margaret
(Foster) Bowers, the former of Pennsylvania
and the latter a native of Maryland. The father
died in Ohio in 1837, ^"d the mother subse-
quently came to Indiana and died in Muncie
November 5, 1883. Her birth occurred in 1 809.
Mr. and Mrs. McConnell are the parents of
the following children: Oliver; William R. ,
deceased; Charles E., deceased; Laura, wife
of Levi Stipp; Emily, deceased, and Nellie.
Mr. and Mrs McConnell are among the few
pioneers of Delaware county who live to tell
the story of their early trials and struggles in
laying a foundation, upon which the prosperi-
ty and high state of civilization of the western
country has been builded. Mr. McConnell is
an intelligent and enterprising man, and for
one of his years retains undiminished all his
faculties, both mental and physical. He is a
man of fine presence, and it is but just to
state that few citizens of his township are as
highly and universally respected as he. A
democrat in politics, he has never been a
seeker after official position, preferring to give
his entire attention to his farm. He belongs
to the I. O. O. F. and the Improved Order of
Red Men.
'^j'AMESMcCULLOCH, M. D., deceased,
■ was born in Springfield, Cumberland
ntj county. Pa., in 181 3, one of a large
family, of Scotch ancestry. His earlier
days were passed on a farm; merchandising
succeeded, and then teaching, after which he
was elected, as a democrat, recorder of his na-
tive county, without solicitation on his part,
and served his term of office at Carlisle, the
county seat. In 1856, he became a republi-
can. In the meantime he read medicine with
Dr. Baughman, and attended lectures in Phil-
adelphia, receiving his diploma from the uni-
versity of Pennsylvania in that city. He com-
menced practice in Carlisle, and at once arose
to distinction. In 1851 he married Miss Car-
oline J., the youngest daughter of Dr. George
D. Foulke, and soon afterward removed to
Kingston, in the same county, resided there
356
MUNCIE CITY
three years, and in the fall of the third re-
moved to Lancaster, Ohio, and the following
April, a year, after living a few weeks in Leb-
anon, Ind., he became a resident of Muncie,
with his family, in 1856, forming a partnership
with Dr. George W. Edgerly for a few months.
He then continued alone in the active practice
of his profession until failing health compelled
him to retire. He died on the 3rd day of
May, 1877, leaving one son — George F. —
and four daughters.
@EORGE F. Mcculloch was bom
on the 25th day of September, 1855,
in Lancaster, Ohio. His father,
James McCulloch, was a native of
Pennsylvania but left that state, emigrating to
Ohio, thence, about 1856, to Indiana, locating
in the city of Muncie, where he continued to
reside for some years. George F. was then
six , months old, and in. .the Schools of Muncie
he received a liberal education, completing the
high school course in 1870. Meanwhile he
received his first introduction to practical life
as a clerk in the queensware house of W. J.
V. H. Cassad}', and after his graduation in the
year noted, he accepted a position with Will-
iam Steward as a deliverer of groceries, also
carried the mail, delivered express matter, and
handled baggage as his services were required.
In the spring of 1 871, he engaged with J. L.
Little as a salesman of sewing machine at-
tachments for a limited period, and then as a
clerk with the firm of Todd & Powers, dealers
in general merchandise, remaining in their em-
ploy until the fall of the same year. Mr. Mc-
Culloch was next apprenticed to learn photog-
raphy with Lon M. Neeley, of Muncie, in
whose gallery he pursued the study until May,
1872, at which date he became deputy clerk
of the Delaware county circuit court under G.
W. Greene. After the expiration of that
gentleman's official term, Mr. McCulloch was
retained by A. L. Kerwood, the successor of
Mr. Greene, with whom he remained until
January, 1881, severing his connection with
the office at that time and effecting a copart-
nership in the law with John McMahon, Esq.
The firm thus constituted lasted until August,
1883, at which time he assumed the duties of
clerk, to which office he had been elected the
year previous.
Mr. McCulloch proved himself both capa-
ble and popular, and in 1886 he was re-elected
his own successor. Retiring from the office at
the expiration of his term in 1891, Mr. McCul-
loch turned his attention almost entirely to the
industrial development of Muncie. In the
organization of the Citizens' Enterprise com-
pany, he w»s a prominent factor, having been
made secretary of the soliciting committee, a
position which he held for some time at the
earnest solicitation of his associates. In 1892,
he became interested in the Whitely Land
company as general manager of the same, and
to him as much as to any other man is the city
indebted for the present town of Whitely, one
of the most flourishing of the several suburbs
of Muncie. In addition to those noted above,
he is prominently identified with the Indiana
Bridge company, the Nelson Glass works, the
Muncie Natural Gas company, the Street rail-
way of Muncie, of which he is secretary, and
for a period of three years was connected with
the Muncie Transfer company.
Mr. McCulloch's marriage was solemnized
September, 11, 1883, with Miss Cora, only
daughter of Arthur Patterson, of Delaware
county, the result of which is two children —
one deceased. Mrs. McCulloch is a highly
accomplished lady and is a leader in the
society of Muncie. Her parents are members
of one of the oldest families in the county of
Delaware.
T. McKILLUP.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
iHOMAS McKILLIP, founder of the
Muncie Herald, and formerly a most
successful farmer and stock dealer,
has had a remarkably varied as well
as prosperous career. He was born in Fayette
county, Ohio, in 1840. His father, Thomas
McKillip, also an extensive farmer and stock
breeder, was born in North Carolina in 1809,
but when young was taken by his parents to
Fayette county, Ohio. The mother of our
subject bore the maiden name of Sarah Pow-
ell, and was of Scotch-Irish descent.
Thomas McKillip received a somewhat
limited education, as school houses were few
and far between in the wilds of Ohio in his
youthful days, and they of the rudest construc-
tion, with tutors of a caliber to correspond.
The school term consisted of three months
during the winter, and yet many of the hours
of this limited time were spent in caring for
the live stock on the home place — the after-
noons only, when available, being devoted to
school. Thus the earlier years of Mr. McKil-
lip's life were passed away until his majority
was reached, when, in 1861, he married Miss
Margaret A. Horney, of Jeffersonville, Fayette
county, Ohio. But this matrimonial bliss was
of short duration, as Mrs. McKillip was called
away in January, 1864, leaving behind her one
child about two years old. The following
year, 1865, Mr. McKillip came to Indiana and
purchased a 400-acre tract of land on the
south side of Indian Prairie, in Sugar Creek
township, Clinton county, where he did a very
extensive business, both at farming and at
handling cattle, sheep, hogs and mules, selling
in the Cincinnati, Pittsburg, Buffalo, Indian-
apolis, Chicago and New York markets for
sixteen consecutive years. He was regarded
as an expert in judging live stock, and for a
number of years was a member of the Clinton
County Agricultural association. In politics
he has always been a pronounced democrat.
and as such served three successive terms as
township trustee, or six years in all. For a
number of years, also, he was a member of
the democratic county committee of Clinton
county, and has always been an active and
ardent worker for the good of the party.
The second marriage of Mr. McKillip took
place in 1867, to Cyenda A. Wilson, of Clin-
ton county, Ohio, the result being a daughter
and a son.
The panic of 1873 brought to Mr. McKillip,
as it did to thousands of others, reverse of for-
tune, and caused him to change the base of
his operations, and to make a new financial
start. In 1882 he removed to Muncie, and,
after sundry business ventures, he decided, in
1885, to purchase the outfit of the New Castle
(Henry county) Mercury, which he transferred
to Muncie, and, placing the plant in the Mitch-
ell block, on south Walnut street, issued the
first number of the Muncie Democrat-Herald,
October 2, 1885.
In March, 1886, he issued the first number
of the Daily Herald, which immediately sprang
into popular favor, and, being newsy and ably
edited, it has come to be one of the leading
dailies of eastern Indiana, although the journal
was nurtured in the lap of poverty. Mr.
McKillip, ever persistent and energetic, abso-
lutely "footed it" all through the county, so-
liciting subscriptions and business for the
paper, and at last succeeded in establishing on
a sure foundation this journalistic "little
giant," that has so triumphantly withstood the
onslaught of its political foes in this over-
whelmingly republican county. Mr. McKillip
is the present chairman of the Delaware county
democratic committee. His energetic con-
duct in pushing forward the interests of the
Herald has won for him the confidence of his
party, and the support of the party given to
the Herald has been fully reciprocated on its
part.
MUNCIE CITY
>T*OEL R. McKIMMEY, ex-sheriff of
M Delaware county, Ind., is a son of
/• 1 James and Susan (Adamson) McKim-
mey, and was born in Henry county,
Ind., on the present site of New Lisbon,
August 5, 1834. In October of the same year
the father, with his wife and family of seven
children, moved to Salem township, Delaware
county, and entered 100 acres in the woods on
the Range line road, as it is now called. On
this farm Mr. McKimmey was reared, going to
the old log school, two miles away through
the woods, but going only in inclement
weather, being required to assist in clearing
up the farm when the days were fair. When
twenty years of age, Joel began the affairs of
life on his own account, and bought forty
acres of woodland, and in 1855 married a
girl who owned forty adjacent acres. He set-
tled on this farm in 1856, and by 1874 had
cleared and improved over half of it. In this
year, also, he moved to Muncie, carried on a
meat market for a year, and in 1875 began
riding as deputy for sheriff A. J. Slinger, was
with him two years, and then for four years
was deputy for Sheriff John W. Dungan. In
the spring of 1880, Mr. McKimmey, who is a
stalwart republican and cast his first presi-
dential vote for John C. Fremont, was nomi-
nated in the republican primary as candidate
for sheriff over nine contestants by a good
plurality, and at the polls was elected by 1,670
majority. In 1882 he was renominated with-
out opposition, was re-elected in the fall, and
served until August 27, 1885, when his second
term expired. During his ten years' experi-
ence as deputy and principal, ' during the
greater portion of which time he was com-
pelled to take his prisoners to New Castle,
there being then no jail in Muncie, he never
permitted a man to escape or break jail. In
his incumbency of four years as sheriff, he
handled 655 men in confinement, and during
two years of his service the new jail was in
course of construction. For some time after
the expiration of his second term he was
employed by his successor and b) the county
commissioners in adjusting and arranging the
records pertaining to the various county offices,
and was also, for a term, deputy assessor for
Centre township. For a year following, he
was in the employ of C. Haines in the ice
trade, and about 1890 became proprietor of
the Muncie Lake Ice company. In May, 1893,
he disposed of this lucrative branch of indus-
try, and is now temporarily retired from active
business. Mr. McKimmey has been a member
of Delaware lodge, F. & A. M., since 1856,
and of the I. O. O. F. since 1S78.
The marriage of Mr. McKimmey took
place in Delaware county, in 1855, to Miss
Anna Modlin, who was born in Henry county,
Ind., and who came to Delaware county, in
1850 or 1 85 1, with her parents, John and
Rachael (Parmer) Modlin, who were natives
of North Carolina, had a family of four sons
and one daughter, and died in Delaware
county, Ind. To the union of Mr. and Mrs.
McKimmey have been born five children —
Linley W. , who was for six years in the sher-
iff's office and is now in the employ of the
Lake Erie & Western Railroad company;
Mary M. , now the wife of L. A. Perdiue, of
Muncie; Sarah C. , was wife of W. A. William-
son, of Muncie — died in February, 1892, at
the age of thirty-four; William H. ; and John,
who died when about three years old.
The paternal grandparents of Mr. McKim-
mey came from Ireland and settled in North
Carolina, where the grandmother died. The
father of Mr. McKimmey, also a native of
Ireland, was but three years of age when
brought to America. In 18 16, the latter
came to Indiana and located at Connersville;
in 1 817, he went to Indianapolis with old John
McCormick, and there helped the latter to
JkTtiuJ^ii^^M:^
; '^'^,JJjfel«W
*P|
4
^&;^^^
1
\
1
MRS. 0. J. Mclaughlin.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
365
make a clearing before the city had been de-
cided upon as the state capital, and was so
employed about a year; then returned to the
settlements in Henry and Wayne counties;
was married, first, in Henry county, where
New Lisbon now stands, and came to Dela-
ware county in 1834, as has been stated. He
had born to him, by his first marriage, nine
children, of whom six only are now living.
He lost his wife about 1840, and his second
marriage was to Mrs. Nancy Gallon, who bore
him five children. The father, who had been
a justice of the peace for a number of years in
Monroe township, died in 1875, in his eighty-
second year, as highly honored and respected
in his day as are his descendants in theirs.
X)
A. McLAIN,
Dentist,
1 17.J East Jackson street,
Muncie, Ind.
^'^EORGE N. McLaughlin.— The
■ ^\ efficient trustee of Centre township,
^^^M and one of the popular citizens of
Muncie, was born in Delaware coun-
ty, Ind., April 23, 1845. His father, John
McLaughlin, was a native of Ohio, born near
the city of Chillicothe, of Irish and German
parentage. James McLaughlin, the grand-
father of George N., came to the United
States from Ireland many years ago, and was
one of the early settlers of southern Ohio.
John McLaughlin was by occupation a farmer;
he grew to manhood in his native county,
where, in early life, he married Rachael
Beeler and, in 1834, moved with his family to
Delaware county, Ind., locating in the town-
ship of Mount Pleasant, of which he was one
of the pioneers. He purchased 120 acres of
government land, from the woods of which he
redeemed a comfortable home, where he
reared his family, and upon whicli the remain-
der of his life was spent. He was a man of
local importance in his community for a num-
ber of years, was an earnest supporter of the
old whig party, and, for some time, served the
people of his township as a justice of the
peace. He was a man noted for his integrity
and high sense of honor; supported with
energy all improvements of a public nature,
and exemplified in his daily life and conduct
the teachings of the Methodist church, in
which he held the position of class-leader for
a great many years; his wife survived him and
continued to reside on the home farm, keeping
the family together and looking after their in-
terests. Of the five sons and three daughters
born to John and Rachael McLaughlin all
grew to maturity except one, who died in in-
fancy. The following are their names: Will-
iam H., Orlando L., George N. and Thomas
J., all of whom served with distinction in the
late war from this county. James S. was
captured in Georgia while on picket duty, and
shot to death by the enemy. The names of
the sisters are, Maria, Priscilla and Sarah A.,
all living at this time.
George N. McLaughlin inherits in a marked
degree many of the traits which distinguished
his ancestors, and in his veins the blood of the
Celt mingles with that of the Teuton. Like
the majority of country lads, the years of his
boyhood were comparatively uneventful, and
amid the rugged experiences of farm life, he
learned the lessons of industry and economy
which served as a foundation for much of his
success in subsequent years. Being but five
years of age when his father died, he early
did his share of farm work, contributing to
the support of his widowed mother and
younger brothers and sisters, and during his
MUNCIE CITY
minority attended the common schools, in
which he obtained a practical English educa-
tion. In the dark days of the rebellion, when
the ship of state was almost stranded on the
rugged rocks of disunion, Mr. McLaughlin,
with commendable patriotism, responded to
his country's call for volunteers, enlisting, at
the age of eighteen, in company G, One Hun-
dred and Thirty-fourth Indiana volunteer in-
fantry, for the hundred days' service. He was
mustered in, in March, 1862, and upon the
expiration of his term of enlistment veteranized
in company C, One Hundred and Fortieth regi-
ment, Indiana infantry, with which he served
until honorably discharged on the i ith of July,
1865, with the rank of corporal. His first
engagement of any note was the bloody battle
of Murfreesboro, and subsequently he partici-
pated in a number of battles, including Ft.
Anderson, Twin Creek, Goldsborough, Rolla
and Greensborough, N. C, being at the last
named place when Lee surrendered his army
at Appomattox.
After his discharge Mr. McLaughlin re-
turned home and resumed his studies, and in
the fall of 1866 taught his first school in the
Bethel neighborhood, Harrison township. He
followed the profession very successfully for a
period of twenty-two years, and earned the
reputation of a very careful and painstaking
instructor. With the exception of one year,
1883, when he was principal of the Strong
City high school, Kansas, his work in the edu-
cational field was principally confined to Dela-
ware county, and such was his efficiency that
his services were always in demand while he
remained in the profession. While teaching in
1888, he was elected trustee of Centre town-
ship, the duties of which position he dis-
charged with such commendable fidelity that,
in 1890, he was re-elected by a largely in-
creased majority. Mr. McLaughlin proved
himself a trustful custodian of the township
property, and he built several school houses,
which were among the best buildings of the
kind in the county. In politics Mr. McLaugh-
lin is a republican, and as such his counsels
have contributed to his party's success in a
number of general and local campaigns. He is
a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging
to the chapter, commandery and Scottish rite
branches, and has arisen to the thirty-second
degree in his order. He also belongs to the
I. O. O. F., K. of P., the G. A. R. and Patri-
otic Sons of America. He was first married
April 18, 1867, to Eliza A. Thomason, but a
few months later the marriage tie was severed
by mutual consent. December 3, 1870, Mr.
McLaughlin and Miss Orintha J. Kilgore,
daughter of George W. and Tabitha (Van-
Matre) Kilgore, were happily made man and
wife and their superb portraits will be found on
pages adjacent. Mrs. McLaughlin was born
September 5, 1850, and is the mother of one
child, a daughter, Minnie F., who died at the
age of three years. Mr. McLauglin is an effi-
cient and courteous official, an affable and
popular gentleman, universally liked by all
with whom he comes in contact. He feels de-
servedly proud of his success in life, possesses
excellent judgment of men and things, well
balanced by knowledge and experience. He is
a gentleman of good personal appearance and
courteous address, and is certainly entitled to
mention with the representative men of Dela-
ware county.
Sr— ^ ON. WALTER MARCH (deceased)
I^^V was born August 5, 18 14, at the town
^ ^P of Millbury, Mass., in Worcester
county. His father, Samuel March,
was a native of the same county, and a lineal
descendant of Hugh March, who came to the
colony of Massachusetts from England in the
JUDGE WALTER MARCH.
MRS. M. MARCH.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
year 1635; and his mother, whose maiden
name was Zoa Parks, was a nati\e of Harvard,
Mass. The parents were industrious and
fruf^al, and, while the proceeds of their farm
did not elevate them to opulence, they were
very comfortably situated, and desired to afford
their children better educational advantages
than they had themselves enjoyed. The latter
improved well their opportunities, and grew
up to fill important and responsible positions.
The eldest son is a manufacturer and farmer at
Charlton, Mass., another is a farmer near
Oshkosh, Wis. ; another is a well known min-
ister of the gospel at Woburn, Mass. ; and
Walter, the second son, is the subject of this
sketch. His boyhood was passed in a manner
quite uneventful, amid pastoral scenes at
home. What time could be spared from farm
work was devoted to the improvement of his
mind and the acquisition of a primary educa-
tion at the common schools and the academy
at Millbury. He entered Amherst college and
graduated in 1837, after a course of four years,
during which time he taught two terms in the
common schools, and, after graduating, again
took up the vocation of school teaching, which
he pursued two terms longer. During this
time and subsequentlj- he studied law with
Judge Ira M. Barton, of Worcester, and after-
wards attended lectures at Cambridge, Mass.
In 1840, he was admitted to the bar at Wor-
cester, and, in November of the same year,
removed to Indianapolis, Ind. He engaged in
the practice in that city, and remained until
March of the following year, when he removed
to Muncie. Here, in January, 1845, he was
united in marriage to Miss Margaret J. ,
daughter of Benjamin and Ann Say re. Her
parents both died at the age of ninety-one
jears, and resided with Walter March until
their death.
Although a young man when he began the
practice at Muncie, in 1841, Mr. March
handled the most complicated cases success-
fully, and, as confidence was established, he
soon built up a large practice. One rule has
marked his entire career: He would never
undertake the cause of a client whom he
thought was in the wrong; and under no cir-
cumstances would he accept a case that he
could not conscientiously defend. In 1850,
he was elected a member of the constitutional
convention from the district composed of the
counties of Delaware and Grant. He was a
democrat, and although this was a whig dis-
trict, he was elected by a goodly majority over
the candidate of that party. At heart he was an
abolitionist, and, much against his convictions,
fealty to party and public trust induced him to
support measures not entire!}' in harmony with
his will — especially those discriminating
against the colored race. The open antago-
nism of his party to his own principles finally
culminated in his withdrawal from it, about
the time of the Kansas and Nebraska troubles.
He was intensely in earnest in his support of
the party, and, as a public speaker, did more
effectual work and accomplished more good in
its behalf, perhaps, than any other man in the
district; for he was an extraordinarily fine
speaker, and a thorough scholar; and when he
joined the ranks of the republican party, he
brought with him the same energy and the
same ability, and devoted himself as earnestly
to the success of the newly espoused cause,
and with results equally fruitful.
While a member of the state constitutional
convention, he advocated a change in the sys-
tem of law practice then prevalent, by which
the old English system should be abolished.
With. the assistance of his associates, this
measure was carried through, and the first
legislature that assembled, after the adoption
of the new constitution, appointed him one of
the committee to draft a code of principles
and practice which should obtain throughout
MUNCIE CITY
the state. Among other things he incorpor-
ated a clause investing circuit judges with the
power to settle disputed points by arbitration,
by which means a great deal of needless liti-
gation could be avoided. It was tried in
many of the counties — Delaware among the
number — with good results; and this private
and friendly mode of settlement was almost
uniformly productive of better fellowship be-
tween the plaintiff and defendant than a suit
at law. But attorneys' fees were diminished
in consequence of this peaceful mode of litiga-
tion, and it was antagonized by attorneys
throughout the state. Finally such was the
pressure brought to bear that it was repealed
by the general assembly of 1865.
In 1852, he was elected judge of the court
of common pleas, on the democratict ticket,
and served four years. In 1856 he was
elected state senator. He had then with-
drawn from the democratic party, and was
elected as an independent friend of the Union.
He served four years, then became the candi-
date of the republican party for the same
position. He was returned for another term
of four years, and served throughout that
stormy period in the history of the Indiana
senate embraced between the years i860 and
1864. Within this period, the democrats,
who were in the majority, attempted to de-
prive the governer of his power over the state
militia, and invest it in the four offices of the
state. They were only prevented from ac-
complishing their plan by the republican mem-
bers absenting themselves from the senate,
and thus breaking the quorum. Judge March
was among the number, and was, in fact the
leader of the "bolt." While in the senate he
occupied many important positions, among
which was that of chairman of the judiciary
committee. He was a recognized leader of
his party and in .many ways proved himself
the soldier's friend. His career in the senate
was characterized by dignity and ability, and
the following tribute was paid him by the
Cincinnati Gazette: "One of the clearest
headed and coolest members of the Indiana
senate is Walter March, senator from the
district of Delaware, Blackford and Grant.
He speaks not half so often as others on the
floor, but always to the point, and with
strength and force. He wastes no time by
idle bombast, and has not the inordinate
vanity possessed by some men, of loving to
hear himself talk.
"When Mr. March rises to make a speech,
every member expects to hear something that
will strike the sense of every one, and com-
mand the attention of all. Although he is a
solid speaker, he is yet almost poetical, and
uses better language and a choicer selection of
words than any other man on the floor of the
senate."
At the close of his senatorial service, in
1864, he resumed the practice of his profes-
sion at Muncie, and in 1867, formed copart-
nership relations with Maj. Jonathan W. Gor-
don and Martin Ray, of Indianapolis, under
the firm name of Gordon, Ray & March, re-
taining at the same time his practice at Mun-
cie. In the fall of 1878, he was elected by
the republicans of this district as their repre-
sentative in the general assembly of the state,
by a majority of 1,250 votes.
His was indeed a busy and a model life.
He devoted himself assiduously to his profes-
sion, and stood at the head of the bar of Dela-
ware county. He was scrupulously conscien-
tious in all his dealings with mankind, and has
won the regard of all classes. He was firm in
his judgment, and fearless in the advocacy of
his convictions. He was a radical temperance
man, and a friend to the deserving poor, but
a relentless hater of impostors, or sham and
hypocrisy in any guise. His private acts of
charity were many, and will long live in the
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
hearts of those who have been the recipients
of his bounty. He was ever a friend to what-
ever had a tendency to benefit and elevate
mankind, and many of the pubHc improve-
ments of this county number him among their
warmest coadjutors. He was ever a lover of
sciences, and found his chief recreation in
study and reflection upon this theme. He
was elected first president of the Literary and
Scientific society of Muncie in 1879, and was
a director of the Library Association of Mun-
cie from the time of its organization until his
death. A man of strong individuality, a fin-
ished scholar and a polished gentleman, he
occupied a special niche in society that none
other can fill. He died March 31, 1883.
Mrs. March, a lady of many admirable traits
of character, contributed in no small degree to
her husband's success in life. Mr. and Mrs.
March had no children of their own, but in
1867 they adopted the motherless son of John
Pyle, of Indianapolis, at that time ten years
old and now grown to manhood. His father
died in 1891, since which time he has known
no parent except Mrs. March who so kindly
reared him. The parents of Mrs. March, na-
tives respectively of New Jersey and New
York, came to Muncie in December, 1840,
and engaged in the hotel business.
V-7*0HN MARSH, late cashier of the Citi-
m zens' National bank of Muncie, was
A 1 born in Preble county, Ohio, August
22, 181 1. In his veins the blood of the
Anglo-Saxon mingles with that of the Teutonic
race. His father, Timothy Marsh, was the
son of John Marsh, who came to this country
from England, and settled in what is now Ger-
mantown, Montgomery county, Ohio. He
afterward served in the American army all
through the Revolution. The mother was
Mary Clawson, who was born near the mouth
of the Little Miami river, August 22, 1787, and
is said to be the first white child born in the
territory of Ohio. Cincinnati was not then
laid out, and the country was the home of wild
beasts and of the red man. She died at the
age of ninety, at the residence of her son, Sear-
j ing Marsh, near Logansport, Ind., September
15, 1877. Her father was John Clawson, a
German, who settled first in Kentucky and
afterward in Ohio, and took part in the long
struggle by which the colonies threw off the
British yoke. John Marsh was not allowed to
spend all his boyhood in school, but only the
winter term of every year, the remaining time
being employed in work on the farm. Yet the
school he attended was the best in the county,
and there he obtained a good education in the
common English branches. At the age of
seventeen he went to Eaton, and served an
apprenticeship of five years at the hatter's
trade. During this period his spare hours were
not wasted in the society of the vicious or the
frivolous, but were devoted to the acquisition
of useful knowledge. At length Mr. Marsh
commenced business as a hatter in Camden,
and continued it successfully until 1847, when
he entered upon the dry goods trade. After
one year he was elected treasurer of Preble
county, and held the office by re-election three
terms. So faithfully and well did he discharge
his duties that, at the last election, he re-
ceived all the votes cast in the county except
thirty-six. During this time he was a stock-
holder and a director of the Preble county
branch of the State bank of Ohio. In October,
1854. he removed to Wayne county, Ind., and
was made president of the Cambridge City
bank, one of those that withstood the crisis of
1857.
Mr. Marsh removed to Delaware county in
1856, and organized the Muncie branch of the
State bank of Indiana, becoming its president.
370
MUNCIE CITY
In 1865 it was converted into the Muricie
National bank, and he remained its president
until 1874. He then sold his interest, intend-
ing to retire from business; but after a few
weeks of recreation, at the earnest solicitation
of a number of prominent men, he organized,
with them, in November, 1874, the Citizens'
bank, (converted into Citizens' National March
15. 1875)1 '^nd being given his choice of
positions, accepted that of cashier. Mr.
Marsh had always been an active politician.
His first ballot was cast for Henry Clay; he
aided in the organization of the republican
party, and ever after was in accord with the
principles set forth. In 1838 he joined the
Masonic fraternity and ten years later, at Day-
ton, Ohic, took the commandery degrees.
He was treasurer of Delaware lodge, of Mun-
cie chapter, and of Muncie commandery, and
helped organize the latter, of which he was
treasurer until his death. After 1854 he was
connected with the Methodist Episcopal
church, of which he was trustee. Mr. Marsh
was an able financier and secured a handsome
competence. He had no small mental capac-
ity, and might have achieved equal success in
more important callings. Few were so en-
dowed with qualities that inspire respect and
friendship, and none lived in happier domestic
relations than Mr. Marsh — his family being a
model one, in which perfect harmony existed.
He married, May 25, 1835, Miss Margaret,
daughter of Nathan and Jane (Carr) Mitchell,
both of Maryland, originally, but afterward
pioneers of Ohio. Four children were born of
this marriage, two of whom are living. Their
mother died of cholera, July 29, 1849. Mr.
Marsh was again united in marriage August 29,
1854, to Mrs. Mary Mutchner, by whom he
had four children. The kindness of heart of
Mr. Marsh was proverbial, and hundreds re-
vere his memory on that account alone, if for
nothing else.
at
ILLIAM M. MARSH, son of John
Marsh, was born in Cambridge City,
Wayne county, Ind. , on the 8th
day of November, 1855. He spent
his boyhood days in Muncie, where he en-
joyed the advantages of a liberal education,
graduating from the city schools in 1873, after
which he began with the bank in the capacity
of messenger, the duties of which position he
discharged with commendable fidelity for
some time. Subsequently, he became book-
keeper for the same institution, and was thus
employed until the death of his father, having
in the meantime, for a period of two years,
acted in the capacity of assistant cashier.
Upon the death of his father he became
cashier. Mr. Marsh was married on the loth
day of October, 1883, to Miss Martha R.
Wysor, daughter of Jacob H. Wysor, of whom
a sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
Mrs. Marsh's birth occurred in Muncie, Decem-
ber 12, 1859, and she has borne her husband
two children, namely: Henry Wysor and
John Edwin. The reputation of Mr. Marsh
for energy and business capacity marks him as
among the foremost, and socially he is deserv-
edly popular with his fellow citizens, both
of the city of Muncie and throughout the
county. He is, at this time, vice-president of
the Citizen's Enterprise company, is connected
with the Ball Glass works, of which he was a
charter officer, and is prominently identified
with the Indiana Iron company. Mr. Marsh
has always manifested an active interest in
the material development of Muncie, to which
he has contributed liberally of his means, and
in 1889-90, he erected on one of the principal
thoroughfares of the city a large and imposing
brick structure known as the New Southern
hotel. Mr Marsh stands high in Masonry,
belonging to the Blue lodge, Muncie chapter,
Muncie council and commandery, and is also
an active member of the Society of Elks.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
871
>^OHN ROLLIN MARSH, chief engineer
■ of the Indiana Bridge company, was
/* 1 born January 13, 1863, in the city of
Muncie, Delaware county, Ind. He
grew to manhood in his native city, in the
schools of which he obtained his early educa-
tional training, completing the prescribed
course and graduating from the high school in
1879. On quitting school he accepted the
position of deputy clerk, Delaware county cir-
cuit court, later became duputy county record-
er, in both of which capacities he served
several terms under different officials, proving
himself a very efficient and capable assistant.
Actuated by a desire to complete his educa-
tion in the special line of engineering, Mr.
Marsh in the fall of 1883 entered the school
of Mines, Columbia college. New York, where
he pursued his technical studies for several
years, graduating in 1887, after which he
accepted the position of chief engineer of the
Indiana Bridge company of Muncie. In his
theoretical and practical knowledge of engi-
neering Mr. Marsh has few equals in Indiana,
and his name is well and favorably known
among the experts of the profession through-
out the state. He is a finished scholar, a
polished gentleman, possesses the necessary
traits of character which insure success and
popularity, and enjoys the confidence of the
large and well known company with which
he is identified.
He married August 5, 1889, Miss Susie
Ryan, daughter of John W. Ryan, .of Muncie,
and is the father of two bright children, John
Rodney and Mildred Ryan. With the excep-
tion of a college fraternity, Mr. Marsh belongs
to no society or order; he and wife are mem-
bers of the Episcopal church of Muncie, in
which they are highly respected, and their
hands and hearts are ever ready to respond to
the cry of distress or want, as well as to
plain charity.
at
ILI.IA^^ E. H. MARSH, the genial
and popular proprietor of the Na-
tional Hotel, Muncie, Ind., is a
native of Chelsea (Boston), Mass.,
was born May 14, i860, and is the only child
of William E., Jr., and Ellen Maria Winship
(Toppan) Marsh, of whom the former was born
at Cincinnati, Ohio, November 11, 1836, of
English and Scotch parentage, and the latter
born at Newburyport, Mass., August 13, 1839,
of English descent. William E. Marsh, Jr.,
was but ten years of age when taken east by
his parents. For four years he attended school
in Virginia, one year in New York state, and
four years in Massachusetts, of the latter period,
two years at Harvard university. On finishing
his literary education he began his business
life by entering the wholesale grocery estab-
lishment owned by his father at Cincinnati,
and for nine years assiduously devoted his at-
tention to acquiring a knowledge of mercantile
affairs; the following nine years were passed in
real estate transactions at Plainfield, N. J., and
the fifteen subsequent years in the hotel busi-
ness, for which he seemed to be peculiarly
adapted. In 1877 he became proprietor of the
Gait House, in Cincinnati, which he conducted
until 1892, when he went to Chicago and leased
the Hotel Brewster, which he retained eighteen
months. He then came to Muncie, Ind., where
he is now interested with his son in the National,
still retaining his interest in the Gait House,
Cincinnati. As a business man he has but few
equals, as a host he is unexcelled anywhere,
being attentive, hospitable, obliging, and liberal
in his consideration of the needs of his guests.
The marriage of Mr. Marsh occurred December
I, 1859; to Miss Toppan, and their union, as
stated, was fruitful in the birth of only one
child, a son. Mrs. Marsh is a consistent mem-
ber of the Baptist church, and in politics Mr.
Marsh is liberal in his views, relying on his own
judgment in such matters, as in everything else.
372
MUNCIE CITY
William Edward Henry Marsh is a gentle-
man of splendid executive abilities, and has
been thoroughly schooled in all those graceful
accomplishments and that pleasing tact that
constitute the perfect hotel manager. His
boyhood was passed in Newburyport, Mass.,
and he was educated by private tutors to a
high standard in literature and in the German
and English classics, which training was sup-
plemented by a course of study at the Nelson
Business college at Cincinnati. At the age of
sixteen he became associated with his father
in the management of the Gait House, corner
of Sixth and Main streets, Cincinnati, where
he became so well versed in his vocation, and
in 1890 came to Muncie, Ind., leased the now
favorite National Hotel, which he refitted and
converted into the elegant, and above all, the
comfortable establishment it now is. His in-
tuitive apprehension of the wants of his guests
and anticipation of their wishes have placed
him at the very head and front of hosts, and
created a demand for accommodations at his
house that at times taxes even his ingenuity
to meet. Affable, urbane, and anxious to
please, he has won golden opinions from all
comers. He is a member of the Knights of
Maccabees and the Ancile club of Muncie.
In politics he affiliates with the republicans.
>^OHN S. MARTIN, M. D., the profes-
m sional gentleman whose name intro-
A 1 duces this sketch, is a well known and
highly valued citizen of Muncie, where
his skill and medical knowledge are frequently
called into exercise. Dr. Martin was born in
Johnson county, Ind., November 21, 1851,
and is a son of Samuel C. and Jane (Haw-
thorne) Martin, both parents natives of Henry
county, Ky. He enjoyed superior educational
advantages, attending first the schools of his
native county, and subsequently pursuing the
higher branches of learning in Franklin col-
lege, in which institution he made commenda-
ble progress. After completing his literary
educatiou. Dr. Martin began teaching, which
profession he successfully followed for seven
years, leaving it only to begin his medical
studies with Dr. J. D. George, a well known
and successful practitioner of Franklin, Ind.
With a laudable desire to increase his knowl-
edge of his profession, the doctor entered the
Cleveland(Ohio) Homeopathic Hospital college,
graduated in 1883, and immediately thereafter
located in Muncie, where he has since prac-
ticed with flattering success and financial
profit. He began the practice at Indianapolis
some time before completing his professional
course in the above institution, and since
locating in the gas belt his abilities have been
recognized beyond the limits of Delaware
county, and he is now one of the leading rep-
resentatives of his school in this part of the
state. The doctor's personal characteristics
have won him many friends, and among his
professional brethren he is recognized as a
man of energy and determination, fully abreast
of the times and active in upholding the dig-
nity of the healing art. He is of good person-
al presence, has an unblemished character,
and is a man of high moral and social stand-
ing among his fellow citizens of Muncie. Dr.
Martin is a member of the Indiana institute of
Homeopathy, also of the American institute,
in the deliberations of which body he takes an
active part, and of which he is now serving as
treasurer. He is a prominent member of the
K. of P. and Red Men fraternities, and exer-
cises the elective franchise in behalf of the
democratic party. The doctor was married,
in 1874, to Miss Laura A. Clark, daughter of
John R. and Keziah Clark, of Johnson county,
Ind., the result of which union is one child, a
son, Samuel Albert Martin. Mrs. Martin is a
(^IdZc^^^i^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
375
member of the Presbyterian church of Muncie,
and is a lady of social prominence in the city.
^"^AMUEL MARTIN, retired, was born
•^^^k* in Clarke county, Ohio, July 29, 1827,
f<^ and is a son of Stephen R. and Nancy
(Kirkpatrick) Martin. His father was
born near Cincinnati on October 11, 1804,
and was a son of Samuel Martin, a native of
New Jersey, who settled in Clarke county, Ohio,
in 1805, where he entered a tract of land, and
also entered a tract of land in Miami county.
Stephen R. Martin moved to Delaware county,
Ind., in 1834, and settled upon a farm in Hamil-
ton township, and entered several tracts of land.
He was one of the originators, the treasurer,
and a director in the Granville pike, and a
stockholder in the Bee Line railway. He was
one of the original stockholders of the Citizens'
National bank of Muncie, and a trustee in the
Christian church for many years. He was a
democrat, and was trustee of his township. His
first wife died in June, 1867, and he remarried
to Susan Spoor, of Iowa, who survives him.
His family consisted of six daughters and two
sons. The living are : Samuel, Phoebe, Ellen, j
Mary, wife of John Pittinger, of Hamilton j
township, and Emily, Stephen R. Martin
died October 19, 1877. Samuel Martin was
reared in Delaware county, and received his
education in its early schools. When twenty-
two years of age he went to California, where
he spent several years in farming and mining,
and then returned to Delaware county. In
1857 he married Miss Mary WilHamson, daugh-
ter of Peter Williamson, of Hamilton town-
ship, and cleared a farm in that township, upon
which he resided until 1879, when he moved
into the city of Muncie, and engaged in the
manufacturing of pumps, under the firm name
of Puckett, Smell & Martin. He was also a
memberof the hardware firm of Martin, Young,
& Kessler. In 1886 he withdrew from all active
business, and has since lived a retired life. He
is a stockholder in the Co-operative Gas com-
pany, and has large real estate interests in the
city. Politically a democrat, he has repre-
sented the First ward in the city council ; is a
member of the A. F. & A. M. chapter and com-
mandery. He and wife are members of the
High street M. E. church, and he is the present
treasurer of the same; also one of the trustees,
and was a member of the building committee.
OSCAR L. MEEKS, the gentleman for
whom this biographical sketch is pre-
pared, is a native of Delaware county,
Ind., born December 7, 1853. the son
of Isaac Meeks. He grew to manhood in his
native city, in the public schools of which he
received a practical English education, and,
having early manifested a decided preference
for mechanical pursuits, entered a furniture
factory, and while still a boy became profi-
cient as a workman. The proprietor of this
factory was his father, Isaac Meeks, with whom
Oscar L. subsequently effected a co-partner-
ship, and the firm thus constituted continued
until the destruction of the establishment by-
fire, which .event occurred a short time before
the senior member's death. Mr. Meeks then
engaged with the Bandey Planing Mill com-
pany as foreman, in which capacity he has
since continued. He is a skillful mechanic,
familiar with all the details of the business
with which he is connected, and is one of the
highly respected citizens of Muncie. Politically
a republican, he cast his first vote for Benja-
min Harrison for governor; and religiously a
Methodist, he is one of the leading members of
the High street congregation of Muncie. Mr.
Meeks was married in June, 1876, to Miss
376
MUNCIE CITY
Alice Kemper, daughter of William Kemper, to
which union three children have been born,
namely: Bessie, Emily and Harold, the first
named of which is deceased.
Isaac Meeks is a native of Monongalia county,
W. Va. , born July 9, 1829. At the age of ten years
he, with his parents, Amos and Nancy Meeks,
immigrated to Indiana, locating, in the fall of
1832, in the eastern part of Delaware county.
They erected a log cabin in the heart of the
forest and set about clearing off 150 acres of
land. There being a large family (eight broth-
ers and seven sisters, and one half-brother and
half-sister), there was not enough employment
for them on the farm, so Isaac, at the age of
fifteen, decided to come to Mimcie and learn
the cabinet making trade. Being naturally a
mechanic, he soon became skilled in his work
and entered into a partneship with his brother
Robert in the cabinet business, a union which
lasted for forty-five years. He married Mary
E. McProud, of Randolph county, this state,
to whom were born five children — two boys
and three girls. In politics he was a strong
republican — ^the party of his father. He was
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for
over forty-five years, filling different positions
in the church with a true christian zeal, until
death claimed him, January 16, 1891.
,>^ OBERTMEEKS.— Without a thought
I /^T of disparagement for the many excel-
£ ,P lent characters herein illustrated,
perhaps none, taken as a whole, are
more noteworthy and more favorably and
extensively known than the Meeks family. As
the oldest representative of that family now
living, we begin our group of their biographies
with that of Robert Meeks.
The parent stem of this sturdy old pioneer
started in the eternal hills of West Virginia.
He is the son of Amos and Nancy Meeks. His
mother's maiden name was Means. He was
born in Monongalia county, of that state, on
July 8, 1822. The educational facilities of
that time and place were very meager, and he
attended subscription school in winter only.
He was the eldest of fifteen children, nine of
whom were born in West Virginia. He immi-
grated to Delaware county, with his father's
family, in the year 1839, when about seven-
teen years of age. The whole journey was
made in an old fashioned Virginia wagon
drawn by four horses, and it occupied sixteen
days to make the trip. They located about
three miles northeast of what is now the town
of Selma, on or near what is known as Sugar
Ridge. The country was then simply a vast
wilderness, and the next five years were spent
in helping to clear up his father's farm, he
being the main dependence of his father in
this work, as his brothers were younger, and
hence unable to contribute much in this direc-
tion. He came to Muncie in May, 1844, and
began his career for himself as an apprentice
with Nottingham & Swain, to learn the trade
of cabinet-making, in a two story frame build-
ing, located then on the ground where the
Boyce block now stands. He worked thus
about one year, and about eighteen months
later bought an interest in the firm of John
Nottingham. The partnership with Swain
continued less than a year, when Nottingham
purchased the interest of Job Swain. During
this partnership, Robert's brother, Isaac
Meeks, was apprenticed to the firm to learn
the trade also. Still later on, Robert bought
the interest of Nottingham, and was then the
owner of the shop — building and ground. The
firm then became known as R. & I. Meeks,
and continued thus to be successfully operated
for a series of years, during which time the
old sign board, which hung out from the old
shop, bearing the letters of this old firm, was
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP,
877
synonymous with honesty and fair dcahn^.
About t>^e year 1 871, James \V. Meeks, the
son of Robert, became a partner, and the
style of the firm was then changed to R. & I.
Meeks & Co. At this time a two story brick
building was erected on the southeast corner
of Washington and Elm streets and supplied
with engine, boiler, and all the latest improved
machinery, and the work of making furniture
began on a scale up to the requirements of the
times and the increasing demands for their
products. In the meantime, Isaac Meeks was
in charge of the sales department and storage
rooms, located in their brick business block on
east Main street, while Robert and his son
James were in charge of the manufacturing
shops as described.
This partnership between the elder Meeks
brothers lasted until the death of Isaac, on
the 1 6th day of January, 1891. It is a curious
fact that, while the business of making and
selling furniture, in connection with their large
undertaking business and funeral directorship,
has increased to almost abnormal proportions,
Amos Meeks, the old father of Robert and
Isaac, nearly fifty years ago seriously wondered
what they would do with the vast accumula-
tion of furniture after they had once supplied
the local demand; when the real fact is, the
demand has always increased in a ratio faster
than their facilities were able to supply. The
factory was run to its full capacity until 1 890,
when it took fire and was totally consumed.
It was never rebuilt, and on January 2, 1892,
old uncle Robert Meeks, as he is familiarly
called, accidentally met with a fall, by which
his leg and hip were broken, which confined
him to his bed and house; since which time,
owing to extreme lameness, he has lived in
retirement, resting as well as possible on his
well earned competency. This can certainly
be all the better appreciated, when it is con-
sidered that Mr. Meeks worked the first winter.
after he learned his trade, and received only
seventy-five cents in money, and took the rest
due him in other articles. During his term of
apprenticeship, he got only his board and the
making of one overcoat, and at the end of the
first year, as such, he was as good a workman
as any man in the shop, and was able, in 1 848,
to pay $450 for a half interest in their shop and
building, and now the entire business of the
concern, including undertaking, which he had
carried on from the very start, is under the
exclusive management of his three sons, James
W., William A., and Martin L. Meeks, the
last two having joined the firm of R. Meeks &
Son in the year 1880, while his youngest son,
Jacob Arthur, is associated in business with
James Boyce, of Muncie, a sketch of each of
them appearing in our lists of biographies.
Robert Meeks was married, in 1846, to Miss
Sarah Jones, daughter of Jacob and Beersheba
Jones, who has been a faithful and devoted
wife and mother and a helpmate, indeed, to a
worthy husband.
>^AMES W. MEEKS is the eldest son of
M Robert and Sarah Meeks. He was
/§ 1 born in Muncie, Ind., December 14,
1848, and received a common school
education, graduating from the Muncie high
school in the class of 1870. He had spent
most all his vacations and other spare time in
the furniture factory of R. & I. Meeks, of
which firm his father was a member, and after
graduation went into the employ of said firm
and worked one year. In the year 1871, he
became a member of the firm, when it was
changed to R. & I. Meeks & Co., and has
been actively engaged in this occupation ever
since. From 1871 to 1890, he was superin-
tendent and foreman of the furniture factory,
which was established about 1871, located on
MUNCIE CITY
Washington and Elm streets, and is now the
oldest active member of the iirm of R. Meeks
& Sons, which is the oldest furniture and un-
dertaking establishment in the county, cover-
ing, as it does, a half century of continuous
operation, and therefore one of the best and
most favorably known institutions in eastern
Indiana. Their storage and sales departments
occupy the first, second and third floors of
their large brick business block, No. 1 1 5 east
Main street, in Muncie, where they carry a
most complete line of the latest style and best
made furniture and caskets, and from their
well established reputation for honesty and fair
dealing, do a very extensive retail business.
He and all his brothers are practical under-
takers and funeral directors. They furnish a
free ambulance, and are often called to the
most remote parts of the county. He was
married on June 27, 1876, to Louisa C,
daughter of Joseph and Mary Hummel.
Three children have been born to them —
Amelia B., Sarah M. and Robert H. Meeks.
He has a beautiful home, and, being a tireless
worker and having a taste for horticulture, has
beautiful surroundings and all the home com-
forts, and takes great delight in showing speci-
mens of his home-grown grapes and other
fruits. He is a worthy member of the I. O.
O. F. and its encampment, and in the lodge
he has passed all the officers' chairs. He was
one of the incorporators of the Merchants'
National bank of Muncie, and is one of the
board of directors of the same. Mr. Meeks
is also a faithful and consistent member of the
High street Methodist Episcopal church, and
at present fills the office of steward, and is
treasurer of the Preachers' Aid society of the
North Indiana conference of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Charity never makes a
call in vain on Mr. and Mrs. Meeks, and both
are untiring in church work, while Sunday
schools receive much of their attention.
at
ILLIAM A. MEEKS, second son of
Robert and Sarah Meeks, was born
in Muncie, Ind. , April 8, 1851, and
received the educational benefits of
the Muncie schools, graduating in the higher
branches in the class of 1870. He worked six-
teen months at the harness making trade, then
entered the furniture factory of his father and
brother in the year 1872, where he continued
to work until the steadily increasing demands
made upon the Main street store and under-
taking department had caused it to grow to
such proportions that he was compelled to
transfer his help to that department, where he
has remained ever since. He became a part-
ner in the concern in the year 1881, and by his
zeal and efficient help has contributed his full
share to the success of the business. He was
married on October 17, 1883, to Miss Mary C.
Dungan, daughter of ex-Sheriff John W. Dun-
gan. Her mother's maiden name was Edith
Dragoo, who was a sister to John W. and Will-
iam Dragoo, the latter being ex-auditor of
Delaware county. He is a member of the I.
O. O. F. and K. of P. lodges, and is now the
recording steward and secretary of the official
board of the Methodist Episcopal church of
this city.
QARTIN L. MEEKS is the third son
of Robert and Sarah Meeks, and
was born in Muncie, Ind., October
I, 1853, and, like his brothers, grad-
uated from the Muncie high school in 1872.
In the fall of the same year he went into the
furniture factory of R. & I. Meeks & Co. and
learned the wood turning trade. Immediately
thereafter he took charge of the undertaking
business of that firm, and for the last twenty
years has had exclusive charge of the same.
During this time he has attended personally
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
a large number of the funerals that have occur-
red at various times in Muncie. He has re-
ceived instructions in this art from the most
eminent professional embalmers, and keeps up
with all the improved methods that are con-
stantly being made in the line of his profession.
He became a partner in the firm of R. & I.
Meeks & Co. in 1881, and now owns a one-
third interest in the whole concern. He was
married November 21, 1876, to Miss Carrie
Clark, daughter of Robert and Fannie Clark,
of Delaware count}'. Four children have been
born to them, two sons and two daughters:
Arthur C, Earnest S., Mary W. and Fannie,
the latter having died October 29, 1887, at the
age of eight years, seven months and fifteen
days. Martin L. Meeks and family, in com-
mon with all of the families of the name, are
active and consistent members of the Methodist
Episcopal church.
>Y'AC0B ARTHUR MEEKS, the young-
M est son of Robert and Sarah Meeks,
A ■ was born in Muncie, January 15, 1856.
He attended the public schools, and
graduated from the high school in 1873. His
vacations from boyhood had been utilized by
clerking in a grocery, and he was thus largely-
employed byMaddy, Burt & Kirby until 1877.
In that year he completed a commercial course
in the Miami Commercial college, at Dayton,
Ohio. In 1878 he was bookkeeper for a
wholesale hat house at Toledo, Ohio. March
I, 1880, he entered the emplo}- of James Boyce
as bookkeeper in his bagging factory, and on
August I, 1 88 1, he purchased an eighth inter-
est in the plant. The day following his pur-
chase the entire factory burned down, entailing
a heavy loss, as the ratio of insurance was
small, and the year following another dis-
astrous conflagration occasioned a loss of $20,-
j 000, principally on manufactured stock. Mr.
Meeks continued in the manufacture of bagging
! with Mr. Boyce until 1885, when they sold
their entire plant to the Muncie Bagging com-
pany. In the same year he purchased a half
interest of James Boyce in the Muncie Handle
works, and operated that plant successfully
until it was destroyed by fire in April, 1893.
The loss, however, was largely covered by in-
surance, and in six weeks thereafter the works
were rebuilt and ready for operation. They
employ a complement of thirty hands, and an-
nually make from 50,000 to 75,000 dozen of
"D" and long shovel handles. Mr. Meeks is
also interested in the Boyce Rivet company,
and devotes his entire time to the management
of these industries. He was married, in 1879,
to Miss Lydia Gray, daughter of J. M, Gray,
now a resident of Anderson, and of this union
there is one son, Erie G. Meeks.
*w ^ IKAM MESSERSMITH, real estate
l*^^^ dealer of Muncie, was born near the
M. .r Tippecanoe battle ground, Tippeca-
noe county, Ind., September i i, 1840.
His ancestors were early settlers of Virginia,
from which state his grandparents immigrated
to Indiana many years ago, locating in the
county of Fayette. His father, Samuel Messer-
smith, was born in the year 1807, and early in
life became a skillful manufacturer of edged
tools, in which line of work his antecedents for
several generations had excelled. Samuel
Messersmith married Miss Charity Freeman, a
native of New York, and began housekeeping
at Metamora, Franklin county, Ind., where
Mr. Messersmith £or some time carried on a
general blacksmithing business. Subsequently
he removed to Connersville and worked at his
trade, and later moved to the country and for
several years carried on farming in connection
880
MUNCIE CITY
with blacksmithing. His next move was to
Tippecanoe county, where he resided until one
year after the birth of Hiram, at which time
he emigrated to Iowa and entered government
land in the vicinity of Des Moines, a part of
which city now occupies a portion of his origi-
nal purchase. Two years later he returned to
Indiana and located in Rush county, where,
owing to sickness, superinduced by the expo-
sure incident to his constantly moving from
place to place, he died in the fall of 1843. Six
children were born to Samuel and Charity
Messersmith, namely: Almarine, Ephraim,
Nancy, Sarah, Hiram and Clarissa; of these
Nancy and Sarah are dead; the mother still
survives and makes her home with her young-
est daughter at Connersville. She has reached
the ripe old age of eighty-two years and pos-
sesses, in a marked degree, her physical and
mental faculties.
Hiram Messersmith was but three years of
age when his father died, after which event he
was taken by his mother to Columbia, Fayette
county, where his boyhood days were passed.
He worked at various occupations until the
age of sixteen, when he learned the plasterer's
trade, which he followed at Connersville and
vicinity until 1865, in the meantime spending
thirteen months in the army. In that year he
went to Danville, 111., and, after becoming
comfortably located in that city, returned to
Indiana and married, on the 4th day of Octo-
ber, 1865, Miss Sarah H. Lister, who accom-
panied him to his new home. In 1869 Mr.
Messersmith purchased a farm about six miles
southwest of Connersville, near his old home,
and for eight years thereafter was engaged in
agricultural pursuits. He abandoned farming
in 1877, and, moving to 'Glenwood, Rush
county, embarked in the drug business, which
he carried on for a period of eleven years.
Disposing of his drug stock in 1888, Mr.
Messersmith came to Muncie and engaged in
the grocery trade, but after a few months
severed his connection with merch'andising
and opened a real estate office and has since
been extensively engaged in real estate trans-
actions in Delaware and other counties. The
following are the names of the children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Messersmith: Delia, wife of
R. L. Gwynn; Gustave and a deceased infant.
Mr. Messersmith is a democrat in politics and
a member of the I. O O. F. While not a
member of any church he is a believer in the
truths of the Bible and contributes liberally to
all religious and charitable purposes. His wife
is a member of the Presbyterian denomination
— a lady highly respected by all who know her.
At the breaking out of the war Mr. Messer-
smith enlisted, at the age of twenty, in company
E, One Hundred and Sixteenth Indiana volun-
teer infantry, which was mustered in at Con-
nersville for the three months' service. His
military record began at the first call of the
president for volunteers, three days after the
firing on Fort Sumter. While he was absent
at home on a furlough his regiment left for the
front. In company with five others he solic-
ited aid from the citizens of Richmond to enable
him to rejoin it. He rode in a cattle car to
Baltimore, Md., but on reaching that city
learned, to his great surprise and vexation,
that the regiment had left sometime previous.
Accordingly, he remained with the Twenty-first
regiment for two weeks, in the meantime
doing his utmost to ascertain the whereabouts
of his command. Through the kind offices of
Gen. Hicks he secured transportation to Point
of Rocks, Md., but the only information he
received there was that the regiment had passed
through the place about two weeks before.
He at once formed the resolution of following
on foot, and after a number of days' rambling
from place to place, at length succeeded in over-
taking his comrades one nightfall in camp near
what was then known as Sugar Loaf Mountain.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Messersmith was in the army for a period of
thirteen months and received an honorable
discharge from the service at Washington, D. C.
>^AMES MILLER, a brief review of
■ whose Hfe is herewith presented, was
/• 1 born October 27, 1836, in Dayton,
Montgomery county, Ohio. James
Miller, the father, a farmer by occupation,
was a native of Adams county, Ohio, and later
became a resident of Dayton, to which city he
removed about the year 1830. He married,
in his native state, Martha J. Lynn, who bore
him eleven children, six of whom are living at
this time, James being the sixth member of
the family. James Miller, Sr. , died in 1876,
while on a tour through the west in search of
a location; Mrs. Miller is still living at her
home in Dayton, Ohio.
James Miller was reared on a farm n^ar
Dayton, and received his education in the
schools of that city. When the war cloud
appeared in 1 861, he enlisted in the fall of
that year in the Seventy-fourth Ohio volun-
teer infantry, was mustered into the service at
Xenia, Ohio, after which the regiment went
into camp at Columbus. From Camp Chase
the command went to Nashville, Tenn., and
joined the army of the Cumberland under
Gen. Rosecrans, and its first active participa-
tion in the war was at Bowling Green, Ky.
Mr. Miller took part at Stone River, Chicka-
mauga. Mission Ridge, Buzzard's Roost,
Resaca, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain,
Manetta, Chattahootchee, Atlanta, Jonesboro,
Savannah and Bentonville, and was with
Sherman in the celebrated march from
Atlanta to the sea. He was fortunate in
escaping with but a single wound, received at
Stone River, and he points with pride to the
fact that during the long period of service
he never missed a nnister, or a battle
in which his regiment was engaged.
Mr. Miller received his discharge at Golds-
boro, N. C, and immediately returned to
Ohio and resumed the pursuit of agriculture
in Montgomery county. After three years
thus spent he located on a farm in Madison
county, Ind., not far from Anderson, where a
little later he was united in marriage to Miss
Nancy Jane Myer. After farming there seven
years he removed to the city of Muncie, where
for a period of five years he followed the tim-
ber business, buying extensively throughout
Delaware, Madison and other counties of cen-
tral and eastern Indiana. In the spring of
1883 Mr. Miller was appointed a patrolman of
Muncie, served with great credit for eight
years, and was then elected city marshal.
His popularity with the people, irrespective of
political affiliation, is sufficiently attested by
the fact of his having been elected to the
office of marshal as a democrat, overcoming a
republican majority of 700, and receiving 622
more \otes than his competitor. Mr. Miller
proved himself a very capable and efficient
guardian of the peace, was popular with all,
courteous in the discharge of his official func-
tions, and it is a compliment well deserved to
accord him a prominent place among the
most capable and painstaking officials of Mun-
cie, having been appointed superintendent of
police March 17, 1893, and holding that posi-
tion at present. Mr. Miller belongs to the
G. A. R. and I. O. R. M., in both of which
fraternities he is an active worker. The fol-
lowing are the names of the children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Miller: Margaret Jane, Charles
Andrew, James Franklin, John Andrew, Mary-
Frances, William Wilbert, Earl Clarence and
Harry Miller. It will be seen from the above
that James Miller was not only a brave soldier
in conquering a peace, but has been equally
brave in preserving it.
MUNCIE CITY
^>^ARIUS CLINTON MITCHELL oc-
I I cupies a very important position
/^^^ among the well known and promi-
nent business men of Muncie, Ind.
He was born in Clarke county, Ohio, April 3,
1 85 1, son of Joseph R. and Sarah (Saylor)
Mitchell, natives of that county, who in 1865
came to Muncie, where the father was engaged
in contracting and building for about twelve
years, but is now living retired. The mother
passed from earth in 1880. Mr. and Mrs.
Mitchell reared four sons, as follows: William
H., superintendent of the Indiana Bridge
company, of Muncie; Alpheus, of Detroit,
Mich. ; Joseph, a resident of Indianapolis, and
Darius C. Darius C. Mitchell was educated
in the public schools of Muncie, served an
apprenticeship to the trade of carpenter in
Indianapolis, and as early as 1872 began con-
tracting in Muncie, which has resulted in the
following record of fine buildings erected by
him: The New Southern hotel, at a cost of
$17,000; Central block, at a cost of $16,000;
Fred Klopfer's building, $9,800; George Bow-
er's block, $7,000; Eagle block, $9,000;
Branch Brothers' block, $8,000; Leager Block,
$5,000; Boyce block (rebuilt), $9,000; Or-
phans' Home, $8,500; Architectural Iron
works, $7,500; Shoe factory, $7,000; Muncie
Glass factory, $4,500; Muncie Casket factory,
$10,000; Ball Bros. Glass works, $5,000;
Muncie Rubber works, $3,000; David Cam-
mack, residence, $5,000; twenty-five houses
in Boyceton, $15,000; twenty houses in Avon-
dale, $16,000; fifty houses, Homestead com-
pany, $28,000; the Common Sense Engine
works; J. H. Smith's residence; William E.
Hitchcock's residence; the R. E. Hill Knit-
ting works, and the Nelson Glass works.
Mr. Mitchell has always taken a prominent
part in everything that has seemed to offer
benefit to the city, and was one of the largest
contributors to the Citizens' Enterprise com-
pany, and was a stockholder in the first gas
well company. In politics Mr. Mitchell is a
firm republican, and stanchly upholds the prin-
ciples of his party upon every occasion. In a
social way, he is a prominent member of the
Masonic fraternity, having gone from the Blue
lodge on to the Mystic Shrine, and takes a deep
interest in the workings of the different lodges.
Mr. Mitchell was married, in 1872, to Miss
Elmira Newcomb, a daughter of Lyman B.
Newcomb, of Yorktown, Ind.. and he is the
father of four children, as follows : Lillian,
Gertrude, Fern and Horace Irvin. He and
family are members of the High street Metho-
dist Episcopal church, in which he holds the
office of steward. He is a free supporter of
all churches and benevolent organizations, and
is considered one of the most enterprising and
valuable of the business men of the city of
Muncie.
The high standing in the social circles of
Muncie occupied by Mr. Mitchell and his family
has been worthily won by that gentleman, and
the citizens may well congratulate themselves
on the fact that he so early took up his resi-
dence among them, for his presence here has
certainly done much toward lifting the city to
its present high position as the chief among the
manufacturing points of the natural gas belt.
*w ^ ARVEY MITCHELL, M. D., was
l^^^V born in Greene county. Pa., July 21,
\ W 1825, and is the son of Thomas and
Sarah Mitchell, both parents natives
of the same county and state. Thomas Mitchell
was born March, 1801, married in 1822 Sarah
Shideler, whose birth occurred in the year 1 802,
and in 1830 emigrated to Ohio, locating in
Miami county, where he engaged in the pursuit
of agriculture. He died in Ohio, September,
1 86 1, after which event his widow went to
D. C. MITCHELL.
MRS. ELMIRA MITCHELL.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
California, where she departed this life at the
home of her only daughter, Mrs. Carl, in the
)ear 1866. Thomas and Sarah Mitchell were
people of sterling worth and for many years
leading members of the Christian church.
They reared the following children: John A.,
a successful farmer of Troy, Ohio; Dr. Harvey,
the subject of this mention; Isaac, a well
known physician of Greenville, Ohio; Margaret,
wife of Wesley Carl, a miner of California;
Shadrach, farmer, residing in Dane county.
Wis., and David, a railroad engineer, whose
home is in California.
The early years of Dr. Mitchell were spent
on the home farm, and his educational train-
ing embraced the studies usually taught in the
common schools of that period. At the age of
seventeen he yielded to an inclination of sev-
eral years' standing and began the study of
medicine, subsequently taking a full course in
the Medical college at Columbus, Ohio, from
which he was graduated in 1850. Thoroughly
prepared for the active duties of his chosen
calling, the doctor began the practice of the
same at the town of Granville, Delaware county,
Ind., in 1850, and continued there with most
flattering success for a period of fourteen years,
removing to Muncie in 1864. From that date
until 1890 he continued in the active practice,
but in the latter year, on account of failing
health, was compelled to take a long needed
rest, since which time he has gradually retired
from the profession. In 1893 he met with a
painful accident, resulting in the fracture of
the bone in one of his lower limbs, the effect
of which has made him an invalid, though he
still retains, unimpaired, allof his strong mental
faculties. Dr. Mitchell has met with encour-
aging success in his profession, and financially
his expectations have been more than realized,
being at this time one of the wealthy men of
Muncie. He is largely interested in real estate,
owning valuable property in the country and
cit\-, among his improvements in the latter
being the well known Mitchell block. Orig-
inally he was a supporter of the democratic
party, but of late years has gradually drifted
from the pr-nciples of that political faith, and
is now a republican. In his religious views he
adheres to the Christian church, of which he
has been a consistent membt'r for a number of
years.
Dr. Mitchell was married in Granville,
Delaware county, Ind., October 9, 1853, to
Miss Catherine Ash, who was born in Green
county, Ohio, May 30, 1837, daughter of
William Ash. Two children resulted from this
union: Sarah Florence, deceaseti, ami Har-
riet B., wife of C. H. Anthonv.
>^AMES F. MOCK, senior member of the
m firm of Mock Bros., manufacturers of
A 1 brick and brick machinery, Muncie,
Ind., was born in Clarke county, Ohio,
October 4, 1843, the son of Peter and Sarah
(Ayers) Mock. These parents were married in
the above county and state and resided upon
a farm there until 1845, at which date they re-
moved to Delaware county, Ind., and pur-
chased 120 acres of land in Centre township,
now Boyceton. They resided upon this place
until 1 85 I, when they moved to what is now
known as Mock avenue, Muncie, thence, in
1864, to the corner of Macedonia and Kirby
avenues, where the widow now resides, Mr.
Mock having died November 11, 1885. Mr.
and Mrs. Mock were the parents of six chil-
dren,'namely: Mary, wife of J. Russell; James
F. , John D., Martin G., Riley (deceased) and
Andrew. James F. Mock, was reared to agri-
cultural pursuits, received his education in the
common schools, and on attaining his legal
majority entered into partnership with his
father and brother in the manufacture of brick
384
MUNCIE CITY
and drain tile, with which business he was con-
nected for a period of twelve years. Disposing
of his interest in the above business, he went
to Indianapolis and there engaged with Cooper,
Lamb & Co. in the manufacture of brick, and
after one year thus spent he was for the same
length of time engaged in the manufacture of
carriages. He then returned to Muncie and
continued in the same line for a period of two
years, meeting with success in the meantime.
His next venture was as a manufacturer of
farm implements, which he carried on with a
fair degree of success until 1881, at which
time, in partnership with his brother, John D.
Mock, he engaged in the manufacture of brick
and brick machinery, a business which is still
conducted by the same firm, and which has be-
come one of the well known industries of Mun-
cie. The Messrs. Mock employ forty men
continually, and the output of their mill is es-
timated at over six million brick per year,
nearly all of which find ready sale in the local
market. Mr. Mock was married November 6,
1876, to Elizabeth C. Vannort, who was born
in Brookville, Ohio, on the i6th day of Janu-
ary, i860, the daughter of Thomas and Mary
(Williams) Vannort. To Mr. and Mrs. Mock
have been born the following children: Annie,
Arthur and Leo C. Politically Mr. Mock is a
democrat, and as a business man his reputation
is not confined altogether to Muncie and Dela-
ware county, but extends throughout the vari-
ous parts of the United States.
>^OHN D. MOCK, brother of the pre-
M ceding, was born in Delaware county
A J February 28, 1846. He grew to man-
hood in his native county and early
effected a business partnership with his father
and brother, and for many years has been a
prominent manufacturer of Muncie. Mr.
Mock was married May 2, 1*^70, to Mary
Jackson, daughter of William and Sarah (Col-
lins) Jackson, of Delaware county. Mrs.
Mock was born March 23, 1852, in the county
of Delaware, and is the mother of seven chil-
dren, whose names are as follows: James
Frank, now bookkeeper for the firm; Wini-
fred, deceased; Harvey; Jesse, deceased; Mil-
dred, and two infants who died unnamed.
Mr. and Mrs. Mock are members of the Bap-
tist church of Muncie, and are most estimable
and highly esteemed people. Mr. Mock has
shown commendable energy in connection with
the manufacturing establishment with which
he is identified and is recognized in business
circles as a man of honesty and integrity of
purpose. He is a democrat in politics and a
member of the Pythian fraternity. He is a
member of the Order of Maccabees, and for
fifteen years has been a deacon of the Baptist
church of Muncie, also holding the position of
trustee in the same at this time. John D. and
James F. Mock recently purchased a valuable
tract of land, consisting of sixty acres, known
as the Cooper farm, north of the city, where
they now operate an extensive brick factory,
the capacity of which is over 40,000 per day,
being one of the largest establishments of the
kind in Delaware county.
QARTIN G. MOCK, a representative
business man of Muncie, and the
largest collector of ancient relics,
curios, etc., in the west, is a native
of Delaware county, Ind. , a son of Peter and
Sarah Mock, mention of whom appears in
connection with a preceding sketch. Martin
G. Mock was born in Centre township on the
ist day of May, 1848, and after obtaining an
education, embracing the curriculum of the
common schools, engaged with his father in
JAS. F. MOCK.
Ii4i^ ^. M^cA
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
the manufacture of brick, which business he cai, arrhaolof^ical, f,'eol()f,'ical, marine and
continued until 1S74. From the latter year general scientific value, and his large collec-
until 1878, he followed carriage making with tion, which is always o]ien to the inspection
financial ]in>fit in the iit\' of Miiimm^-, ami then nf tlu' public, represents an cNpcnditure of
began dealing in hardware and furniture, with
which lines of trade he was prominently identi-
fied for a period of nine years. At the end
of that time he discontinued the hardware
business and has since given his attention
almost exclusixely to furniture and stoves of
all kinds, being at this time the proprietor of
one of the largest and best stocked houses of
the kind in the city — known as the "World's
Fair." His store rooms, situated on the cor-
ner of Walnut and Wall streets, are stocked
with a full line of all articles of furniture,
ranges, stoves, etc. , demanded by the general
trade, and his business has been conducted
with a wisely directed energy that has borne
results of a most satisfactory financial char-
acter.
For a number of years Mr. Mock has de-
voted much time and attention to the collect-
ing of ancient relics and curiosities of histori-
several thousand dollars in money, and exten-
sive travel throughout nearly every state of
the Union. The collection is the largest
owned by any individual in the state, if not in
the United States, and compares favorably
with the public collection of the different his-
torical societies throughout the countrj-. It is
a museum within itself, and to enumerate the
many curious and interesting objects with
which his cabinets are stored would far tran-
scend the limits of a sketch of this character.
As already stated, the collection is the result of
much tra\el, wide correspondence and pains-
taking research, which certaiidy would have
discouraged any one but a man actuated by
the most intense enthusiasm in this valuable
and fascinating pursuit. His collection of
historical relics includes many articles not ob-
tainable in any part of the country, embracing
ancient arms of warfare, old muskets, which
MUNCIE CITY
did valiant service in the hands of our fore-
fathers in the struggle to throw off the British
yoke; swords wielded by the sturdy hands of
the colonists in their contests with the savages
in ante-revolutionary times; curiously wrought
fire arms from nearly all nations of the world,
rude knives, clubs, spears, slings and other
weapons, representing many of the savage
tribes in different parts of the earth; imple-
ments of domestic use and instruments of tor-
tue, grewsome relics of savage butchery in the
early history of the country, musical instru-
ments used by the ancients, interesting
mementoes from the leading battle fields of the
United States and other countries, and from
scenes of great national disasters, personal
belongings of many of the leading men of this
and other times, autograph letters of eminent
soldiers, statesmen and other men of renown,
books, whose value cannot be estimated, printed
long before the existence of the American con-
tinent was known to the civilized world, ancient
coins, bearing the stamp of rulers who swayed
the destinies of the Roman empire before the
dawn of the Christian era, old land grants
bearing the signatures of the early presidents
of the United States, writs of attachment
issued by the courts of the colonies, numerous
missiles picked up on many southern battle
fields, remnants of flags which annimated
brave soldiers in many bloody struggles of the
late war, and hundreds of other curious and
interesting articles, the mere mention of which
would be an exceedingly difficult undertaking.
Among the many articles in the historical
collection deserving of specific mention the
following may be noted: a flintlock pistol
made in 171 2 and carried by one of Gen.
Braddock's men in the disastrous expedition
against Fort Duquesne, a sword carried by
Capt. Riggins in the Revolutionary war, gun
barrel and six pound shot found at Fort Recov-
ery, Ohio, 1 79 1, German gun elegantly inlaid
with silver bearing the date of 1791, pair of
pistols made in London in 1746, a pair of
candelabrums that belonged to John Quincy
Adams — while he was president of the United
States, also snuffer and trays, and the hammer
that made Washington's shoes while general
of the army.
The archaeological department is especially
rare, and contains many valuable articles such
as are found in no other private collection in
the country, and the counterparts of which
are to be seen in but few state historical col-
lections. The collection of relics from mounds
in different parts of the United States is es-
pecially valuable, and the well preserved
specimens of pottery, axes, knives, spear and
arrow heads, and various stone implements of
domestic use, speak eloquently of a strange
and numerous people whose civilization ante-
dated that of ancient Egypt, but whose his-
tory is forever wrapped up in the silent
mystery of the past. Stone tomahawks, flint
knives, darts, pipes, scrapers, hoes, war clubs
and other arms and numerous specimens of
skillful as well as rude ornaments, are among
the hundreds of relics of the aboriginal period,
while implements and arms of a more recent
type, namely, iron and brass hatchets, bows
and arrows, knives, guns, etc., etc., represent
the more modern status of the Indian tribes
of the United States. A lover of books could
desire no greater pleasure than to linger awhile
among the ancient and rare volumes in Mr.
Mock's collection, some of which represent the
earliest stages of the art preservative, and
speak of an age when only the wealthy could
afford to gratify the taste for literature. In
this department may be noted a Latin book
250 years old, Luther's translation of the
Bible 346 years old, a complete set of Peter
Pindar's works, very rare; school books of all
kinds, readers and spellers used in our country
in pioneer times, papers printed during the
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
387
Revolutionary period, complete files of tiie
Illustrated Press printed during the late war,
and other publications, manuscripts, etc., too
numerous to mention.
In addition to the numerous articles, of
which but a mere mention has been made, Mr.
Mock has a large and valuable collection of
geological specimens, many varieties of marine
plants and animals of great scientific value,
many of which were gathered by himself in
his travels and search after treasures. His
large collection of ancient clocks, watches and
sun dials is very valuable, and other specimens
of skilled workmanship from many countries
cannot be duplicated in any other collection in
the west. All in all, the collection is a very
creditable one and its value cannot be estimated
in dollars and cents. Mr. Mock certainly
deserves great credit for getting together so
many rare and interesting articles, and the col-
lection represents the labors of no ordinary
mind in this field of research.
Mr. Mock was married October 19, 1871,
to Miss Martha D. Langdon, a native of Law-
rence county, Ohio, born September 5, 1855,
daughter of Elijah J. and Lucinda (Yingling)
Langdon. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs.
Mock has been crowned with the birth of four
children: Pearl (dead), Robert (living), and
Minnie, and an infant that died unnamed. Mr.
Mock wields an influence for the democratic
party, but has never been an aspirant for politi-
cal recognition or a seeker after the emolu-
ments of of^ce. Religiously he is a Baptist,
to which church his wife and son also belong,
both being valuable members of the Muncie
congregation. He is an active worker in sev-
eral fraternal orders, in which he has held
important official positions: He is P. G. S.,
Improved O. R. M. ; P. C, K. of P.; member
of the I. O. O. ; F. P. M. W., A. O. U. W. ;
S. V. K., K. of P.; second vice-chieftain Na-
tional Chieftains' League, I. O. R. M. Per-
sonally Mr. Mock enjoys popularity with all
classes, and his life has been characterised by
a uniform kindness and courtesy that are com-
mendable in every respect. His many sterling
qualities of mind and heart have won for him
the confidence and esteem of all, and it is with
pleasure that his biographical sketch is here-
with presented with those of other representa-
tive citizens of Delaware county.
^y^ R. ANDREW R. MOCK, son of Peter
I I and Sarah M. (Ayers) Mock, was
/^.^ born near Muncie, March 13, 1859,
and received his early education in
the common schools of the city. In his youth
and early manhood he was employed in farm-
j ing and brickmaking, and in his maturer years
became a street contractor. But medicine
I early attracted his attention, and for some
I time he was a student in the oflice of Dr. D.
Schaub, of Muncie. In 1882 he graduated
from the vitapathic school of the American
Health co lege, and for three years was engaged
j in active practice, and still occasionally con-
sents to give professional advice in urgent
cases. The system includes the clairvoyant
diagnosis of diseases and the magnetic and
massage treatment. In 1888 he entered
largely upon taking street contracts, and im-
proved several of the principal avenues of the
city, graveling Ohmer avenue three miles,
Macedonia avenue one-half mile, and finishing
Heekin avenue over a half mile, and also
graveling other streets and sidewalks, employ-
ing in active times twelve to fifteen men, f\\t^
teams of his own, and hiring others.
I The doctor was married, in 1883, to Miss
1 Lillie F. Stewart, daughter of Mark O. and
Hannah M. (Beemer) Stewart, and this union
' has been blessed with the birth of five chil-
1 dren, viz: Calaburn, George A., .\da May,
388
MUNCIE CITY
Mabel and Grover Mock. The doctor and
his wife are among the respected members of
Muncie society, and enjoy the reputation of
being among the foremost to forward every
enterprise calculated to advance the moral and
material progress of the city of Muncie.
^V^ARKER MOORE, one of the oldest
1 m and most respected agriculturists of
^ Centre township, Delaware county,
Ind., deserves to the full a brief
notice among those other worthies of the
township of whom mention is made in these
pages. He was born February 28, 1826, in
Scioto county, Ohio. His father, Lewis
Moore, was born in Pennsylvania January 4,
1797, and on the 4th day of January, 18 16,
married Patience Truitt, a native of Arm-
strong county, Pa., then residing in Scioto
county, Ohio. They were the parents of ten
children, namely: Nancy, Aaron, Amanda,
Rhoda, Parker, John, Lewis, Sarah, Mary and
Patience, of whom Nancy, Aaron and John
are deceased. The father was a farmer, and
followed that occupation during life. He
sometimes built flat boats while living in Ohio,
and, loading them with produce, sold it to
towns along the river. He came with his
family to Delaware county, Ind., in 1829, and
entered land in Centre township, where he
claimed and proved a farm. He died Novem-
ber 20, 1 841. His wife died September 22,
1874.
Parker Moore was but three years of age
when he came to this country, and grew up
with but very limited educational advantages.
At the age of twenty-three years he married
Miss Martha, daughter of John and Harriet
Smith, who died December 10, 1871, leaving
four children — Caroline, William R. , George
W. and Parker T. August 8, 1872, he was
united in marriage with Mrs. Christina, daugh-
ter of Gilpin E. Cook, and widow of the late
Andrew N. Ribble, of this county. Her par-
ents came to Delaware county in 1846, where
the mother died in 1854. The father then
moved to Blackford county, Ind. , where he
was engaged in milling operations until his
death, which occurred in 1861. Mrs. Moore
died July 17, 1876. April 16, 1887, Mr.
Moore was wedded to his present companion,
Miss Mary Cook, of this county, and the
daughter ot Gilpin and Sarah (Bush) Cook,
who were natives of Pennsylvania and who
are both now deceased. Mr. Moore is one of
the representative men of this township and
occupies the old homestead farm. He is a
successful farmer and an active friend to pub-
lic improvements and the cause of education.
He and wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and they enjoy the good
will of all who know them. He is one of the
earnest republicans of this county and has
been voting that ticket since the organization-
of the party in 1854.
m.
LLIAM R. MOORE, the subject of
of this sketch, is an old Delaware
county boy, born and reared in this
county, where he has spent all of
his life, with the exception of about eighteen
years. He is one of a family of eight children,
the son of William J. and Sarah Moore, nee
Wilcoxon, both of whom are now deceased.
His parents were born and raised in Scioto
county , Ohio. They came west with their
parents and settled in this county in 1832.
John Moore, the paternal grandfather, who
was quite well to do, located on the old State
road, about three miles southeast of Muncie,
and built for himself a sub.stantial brick dwell-
ing on what is now known as the James Boyce
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
farm. Loyd Wilcoxon, senior, grandfather on
the maternal side, located on the same road a
little east of the other grandfather.
William J. was given the farm by his father
about one-half mile east of the old homestead,
now known as the Charles W. Cecil farm, to
which he added, by purchase, land enough to
make in all 400 acre,^. He built for himself a
comfortable two-story frame dwelling, which
has been moved back to give place for Mr.
Cecil's elegant farm dwelling.
There was finite a colony of Scioto count}'
people located, about the same year, near and
around the ^^oores and Wilcoxons, nearly all
related to them b\' blood or marriage ties, of
whom we will mention the Truitts, Parker,
George and James; Jackson's, Mahlon and
Lemuel G., the latter an uncle of William J.,
and one of the founders of Muncietown, the
Jackson donation to Muncie cornering at the
northwest corner of Walnut and Jackson
streets, being a part of his farm.
In 1822, when what is now a part of the
Big Four railway system, then known as the
Indianapolis, Pittsburg & Cleveland railroad,
was being constructed through this county,
William J. removed from his farm (which was
at that time well stocked, some eighteen head
of horses, with cattle, sheep and hogs in propor-
tion), to Selma, a new station on that road,
six miles east of Muncie, where he engaged in
general merchandising and continued for many
years. Uunfortunately for him he could not
deny any one credit; the result was a large
number of his customers afterward removed to
the far west, owing him in the aggregate thou-
sands of dollars. At about the same time
he, like many others, put his fine farm
and some Muncie property into a railroad
company then proposed building between Cin-
cinnati and Chicago, via Muncie, receiving
therefor stock and bonds of the fraudulent |
corporation, which are still amongst the papers
of his estate, and if they bore interest at six
per cent, would anunmt to more than $75,000,
and yet they are not worth the paper they are
engraved on. He was of the kind- that never
became discouraged, and possessed indomitable
will power. Possessing the confidence and re-
spect of all who knew him, he set himself the
task of retriex'ing his lust fnrtnne. which he ac-
complished by slow but sine degrees. He and
his life partner lived happily together for nearly
fifty-eight years, both departing this life in the
same year, 1893, in the firm belief that " I^eath
does not end all."
William Roby, (jr "Kobe," as many are in
the habit of calling him, was the fifth child,
was born on the farm referred to, March 9,
1S45. He receix'ed a good common school
education, becoming \ery proficient in mathe-
matics. After leaving school he learned the
blacksmith's trade. At the breaking out of
the war of the rebellion, in '61, his father's
patriotism was such that he volunteered his
services to help put down the rebellion, which
was then thought to be a matter that could be
squelched before breakfast. He was too old
to be received into the service. Roby was
then but little past sixteen, too young, but
owing to the trade that he was working at was
remarkably well developed, physically, for his
years. Patriotism was in the air, the war
news and the fife and drum worked upon him
until he finally persuaded his father to permit
him to go in his stead. He enrolled himself
in Capt. Samuel J. Williams' company, who
was a near neighbor of the Moores. On the
2d day of July, '61, Capt. Williams proceeded
to the state capitol with his company. ft was
ordered into camp at Camp Morton. The
various companies that were encamped there
were being drilled daily in the arts and tactics
of war by experienced drill masters. On July
28, Capt. \\'illiams'compan\ was nuistered into
the United States service for three jears or
MUNCIE CITY
during the war. The company was assigned
to the Nineteenth regiment Indiana voUmteer
infantry and drew place as Co. K. Sol. Mere-
dith, of Wayne county, an intimate friend of
the governor, was commissioned as its colonel.
The regiment left for the seat of war on
August 5, arriving in Washington city, D. C,
on the 7th, and went into camp on Kolorama
Heights where daily drills continued. At the
time that this regiment was organized, the
United States government had not adopted
any particular uniform for its troops. The
state of Indiana, through the indomitable will
power of its great chief executive officer, that
grandest of war governors, Oliver P. Morton,
although handicapped by rebel sympathizers, at
its own expense uniformed, armed and equip-
ped its own volunteers and sent them to the
front. The Nineteenth was supplied with a
gray uniform which proved to be a rebel color.
The first engagement that the regiment was in
it was necessary to tie strips of white muslin
around their arms to distinguish them from the
rebel soldiers. The Second, Sixth, and Sev-
enth Wisconsin regiments, the Nineteenth
Indiana and the Twenty-fourth Michigan, com-
posed the famous Iron Brigade, being given
this name after withstanding the furious on-
slaught of a whole division of Stonewall Jack-
son's corps at the battle of Gainesville, Va.
At the time of the battle of Gettysburg, this
brigade was the First brigade, First division of
the First army corps. The First and Eleventh
army corps opened the battle at Gettysburg
and did heroic work in stemming the rebel
advance during the first day until the Union
army came up and secured position to wage
successfully the decisive battle of the war.
Young Moore took part with his regiment
in various heavy battles — those of Gainesville,
Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Second Bull
Run, South Mountain, Antietam and other
minor engagements, thirteen in all, without
receiving so much as a scratch, until the bat-
tle of Gettysburg, in the afternoon of the first
day's fight, while bearing the regimental ban-
ner, he had the index finger of his left hand
shot away; was shortly after taken prisoner
and held in the town of Gettysburg during all
of the heavy engagements following. On the
morning of the 4th day of July, 1863, the
Union army having been victorious, he walked
away from the place of his confinement, out
through the streets of the little town, viewing
the battle field covered with its thousand upon
thousands of vahant dead soldiers— a battle
field of historic renown, a battle field where
the noble martyr Lincoln in- his unapproach-
able gem of a dedication address of the Nation-
al cemetery said: "But in a larger sense we
cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we
cannot hallow the ground The brave men,
living and dead, who struggled here, have con-
secrated it far above our power to add or de-
tract. The world will little note, nor long
remember, what we say here, but it can never
forget what they did here."
From Gettysburg young Moore was sent to
Philadelphia, where he was given a clerkship
after his wound healed. ' The last six months
of his service were spent in Indianapolis as
chief clerk for Dr. P. H. Jameson, surgeon in
charge of the soldiers' home. He was must-
ered out of the service in August, 1864, and
immediately secured a position on what is now
the main line of the Big 4 system. After-
wards he went to Cincinnati and took a com-
mercial course in Bryant, Stratton & DeHans'
Commercial college. Good luck seemed to
follow him. He has seldom had to seek a
situation. In 1865 he returned to his old
home on a visit; while passing through Indian-
apolis the superintendent of the Bee Line
tendered him the agency of his road at Selma.
His parents persuaded him to accept it, which
he concluded to do. In connection with that
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
he engaged in buyinj; and sliippin^ ;;iain and
prospered in his business
In 1866. he man-ied Susanna, daujjhtcr of
W'ilham Miller, who was at one time county
commissioner. Two children, girls, blessed
this union but they were soon called to Him
who gave them. In 1873 he was promoted
and sent to take charge of the station at Sidney,
Ohio. Two years after moving there the direc-
tory of the First National bank of that place
tendered him a position as cashier of their bank
at a salary greatly in advance of any that they
had ever paid previously. He accepted the
position, and the earnings of the bank during
his management was the greatest in its history.
The Resumption act, to take effect in 1879,
scared hundrds of National banks into liquida-
tion. This bank went into voluntary liquida-
tion, paying its shareholders one hundred and
seventy-five cents on the dollar. He after-
wards engaged in the grain trade on an exten-
sive scale, subsequently taking a partner in the
business. They operated several grain eleva-
tors, and owned and operated a line of boats
in connection with their business. Having
splendid banking facilities, they engaged exten-
sively in buying track grain of other dealers
throughout Ohio and Indiana, and shipping it
to the seaboard. During the large crop years
of 1879-80, they got caught in a blockade with
large quantities of grain, which they could not
get into the seaport markets in time ti apply
on their sales, in consequence; the}' were
squeezed badly, crippling them, which event-
ually ended in an assignment. Mr. Moore,
when prosperous, had often said that he would
not give shucks for a young man who could not
get on his feet again after a financial failure,
not knowing that he would so soon have a
chance of trying it for himself. The loss of all
of his money was as nothing as compared with
the anguish and humiliation that he felt reflect-
ed on his business judgment, on which he
.led
his f:
self. Twn days afti
friend from anntlier town ranie over expressly
to offer him employment, knowing that it was
needful for him to do something at once toward
the wolf from the door. The friend pretended
that it was doing him a favor, but it was princi-
pally in the fact of his enjoyment of the con-
sciousness that he had done a kind act to a fellow
man in distress. The offer of emplnyinent was
appreciated and promptly accepted and afforded
time for the " lame duck " to get its bearings.
After traveling a few weeks another friend volun-
tarily offered him money for him to engage in
his former business on a small scale; within six
months he had cleared his first thousand dollars,
passing the Rubicon. Mr. Moore had inherited
from his father father pluck, preseverancc and
good common sense, and with practical knowl-
i edge gained in his varied business experiences
I was soon on the road to prosperity once more.
He removed to Union City, Ind., where he
remained two and one-half years, and where
I splendid opportunities offered for regaining
lost wealth.
In the spring of 1887 he removed to Mun-
cie, and at the present time is devoting all of
I his business ability to official duties of the
! Delaware County Building, Savings and Loan
I association, one of the largest in the state, of
i which he was the promoter and principal or-
i ganizer, he holding the principal office, that
; of secretary. He has had many years" experi-
ence in various capacities in the building and
loan business, and has the reputation of being
; the best posted in this particular line of business
of any one in the state.
Susanna Moore, the wife of William K. , is
the daughter of William and Anna Miller, nee
Janney. Her parents were born and reared in
Stark county, Ohio, and removed to Harrison
township, Delaware county, many years ago,
where they continued to reside up to the year
1865, when they removed to Selma. Her
MUNCIE CITY
mother was of English descent and was a re-
markably beautiful woman in her day. She
died at her home in Selma, June 4, 1882, and
was interred in Mount Tabor cemetery. Her
father possesses a vigorous constitution and is
still living at an advanced old age. He is en-
dowed with good common sense, has a cultiva-
ted mind and a large fund of general informa-
tion. Susanna takes an active part in church
work, in literary clubs and her domestic duties,
and enjoys the confidence and respect of all
who know her.
@EORGE W. MUNN, route agent for
the United States E.xpress company
for all its lines within the state of
Indiana, was born on a farm near
Bradford, Vt., where he lived until he reached
his eighteenth year, attending school in the
meantime. In 1870, he went to Chicago,
whither his brothers had preceded him, and
just after the tremendous conflagration which
swept that city in October, 1871; was ap-
pointed messenger by the American Express
company for the run between Chicago and
Cairo, 111. In 1873 he was appointed deputy
internal revenue collector for the first district
of Illinois, and held the position until October,
1875. In 1876 he went to Emporia, Kans. ,
was employed by the Adams Express com-
pany as messenger on the run from Atchison,
Kans., to Pueblo, Colo., for a year, and then
between Emporia and Denison, Tex. ; he
was then agent for the same company at Jop-
lin. Mo., for six months, and in January, 1878,
accepted a position with the Baltimore &
Ohio Express company as messenger between
Cincinnati, Ohio, and Parkersburg, W. Va.,
filling the position two years; the next nine
months he was transfer agent at Cincinnati
for the Baltimore & Ohio and Ohio & Missis-
sippi companies, and then auditor of express
accounts at Cincinnati for the Ohio & Missis-
sippi company and for a time was acting
superintendent. April 10, 1882, he became
route agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Express
company on the Ohio and Mississippi division
between Cincinnati and St. Louis, and filled
that position until March, 1887; later he was
appointed route agent of the Baltimore &
Ohio Express company for all of the Cincin-
nati, Hamilton and Dayton territory, covering
400 miles, with headquarters at Hamilton,
Ohio. In September, 1887, the United States
Express company succeeded the Baltimore &
Ohio company and Mr. Munn was placed in
charge at Deshler, Ohio. April i, 1891, he
was transferred to Indiana, with headquarters
at Muncie, where he has ever since had cha ge
of the lines of the combined express companies
for the state of Indiana, controlling 805 miles
of road and 103 offices and all the employees.
Mr. Munn was married in July, 1873, to
Miss Jane E. Shants, of Willamette, 111. , the
result being five children, of whom two are
sons: Amos S. , and Clark C. The other
three, daughters, are deceased.
Clark Munn, the father of G. W. Munn,
was born in New Hampshire, in 1801, and led
the life of a farmer in the Green Mountain
state until within the last ten years of his life.
He was highly honored by his fellow towns-
men, was their selectman and trustee. He
ended his days with his children in Chicago,
111., at the age of seventy-seven. His wife,
who was born in West Fairly, Vt., February
I, 1804, was a daughter of Randall Wild, and
survived until December, 1892. Both were
interred in Rose Hill cemetery, ten miles from
Chicago. The family were Congregational-
ists on both paternal and maternal sides, and
Clark and his wife died in that faith. Of
their family of seven sons and four daughters
four are living, George W. being the seventh
C. F. W. NEELY
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
hoy, of the others, Benjamin M. Munn is a
member of tlie noted law tirm of Munn cV
Mapledoni, of ("liicago. Daniel W. is a mem-
ber of the criminal legal tirm of Munn iS:
\\' heeler, of the same city, and James Monroe
Munn is in charge of the records of Cook
count}-. 111. Each of these boys was a faith-
ful soldier in the Union army during the civil
war. Of the deceased children all expired in
earh' _\outh e.xcepting two — Mary, wife of
Daniel Hastings, of Corinth, \'t., who died
about 1853, leaving two children, Hallie, and
the other daughter was the wife of Sergeant
Peabody, superintendent of the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad at Columbus, and died Ma}- 22,
1893, leaving three children.
aHARLES F. W. NEELY, "editor and
proprietor of the Morning, the Sunda}-
and the Weekly News, Muucie, Ind.,
is a native of the city, born January 4,
1859, and a son of Moses L. and Mary A.
(Kenower) Neely. He was educated at the city
schools, and after graduating at the Muncie
high school, in 1877, studied law for three
years in the office of Blount & Templer.
About the time he was well prepared to enter
upon the practice of his chosen profession, he
found the city of Muncie overcharged with legal
aspirants, and he found employment at other
business at other points, including St. Louis,
Mo , for one year, and Kansas City, in the
same state, for one year, and elsewhere. In
1885 he purchased the Evening News, of Mun-
cie, from N. F. Ethell, who founded that
journal in 1872. It was continued as an even-
ing newspaper until July 5, 1892, w-hen it was
changed to the Morning News. To venture
upon the publication of a morning journal was
a somewhat precarious undertaking, as many
sad failures of similar ventures had occurred in
cities much larger than Muncie, and therefore
the success of the Morning News has been a
source of much gratification to its proprietor.
In August, 1S92. Mr. Neely associated with
himself Frank J. Claypool, and together they
began the publication of the Farmers' Record,
which was, for the time, the official organ of
the F. M. B. A., but when that political and
economic organization began to show evidences
of loss of vigor, Messrs. Neely & Claypool dis-
posed of their organ to the American I'-armer
company, of Springfield, Ohio.
In politics, Mr. Neely has always been an
earnest republican, and for five years has been
chairman of the city central republican com-
mittee; fraternally, he is a member of the B.
P. O. E.. and of the I. O. R. M. He has
always manifested a lively interest in the in-
dustries of Muncie, and has done much toward
forwarding them, both by the use of his pen
and other means. He is a sprightly and
incisive writer, a shrewd politician, and a
born newspaper man. His marriage occurred
March 23, 1886, to Miss Sarah E. Morgan, of
Muncie, a daughter of Thomas Morgan, of
of Madison county, Ohio.
Moses L. Neely, father of Charles F. W.
Neely, was born in Adams county. Pa., April
30, 1 8 16, and was a son of Moses and Jane
(Smith) Neely, who left Pennsylvania in 1834,
and with their son, Moses, and other members
of their family settled in Clarke county, Ohio.
He was married March 20, 1838, to Mary A.
Kenower, a native of Cumberland county, Pa. ,
born March 7, 1818, and taken to Clarke
county, Ohio, in 1835, by her parents, Jacob
and Sarah Kenower. In February, 1839,
Moses L. Neely came to Muncie, Ind., and
was the second cabinet maker in the town.
After some years he engaged in general mer-
chandising at the corner of Main and Walnut
streets, carrying on the business for eighteen
years, and then purchased a farm near town.
394
MUNCIE CITY
to which he retired to enjoy the fruits of the
labor of his earlier days, but in the short space
of five years, on January 9, 1869, he passed
away, leaving, to mourn his loss, a widow and
ten children, the names of the latter being:
Cyrus G. , Carey O., Charles F. W., Sarah
F., Mary J., Laura S., WilmaE., Leonora I.,
Emma and Kate W. Mr. Neely was a repub-
lican from the organization of that party, and
a pious member of the Presbyterian church,
of which, also, his widow is a consistent
member.
•HOMAS S. NEELY was born Sep-
tember 13, 181 1, in Adams county.
Pa. , of which county his grandfather,
Thomas Neely, and his father, Moses
Neely. were also natives. His father married
Jane Smith in that county, and was engaged
in agricultural pursuits, owning a farm within
eleven miles from Gettysburg. In 1831, he
moved with his family to Miami county, Ohio,
and, about the year i 840, to Randolph count}-,
Ind. , settling near the town of Windsor. His
family consisted of four sons and five daughters,
of whom Thomas S. is the only survivor.
In early life Thomas S. Neely was engaged
in the labor of farm work at home, attending
the district school in the winter until seventeen
years of age, when he was apprenticed to a
blacksmith at Petersburg, Pa., to learn the
trade. He remained with him for nearly three
years, and having acquired a good knowledge
of the trade, he began to work on his own ac-
count, and in 1831 removed with his parents
to Miami county, Ohio. He worked at his
trade in Troy, Urbana, and other Ohio towns,
and, in 1833, returned to his former home in
Pennsylvania, and was wedded to Miss Matilda
Wierman. He lived in Miami count}' six years,
and, in February, 1839, came to Muncie, with
whose interests he has long been identified.
He at first engaged in the grocery trade,
but the town was small and the merchants
plenty, and he was soon convinced that there
was a better opening for the mechanic than
the merchant, and decided therefore to devote
himself to his trade. He accordingly opened
a blacksmith shop, and followed his trade for
over twenty years. From 1842 to 1848 he
served as a member of the board of county
commissioners of Delaware county, and as
school director subsequent to that time. In
June, 1878, he was elected as a member of the
board of education. His first purchase of real
estate was the lot now occupied by the Abbott
house, where he had his residence, and, at a
later date, he erected the brick block on Main
street, in which the photographic rooms of L.
S. Smith are now located. In this building
Mr. Neely established a daguerreotype gallery,
and made the first pictures in Muncie, and
was the leading photographer of this city until
about twenty years ago, when he transferred
the gallery to his son, Lon M.
While carrying on the trade of black-
smithing in Muncie, he was compelled to send
to Cincinnati for iron, hauling it home by
teams, and often had to leave his work here
and make a personal visit to that city, when
important purchases were to be made. This
slow and expensive method of transportation
set him to thinking, and with characteristic
promptness, his thoughts developed into
action. In the spring of 1847 he determined
to move to secure the location of a railroad to
Muncie, by some practical route; and acting
upon this determination, circulated a subscrip-
tion paper to secure funds with which to pay
for posters to advertise a railroad mass meet-
ing, to be held at Muncie. A hard canvass
resulted in his securing only a part of the funds
necessary, and, contributing the balance from
his own purse, he had the bills struck and
posted up, designating June 26, 1847, as the
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
395
day of meeting. This meeting was almost
barren of results, and was adjourned to August
20, when men of talent and public spirit from
abroad were invited, resolutions were passed
recommending Delaware county to vote a tax
of $12,000, at the ensuing fall election, to aid
the enterprise. Mr. Neely, although unac-
customed to public speaking, yet led in the
public discussion of this question throughout
the county, and had the pleasure of seeing it
settled by an affirmative vote.
The happy choice of a companion in early
life proved the solace of other years; and they
were each spared to bless the other, and see
their children grow to honorable and useful
maturity. Eliza is the wife of A. J. Wachtell,
of Muncie; M. Jennie resides with the father;
Thaddeus A., prominent manufacturer of
Muncie, married Miss Harriet Huston, of Par-
is, 111.; Leonidas M., married Miss Welthy
Berkey, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and resides
in Muncie. Mrs. Neely died September 19,
1 886, since when Mr. Neely has lived with
his daughter. Miss M. Jennie.
>^EREMIAH FULLER NICKEY (de-
M ceased), for many years an active busi-
/• 1 ness man and prominent citizen of
Muncie, was a native of Pennsylvania,
born on the 3d day of March, 1826, in the
county of Cumberland. His parents were
Samuel and Elizabeth Nickey, both natives of
the Keystone state, where their ancestors had
resided from an early period in the history of
the country. At the age of sixteen Jeremiah
F. Nickey left the parental roof and located at
Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio, but previous to
that time he had learned the tailor's trade in
the county of his nativity. Owing to circum-
stances, over which he had no control, his
means of obtaining a literary education were
greatly limited, but possessing a mind of great
activity, and desirous of acquiring a knowledge
of books, he devoted his leisure moments to the
accumulation of knowledge, frequently poring
over his studies at a late hour, with no other
light than that afforded by a blazing pine knot.
After becoming proficient in his trade, he
worked at the same for four years, in Ohio,
and, at the same time, read medicine under
the instruction of Dr. McElhaney, of Fairfield.
Later, he added to his literary knowledge by
a course in Wesleyan college, Delaware, Ohio,
which institution he attended for some time,
and after his marriage, in 1850, with Miss
Christina Miller, he located at the town of
Quincy, Ohio, where, in addition to working
at his trade, he taught school until his removal
to Muncie, Ind., in the year 1858.
On locating in this city, Mr. Nickey ef-
fected a co-partnership in the drug business
with Dr. William Craig, which relationship
terminated after five years' duration, the place
of business being on Main street. After the
retirement of his partner, Mr. Nickey con-
tinued on the half square between Walnut
and Mulberry streets, where he carried on
business until his death. Mr. Nickey's life
was characterized by energy and probity, and
by his long residence in Muncie and active
association with the people became widely
known. He fairly solved the problem of suc-
cess, so far as material wealth is concerned,
earned the reputation of a man of honor and
integrity, and ended a well rounded life on
the /th of July, 1886. He was a life-long
member of the Methodist church, and in the
Masonic fraternity he was for many years an
active worker, having taken a number of de-
grees, including that of Knight Templar.
Politically he was a republican. Mrs. Nickey,
who survives her husband, was born in Greene
I county, Ohio, April, 1830, and is the mother
! of three living children: Vinton I., Mary V.
MUNCIE CITY
and Frank B. ; a daughter, Artemissa, is de-
ceased.
Frank B. Nickey, third child of Jeremiah
F. and Christina Nickey, was born June 9,
1867, in Muncie, Ind., in which city his life
has been passed to the present time. His lit-
erary education was received in the Muncie
schools, and in 1889 he graduated from the
St. Louis college of Pharmacy, since May of
which year he has been actively engaged in
the drug trade. He is a Mason, being a mem-
ber of both chapter and commandery, belongs
to Welcome lodge. No. 37, K. of P., and is also
connected with the K. O. E. M. Mr. Nickey
was married, in 1889, to Miss Ina C, daughter
of James N. and Sarah (Mills) Cropper, the
fruit of which union is one child, a daughter,
Pauline.
^V^OBERTI. PATTERSON.— ■•Biog-
I /^ raphies should not be published unless
JL^F there is something in the life or char-
acter of the individual worthy of emu-
lation or imitation by others under like circum-
stances— certainly not for self aggrandizement. "
Such were the words of Mr. Patterson when
approached by the publishers of this work, but
sufficient was drawn from him to learn that
there was something in the inner life of the
man worthy of more than incidental mention.
Robert I. Patterson was born in Muncie, Ind.,
March 28, 1843. His father, S. R. Patterson,
was a native of Vermont, and his mother was
born in Lexington, Ky. , to which place her
father. Burns Turner, moved with his family
from the state of Delaware to assist in build-
ing a house for that sterling patriot and states-
man, Henry Clay. Here her mother died,
and upon the completion of the building the
family came to Indiana and located near Econ-
omy, Randolph county, but later, in 1828 or
1829, moved to Muncie, where her father, and
her brothers. Minus and William Turner,
engaged in burning brick, brick laying and
plastering. At that time Muncie was little
more than an Indian trading post, containing
but a few log houses, and they built the first
brick dwelling ever erected in Delaware county
— the dwelling being on Main street and the
business house on the ground now occupied by
the Delaware County National bank. Minus
Turner also built the first hotel (ortavern),onthe
present site of the Patterson block, corner Main
and Walnut streets. In this hotel the parents of
our subject first met and were married. After
a few years of hardship and privation incident
to pioneer life, they moved in a covered wagon
to Chicago, 111., where the father went into
the tin and stove business, and became the
owner of several lots at the ccrner of Lake
and State streets. Here, also, the subject of
this sketch (then a child) strayed from home
and was lost for two days and a night, an
event which so prostrated the mother that she
was confined to her bed for many months.
Disheartened by sickness and business losses,
the father sold what little was left him and
endeavored to retrieve his fortune at various
points in Illinois. In Bloomington he was
associated with the great land owner and
cattle king, Isaac Funk, and later became ac-
quainted with the then young lawyer, Abra-
ham Lincoln. Being the only whig, or
republican, at that time in a family of eight
brothers, he was always an ardent supporter
of this great and good man, and finally was
killed at Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., in the serv-
ice of this great chieftain. Robert I. Patter-
son inherited this love of country and the
cause of human freedom, and he, too, at the
age of seventeen years, enlisted, in 1861, and
served his country four years in the Nine-
teenth Indiana infantry, and re-enlisted in the
field for three years more. He was wounded
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
897
at Antietam and Gettysburg, and at the latter
place was also taken prisoner.
The services of Mr. Patterson throughout
the war were rendered in the celebrated Iron
brigade, it being the First brigade. First di-
vision of the First army corps of the army of
the Potomac, being the first brigade organized
in the Union army, and the official records
show that it sustained a greater loss in actual
killed than any other. He has an individual
record of fourteen general engagemets, beside
the minor battles and skirmishes in which the
brigade took part. Up till the time of his
enlistment, the life of Robert I. Patterson was
passed in helping to batter the wolf of hunger
and privation from his cabin home, and he was
consequently deprived of even a common
school education, but his father having been a
school teacher, and the son being of a very
studious nature, the latter mastered the rudi-
ments of an English education, which were
later supplemented by knowledge gained in
the great school of experience. The precepts
and examples of an earnest christian mother
were fortitude and devotion at all times,
especially through the dark days of the Rebel-
lion, when she was left at home with eight
small children to care for, one of whom died
just before the father was killed and while the
subject was lying wounded in the United
States hospital. The good people, however,
have been considerate of the claims of worthy
soldiers, and Mr. Patterson has been honored
by them. Being an ardent but consistent
partisan and writer, his influence was appreci-
ated, and he was appointed to a clerkship in
the Indiana house of representatives during
its session of 1876-77, a part of which term,
however, he resigned to accept a position as
railway postal clerk between Pittsburg, Pa. ,
and St. Louis, Mo. He was subsequently
transferred and distributed mail between In-
dianapolis, Ind. , and Cleveland, Ohio. The
service was severe and the strain on his nerv-
ous and physical system immense, aggravating
his army injuries, and he was compelled to re-
sign. About this time his name was men-
tioned as a candidate for county treasurer, but
the convention was corrupted and he lost the
nomination. February 7, 1882, he was ap-
pointed postmaster at Muncie by President
Arthur, and filled the office very satisfactorily,
and a change of administration alone prevented
his re-appointment. The faculty of invention
and construction is largely developed in Mr.
Patterson, and he is the patentee of several
useful inventions, among which are the J. I. C.
steel wire curry-comb, and two patents on
fruit jar fastenings, the complete jar, with its
fastening, being now manufactured at West
Muncie by the Patterson Glass company, and
being pronounced b) experts the most simple,
cheap and durable of any invented. Mr. Pat-
terson, however, is perhaps best known as a
poet, and many of his poems have had an ex-
tensive publication in the poetical and secular
press, some of them in the Indianapolis Jour-
nal, the Judge, Cosmopolitan and other peri-
odicals. Some have become more favorably
known through their rendition by his daughter.
Pearl, (now Mrs. W. R. Bean) who has earned
a wide reputation as an elocutionist.
>^ WALLACE PERKINS is a native of
■ Delaware county, Ind., born in the
A J city of Muncie on the 8th day of Octo-
ber, 1846, the son of William H. and
Susan (Russey) Perkins. The father was a
native of Kentucky and located in Muncie
when it was but a mere village and started the
first tailoring establishment in the place. He
followed his trade in Muncie continuously until
Februar}-, 1855, when he moved to Vandalia,
Mich. , thence two years later to the city of
MUNCIE CITY
Niles, that state, where he resided until his
death in 1875. William H. Perkins displayed
commendable energy in his chosen calling and
his death was the result of over exertion and
exhaustion brought on by the sickness of his
wife, who for a number of weeks had required
his constant attention. He was the first man
to introduce the sewing machine into Indiana,
and the one he operated in Muncie cost him
the sum of $250. He died at the age of sixty-
three; his widow still survives, having reached
the good old age of seventy-five years, and at
this time resides with her youngest daughter
in the town of Carthage, Ind. Mr. and Mrs.
Perkins reared a family of three sons and three
daughters, namely: Harvey W., Mary A., John
S. , J. Wallace, Martha J. and Minnie E. Of
the above sons, Harvey W. and John S. served
in the late war as members of Michigan regi-
ments.
J. W. Perkins spent the first nine years of
his life in Muncie, and in 1855 was taken by
his parents to Michigan, in which state he re-
ceived his educational training, attending the
common schools until his fourteenth year. On
quitting school he entered a printing office in
St. Joseph, Mich., where he worked for six
months for $12.50 and board, and then se-
cured a position in an office at Niles, where he
was employed for about a half year at $30
and board. He remained at Niles until 1868,
and for one year thereafter worked in a job
office at Indianapolis, thence came to Muncie,
where for six months he held a position in the
office of the Muncie Times. Returning to
Indianapolis at the end of that period, he fol-
lowed his trade in that city until, in partner-
ship with William Chandler, he became asso-
ciate publisher of the Muncie Telegraph, with
which paper he was identified for about
eighteen months. On the suspension of the
Telegraph, Mr. Perkins again accepted a posi-
tion on the Times, with which he remained
until 1877, when he accepted a place in the
government printing office at Washington, D.
C, where he remained for a limited period.
Returning to Muncie, he again engaged with
the Times, and in 1 880, started a job office,
which he has since successfully conducted, and
with judicious management has made one of
the leading printing establishments of the
city. Mr. Perkins is a practical printer, thor-
oughly familiar with all the details of the trade,
and his office is equipped with all the modern
improvements and latest appliances, and its
reputation for first class work is second to no
other printing house in eastern Indiana.
Mr. Perkins is a republican in his political
convictions and stands high in the councils of
his party in Muncie and Delaware county. He
is prominent in the Masonic order, having
taken all the degrees of the York and Scottish
rites of the fraternity, including the thirty-
second degree. He held the responsible posi-
tion of eminent commander of Muncie com-
mandery. No. 18, for two years, and for the
past twelve years has served as secretary of
Muncie lodge. No. 403. Mr. Perkins was mar-
ried on October 25, 1877, to Miss Mary L.
Winton, daughter of Dr. R. Winton, a late
prominent physician of Muncie, whose sketch
appears elsewhere in these pages. Mrs. Per-
kins was born in the town of Wheeling, Dela-
ware county, and has passed the greater part
of her life in Muncie, to which city she was
brought, when a mere child, by her parents.
Mr. Perkins has an enviable reputation both
as a citizen and business man, and his success
in life has been altogether due to his own
efforts. He may be truly styled a self made
man, in all the term implies, and his example
should serve to encourage others who start out
to fight life's battles empty handed. Person-
ally, he enjoys great popularity in Muncie and
is highly esteemed by all for his integrity,
good character and sterling qualities of man-
JOHN S. PETTY.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
hood. He is strictly temperate in his habits,
having always abstained from the use of all
intoxicants and tobacco, and with his wife be-
longs to the Episcopal church, in which he
holds the office of vestryman. In a financial
sense, Mr. Perkins has met with well deserved
success and owns several valuable pieces of
property in the cit)'.
>^OHX S. PETTY, deceased, wasprobabl.\-
m one of the most extraordinar\', as well
A 1 as one of the most successful business
men that ever resided in the city of
Muncie. He was a son of Joshua and Sarah
E. (Sheets) Petty, was born at New Paris,
Ohio, July 12, 1830, and when a child was
taken, by his father, to Wayne county, Ind.,
where he was reared on the home farm and
received a good connnon school education.
At the age of eighteen years, his father having
a large family to maintain, he was given his
"freedom," and his first business venture was
to work one hundred days, at fifty cents per
day, for Alvah Macy; he also worked for
a while in the saw mill at Economy, Ind.,
near Hagerstown, and e\-en at that early day
the spirit of speculation was made manifest
within him. He was commissioned by an old
Quaker gentleman to make a purchase of live
stock, and his great success in filling this order
confirmed this spirit. His father, who origi-
nally came from near Winston, N. C. , and
was married at New Paris, Ohio, moved from
Wayne county to Miami county, Ind., and
thither young Petty followed, and began buy-
ing stock in a comparatively small way, on
his own account, realizing handsome profits
on every venture. At the age of twenty-three,
April 22, 1855, he made his first venture on
the sea of matrimony, and wedded Miss Fran-
ces Bailey, of \\'ayne county, Ind., and then
made his appearance in the city of Muncie,
the scene of his future business exploits
and triumphs. Here he was employed
as a clerk in tlu' dry goods store of S.
P. & E. Anthony, whom he served about
two years, and while with them sus-
tained the most serious accidental injury of
his life. The firm carried, in addition to their
stock of dry goods, a line of groceries, and in
an effort to lift a barrel of rice somewhat
heavier than the scope of his strength, Mr.
Petty strained his spine, and for a year after-
ward was invalided. The effect of this injury
was to reduce his stature and to render his
posture a stoop, but he recovered his health
in a general sense, albeit somewhat malformed
physically. On his coming to Muncie, with
his usual astuteness Mr. Petty had invested
his early earnings in western lands, and these
he sold at the proper time at handsome profits.
\^'ith the proceeds he embarked in the dry
goods trade about a year before the breaking
out of the Civil war. As an instance of his
business sagacity, it may be mentioned that
on one occasion during the war he had pur-
chased a bill of dry goods from a firm in Cin-
cinnati, foreseeing the advance in prices
forthcoming, and at the same time took an
option at duplicating the order — which he did
— but the Cincinnati firm saw how they had
been overreached by a superior tradesman,
and offered Mr. Petty $2,000 to be released
from the contract — but Mr. Petty was too far-
seeing to consent to any such scheme, and
realized a handsome profit. His surplus earn-
ings were wisely and judiciously invested in
town and city real estate, and with invariably
remunerative results. So well established was
his reputation for sagacity in business, that he
was constantly consulted by his fellow mer-
chants and others on all important ventures,
and his advice never went amiss. During his
mercantile career he never lost sight of the
400
MUNCIE CITY
fact that there was money in live-stock, and
his farm was in a great measure devoted to
grazing and breeding, and profitably so.
April 3, 1865, Mr. Petty had the misfortune
to lose his wife by consumption. Her four
children were also swept away by the same
fell disease, two in infancy and two after having
reached the years of maturity. The second
marriage of Mr. Petty took place September
24, 1867, to Mehssa A. Lewis, but a second
time death deprived him of his companion.
May 28, 1868. August i, 1869, he was most
happily married to Melissa J. Bole, daughter
of William Bole, Esq., of Delaware county,
Ind. , and to this felicitous union two children
were born, Wilbur A. and Walter E., both
now at home. Mr. Petty continued in active
business until 1875, when failing health warned
him to retire, and the last seventeen years of
his life were devoted to the care of his farm
and vast city property, not so much for the
purpose of adding to his already large fortune,
but more for the reason that he was of that
nervous temperament that precluded his being
unemployed. He could not abstain, indeed,
from working early and late, and while his
health was unimpaired, he was vigorous to an
extreme. When the time came, however, as
it must come to all, he went to Martinsville for
a week's rest and recuperation, but he went too
late. Tired nature asserted herself, and for
two years had tampered with his stomach and
eventually with his heart, and on September
13, 1892, the strong man yielded to the inevi-
table, and passed to the spirit land at the age
of sixty-two years and two months. He had
been a life long communicant of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and had lived faithfully up
to its precepts, and yet he had had an abiding
faith in the return to earth of the disembodied
spirits of those who had gone before, and with
whom he felt assured that he was in constant
communication. Mr. Petty was a member of
the I. 0.0 F. , and was fully in accord by
nature with that benevolent fraternity, exercis-
ing the doctrine of friendship, love and truth
in and out of the order, none, really deserving,
appealing to him in vain.
,>^ EV. ABNER PERDUIE was born,
I /^ reared and married in Guilford county,
1 ,P N. C. He obtained a most ecxellent
classical education and was trained to
preach in the Methodist Episcopal church
when about seventeen years of age. He was
actively engaged in the ministry in his native
state and Virginia until about 1831, when he
removed his family to Indiana, stopping first,
for a few years, in Henry county, then coming
to Delaware county. He entered land and
settled two miles west of Muncie, where he
made a good farm. He taught several schools
and did much preaching, and after his remov-
al to Indiana changed his relation in church
from his early choice to the Protestant Meth-
odist. In this relation he organized and
started most of the churches of that denomi-
nation in Delaware and Henry counties. Mr.
Perdiue was a good orator, fine preacher, well
versed in the theology of the Bible, always
earnest for what he believed was the right,
and popular in the pulpit and out. In his day
he preached more funeral sermons and solem-
nized more marriages than any minister in this
part of Indiana. He died in 1876, aged 72
years.
t^/^ EV. NER H. PHILLIPS, retired
I /^ Methodist Episcopal divine, of Mun-
^ .P cie, Ind., was born in Washington
township, Randolph county, Ind.,
September 11, 1829, and is a son of Thomas
and Rebecca (Hammitt) Phillips, natives of
REV, NER H. PHILLIPS.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
408
Burlington count}-, X. J., and pioneers of In-
diana, who entered i6o acres of land in Kan-
dolph county in 1818, and made settlement
thereon in 1819. On this farm the father
passed the remainder of his life, being called to
his final home April 9, 1874, and the mother
followed him to his heavenly abode October
10, 1886. They were parents of nine chil-
dren, \'\z: Lydia A., wife of ^\'illiaIn Millman;
Thomas, who died at the age of six years;
Welsey, deceased, and William, twins; Rebec-
ca, widow of John H. Bakehorn; Ner H., the
reverend gentleman whose name opens this
sketch; M. H., a merchant of Warsaw; Ancil
B., a grocer of Muncie, and Hester Ann, wid-
ow of John Hudson, of L}nn, Ind. The ]iar-
ents were both sincere in their belief in the
tenets of the Methodist church. The father
was an industrious, hard-working man, had
cleared from the wilderness over 100 acres of
his 160 acre farm, and paid for his land twice
over through going security for either unscru-
pulous or unfortunate neighbors.
Ner H. Phillips assisted in the clearing and
the cultivating of his father's farm until he
had attained twenty-four years (jf age, in the
meantime, however, a\ailing himself of the
means of education that the neighboring
schools of the period afforded. He never at-
tended college, as the expense of tuition would
be too great a hardship for his father to meet;
but, following an opposite course, became a
mechanic by learning the carpenter's trade,
which he followed as an adjunct to farming
from the age of eighteen until that of twent}-
four — working in the spring and fall, or before
and after the crops had been cared for. Dur-
ing the winters of 1850-51-52 he taught
school, and then at twenty-four years of age
entered the ministry of the Methodist Episco-
pal church, receiving appointments to circuits
and stations in the following consecutive order:
Selma circuit, Delaware count\-, Ind., one
year; Windsor, Randolph county, one year;
Pern station, one year; Selma, again one year;
Alliany. Delaware county, one year; Marion
station, one year; Pendleton, Ind., two years;
Williamsburg and Centreville circuit, one
year; Knightstown station, two years; Pearl
street, Richmond, Iml , two years; Berry
street, Fort \\'ayne, two years; thence to the
Sim]ison chapel, now High Street church,
Muncie, and was presiding elder of the Muncie
district for four years; then on the Warsaw
district for four years, two years in Goshen,
Ind., and then again at Knightstown, for two
years, but during his second year here his
health broke down and lie was compelled to
rest for a year and one half; he then went to
Hartford City for three years, then to Kendall-
ville, Ind , two years; to I'ishersburg three
years, and finally was retired to Muncie with
impaired health. But he remains actively em-
ployed in church work. During all these years
of labor in the ministerial field his piety and
elo(]uence have been duly recognized, and his
work in the vineyard of the Lord perforce ac-
knowledged. He holds membershi]) in North
Indiana conference, which came to him with-
out seeking for it, and was twice a delegate to
and member of the general conference^once
in Brooklyn, N. ^■., in 1872, and once in
Baltimore, Md., in \S;i, an lionor imt to be
slightingly io.,kedupon.
Rev. Phillips was joined in the iioly bonds
of matrimony, August 14, 1S51, in P>looining-
ton, Randolph county, Ind., to Mary (larrett,
who bore him five children, of whom three are
living, viz: Katie, wife of O. B. Thacher, of
Spokane, Wash., Mary J., wife of A. B.
Kline, of Bluffton, Ind., and Emma G., at
home with her father. The mother of this
family was called from earth Januar\- 24, 1879,
at Goshen, Ind., and her mortal remains lie
interred at that place. The second marriage
of Mr. Phillips was solemnized April 13. 1880,
404
MUNCIE CITY
in Circleville, Clinton county, Ind., with
Nancy E. (Wilson) White, widow of Dr. J.
B. White. This lady is also a devout mem-
ber of the Methodist church. In politics Mr.
Phillips is a republican. He is at present a
non-affiliating member of the I. O. O. F. , but
before his voluntary withdrawal from active
work iji the order was an honored and promi-
nent member and had attained a high rank in
the brotherhood. Mr. Phillips is a strong ad-
vocate of temperance. He has never tasted
an intoxicant during all his life, and never loses
an opportunity to inveigh against the accursed
traffic in liquor.
,y^ R. ARTHUR JOHN PHINNEY, phy-
I I sician, botanist and geologist," of
/^^^ Muncie, Ind., was born in Russell
township, Geauga county, Ohio, Au-
gust 27, 1850. He was reared on the home
farm until of age, receiving in the meantime a
good common school education, supplemented
by an attendance at Geauga seminary and two
terms at Oberlin college, and at Allegheny col-
lege, Meadville, Pa. , until he reached the ju-
nior year, devoting special attention to the
sciences and mathematics. During his colle-
giate course, also, he employed his spare time
in teaching in the common schools of Geauga
and adjoining counties for six terms. In 1875
he took his first course of medical lectures, be-
ginning in the medical department of Wooster
university; his second course was at Pulte
Medical college, of Cincinnati, in 1876-77,
from which he graduated in the last named
year. For little over a year he practiced in
Gallon, Ohio, and in October, 1878, come to
Muncie, where he has had an excellent prac-
tice ever since. He turned his especial atten-
tion to botany at the time he left college, and
his last work in this line ended with 1882,
when he was employed to prepare a complete
record of the flora of Delaware county, Ind. ,
which was published in the report of the state
geological survey of that year. In this record
he classified 720 plants, including grasses,
sedges, rushes and flowers, and the task occu-
pied him several years. The doctor has been
a student of geology for many years, but his
first official recognition was in 1881, when he
was employed to make a geological survey of
Delaware county, which proved to be so satis-
factory that he was subsequently employed to
survey Randolph, Grant, Henry and the north-
ern portion of Wayne, and the results were in-
cluded in the state report of 1882, 1883 and
1885-86 (two in one). This was a labor of
• five or six years, taken in connection with the
practice of his profession. On the discovery
of natural gas, the doctor began the study of
the phenomenon minutely and scientifically,
keeping a record of all the data obtainable
throughout the state of Indiana, including
records of all the geological strata passed
through in drilling — thickness, altitude, depth
of Trenton limestone; whether gas, oil
or water was found, total depth of well, and
other minute facts, and securing and label-
ing samples of drillings. By these data he
was enabled to determine the limits of the
field, and was the first to accurately define it.
These reports were made the base of a series
of articles, by the doctor, published in the
American Manufacturer and Iron World, in
December, 1887, and afterward, in full, in the
Indianapolis News, and in the Petroleum Age,
at Bradford, Pa., and attracted profound at-
tention throughout the country. Major J. W.
Powell, director of the United States geologi-
cal survey, impressed with the thoroughness
of the work done, appointed the doctor United
States geological surveyor for a continuation
of the survey of the Indiana gas field and di-
rected a complete report to be made thereon.
I
t
i
«^ -
i
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THOS. PORT.
\
MRS. THOS. PORT.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
405
This was a labor of three years, and forms a
part of the eleventh annua! rejiort t)f the
United States geological surve}'. It is amply
illustrated with maps and sectional views, and
embraces everything of interest in relation to
the gas field. The doctor has also been
called to different parts of the United States
at various times, in connection with his work.
He has secured one of the most comprehen-
sive working geological libraries in the state,
and has collected an e.xcensive variety of fos-
sils, minerals and fresh water and land shells,
embracing over 17,000 species, all classified
and labeled. In the fall of 1892, this collect-
ion was sold, and donated to Buchtel college,
Akron, Ohio. The bulk of this immense re-
search, study and labor has been accomplished
within the past twelve years, and yet the
doctor has assidiously attended to his daily
professional duties, to which he now exclu-
sively devotes himself, and in which he holds
high rank. Music affords him his only pastime.
The marriage of Dr. Phinney took place,
October 16, 1879, to Miss Mary E. Little,
daughter of John L. Little, of Muncie, and to
this union one child, Louise, has been born.
I his life work. In February, 1869, Mr. Pixley
came to Muncie and engaged in painting with
Alexander Wiley, and three years later became
one of the principal workmen for the firm of
Slinger & Wiley, and was thus employed until
1892, when he became a member of the (inn.
Mr. Pixley is a skillful painter, as is proved by
the many specimens of his handiwork, as seen
in the signs he has turned out. He is a repub-
lican in his political affiliations, a member of
the Odd Fellows' fraternity, and, for some
years, has been an active worker in the Meth-
odist Episcopal church. Mr. Pixley was mar-
ried July 3, 1 861, to Miss Rebecca J. Kichey.
of Delaware county, Ind., and their home has
been gladdened by two children: Gertrude and
Arvil.
we
ILLIAM N. PIXLEY, painter, was
born in Adams count}-, Ohio, Sep-
tember II, 1 85 I, son of Elijah and
Harriet A. (Abbot) Pixley. Elijah
and Harriet Pixley were born and married in
the above county and state and reared a fam-
ily of three children: William N., Jennie,
(deceased), and James, who resides in Tacoma,
Washington. The father died of cholera July
4, 1855, and the mother is living at this time
with her son in the city of Tacoma. William
N. received his education in the common
schools of Ohio, and at the age of eighteen began
learning the painter's trade, which he has made
^^k2)H01
HOMAS PORT began life at the bot-
tom of the ladder, which he has
mbed to the top with no help but a
brave heart, industrious hands and
an intelligent brain, and is a living example of
what may be accomplished in this country by
thrift and perseverance, even under discour-
aging circumstances. He was born in Belfast,
Ireland, May 3, 1836, a son of John and Mary
Jane (Carlton) Port. The parents were na-
tives of the same place, married there and
were in comfortable circumstances, but the
long trip across the water to America prett)'
well drained their resources. They located in
Fayette county, Ind., where they engaged in
a general merchandise business, and Mr. Port
followed this all of his life, wl^ich ended in
1839, his wife dying in 1841, and they were
buried in Fayette county. They had been
members of the Presbyterian church, and in
his political views he was a tory. Four chil-
dren were born to them — William, Margaret
and Eli^a J., all deceased, Thomas being the
MUNCIE CITY
only one yet living. The mother afterwards
married Jacob Troxall, and Thomas was reared
by his step-father until he was seventeen years
old, when he left home, possessing one pair of
pants, one shirt and a straw hat, and reached
the home of his sister, the wife of William
Wilson, in the same county, bare-footed.
Here he was given a good home and worked
for a year for his board and clothes, at which
time he decided to begin farming for himself.
He engaged to buy an old horse for $60 on
one year's time, and rented twenty-five acres
of land. He tended a crop on this piece of
land, sold it for $20 per acre, and thus gained
a start in life.
Coming to Muncie the ne.xt winter, his
quick intelligence showed him that money could
be made in the buying and selling of horses,
and he traded all winter, buying in Muncie and
selling in Fayette county, but when summer
came he engaged in farming again. In i860 he
bought eighty acres of land in Centre town-
ship, Delaware county, paying $2,400 for it,
and was able to pay down $1, 100, with notes
for the balance, which long before they became
due were fully paid. In 1864 he sold this land
and then bought in Mount Pleasant township
120 acres, upon which he lived until 1885,
owning at that time 400 acres, and then he
came to where he now resides. Here he bought
160 acres and has made a pleasant home. In
1 89 1 he sold 140 acres, the city of Muncie
having so encroached upon him, and for this
land he received $225 per acre. He has reserv-
ed twenty acres around his home just outside
the city, and he also owns 100 acres in Mount
Pleasant township, which he has well improved.
In 1870 Mr. Port began the buying and
selling of stock very extensively, and has made
it very profitable, managing his business with
good judgment and unceasing care. He was
married September 4, 1859, in Centre town-
ship, to Miss Catherine Williams, a native of
the township, born March i i, 1842, a daughter
of William Y. and Sarah (Tomblison) Will-
iams, who were natives of Ohio and early
pioneers of Delaware county. Mr. and Mrs.
Port had a family of seven children, as follows:
Laura M., wife of Charles Koontz, a glass
manufacturer of Muncie, who was deputy treas-
urer for the term of eight years; Ellsworth,
deceased; John W. . the secretary of the Port
Glass works; Charles H. and two infants, de-
ceased, and Maud, who resides at home. Politi-
cally, Mr. Port is a believer in the principles of
the democratic party, which he cordially sup-
ports Mr. Port is one of the stockholders in
the Port Glass works and is considered one of
the strong financial men of Muncie. The
father of Mrs. Port was born in 181 1, and now
resides in Centre township. The mother of
Mrs. Port died in this township in 1856, at
about forty-one years of age. They had a
family of nine children, as follows: John (de-
ceased), Zadoc, Isaac, Catherine, Henry, Sarah
Ann, William (deceased). Perry and Nathan.
Mr. Williams is a republican and a member of
the Protestant Methodist church.
<>^ RICE PETTIJON POWERS, an old
I t'^L and highly respected citizen of Centre
J^^J township, a native of Monongalia
county, Va. (now W. Va.), was born
January 13, 181 5, and is a son of Nehemiah
and Cassandra (Holland) Powers. Nehemiah
Powers was a representative of an old pioneer
family of (then) Virginia, and first saw the
light of day in a fort which had been erected
to protect the settlement from the incursions
of the savages. By occupation he was a
farmer, and he followed that useful calling all
of his life. He moved to Indiana in 1823,
settling in Wayne county, thence, five years
later, moved to the county of Henry, where his
M. POWERS.
MRS. M. E. POWERS.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
death occurred in September, 1846. His wife,
whom he married in his native state, was a
daughter of Jacob and Mary (Gordon) Hol-
land, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia
respectively. She became the mother of
twelve children, six of whom are living at this
time, viz: Brice P. ; Reason H. ; Maria, wife
of John Williams, a retired farmer living in
Muncie; James, a resident of Blackford coun-
ty, Ind.,; Joshua H., of Oregon; and Mar\-,
wife of Noah Branson, a farmer living in Kan-
sas.
Brice P. Powers was but a lad of about
eight years when his parents moved to Indiana,
and he received the principal part of his edu-
cational training in the schools of Centreville,
Wayne county, which he attended about two
years. His first practical experience in life
was acquired in a tan yard, where he was em-
ployed for two years, after which he engaged
in agricultural pursuits in Henry county, where
he resided until his removal to the county of
Delaware in 1852. Upon becoming a resident
of the latter, he located where he now lives in
Centre township, and has since become the
possessor of 328 acres of finely improved and
highly cultivated land, the result of his own in-
dustry and successful financial management.
Mr. Powers has been a hard worker, and his
labors have ever been directed by prudent
forethought, the legitimate result of which is
the comfortable competence he now enjoys.
On the 4th of May, 1844, Mr. Powers and
Hannah Lewis, of Delaware county, Ohio,
were united in marriage. Mrs. Powers is the
daughter of John and Naomi (Kelly) Lewis,
both natives of Ohio, the former of Delaware
and the latter of Butler county. The follow-
ing are the names of the brothers and sisters
of Mrs. Powers: James, deceased; Nancy,
wife of James Rosebraugh; Zeziah, deceased;
Phebe, widow of David Daily; John, a resident
of Iowa; Stephen G., who lives in the same
state, and Rachael, wife of H. Simpson. John
Lewis, the father, died in Randolph county,
Ind., September 15, 1876; his wife died in
Delaware county, Ohio, in September of 1834.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Powers five
children were horn, namely; Naomi, widow
of J. H. Helm, of Muncie; Mark, deceased;
Nehemiah, a contractor of Muncie; Amelia,
deceased, and John, who resides with his father
on the home place. Mr. and Mrs. Powers are
communicants of the Baptist church, and their
lives have been fraught with kind acts and
good deeds. They are among the higlily
respected residents of Centre township, and
all with whom they have come in contact unite
in praising them for their many virtues.
John Powers, the youngest sonjof Brice P.
and Hannah Powers, was born May 28, 1858,
in Delaware county. His early educational
training in the high school of Muncie, where
he graduated in 1877, was supplemented by a
thorough course in the literary department in
the State university at Bloomington, which he
completed in the spring of 1881. He taught
school in Yorktown for two years, and is one
of the intelligent and progressive young men of
Delaware county. He lives with his father
upon the homestead, in the management of
which he displays the energy and thrift of the
successful agriculturist.
QARK POWERS, the popular treas-
urer of Delaware count}-, of which
he is a native, was born in Wash-
ington township, on the 4th day of
June, 1845, ^nd is a son of Uriah and Syl-
vania (Wilson) Powers, natives respectively
of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Uriah Powers
immigrated to Indiana as early as 1826. set-
tling in Henr\- county, where he entered and
improved a farm, but in 1 834 liisposed of his
412
MUNCIE CITY
interest in that part of the state, and removed
to Washington township, Delaware county,
where Mr. Powers became a prominent busi-
ness man, having been one of the pioneers of
that section. For many years he was engaged
in mercantile pursuits, married in Washington
township, and afterward built the Elizabeth
mills, which he operated until his death in
i860; his wife preceded him to the grave, de-
parting this life in 1856. Politically Mr.
Powers was a republican, but could never be
induced to accept any political office, prefer-
ring to give his entire attention to his various
business interests. He adhered to the creed
of the Baptist church, while his wife was an
active member of the Presbyterian denomina-
tion. They reared six children to maturity,
as follows: Bryce, a member of company B,
Eighth Indiana infantry, was taken sick at the
siege of Vicksburg and died in the St. Louis
hospital; John, who died in 1865; Ann, died
in 1 861; Mary, now Mrs. Keesling of Perry
township; Mark, the subject of this mention,
and George, a well known resident of the
township of Washington.
Mark Powers received his primary educa-
tion in the township schools, later attended the
Muncie academy, and subsequently pursued
his studies for two years' in the schools of
Marion, Ind., in all of which he made substan-
tial progress in the various branches of learn-
ing. In 1 861 he went to live with an uncle in
Henry county, this state, and in the spring of
1864 he entered the army as a member of
company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth
Indiana volunteer infantry, with which he
served four months, and in 1865 enlisted in
company F, One Hundred Forty-seventh
regiment, with which he served until honorably
discharged at the close of the war. On severing
his connection with the army, he returned to
Delaware county and engaged in farming and
stock raising in Washington township, where
he has since made his home. In February,
1 869, the marriage of Mr. Powers was solem-
nized with Miss Mary E. Furgeson, step-
daughter of Henson Lewis, of Washington
township, and a lady widely and favorably
known for her many excellent traits of charac-
ter. Politically Mr. Powers is a republican,
and as such was elected to the office of trustee
of Washington township, the duties of which
position he discharged with credit to himself
and satisfaction to the people for the period of
eight years. In iSgo Mr. Powers was compli-
mented by his fellow citizens by being called
to a more exalted official station, namely,
treasurer of Delaware county, to which he was
elected in November of that year, was again
elected in 1892, and still fills the office in a
manner gratifying to his friends as well as to
those who differ with him politically. Frater-
nally, he is a member of Lookout Mountain
post, G. A. R. , No. 345, New Corner, belongs
to the Masonic order of Muncie, and is also
identified with the Improved Order of Red
Men of Muncie. Mr and Mrs. Powers have
an interesting family of seven children, whose
names are as follows: George, Burt, Webb,
Susan, Paul, Bruce and John. Mrs. Powers
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church of
Muncie, of which she is a valued member.
eLISHA J. PUCKETT, M. D. , a
prominent physician and surgeon of
Muncie, was born January 31, 1843,
in the town of Cadiz, Henry county,
Ind. His father was Dr. Henry L. Puckett,
a native of Clinton county, Ohio, and his
mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth
Comer, was also born in the same state.
Henry L. Puckett received his professional
education in the Botanic Medical college, Cin-
cinnati, and began practicing at the town of
LEWIS REES.
MRS. LEWIS REES.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
418
Martinsville, Ohici, in the latter part of the
thirties, moving thence to Indiana, locating
first in Henrj- county and later in the Indian Re-
serve in the present county of Howard. At
the close of the late war, he went to Rich-
land count}, \\'is. , where his death occurred
in 1887. Mrs. Puckett preceded her husband
to the f,'rave, departing this life in the year
1861 at her home in Tipton county, Ind.
Henry L. and Elizabeth Puckett were the
|iarents of four sons and three daughters:
Elisha J., John L., J. Barkley and George B.,
all of whom entered the medical profession;
John L. resides at Kokomo, Ind. ; J. Barkley
lives in Iowa, and George B., in Minneapolis;
Maria, Letha and Margaret are deceased.
Dr. Elisha J. Puckett spent his youthful
years on the Indian Reserve, and on the death
of his mother went to Anderson, where he en-
listed, at the breaking out of the great rebel-
lion, in company G, Eighth Indiana infantry,
Capt. H. \'anDevender, for the three months'
service. At the expiration of his enlistment,
he re-entered the army for three years or
during the war, joining company K, Si.xteenth
Indiana volunteer infantry, with which he
served until honorably discharged at New
Orleans in 1865. His command formed part
of the Fourteenth army corps, department of
the gulf, and he shared with his comrades the
fortunes and vicissitudes of war on a number
of sanguinary fields and throughout several
hotly contested campaigns.
On severing his connection with the army.
Dr. Puckett returned to Anderson, Ind., and
for three years thereafter studied medicine
with Dr. J. C. Cullon, under whose able in-
struction he made such commendable progress
that, before the expiration of the time noted,
he began the practice of his profession as as-
sistant to his preceptor. During the succeed-
ing four years he practiced at the town of New
Corner, Delaware county, and with the pecun-
iary capital thus acquired and actuated by a
laudable ambition to drink more deeply at the
fountain of professional knowledge, he entered
college at Indianapolis, where in due time he
graduated, receiving his diploma in 1878.
Subsequently he took a post-graduate course,
and in the winter of 1888 located in Muncie,
where he has since resided, building up a large
and lucrative practice in the city and through-
out Delaware county in the meantime.
Dr. Puckett was married in 1861, while
home on furlough, to Miss Malinda Harris,
daughter of Washington and Sarah (GifTord)
Harris, to which union seven children were
born, five li\-ing at this time: Annie L. ,
Frances, Ida Blanch, Bertha and F. W.
Since beginning the practice of the healing
art Dr. Puckett has continued to enjoy a well
merited reputation for success in his calling.
He has always been an ardent supporter of the
democratic party, and during President Cleve-
land's first administration was a member of
the pension examining board of Delaware
county. He is identified with the Methodist
Protestant church, belongs to the I. O. O. F.
and Red Men order, and was initiated into
the mysteries of the Masonic fraternity a num-
ber of years ago at Anderson.
* W * EWIS REES, a prominent citizeti of
I r Centre township, and a member of
^^^^ one of the oldest and best known
pioneer families of Delaware county,
is a native of Ohio and a son of Lewis and
Mary Rees. His paternal ancestors were among
the early settlers of 'Virginia, and on the
mother's side he is a descendant of the sturdy
pioneers of Pennsylvania. Lewis and Mary
Rees emigrated to Ohio many years ago, and
as early as 1821 came to Delaware county,
Ind., locating in the township of Perry, of which
MUNCIE CITY
they were among the very first settlers. Their
first home was located in the woods, and after
developing a farm, Mr. Rees, Sr. , moved to
another part of the township and purchased
160 acres of government land, which was also
in a primitive condition. Being a man of
much more than ordinary thrift and business
foresight, Mr. Rees made a number of judi-
cious purchases, and in time became the owner
of over 600 acres of valuable land, the greater
part of which, under his successful manage-
ment, was brought to a successful state of
cultivation. Upon the home farm in Perry
township, Lewis Rees, Sr. , died in 1852, and
his wife was summoned to her final reward in
1 876. Lewis Rees was a prominent factor in
in the early history and development of Del-
aware county, and at one time filled the office
of probate judge with ability. He became a
republican upon the formation of that party,
and was an earnest supporter of its principles
until the close of his life.
Lewis Rees was born March 11, 1820, and
has spent the greater part of his life in Dela-
ware county. Like all people reared on a farm,
he was early in life made familiar with the
many labors and duties incident thereto, and
until his marriage, at the age of thirty, he re-
sided upon the home place and managed the
same. His marriage was solemnized August i,
1850, with Mary A. Smith, who was born in
Liberty township, Delaware county, January
2, 1 83 1, the daughter of Lewis and Serepta
(Preston) Smith, natives of Vermont, who
moved to this part of the state at an early
period of its history. Immediately after his
marriage, Mr. Rees purchased a farm of eighty
acres, to which he at once removed, and upon
which he resided for a period of eighteen years,
and then moved to his present place in Centre
township, where he has since made his home.
In the meantime Mr. Rees accumulated valu-
able real estate in various parts of the county,
and became the owner of over 300 acres of
fine land, which he divided among the various
members of his family. Since moving to his
present place in Centre township, he has added
to his original purchase from time to time until
he how has in his possession over 377 acres
adjoining the city of Muncie, all of which is
substantially improved and represents a great
value. In the true sense of the word, Mr.
Rees is a self made man and as such ranks
with the most successful agriculturists of Dela-
ware county. He possesses financial ability of
a high order, has always been a man of great
industry, and his example is well worthy of
imitation by those who are just beginning the
struggle of life for themselves. He is one of
the oldest and best known citizens of the
county living at this time, and is fully entitled
to the confidence and esteem of his fellow
citizens, which he enjoys in a very marked
degree. He is a republican in politics and a
member of the Methodist church, to which'his
wife also belongs. Six children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Rees, namely: Elwood,
Perhna, Randson, Serepta (deceased), Lucetta
(deceased) and Emma.
aHRISTOPHER RIBBLE, one of the
farmers of Delaware count}-, Ind. ,
now living a life retired from active
business in the pleasant cit}' of Mun-
cie, Ind., was born in Montgomery county,
Va. , November 16, 181 7, son of David and
Mary (Surfess) Ribble, natives of the same
county, who removed to Delaware county in
1830 and settled in Perry township, where
they entered a tract of land in 1829. David
Ribble was a man of more than ordinary edu-
cation for that period, and was prominently
identified with the business and political life of
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
415
the county. He was a republican in politics
and was the representative of the people of
his district for one term. He died in March,
1839. The mother of Christopher Ribble
was a consistent member of the Presbyterian
church, a fjood woman and a kind neig;hbor,
and her death occurred in 1852. They reared
a family of six children, as follows: Elizabeth,
now Mrs. Ingraham Sissell. of Tennessee;
Martin, a resident of Muncie; Nancy, now
Nfrs. Joseph Thomas, of Iowa; Christopher,
William, of Centre, and John of Iowa.
Christopher Ribble came to Delaware
county when about thirteen years of age, and
received his education in the early schools of
the county. In 1839 he married Miss Martha
\'anArsdol, daughter of Cornelius and Jane
(McClellan) VanArsdol, who settled in Perry
township, Delaware county, in 1820. Mr. Van
Arsdol was born in Kentucky and removed,
when a child, with his parents, to Ohio, where
he grew to maturity and married. After com-
ing to Indiana he built a house upon his claim
and cleared a farm. He served as justice of
the peace and as county commissioner; was
also a minister in the Christian church, being
the first preacher of the county. His death
occurred in 1869. He had been a soldier in
the war of 181 2.
After marriage, Mr. Ribble located in Perry
township, where he cleared a farm, and here
the family resided until 1873, when he retired
from business and removed into Muncie. He
is a stockholder in the Five Points Gas Well
company. Politically he is a republican and
takes much interest in public affairs. One son,
Cornelius W. , was born in 1 842 and enlisted in
1 861 in company K, Nineteenth Indiana volun-
teer infantry, and died with typhoid fever,
December 31. 1861, at Washington, D. C.
Another son, William T., is a carpenter and
contractor in the city of Muncie. Mr. and Mrs.
Ribble are members of the High street Metho-
dist Episcopal church, and always take great
interest in religious affairs.
ai
ILLIAM KIBBLE, a prominent
farmer of ("entre township, and one
of the oldest and best known citi-
zens of Delaware county, is a na-
ti\e of Montgomery county, \'a., born Octo-
ber 10, 1 8 19. He is of German descent and
the son of David and Mary (Surfess) Ribble.
His grandparents located in Miami county,
Ohio, in 1828, and in 1830 his parents re-
moved to Delaware count}-, Ind., locating
near Smithfield, Perry township. David Kib-
ble died in 1839 at the age of fifty-two, and his
wife in 1852, when sixty-three years old.
David Ribble followed farming his entire life,
and was chosen representative of Delaware
county, Ind. . in the general assembly from
1835 to 1837. He reared a family of six chil-
dren, viz: Elizabeth, Martin, Nancy, Christo-
pher, WiFliam and John.
William Kibble received the most impor-
tant part of his instruction in the common
schools of Virginia, as the advantages afforded
in the newly settled districts of Indiana were
very meager, and much of his time was em-
ployed in the work of the farm. After the
death of his father, he assumed the manage-
ment of the farm and at once began purchas-
ing the shares owned by his brothers and sis-
ters. He set to work clearing and imiiro\ing
the place, and from time to time purchased
adjoining tracts until 1881, until he was the
possessor of 344 acres of choice land. In
1858, he formed, with his brother-in-law, the
firm of Hutchings & Ribble, at Selma, and
engaged in the sale of general merchandise
and in buying and selling grain and wool,
carrying on the farm in the meantime. At the
death of Mr. Hutchings, which occurred in
416
MUNCIE CITY
1865, he sold his interest in the business and
again turned his whole attention to agricult-
ural pursuits.
In 1843, Mr. Ribble was elected justice of
the peace on the whig ticket, and later by
appointment of Gov. Whitcomb became major
of the state militia. He assisted in the organ-
ization of the republican party, and in 1874
was elected on that ticket to the general
assembly. Mr. Ribble has been foremest in
various public improvements, among which
were the Smithfield & Burlington turnpike, of
which he was secretary and a director, and
the Muncie & Burlington pike, in which he also
held an official position. In 1856 Mr. Ribble
joined the Burlington lodge of Free & Accepted
Masons, and, in 1867, took the chapter and
commandery degrees. He has been a member
of the Methodist Episcopal church for over
forty years, holding, during that period, the
office of steward.
On the 19th of November, 1844, Mr. Rib-
ble was united in marriage with Harriet Ribble,
who was born in Montgomery county, Va. ,
January 24, 1824, the daughter of George and
Sarah (Surfess) Ribble. George Ribble, in
company with David Ribble, located in Perry
township, Delaware county, in 1830, and in
1 83 1 took command of a company of state
militia, which position he filled until promoted
to the rank of colonel in 1847. Subsequently
(1855) he removed to the state of Iowa, locat-
ing at the town of Clarinda, where he resided
until his death, which occurred on the 27th
day of February, 1887. His wife, Sarah Rib-
ble, died in the same place May 25, 1879, and
they have fifty-six surviving grandchildren,
and fifty-one great-grandchildren. George
and Sarah Ribble, were earnest members of
the Methodist church. To the marriage of
William and Harriet Ribble have been born
ten children, namely: Charles O., a resident
of Liberty township; Helen; Clara, wife of L.
T. Wilson, of Osage county, Kan. ; David,
who lives in Tennessee, George A., a resident
of the township of Liberty; Sarah A., " fe of
T. W. Cornell; Harriet B.. wife of W.
Brown, an attorney of New Castle, In Aiza.,
deceased; Mary R., wife of W. L. Legg, Fort
Scott, Kan. ; Gertrude, deceased, and Lydia
E., deceased.
at
EBSTER S. RICHEY.- Among
the officials of Delaware county,
Ind., who do her honor ')y their
efficiency, the gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch occup es a de-
servedly conspicuous place. Since 1890 he
has been the auditor of the county, and has
most ably and faithfully performed tl 2 onerous
duties of the positi6n to the satisfact on of the
people, irrespective of party affiliat' 41.
Webster S. Richey was born in Preble
county, Ohio, March 11, 1S48, and is a son of
Samuel W. and Sarah C. (Fleminj) Richey,
natives of the same state, of the counties of
Preble and Butler, respectively. The father
was a prominent business man of New Paris,
Ohio, and died in 1881, at the advanced age
of seventy-six. Webster S. is the youngest
of a family of eight children and was reared
in his native town until sixteen years of age,
attending in the meantime the public schools,
in which he laid the foundation of an educa-
tion which, supplemented by a subsequent
course of instruction, and a life of great busi-
ness activity and close observation of events,
has made him one of the best informed men
in every community where his lot has been
cast. On the first day of April, 1864, at the
age of sixteen, he entered the service of his
country, enlisting in the Eighth Ohio battery
of light artillery, and served faithfully for
fifteen months, at the end of which time.
W. S. RICHEY.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
410
owing to a serious injury rccciveil while mount-
ing a cannon, ami tlie war being over, he
severed his connection with the arni\' and re-
turned to Oiiio, and for some time thereafter
was engaged in the drug business at the town
of New Paris, and while thus employed at-
tended school as occasion permitted. In 1867
Mr. Richey accepted a position as bookkeeper
in a wholesale grocery house at Richmond,
Ind. , in which capacity he continued until
1S70, when he located in Muncie and engaged
in the drug business in partnership with W.
E. Richey, under the firm name of Richey &
Richey. From 1871 to 1876 he was agent of
the American Express company at Muncie and
joint agent for the United States and Ameri-
can companies from the latter year to 1880,
also serving as freight clerk for the Bee Line
railroad from 1880 to 1881. From the latter
year to 1882 he was bookkeeper for James
Boyce, and from 1882 to 1887 was the route
agent through Ohio and Indiana for the United
States Express company. From 1887 to 1889
he was again bookkeeper for James Boyce
and served in that capacity until 1890, in
which year he was elected to his present posi-
tion, auditor of Delaware county.
Mr. Richey is a prominent member of the
Williams post, No. 78, G. A. R. , Muncie, and
was mainly instrumental in the establishment
of a similar organization at New Paris, Ohio,
in 1886, of which he was made commander.
He takes great interest in all matters pertain-
ing to the Grand Army. He is also promi-
nently identified with the A. F. & A. M.
fraternity, belonging to lodge No. 433, of
Muncie, also being a member of Muncie chap-
ter and conimandery. He belongs to lodge
No. 74, I. O. O. F., tribe No. 30, I. O. R. M.,
took an active part in the organization of the
Ancile club and is one of the active members
of the Citizens' Business club. It will thus be
seen that the career of Mr. Richey has been
one of untiring activity, and the important
trusts to which he has been called at different
times, and the important office which he now
so ably and acceptably fills, attest his popu-
larity with the people of his county. A self
made man, he has always been imbued with
the spirit of self reliance, and every interest
imposed in him has been managed with excel-
lent tact and judgment. As an official, he
enjoys in a full measure the confidence of his
fellow citizens, and all who have had business
relations with him bear testimony to his worth
as an intelligent and most affable and courte-
ous gentleman.
Mr. Richey was married October 15, 1872,
to Miss Julia Thomas, daughter of J. Harvey
Thomas, of Dayton, Ohio, and three children
have been born to their union, namely:
Albert S., a student at Purdue university,
where he is taking the course of electrical
engineering; Reba and Paul. Mr. Richey is
himself liberal in his religious views, but his
family are members of the Presbyterian de-
nomination.
^^V'AMUEl
•^^^k* cessful
}0 !"'!•• ^
EL M. RIEI). — Among the suc-
physicians of Delaware county,
Samuel M. Ried takes a front
rank, both as to skill and popularity.
Dr. Ried was born in Shelby county, Ohio,
August 27, 1843, ^"d is a son of William R.
and Susan (Young) Ried, natives of V'irginia
and Montgomery county, Ohio, respectively.
William R. and Susan Ried were the parents
of five children, of whom Samuel M. is the
only one now living. Mrs. Susan Ried de-
parted this life March 30, 1863, and the fol-
lowing year Mr. Ried was united in marriage
to Miss Jean Henry, who is still living on the
old home farm in Ohio. William R. Ried died
on the loth day of February, 1893.
420
MUNCIE CITY
Dr. Ried was reared to manhood in his
native county, in the pubhc schools of which
he received his early educational training, and
later he became a student in the Wesleyan
university, Delaware, Ohio, which institution
he left before completing the prescribed course,
for the purpose of joining the army. Just at
this juncture, however, he was stricken with
typhoid fever, which prevented his doing mili-
tary service, a most grievous disappointment
to him at the time, as he was exceedingly
desirous of going to the front. The six years
following his recovery from sickness he spent
teaching school, succeeding well in the profes-
sion and earning the reputation of a capable
and painstaking instructor. About this time
he decided to gratify a taste, which had been
developing for several years, of fitting himself
for the medical profession; accordingly, he
entered the office of Dr. William R. Venard,
and began the study of medicine, in which he
made most satisfactory progress. He added
to the knowledge thus obtained by taking a
full course in the college of Physicians and
Surgeons of Keokuk, Iowa, from which he
graudated in 1878, and thus, quite well for-
tified for the duties of his chosen call-
ing, he resumed the practice, which he had
previously commenced in 1866 in Warren
county, Ind. He remained in the county of
Warren for a period of twenty-three years,
doing a lucrative practice in the meantime,
and in 1889 located in Muncie, where his
thorough knowledge of the profession soon won
for him a prominent place among the leading
physicians and surgeons. Dr. Ried has much
in his favor, possessing a pleasant personality,
with a manner which inspires confidence —
attributes so necessary to the successful disci-
ple of the healing art. He is upon the kindest
terms with his brother practitioners, belongs
to the Delaware County Medical society, and
is also a member of the State Medical society.
In polititics he is a supporter of the republi-
can party, taking an active interest in the
cause which he espouses, and he has the
courage of his convictions upon all questions
of local and public moment. He is a member
of the Mutual Loan & Savings association
of Muncie, and testifies to his interest in fra-
ternal orders by holding membership in three
prominent organizations, namely: Masonic,
I. O. O. F. and the I. O. R. M. In religion
the doctor subscribes to the Methodist creed,
and as a member of the High Street congrega-
tion he has done much for his denomination in
this city.
The doctor was married, in 1866, to Miss
Jennie Johnson, daughter of Joseph Johnson
of Shelby county, Ohio, and is the father of
three children, namely: Francis A., died May
28, 1876; William J., died April 8, 1877; and
B. Lee, living — his birth having occurred on
the 4th day February, 1877.
*-m ^ ARDIN ROADS, president of the
I'^^V Merchants' National bank of Muncie,
^ .* was born and reared on a farm in
Highland county, Ohio. After mak-
ing such preparations as the common schools
afforded, he began teaching at the age of seven-
teen, and during the years of his early man-
hood followed this occupation, working on the
farm during vacations. Subsequently, he en-
gaged in merchandising at Hillsboro, Ohio,
where he remained actively engaged until i 887,
when he came to Muncie and engaged in the
j wholesale grocery trade for a period of five
years, when he disposed of his business to Mr.
Goddard in 1892. February 4, 1893, Mr.
Roads, with several other leading business men
of Muncie, completed the organization of the
Merchants' National bank, he being chosen
president. The bank, located at the corner of
G. W. ROBINSON.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
421
Main and Mulberry streets, has a capital stock
of $100,000, and is recognized as one of the
solid and successful financial institutions of
the citv.
^^^EORGE W. ROBINSON (deceased),
■ ^\ for many years a popular citizen
\^^ of Muncie, and one of its efficient
officials, was born in Greene county,
Pa., on the 13th day of February, 1836. He
was the sixth in a family of ten children born
to Allen and Jane (Birch) Robinson, the father
a native of England, and the mother of Ireland.
Allen Robinson came to the United States in
early boyhood with an uncle, and became a
prominent physician, which profession he fol-
lowed during life. Mrs. Robinson was brought
to the United States by her parents when but
four years of age, and grew to womanhood in
Washington county, Pa. In 1837, Allen Rob-
inson removed with his family to Mercer county,
Ohio, thence later to the city of Bellefontaine,
where he resided until 1851, at which date he
located in Muncie, Ind., and here practiced his
profession. He died in 1865 at the age of
sixty years, and his wife survived him until
1880, dying in that year at the advanced age
of eighty-four.
George W. Robinson was but a lad when
his parents located in Mercer county, Ohio,
and a boy in his teens when he came to Muncie.
He received a common school education, and
in his fifteenth year entered upon an appren-
ticeship with Calvin Everett, the pioneer shoe-
maker of Muncie, to learn that useful trade.
He followed the business of shoemaking for a
number of years, and upon the death of his
brother, John T. Robinson, became the latter's
successor as town marshal in the fail of 1878,
the duties of which office he discharged con-
tinuously until Muncie was incorporated as
a city, when he was elected city marshal,
which office he filled by successive re-elec-
tions for a period of fifteen years. His effi-
ciency as a guardian of the city's interests
during the period of his incumbency was
greatly appreciated by his fellow citizens, and
as an evidence of the high esteem in which he
was held he was made chief of police, the
duties of which position he discharged in an
eminently satisfactory manner until his death,
which occurred on the i 5th day of May, 1893.
It will thus be seen that the life of Mr. Robin-
son was one of great activity, and his official
career embraced a period of twenty-five jears
of the existence of the city of Muncie. As
an official, he was uniformly kind and courte-
ous, but possessed in a marked degree that
firmness of purpose so essential to an officer
of justice, and which in his case proved a
terror to violators of the law. Personally he
enjoyed great popularity, his kindness of heart
became proverbial, and ail with whom he
came in contact, whether in business, official
or social relations, united in pronouncing him
a true friend and an honorable, upright gentle-
man. In politics he was ever a supporter of
the republican party, and he was prominently
identified with the I. O. O. F. and the frater-
nity of Red Men. Mr. Robinson was twice
married; the first time, on the 25th day of
May, 1854, to Miss Mary Frances Gordon,
who died in 1875, the mother of six children,
three of whom are living, namely: Charles,
Dell and Allen. Mr. Robinson's second mar-
riage was solemnized October 28, 1877, with
Miss Jenette A. Langley, who was born in
Madison county, Ind., in 1861, the daughter
of John and Susan Langley, natives of Indiana
and of German descent.
The moral character of Mr. Robinson was
above reproach, and his constant observation
of the evil effects of crime seemed but to
strengthen his incorruptibility.
422
MUNCIE CITY
•HEODORE F. ROSE, prominent at-
torney of Delaware county, and pres-
ident of the Muncie Natural Gas
company, was born in Fairfield,
Franklin county, Ind., the son of Samuel and
Jane (Harris) Rose. The father was one of
the first white children born in the town of
Fairfield and was by occupation a carriage
maker, having carried on an extensive manu-
facturing establishment for many years. He
was a man of local prominence in his neighbor-
hood, was an active and inifuential member of
the Methodist Episcopal church, and always
manifested a great interest in the Sunday
school work. His father, William S. Rose,
removed to Union county in an early day, and
there became a prominent man of affairs, and
was called to fill various official positions.
Mrs. Samuel Rose was. a native of Lancaster,
Pa., and a woman of man}- excellent traits of
both mind and heart.
Theodore F. Rose is the second son in his
father's family, and was reared in his native
place until seventeen years of age. In his
youth he enjoyed superior educational advan-
tages, attending first the public schools and
later becoming a student of Brookville college, i
and afterward graduating, in 1875, from the
regular scientific course in the State university
at Bloomington, Ind. His early inclinations
led him to choose the legal profession for his
life work, and in 1876 he began the study of
the same in the office of Buckles & Ryan at
Muncie, under whose instruction he continued
until his admission to the bar in 1878. He
then began the active practice of his profes-
sion in partnership with Hon. Josiah E. Mel-
lett, at that time prosecuting attorney of Del-
aware county, and was made deputy prose-
cutor, in which capacity he continued
until the expiration of that gentleman's
term of office. The partnership of Rose &
Mellett was continued until 1882, since
which time Mr. Rose has not had any associ-
ate in the practice. He served as city attor-
ney for five years, and is now the attorney for
a number of corporations, and his standing is a
compliment to his ability as a painstaking and
successful lawyer. He became president of
the Muncie Natural Gas company in 1886,
since which date he has been prominently
identified with that organization. He was one
of the chief movers and organizers of the Indi-
ana Bridge company, from which he retired in
1 891; is a stockholder in the Muncie Casket
company, and has been connected with several
important industries which have had their
effect in promoting, in a very marked degree,
the prosperity of the city of Muncie. In part-
nership with George Kirby, he has for several
years been extensively engaged in real estate
transactions, and is a recognized authority on
all matters pertaining to that line of business.
Mr. Rose is a man of energy and spirit, pos-
sesses financial ability of a high order, and
bears the reputation of being a man of marked
probity, and as exemplary in private life as
well as before the public gaze. Fraternally he
is a member of Muncie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O.
F., belongs to the Muncie encampment and
canton, is prominently identified with the A.
F. & A. M., and was one of the charter mem-
bers of the Ancile club. The marriage of Mr.
Rose was solemnized in 1880 with Miss Mar-
garet I. Dodds, daughter of Dr. James F.
Dodds, of Bloomington, Ind., to which union
one child, Frederick D. Rose, has been born.
>T^OHN C. ROSS, M. D., a prominent
M physician and surgeon of Muncie, is a
A 1 native of Randolph county, Ind., and
son of John and Eliza (Hunt) Ross.
John Ross was born in Fleming county, Ky.,
July 25, 1 8 16, and came to Indiana with his
J. C. ROSS, M. D
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
425
parents in 1825, locating with the family in
the city of Fort Waj-ne. When a joung man,
he worked for some time on the old Wabash
and Erie canal, and later removed to Randolph
county and entered 160 acres of government
land in what is now Nettle Creek township.
In addition to agricultural pursuits, which he
carried on for a number of years, he worked at
the mill-wright trade, and was thus engaged
until he entered the United States service at
the breaking out of the late rebellion. He
enlisted, in 1861, in company D, Sixty-ninth
Indiana infantry, was soon promoted captain,
and took part in the first battle at Richmond,
Ky., where he received a severe wound which
necessitated his retiring from the service for a
time. In the battle of Richmond nearly all of
the Sixty-ninth fell into the hands of the enemy,
and the regiment was afterwards reorganized
at Camp Wayne and assigned to Grant's com-
mand, Mr. Ross leading his company in the
Vicksburg and other campaigns. He saw much
active service, participated in a mumber of
bloody battles, and was wounded seven times,
the effects of which compelled him to resign 1
his commission and retire from the service.
On leaving the army, he resumed farming for j
a time in Randolph county, later purchased a
grist mill in the county of Wayne, which he |
operated for three years, disposing of it at the
end of that time and building a similar struct-
ure in the town of Huntsuille, where he was
engaged in the manufacture of flour until he
removed to Delaware county in the spring of
1 869. Since the latter year he has been en- |
gaged in various enterprises, making his home {
at the time in the beautiful town of Selma,
where his declining years are being passed.
For a number of years John Ross has been a
local minister of the Methodist church, as was
his father before him, and his wife's people
were also prominently identified with the same
denomination, his father-in-law having been a
preacher of some note, in an early day, in
southern Indiana. Politically he was originally
a whig, later a republican, but at this time he
is an earnest supporter of the prohibition party.
Mrs. Eliza Ross was bom March 30, 1823, in
Wayne county, Ind., her jieople being among
the pioneer settlers of that i)art of the state.
Dr. John C. Ross was born on the home
farm in Nettle Creek township, Krndolph
county. May 10, 1844, and he received such
mental culture as was attainable in the coun-
try schools, which he attended at intervals
during the years of his minorit)-. He assisted
an elder brother in farming the place while
his father worked at millwrighting and carpen-
tering, and remained under the parental roof
until his twenty-fifth year. From his youth
to nearly middle life the doctor's health was
not very vigorous, having been greatly troubled
with attacks of nervous prostration, the effects
of which had a tendency to retard the devel-
opment of his physical powers, consequently
he grew up slim and somewhat dwarfed in
bodily vigor. Owing to overwork in the har-
vest field, while his father was in the army,
he became an invalid, and for the greater part
of the succeeding two years was unable to
perform much physical labor. It was during
this period that he turned his attention to the
study of medicine, and after being sufficiently
recovered he found employment at different
occupations, jiursuing his professional studies
during his hours of leisure, generally at night,
under the instruction of his physician. Dr. R.
L. Eikenberry. Later, he attended a course
of lectures at Cincinnati, after which he began
the practice at the town of Bethel, where his
success in the profession soon brought him into
favorable notice throughout the surrounding
neighborhoods. With a laudable desire to
increase his professional knowledge, the doc-
tor, subsequently, entered the Eclectic Medi-
cal college at Indianapolis, completing the
426
MUNCIE CITY
course in that institution in 1880, since which
time he has practiced with most gratifying
success in the city of Muncie. Dr. Ross'
professional career has more than met his
most sanguine expectations, the reputation
being awarded him as one of the most success-
ful practitioners of Muncie. With little to
encourage him in the undertaking, retarded, in
the beginning, by poor health, and with no
capital worthy of mention, he has succeeded
in surmounting the many obstacles by which
his pathway was beset, and winning for him-
self a conspicuous place among his professional
associates of Delaware county. It is a fact,
worthy of note, that in addition to his pro-
fessional success the doctor has regained his
physical vigor, and at this writing he is in full
possession of all his bodily and mental powers.
He is a man of fine presence and courteous
address, gentlemanly in his intercourse with
his fellow citizens, and possesses the esteem
of all with whom he comes in contact profes-
sionally or otherwise.
Dr. Ross was reared a republican but is
now a prohibitionist; he has always been an
uncompromising enemy of the liquor traffic,
never having taken a swallow of anything
intoxicating in his life nor prescribed it for a
paeient. He was made an Odd Fellow in
1866, since which time he has been an active
worker in the order, having passed all the
chairs in Energy lodge. No. 652; he also be-
longs to DeEmber tribe. No. 30, I. O. R. M.,
in which he has filled the various official posi-
tions, besides representing the society in the
grand council. Religiously he adheres to the
Methodist belief, in which he was reared; his
wife is a member of the German Baptist or
Dunkard church.
Dr. Ross was married August 23, 1S70, to
Miss Lucinda E. Stump, of Delaware county,
daughter of Joseph and Anna (Kessler) Stump;
five children have been born to this union,
namely: Nelson B., Artie M., Ralph W. ,
Lennie L. , and Roscoe C, all living.
aHARLES PARKER SAMPLE (de-
ceased), at one time one of the most
enterprising and prominent business
men of Muncie, was born in Conners-
ville, Ind. , July 19, 1830, and was a son of
Judge Thomas J. and Juliet (Watton) Sample.
Thomas J. Sample was a native of Maryland,
and, when a young man, went to Dayton,
Ohio, and was there married; from Dayton he
came to Indiana and located at Connersville,
where he was engaged in cabinet making for
eight or ten years, but the business did not
agree with his health. He therefore removed
to Yorktown, Delaware county, and engaged
in merchandising with Hon. Oliver H. Smith
as partner. While operating this store he be-
gan the study of law, by advice of Hon. Caleb
B. Smith and Hon. Samuel Parker, both mem-
bers of congress from Indiana at that time, and
both cousins of Mrs. Sample. He passed a
first class examination, was admitted to the
bar September, 1842, and came to Muncie in
1843, and began practice. He was a devout
Methodist, and always took the Bible to court
with him, and from it made copious quota-
tions. He was successful as a lawyer, and was
once called to Washington, D. C. , to confer
with President Lincoln on some knotty point.
The judge was also once engaged in the bank-
ing business, with Judge Byron Elliott, of In-
dianapolis, as partner. To his marriage with
Miss Watton, there were born two children,
Samuel and Charles P., the elder, Samuel,
having died at Connersville. Mrs. Sample died
a short time after coming with her husband to
Muncie. For his second wife he married Miss
Hannah Garst (sister of Dr. Garst), and, as
the result of this union, there are two daugh-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
427
ters livinf^, Mrs. Friedly, of Richmond, Ind. , and
Ada, wife of Charles Heberd, of Princeton,
Ind. Judge Sample passed away honored and
loved by all who knew him. Samuel Watton,
maternal ^grandfather of Charles Parker Sam-
ple, occupied a trader's cabin on the north
bank of White river, on the site of what is now
Riverside, and bought furs from the Indians
long before Muncie was laid out. He also en-
tered the tract of land that is now known as
Winton place, and lived and died there in a
log cabin, having only begun the present old
frame structure that marks the spot.
Charles Parker Sample came to Muncie
with his father April 13, 1843, and here at-
tended the common schools. Early during the
California gold excitement (in 1849), he was
attacked with the fever, and had packed his
wardrobe and got his outfit together ready for
a start for the auriferous fields, but, being an
only son, was dissuaded by his parents from
going. Having finished his education he was
met, about this time (1852), by Mr. A. F. Pat-
terson, who had been a practical tinner and
coppersmith at Cincinnati and at other points,
and a proposition was made that the two should
go into business together, and a co-partnership '
was finally consummated. Mr. Sample's father
furnished an amount of capital equal to that
supplied by Mr. Patterson, and the now part-
ners opened a tin shop near where Mr. Bald- ,
win's grocery store now is, on east Main street. I
Mr. Sample kept the books and Mr. Patterson
managed the mechanical department. The t
■business prospered, and sales were large both j
in the store and by wagons placed on the road.
In 1854, they bought the "Pioneer" hardware ,
store from Neal McCullough, who went to
Anderson to engage in the banking business,
and stoves, hardware, and tinware became
specialties. For twenty-one years the partners j
carried on business together, when failing
health admonished Mr. Sample that rest was I
necessary, and consequently the store was sold.
About this time Mr. James Boyce made his
appearanci-, and Mr. Sample, through his large
acquaintance, became of great use to the former
in introducing his flax and bagging business to
the citi;;ens of Delaware county. After an
inter\al of three years Mr. Sample and Mr.
Patterson re-united, bought back the 'Pioneer"
hardware store, and resumed the old trade,
which was continued until the partnership was
dissolved by the death of Mr. Sampli\ .\ugust
29, 1873. Mr. Sample was a Knight Templar,
an active member of the Methodist church
since 1853, was its treasurer, and was an ardent
Sabbath school worker, serving as secretary
many years. He was recognized as one of the
best and most progressive business men of
Muncie, and had the implicit trust of all others.
At the death of Mr. Burson, he was selected
for a time to till the position of president of
the Burson bank, and he was called upon to
fill many other positions of trust. The marriage
of Mr. Sample took place May 2, 1854, to
Miss Mary J. Graham, a native of Sulphur
Springs, W. Va. , and daughter of James and
Jane (Armstrong) Graham, of Cambridge City,
Ind. , and to this most congenial union were
born four children, of whom three are still
living, \i/.: Karl G., general manager of the
Muncie Ice company, C. Watton, in the insur-
ance and loan business, and Charles Parker at
home. Thomas Melville died in infancy. In
all therelationsof father, husband, son, brother
and friend he was considerate, affectionate and
faithful, and generous and charitable to a fault.
and in l)usiness he was careful, systematic and
strictly honest, even to the slightest detail.
The life of Mr. Sample was such as to well
deserve the admiration of the public in gen-
eral, but more particularly does it afford an
example for the emulation of the aspiring
young man, be he merchant or mechanic, who
seeks fortune and pronn'ncnce.
428
MUNCIE CITY
KARL G. SAMPLE, vice-president and
general manager of the Muncie Ice
company, and the son of Charles
Parker and Mary (Graham) Sample,
whose sketch is published above, is a native
of Muncie, Ind. , and was born July lo, 1857.
He received his preliminary education at the
Muncie schools, quitting in 1874 to attend the
Asbury (Ind.) university in 1874-75. He
then went into the machine shop of W. S.
Phelps, of Muncie, learned the trade of ma-
chinist, and then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and
worked for the Blymeyer Manufacturing com-
pany; later, worked in the shops of the Mun-
cie Foundry & Machine works, and, after-
ward, in the machine shops of the O. & M.
Railroad company at Pana, 111. ; the Murray
Iron works, Burlington, Iowa; the Richmond
Machine works, Richmond, Ind. ; the Lake
Erie & Western Railroad company's shops at
Lima, Ohio; the Wabash Railroad company's
works at Peru, Ind; and the Louisville &
Nashville railroad company's works at Louis-
ville, Ky.
He next became proprietor of a gas fitting
shop in Muncie, and in December, 1891, was
employed as manager of the Muncie Ice com-
pany's plant, and in November, 1892, pur-
chased the interest of John R. Ervin, and later
was elected vice-president of the company,
still retaining the general management. This
company has a capacity of fifteen tons per
day, manufactures its ice from condensed
steam, by the absorption plan, and keeps in
employment fifteen men and five teams, run-
ning night and day. Mr. Sample has proven
himself to be skillful, industrious and adroit,
not only at his trade, but in his present voca-
tion, and his standing in the community as a
moral and exemplary young man is such as
affords the keenest satisfaction to his friends
and more immediate acquaintances, and per-
haps is gratifying to himself.
Vt'OHN FARNSWORTH SANDERS (de-
M ceased), a prominent member of the
A 1 Muncie bar, was born January 8, 1837,
in Butler county, Ohio, the only child
of Wyatt and Susan Sanders. From sketches
published by different newspapers on the
occasion of his death the following facts are
taken: " His mother died when he was about
two years of age, and his father, a few years
later, moving to Delaware county, Ind., and
marrying the second wife, the lot of the young
boy became any thing but a happy one.
When yet a lad he received an injury of the
hip, the effects of which made him a cripple
for life, and during his later years he became a
great sufferer from the" injury."
" As a young man Mr. Sanders was pos-
sessed of an ambition to leave the drudgery of
farm life, to which he was unfitted by reason
of his physical disability, and take up the pro-
fession of the law; and while yet on crutches
he worked for neighboring farmers at ditching,
chopping wood and other hard labor, until he
had accumulated several hundred dollars for
that purpose. In 1865 he came to Muncie
and began reading law in the office of Shipley
& Kilgore. To keep down expenses he
boarded himself in an obscure back room, and
in order to husband his little store of money
did such odd jobs of manual labor as time and
opportunity offered. After beginning the
practice of his profession he was elected jus-
tice of the peace, which position offered a
considerable advantage to a young man begin-
ning the law."
"Mr. Sanders was admitted to the bar April
22, 1867, from which date until within a short
time of his death, he continued the practice in
Muncie very successfully, with the result of
securing a large and lucrative business and ac-
cumulating a handsome fortune. He pos-
sessed strong, quick brain force and great
determination, and few men would have sue-
J. F. SANDERS.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
429
ceeded in life as he did, were they handicapped
as was he from childhood up. In politics, he
was a republican, and while strong in his
faith at times asserted his independence of
party. In religious matters he acted inde-
pendently of churches and creeds, but always
expressed himself as ready for death and be-
lieved that he and his family would be happily
reunited in the great beyond. Mr. Sanders
took an active interest in the work carried on
b\- the benevolent and secret societies, and
among other positions held by him in such or-
ganizations was that of great sachem of the
Improved Order of Red Men of the state of
Indiana."
"Mr. Sanders was married April 2, 1868,
to Miss Millie J. Barnes, daughter of William
and Eveline (Wachtell) Barnes, who proved a
faithful and worthy helpmeet and whose ten-
der ministrations during his years of affliction
are well known and commended on all sides.
They had no children. Mr. Sanders was a
good citizen, a kind neighbor and a firm
friend. He believed implicitly in the future
of Muncie and rendered substantial aid to the
various movements having for their object the
upbuilding of the city. His death occurred,
after a five weeks' illness, on the 14th day of
November, 1892."
Additional to the above the following
tribute to his worth as a man and citizen is
taken from an address delivered by one who
knew him long and intimately, on the occasion
of his funeral: "He was a great student of
the mysticisms and theologies of the past and
present. He was not a believer in the creeds
and dogmas of church as commonly told, but
he was often heard at the shrine of the be-
loved order in whose faith he died reverently
to proclaim 'I believe in the Great Spirit.'
"His soul was content in the faith that the
Father who knew of the errors of his children
would more certainly bless their virtues and
forgive their shortcomings. His life was a
model of faith. It was strong, hojifful and
lasting. He went down through the valle}'
and shadow of death conscious of his approach-
ing end. At the River he lingered for a mo-
ment. His passage was not obstructed, but
his soul looked once more upon the relatives
and friends whom he had so shortly told he
would meet in his eternal home on the other
shore. The grave had no terrors for him and
he awaited death as one friend waited for
another."
Mr. Sanders had only turned the meridian
of life; he had struggled witii poverty and
suflered with bodily afflictions as few nf the
sons of men ever did. In every station he
filled he reflected honor upon himself and the
community, and in the true sense in which the
term is used his life was indeed a most signal
success.
K^^ EV. WILLIAM GEORGE SCHMIDT,
I /«^ pastor of the St. Lawrence Catholic
l_^P church of Muncie, is a native of Ger-
many, born in the province of Nas-
sau, on the 5th day of February, 1852. His
father. Christian Schmidt, also born in Ger-
many, was by occupation a carpenter, and
came to the United States in 1856, locating
first in New York, thence moving to Wisconsin
and working at his trade in both of these states.
He returned to his native country in 1S60, and
one year later brought his family to the United
States and settled at the town of Mineral
Point, Wis., where he followed his calling until
his death, which occurred on the 29th day of
January, 1862. His wife, whose maiden name
was Elizabeth Blum, came to Muncie, Ind.,
and resided with her son, William George,
until called to her final rest, October 31, 1889.
Christian and Elizabeth Schmidt were the
MUNCIE CITY
parents of six ch-ldren, namely: Mary, de-
ceased; Elizabeth, John, William, Margaret
and Nettie.
Rev. William George Schmidt received his
early education in the schools of his native
country, which he attended for three years,
and the schools of Mineral Point, Wis., where
he pursued his studies for two years after
coming to the United States. Subsequently,
he attended a denominational school of his i
church for one year, and then became a student i
of Calvary college, Fon du Lac, Wis., in
which institution he pursued his studies for a
period of two years with the object of entering
the priesthood. For some time thereafter he was
engaged as salesman in a mercantile house at
Warren, 111. ; later was similarly employed for
a limited period at Dodgeville, Wis. , and then
entered the seminary of St. Francis, at Mil-
waukee, of which he remained a student for
three and one-half years. He continued his 1
theological studies for two and one-half years
at Mt. St. Mary's seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio,
and after completing his course in that institu-
tion, was ordained priest on the 19th day of
December, 1874, and given his first charge at
Muncie, Ind. He assumed pastoral control of
the church in this city on the 28th day of Jan-
uary, 1875, since which time his success in I
building up the St. Lawrence congregation has
been most gratifying. He found a church com- |
paratively weak in numbers and meeting for i
worship in an old and somewhat indifferent '
structure, but under his judicious leadership
the congregation has increased very rapidly,
making the erection of a building of enlarged
proportions a necessity. For some time Father
Schmidt has been compelled to hold two serv-
ices each Sabbath in order to accommodate
the worshipers, and he is now building a mag-
nificent structure, which, when completed,
will be one of the largest and most imposing
church edifices in Muncie, and will cost at least
$35,000, and stand an enduring monument to
the energy, perseverance and wise forethought
of a beloved pastor. Father Schmidt is a
man of broad and liberal views, a fluent and
logical pulpit orator, a wise and faithful pastor,
and, since locating in Muncie, has greatly en-
deared himself to the members of his immedi-
ate flock and earned the good will of all, irre-
spective of church or creed.
@EORGE SHAFER, a deceased pio-
neer of Centre township, Delaware
county, Ind., was a native of Wur-
temberg, Germany, born February
25, 1800. His parents, too, were both natives
of Wurtemberg. His father, John A. Shafer,
was born January 15, 1775, and his mother,
Sabina Leiben (before marriage), was born
December 2, 1772. By this union George
was the eldest of eight children — three sons
and five daughters — namely: George, Catha-
rine, Adam, Rosanna, Christina, Barbara, Sa-
bina and Jacob, all of whom grew to maturity,
married and became heads of families. With
this large family, having but limited means,
John A. Shaffer thought best to emigrate to
the new world. Accordingly, on the 19th of
September, 1819, they left their native country,
went to Amsterdam, Holland, and there took
passage on ship-board for Baltimore, Md.,
where they arrived February 25, 1820 — the
twentieth birthday of the subject of this
sketch. Promptly thereafter they proceeded
to Ohio — first, by wagon to Brownsville, Pa ,
on the Monongahela river, and from there by
flatboat to Portsmouth, Ohio. Here his
father, John A. Shafer, at first rented land
near Portsmouth and began farming. How-
ever, after a brief period, he purchased 100
acres in the same vicinity, and commenced
clearing and cultivating. Thus in the acqui-
J. W. SHAFER,
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
481
sition of property they prospered, yet sorrow
and sadness awaited their household. Mrs.
Shafer, the mother, died in the fall of 1822, a
little more than two years after their arrival.
Ten years subsequently. Father Shafer re-
moved to Hamilton county, Ind., where, until
his death, July 8, 1870, he continued to live.
In the spring of i 832 — the same year his father
removed to Hamilton county — George Shafer
came to Delaware county., Ind. After enter-
ing 160 acres, about one and a half miles to the
west of the then village of Muncietown, and after
engaging some neighbors to build for him a
cabin, he returned to Ohio for his family. Early
in the fall of that year found them all comfort-
ably settled at their new Indiana home. And
upon this land he resided until his death, proud
of holding his title by a deed from the hand of
President Jackson, for whom he cast his first
ballot. Prior to his removal to this county, on
September ZJ , 1827, he wedded Miss Martha
Wilcoxon, of Scioto, Ohio, and by this union,
on September 19, 1828, their little daughter,
Margaret, was born. Subsequent to their arri-
val, four other children came to bless their
pioneer home, namely: Sabina Leiben, born
October 19, 1834; Levin W. , born August 8,
1837; John Willard, born July 27, 1842; and
lastly Louisa Ann, born May 27, 1845,. But
sorrow and sadness awaited another prosperous,
happy fireside. Baby, Louisa Ann, died Sep-
tember 3, 1846, and August 18, 1848, followed
Martha, the fond wife and mother. A second
time Mr. Shafer gave his hand in marriage, on
May II, 1 85 1. Catherine Bradrick this time
became his companion and helpmeet. She was
born July 8, 1808. She proved a genial, faith-
ful wife while she lived, but she, too, was called
from the shores of Time, dying October 11,
I 879. Three children survive the last marriage,
namely: Margaret, wife of Hiram W. Weir, a
prosperous farmer of Mount Pleasant township;
Levin W. , a successful attorney of Greenfield,
Dade county. Mo., and John W , a skctrh of
whom appears below .
Mr. Shafer was a man of great industry
and severe toil, caring well for his family. To
schools and the advancement of education he
was ever a friend, and to public enterprises
having an advancing tendency he ever gave a
cheerful support. He was a man of peace and
good will to all, and never in his life participa-
ted in a case of litigation. In religion he was
a Lutheran, but in 1S49, his belief being modi-
fied, he united with the Wesleyan Methodists,
and until the time of his death he adhered to
the doctrine of that denomination. In politics
he was a democrat. The death of this veteran
pioneer occurred September 16, 1891.
>T^OHN W. SHAFEK, son of George and
m Martha (Wilcoxson) Shafer, was born in
A 1 Centre township, Delaware county,
Ind., June i-j , 1S42. He received a
practical English education in the common
schcols and grew to manhood on the home
farm, where he early learned those lessons of
industry and thrift by which his subsequent
years have been characterized. At the age of
twenty-two he began the pursuit of agriculture
upon his own responsibility upon the old home-
stead, where he has ever since resided, and
which he now owns. He looked after his par-
ents' interests in their declining years, and,
November 22, 1874, was united in marriage
with. Miss Mary E. Howell, of Mount Pleas-
ant township, where her birth occurred, April
21, 1853. Mrs. Shafer is the daughter of Dan-
iel and Mary (McKinley) Howell, a mention of
whom will be found elsewhere in these pages.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shafer have
been born four children, namely: George D. ,
Bessie, Robie ^^'. and Lina.
On the 24th day of May, 1864, Mr. Shafer
432
MUNCIE CITY
enlisted in company G, One Hundred Thirty-
fourth Indiana volunteer infantry, for the hun-
dred days' service, and was honorably dis-
charged at Indianapolis, September 2, of the
following year. He has devoted all his life to
agriculture and stock raising, and is one of the
representative citizens of Delaware county.
He owns a fine farm of 120 acres of valuable
land, upon which are some of the best improve-
ments in the township. Mr. Shafer's influence
in the community has always been salutary,
and he is held in high esteem by a large circle
of friends in the township where he resides.
From his parents, he naturally inherited gen-
erous impulses and a sympathizing heart,
which, combined with pure aims and honorable
dealings, have made him a friend to all with
whom he has had business or other rela-
tions. He is a member of Muncie tribe. No.
144, Improved Order of Red Men, and he has
always been an earnest friend and liberal
patron of all movements having for their aim
the general welfare of the community.
*y-» EE SHAW, the principal facts of
i r whose career are herewith set forth,
I \ is the efficient secretary of the Mun-
cie Natural Gas company, and one of
the city's well known and popular business
men. His father, Isaac M. Shaw, a native of
Ohio, moved to Wayne county, Ind., in 1847,
and for some years thereafter carried on a suc-
cessful fanning mill manufactory at Centre-
ville. Subsequently, he embarked in the mer-
cantile trade at Winchester, Ind. , with but very
little knowledge of the business; his venture
proved a financial failure, entailing an almost
complete loss of the savings of many years of
industry. After the loss of his wealth, which at
the time of commencing merchandising was
considerable, he followed various enterprises
until his death, which occurred in the year
1872, at Winchester. Isaac M. Shaw was
married about the year 1 840 to Margaret Ash-
well, of Morrow county, Ohio, who departed
this life in 1886, at the age of seventy-four
years. Of the seven children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Shaw four are living at this time, viz. :
Lee, Benjamin P., Elmer and Melcena, wife
of W. W. Wilson, of Farmland.
Lee Shaw was born April 6, 1845, in Mor-
row county, Ohio, and was brought to Indiana
by his parents when two years of age. In the
schools of Centreville and Winchester, which
he attended at intervals until his sixteenth
year, he obtained the rudiments of an English
education, and at the early age of twelve,
by reason of his father's business failure, he
j was thrown upon his own resources, from
I which time until sixteen he was variously em-
ployed. About the year 1861 he went into
the office of the Big 4 railroad at Winchester
(then the Bee Line) as errand boy and general
helper, etc., in which capacity he continued
i for two year?, and then began learning teleg-
I raphy, soon becoming quite proficient as a
I manipulator of the key. His first and only
position as an operator was at Anderson,
where he remained a short time, then entered
! the employ of the United States Express
' company as messenger, and later acted
as agent for the same at different points
for a period of thirteen years. For four
years he had exclusive charge of the money
department of the company at Indianapolis,
but owing to failing health, superinduced by
too close attention to the duties of the posi-
tion, he was compelled to resign, after which
for one year he had charge of the office at
Muncie. Severing his connection with the
express company, Mr. Shaw next entered the
railway service of the Bee Line (now Big 4)
road, and for some years was local agent at
Anderson, Union City and Muncie, in the or-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
der named. In January, 1SS7, he retired
from the road and became secretary nf tlie
Muncie Natural Gas company, organized that
year, and has since held that position, dis-
charging the duties incident thereto with credit
to himself and satisfaction to the corporation.
Mr. Shaw is an accomplished business man,
fully alive to the interests of the company
with which he has so long been identified, and
is thorcughly familiar with all details pertain-
ing to the natural gas business. Since taking
charge of the books of the corporation, he has
instituted a number of new and greatly im-
proved methods relative to consumers and
their accounts, his services in this regard alone
being highly valuable to the company in econ-
omizing both time and e.xpense, besides being
duly appreciated by the public. Politically
Mr. Shaw's allegiance is with the republican
party; fraternally he is a Mason of high
standing, having taken a number of degrees in
the order, including that of Sir Knight. In
the year 1874 he was united in marriage to
Miss Rose Ross, daughter of John H. and
Rebecca (Fleming) Ross; two children, Lottie
and Amie, are the result of the union.
@RAXVILLE W. SHEPP, the efficient
chief of the fire department of Mun-
cie, Ind., was born in Dayton, Mont-
gomery county, Ohio, September i ,
1857, a son of B. F. and Fily (Cliclincej Shepp,
who both were born in Shenandoah county,
\'a. , near Stanton, and when children taken to
Ohio, where they were reared. They were
married in Washington, Fayette county, Ind.,
where Mr. Shepp engaged in farming until
1872, when he located in Delaware county,
Ind., which was his home until 1892, when he
removed to Muncie, of which city he is now a
resident. He and his wife are the parents of
fourteen children, thirte
Politically Mr. Shepp, Sr
was a soldier in the lat(
of whom survive.
s a republican, and
ar. Both he and
I-pis
his wife are members of the Metii
pal church.
("iranville W. Shepp was reared in Dayton.
Ohio, until the age of seventeen years, receiv-
ing only a limited education. He then engaged
in teaming, but removed to Delaware county,
Ind., in 1872, and in 1882 engaged in teaming
in the Cumberland mountains in Kentucky.
August I, 1883, he returned to Delaware
county, entering the fire department of the city
of Muncie, driving the hose wheel from August
to October, at which time he took the posi-
tion of driver of the chemical engine and re-
tained it until 1S91. On June 8, 1891, he was
appointed chief of the department, and so
faithfully did he perform the duties of the posi-
tion that he was elected in 1892. Mr. Shepp
was married August 22, 1880, to Miss Emma
F. Safer, who was born in Centre township,
April 17, 1863, daughter of Martin and Mi-
nerva (Wireman) Shafer, natives of Pennsylva-
nia and Indiana, of German descent. Mr. and
Mrs. Shepp are the parents of three children
— Carl W. , Nellie F. and Lone F. Socially
Mr. Shepp is a member of the Foresters, be-
longs to Preston lodge of Red Men, No. 145
and is a Knight of Pythias. Politically Mr.
Shejip is a republican and a stanch supjiortcr
of party principles. Mrs. Shepp is a consist-
ent member of the the Baptist church.
m:
'ILLIAM P. SHERRY is the son of
Ua\id and Cynthia A. (Kirkpatrick)
Sherry, and was born on the Missin-
nawa river, near the town of Eaton,
Union township, Delaware county, Ind.. Janu-
ar}- 28, 1 84 1. His early life was principally
spent in Union and Niles townships in clearing
MUNCIE CITY
up the wild waste of woods of that section,
and in other labor, with all the attending joys
and privations incident to the early settlement
of the county. In consequence of this, and in
common with other boys of that time, he had
only the benefits of the common schools about
three months in the year, hence received only
the elementary branches of education. He had
just started for himself by working on a farm
by the month when the late war began. He
enlisted in the spring of 1862, in company K,
Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteer infantry, under
Capt. Milton Peden, for a term of three years.
His regiment was attached to the army of the
Cumberland at Camp Wickliffe, near Bowling
Green, Ky. , and participated in nearly all of
the great battles of the south and west, his
first battle of note being that of Shiloh, where
for two memorable days he was constantly
under fire, the next being the battle of Cornith,
Miss., whence he followed the rebel army, under-
Gen. Braxton Bragg, through the states of Ala-
bama, Tennessee and Kentucky, and sharing
in all the skirmishes and various engagements
in the record of the marches and countermarches
of this famous organization at different points
on the great map of its bloody field of opera-
tion, notable amongst them being the battle of
T'erryville and Wild Cat Mountains, Ky. , also
Nashville and Stone River, Tenn. On the his-
toric field of Stone River Mr. Sherry was wound-
ed December 31, 1862, by a minie ball, which
passed through the right leg below the knee.
He was then sent to the hospital at Nashville,
Tenn. After being wounded he was for three
hours within the rebel lines and was not taken
from the field until the foe was driven back by the
Union forces. He returned to his command at
Camp Cripple Creek, Tenn., and afterward par-
ticipated in the battles at Chattanooga, Chicka-
mauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge,
and later on in the famous Atlanta campaign,
which lasted one hundred days and nights, in
which some portion of the army was engaged at
different points, some of which were Tunnel Hill,
Resaca, Rocky Face Ridge, Kenesaw Moun-
tain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy's Station.
At this latter point the time of service of the
Thirty-sixth Indiana regiment expired and Mr.
Sherry was transferred to company A, Thirty-
first Indiana volunteer infantry, to serve out his
unexpired term, and went with it, in the com-
mand of Gen. Geo. H. Thomas, in pursuit of the
rebel army under Gen. Hood. He took part in
the decisive battle of Franklin, Tenn., after
which the army fell back to Nashville, where
Hood's army was defeated by Gen. Thomas.
The Thirty-first Indiana was then sent to
Knoxville, Tenn , where, in the spring of 1865,
our subject's term of enlistment expired, and
on his return home he had the pleasure of
hearing the big guns firing a salute in glorifica-
tion of the fall of Richmond. After his arrival
he engaged to work in a sawmill for Henry and
Jacob Stiffler, in Monroe township, Delaware
county. Here he married, December 13, 1867,
Miss Susan Ross, daughter of William Perry
Ross, of Monroe township, and engaged in
farming in that township until 1873, when his
wife died and was buried in Rees graveyard,
on White river. Four children were born to
them; three died in infancy and rest beside
their mother.
In the year 1874 Mr. Sherry removed to
Mount Pleasant township, where he also en-
gaged in farming for six years, and afterward
he farmed with John Cassell in the west part of
Centre township for four years, and still later
on with Jacob Keesling, and then purchased a
farm at or near the "Six-mile house," in Ham-
ilton township. He continued in this voca-
tion more or less until his election as sheriff of
Delaware county, in November, 1892 In
politics Mr. Sherry has always been a republi-
can, and cast his first vote for Gen. Grant,
having been in the army when he first became
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
485
of voting age. He received the luxt iiighest
number of votes when O. H. Swain was nomi-
nated for sheriff, and at the subseciuent contest
lie was nominated overall competitors by a large
pluralit}-, and ran ahead of his party ticket at
the general election. He assumed charge of
iiis office on August 28, 1893, with his son,
Milton Sherry, as his efficient and courteous
deputy. Mr. Sherry has well earned all hon-
ors thus bestowed by a life of good antl con-
scientious citizenship, and a faithful and
honorable service as a soldier for the perpetu-
ation of the Union, and is now a member in
good standing in Williams post. No. 78, de-
partment of Indiana, G. A. R. and the I. O.
R. M. at Muncie, Ind.
His father, David Sherry, was horn in
southern Ohio in 181 3, and died in June, 1893,
lacking but twenty days of being eighty years
of age. He moved with his father, Daniel
Boone Sherry, the grandfather of William P.
Sherry to southern Indiana when a small boy,
and settled first in Ripley county, and later
moved to Rush county, Ind., followed farm-
ing, and there the father of our subject was
married to Cynthia Ann Kirkpatrick, as afore-
said, and soon thereafter moved to Union
township, Delaware county, Ind., where he
entered eighty acres of land — this was about
the year 1835. The grandfather, Daniel
Boone Sherry, came with his family at about
the same time and passed the balance of his
life there, leaving four sons and one daughter:
Absalom, Nicholas, John, Sarah, and David,
who have all died. The old man and all his
sons were honest, hardworking men, good
citizens and were especially noted as hunters.
Sheriff Sherry is the youngest of three
children — a sister, Melissa, who married John-
son Hazelbaker and who died soon after her
marriage, leaving no children, and John W.
Sherry, who is now a farmer in Ness county,
Kan. His father married for his second wife
La Rue Hattrell, wju. b..re him a s.-n and
daughter; Daniel W. Slieny is a wt-il rdurated
man and is engaged in farming and school
teaching, also in Ness county, Kan. ; Sarah is
the wife of David Snider, a prosperous farmer
of Blackford county. His father was a mem-
ber of the Dunkard church, and, like those of
that persuasion, was an honest man and good
citizen.
\y^\ AMD HENRY HARRISON SHEW-
I I MAKER was born November 16,
>^^^ 1840, in Harrison county, Ind. His
father, Tandy Shewmaker, was a
nati\e of Kentucky and his mother a native of
Virginia. His father was a soldier in the war
of 1 81 2 and belonged to the famous cavalry of
Col. Dick Johnson, taking part in the battle of
the Thames, in which the noted chief Tecum-
seh was killed. In 1820 he came to Indiana
and settled in the wilderness of Harrison coun-
ty, where he cleared and improved a farm.
There he was engaged in agricultural pursuits
until 1872, when he died at the advanced age
of ninety-four years. D. H. H. .Shewmaker
worked on the farm with his father until the
outbreak of the rebellion, when he was enrolled
a member of the Third Indiana cavalry — a part
of the army of the Potomac. He was mustered
into service with his regiment June 22, 1861,
and took part in the battles around Richmond,
under Gen. McClellan; also the battles of
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville. During the Gettysburg cam-
paign he received a severe gunshot wound,
from which he never recovered. He did not
permit this injury to interfere with his service
to the Union, however, and followed Grant iti
his victorious campaign against Petersburg
and Richmond, taking part in all general en-
gagements, beside numerous skirmishes. His
436
MUNCIE CITY
regiment, which was a part of Gen. Phil.
Sheridan's famous cavalry, was commanded by
Col. Geo. H. Chapman, of Indianapolis, who
was afterward elevated to the rank of briga-
dier general. At the close of the war Mr.
Shewmaker returned to his home, and, in
1865, married Miss Nancy Abigail McRea,
daughter of Franklin and Rachel (Sands)
McRea. They are the parents of three chil-
dren, named, respectively, Delia, Emma and
Walter, all now living to bless the home circle.
At the age of sixteen years Mr. Shewmaker
taught his first school, and, with the exception
of the time spent in the army, has since de-
voted his time and talents to that profession.
Beginning in the district schools of the county,
he has steadily advanced to the front as a
teacher. He was principal of the graded
schools at Elizabeth, Harrison county, Ind.,
for four years and taught one term at York-
town, in Delaware county, where he organized
the graded schools. In 1874 he was appointed
principal of the Jefferson school at Muncie, a
position he filled with eminent ability for a
period of eight years. For one year he held
the position of principal of the Muncie high
school, and afterward became principal of the
Washington schools, which position, by suc-
cessive reappointments, he has held for ten
consecutive years. He has displayed great
tact in school government, studying carefully
the dispositions of his pupils and endeavoring
to control them by kindness rather than by
hard measures. It is a fact worthy of note
that only two suspensions have occurred in the
Washington building during the period of his
incumbency as principal. He is enthusiastic in
the cause of pubhc education, and devotes a
great deal of his time to the encouragement
and assistance of teachers' institutes throughout
the county. He is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and unites the virtues of a
christian gentleman with his ability as a teacher.
Politically Prof. Shewmaker has ever been
an earnest supporter of the republican party
and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln
for the presidency. He was nominated and
elected a member of the common council of
Muncie in the spring of 1888, re-elected in
1890, and retired from the position in 1892,
and to his untiring efforts is largely due the
credit of the successful prosecution and com-
pletion of the first street railway in Muncie.
In the spring of 1889, in partnership with his
son-in-law, H. Marsh Jackson, Prof. Shew-
maker embarked in the retail drug trade,
which he carried on until the fall of 1889. In
1880 he had charge of the United States cen-
sus enumeration in the city of Muncie and did
the entire work in the gathering of the statis-
tics, but in 1890, owing to the increased popu-
lation, was assisted in the work by several
enumerators. In Masonic circles Prof. Shew-
maker has filled official positions in the local
lodge. His name also appears as one of the
organizers upon the charter of Williams post,
No. 78, G. A. R.
*-j-* EONARD SHICK was born in Mus-
I r kingum county, Ohio, April 27, 1827,
II ^ a son of Jacob and Barbara (Kline)
Shick, the former having been born
in Bucks county. Pa., in 1796, and the latter
in Virginia, in 1816. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob
Shick were married in Muskingum county,
where they engaged in farming and remained
until 1 85 1, when they removed to Blackford
county, Ind. , where Mr. Shick engaged in the
mercantile business, following it for two years.
At that time they returned to their old home,
but three years later removed to Knightstown,
Henry county, Ind., where for the following
three years Mr. Shick was engaged as keeper
of the toll gate. The family then moved to
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
487
Cambridge, where, again, Mr. Shick engaged
in keeping the gate, remaining one year, at
which time he located at Muncie and remained
one year. His next removal was to Mont-
pelier, Ind., where he started a general mer-
chandise store, but finally removed to Hart-
ford City, where he and his wife spent their
last days, the former dying in January, 1885,
and the latter in 1887. They had been mem-
bers of the Lutheran church. Politically Mr.
Shick was a democrat, and a straightforward,
careful, business man. Nine children were
born to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Shick, as
follows: John, a resident of Hartford City,
Ind.; Elizabeth J., of Hartford City; Cathe-
rine, of Red Key, Jay county; Leonard, whose
name opens this sketch; Maria and Henry,
deceased; Nancy, wife of S. Brough; Jacob K. ,
of Hartford City; and ^^'illiam, a retail mer-
chant of Muncie.
Leonard Shick was reared on the home
farm until he had arrived at his majority, at
which time he engaged in the tinning business
in Hartford City, continuing there two years.
Not being altogether satisfied, he took a course
of two months under John Davis, of Wabash,
where he learned the finer points of his trade.
From there he went to Winchester, where he
worked for three months under instruction, by
which time he had become a thoroughly com-
petent workman, and in 1853 came to Muncie,
where he engaged in journey work for George
Divon. Here he remained for a year and a
half, when he bought the business from his
employer and carried it on for the two follow-
ing years. Selling the shop, he then engaged
in work on a farm in this county for one season,
but subsequent!}- went back to jouraey work,
engaging with Patterson & Sample for six
months, at the end of which time he bought
the tinning portion of the trade of his employ-
ers, worked it four months alone, and then took
in Job Swain as a partner, with whom he car-
ried on business for the six succeeding months,
and then sold and went to Lafayette. At the
latter place Mr. Shick followed his trade for
three months, when he went to Annapolis,
where he remained two months, and then, re-
turning to Muncie, entered the stove and tin-
ware trade with his brother, William Shick.
This firm continued for some time, but was
finally bought out by John Burt, and Mr. Shick
went into a general tinning business, remain-
ing in the same for a few months. He then
bought a half interest in the same trade and
engaged in it for one year, when he and his
partner combined queensware and hardware,
selling these two commodities for two years, at
which time the queensware department was
closed out, and a more complete stock of hard-
ware was added. After ten years Mr. Shick
bought out his brother's interest and took his son
as a partner, the latter carrying on the business
for five years, when he sold it to Martin, Young &
Kessler. Mr. Shick then bought a farm of 190
acres, to which he has since devoted his entire
attention, moving into his farmhouse N(i\cm-
ber 28, 1890.
Mr. Shick was married in this county,
February 13, 1853, to Psyche Jewel, a native
of this county, daughter of Zeigle and Rachel
(Hobaugh) Jewel, and five children were born
of this marriage, as follows: Charles, of Mun-
cie, Ind. ; Eldora, who married Eli Hoover, a
wholesale and retail dealer in cigars and
tobacco in Muncie; Kate, died August 2, 1876;
Carrie, died September 19, 1864, and Ger-
trude, wife of Quince Walling, superintendent
of the water works of Muncie. Mrs. Shick
died March 10, 1886, and her remains rest in
Beech Grove cemetery. Mr. Shick again
married, April i, 1889, in Muncie, his second
wife being Louisa Turner, born in this county,
and daughter of Ephraim and Martha (Bal-
bridge) Turner, natives of Tennessee and
Henry county, Ind., the former born in 1828,
438
MUNCIE CITY
the latter, May 30, 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Tur-
ner were married in Delaware county in 1849
and became the parents of nine children, four
of whom survive. Two children have been
born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shick —
Lylah Arminell, born December 29, 1889, and
Leonard Turner, born May 18, 1891. Mr.
Shick and wife are prominent members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr.
Shick is a trustee. Politically Mr. Shick is a
republican, a prominent and well known man
in his neighborhood. He is proprietor of the
Shick book store, his son Charles being the
efficient manager of the same.
aHARLES A. SHICK.— The business
interests of Muncie, Ind., are well
looked after, and among the success-
ful and judicious men who manage
the affairs of the pleasant little city may be
mentioned Charles A. Shick, who was born in
Delaware county, Ind., January 20, 1854, a
son of Leonard Shick, whose biography ap-
pears above. Mr. Shick was educated in the
city schools of Muncie, and this instruction
was supplemented, in 1875, by a course in the
Miami Commercial college, which he attended
for six months. Following this he engaged in
the hardware business with his father, in this
county, until the retirement of the elder Mr.
Shick from business, when Charles went on
the fairm for a period of four years, and then
engaged in the book business. He now han-
dles all grades of books, stationery, art mate-
rials, wall papers, etc., and is carrying on a
very successful trade. Mr. Shick was married
in this city, January 2, 1881, to Miss Mary E.
Brundage, who was born in Mercer, Ohio, No-
vember 26, 1857, a daughter of W. S. and
SarahJ. (Dickerson) Brundage, natives of Ohio,
of German descent. Two children, Leonard
and Cornelia, have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Shick. In politics he is a republican, ready to
uphold the principles of his party on all occa-
sions, and is a member of the fraternal orders
of I. O. O. F. and Junior Order of American
Mechanics.
HRTHUR L. SHIDELER, a rising
attorney and prominent young busi-
ness man of Muncie, Ind., was born
in Grant county, Ind., February 25,
i860, a son of John W. and Caroline M. (Dol-
man) Shideler, natives of Grant county, where
the mother died. Mr. Shideler, Sr. , came to
Muncie, Ind., in October, 1873, and engaged
in business, but died in Indianapolis in the
year 1888. Arthur L. Shideler came to Mun-
cie with his father. He received his education
in the Jonesboro Normal school, and in the
Muncie high school, after which he engaged as
clerk in George W. Stephenson's dry goods
house, of which, in 1882, he was admitted as
a partner. In the fall of 1883 Mr. Benjamin
F. Bratton bought the interest of Mr. Stephen-
son, and the firm of Bratton & Shideler con-
tinued the business until March, 1889, when
they disposed of the stock. At this time Mr.
Shideler took up the study of law, and after
becoming proficient in the profession was ad-
mitted to the Delaware county bar in Novem-
ber, 1890, and at once entered upon the
active practice in Muncie, which he continued
until 1893, when he became bookkeeper of
the Merchants' National bank of Muncie, or-
ganized in March of that year. Politically,
Mr. Shideler is a democrat, and as such was
elected city clerk in 1890, overcoming a de-
cided republican majority. He served in this
capacity until the fall of 1892, and was then
the democratic candidate for prosecuting at-
torney, but failed of an election owing to the
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
great majority of the opposition. He is a
member of the I. O O. F. and of the order of
Red Men, also being secretar\- of the Gray
club and a member of the Citi/iens' Enter-
prise company. Mr. Shideler was married, in
1879, to Miss Flora E. Jones, daughter of
William W. Jones of Centre township, Dela-
ware county, and is the father of three inter-
esting children, Fred W. , Helen R. and
Caroline M. The family is one which is highly
regarded in the city of Muncie. In his busi-
ness and professional life Mr. Shideler has
shown commendable zeal, and owing to his
determination to adhere to his chosen calling
the future is fraught with much that is encour-
aging and promising. He is progressive in all
that the term implies, takes a lively interest
in the growth and development of his adopted
city, and is justly entitled to prominent men-
tion among its enterprising and intelligent
professional men.
\y'~\ R- EDGAR A. SHIELDS is the old-
I I est son of Matthew R. and Martha A.
/^^_^ (Lyon) Shields, and was born in But-
ler county, Ohio, July 9, 1853. His
parents moved across the state line into Frank-
lin county, Ind. , while Edgar A. was a bo}',
and he attended the common schools of that
county until he was nineteen years of age.
He entered the State university at Blooming-
ton, Ind., in 1872, and in four years completed
a classical course therein, graduating with the
scholastic degree of A. B. in 1876. In the
same year he entered the Ohio Medical college
at Cincinnati, where he pursued a comprehen-
sive course of three years' study; however, he
did not apply for graduation, but in 1879 en-
tered Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia,
Pa., and graduated from that institution in
March, 18S0. In graceful recognition of Dr.
Shields' scholarly attainments and devotion to
science, his old alma mater, the State univer-
sity, fittingly conferred upon him the degree of
A. M. in 1883. The doctor entered upon the
practice of his profession for a brief period near
Cincinnati, Ohio, but came to Muncie in the
fall of 1 88 1, where he located permanently,
and has since enjoyed a lucrative general prac-
tice. In co-ordinate lines of professional work,
Dr. Shields was chosen pension examiner and
served as secretary of the pension board during
President Cleveland's first term, andjs now
president of the board of pension examiners,
having received the endorsement of Williams
post, G. A. R. , of Muncie for the place. He
also holds the position of examiner for the fol-
lowing life insurance companies: New York
Life, Equitable, Mutual Life, Connecticut Mu-
tual, jEtna, Northwestern Mutual, Manhattan,
National and Travellers.
Dr. Shields was married, in 1880, to Miss
Fannie May Barbour, daughter of Samuel W.
and Ada (Hinckley) Barbour, of Oxford, Ohio.
In politics the doctor, like his ancestors for
two generations, is a democrat, and is frater-
nally a Mason and a Knight Templar in Mun-
cie commandery. The paternal grandfather of
the doctor was James Shields, a native of the
north of Ireland, and received a liberal educa-
tion in the Glasgow university of Scotland.
He came to Ohio shortly after it became a
state, and settled in Butler county. He
served twenty-one years in the Ohio legis-
lature, was elected to congress and died during
his term of service in that body. He was one
of the principal promoters in securing the
location of Miami university, and served on its
board of trustees for years.
He reared twelve children, of whom
Matthew R. Shields, father of our subject,
was the youngest. Matthew R. was born in
the county of Butler about 1821, grew to
manhood on the farm, married Martha A.
MUNCIE CITY
Lyon, whose family was identified with the
early settlement of the northwest portion of
Cincinnati, and contributed some of its suc-
cessful early business men. The father was a
farmer and civil engineer, having served the
county of Butler for several years as county
surveyor, and was honored with a hke position
in Franklin county, Ind. , where both parents
are still living, as are also a brother and sister
of Dr. Shields — a brother having died at the age
of seven years.
aARLTON E. SHIPLEY, lawyer, of
Muncie, was born in Philadelphia,
March22, 1827, and is the son of Will-
iam and Abigail (Lynde) Shipley. His
mother was a native of Jefferson county, N. Y.
His father was born in Chester county. Pa., on
Christmas day, 1798. He was a wholesale and
retail hardware merchant in Philadelphia till
about 1 841, when he engaged in the manufac-
ture of iron in Northumberland county. He
died in Delaware county, Ind., in March, 1854.
The Shipley family is of English descent. Carl-
ton Shipley attended a Friends' school in Phila-
delphia until he was fourteen years of age.
Two years later, in I843, he emigrated with
his father's family to Muncie. In the following
year he became a clerk in the store of Charles
F. Willard, where he remained for about four
years. In 1848 he engaged in teaching a dis-
trict school in Randolph county, but aban-
doned it after one term's practice. In the fall
of 1849 young Shipley became a druggist's
clerk, and remained in that situation two years.
While a clerk, he commenced to read law, and
on leaving the drug business entered the office
of Hon. J. S. Buckles. In the spring of 1852
he was admitted to the bar. In October of
the same year he was elected district attorney
of the common pleas district, composed of
Hamilton, Tipton and Howard counties; and,
removing to Tipton, he entered upon the duties
of the office in connection with his practice.
Ill health compelled his return to Muncie in
December, 1854. There he resumed the
duties of his profession. In 1865 the legis-
lature elected him one of he three directors of
the Northern Indiana penitentiary at Michigan
City, in which position he served one term. He
was a member of the city council for about six
years. In i 864 he was a candidate for nom-
ination before the republican state convention
for the position of reporter of the supreme
court of the state, but was defeated. In 1873
he was candidate for the office of judge of the
twenty-fifth judicial circuit, but was defeated
by Gen. Silas Colgrove. Mr. Shipley has
identified himself with the growing interests of
Muncie and Delaware county, giving efficient
aid in various public enterprises. In 1869 he
helped to organize the Lafayette, Blooming-
ton & Muncie railroad, canvassing the county
to secure the levy of the tax to build it, and
for one year was a director of the company.
Mr. Shipley became a Free Mason in 1849 and
has taken all the degrees to and through those
of the commandery. In Tipton, he was master
of Austin lodge. No. 128; and he held offices
in the Muncie chapter and Muncie comman-
dery. His family attend the Episcopal
church, but he is not connected with any relig-
ious body. A democrat at the breaking out
of the Civil war, he has since been identified
with the republican party. He now has a
strong disposition to be independent in pol-
itics.
Mr. Shipley was united in marriage, March
22, 1852, to Miss Clara Jackson, of Delaware
county. They have three children. Mr.
Shipley is devoted to his profession, and being
endowed with capacity and force is well fitted
for his work. He is a close student, a clear,
profound thinker, and an able counselor.
^.(Q.
i/iAy
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Shipie\- has other claims upon the pubHc
esteem than those of intellectual worth. He
never encourages litigation; if a client has no
grounds for a case he tells him so.
HDOLPH C. SILVEKBURG, promi-
nent as a member of the Delaware
county bar, was born in the city of
Natchez, Adams county, Miss. , Sep-
tember 15, 1855, son of Herman and Regina
(Wise) Silverburg, both parents natives of
Bavaria, Germany, in which country- their an-
cestors for many generations had lived. Her-
man Silverburg was, for many years, engaged
in mercantile pursuits; he desired that his son
should obtain a good education, accordingly
young Adolph was sent to the public schools
and was also given private instruction by com-
petent preceptors, who spared no pains in his
literary training. At an early age, he announced
his intention to become a lawyer, and after a
course of reading became a student of the Law
school of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he pursued
his professional studies with enthusiastic zeal
for some time. The instruction received at
this well known institution was supplemented
by a course of private reading in the office of
Long, Kramer & Kramer, of Cincinnati, and
in December, 1877, he came to Muncie, Ind.,
and was duly admitted to the Delaware county
bar. In 1878 Mr. Silverburg went to Dakota
territory, where he practiced in the circuit,
district and United States courts, and one
year later located in Kansas, first in Galena
and afterward at Columbus, in the latter of
which he served as judge of the police ourt
for one year, and for two years was clerk of
the district court. After this varied e.xperi-
ence, during which period he embraced every
opportunity to study law in the various states
and note its operations among different classes
of people, he returned to Muncie in 1883, and
has since practiced his profession in this city
with Hon. R. S. Gregory. The firm of Greg-
ory & Silverburg is one of the best known and
most successful law partnerships of Muncie,
and has a large and constantly increasing prac-
tice in the courts of Delaware and other coun-
ties of central Indiana. They are the local
attorneys of the L. E. & W. R. R. company,
the Delaware County bank, and various other
corporations.
In his profession, .Mr. Silverburg has
achieved success such as few lawyers attain in
a much longer practice. Possessing a clear
and analytical mind, he takes a just pride in
his chosen calling, and feels that any distinc-
tion he may hope to achieve must be through
its channels. Although a comparatively young
man, he has already won a conspicuous place
among the successful attorneys of the city of
his adoption, and by adheringto his profession,
he has before him a future of great usefulness
and promise. Politically Mr. Silverburg is a
supporter of the democratic party, and fra-
ternally is a member of the Masonic order, and
K. of P., and his name appears upon the char-
ter of the Gray club. He is president of the
Muncie Building & Loan Fund association, much
of the success of which enterprise is due to his
wise counsel and skillful management. Mr.
Silverburg was married, in 1885, to Miss Flor-
ence C. Asher, daughter of Maj. S. M. Ashor,
chief deputy collector of internal revenue for
the district of Louisiana — a union blessed with
the birth of one child, Shelton G. Silverburg.
>T^OHX A. SINGLI:T()N, sui)crintendent
■ of the City Electric plant of Muncie,
mj Ind., is a son of James L. and Eliza
(Hampton) Singleton, and was born
near Versailles, Ky., July 29, 1859. At eight
444
MUNCIE CITY
or nine years of age he was taken from the
home plantation to the state of Missouri by his
parents, and Hved in Liberty, that state, until
1 87 1, when the family came to Indiana and
settled on a farm south of Muncie. At the
age of thirteen, however, he went to Lexing-
ton, Ky. , where he served an apprenticeship
of three years with Wood Bros. , as carpenter,
and about 1875 returned to Muncie, Ind., and
here received the best wages paid, on account
of his proficiency. He next had charge of the
finishing room in the handle factory of James
Boyce & Co. for about four years, and the
first year after James Boyce started his electric
plant, Mr. Singleton was placed in charge of
the power house, which position he held four
years. He was then called to Winchester,
Randolph county, where he had entire charge
of the electric works, including power plant,
lines, extension of the system, etc. , and before
the expiration of his term of engagement for
one year doubled the number of incandescent
burners. In February, 1 892, he was appointed,
as superintendent for the city of Muncie, to
act, with the superintendent of the Western
Electric Light company of Chicago, in con-
structing the present system for Muncie's
electric illumination. In this task he was en-
gaged four months. The result is a power
house at the corner of Wysor and Madison,
with a 210 horse power boiler, and 200 horse
Atlas engine, three dynamos of fifty-eight ca-
pacity each, twenty-four miles of line on 1,000
poles, and 140 lights of 2,000 candle power
each. Of this immense work he was given
entire charge, and has two linemen and one
engineer under his supervision. The result of
his work is well understood.
Mr. Singleton has twice been married, his
first wife having been Nancy J. Triplett, whom
he wedded in 1877, and who bore him four
children — Minnie L., Nellie, Walter and James
Ray. This lady died in 1885, and in 1887
Mr. Singleton married Miss Sally V., daughter
of Jasper North and his wife Nancy, of Muncie.
Mr. Singleton has always been persistent in
his profession, and faithful in every position
he has filled, and his reward has been fully
deserved.
HNDREW J. SLINGER, a prominent
citizen of Muncie, was born in Tippe-
canoe county, Ind., January 20, 1834.
His father, Thomas J. Slinger, was
born in Brookshire, England, married Nancy
Fink, a native of Berks county. Pa. , and in
1832 located in Lafayette, Ind., and engaged
in the distillery business, which he had pre-
viously learned in his native country. He
died October 15, 1838, and subsequently, in
1842, his widow married Benj. Runyon, a
farmer of Montgomery county. Mr. and Mrs.
Runyon removed to the county of Henry in
1846, and resided there until their respective
deaths in 1876 and 1877.
Andrew J. Slinger remained with his step
father until his sixteenth year, at which time
he went to Indianapolis, where he served a three
years' apprenticeship at house painting and
graining with Samuel S. Rooker. After be-
coming proficient in his chosen calling, he
began working at the same at New Castle,
where he remained from 1852 until 1861, in
June of which last named year he entered the
army as member of the regimental band of
the Thirty-sixth Indiana infantry, serving in
that capacity for a period of seven months,
when the order came to discharge all regiment-
al bands. Mr. Slinger received his discharge
March 6, 1862; at Nashville, Tenn., and,
returning home, assisted in recruiting company
I, Sixty-ninth regiment, upon the organization
of which he was elected first lieutenant. His
regiment first went into Camp Wayne, near
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
446
Richmond, Ind., thence was ordered to Rich-
mond, Ky. , where it received its first baptism
of fire, and, with the rest of the Federal force
engafjed, suffered defeat at the hands of the
Confederate general, Kirby Smith. The regi-
ment to which Mr. Slinger belonged was
nearly all taken prisoners, but quite a number
succeeded in making their escape, omong
them being Mr. Slinger. After the regiment
was duly exchanged and recruited, it was
ordered to Camp Memphis, Tenn., and pro-
ceeded along the Mississippi and Ya;^oo rivers
under Gen. Sherman to Vicksburg. Mr.
Slinger participated in a four days' battle in
the attempt to reduce Vicksburg, but, being
repulsed, the ' regiment was compelled to
abandon their position and retreat northward
until the mouth of the Arkansas river was
reached. Proceeding up the river named, the
command invested Fort Hindman, or Arkan-
sas Post, January 1 1, 1863, which surrendered
after a hard fought battle, seven thousand
prisoners falling into the hands of the Feder-
als. Later the Si.xty-ninth was engaged in
the vicinity of Vicksburg and assisted in dig-
ging the famous canal. Afterward, the Union
force moved across the country, through Lou-
isiana, to the Mississippi, twenty-five miles
below Vicksburg, where they made a stand
until joined by the fleet which successfully ran
the blockade. The force then proceeded
down the river to Grand Gulf, where a naval
engagement lasting four hours was fought,
during which time seventy-five guns of the
enemy were silenced and their force surren-
dered. The troops were then transferred
across the river to the Mississippi side, and
marched up the bluff to Thompson Hill, or
Port Gibson, and there engaged Pemberton's
army from Vicksburg. the battle lasting from
2 A. M. to 7 p. M., resulting in a complete de-
feat of the enemy. The Federal forces fol-
lowed up their advantages and came up to the
enemy at Champion Hill, in the rear of Vicks-
burg, where a fierce battle was fought, the
enemy retreating to Black river, where they
attempted to cross but oiih- partially succeed-
ed, three thousand of them falling into the
hands of the Union troops.
Mr. Slinger subsequently took part in the
charge in front of Vicksburg May 22, 1863,
after which, his regiment was ordered to Black
river to guard the rear of the Union army, and
there remained until the time of the surrender
of the city. .\t Port Gibson, Mr. Slinger re-
ceived a severe wound in the head, which
resulted in a serious impairment of the brain,
rendering him totally blind for the greater part
of si.x months. On account of this disability,
he resigned his commission July 8, 1863, and
returned home. September, 1864, he veter-
anized in the Twenty-fifth Indiana, which at
once proceeded to Mobile, in the siege of
which Mr. Slinger was engaged for thirteen
days, or until the surrender of the place. Sub-
sequently the regiment was ordered to Mont-
gomery, Ala., and, after various other move-
ments, was discharged November 26, '865,
Mr. Slinger having spent over three years in
the service. As already noted, he was first
lieutenant of the company which he assisted
in raising, and afterward became captain.
On leaving the army, he came to Muncie, to
which place his family had removed in Jan-
uary, 1864, and he at once engaged in house
and sign painting and contracting, which he
continued with success and financial profit
until his retirement from active life a couple
of years since. He was sheriff of Delaware
county from 1875 to 1877, and since 1891 has
not been actively engaged in his trade. Mr.
Slinger was married in Henry county, Ind.,
October 12, 1854, to Miss Lindamire Need-
ham, of Henry county, who has borne him
four children: Thomas J., house and sign
painter; Monroe, died in 1882; Frank, de-
446
MUNCIE CITY
ceased at the age of twenty-five in St. Louis,
Mo. , at which place he held the responsible
position of chief clerk in the Star & Anchor
line of steamers; Ella, wife of O. F. Davis,
commission merchant of Chicago. Mr. and
Mrs. Slinger are members of the Christian
church of Muncie and are highly respected and
most estimable people. He is a republican in
politics, and for disabilities received while in
the service is being remembered by a grateful
country with a liberal pension.
Thomas J. Slinger was born in New Cas-
tle, Henry county, Ind., August i, 1855, and
is the son of Andrew J. Slinger. He attended
the schools of Muncie, Ind., and at the early
age of sixteen learned the trade of painter
with his father. He became deputy sheriff of
Delaware county under his father in 1875, and
was married January 25, 1876, to Miss Emma
Templer, daughter of J. N. Templer. Three
children were the happy fruit of this marriage:
Eddie, Mabel and Alice. Mr. and Mrs.
Slinger are active members of the Christian
church. He is also a Knight of Pythias, and
in politics is a republican.
ePHRAIM SMELL, now living retired
from active business in the pleasant
city of Muncie, Ind., was born in Mo-
nongalia county, W.Va. , February 12,
1836, a son of Philip and Rebecca (Doolittle)
Smell, natives of West Virginia, who removed
to the state of Indiana in the spring of 1855
and located in Henry county. In the spring of
1857 they removed to Delaware county, and
located on a farm in Hamilton township, but
soon afterward settled in the town of Muncie,
where Mr. Smell followed his trade of wagon
maker for many years. He and wife were con-
sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, of Muncie, good people, who became
the parents of three children, two of whom are
living. Maxwell, of Centre township, and the
gentleman whose name introduces this biogra-
phy. Ephraim Smell was reared in his West
Virginia home until the age of eighteen years,
and there obtained his education. He accom-
panied his parents to Indiana and assisted in
the farming, but in 1862 moved to Muncie and
began the manufacture of pumps, forming a co-
partnership in the business with a Mr. Puck-
ett. The firm, thus constituted, contin-
ued four years, when Mr. Smell bought the
entire interest, which he successfully conducted
until 1 89 1, when he retired from active life,
and is now spending his latter years in the en-
joyment of that rest and quietude which only
those who have successfully encountered the
activities of business life know how to appre-
ciate.
Although Mr. Smell is not actively engaged
in business he has not by any means given up
his interest in what is transpiring about him,
as he is now trustee of the Bell Stove works,
representing the Citizens' Enterprise company
in the same, which latter organization has
always had his hearty support, and in which
he is a member of the advisory board. Mr.
Smell has large property interests, which he
manages with wise judgment and careful dis-
crimination. Politically, Mr. Smell is a dem-
ocrat, and has served two terms in the city
council, representing the First ward from 1876
to 1880, and in 1886 he was elected trustee of
Centre township, serving acceptably until the
end of his term. He is a man of social in-
stincts, belonging to the Delaware lodge, A. F.
& A. M., Muncie chapter and commandery,
K. T., and also to the I. O. R. M. In 1853,
Mr. Smell was united iu marriage to Miss
Martha Martin, daughter of Stephen R. Mar-
tin, of Delaware county, but she died June 26,
1868, leaving the following children: Ida,
John, William and Mackie. His second mar-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
447
riage was with Miss Elizabeth Miller, chiuf^hter
of Stephen Miller, of Camden, Delaware
county, and at her death she left two children,
Herbert and Philip. His present wife was
Mrs. Eliza Moom, daughter of Oxley Ricker,
o' Delaware county. He and wife are mem-
bers of the High street Methodist Episcopal
church, in which he holds the position of stew-
ard, being an active and valued member.
BON. MARCUS C. SMITH, retired
business man of Muncie, and one of
its most distinguished citizens, was
born at Connersville, Ind., April ii,
1825. He is the son of Hon. Oliver H. Smith
and his wife Mary (Brumfield) Smith. Oliver
H. Smith came from Pennsylvania to Indiana
in 1817 and located, first, at Risiing Sun. He
studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1820,
and settled in Connersville the same year. He
filled numerous positions of public honor and
trust, and in 1836 was elected United States
senator from Indiana.
Hon. Marcus C. Smith, in 1859, at the age
of fourteen years, was taken by his father to
Alexandria, D. C. (as it then was), to attend a
school somewhat famous at that time, under
the charge of Benjamin Hallowell, a distin-
guished mathematician and astronomer of that
day. Remaining there two years, he entered
Asbury university, Greencastle, Ind. , and after
three years spent at that institution, he en-
gaged in the study of law in his father's office.
He was licensed, according to the legal custom,
in 1846, and began to practice; but, his health
failing, he entered into active business, prac-
ticing law only on special occasions. In 1847,
he moved to Yorktown and assumed the man-
agement of his father's property there, consist-
ing of two grist mills, a saw mill, carding and
fulling mill, beside a large amount of landed
estate. In 1851 and 1852 the Bee Line rail-
road was built from Bellefontaine, Ohio, to
Indianapolis, Ind., largely by his father's influ-
ence and aid, and large quantities of timber,
for sleepers, ties and bridges, were furnished
from the land and the saw mill of the latter,
under the directions of his son. They also had
a store at Yorktown, and, in addition to the
other business, stock bu}ing was largely car-
ried on.
Mr. Smith came to Muncie in 1859, and
has resided here ever since. His busines dur-
ing this time has been varied and somewhat
extensive — chiefly stock dealing, buying grain
and seeds, attending to his farming interests,
etc., handling, some years, from 8,000 to
10,000 bushels of flaxseed, raised in Delaware
county. He has owned 300 acres of land in
this county, but at present has but about 200
acres. He has, from time to time, been
chosen to fill important public positions. In
1854, he was elected as the representative of
Delaware county in the Indiana legislature;
from 1869 to 1877, he served as mayor of the
city of Muncie; and, in 1878, was elected
state senator for the counties of Delaware and
Madison, his term expiring in 1882, and in the
fall of the same year was re-elected for a term
of four years. Like his honored father, he
was in former times a whig, and, since the
rise of the republican party, has been an
active member and ardent supporter of the
principles and measures of that organization.
In 1852, Marcus C. Smith was united in
marriage to Miss Marj C, daughter of James
L. Russey (formerly of Muncie). They are
the parents of eight children, all of whom are
now living save one, and five are married:
Oliver H. ; Mary Caroline, the wife of Oliver
T. Boaz, now residing in Pittsburg, Kan. ;
Latitia A., now wife of Dr. Chas. 'W. Smith,
of Selma; Marcus C, Jr., living in Kan.;
Margaret H., wife of H. H. Highlands; James
448
MUNCIE CITY
R. , at home; Jennie Love, at home, and May
Love, deceased.
Marcus C. Smith has been for many years,
and still is, a prominent and valuable member
of society, enjoying the confidence and respect
of his fellow citizens in a high degree. Al-
though he and his worthy companion are not
church members, they respect and uphold the
religious interests of society, and are liberal
and sympathetic, and active in lending a ready
hand in aid of the unfortunate and distressed.
Hundreds of unfortunates in Muncie, as well as
elsewhere, to-day bless the names of Marcus C.
and Mary C. Smith as benefactors, and many
a poor lad owes to their munificence his first
educational advancement — they being among
the foremost and most liberal promoters of
general education.
>^OHN HENRY SMITH, one of the lead-
^ ing manufacturers of Indiana and pro-
A 1 prietor of the large and extensive bent
wood works of Muncie, is a native of
Pennsylvania, born in the town of Freedom,
Beaver county, on the 23d of April, 1843.
His father, Andrew Smith, was born in Hesse
Cassel, Germany, August 3, 181 3, and immi-
grated to the United States in 1831, locating
in Pittsburg, Pa. , where he followed the trade
of cooper, and where he afterward was united
in marriage with Miss Barbara Heffner. Sub-
sequently, about 1842, he located at the town
of Freedom, Beaver county, where for three
years he was engaged in the hotel business
and where his death afterward occurred. To
Andrew and Barbara Smith were born three
children, two sons and one daughter, namely:
Jacob, John H. and Lizzie Smith. John
Henry Smith was but two years of age when
his father died, after which event the mother
engaged in the grocery business at the town of
Freedom, in the schools of which place John
H. received a good education. On quitting
school he assisted his mother until his sixteenth
year, when he went to the Economite commu-
nity at Economy, Pa., where he learned the
cooper trade, which he followed at that place
for about three and one-half years. In the
meantime he attended night school. Leaving
Economy, on the discovery of oil in Pennsyl-
vania, he joined the influx to the oil region,
and for one year thereafter was engaged in
coopering, returning at the end of that time to
Freedom, at which place he erected a shop.
In the fall of 1863 he enlisted in the Seven-
teenth Pennsylvania cavalry, which was as-
signed to duty in the army of the Potomac,
serving first under Gen. Killpatrick and after-
ward with Gen. Sheridan, and participating in
the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
Hanover C. H., Trevilian Station, Brandy
Station, Old Church Tavern (where he had his
horse shot under him), Winchester, Cedar
Creek, Sailor's Creek, the campaign in front
of Petersburg, and was present at the final
surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He was
honorably discharged at Harrisburg, Pa., in
August, 1865. On returning from the army,
he resumed business at Freedom and contin-
ued it until his removal to Indiana in the year
1870. At Bluffton, he engaged quite exten-
sively in the manufacture of tight barrel staves,
which he continued until 1873, at which time
he erected another factory at the town of
Auburn, which he conducted until he disposed
of his entire -interests in both establishments
to the Standard Oil company, in 1876. In
that year he bought a small bent wood works
at the town of Bluffton, which soon became
one of the leading manufacturing establish-
ments of the place. A larger building was
erected two years later, and supplied with the
latest improved machinery for the manufac-
ture of all work in that line. In two years' ■
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
449
time this building was found to be inadequate
to meet the demands of the business; accord-
ingly, Mr. Smith determined to remove the
works to Muncie, where better opportunities
were offered, and where he erected a much
larger and more complete structure.
In July, 1889, while Mr. Smith was absent
on a trip to Europe, this large manufactory
was completely destroyed by fire, entailing great
loss upon the proprietor and proving a serious
disaster to the city of Muncie. With the
energy characteristic of the man, Mr. Smith
cabled his partner to begin rebuilding at once.
Mr. Smith's great popularity with the people
of his adopted city was sufficiently attested by
the fact, that upon his return from his foreign
tour, he was met at the depot by a large delega-
tion of citizens who assembled for the purpose
of welcoming him home, and of publicly thank-
ing him for his determination to re-build his
factory in Muncie. The factory since re-built
does a large and lucrative business, and its
products are in demand in nearly all the
markets of the United States and in those of
some countries of Europe. Personally Mr.
Smith is popular with all with whom he comes
in contact, and throughout his long business
career has been thoroughly energetic and
straightforward and possesses an enviable repu-
tation for honesty and integrity. His home
residence is one of the largest, most imposing
and costly in the city of Muncie.
Politically Mr. Smith is an uncompromising
supporter of the democratic party, and as such
was complimented by being sent as delegate
to the national convention at Chicago in 1892.
While a resident of Bluffton he served two
terms as school trustee, beside which he has
been called to fill other positions of trust at
different times. The firm of which he is head
is known as J. H. Smith & Co., in addition to
which he is president of the Carriage Wood
Workers' association of the United States,
and president of a large manufacturing estab-
lishment known as the Sidney Pole & Shaft
company, of Sidney, Ohio. He is also re-
ceiver of the R. E. Hill Manufacturing com-
pany, and was one of the chief movers in the
organization in the Citizens' Enterprise com-
pany. Fraternally, Mr. Smith is prominently
identified with a number of orders, including
the Masonic, G. A. R., A. O. U. W., and the
I. O. O. F. , in the last of which he has passed
all the chairs.
Mr. Smith was married May 30, 1877, to
Miss Kate Shaufelberger of Freedom, Pa., a
union blessed with the birth of five children, one
son and four daughters.
Sr-* EWIS S. SMITH was born in the
I r town of Alexandria, Licking county,
I ^ Ohio, December 15, 1843. His father,
Seth P. Smith, was a native of New
York, from which state he emigrated to Clin-
ton county, Ohio, and there married Harriet
Smedley, thence moved to Licking county, lo-
cating at Alexandria. Seth Smith was a lawyer
at Newark, Ohio, and was a very successful
practitioner. He was a man of prominence in
Alexandria, held several official positions, and
until the birth of the republican party, with
which he became identified, was a whig in his
political belief. He reared a family of three
children: Agnes, deceased; Lenora, deceased,
and Lewis S., whose name introduces this
mention. His death occurred in Octobor, i860,
and his wife died November of the previous
year. L. S. Smith passed the years of his
youth and early manhood in his native county,
and at the age of eighteen began life for him-
self as a carriage manufacturer, which he con-
tinued for a period of five years. In 1870 he
began the study of photography at Union City,
Ind., under the instruction of F. P. \Mlson,
450
MUNCIE CITY
and after becoming proficient in the art, es-
tablished a gallery at the town of Camden,
where he carried on a successful business for
about fifteen years. In 1884 he removed to
Muncie, where he has since conducted a very
gratifying business, the gallery of which he is
at this time proprietor being one of the best
known establishments of the kind in the city.
Mr. Smith is enterprising and energetic, and
by a life of industry has, in a large measure,
solved the problem of success. He has accu-
mulated a comfortable competence and very
properly ranks among the best citizens in the
city in which he resides. Mr. Smith was mar-
ried December 27, 1870, in Dayton, Ohio, to
Miss Emma J. Shaffer, daughter of H. R. and
Jane (Anderson) Shaffer, to which union three
children have been born, namely: Harry,
Earnest and Clifford. In politics Mr. Smith
acts with the democratic party, being an earn-
est advocate of the principles which he main-
tains. He is a member of the Improved Order
of Red Men, belonging to DeEmber lodge. No.
30, and takes an active interest in the affairs
of the fraternity. His religious belief is repre-
sented by the Baptist creed, of which church
both himself and wife are members.
at
R. SMITH, proprietor of the largest
marble - cutting establishment in
Muncie, dealer in marble, granite,
etc., was born in Fayette county,
Ind. , July 23, 1822, son of Moses and Sarah
E. Smith. The father was born in New York
state February 28, 1802, and the mother's
birth occurred in 1806 in the province of Can-
ada. Moses Smith and Sarah E. Harris
were married in 1821, in Fayette county, Ind.,
near Connersville, where Mr. Smith engaged
in agricultural pursuits, in connection with
carpentering. He died July 24, 1873; his
wife died August 23, 1884; they were both
members of the Methodist church, are remem-
bered as most excellent and kindly disposi-
tioned people, and were parents of the follow-
ingchildren: Wilson R. , Eliza, Newton, Lewis,
Charles, Elvira, Sarah, Albert, Eveline, Dan-
iel and Melvina, all deceased except the first
named.
\\^ilson R. Smith was reared in Knights-
town, Ind., until his twenty-second year, and
early learned the blacksmith trade, which he
carried on in that place for some time. He
also became proficient as a carpenter, but
gave his attention principally to blacksmithing,
which he followed successfully in Albany,
Granville, and Muncie, Delaware county, until
1861. In the latter year, owing to the loss of
his right arm, occasioned by a premature dis-
charge of a canon, while ratifying the election
of President Lincoln, he was obliged to give
up his trade, and, for two years thereafter,
served as deputy sheriff of Delaware county
under J. W. Dungan. During the suc-
ceeding four years, he was traveling sales-
man for a marble company, and in 1869
was complimented by the people of the
county by being elected sheriff, the duties
of which office he discharged with credit to
himself and satisfaction to all concerned for a
period of two years. In February, 1870, Mr.
Smith engaged in the marble business in part-
nership with John Parry, which relationship
continued four years, when Mr. Smith pur-
chased his partner's interest and became sole
proprietor. Subsequently, he effected a co-
partnership with his sons, under the firm name
of Smith & Sons, which still exists and which
does a large and lucrative business, represent-
ing $20,000 worth of work per year. Mr.
Smith does all grades of granite and marble
work, such as first class shops turn out, and
only the very best workmen are emploj'ed in
his establishment. He is a skillful workman,
W. R. SNYDER.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
458
understands all phases of the business, and his
patronage extends throughout Delaware and a
number of other counties in eastern Indiana.
Mr. Smith was married in Richland town-
ship, Jay county, Ind., August 4, 1844. to
Sarah Hollingshead, whose birth occurred in
Greene county, Ohio, July 17, 1824. Mrs.
Smith is the daughter of James and Mary
(Scarff) Hollingshead, natives of \'irginia. To
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Smith three children
have been born: James N., John O. and Julian
T. , the last named deceased. Mr. and Mrs.
Smith are active members of the Methodist
church of Muncie. Mr. Smith is prohibitionist
and an earnest advocate of temperance reform.
^V^ROF. WILLIAM R. SNYDER, the
1 W efficient superintendent of the public
M schools of Muncie, is a native of
Pennsylvania, born on the 30th day
of August, 1850, in the historic old city of
Gettysburg. His parents, Conrad and Cath-
erine (Fisher) Snyder, were also natives of the
Keystone state, and for a number of years
residents of the county of Adams. In the
public schools of his native town Prof. Snyder
received an elementary education, and later
became a student of the w»ll known institu-
tion, Pennsylvania college at Gettysburg, in
which he completed the full course, graduating
with a creditable record in the class of 1873.
The same year he taught a term in the district
schools of Wyandotte county, Ohio. The
next year he was principal of a graded school
at the town of Waldron, Shelby county, Ind.,
where he continued two years, after which,
for the same length of time, he had charge of
the schools of Acton, not far from the city of
Indianapolis. Severing his connection with
the schools of the latter place. Prof. Snyder
accepted the principalship of the Shelb_\-ville
high school, till- duties of which he discharged
in an eminently satisfactory manner until
1SS3, when he resigned in order to accept a
position in the city schools of Muncie. From
1883 until 1884 he served as second assistant
in the Muncie high school, and in the latter
year became principal of the same, which po-
sition he held until 1SS7. wIh'II, upon the res-
ignation of Prof. John M. Hloss, he was pro-
moted to the superintendency of all the city-
schools. This is a position of great responsi-
bility, the city of Muficie containing eight
school districts, in which are ten school build-
ings, with an aggregate of sixty rooms, requir-
ing the services of sixty teachers, with one
special teacher for the department of music.
Under his efficient supervision the schools of
Muncie have made most commendable prog-
ress, and the city's educational system stands
among the best in the .state. Through his
instrumentality many important improvements
tending to lessen the work of the teacher and
benefit the pupils have been adopted, and the
confidence reposed in him, both by patrons
and the school board, is sufficiently attested
by his unanimous re-election for several years
to the position he now holds.
The very high character Prof. Snyder has
achieved as an educator has made him well
and favorably known throughout the state,
both as a teacher and manager, and in view
of his untiring energy it is safe to assume that
there are few, if any, -more popular superin-
tendents in Indiana. He is now in the prime
of vigorous manhood, possesses genial man-
ners, superior scholarship, and his twenty
years' practical experience in school work,
from village school to the superintendency,
bespeaks for him a future of still greater effici-
ency and usefulness. While meeting with
success in his chosen profession such as few
attain. Prof. Snyder at one time seriously con-
templated abandoning teaching and making
454
MUNCIE CITY
the practice of law his hfe work. While
teaching at Acton and Waldron he pursued
his legal studies under the instruction of
Thomas B. Adams and Louis T. Michener,
well known attorneys of Shelbyville, but never
applied for admission to the bar, his success
as an instructor convincing him that a wider
sphere of usefulness was to be found in the
field of education.
Since locating in Muncie, Prof. Snyder has
been active in promoting the city's material
prosperity, having been a liberal contributor
to many important enterprises, among which
is the Citizens' Enterprise company, of which
he is a member; at this time he is president of
the board of trustees of the Muncie library.
He is prominently identified with the Masonic
fraternity, belonging to chapter, council and
commandery, and he also assisted in the or-
ganization of Muncie tent, Knights of Macca-
bees, of which he was the first eminent
commander. Prof. Snyder is an earnest mem-
ber of the Presbyterian chnrch, serving at this
time as clerk of sessions, superir^tendent of
the Sunday school, and also as member of the
committee having in hand the erection of the
present beautiful temple of worship. Politi-
cally he is a republican, and as such takes an
active interest in all the leading issues of the
day.
On the 30th of June, 1878, Prof. Snyder
was united in marriage to Miss Nannie B.
Ferran, daughter of John and Mary Ferran of
Acton, Ind., the fruit of which union is two
daughters: Lily E. and Mytle M.
m:
'ILLIAM HENRY SNYDER, late a
prominent manufacturer of Muncie,
was born in the year 1824 in Dela-
ware county, Ohio, the son of John
and Celia (Freeman) Snyder, both parents
natives of the state of Kentucky. The father
was a cooper by trade, and in an early day
moved to Ohio, where he followed his chosen
calling for a number of years. William Henry
Snyder spent his youthful years in the state of
his nativity, and while still young began the
cooper's trade, in which he acquired great pro-
ficiency, and which he followed for some years
near the city of Springfield, at the small town
of Granville, working for a Mr. Spence, a
leading business man of that place. While
residing in Granville he met Miss Catherine
Heffner, daughter of Laurence and Charlotte
Heffner, to whom he was united in marriage
on the 19th day of November, 1846. In July,
1852, he moved to central Indiana, locating
on a farm about seven miles west of Muncie,
where he resided for a period of three years as
a successful agriculturist. At the end of that
time he gave up tilling the soil and engaged in
the coopering business in Muncie, erecting a
large shop on the spot now occupied by the
power house of the Citizens' Street Railway
company, where he carried on the trade with
gratifying success for almost five years, during
which time, he was sole proprietor of the es-
tablishment. He next effected a co-partner-
ship in the manufacture of barrels and cooper-
age material with the well known business-
men, Messrs. Wysor & Kline, adding a large
stave factory, which, under Mr. Snyder's per-
sonal management, was operated until within
a few months of his death in 1876. In addi-
tion to his duties as superintendent, Mr. Sny-
der took the road, for some years, as salesman
for the product of the factory, besides doing
an extensive brokerage business in barrels and
cooperage supplies, throughout Indiana, Ohio,
and other states. In 1865 the firm suffered
an almost total loss by the destruction of their
large and valuable plant by fire, but the estab-
lishment was soon rebuilt, and it continued in
successful operation until the site was sold to
the Street Railway company, in 1893.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
465
Mr. Snyder was essentially a business man,
fully alive to the interest of the factory with
which he was for so many years identified,
and few men of Muncie stood higher in the
estimation of the public in general. He was
always noted for his untiring industry and
methodica' business habits, and his relations
with those in his employ were of the happiest
kind, and his considerateness for their welfare
and comfort was the subject of much favorable
comment. After continuing with Messrs. Wysor
& Kline for some 3'ears, Mr. Snyder purchased
his partner's interests, after which, his son
John became his business associate. As already
stated, the death of Mr. Snyder occurred in
1876, having reached the age of fifty-two years.
After his death the factory was continued by
the widow and three sons, and remained in
operation under the management of the differ-
ent brothers until the death of Francis Marion
Snyder in March, 1890.
The following are the names of the children
born to William H. and Catherine Snyder:
John M., a well known farmer of Delaware
county, whose birth occurred on the 27th of
May, 1852, in the town of Addison, Ohio;
James Perry, cooper of Muncie, born in Dela-
ware county, Ind., July 13, 1855; Francis
Marion, born September 17, 1853, died March
19, 1890, aged thirty-two years; Ada Odelia,
born July 27, i860, married Marion Helvie,
and departed this life on the i 5th day of Octo-
ber, 1887; Emma Jane — wife of Albert Ogle —
born April 27, 1866; Harry Edward, carriage
painter, born August 17, 1869, and infant that
died unnamed. Mrs. Snyder is a worthy mem-
ber of the Central Christian church.
Muncie city, and, indeed, Delaware county,
are indebted for their prosperity to men of
brains and industry such as was William
Henry Snyder, and both city and county should
and do welcome to their borders men of his
caliber and enterprising energy.
K^^ IDOLPH SPRANKLE, banker, was
I /"^ horn in York county. Pa., April 17,
J W I Si 7. His father, Peter Sprankle,
was a native of Pennsylvania, and his
mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth
Walters, was brought to the United States,
when a child, from Zuerbrecken, Germany,
and for some time lived next door to Gen.
George Washington, in Philadelphia. The
father was a farmer by occupation and spent
the greater part of his life in York county.
Later he moved to Holmes county, Ohio, in
which state his death occurred; his wife sur-
vived her husband two years and died in
Holmes county, at the town of Berlin. The
early years of Rudolph Sprankle were passed
in his native county and state, and at the age
of fifteen he accompanied his parents to
Holmes county, Ohio, where his introduction
to business life was in the capacity of a clerk
in a mercantile establishment, which position
he filled for a limited period. His mind early
turned toward mercantile pursuits, and on
giving up his clerkship he purchased a stock
of goods in the town of Portage, Summit
county, Ohio, where, in addition to merchan-
dising, he carried on the grain business and
laid the foundation of his subsequent success-
ful business career. Within a short time he
disposed of his mercantile stock and turned
his attention exclusively to the grain trade,
locating, first, at the town of Navarre, Stark
county, Ohio, where he carried on a very suc-
cessful business for over thirty years, and then
removed to Cleveland, where he enlarged his
operations and became one of the most exten-
sive grain dealers in northern Ohio In the
latter city he became associated in the busi-
ness with his son, James Sprankle, and their
purchases of grain were principally in car lots
from all points of the country; they also oper-
ated a large elevator for twelve j'ears. The
business of the firm proved very successful.
456
MUNCIE CITY
and the Messrs. Sprankle earned a wide repu-
tation as safe and reliable xiealers and honest
business men.
Disposing of his interest in Cleveland, Mr.
Sprankle came to Muncie, Ind. , and, in part-
nership with his son, organized the Delaware
County bank, of which he was made president;
he also continued the grain and milling busi-
ness after locating in this city, operating the
mills and elevator on High street. He retired
from the bank when it became a national con-
cern, and, although connected with the same,
is now practically retired from business after a
long, active, and creditable career. Mr.
Sprankle has met with most gratifying success
in his various business enterprises, and in ad-
dition to amassing a comfortable fortune, has
established a reputation for honesty and integ-
rity that is in every way commendable. He
was married in the spring of 1837, to Miss
Mary Bentford, a natfve of Pennsylvania, who
bore him two children, William and James R.,
the former of whom died at the age of eleven
years. Mr. Sprankle was born a democrat,
and has ever been an earnest and intelligent
supporter of the principles of that party.
James R. Sprankle, son of Rudolph and
Mary Sprankle, and one of the most widely
known and one of the most successful business
men of central Indiana, was born February 2,
1843, at the town of Navarre, Stark county,
Ohio. After receiving a practical education in
the public schools, assisting his fatheruin the
grain business in the mean time, he went to the
city of Cleveland at the age of eighteen, and
effected a copartnership with Adam Burget,
which, under the firm name of Sprankle &
Burget, dealt very extensively in buying and
shipping grain for a period of three years. At
the end of that time, Mr. Sprankle bought
his partner's interest, and became associated
with his father under the firm name of Sprnakle
& Son, and the partnership thus constituted
greatly extended the business, operating largely
along the Ohio canal from Cleveland to Chilli-
cothe, and over the Bee Line railroad from the
former city to Indianapolis. They purchased
extensively from all points contiguous to these
lines, and extended their business over the
greater portion of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
southern Michigan and other states, and be-
came among the most widely known and suc-
cessful shippers of grain to the seaboard cities.
The business of the Sprankles was not confined
to grain alone, but included seeds of all kinds,
wool, and other commodities, and they sold
the first cargo of Michigan salt ever brought to
Cleveland. Mr. Sprankle continued in busi-
ness in Cleveland until 1887, and the same
year located in Muncie and built the steam
flouring mills on High street. In partnership
with his father he established the Delaware
County bank, which was reorganized in De-
cember, 1892, as a national bank, with a cap-
ital stock of $100,000, Mr. Sprankle becoming
vice-president. In addition to his connection
with the banking and grain business, he is
president of the Architectural Iron company,
and a'lso holds an important official position 'in
the Common Sense Engine company of this
city. He was one of the stockholders of the
Citizens' Gas company, and has been promi-
nently identified with other important business
and manufacturing enterprises.
,>^R. 'WILLIAM A. SPURGEON, of
I I Muncie, Ind., was born near Salem,
/^^_^ Washington county, Ind., February
I, 1852, and is the eldest son of Wi-
ley and Mary F. (McKinney) Spurgeon. Wiley
Spurgeon was born February 24, 1S25, and
Mary F. (McKinney) Spurgeon in 1824, both
in Washington county, Ind., and were there
married, February 27, 1848. Wiley's father
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
457
was JosiahSpurgeon, born Xoveiiiber 13, 1777,
in North Carolina, came to Indiana in 181 1,
and settled near Salem, \Va.shinj;ton county.
James A. McKinney, the father of Mary F.
Spurgeon, was born in Tennessee, January 16,
1795, and settled near Salem, Ind., also in
181 1. Wiley Spurgeon was the youngest son
in a family of five boys and six girls. He was
reared near Salem, and received a good com-
mon school education. He served under Gen.
Taylor in the Mexican war.
The father of the subject of this sketch,
\\'iley Spurgeon, served as county commissioner
and in other official positions for a number of
}ears. He has been for many years an elder
in the Christian church. He was always re-
garded as a man of great firmness and integ-
rity of character. His home, with his aged
wife, is now (1893) on the farm near Beck's
Grove, Ind., \\here they enjoy fine health and
a competency gained by years of industry and
economy. Mary F. (McKinney) Spurgeon was
next the youngest daughter in a family of three
boys and four girls, ^^■illiam A. Spurgeon was
reared on a farm, with one brother and four
sisters. He received his preparatory education
at the common schools until sixteen years of
age, then attended, two years, the academy at
Clear Springs, Ind., after which he taught
school during the winters, attending the acade-
my at Salem in the summers, for two years,
and later attended college at Bedford, Ind. In
1871 he began the study of medicine under
Dr. George H. Chute, a prominent physician
of southern Indiana, and in 1872 entered the
Physio-Medical institute at Cincinnati, Ohio.
In 1873 he began the practice of medicine in
Freetown, in partnership with his preceptor.
He soon after entered the Physio-Medical col-
lege of Indiana, at Indianapolis, from which
institution he graduated in 1875, and returned
to his former partner, with whom he continued
until 1877. Soon after his graduation from the
college at Indianapolis, he was elected to the
chair of descriptive and surgical anatomy in the
college where he received his degree, and con-
tinued a member of the faculty, delivering
regular courses of lectures each year until
1893, when he resigned in order to give
more time to his professional duties.
Dr. Spurgeon removed to Muncie, Ind., April
13, 1880. He soon took a leading rank in
his profession, and beside attending to his ex-
tensive practice the doctor gave some time to
other matters pertaining to his profession.
He is a member of the American Association
of Physio-Medical Physicians and Surgeons,
and was appointed to deliver an annual ad-
dress before that body at its meeting at Chi-
cago, 1890. He has been a member of the
Physio-Medical Association of Indiana since
1875, serving a term as its president, and
contributing freely to its medical literature.
He was sent by the Physio-Medical college of
Indiana as a delegate to the World's Congress
of Temperance Physicians which met in New
York in 1891. In politics the doctor was a
republican till in 1886, when he joined the
prohibition part}', and in 1888 was a candidate
for the legislature, and made an aggressive
campaign, obtaining more votes than any
other man on the ticket. In 1 890 he made
the race for secretary of state, when he again
ran ahead of the ticket, and though the party
as an organization seemed hopelessly in the
minority, he remained true to its principles,
and in i S92 he was the party's candidate for
congress in the Sixth Indiana district, and
made a dignified and effective canvass. The
doctor was married August 29, 1872, to Miss
Elvira Chute, daughter of his preceptor and
partner. Of this union were born three sons
and one daughter: The eldest son, George
Wiley, and the second son, Alva Osten, died
in infancy. The third son, Orville Elmer, and
the daughter, Mary Alice, are living in Mun-
458
MUNCIE CITY
cie. Mrs. Spurgeon died at Freetown in the
summer of 1878. The doctor's second mar-
riage was in the summer of 1883, to Miss
Minerva A., daughter of Lafayette Whitney,
of Muncie. This union has been blessed by
the birth of four children, viz: Nora June,
■ OHve Fern, Kenneth Albertus, and William
Chase. The doctor early united with the
Christian church (Disciples), the congregation
being known as the Buffalo church, at Beck's
Grove, Ind., and has been active in church
and Sunday school work. He was appointed
to the eldership of the First Christian church,
of Muncie, Ind., in 1881, which relation he
still sustains.
JACOB STIFFLER, who, since 1890,
has been making loans a specialty and
is a prominent dealer in real estate and
a representative of a number of the
leading fire insurance companies of the United
States, is a native of Pennsylvania, born May
8, 1 83 1, in the county of Bedford, to Freder-
ick and Martha (McCormick) Stiffler. When
Mr. Stiffler was nine years of age, the family
moved to Blair county. Pa. , where he grew to
manhood, residing there until the year 1856.
His youthful environments were such as to
preclude the possibility of receiving a very
thorough education, but by his own efforts he
secured a practical business training which
has served him well through life. In 1856,
Mr. Stiffler made an extensive tour of the cen-
tral and western states, which lasted four
years, and upon his return he located in
Hamilton township, Delaware county, Ind.,
where, for a period of eight years, he was en-
gaged in the milling business. At the end of
that time he accepted the position of local
agent of the Ft. W., M. & C. R. R., at Cowan
station, in which capacity he continued six
years, conducting a mercantile and lumber
business at the same place in the meantime.
In 1876 he removed to Muncie, where he fol-
lowed various occupations until 1886, when he
was elected auditor of Delaware county,
which office he filled with crsdit to himself and
to the entire satisfaction of the people.
Mr. Stiffler was married, in the year 1862,
to Miss Elizabeth M. North, daughter of Jas-
per and Nancy North, of Muncie, who were
the parents of eight children, viz. : Elizabeth
M., Lavina A., Matilda E., Mary J., Ivy
Evangeline, Sarah V., Jasper N, and Arthur
G. The father of Mrs. Stiffler was born in
Maryland in 1823, and her mother in Ohio, in
1 82 1. To the union of Jacob Stiffler and
Elizabeth North have been born four children,
namely: Alta, wife of C. E. Moore; Laura,
wife of Charles C. Brown, of Muncie; Joseph
and Lue May— the last named deceased.
Politically, Mr. Stiffler is an earnest sup-
porter of the republican party, and as such
was elected to the office above noted His
fraternal affiliations are with Welcome lodge,
No. 37, K. of P., to which he attached him-
self in 1874. He is a stockholder in the Co-
operative Gas company, of Muncie, and at
this time is secretary and treasurer of the
Muncie Hospital company. Mrs. Stiffler, as
well as her family, are members of the Society
of Friends, and both she and her husband are
esteemed by all who know them for their
many good qualities and sterling traits of char-
acter. As a business man Mr. Stiffler's suc-
cess has been most gratifying, and his present
comfortable circumstances have been reached
unaided and by close application and good
management. His social position is an envia-
ble one, and with himself his wife and family
enjoy the respect and esteem of all who have
the pleasure of their acquaintance.
Attention is called to the accompanying
engraving, representing a group of four gener-
ations of the Stiffler family.
JACOB STIFFLER.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
459
HMBROSE C. STOUDER is a native
of Delaware county, Ind., and a son
of David Stouder, who came to In-
diana from Pennsylvania when a young
man and settled near the town of New Bur-
lington, Perry township. David Stouder by
occupation was a farmer, and, later in life, be-
came widely and favorably known as an in-
ventor of a number of mechanical appliances
which are still in extensive use. He resided in
the township of Perry until 1856, at which
date he emigrated to Iowa, where, in addition
to agricultural pursuits, he carried on the
manufacture of lumber, building the first saw
mill ever operated in Page county, that state.
He resided in Iowa until 1863, when he return-
ed to Dayton, Ohio, remaining there two years,
then going to Mansfield, at which place he de-
voted his entire attention to perfecting his dif-
ferent inventions and obtaining new patents
for various kinds of machinery, principally the
results of his own genius and skill. He married,
in Delaware county, Ind., Sarah Ribble, daugh-
ter of George Ribble, one of the earliest pio-
neers of this section of the state, and reared
a family of seven children, whose names are
as follows: Ambrose C, Augustus G., Laura,
Ira, Osborne, Sarah A. and Horace, of whom
Ira, Osborne and Sarah are deceased. Mr.
Stouder was a republican in his political belief
from the organization of the party, but had
formerly been an ardent whig. He was an
active member of the Masonic fraternity and
a man of more than ordinary powers of mind,
straightforward, industrious and of the strict-
est probity. His death occurred in the year
1870 in Mansfield, Ohio, and his remains lie
buried in the cemetery at that place; Mrs.
Stouder departed this life in the year i86r,
while the family were residents af Iowa.
Ambrose C. Stouder was born April 27,
1850, near the village of New Burlington, and
received his early educational training in the
lirst school house ever erected in Delaware
county. He attended the last term taught in
the historic structure, and after moving to
Iowa he pursued his studies in a graded school
in that state. During his youthful years he
assisted his father on the farm and in the mill,
and when a mere lad of fourteen he entered
the army, enlisting at Clarinda, Iowa, in the
Eighth Iowa volunteer cavalry, with which he
served in the army of the Cumberland until
the close of the war. His army experience
embraced a wide and varied range, including
the Atlanta campaigns and all the battles inci-
dent thereto — Dallas, Resaca, Kenesaw Mount-
ain, and others, also the campaign against
Hood in Tennessee, including the bloody bat-
tles of Franklin and Nashville. His command
participated in the celebrated Wilson cavalry
raid through Georgia, and his record of a
brave and gallant defender of the national
Union is one of which any soldier might feel
deservedly proud.
On the cessation of hostilities, Mr. Stouder
was mustered out of the service at Macon,
Ga. , and received his discharge at Clinton,
Iowa. In the meantime his father had left
Iowa, and finding himself without a home in
that state, young Ambrose followed his father
to Ohio, where, until the year 1868, he
worked on a farm in summer and attended
school during the winter seasons. In 1 868 he
returned to Iowa and began his journalistic
experience in the office of the Herald at Clar-
inda. He continued with that paper until
1 87 1, at which date he came to Muncie, Ind.,
reaching this city under circumstances the
most discouraging, the sum total of his earthly
wealth at the time being one-quarter of a dol-
lar. Without money and among strangers,
the world presented anything but a smiling
j face to the young adventurer, who, until tem-
porary employment was found in a saw mill
after several days' search, was obliged to sleep
460
MUNCIE CITY
in a lumber yard with nothing but the clouds
and the blue sky for a covering.
A vacancy occurring in the office of the
Muncie Times, shortly after his arrival, he was
given the place, and for some time he earned
a livelihood at the compositor's case. Subse-
quently, he severed his connection with the
Times and took charge of the first steam fire
engine ever used in Muncie, having previously
learned to operate an engine in his father's
mill in Iowa. Later, he accepted a posi-
tion in the office of the Muncie News and
Indiana Granger, published by N. F. Ethell,
in partnership with whom he soon after-
wards assisted in establishing the Muncie
Daily News, the first daily paper ever
printed in the city — Mr. Stouder becoming
local editor. After a brief connection with the
News, Mr. Stouder took charge of the ma-
chinery in the Times office, operating the same
until 1880, when he established the Muncie
Advertiser, by which venture he accumulated
sufficient capital to start a small job office in a
building where the new Little block now
stands.
Mr. Stouder began job printing in a very
modest way, his first press being a small affair
operated by foot power, but as business in-
creased, he moved to other and more commo-
dious quarters and supplied his office with
machinery in keeping with the enlarged de-
mands for his workmanship. After occupying
various rooms in the city, he finally secured
the basement of the new court house, where
he now has one of the largest and most com-
plete printing establishments in the city, his
office being equipped with presses of enlarged
capacity and other appliances of the latest and
most improved pattern. Mr. Stouder has a
good business, is thoroughly familiar with
every detail of the printer's art, and all of his
workmanship is first class. His career, since
locating in Muncie, presents a series of con-
tinued successes, and he is now classed among
the city's most intelligent and energetic citi-
zens.
Religiously he believes in the liberal creed
of Universalism and in politics supports the
republican party. His wife, whose maiden
name was Nellie Green, is a daughter of
Charles and Mary (Pickard) Green of Muncie.
>T^OSEPH STRADLING was born in
M Bucks county. Pa., June 4, 1813. At
A 1 the age of eight years he lost his father
by death, and, within a fortnight there-
after, his mother also died, leaving him thus
early without the tender associations and hal-
lowed influences of home. This loss was meas-
ureably repaired, however, by his kind grand-
father, who took him to his own home and
reared him as one of his own children. He
attended the common school during the winter,
and worked on his grandfather's farm during
the remainder of the year, until he attained
the age of seventeen years. At that age he
became the apprentice of a carpenter, and,
after learning the trade, worked as a journey-
man in his native county, and in the city of
Philadelphia. At the age of twenty-four
years he decided to seek a home in the west,
feeling assured that his opportunities there
would be more favorable than in the east,
where the trades and professions were over-
crowded. In 1837, he arrived at Muncie,
then a small village, and began work at his
trade. He was engaged at carpenter work
until 1 84 1, and in that year began the manu-
facture of wagons. This he continued suc-
cessfully for eleven years, and then, with the
money saved from his earnings as a mechanic,
he purchased eighty acres of land in Section 7,
Centre township, where he has ever since re-
sided, devoting his time to agricultural pur-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
461
suits. About thirty acres of his farm had been
cleared when he purchased it, and he addressed
himself at once to the task of clearing and im-
proving the balance. Subsequently, he pur-
chased forty acres in Section i8, a portion of
which he has since cleared. His entire life
has been marked by industry and energy, and
by faithful and diligent labor he has amassed
a competence to sustain him in his declining
years. AN'hile he has alwa}'S been prudent
and economical, he has never been close or
sting}', and is a well known friend to improve-
ment. All enterprises having for their object
the welfare of the country have received his
hearty encouragement and support, and he
has contributed liberally of his time and means
for their advancement. His life has always
been upright and honorable, and, wherever he
is known, he is honored and esteemed by all.
On the 4th day of May, 1843, he was
united in marriage with Miss Jane Stewart,
who was born in Warren county, Ohio, Janu-
ary 4, 1824, and came with her parents, Sam-
uel and Mary Stewart, to Delaware county,
Ind., settling in Salem township, in March,
1830. They are the parents of seven children,
named respectively, William H., John M.,
Mary E., Martha J., Warren S. , Charles E.
and Arthur R. William H. and Charles E.
are deceased, and Martha J. married James J.
Warfel in October, 1877. William H. enlist-
ed in company B, Sixty-ninth Indiana volun-
teer infantry, and served with the same until
his death, at East Pascagoula, Miss., January
5, 1865. As already stated Mr Stradling has
been successful in a financial sense, and now
owns 228 acres of valuable land in Delaware
county, the greater part of which is under a j
high state of cultivation. In 1841 he brought j
the first buggy to Muncie that was ever used
in Delaware county. He recalls with much
pleasure the stirring scenes of pioneer times in
which he bore such a prominent part, and the
incidents and reminiscences of his life at that
early period are among his most pleasing rec-
at
ILLIAM STK.\I)LING was born
March 27, 181 i, in Bucks county.
Pa. Daniel Stradling, his father,
was a native of the same county and
state, born about the year 1790, and married
n Montgomery county. Pa., Miss Elizabeth
Rhodes, who bore him the following children:
Sophia, deceased; John, deceased; William,
whose name introduces this sketch; Moses and
Joseph Stradling. After his marriage, Daniel
Stradling engaged in mercantile business in
Bucks county, Pa., and after continuing for
nine years, began farming, which he carried
on the remainder of his life. He and wife
died in Montgomery county. Pa., in the year
1824. They were members of the Society of
Friends, and Daniel Stradling was a whig in
his political belief and a very successful man
financially.
William Stradling grew to manhood in his
native county and state, was reared on a farm,
but early learned the carpenter's trade under
E. Good, with whom he served a four years'
apprenticeship, acquiring great proficiency as a
mechanic in the meantime. After mastering
his trade, he worked at the same as a journey-
man for three years in Bycks county, after
which he began contracting and building upon
his own responsibility and was thus employed
for twenty years. In 1855 he moved to Dela-
ware county, Ind., and purchased 120 acres of
wood land in Centre township, from which in
time he developed a beautiful and highly cul-
tivated farm, where he has since resided. Mr.
Stradling was married in Bucks county. Pa. ,
February 29, 1835, to Miss Jane Michener,
whose birth occurred in Bucks county, Pa., on
MUNCIE CITY
the 7th day of March, 1817. Mrs. Stradling
is the daughter of George and Isabelle (Shan-
non) Michener, early settlers of Bucks county,
and descendants of old English families that
settled in Pennsylvania at a period antedating
the Revolutionary struggle. Mr. and Mrs.
Stradling are the parents of thirteen children,
namely: Mary E. ; Martha, John (deceased),
Isabelle, Joseph, George, Thomas, Sophia (de-
ceased), Anna, Clinton, Edward, Catherine
and Julia (deceased). Politically Mr. Stradling
is a republican and in religion adheres to the
simple Quaker faith of his ancestors. He is a
citizen and neighbor highly honored in his
community, and his aim has been not so much
to amass this world's goods as to establish a
reputation for honesty and integrity. That he
has accomplished this laudable aim is attested
by the high estimation in which he is held by
fellow citizens, and in his sphere of life nobly
and faithfully has he performed every duty that
presented itself.
>^AMES L. STREETER is a native of
M Delaware county, and a descendant of
A 1 New England ancestors. His grand-
father, John Streeter, was a native of
the state of Vermont, in which state he lived
and died. His father, Calvin P. Streeter, was
also a native of that state, and acquired a good
business education as a clerk in a mercantile
establishment there. When quite a young
man (1836) he emigrated to Delaware county,
Ind. , and embarked in mercantile pursuits at
the village of New Burlington, in Perry town-
ship. A few years subsequently he removed to
the village of Wheeling, in Washington town-
ship, and, in 1856, to Muncie, where he resided
until his death, January 12, 1881. In this city
he engaged in the dry goods trade, and, two
years later, accepted the position of superin-
tendent in the packing-house of Ira Hunter &
Co. , remaining with this firm and its succes-
sors until about 1876, when he retired from
active business. In January, 1^41, he married
Mi s Mary E., daughter of Stephen Long, one
of the early treasurers of Delaware county.
This union was blessed with five children, viz:
James L. , Stephen, Mary E. , Leonora and
Laura, of whom the last named two are de-
ceased.
James L. Streeter was born December 2,
1 841, in the village of New Burlington, Dela-
ware county, Ind. At the district school near
his home he acquired the elements of an edu-
cation, subsequently pursuing his studies at
the public schools of Muncie, and, at a time
just prior to the late war, he attended Indiana
Asbury university for a short time, obtaining
an insight into the classic studies. His incli-
nations, as well as his experience, led him to
adopt mercantile pursuits as his vocation in
life — a field for which he is well qualified, and
in which he has proved his native ability.
His first venture was in the drug trade, in
which he formed a copartnership with Dr.
Robert Winton, of Muncie. After conducting
a satisfactory and lucrative trade for several
years, both retired and sold the store. Mr.
Streeter then engaged in the grocery trade,
which he pursued for about two years. At the
end of that time, he engaged in the sale of dry
goods, which he continued for an equal period.
Then, in 1870, he embarked in the produce
business, at which he is still engaged, buying
and shipping large quantities of butter, eggs,,
poultry, etc. , and also in the grain trade.
At the republican county convention of
1878, he became the nominee of his party for
the office of recorder of Delaware county. His
commercial intercourse with the people of the
county gained for him a good reputation for
integrit}' and probity of character, and the
election that followed his nomination, in Octo-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
ber of the same year, resulted in a large ma-
jority of votes in his favor. In IcSSj he was
complimented by a re-election as recorder.
He discharged the duties of his position
with great impartiality, and has served with
credit to himself, and to nearly the entire satis-
faction of every one as can be reasonably ex-
pected of a public official who has so many
tastes to please. He has been very unselfish
in his efforts to accommodate those whose
business lead them to his office. In 1890 he
was elected a member of the common council
of Muncie, and served as such one term. At
this time he is connected with S. Cammack &
Co. in the grain business, and is also identified
with the R. H. Home produce company. As
a business man and public official, he has gain-
ed the confidence and esteem of all whose
pleasure it is to know him, and has won friend-
ship permanent and deep. He is a member in
good standing in Delaware lodge, No. 46, A.,
F. & A. M., and Muncie commandery, No. 18,
K. T. February 14, 1867, he gave his hand
in marriage to Miss Mary J., daughter of John
Marsh, Esq., of Muncie. Three bright, intel-
ligent and promising children, Harry, Edna
and Charley, have crowned the happiness of
this union. Harry Streeter is an active young
manufacturer of Muncie, being connected with
the Port Glass works of this city.
aHRISTIAN STUCKY, deceased, son
of John and Kate Stucky, was born
in the province of Alsace, France,
February 2, 1820, was well instructed"
in French, German and English, and learned
the trade of tanning in his native land, and
there followed the business until he was about
thirty years of age, when he came to America
and located at first in Dayton, Ohio, for a
short time, and then settled in Muncie, Ind.,
some time before the opening of the late war.
He here first worked in the tanner)' of Mr.
Powers, and later for Mark Walling; just after
the war he purchased Mr. Walling's tannery,
situated where the garbage furnace now stands,
and ran it in connection with his harness shop
on High street, and was quite prosperous until
his death, which occurred January 13, 1884,
in his sixty-fifth year. He had begun with
but a small capital, but by his industrious
habits accumulated a competence and made
ample provision for his surviving family.
His marriage took place, in 1856, to Sarah
Gruber, daughter of William and Catherine
(Ludwig) Gruber, natives of Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Stucky was born in 1856, and was but
three years of age when brought to Delaware
county by her parents, who settled near York-
town; she was but nine j-ears of age when she
lost her mother, and at the age of eighteen she
lost her father, when she left her childhood's
home near Yorktown and moved to Muncie to
reside with a sister, and two years later, at the
age of twenty, was married to Mr. Stucky.
Five children blessed this union, and were
named as follows: Alfred Leroy, a harness
maker at Washington Court House, Ohio;
Frank William, a plasterer of Muncie; Katie,
wife of James N. Evers, a laundryman of
Muncie; Charles Henry, who died at the age
of twenty-three, and John C. , in the employ-
ment of Mr. Evers.
^^t'OB SWAIN, soil of Elihu Swain, was
M born on Lost Creek near Dandridge,
C^J Jefferson county, Tenn., January 20,
I 806. He was brought to Indiana by
his parents when but nine years old. The
family settled near Economy, Wayne county,
in 1815. Being of the order of Friends, they
forsook their home in the south that they
464
MUNCIE CITY
might rear their children, nine in number,
where the bHghting curse of slavery was not
felt. Here Job Swain grew to manhood, and
received such education as the schools of
Wayne county afTorded.
He came to Muncie in 1828, then only a
hamlet of a few cabins, and subsequently mar-
ried Nancy Hodge, sister to James Hodge,
Esq. His wife died in 1858, leaving him three
sons and three daughters: Orlando H., Elihu
H. and James; Eliza, since deceased, Mrs.
George W, Spilker and Mrs. William R.
Maddy. September i, 1859, Mr. Swain was
married to Mrs. Emily Shafer, and of this
marriage was born Charles W. Swain. Mrs.
Emily Swain, widow of the late Job Swain,
was a daughter of Jacob Shimer and was born
at Chesterfield, Madison county, Ind., in 1826.
She received a common school education in the
schools of that period, and at the age of twelve
went to live with her grand parents. In 1849,
she was married to Andrew Shafer, a native of
Tennessee, who learned the trade of black-
smith with Thomas S. Neely, of Muncie, and
followed his trade at Chesterfield, where he
died in 1856, and three years later she was
married to Job Swain, as noted above,
On coming to Muncie, Mr. Swain learned
the trade of cabinet making, with his father-
in-law, Mr. Hodge, and followed that business
for several years, having once owned a shop
with Mr. Nottingham, where the Boyce block
now stands. He was the first elected mayor
of Muncie and served as justice of the peace
for twenty-three years, holding that position
at the time of his death, April 29, 1877.
He was reared under the influence of the
Society of Friends, but in 1839 united with
the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he
held official relations, being class leader at the
close of his life. In stature, he was six feet
and two inches tall and well proportioned.
He was in all respects a truly good man, and
lived a life as nearly free from blame as mortal
man could be expected to live. He had many
friends and very few enemies, and no one,
perhaps, ever possessed the esteem and confi-
dence of his friends and neighbors in a more
marked degree.
Charles W. Swain, assistant postmaster,
youngest son of the late Job Swain, was born
in Muncie, January 15, 1862. He received a
thorough education in the Muncie public
schools, graduating from the high school with
the class of 1881. He immediately entered
the postoffice as clerk under J. C. Eiler, Esq.,
and some months later had gained such
knowledge of the detail working of the various
departments of the office and had acquired
such proficiency in its management and service
that he was promoted by Mr. Eiler to the po-
sition of assistant postmaster. Corporal R.
I. Patterson retained him in the same position
during the four years of his administration as
postmaster, and Mr. John E. Banta, although
of opposite political belief, made Mr. Swain his
chief assistant during his term, except eighteen
months, which were utilized in much needed
rest from the arduous duties of the office, and
also in completing a comprehensive commer-
cial course in the Northern Indiana Normal
school at Valparaiso, from which he gradu-
ated in 1887.
Mr. Swain served Mr. Banta till the close
of his term, and was retained assistant by
Postmaster Ellis, in which relation he has
served both his superiors in office and the gen-
eral public in a satisfactory manner for over a
decade. That his efficiency, trustworthiness
and skill are held in high esteem by the postof-
fice department is evidenced by the fact that
he was made chairman of the local board of
civil service examiners, and that he is fully
capable of carrying out the somewhat vexatious
duties of this position is further evidenced by
the satisfaction he has given even to applicants.
^cjm ^^dZ^^zci^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
ORLANDO H. SWAIX, the popular cx-
sheriff and one of the prominent and
most faithful officials of Delaware
count}', was born in Wayne county,
Ind., January 27, 1835, a son of Job and Nancy
(Hodge) Swain. The father was born in east
Tennessee, January 20, 1806, removed to In-
diana with his parents in an early day, and
married in Muncie, in 1828, Miss Nancy
Hodge, who was born in Beaver county. Pa.,
on the 3d day of May, i S03. After their mar-
riage Mr. and Mrs. Swain located in Muncie,
where they resided for three years, removing
at the end of that time to Wayne county,
which was their home until 1835. In that
year Mr. Swain returned to Muncie, and for
several years thereafter was engaged in the
mercantile business. He became a prominent
man of the city, served as justice of the peace
for many years, and was also mayor for a num-
ber of terms. Originally, he was a whig in his
political belief, and at the birth of the republi-
can party became firm in his adherence to its
principles until his death, which occurred April
29. 1877; his wife preceded him to the grave,
departing this life in the year 1858. By his
first marriage he became the father of seven
children, of whom Orlando H. Swain was the
third in order of birth. Both Mr. Swain and
his first wife were people of deep religious feel-
ing, and, as faithful members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, did much toward arousing
and keeping alive a religious interest wherever
they resided. After the latter's death, Mr.
Swain married Mrs. Emily Shafer, who bore
him one child. Fraternally Mr. Swain was
identified with the Odd Fellows, in which order
he took an active part, and in the counsels of
which he was ever an earnest and potent
factor.
While still an infant of a few months, Or-
lando H. Swain was brought to Muncie by his i
parents, the removal taking place in May, !
1835, and he therefore regards the city of his
residence with as much affection as if it were
the place of his nati\ity. The educational
advantages offered by the schools of that
period were his, and after completing his
course in the same, he learned the tinner's
trade, in which he became quite proficient
and which he followed for a period of nine
years in Muncie. At the outbreak of the civil
war his sympathies at once i)rompted him to
tender his services to his country, accordingly,
in July, 1862, he enlisted in company I),
Eight}-fourth Indiana volunteer infantry, with
which he served gallantry until the cessation
of hostilities, retiring from the army with the
rank of second lieutenant. During his term
of service he shared the vicissitudes and for-
tunes of war in a number of hard fought bat-
tles, including Chickamauga, the Atlanta cam-
paign, Franklin, Nashville, and many other
engagements, and thereby earned a reputation
of which any brave soldier might feel de-
servedly proud. His first commanding officer
was Gen. Sherman. Later he was under
Gen. Thomas, and his regiment passed
through the many fiery ordeals rendered
famous in the annals of our country's history
by the superior leadership of those two brave
and intrepid commanders.
At the close of the war, Mr. Swain re-
turned home and engaged in the draying and
transfer business until 1869, when he was
elected to the office of sheriff of Delaware
county, which position he acceptably filled for
two terms, or four years. At the expiration
of his second term of office he resumed the
business of drajing, and later received the ap-
pointment of deputy marshal of Muncie, the
duties of which he discharged very acceptably
for a period of nine years. His great personal
popularity was again attested by his re-election
as sheriff of the county in 1889, and during
his third term conducted the affairs of the
MUNCIE CITY
office with credit to himself and in a manner
highly satisfactory to the people of the county.
In addition to the above mentioned offices Mr.
Swain filled the position of city assessor for
two years, and also served as member of the
city council for the same length of time, hav-
ing taken an active part in the deliberations of
that body during his incumbency. Politically
Mr. Swain is a republican, and as such has
been prominent in the councils of h's party in
Delaware county. Various secret organiza-
tions of Muncie find in him a prominent mem-
ber and liberal patron, as he is connected with
Delaware lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Muncie
chapter; is a charter member of Welcome
lodge, K. of P. ; belongs to DeEmber tribe.
No. 30, I. O. R. M., and also to Williams
post. No. 78, G. A. R. He is a member of
the Citizens Enterprise company of Muncie,
and has done much toward promoting the
material welfare of the city. Mr. Swain was
married March i, 1859, to Miss Clara R.
Lenon, daughter of Daniel and Sophia Lenon,
of Miami county, Ohio, to which union two
children have been born: Mary A., wife of
WiUiam Russay of Muncie, and Winnie E.
Swain. Mr. and Mrs. Swain are members of
the Universalist church, being active members
in the Muncie congregation.
aHARLES W. MOORE.— The sub-
ject of this sketch was born near
Portsmouth, Ohio. His parents sold
their farm in the beautiful Scioto
bottoms near that city in the fall of 1830, at
which time they moved in a wagon to Dela-
ware county, Ind. He was one of thirteen
children, eleven of whom were born in Ohio.
His parents entered the land owned by James
Boyce, three miles ea:t of Muncie. This was
a pioneer family. Then they had but two
near neighbors; Lewis Moore and George Tru-
itt. The family consisted of William J.,
Phillip, Levi, John S., Charles M., Joseph,
Milton, Enos, Cynthia and Jemima. Cynthia
was the the wife of Jacob Calvert, and Jemima
that of James E. Wilcoxon. Said William,
Levi, John, Milton and Cynthia are now dead.
John S., and Milton both died unmarried.
Our subject received the benefit of the com-
mon schools of those days but little, and that
little only in the winter. His parents did not
live long to enjoy the blessings of a useful
life, but they had brought the religion of their
forefathers with them, and practiced it in the
wilds of their new home. The mother was
transferred from the rude temporal church of
the frontier to that eternal church above in
the autumn of 1838, and the father followed
to the church triumphant in the spring of
1 840. Charles W. was fourteen years of age
when his father died, but he found a home
with his brother William until he reached his
majority in 1847. He then attended the old
seminary in Muncie under the superintendency
of Profs. J. S. Ferris and R B. Abbott. In
the fall of 1850 he entered the sophomore
class in Asbury university, graduating at the
head of his class in the summer of 1853. In
the fall of that year, he was elected professor
of mathematics at the Wesleyan Female col-
lege at Cincinnati, Ohio. After teaching there
and in Muncie, Ind. , for a good many year, he
studied law and entered upon the practice of
his chosen profession at Muncie about the
year i860. He has ever since enjoyed a suc-
cessful practice. He was first married in
December, 1855, to Sarah E., eldest daughter
of Rev. G. M. Beswick, of Greencastle, Ind.
One daughter was born to them, which died in
infancy. After his wife's death, in 1857, he
remained single till the fall of 1S61, four years
and two months, when he was married to
Clara J., second daughter of Samuel P. Wil-
^j<lyCUXJ 76\ JuouflUy^''^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
son, an old and respected citizen of Muncie,
and who was the father of Mrs. Mary E.,
widow of tbe late John W. Burson. Two
children were born of this marriage: Charles
E. and Mary E. Charles E. was for many
years bookkeeper and teller of the Muncie
National bank, and its successor, the Burson
bank, and the Delaware County bank, all of
Muncie. He is now the secretary and treas-
urer of the Patterson Glass company, located
at West Muncie, in which he is a stockholder.
Mary E., long a faithful and efficient teach-
er in the Muncie public schools, is now the
wife of William R. Youse, of the firm of
Youse & Haffner, carpet and paper dealers of
Muncie, Ind. Charles W. Moore is pre-emi-
nently one of the self made men of our times,
having practically worked his way through
college by teaching, and finally receiving the
degree of A. B., and later that of A. M., from
his alma mater. He is withal a modest, un-
assuming man, and is connected with the
Methodist Episcopal church, also, with the
I. O. O. F. and Knight Templar lodges of
this city, and he has the satisfaction in his
decling years of seeing all his family consistent
members of the Methodist Episcopal or some
other church.
He is a descendant of a long line of hardy,
industrious christian ancestry. His father,
John Moore, was married in Ohio, and was a
soldier in the war of 1812. He followed the
vocation of a farmer, and as an illustration of
this distinctive trait in his character, he never
sued a person, neither was he ever sued in his
life. His word was as good as his bond.
>T^AMES N. TEMPLER, lawyer, of Mun-
J cie, was born near Xenia, Ohio, Febru-
A 1 ary 8, 1836, and is the eldest son in a
family of eight children of George W.
and Hannah S. (Medsker) Templer. His an-
cestors emigrated from England in 1685, set-
tling in Loudoun and Prince William counties,
Va. , where, and in England, representatives
of the family yet remain. The original name
was Temple, and the final "r" was affixed
about the year 1750, by the \'irginian branch.
They were industrious, enterprising people, at
once became planters, and most of their de-
scendants have engaged in agriculture. In
1838 George W. removed to Jay county, Ind.,
and pre-empted some wild land. The region
was an unbroken wilderness, and the clearing
of the farm continued until 1843. Then the
father was elected to a county office, and re-
moved to Portland, where he and most of his
family yet reside. Mr. Templer acquired a
fair education at Liber college, and at eighteen
began the study of law, under the instruction
of Judge Jacob M. Haynes, of Portland. By
teaching school at intervals he was able to con-
tinue his studies, and in April, 1857, was ad-
mitted to the bar. He opened an office in
Portland, but soon afterward formed an equal
partnership with Hon. John P. C. Shanks, then
a leading lawyer. He remained in that con-
nection for ten years, enjoying an extensive and
lucrative practice. In 1861 Mr. Templer was
elected prosecuting attorney of the Thirteenth
judicial circuit, and held the office three con-
'secutive terms of two years each, seldom fail-
ing to sustain his cases, and never having a
judgment reversed by the supreme court be-
cause of errors or inefficiency on his part. His
successes were usually the result of hotly con-
tested trials, of which the opposing counsel
were the ablest criminal lawyers of the state.
In 1 87 1 he removed to Muncie, and, with
Ralph S. Gregory, formed the successful law
firm of Templer & Gregory, which was long in
the front rank of the bar. This law firm con-
tinued until in November, 1880, at which time
Mr. Templer removed, with his family, to
Colorado, and the firm ceased to operate
470
MUNCIE CITY
as such at that time. This removal was
for the purpose of regaining his lost health.
He resided in Colorado, actively practising his
profession in the state and federal courts of
that state until January, 1885, when he return-
ed to Muncie again, becoming a partner of
John F. Sanders, now deceased, the firm being
Templer & Sanders. This firm continued
until January i, 1888, when it was dissolved
on account of the failing health of Mr. Sand-
ers. From that time Mr. Templer practiced
his profession alone until the last of January,
1892, when he associated with him his son,
Edward R. Templer, a young lawyer of
promise, and the firm then became Jas. N.
Templer & Son, and is still in existence. In
1868, Mr. Templer was nominated for contin-
gent presidential elector the Eleventh district,
in which he then lived, and made a canvass of
the same that contributed not a little in giving
the electoral vote of Indiana to Gen. Grant.
In 1876 he was again put in nomination for
presidential elector for the Sixth district, of
which he also made a thorough canvass, and
secured thereby a majority of about 2,000 in
the district; but, as the result is determined by
the entire vote of the state, his opponent was
elected. Mr. Templer was a democrat until
1861, when, following the example of such
democratic statesman as Stephen A. Douglas,
he took strong grounds against the asserted
right of a state to secede, and in favor of a
vigorous prosecution of the war for the sup-
pression of the rebellion and the preservation
of the Union. This course identified him with
the republican party, with which he is still
connected. He has taken an active part in
every political campaign, in conventions, on
the stump, and with the pen; though he has
not sought office, nor held any, except that of
prosecuting attorney, above mentioned. He
has declined to be a candidate for congress,
although often solicited to serve. Mr. Templer
fosters educational interests to the extent of
his ability, and favors a system of compulsory
instruction. He is not identified with any
church, but is friendly to all churches; a firm
believer in the orthodox doctrine of Christianity
as taught in the New Testament, and violently
opposed to sectarianism, he desires the union
of all the churches. A selfish indifference to
the public good has no place in his nature, and
schools, religious institutions, and all move-
ments looking to the advancement of the city,
county, or state, receive his cordial support.
He has long been connected with the Masonic
fraternity, has been high priest of the chapter,
and now is a Knight Templar. In Odd Fel-
lowship he is a member of the encampment.
His name is also enrolled on the records of
the Improved Order of Red Men, the Knights
of Pythias, and the Murphy Temperance club.
Mr. Templer married, October 4, 1857, Ann,
eldest daughter of John J. and Mary A. Adair.
They have had five children, three of whom are
living: Edward Rutledge; Florence, wife of
Lorenzo D. Thomas, United States express
agent at Muncie; and Emma, wife of Thomas
J. Slinger, of Muncie, a portrait painter of
much ability. Mrs. Templer died in the
spring of 1874, of consumption. Mr. Temp-
ler was again married July 9, 1876, his second
wife being Mrs. Susan Kilgore, widow of the
late Hon. Alfred Kilgore. James N. Templer
is the peer of his fellows as an advocate, and
has few equals and no superiors in the prepar-
ation and management of cases. As a writer
he is terse, racy and fluent; and, as a speaker,
clear and concise in statement, logical and
convincing in argument, rising at times to im-
passioned eloquence. He is all this from
natural endowments and self culture, and has
attained his present position solely through
the impelling force of his own genius. He
possesses not only those powers that render men
efficient in the court and political arena, but
O/cajfituiU^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
473
also those gentler traits that mark refined so-
cial intercourse. In all his daily affairs he
manifests a generous regard for others, and a
strict allegiance to principles of honesty and
honor, and no man in Delaware county more'
fully merits and commands the hearty good
will of the people.
Edward Rutledge Templer, son of James
N. and Mary Ann (Adair) Templer, was born in
Muncie, Ind., December ii, 1S59. He began
the study of the law under his father in 1886,
was admitted to the bar in 1890, and became
a partner with his father January i, 1892.
His marriage took place, in 1883, to Miss
Addie Givens, a native of Muncie and daughter
of Adison and Rose (Bonner) Givens, and the
union has been blessed with the birth of one
child — James N., Jr. Mrs. Addie Templer is
a member of the p-irst Christian church, and
Mr. Templer is a Knight of Pythias and a re-
publican.
aLAYTON B. TEMPLER is one of
the prominent and rising members of
the bar in Delaware county, Ind.
He was born in Jay county, near
Portland, June 10, 1850, and is a son of j
George W. and Harriet S. (Medsker) Templer,
natives of Virginia and of Ohio, respectively. '
The parents were among the early pioneers of
Jay county, where they entered a tract of land
and where the father became a man of influ-
ence and local prominence. He was a stanch
democrat, was a recognized leader of his party,
served his county as justice of the peace,
county recorder, county treasurer, county com-
missioner, and in other positions of confidence
and trust. He was, also, a prominent mem-
ber of the Masonic fraternity, and at his death,
in 1882, the Methodist church lost one of its
most devoted and consistent members. Clay-
ton B. Templer is the seventh thild in the
family of eight born to his parents. His ele-
mentary education was received in the town-
ship schools, and at the age of sixteen he was
sufficiently advanced to secure entrance to the
Ridgeville college, in which institution he pur-
sued the higher branches of learning with flat-
tering success. His early ambition was to be-
come a member of the legal profession, and,
with this object in view, he early began the
reading of Coke antl Blackstone, with his
brother, James N. Templer, in Portland, and
on locating in Muncie, in 1872, he entered the
ofifice of Templer & Gregory, and the same
year was admitted to the bar, since which time
he has practiced in this city. He was asso-
ciated with Thomas J. Pjlount, until the cloud-
ing of the latter's mind made a dissolution
necessary. Politically he is a republican, and
uses his influence ever in favor of the princi-
ples of that party. As above stated, Mr.
Templer practices principally in the city,
where his business is very e.xtensive and lucra-
tive. He has been identified with many im-
portant cases, prominent among which was the
prosecution of James A. Woods, the attendant
of his former partner, Thomas J. Blount, Jan-
uary 13, 1 891, which lasted eleven days and
ended in convicting him of murder and caus-
ing him to be sent to the Northern Indiana
penitentiary at Michigan City for twenty-one
years. Mr. Templer was married in February,
1878, to Miss Clara J. Ireland, daughter of A.
C. Ireland, of Delaware county. As a lawyer
Mr. Templer is well grounded in the principles
of his profession, and the high character he
has sttained as a practitioner is sufficicntl}- at-
tested by the large business which has come to
him and which under his skillful management
is continually increasing He is one of the
leading spirits of the Muncie bar, and his su-
perior legal talents have gained for him much
more than a local reputation, his services being
MUNCIE CITY
in demand in important cases in different coun-
ties of the state.
>^OHN MILTON THOMAS, the popu-
m lar Hveryman of Muncie, was born in
A 1 Miami, county, Ohio, October 13, 1828,
and is a son of Price and Ann (Bobo)
Thomas, who were among the earliest pioneers
of Delaware county, Ind., having come to the
county when the son, John M., was but seven
years of age. The parents, with their three
children, settled ten miles north of Granville,
and first lived in a log house without a iloor,
and with a stick-and-clay chimney that filled
one end of the cabin, and for fuel they hauled
back logs with an old blind horse. There was
no school house in reach for the first three
months, and when the old style log building,
with puncheon seats and floor, was erected, it
was of no avail to John, who loved horses bet-
ter than books. At about twelve years of age,
he began to "swap" horses, as his father had
done, and eventually went to Carlisle, Ohio,
and engaged to work in the stable of I. N.
Cory, and while there he learned to read,
write and cipher. He led and drove horses
over the mountains and also to Detroit four
times, and, after four years' service with Mr.
Cory, came to Muncie, and went to work in a
hotel kept by old Joe Davis, at the point
where the Patterson block now is — blacking
boots and making himself generally useful for
about a year. He next drove stage from
Muncie to Chesterfield, Pendleton and Indian-
apolis, carrying the mail about a year — down
one day and back the ne.xt — and then the
railroad came through.
At the age of twenty-two, at Granville, he
married Mary Ann Timmons, by whom he
became the father of eight children, viz: Will-
iam, a traveling agent for the flouring mill at
Milton, Ind.; Lorenzo, agent of the United
States Express company at Muncie; Nellie,
clerk in S. C. Cowan's Boston store, Muncie,
and five deceased.
While at Granville, Mr. Thomas kept a
general store, but continued to trade in horses
until he came to remain in Muncie, just forty
years ago. During the whole of this time,
with the exception of eighteen months, he kept
a livery stable on the sites of the present
Heath building and the Odd Fellows' building.
Twice he was burned out, but he never knew
the word "fail," and always recovered himself.
For the past year and a half he has occupied
his present stable, opposite the National hotel,
where he is doing a prosperous business in liv-
ery, selling and boarding, and keeping for hire
some twelve to fifteen fine animals, and all
kinds of vehicles. All these years he has dealt
extensively in horseflesh, and during the war
made a specialty of cavalry horses, and for
many years shipped an average of a car load a
week. Before, or during the war, he ran four
mail routes between Muncie and other points,
carrying the mail bags on hacks which he had
been previously running on the same routes for
several years.
After the death of his first wife, twenty
years ago, Mr. Thomas married Louisa A. Batt-
real, of Muncie, who has borne him two chil-
dren, Katie, who died at the age of eleven, and
Martha, who graduated at the high school of
Muncie, in 1893. Mr. Thomas has been a
member of the I. O. O. F. for over twenty
years, and has always been recognized as a
man of energy and of business probity.
at
ILLIAM A. THOMPSON, a former
prominent member of the Randolph
county bar, now a leading attorney
of Muncie, was born August 8, 1840,
in Shelby county, Ind. The families of both
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
476
his parents were among; the pioneers of that
county, and took an acti\e part it the events
of its early and later history. William A.
Thompson is the eldest of a family of sixteen
children. His early life was spent on the
home farm and his early education was ac-
quired in the district schools, and the high
school of Shelbyville, the latter then known as
one of the best in the state. Subsequently,
in i860, he spent one year in Moore's Hill
college, leaving the same at the outbreak of
the war, and at the age of eighteen became
principal of the graded schools at St. Paul,
Ind. Later he taught for some time in the
district schools of Shelby county.
Mr. Thompson united with the Methodist
Episcopal church at the age of seventeen, en-
tered the ministry of that denomination in
1862, and joined the Southeastern Indiana
conference, with which body he traveled for a
seven years. In 1 863 he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Mary A. Wilkinson, who died
in 1865, leaving one child. After the death
of his wife, he again entered Moore's Hill col-
lege, where he spent one year, and in i 868 was
married to Miss Elizabeth S. Lamb, daughter
of Judge Lamb, of Indianapolis, after which he
resumed his ministerial relations. On account
of failing health, Mr. Thompson withdrew
from the conference and retired from the min-
istry in 1870, and shortly thereafter began the
study of law in the ofSceof Judge Lamb, finish-
ing his studies with Gordon, Browne & Lamb
at Indianapolis. In, 1871, he located at Win-
chester and began the practice of his profession.
He was first associated with Gen. Thomas M.
Browne from 1871 to 1873, forming partner-
ship relations with Judge J. J. Cheney the
latter year, which continued until 1874. From
the latter year until 1879, he was associated
in the practice with Judge L. J. Monks, after
the dissolution of which relation he entered
into partnership with Capt. A. O. Marsh,
which later became Thompson, Marsh &
Thompson, his brother, J. W. Thompson,
becoming a partner. Judge Thompson re-
moved to Muncie December 25, 1889, where
he formed a partnership with Judge Ryan, and
has since enjoyed a large practice under the
firm name of Ryan & Thompson. As a law-
yer Mr. Thompson has achieved marked suc-
cess, his legal attainments being of a high
order, and he occupies a conspicious position
at this time among the leading attorneys of
Muncie. He is a safe and reliable counselor,
and as an advocate before a jury has few
equals in central Indiana. Although an active
politician, Mr. Thompson has never been a
partisan in the sense of seeking official prefer-
ment, having steadily refused to be a candi-
date for public position. He is a republican,
and as such has contributed greatly to his
party's success in a number of campaigns, be-
ing very effective as a ready and eloquent
speaker. He is a man of positive tempera-
ment, firm in his convictions, forcible and
fearless in his adhesion to principles, and is
esteemed b\- all who know him as an honor-
able man and a christian gentleman. He is
an active worker and teacher in the Sabbath
school.
VVOHN H. TOM was born September
m 20, 1838, in Wooster county, Ohio,
A 1 and is a son of John and Amy (McCoy)
Tom, both parents natives of the state
of Maryland. John Tom and wife left their
native state in an early day and located in
Ohio, thence, in 1839, immigrated to Delaware
county, Ind., locating on a farm in Centre
township, where the mother's death occurred
May 7, 1866; the father followed her to the
grave April 12, 1868. Mr. and Mrs. Tom
were members of the Lutheran church, and
of their ten children five are living at this
476
MUNCIE CITY
time: Anna, wife of W. Smith, of Muncie;
Mary, wife of H. C. Matthews of this city;
John H. ; Amos, a resident of Mount Pleasant
township, and Willard who lives in Pulaski
county, Ind.
John H. Tom was but an infant when his
parents moved to Indiana, consequently the
greater part of his life has been passed within
the boundaries of Delaware county. His early
life was uneventful, having been passed on the
home farm until his twenty-third year, and his
education was acquired in the district schools,
which he attended during the winters of his
minority. When the dark clouds of civil war
gathered over the country, Mr. Tom was among
the many patriotic young men who tendered
their services to the national government, and
he went forth to do battle for the Union cause
in 1862, enlisting August 5th, of that year, in
company B, Sixty-ninth volunteer infantry,
for three years' service, or during the war. He
shared the fortunes and vicissitudes of his
command throughout the terrible struggle, and
with the exception of the last six months was
a member of the same company in which he
enlisted; the period alluded to was spent in
what was known as company A, of the Sixty-
ninth battalion. During the period of serv-
ice, Mr. Tom took a gallant part in the
following bloody battle: Richmond, Ky. ,
Chickasaw Bluffs, Miss. , Arkansas Post, Ark. ;
Thompson Hill, Black River Bridge, Vicks-
burg and Jackson, Miss., Blakely, Ala., and
many other engagements of minor importance.
He was captured at Richmond, Ky. , but re-
mained a prisoner for a short time only, hav-
ing been paroled within a brief period after
the battle at that point. While in the service
Mr. Tom contracted malarial fever, which
almost completely shattered his health, and
from the effects of that dread disease he never
expects to fully recover. In July, 1865, he
was discharged at Mobiie, Ala., and immedi-
ately thereafter returned home, and has since
resided in Muncie and vicinity, engaged in
various occupations, Mr. Tom owns a beau-
tiful home of three and one-half acres in the
suburbs of the city, and is a highly respected
citizen, having numerous friends in Muncie
and throughout Delaware county.
Mr. Tom was married December 4, 1865,
to Margaret VanMatre, who was born in Del-
aware county, December 4, 1847. ^ii'S. Tom
is the daughter of Joseph and Martha A.
(Williamson) VanMatre, of New York, and
she has borne her husband two children — Cora
A , who lives at home, and Albert, deceased.
Mr. Tom reared his sister, Elizabeth Everett
Tom. Mr. Tom is a republican in politics, a
member of the G. A. R., and he exemplifies
the teachings of the christian religion, in his
daily walk and conversation, as a member of
the Disciples church of Muncie.
ISAAC NEWTON TRENT, M. D., of
Muncie, Ind., is a native of Carroll
county, in the same state, and was
born December 18, 1854. His boy-
hood days were passed on his father's farm,
and as he advanced toward manhood he learned
carpentering. In addition to attending the
common schools, at the age of seventeen he
attended the Battle Ground Collegiate insti-
tute, at Battle Ground, Ind., pursued an acad-
emic course for two years, and then taught
common school in Carroll county for seven
years, assisting on the farm during vacations-
In 1878, he began the study of medicine in the
office of Dr. W. N. Gates, in Carroll, and was
under his preceptorship, with the exception of
the time passed at coJlege, until 1881. In
1879 he attended one course of lectures at the
Ohio Medical college, and in 1880 one course
at the Kentucky school of medicine, at Louis-
P
P
'%, .
5^ ^ J^i^Zj^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
481
ville, and from the latter graduated in 1881,
receiving a gold medal for general proficiency,
and was elected vice-president of the Alumni
association for 1881-82. He began practice
at Losantville, Randolph county, Ind., as part-
ner with Dr. H. P. Franks. In 1886, while,
still maintaining his Losantville partnership,
he went to New York, passed a whole year in
the hospitals, and graduated from the college
of Physicians and Surgeons of New York city
in 1887; he then returned to his partner in
Losantville and remained until 1888, enjoyed
a fine practice, and never permitted a patient
to leave their care for either surgical or medi-
cal treatment. He then went to Columbus,
Ohio, for a year, and in 1889 settled in
Muncie. /
In December, 1889, Dr. Trent was united
in marriage with Miss Cora Shetterly, daughter
of Philip Shetterly, of Winchester, Ind. , but,
within two weeks after his wedding, the Boyce
block, in which he was domiciled, was de-
stroyed by fire and all his personal effects con-
sumed. His present office is in Odd Fellows'
block, on Jackson street, where, in partnership
with Dr. E. B. Mann, under the firm name of
Trent & Mann, he has elegantly furnished
apartments and enjoys a most lucrative prac-
tice. Dr. Trent takes much interest in medi-
cal society work, and has been president of the
Randolph County Medical society and also
representative to the American Medical asso-
ciation; he is now a member of the Delaware
County Medical society, Delaware District
Medical society and the Indiana State Medi-
cal society. The doctor has a predilection to-
ward surgery, for which his long hospital ex-
perience has peculiarly fitted him, and his
success in laparotomy has been phenomenal.
He has been a member of the I. O. O. F. since
1877, has passed all the chairs in the lodge, is
a K. of P. and a member of the order of
Chosen Friends.
Joseph Trent, father of the doctor, was
born near Eaton, Ohio, and was qnite a youth
when taken by his parents to Carroll county.
He married Mary Wagoner, and to this union
were born six children, who, with their chil-
dren, are still living, while Joseph and his wife
still retain their residence in Carroll county,
respected and honored by all who know them.
>^OSHUA TRUITT, retired citizen and
M prominent business man of Muncie,
/9 1 was born September 7, 1830, in Adams
county, Ohio. His father, George
Truitt, was a native of the state of Maryland,
from where he moved to Armstrong county,
Pa., and afterward to Scioto county, Ohio, in
1 8 14. About one year later he removed to
the adjoining county of Adams, and in Novem-
ber, 1830, came to Delaware county, Ind.,
and entered land two miles east of Muncie,
where he cleared and improved a fine farm.
He devoted his time to agricultural pursuits
until a few years prior to his death, when fail-
ing health compelled him to retire from active
labor. He died in 1873. His wife, whose
maiden name was Frances Walden, daughter
of Elijah and Mary (Minor) Walden, bore him
the following children: Mary, Minor, Parker,
Rhoda, Joshua and William — five of whom
lived to become heads of families, Parker
dying in infancy. Of these children, Mary,
Rhoda and Joshua Truitt are the only ones
living at the. present time. Mary is the widow
of Aaron Moore, an old and respected farmer
of Delaware county, and Rhoda is the wife
of Samuel Cecil, a wealthy and iniluential far-
mer and stock raiser of Centre township.
The mother died in 1835 and Mr. Truitt after-
ward married her younger sister, Mary Wal-
den, who bore him one child, Caroline (de-
ceased).
MUNCIE CITY
Joshua Truitt accompanied his faiher's
family to Delaware county in 1830. He at-
tended school in Muncie for two terms and
then engaged in teaching in the winter and
working on the farm during the summer. He
afterward attended school at New Castle, Ind. ,
and until his twenty-sixth year was engaged
alternately at farm labor, teaching and attend-
ing school. While at New Castle he first be-
gan to give attention to matters political, and
his convictions lead him away from the politi-
cal school in which he had been reared. He
became a republican, and his independence in
this matter attracted the attention of promi-
nent politicians. He was elected surveyor of
Delaware county in the fall of 1856, and serv-
ed for four years. He then engaged in the
marble business at Muncie, at the same time
acting as civil engineer until his brother re-
turned from the army, when he placed the
work in the latter's hands and engaged in the
lumber trade. He first began buying and
selling walnut lumber, and afterward erected a
saw mill seven miles northwest of Muncie.
Subsequently he removed his mill to Madison
county, Ind., and in 1874 to its present loca-
tion south of the Big Four railroad. Through-
out a long and active life Mr. Truitt's trans-
actions with all men have been of an honorable
nature and he is universally respected and
esteemed. In 1891 he retired from active hfe,
but still owns the mill, which has been leased,
beside other valuable property in the city and
county.
On the 1 8th of April, i860, Mr. Truitt was
united in marriage with Miss Lida Kerwood,
of Oxford, Ohio, who died December 13, 1863,
leaving two children, namely: Lola and Stan-
ley (the latter deceased). On the 17th of
May, 1864, he was married in Mansfield, Ohio,
to Mrs. Anna A. Ramsey, his present wife,
whose sketch and life like portrait appears in
this volume.
Joshua Truitt is a man of marked individ-
uality, a good student, a close and logical
reasoner. He is of an analytical turn of mind,
and very careful and painstaking in his studies
and investigations. He is a deep, close thinker,
.tnd possessed of a mind that naturally abhors
superficiality. He is careful and cautious in
his methods of arriving at conclusions; but
when he has once assumed a position upon a
given question he defends it with rare tenacity
and determination. He is a man of strong
convictions and a high sense of justice, and is
inclined to be contentious, even in matters of
little consequence, where he thinks there is a
principle involved. The mere looker-on, with-
out going into an investigation of the premises,
would sometimes think him unreasonably stub-
born. He is a man of generous disposition
and temperate habits, and a close observer of
current events. He has written and delivered
before the Ethical, Literary Friends, Literary
and Scientific association, and other literary
societies of Muncie, of which he has been a
member, several valuable, interesting and
highly entertaining papers on various enter-
taining literary topics. He is a firm believer in
the principles of Christianity, and always ready
and eager to defend them when he thinks they
are being assailed. He has been an active
member of some of the leading literary socie-
ties of Muncie; among them those already
named, and has contributed his full share
toward the literary progress and advancement
of the city. These facts are gleaned from data
furnished by intimate friends of the subject of
this sketch.
HNNA AUGUSTA TRUITT, philan-
thropist and temperance worker of
Muncie, but whose name is known
wherever the cause of temperance
has an apostle or reform an advocate, was
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
born at Canaan, New Hampshire, in 1837,
her father having been Daniel G. Pattin, who
married Ruth Chase Whittier, the latter a
relative of Gov. Chase, of New Hampshire, as
well as of the "Quaker Poet," John Green-
leaf Whittier. Anna Augusta was still quite
young when her father emigrated with his
family to northern New York, where her early
education was imparted by private tutors; but
she subsequently passed two years at College
Hills seminary. She was married, in i860, to
John P. Ramsey, and with her husband went
to live in the south, where they resided until
the outbreak of the Rebellion, when, on
account of diametrical differences of opinion
between themselves and the inhabitants, they
returned to the north, but at a large sacrifice
of personal and other property.
Here, in 1864, the husband was called
from life, and she became the wife of Joshua
Truitt, an energetic business man of Muncie,
Ind. , but now retired, and whose biographical
sketch will be found above. During the Civil
war Mrs. Truitt was untiring in her labors in
behalf of the boys at the front, preparing
bandages and scraping lint for the use of the
surgeons, and collecting provisions, clothing,
blankets, and hundreds of other things useful
and needful to the soldiers.
But the close of the war did not end her
good work. Her benevolent mind was still act-
ive, and sought wider fields for usefulness and
the exercise of that charity which seems to be
an inherent part of her nature. For many
years she has been an earnest and faithful
worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance
union, and has long been president of the Dela-
ware County union. Eloquent, methodical
and business like, she has invariably acted as
delegate from the local to the district, state
and national conventions. For many years
she has been an attendant of the Presbyterian
church, and was the Indiana temperance dele-
gate to the International Sunday-school con-
vention held at Pittsburg, Pa., in June, 1890,
and her report of its proceedings was accepted
without alteration or amendment, which fact
speaks well for her accuracy, lucidity, and also
her logical trend of thought.
As a member of the industrial school at
Muncie, she has willingly made any sacrifice to
render her services useful, either as officer or
in the performance of duties pertaining to the
executive department, or as the earnest worker
at stated meetings. Her frequent visits to the
homes of the poor are proverbially welcome,
for she carries with her not only sympathy and
wise counsel, but equally needed food and rai-
ment; and in this connection it may be said
that there is probably no other one woman in
Muncie known to more children than Mrs.
Truitt, who is constantly performing for them
some work of kindness, be it great or small.
Indeed, she would hardly be at peace with her-
self, it she were not, at all times, so engaged.
She has never had any children of her own,
but has taken into her household, however, the
four children of her deceased brother, and over
these she continues to keep the watchful eye of
a mother, and to perform for them all those
duties that the most tender and loving mother
could find in her heart to perform.
Mrs. Truitt is possessed of an intuitive
knowledge of human character, approaching
clairvoyance, and added to this rare faculty is
a magnetism that makes her own presence
felt wherever she may be — in company with
the single individual or while stationed before
a multitudinous and mixed audience. Her
perceptive and receptive faculties are most
descriminative, and it requires no mental effort
on her part to select the real from the ficti-
tious— to seperate the wheat from the chaff.
Being keenly anticipative, she arrives at a
climax before a proposition has been half
argued; or at a secjuel before a story has been
484
MUNCIE CITY
half narrated; and they are those quaUties
that render her invaluable as a debater or as
a presiding officer. In oratory and literature,
no one who has read or has listened to one of
her carefully prepared addresses has failed to
be impressed with its rare merit as to profund-
ity of thought and lucidity of terms. In artist-
ic matters her eye is alert and her hand apt
in harmonizing colors and forming groupings,
and there can be no doubt but that, had she
earlier turned her attention to art, she would
stand to-day, in the eyes of the world, as high
in that department as she does in the depart-
ment of Hterature. Her moral nature is sweet
and beautiful, and, while not blind to the
shortcomings of others, she is not censorious,
but is always willing to see the "beam" in
her own eye. Benevolence is the one under-
lying trait of her character, and, being with-
out envy or malice, or weak yearning for pop-
ularity, she prefers to let her quiet work speak
her motives rather than garrulous disputation,
by mouth or pen, with those who may too in-
dividiously criticize her utterances and actions.
y^^DWARD TUHEY— Among the suc-
m . I cessful self-made men of Muncie de-
\^_^^ serving mention, the name of Edward
Tuhey is especially prominent. The
subject's father, Patrick Tuhey, of county
Cork, Ireland, where his birth occurred in the
year 1815, came to the United States when a
young man, and for some years thereafter re-
sided in Greene, Madison and Montgomery
counties, Ohio. He assisted in grading and
constructing the Little Miami railroad, and in
1853 came to Muncie, Ind. , as a contractor on
the old Bee Line railroad. Being pleased
with this city, he decided to make it his resi-
dence; engaged in contracting and building of
all kinds of public works, being identified with
the city in these interests for forty years, and
he passed the residue of his days here. He
passed from earth July 2, 1893. He was a
man of energy and determination, worked
diligently all his life and died lamented
by all who knew him. By his marriage with
Nancy Mahony, of Dayton, Ohio, Patrick
Tuhey had a family of five children, namely:
Edward, Patrick J., Blanch, Anna and Mamie,
all living except Patrick J., who died shortly
after attaining his majority.
Edward Tuhey first saw the light of day in
Muncie, Ind., January 10, 1857. Being the
eldest son, he was early obliged to contribute
his share toward the support of the family,
consequently his education was obtained under
many difficulties. During his youthful years
he attended the schools of Muncie, and later,
in order to procure the necessary money to
enable him to prosecute his studies in the
higher branches of learning, he herded sheep
and fed stock for A. G. Harrison, a farmer of
Mt. Pleasant township, and in a like capacity
for one Russell Williams, this being in the
winters of 1876-78. After an attendance at a
normal school for one term, Mr. Tuhey was
sufficiently advanced in his studies to procure
a teacher's license, and for the greater part of
the succeeding eight years he was engaged in
educational work in the district schools of
Delaware county. For one year he was super-
intendent of the public schools of Fowler, this
state, but in 1887 he abandoned the field of
education and engaged in real estate trans-
actions in the city of Muncie. Later he became
proprietor of the National hotel in this city,
once known as the Haines house, and after
ministering to the wants of the traveling pub-
for two years, sold out, and effected a co-
partnership in contracting for street paving
and sewer work with Thomas Kinser, which
relationship continued about two years, under
the firm name of Kinser & Tuhey, during the
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
life of which partnership many contracts for
the construction of sewers, street paving, etc.,
in Muncie and other Indiana cities were exe-
cuted. At the dissolution of the partnership,
Mr. Tuhey continued the business alone with
gratifying success for two years; doing a large
amount of work in Muncie and other places.
In 1892 he assisted in organizing the Muncie
Iron & Steel works of which he was made
secretary and treasurer, and to which he now
devotes his entire attention.
From the foregoing it will be seen that
Mr. Tuhey's career has been one of unceasing
activity; and his success is such as few men
attain in a much longer life. In the prosecu-
tion of his various enterprises he has e.xercised
ability of high order, and his reputation as a
thoroughly honorable and conscientious busi-
ness man has never been impeached, nor have
his integrity and honesty ever been questioned.
Not only has he been successful in the aquisi-
tion of wealth, but he has manifested a com-
mendable purpose in its use, which does not
always accompany the talent for gaining
riches. Every movement of public enterprise
or private benevolence finds in him a ready
assistant. He is one of Muncie's most sub-
stantial citizens, and in business circles enjoys
a reputation much more than local.
Mr. Tuhey was married March 10, 1879,
to Mary McKinley, daughter of Joseph W. and
Elizabeth (Darrah) McKinley, of Delaware
county, the result of which union are the fol-
lowing children: Carl, Earl, Walter, Nellie,
Ray and Edward, all living at this time.
QINUSTURNER(deceased).— Among
the early settlers of Muncie there
were but few who took a more
active part in the improvement of
the town than Mr. Turner. He was long
engaged in the manufacture of brick, and
erected the first brick house in the town, and
his residence on west Main street was the first
brick house in the county. In whatever he
engaged he was actuated by a laudable ambi-
tion ts excel. He was one of the early mer-
chants of Muncie, and was identified with its
mercantile interests until the infirmities of age
caused his retirement life. Minus Turner was
born May 22, 1807, near the city of Dover,
Del., and was scarcely more than an infant
when he accompanied his father's family to
Kentucky. All his school experience was limited
to the crude system in vogue at that time in
the latter state; and for whatever knowledge
he acquired in later years, he was indebted to
his own individual effort. In 1823, he removed
with his father's family to Randolph county,
Ind., where he remained six years. He came
to Muncie in 1829, and engaged in bricklaying
and plastering. In 1831, he was married, in
Randolph county, Ind., to Eliza C. Bowen,
who died in Muncie. In October, 1833, he
married Miss Fanny Marshall, who survives
him. She is the daughter of John and Nancy
Marshall, early settlers of Muncie.
Mr. Turner was engaged at his trade until
1838, when he erected the brick block on the
corner of Walnut and Main streets, which was
destroyed by fire a few years ago, and suc-
ceeded by the Patterson block. In this build-
ing— then one of the finest in the town — he
enjoyed his first experience as a hotel keeper,
and won the regard of the traveling public,
proving himself a genial host, and one ever-
solicitous for the welfare and comfort of his
guests. He was thus engaged for nine or ten
years, at the end of which time he sold out
and erected a brick storeroom at the east end
of the same lot, and engaged in mercantile
pursuits. In less than a year thereafter he
sold out, resuming work at his trade; and, in
1 86 1, he and his son, Leonidas L. , engaged in
MUNCIE CITY
the boot and shoe business, and conducted a
very satisfactory trade until the senior mem-
ber of the firm felt the necessity of retiring
from the tedium of active business life. The
store was sold to William Lynn, and Mr.
Turner led a retired life until his death. He
settled in an infant community, and, by his
untiring labors at his trade, advanced step by
step, on the road to wealth, prospering with
the community, and lending a helping hand in
its advancement and public improvements.
He always possessed a nature that drew friends
to him, and has ever retained the confidence
and esteem of those with whom he had been
associated through life. His second marriage
was blessed by nine children, viz. : Millie,
Leonidas L. , Charles M., Jane, Lycurgus C. ,
Matilda A., Eliza, Nancy E. and Martha A.
m:
'ILLIAM D. TURNER, retired super-
intendent, Muncie, Ind. , was born
in Manchester, Carroll county, Md. ,
in 1816, the son of William and
Charlotte F. (Droud) Turner. The family
moved to Hanover, York county, Pa., when
William D. was but three years old, and the
father, who was originally from the New Eng-
land states, died when the lad was quite young,
and the latter was not more than seventeen
when he lost his mother. His instruction at
school was somewhat imperfect, inasmuch as
it was partly in English and partly in German.
At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed at
Hanover, York county, for four years, to the
cabinet maker's trade, and, having learned it,
worked as a journeyman at Baltimore, Md.,
and elsewhere, until 1844. Going to Cincin-
nati, Ohio, he was superintendent for the
Kammlsburg furniture factory for about five
years, putting in the machinery; then started a
furniture machinery factory on his own account.
but was four years later burned out, at a total
loss; he then went to Bellefontaine, Ohio,
went into partnership, added his new inv»n-
tions in machinery for cabinet making, and
within six months this concern was consumed
by fire, and the loss total; he then superintended
another factory at Cincinnati until the firm
dissolved; then remodeled the factory of
Cooley, Newkirk & Co., at Connersville, Ind.,
and superintended for some time. In 1871 he
located in Muncie, Ind., superintended the
Muncie Machine Co.'s works, and afterward
those of its successors, Wysor, Hammett &
Co., and their successors, at pattern making,
until about 1891, when advancing age warned
him to retire.
In 1852 Mr. Turner was married to Miss
Phebe A. DeRoads, of Columbiana, Ohio, and
this union has been blessed with ten chil-
dren, six of whom live to console and comfort
the declining years of their father, he having
lost his life-partner in June, 1892, at the age
of sixty-seven years. The surviving children
are Miss Addie M., a leading dressmaker of
Muncie; Sophie, wife of Mr. Oliver Smith,
son of the Hon. Mark Smith, of Muncie;
Sarah, wife of J. Rieff, a telegraph operator at
Philadelphia, Pa. ; Mary J., wife of Mr. A. Jones,
printer, Philadelphia; Florence and Cora, at
home. One of the sons, Wilham Henry, died
at home from disease contracted in the army,
and one son and two daughters died in in-
fancy.
Mr. Turner was united with the Methodist
Episcopal church in 1838, was licensed as a
local preacher in 1839, and was subsequently
ordained by Bishop Jayne an elder. He has
been a class leader in the Muncie High street
church for the past ten years, and while a
member of the local preachers' association for
north Indiana, did active and efficient work at
the weaker points in Delaware and adjoining
counties. His life has been well spent.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
487
aALVIN S, WACHTELL, a prominent
business man, dealing in harness,
etc., in Muncie, Ind , was born near
Columbus, Ohio, December i, 1837,
a son of Jonathan and Parmelia (Baxter)
Wachtell, natives of Pennsylvania and Mary-
land, respectively. They came to Muncie,
Ind., in 1839, where the father engaged in the
manufacture of furniture and chairs. He and
his wife were members of the Presbyterian
church and he was instrumental in establishing
the first church of that denomination in Mun-
cie, and served as deacon and trustee of the
same. Politically he was a democrat, and
during life firmly upheld the principles of that
party. His death occurred in 1850, leaving a
wife and six children. His wife survived him
until 1 891, and five of the children are still
living. The family was as follows: Eveline,
now Mrs. William Barnes, of Muncie; John A.,
of Muncie; Andrew J., of ^funcie; Henry H.,
deceased, and Calvin S. Calvin S. Wachtell
was brought by his parents to this city when
he was but two years of age, and received a
public school education. He learned the
excellent trade of harness making and has,
every since that time, followed the same busi-
ness. In 1874 he was called upon by the citi-
zens to fill the office of city clerk and auditor,
and for twelve years he acceptably filled those
positions. In 1879 he established his present
harness and wagon business, and is the oldest
dealer in those lines in the city. He has
become prominent in business circles, as he
has been progressive and enterprising. He is
the present secretary of the Co-operative
Natnral Gas company, and is a member of the
Citizens' Enterprise company.
Politically Mr. Wachtell is a rej)ublican,
and is a member of the I. O. O. F. He
is recognized as one of the most progressive
citizens in the city, and his great financial
success has all been attained by his own ef-
forts. He receives, as he deserves, the esteem
and confidence of his fellow citizens. Mr.
Wachtell was married, in 1862, to Miss Susan
L. Anderson, daughter of John Anderson, of
Niles township, and one son, F. L. Wachtell,
has been born of this marriage. F. L. Wach-
tell was born in 1863, was educated in the
Muncie schools, passing through the high
school, and in 1879 was admitted by his father
into partnership. In 1888 he married Miss
Leonora Deitsch, a daughter of Chief of Police
Deitsch of the city of Cincinnati. The two
families are among the best in the city of
Muncie and enjoy the respect and esteem of
all. Mr. Wachtell and wife are members of
the Christian church of Muncie, and in this
body he holds the offices of deacon and clerk.
QUINXE WALLING, superintendent
of the Muncie Water and Gas com-
pany, is a native of Delaware county,
born in the city of Muncie, June i,
1865. He received his education in the pub-
lic schools of Muncie, which he attended until
his sixteenth year, and then accepted a clerk-
ship in the grocery house of James Charman,
in which capacity he continued for a period of
about two years. Severing his connection
with the mercantile business, Mr. Walling next
took service with the Muncie Artificial Gas
company as street lamp lighter, and after a
year in that capacity became collector for the
concern, which at the time was owned and
controlled by the American Water Works &
Guarantee company, which operated plants in
various parts of the United States. In 1886
he was given charge of the plant at Marion,
Ind., where he remained one year, at the end
of which time he returned to Muncie and re-
sumed the duties of collectorship, continuing
the same until his elevation to the superintend-
MUNCIE CITY
ency on the ist of April, 1890. Since that
year Mr. Walling has had charge of both
plants, gas and water works, and the ability
with which he has discharged the duties of the
position has won for him the highest encomi-
ums from the company with which he is iden-
tified, as well as the praise of the public to
whose comfort he has so long and so efficiently
ministered. Mr. Walling is a young man of
much more than ordinary intelligence and
business capacity, a gentleman in whom the
people repose the most implicit confidence, and
he is considered by all one of the wide-awake
and substantial citizens of Muncie. He is an
active member of the Muncie lodge, No. 74,
I. O. O. F., of DeEmber tribe, No. 30, I. O.
R. M., and also belongs to the B. P. O. Elks
lodge. No. 245. Mr. Walling was married
September 19, 1889, to Miss Gertrude A.
Shick, daughter of Leonard and Psyche Shick,
of Centre township, Delaware county, to
which union one child, Helen E., has been
born.
Wi
[LLIAM WALLING, now hving re-
tired from active business life, is a
well known and highly respected
citizen, and an ex-official of Dela-
ware county, Ind. He was born in Wayne
county, Ind., February 3, 18 19, a son of Jos-
eph and Mary (Thomas) Walling, the former
a native of New Jersey and the latter of
Wales. The parents were among the pioneers
of Wayne county, Ind., where they settled
about 1817. By trade, Mr. Walling, the
elder, was a tanner, and erected tanneries in
Wayne county and at Connersville, in Fay-
ette county. In 1832 he came to Delaware
county and settled in Perry township, where
he cleared a farm and also erected a tannery.
A tract of land was entered by him in Perry
and Centre townships, and this land is now
occupied by the Hemingwray and Over glass
companies. He was a stockholder in the Bee-
Line railroad and was regarded as a safe and
sensible business man. Politicall3^ he was a
democrat, and his death occurred in 1864.
Mrs. Walling survived him until 1883. Jo-
seph and Mary Walling reared a family of nine
children, as follows: Francis, deceased; Anna,
now deceased, was Mrs. William Scott;
Thompson, a resident of Henry county, Ind. ;
William; Mark, of Muncie; Sarah, now dead,
was Mrs. John Powers; John, of Muncie;
Jonathan, deceased, and Joseph, deceased.
William Walling accompanied his parents
to Delaware county when thirteen years of age,
was educated in the common schools, after
which he learned the trade of tanner with his
father. In 1835, in connection with his father
and his brother-in-law, he purchased a tannery
in Muncie and enlarged it and operated the
same for several years. He also cleared up a
farm in Centre township, upon which he resi-
ded for a number of years. Mr. Walling has
been a very valuable and important citizen and
was one of the organizers of the Five Points
Gas Well company; is a member of the Citi-
zens' Enterprise company, and a stockholder
in the Citizen's National bank. Socially he is
connected with the I. O. O. F. and politically
he is a democrat. Formerly he was a repub-
lican, but in late years he views public ques-
tions differently, and now votes with the other
great party. In 1854 he was elected sheriff of
Delaware county, and acceptably filled that
position for four years.
In 1843 Mr. Walling married Miss Mary
Hamilton, a daughter of Stephen Hamilton, of
Hamilton township, but she died in 1858, leav-
ing him a family of four children: Salina,
Ellen, deceased; Ann, wife of N. B. Powers, of
Muncie, and Mary, deceased wife of James
Campbell. Mr. Walling next was married, in
1862, to Miss Lucetta Smith, a daughter of
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
489
John Smith, of Centre townsliip, and two sons
have been born of this union, John and Mark.
Mrs. Walling is a member of the Hij^h street
Methodist Episcopal church.
,>^OLLIN WARNER, city attotney of
I ^^ Muncie, was born in Blountsville,
M .P Henry county, Ind., April i8, 1856,
son of Eli and Emily (Bunch) War-
ner, natives respectiveh- of New and Vermont,
who settled in the above counry about the
year 1850. The father was engaged in mer-
cantile pursuits for a period of twenty years
and departed this life in 1871.
Rollin Warner received his rudimentary
education in the township schools, later at-
tended the National Normal at Lebanon,
Ohio, after which he entered his father's
store, and after the latter's death conducted the
business for some years. Having early mani-
fested a decided preference for the legal pro-
fession, he determined to make it his life work;
accordingly he began the study of the same in
the office of Monks & Thompson of Winches-
ter, and was admitted to the bar in the coun-
ties of Randolph, Henry and Delaware in the
year 1879. For a period of ten years, from
1879 to 1889, he practiced his profession in
New Castle, and then removed to Muncie,
where he has since remained, having in the
meantime built up a large and lucrative business
in Delaware and other counties. With a
mind naturally capable, well developed and
enriched by close study and critical experience,
he has become one of the ablest lawyers of
Muncie, and his connection with a number of
very important cases, here and elsewhere, has
gained for him much more than a state repu-
tation. He was one of the counsel which de-
fended Lake, Smeltzer, Roswell and Smith,
who were tried for the murder of Eli Ladd,
and he acquitted himself in that co!cl)rated
case with an ability that gave him a high
standing as an astute and brilliant lawyer. Mr.
Warner has also been retained as counsel in
much other important litigation, and his serv-
ices are frequently in demand where large and
important interests are at stake. He is am-
bitious and zealous in his chosen calling, and,
in addition to achieving what men call success,
has established a reputation for honesty and
integrity that has accomplished this laudable
aim. In politics Mr. Warner is an active re-
publican, and he is often called upon to can-
vass the county in the interest of his party
being a forcible, effective and eloquent speak-
er. He served as attorney for Henry county
for two years and resigned the position of city
attorney of New Castle upon his removal to
Muncie at the date above noted. In 1891 he
was made city attorney of Muncie, the duties
of which position he has discharged in a very
able and satisfactory manner ever since.
In October, 1889, Mr. Warner and Miss
Mary \'. Cecil, daughter of Gordon and Susan
E. Cecil of Perry township, this county, were
united in the bonds of wedlock, and their
wedded life has been blessed by a family of
five interesting children: Etta, Everett, Mabel,
Cecil and Emily. Mrs. Warner is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and both
she and her husband are prominent factors in
the social life of Muncie.
vx
ILLIAM F. WATSON.— Prominent
among the representative business
men of Delaware county the name
)f William F. Watson, now prac-
tically retired from active life, is worthy of
specific mention. Mr. Watson is a native of
Ohio, born July ^i, 1829, in Licking county,
the son of James \\'atson, a X'irginian, who
MUNCIE CITY
settled in the Buckeye state in early manhood.
At the age of twenty-one, James Watson married
Fanny Francis, daughter of William Francis,
of Licking county, and immediately thereafter
located on a farm and followed agricultural
pursuits until his death, which occurred in the
year 1842. He reared a large family, nine
members of which, six sons and three daugh-
ters, are yet living, namely: Stephen, William
F. , James, Strawder, Levi, Abraham, Frances,
Lacy and Miranda. Two years after her hus-
band's death, Mrs. Watson moved with her
family to Delaware county, Ind., and settled
on a farm, which Mr. Watson had previously
bought, and there resided until her death in
1854.
William F. Watson accompanied his
widowed. mother to Delaware county in 1844,
and was early obliged to contribute his full
share to the support of her and the other
members of the family. He worked at differ-
ent places, principally as a farmer, until his
twenty-fifth y^ar, at which time he married
Miss Mary Brown, daughter of Hugh and Ann
(Stephenson) Brown, the ceremony which
made them man and wife having been solem-
nized on the 26th day of March, 1856. After
his marriage, Mr. Watson and wife moved to
a farm in Monroe township, where he lived for
thirty years, giving his entire attention to agri-
cultural pursuits, in which his success was sat-
isfactory in an eminent degree. For some
time he served as supervisor of highways of his
township, and in 1866 was elected trustee of
the same, which position he filled by succes-
sive re-elections for a period of eight years,
which fact attested his popularity with his fel-
low citizens, and was also a compliment to his
abihty as an official In 1876 Mr. Watson
was elected to the important office of county
commissioner, the duties of which responsible
position he discharged with creditable ability
for a period of fourteen years, and it was dur- 1
ing his incumbency that the contract for the
present beautiful court house, one of the most
imposing temples of justice in the state of
Indiana, was awarded, and the building fin-
ished. While a member of the board he was
untiring, in his efforts to promote the welfare
of the county by judicious legislation, and he
became, in truth, a true guardian of the inter-
ests of the people. In the year 1881 he re-
moved to a farm one and one-half miles south
of Muncie, which he afterward sold and which
is now within the corporate limits o" Conger-
ville, a suburb of Muncie, and in 1887 moved
to the elegant home on east Washington
street, where he has since lived.
Mr. Watson still owns his farm in Monroe
township, besides other valuable property in
the country and city. He was a director in
the Delaware County bank for five years, and
has since held a similar position in the Delaware
County National bank, and is considered one
of the financially strong and reliable men of
Muncie. In addition to the property enume-
rated, he owns a fine farm on the Bethel turn-
pike, which he still manages.
Mr. and Mrs. Watson are the parents of
five children, namely: Emma, married to
Benjamin Rees, died in 1888; Olive, wife of
Frank Wilson; Frank, a highly respected young
business man of Muncie, who died October 13,
1892; Oscar and Hugh Watson. Mr. Watson
has been a republican ever since the organiza-
tion of the party, and has taken a very active
interest in political questions, on all of which
he has ver} decided and intelligent opinions.
Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow, belonging to
Muncie lodge, No. 74. Mr. Watson's business
career has been signally successful, and for
years he has been recognized as a man of force
and character in the affairs of Delaware county
and the city of Muncie. His chief character-
istics, caution, resolution, and determination,
combined with intelligent foresight, mark him
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
as the peer cf any man in Delaware county,
and fully justify the high estimate placed upon
him bj' the business community in which for
so many years he has been a prominent factor.
>^AMES E. WILCOXON, deceased, far-
M mer and merchant, of Muncie, Ind.,
/• 1 was a son of Lloyd Wilcoxon, Sr. ,
and was born in Scioto county, Ohio,
March 22, 1818, and in 1832 was brought to
Indiana by his parents, who settled on a par-
tially cleared farm about three miles east of
Muncie. He here attended school in the win-
ter until of age, and June 25, 1840, married
Miss Jemima E. Moore, daughter of John
Moore, and at that time* nineteen years old.
John Moore had then entered 640 acres on the
Smitbfield road, all in the woods, excepting
a small strip, with numerous red men for neigh-
bors. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcoxon began farming
near Granville, but, not liking the location, re-
turned two years later to a portion of the old
Moore homestead, three miles east of Muncie.
Here Mr. Wilcoxon became owner of 100
acres, but a few years later sold out and
moved six miles north of Muncie and farmed
for several years. When the railroad was run
through he put in his farm for $5,000 worth of
stock in the road, and then traded his stock
for 200 acres of the old Moore place and $1,-
800 to boot. On this farm he lived for some
years and prospered; he then went to Selma,
formed a partnership with his brother-in-law,
William J. Moore, in the grain and general
goods business, but three years later, about
1857 or 1858, sold his interest in Selma and
joined his father, Lloyd, in the grocery trade
at Muncie; later he purchased the Neely farm,
now a part of Riverside, and this, in turn, he
traded for a stock of dry goods, and entered
into the trade on Main street, Muncie, oppo-
site the court house, and so continued until
some time after the close of the late war,
when he retired from active business, and died
June 24, 1872, in the fifty-fifth year of his
age. He had been a member of the Metho-
dist church since his nineteenth year, was a
class leader, and died, triumphant, in the arms
of Jesus. He had been a great sufferer for
eight years from a complication of disorders,
but was patient and uncomplaining under his
afflictions, relying upon the promise of a bless-
ed" immortality, and leaving behind an un-
spotted name. His widow, Jemima E.
(Moore) Wilcoxon, was born May 5, 1821,
was converted to Christ in her fifteenth year,
and has been a devout and consistent member
of the Methodist church to the present day.
Eight children were born to the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Wilcoxon, viz: Levi, sales-
man in a wholesale grocery in Indianapolis:
John S., whose health was impaired by ex-
posure while serving in the Twenty-first Indi-
ana heavy artillery during the late war, and
who died at the age of twenty-eight years;
three that died in infancy; Emma F. , wife of
Marion M. Richie, general superintendent of
the Calumet & Blue Island railway at South
Chicago; Lloyd Pierce, a contracting painter,
at Muncie, and Flora May, wife of J. Russy
Smith, plumber, of Muncie.
*-|-* LOYD WILCOXON was born May
I r II, 1 82 1, in Scioto county, Ohio.
I ^ His grandparents, both paternal and
maternal, were of English birth and
owned large tracts of land in that country.
His father, Lloyd Wilcoxon, Sr. , was a native
of Maryland, and served in the war of 1812.
He was afterward engaged at the carpenter's
trade in Ohio, and died at Muncie, Ind., at
the age of seventy-five years. His mother,
492
MUNCIE CITY
whose maiden name was Elizabeth Truitt, was
a native of Pennsylvania, and a lady of Eng-
lish antecedents. When in the eleventh year
of his age (1832), the subject of this biog-
raphy came with his parents to Delaware
county, with whose industrial interests he
afterward became very prominently identified.
Too young when he left Ohio to have enjoyed
to any extent the educational privileges of that
state, he attended the subscription schools of
Delaware county during the winter seasons fol-
lowing his arrival. The daily round of labor
on the farm occupied the greater portion of his
time, and trained thus to early habits of indus-
try, he grew up with a character that taught
him to love work, rather than to shun it. He
soon became the owner of a farm, in the cul-
tivation of which he was engaged until 1852.
So successful were his labors that, in that
year, he was enabled to come to Muncie and
engage in the purchase and sale of grain. In
1858 he added the manufacture of flour,
erecting a large flouring mill just south of the
Bee Line track, on Walnut street. To this
he has added substantial improvements from
time to time, supplying it with the best ma-
chinery and making it, in all respects, a first-
class mill. In 1883 the mill burned, was af-
terward repaired, and now is used as a hominy
mill.
He is a strict temperance man, and carries
his principles into his business, employing no
man who uses intoxicating liquors as a bever-
age. He has been identified with the Meth-
odist Episcopal church since he was si.Kteen
years of age, and has proven himself a worthy
exemplar of the faith he professes. In 1854,
he became a member of the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows; during that year he re-
ceived'all the degrees of the subordinate lodge
and encampment, and, two years later, he was
chosen to represent both branches of the order
at the grand lodge of Indiana. His early po-
litical training was in the democratic school;
but the platform and the principles of the re-
puqlican party, at its organization, harmonized
with his own views, and he was among the
first to join its ranks. March 28, 1842, he
was united in marriage with Miss Rhoda, daugh-
ter of Lewis Moore, an early settler of Dela-
ware county. This union was blessed with
nine children — Mar}' A., now deceased, was
the wife of John R. Mason; Sarah E. is the
wife of J. Milton Long; Amanda H. is the
wife of Henry Bowman; John W. , deceased;
Martha C, wife of W. H. Long; Charles N. ;
Lydia J., wife of Thomas O. Cunningham;
Zulena and Emma P., who reside with their
parents.
aHARLES FREDERICK WILDER-
MUTH, deceased, was born in the
kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany,
October 26, 1844. He was a son of
Gotleib and Friedrica (Rieger) Wildermuth,
both natives of Wurtemberg, and born respect-
ively in 18 14 and 18 19. Gotleib was a baker
by trade, and in early life married Miss Rie-
ger; their union was blessed with five chil-
dren, born and named in the following order:
Charles Frederick, whose name opens this
sketch; Friedrica, now Mrs. Oehler, of Union
City, Randolph county, Ind. ; Lewis, a farmer
near Winamac, Pulaski county, Ind. ; Freder-
ick, deceased, and Wilhelm'na, the wife of
Joseph Vogt, a merchant tailor of Muncie.
Gotleib Wildermuth resided in the town of
Ottmarsheim, Wurtemberg, all his life, and
there he reared his children and followed his
trade until he reached an advanced age, when
he retired, to enjoy in ease and comfort the
fruit of an industrious early life. April 27,
1876, he passed away from earth at the age of
sixty-two, he being a member of the Lutheran
church, and mourned by a large circle of
CHAS. F. WILDERMUTH.
^^^'Vi^i.c^..^
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
495
friends and acquaintances. In 187S his witiow
was wedded to Carl Klein, and the pair there-
after made their home in Waldheim, Germany,
where they still reside.
Charles Frederick Wildermuth learned the
baker's trade in his native city, with his father,
beginning his apprenticeship at the age of four-
teen. When twenty-one he came to the United
States, landing at New York, whence he made
his way to Dayton, Ohio, where for a short
time he industriously worked at his trade, and
then went to New Orleans, where, as is usual
with unacclimated residents, he was seized
with yellow fever. He was then a vigorous
young man, and succeeded in baffling the
dreadful disease, and after his recovery he re-
turned to Dayton, Ohio, where he again fol-
lowed his calling for a short time, and then
located permanently in Muncie, which city,
however, he had previously visited, and where
he worked for Mr. Joseph Hummel, being also
otherwise employed for a short time, and then
purchased a business place for himself, which
he successfully conducted until his death, July
6, 1893.
February 22, 1872, Mr. Wildermuth was
most happily married to Miss Fannie Geiger,
daughter of Frederick and Christina (Harbold)
Geiger, residents of Muncie, but natives re-
spectively of Germany and Canada. The union
was blessed with three children, Edward, Min-
nie, and Lewis, all of whom, with their mother,
are still living.
Mr. Wildermuth was reared a Lutheran,
having been confirmed at the age of fourteen.
He was a member, also, of Muncie lodge No.
74, I. O. O. F. , also of the German Benevo-
lent association, and was an upright man. He
was of a happy, cheerful disposition, a doting
father and loving husband, was easy of ap-
proach to all who sought his charity or assist-
ance, and was a careful and successful busi-
ness man. His loss will be long felt by his
family and the public
he had hosts of friends
QAJ. JOHN F. WILDMAN, senior of
the firm of Wildman & McClung,
proprietors of the Muncie Times,
was born near Madison, Jefferson
county, Ind., January i, 1842, and is a son of
Enos and Jane M. (Elliott) Wildman. Enos
Wildman was a native of Leesburg, Va. , and
died in Jefferson county, Ind , in 1878. Mrs.
Jane M. Wildman, whose father was a soldier
in the war of 1812, was born in Dayton, Ohio,
and died iu Jefferson county, Ind., in 1880.
John F. Wildman had just entered Han-
over college to prepare himself for encounter-
ing the realities of life, when the cannon of
Fort Sumter summoned him to a sterner en-
counter. At almost the first call to arms for
the defense of the Union, he volunteered as a
private in company E, Third Indiana cavalry,
June 28, 1 86 1, and was mustered in, August
22, 1 86 1, and was in continuous service,
without being off duty one day, four years and
eight days, being mustered out of the service
September 4, 1865. His work was that of a
faithful soldier, but his acts were brave, and
his deeds daring, and in consequence his pro-
motion rapid. For meritorious conduct at the
battle of Gettysburg, he was promoted from
private in the Third Indiana cavalry, and com-
missioned adjutant of the One Hundred and
Thirtieth Indiana volunteer infantry, Decem-
ber 5, 1863, and for meritorious service at the
battle of Nashville he was commissioned major
of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Indiana
volunteer infantry, March 30, 1865.
Among other of the battles in which the
major took part, and in which bravery on the
field led to his promotion, may be mentioned
those with the Third Indiana cavalry: Fred-
MUNCIE CITY
ericksburg. Thoroughfare Gap, Upperville,
Piedmont, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station,
Middletown, Boonsburg, Antietam, Gettys-
burg, Beverly's Ford, Warrentown, etc., and
with the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana
volunteer infantry: Red Clay, Rocky Face
Ridge, Resaca, Lost Mountain, Pine Mount-
ain, Kenesaw, Chattahoochee River, Decatur,
Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy's Station, Nash-
ville, Wise's Forks, Kinston, Goldsboro.
In further recognition of Maj. Wildman's
services, he was appointed to a position in the
treasury department, Washington, D. C, in
December, 1865, held it until April, 1867, and
was appointed and confirmed collector of in-
ternal revenue of the Eleventh district, Ind. ,
with headquarters at Anderson, which position
he held a number of years. Upon retiring from
the revenue service, he purchased, in 1883,
the Muncie Times, and has since been the act-
ive manager and one of the leading writers.
He has served the Odd Fellows as grand
master of the state, and represented the state,
with creditable ability, at two sessions of
the Sovereign Grand lodge at the meetings in
Boston and Denver. Also a member and
worker in the Knights of Honor, A. O. U. W. ,
Fraternal Union, G. A. R. , and the various
branches of the Masonic order, in some of
which he held important positions. Politically
a republican and an active worker, he was
never a candidate for an elective office, and
never held any office except the one mention-
ed, revenue collector. He has frequently been
a delegate to conventions of his party, and
served as such in the national convention that
nominated Benjamin Harrison for president,
from the Sixth district. He is public spirited,
and an advocate of all public improvements.
The marriage of the Major took place Sep-
tember 25, 1867, to Miss S. J. Pierce, of Ash-
tabula, Ohio.
In the fall of 1892, a new building for the
Muncie Times, on north Walnut street, 22jx
85 feet, at a cost of $4,300, was creeled, and
was taken possession of January i, 1893, and
under the management of Major Wildman the
Times has become a recognized power in the
republican party of the state. The attention
of the reader is called to the life like portrait
of the major on an adjacent page. The major
is a fiuent and trenchant writer and a shrewd
business man withal. Not at all bombastic,
he is nevertheless ornate, and his logic is in-
controvertible, and his party may well con-
gratulate itself on the fact that it has at the
head of its principal organ in Muncie a gentle-
man who so happily combines the qualities of
a good writer with those of a first class busi-
ness man.
^-t'AMES S. WILLIAMS, treasurer of the
M city of Muncie, is a well known resi-
A 1 dent and one of her most esteemed
citizens. He was born in Adams
county, Ohio, April 4, 1855, son of Ebenezer
B. and Catherine M. (Nesbit) Williams, who
removed from Ohio to Grant county, Ind. , in
1855. The father was a carpenter by trade,
politically a democrat and served as a justice
of the peace in Grant county for many years.
He and wife were both members of the Chris-
tian church, and both passed their last days in
Grant county.
James S. Williams is the third in a family
of six chiildren and was educated in the schools
of Lebanon, attending the National Normal
school at Lebanon, Ohio, and also the schools
at Marion, Ind., after which he engaged in
teaching school in Grant and Tipton counties
for several years. During this time he was
unfortunately sunstruck, and after recovering
from this serious misfortune, found himself
unable to accomplish anything in the way of
employment which would necessitate any hard
! ■ ■
'•^mk^
VOLNEY WILLSON.
MRS. ELIZABETH WILLSON.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
497
labor, hence he learned the barber business.
This he followed until August, 1881, when he
came to Muncie, Ind., and opened up a bar-
ber business, so continuing until 1891, when
he was elected on the democratic ticket to his
present responsible office. He is a prominent
member of the I. O. O. F. and of the Citi-
zens' Enterprise company.
Mr. Williams was married, in 1882, to
Miss Martha A. Randall, a daughter of Joseph
Randall, of Muncie, and is the father of one
little daughter, Blanche. He and wife are
active members of the Central Christian
church, in which he is a deacon and has served
as superintendent of the Sunday school. The
family possesses the regard and esteem of the
entire communitv.
VOLNEY WILLSON (deceased) was an
early settler in the town of Muncie,
and was well known throughout the
country as a farmer and capitalist.
He was born April 12, 18 16, at Easton, Wash-
ington county, N. Y. His father, Osborn Will-
son, was a native of Vermont, but removed to
Washington county, N. Y. , and resided at the
town of Greenwich for sixty years. He died !
February 13, 1880, at the age of eighty-seven
years. The mother of Volney was Susan
(Clapp) Willson, a lady of Welsh antecedents
on the father's side, while the maternal ances-
tors were Scotch. She was born in Salem,
Washington county, N. Y. , and died in August,
1 87 5, in her seventy-sixth year. Volney was
the eldest of twelve children, eleven of whom,
at some time during their lives, were engaged
in school teaching. He received his prelimi-
nary education in the district schools of his na-
tive county, and when he was twelve years
old, entered a seminary at Union village, N.Y. ,
where he pursued his studies during the four
succeeding summers. Afterward he engaged
in teaching school during the winter, and in
summer was employed on the home farm. When
twenty-one years of age he came to Muncie
and taught school for two years. At the end
of that time he formed a partnership with John
A. Gilbert in the grocery trade, but about two
years later, again engaged in teaching school.
During the next few years he was engaged
alternately in teaching, superintending his
farm of 500 acres, and acting as deputy treas-
urer of Delaware county. In 1844. he was
elected to the office of county treasurer, and
was re-elected three consecutive terms, this
fact being a sufficient guarantee of his ability
and the confidence reposed in him by the peo-
ple. After 1853, he devoted his time to farm-
ing and stock raising, brokerage transactions
and buying and selling wool, cattle, etc. He
was regarded as one of the leading farmers of
the state, as he was one of the most system-
atic. His domain of 900 acres was well culti-
vated and bore evidence of skilled tillage in all
of its departments. He was quite enthusiastic
with the state fairs in an official capacity. He
was a friend of public enterprises, and sub-
scribed liberally to all the railroads and turn-
pikes centering in Muncie. He was a director
and treasurer of the Muncie & Granville turn-
pike, and of the Muncie & Yorktown Turnpike
company. For eight years he was a director
of the Branch bank of the State of Indiana,
at Muncie, and had been a stockholder in the
Cincinnati & Chicago, the Lafayette, Muncie &
Bloomington, and the Cleveland, Columbus,
Cincinnati & Indianapolis railroads.
He was a man of vigorous physique, and,
up to the day of his death, pursued his daily
labor, uninterrupted by any premonition of his
speedy demise. He died suddenly on Monday
morning, June i, 1868, leaving a wife and
four children. A city paper, in an obituary
article contained the following tribute to his
MUNCIE CITY
memory: "He was widely known throughout
this community, and respected by all who
knew him. Honest, upright, enterprising and
frugal, he was an example worthy of imitation
by all young men. His integrity and fair
dealing were above suspicion, and no one bore
a more unsullied character. He was thor-
oughly identified with the interests of Muncie,
which he had made his home for so many
years, and quietly accomplished much in ad-
vancing her prosperity."
In politics, he was originally a whig, but
later became a republican. He attended all
of the political state conventions during the
past twenty-five years of his life, having offici-
ated several times as a delegate. In 1876, he
was chosen as a delegate to the republican
national convention, Philadelphia, but declined.
He was independent in his religious views, yet
he was a generous contributor to the erection
and maintenance of churches, and every
church in Muncie owes something to his liber-
ality. He was initiated into the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows in 1852, and has taken
all the degrees of the subordinate lodge. He
was also a friend to the cause of education.
In his business relations Mr. Willson always
sustained a reputation for honest and fair
dealing, and he was never involved in a suit
at law on his own account. He was appreci-
ated by all who knew him, and was recognized
as a reliable and worthy citizen. In Febru-
ary, 1843, he was united in marriage with Miss
Elizabeth Gilbert, a daughter of John Alsop
Gilbert, and reared a family consisting of two
daughters and four sons.
John Alsop Gilbert, the third child and
eldest son of his parents, was born at Bristol,
N. Y., October 22, 1799. When but five
years of age he lost his father by death, and
was taken by his uncle,' Jedithan Gilbert, to
his home at Hague, N. Y., with whom he con-
tinued to reside until after he attained his ma-
jority, receiving, in the meantime, a good
English education. While residing at the
town of Hague his uncle was largely engaged
in the lumber trade. He removed to Wash-
ington county, N. Y., while J. Alsop Gilbert
was yet a small boy, and it was here that the
latter received the greater part of his educa-
cation and grew to manhood. In October,
1823, Mr. Gilbert was united in marriage to
Miss Mahala Potter, in Washington county,
N. Y. , and subsequently removed with his
wife to Erie county, in the same state. He
had learned the cooper's trade, and, after his
removal to the last named point, he carried
on his trade in connection with farming. He
was thus engaged until 1836, when he sought
a home in the west. Goldsmith C. Gilbert,
his half-uncle, had settled here a number of
years previously. He arrived in Muncie in
June, 1836, and, in the fall of that year,
rented the mill of Goldsmith C. Gilbert, which
he operated successfully for about two years.
He then engaged in the cooper's trade at
Muncie, supplying barrele for Hunter & Co.,
who were e.xtensively engaged in pork-packing.
He purchased a farm west of Muncie, which
he cultivated successfully in addition to per-
forming his labors in town. He was an ener-
getic worker, and, by honest toil and close
attention to business, amassed a comfortable
fortune. He was regarded as one of the best
citizens of the county, and was identified with
its interests and improvements for a period of
thirty-two years. In 1S38, he was elected
justice of the peace, and in the following year
was elected associate judge of Delaware county.
After his retirement from this office he was
again elected justice of the peace, serving
for several years. While serving in this ca-
pacity, he always endeavored to restore peace
and good feeling between litigants, and often
adjusted cases thus, while quietly sitting in his
house or shop, without having them come to
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
508
trial at all. He lost his fees, of course, but
he did not care.
Mr. Gilbert's first wife died in January,
1854, leaving three children, viz.: Elizabeth,
now the widow of Volney Willson; Othonial,
who sacrificed an arm in defense of the Union
cause, and now deceased; and Thomas H. In
April, 1857, he was wedded to Mrs. Phoebe
Potter, who still survives. One son, John
Volney, blessed this second union. While Mr.
Gilbert was not identified with any religious
organization, his life was exemplary of chris-
tian principles. He practiced the "golden
rule" in his daily life, and never intentionally
gave pain or offense.
He died August 20, 1890, and his remains
rest in the beautiful cemetery of Beech Grove.
He was known and honored throughout the
county, and was followed to his last repose by
a sad concourse of citizens and the pioneers
with whom he had been associated in other
days. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, parents of Mrs.
Willson, were pioneers of Muncie. John A.
Gilbert's father, Othohial Gilbert, who was of
English descent, settled in Ontario county, N.
Y. , where he married Miss Elizabeth ^^'att, of
Scotch antecedents, about the year 1 794 or
'795- The fruits of this union were six chil-
dren, named, respecttively, Azuba, Betsy,
John Alsop, Sewell, Polly and Othonial.
>T^OHN W. WILSON, a prominent farm-
M er of Centre township, was born in
/• 1 Clinton county, Ohio, March 4, 1836.
His father, Benoni Wilson, was born
in the same county and state in the year 1800,
the son of Amos Wilson, whose wife was a
Mills. The Wilson family moved to Ohio in
a very early day from Kentucky, and the Mills
family were among the old pioneers of Penn-
sylvania, in which state Mrs. Amos ^^'ilson
was born. Benoni Wilson was reared a farm-
er in Clinton county, Ohio, and, in connec-
tion with tilling the soil, carried on the manu-
facture of brick, and was also a brick mason.
He was a man of more than average mental
endowments, and while still young in years,
entered the ministry of the Christian church,
of which communion he was an honored
preacher until his death. He came to Dela-
ware county, Ind., in 1836, settling in Dela-
ware township, where he carried on agricul-
tural pursuits and brick making until his death,
which occurred in 1847. Upon all public and
political questions of his time, Benoni Wilson
had broad and decided views, and he early
became an uncompromising enemy of slavery,
which institution he opposed with all the pow-
ers of his nature. As a man, he was widely
and favorably known, and as a Christian, his
life was a practical exemplification of the pure
teachings of the Nazarene. His wife, whose
maiden name was Martha Long, also a native
of Clinton county, Ohio, survived him a num-
ber of years, dying in March, 1868. The fol-
lowing are the names of the children born to
Martha and Benoni Wilson: Mary J., deceased;
Jesse W. , a resident of Sacramento, Cal. ;
John W. , whose name introduces this sketch;
Lucinda A., widow of Capt. M. B. Gregory,
who was killed in the battle of Nashville,
Tenn. ; Amos L. , a banker of Lyndon, Kan.,
Rachael, wife of E. Shideler, a merchant of
Lyndon, Kan., and Benoni G., a farmer of
Osage county, Kan.
John W. Wilson remained on the farm
until his twentieth year, at which time he
began working at carpentering, and followed
that occupation for a limited period. He
next turned his attention to farming, and his
success as an agriculturist is attested by the
fact that, from a very insignificant beginning,
he has succeeded in accumulating a very valu-
able property, being at this time the possessor
504
MUNCIE CITY
of 240 acres of as fine land as lies in Delaware
county, the greater part of which is highly
cultivated and substantially improved. His
first purchase of real estate in Centre town-
ship, consisting of forty acres, was made in
i860, and by careful financiering and well
directed thrift he has added to his original
tract from time to time, until he is now the
owner of the beautiful place above noted.
Mr. Wilson was married August 24, 1859,
in Monroe township, Delaware county, to
Nancy J. Cooley, daughter of William S. and
Jane (Rainey) Cooley, both natives of New
York and early pioneers of this county. Mr.
and Mrs. Wilson have never been blessed with
any children of their own, but they are raising
the child of their relatives, a daughter of Will-
iam and Flawry Peterson. Mr. Wilson is a
public spirited man, a republican in his polit-
ical affiliations, and in addition to his real
estate in the country owns a valuable property
in the city of Muncie.
^>^R. HENRY CLAY WINANS (de-
I I ceased), was born on the 31st day of
/^^^ December, 1829, in Greene county,
Ohio. His father was Matthias Wi-
nans, who was a preacher and a physician in
Greene county, Ohio, was born near Maysville,
Ky. , and in 181 5, at Maysville, married Mary
Winans. Matthias Winans was born March 8,
1 79 1, and Mary Winans was born February 14,
1792. The paternal great-grandfather of Dr.
Henry C. was born in 1745, and his great-
grandmother in 1752. Dr. Winans was one of
a family of eight children, of whom five are
now Hving: Dr. Wilson C. Winans at Louis-
ville, 111., Mrs. Adelia Dawson at Columbus,
Ohio, Mrs. Zerelda Green, of Salem, 111., Mrs.
Clarissa Harper, of Lima, Ohio, and Mrs. Fan-
nie Syfers. One of his brothers was Hon. James
J. Winans, who was a member of congress from
Greene county, Ohio, and for several years
judge of that county. Samuel J. Winans, the
youngest brother of the doctor, born November
17, 1836, was sergeant major of the Fourth
Illinois volunteer infantry, and was killed at
Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863, by a
rifle ball, and his remains found interment be-
side those of his parents at Youngstown, Ohio.
Henry Clay Winans received his literary
education at the common schools at James-
town, Ohio, and at the Bethany college, W. Va.
He read medicine with his father, and probably
with his brother-in-law. Dr. John Dawson, who
subsequently occupied the chair of anatomy in
the Sterling Medical college of Columbus, Ohio.
Dr. Winans, having been thus prepared by his
preceptors, attended lectures at this institution
and afterward commenced the practive of his
profession at Xenia, 111. In the spring of 1862
he located at Muncie and soon took a front
rank among the physicians of this portion of
the state. Dr. Winans was regarded as the
best read physician on the theory and practice
of medicine in this county, and his counsels
will be sadly missed by his professional col-
leagues. Sometime during the war he con-
tracted rheumatism, and for the past twenty
years of his life he was a most acute sufferer
from this disease. For the last few years he
was almost entirely incapacitated from prac-
tice outside of his office. But still through all
his, sufferings his mind remained unimpaired,
and his advice was always sought after and
regarded by the other physicians of the city,
and in his death the medical fraternity sustain-
ed a great loss. From the inception of the
board of health of the city of Muncie, Dr.
Winans was an active member until his bodily
sufferings compelled him to retire.
Dr. Winans was twice married — the first
time, in 1854, at Jamestown, Ohio, to Miss
Lucy E. Dakin, who was born August 4, 1828,
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
505
and died in 1859. The result of this marriage
was the birth of two children; the elder, Dr.
Harry \\'inans, is the onh' one living. Charles,
the younger, was born January 15, 1859, and
died at the hospital in Cincinnati on Decem-
ber 7th, 1882. Dr. Winans married for his
second wife, Miss Arabella Paullin, in i860.
One daughter, Mayne, was born October 21,
1S62, and is now Mrs. Carl Spilker. The
doctor was a member of the Christian church,
having joined at Canton, Ohio, in 1857, and
of the Masonic fraternity. Few men struggled
more persistently or more successfully than did
the deceased, and possessing a courage that
brooked of no defeat, he made his way against
reverses that would have blinded the progress
of most men. His rule through life was
founded upon the principle of never deviating
from a fixed purpose, and by his faithfulness
he obtained the confidence of all around him.
In the medical societies of which the deceased
was connected he was an influential member,
and his judgment was of great weight with all
his colleagues. Exceedingly careful and ever
conservative in arriving at conclusions, he was
modest, but manly, in maintaining them, and
was more of a practical than a showy man — a
man of deeds rather than words — and never
stepped aside from his chosen field of labor to
mingle in other circles. As a private citizen
he was always found generous and full of
noble impulses, and his character was marked
by integrity, geniality and true benevolence.
He was a man of incorruptible integrity, and
of wonderful mental activity and splendid at-
tainments in his profession. He was a close
student to the end of his career, and his clear
mind, retentive memory and logical reasoning
powers enabled him to gain large information
in every avenue of intellectual development
and research, and to apply it in the practice
of his profession and the ways of life. He
always possessed the courage of his convictions,
and was enabled to sustain any position he
took on any subject with reasoning of the
clearest character. The lamented death of
Dr. H. C. Winans took place October 16,
,>^ OBERT WINTON, M. D. (deceased),
I /^ of Muncie, was born in Rossville, But-
JL,r ler county, Ohio, November 14, 1820,
and devoted most of his life to the
study and practice of medicine. He removed
to Crawfordsville, Ind., in 1831, where, four
years later, he entered Wabash college, with
the intention of taking the full course, but, on
account of the death of his father, which oc-
curred in 1832, he was unable, through lack of
means, to remain in the institution more than
two years. After leaving the school he became
a clerk in the store of his brother, Matthew
H., in Lafayette, and stayed there until the
fall of 1838. During the succeeding winter he
read medicine in the office of his brother-in-law
in Dayton, Ind. The next year he accepted
a place as salesman in the general mercantile
establishment of Bloomfield, Russey & Jack,
at Muncie, with whom he remained one year,
and then entered the employ of Willard & Put-
nam, merchants, and held that position the
same length of time. Then he went to Craw-
fordsville, and for one year spent all his leisure
in the study of medicine, under the direction
of his brother, William R. Winton, M. D.,
after which he returned to Muncie and entered
the office of Dr. W. C. Willard. His previ-
ous medical studies had prepared him for a
ready comprehension of the science, and he
now made very satisfactury progress. Two
years later he married Elmira, daughter of
Stephen Long, former treasurer of Delaware
county. In October of that year he removed
to Wheeling, Delaware co'unty, and commenced
the practice of medicine. Hitherto the force
506
MUNCIE CITY
of circumstances had made Mr. Winton ap-
parently capricious, but now he had secured
a vantage ground from which he could not be
easily moved. Here he remained eleven years,
steadily engaged in the duties of his profession.
Through his experience and study he had thus
far attained a degree of proficiency with
which many are content; but, aspiring to
a more extended knowledge, he entered Rush
Medical college, at Chicago, in 1855, and
graduated in the following February. In
the fall of 1856 he returned to Muncie,
and in January, 1857, formed a partnership
with his old preceptor. Dr. W. C. Willard,
but, because of that gentleman's ill health, this
relation was dissolved in the fall of 1858.
During the four subsequent years he was asso-
ciated, first, with Dr W. J. Andrews, and then
with his nephew, Dr. Horace Winton. In
June, 1872, he entered into partnership with
Dr. G. W. H. Kemper. While in Wheeling,
Dr. Winton was connected with the Grant
county Medical society, and, after locating in
Muncie, he helped organize the Delaware
county Medical society, and was for some time
its president. In March, 1866, he was a mem-
ber of the convention that reorganized the old
State Medical society into a delegated body and
was associated with it until his death. He was
also a member of the American Medical asso-
ciation. He was a member of the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, and took all the
degrees of the encampment, and was a repre-
sentative to the grand lodge of the state. In
politics the doctor was content to remain in
the rank and file of his party — the republi-
can— never having sought political favors nor
held any office except that of member of the
city council. Educational and religious inter-
ests were to him a more congenial field, and in
this he acted officially as a school trustee and
an elder of the Presbyterian church. Dr. Win-
ton had five children, four of whom are living:
Emma J., wife of A. S. Haines, commission
merchant of Kansas City; Mary L. , married
to J. W. Perkins; George W. Winton, plumb-
er, and Carrie L. , married to Will W. Kirby.
Dr. Winton's ability to trace the devious paths
of disease through the system, and to remove
it, with its effects, was recognized in the suc-
cessful results of his practice, and the enviable
reputation he gained. Those qualities of mind
and heart that do not pertain to the mere
knowledge of medical science, but greatly en-
hance the true worth of a family physician,
were not wanting in him. In social and relig-
ious circles he was justly esteemed, and his in-
fluence in the community was that of a man of
culture and moral refinement. He died July
30, 1885.
eNOCH WITT, proprietor of the Buck
Creek Flouring mills, Muncie, is a
native of Delaware county, Ind. ,
and dates his birth from the 31st
day of January, 1850. Mr. Witt is a repre-
sentative of one of the oldest families of Indi-
ana, members of which settled within the
present limits of the state when it formed a
part of the Northwest territory. His parents,
John C. and Hannah H. (Tuttle) Witt, were
both natives of Delaware county, and descend-
ants of the early pioneers who lead the van of
civilization into what is now one of the most
prosperous and progressive sections of the
great state of Indiana. John Witt died March
28, 1866, and his widow afterwards became
the wife of Morris Kidnocker, who is miller in
charge of the Buck Creek Flouring mills.
Until eighteen years of age, Enoch Witt lived
with his parents on the home farm, and then
accepted a clerkship in a general goods store
at Granville, in which capacity he continued
for a period of two and one-half years. His
next venture was in the grocery business in
ENOCH WITT,
411^
MRS. E. F. WITT.
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
511
Muncie in partnership with E. Anthony, which
relation was continued six months, Mr. Witt
managing his farm in the meantime, and he
continued the pursuit of agriculture until the
death of his wife in 1879, when he began buy-
ing and selling horses. He devoted his atten-
tion to the latter for a limited period, and,
until 1888, looked after his farm, but in that
year purchased the Buck Creek Flouring mills
of Muncie, which he still owns and operates.
Mr. Witt and Miss Susan C. Stafford, of
Delaware county, were united in marriage
March 20, 1874, which tender relation was
rudely severed by the death of Mrs. ^^'itt,
which occurred March 15, 1879. She was a
woman of many excellent traits of character,
the mother of one child, Roy Witt, and her
remains were laid to rest in what is known as
the Black cemetery, Delaware township,
where a beautiful monum.ent has been erected
to her memory. On the 2 2d day of Decem-
ber, 1879, Mr. Witt married his present wife,
Miss Emma F. Motes, who was born in Mun-
cie, Ind., February 12, i860, daughter of John
and Hannah Motes, a union blessed with the
birth of four children: Carl, Pearl, Thad and
Clarence. Mr. ^^'itt is a stanch republican in
politics, a Mason of high standing, and be-
longs to the I. O. O. F., K. of H. and Im-
proved Order of Red Men. He is one of Del-
aware county's most influential citizens and an
affable and courteous gentleman. The mill
of which he is proprietor, is located in the
south part of Muncie, and is thoroughly equip-
ped with all the latest and most improved ap-
pliances for the manufacture of flour by the
roller process. The capacity is fifty barrels
per day, the superior quality of which finds
for it a ready sale in the markets of Muncie
and other cities of central Indiana. The mill
is kept running constantly in order to supply
the demand for its product, and it is one of the
most highly prized industries of Muncie.
at'
ILLT.\M H. H. WOOD, city en-
gineer of Muncie, is a native of
\\'ayne county, Ind., born on the
first day of January, 1842, near the
city of Richmond, Ind. His paternal grand-
parents, David J. and Rebecca (Thomas)
Wood, were natives of Kanawha county, Va.,
and among the early pioneers of Wayne coun-
ty, Ind., locating not far trom the present site
of Richmond, when that city was but a niche
in the surrounding forest. Joseph T. Wood,
father of William H. H., was born near the
town of Centreville, Wayne county, Ind:, and
grew to manhood on a farm. In early life he
learned the trade of carpentering, which he
followed for some years, later worked at cabi-
net making at Centreville, and at one time,
before the day of railroads, engaged in the
pork packing business at Cambridge City,
shipping by way of the old White Water canal
and the Ohio river to Cincinnati and other
western and southern markets. During the
construction of the old Indiana Central rail-
road, now the Pan Handle, he was bridge
contractor and assisted in building a goodly
portion of the line through Indiana. Subse-
quently, Mr. Wood was contractor of a
section of the G. R. & I. railroad, also a por-
tion of the C , H. &. D. R. R , and also as-
sisted in the construction of the Logansport
division of the Pan Handle. He moved to
Richmond, Ind., in 1856, resided there a num-
ber of years, and then became a resident of
Randolph county, locating at Wood's station,
on the G. R. & I. railroad, where he made his
home until he removed to Muncie in 1881.
From the latter date until his demise, Mr.
Wood lived a life of retirement, and he now
rests from his labors in the beautiful Beech
Grove cemetery, his death occurring on the
sixth day of June, 1893, at the advanced age
of seventy-four years. His was a life of great
activity, and during over a half-century devoted
MUNCIE CITY
to business his success was most signal at
times; but reverses swept away the accumula-
tions of years. For over fifty years he was a
sincere member of the Methodist church, and
in politics he supported the old whig party
until its disintegration, after which the repub-
lican party claimed his allegiance. He was
married, in 1840, to Sophia Fender, daughter
of Henry and Elizabeth (Long) Fender of
Wayne county, and became the father of six
children, namely: William H. H., Martha
(deceased), Julius C, Mary A., Albert and
Leonidas.
W. H. H. Wood obtained his education in
the schools of Richmond, supplemented by a
course in Asbury university (now DePauw) at
Greencastle. For sometime after leaving col-
lege, he taught in the schools of Wayne county,
about eight terms in all, and he also became
proficient in carpentering, which he followed
with good success, first as a builder of houses
and later as a constructor of bridges on the L. ,
N. A. & C. railroad. After working at the
trade for some years, he engaged in the manu-
facture of lumber at Wood station, Randolph
county, where he operated a saw mill for two
years, at the end of which time, in 1872, he
transferred the business to Muncie, where for
about the same length of time he carried on a
successful lumber trade. In the meantime,
while at work with his father on the G. R. & I.
R. R. , he became interested in civil engineer-
ing, for which he early evinced great apti-
tude, and under the instruction of Phineas D.
Pomeroy, engineer in charge of the line, also
surveyor of the Miami canal, he soon acquired
sufficient practical knowledge of the profession
to enable him to engage in it upon his own
responsibility. Possessing a naturally strong
mathematical mind, as well as a decided taste
for engineering, Mr. Wood, by thorough study,
became a very competent surveyor, his ability
as such being frequently called into use through-
out Delaware and other counties of eastern In-
diana. In 1879 he was elected street commis-
sioner of Muncie, the duties of which position
he discharged two terms, after which, until the
spring of 1882, he was in the employ of the
manufacturing firm of A. L. Johnson & Co. Re-
elected street commissioner and city engineer
in the latter year, he has since devoted his at-
tention to his office in such a way as to com-
mend him to the people as one of the most
efficient and painstaking officials ever elected
to the position in the city of Muncie The plat
of New Muncie, including the various addi-
tions made to the city, are almost entirely his
own work, and he has been of great assistance
to the corporation, as well as to individuals, in
submitting estimates that have saved the tax-
payers many thousands of dollars in money.
As a citizen as well as an official Mr. Wood is
deservedly popular, and during a long residence
in Muncie his private character has proved
above reproach, nor has his official record ever
been impeached. He was married, in 1867, to
Sophronia Darnall, of Putnam county, Ind.,
daughter of Samuel and Marie Darnall. Mr.
and Mrs. Wood are the parents of five chil-
dren: Melville, bridge engineer for the Indiana
Bridge company; Nettie, student at DePauw
univer ity; Ella, Charline and Rollin.
'^Y'ULIUS C. wood, a well known man-
J ufacturer of Muncie, was born April 10,
A 1 1847, on a farm in Wayne county, Ind.,
son of Joseph and Sophia Wood. He
spent the first ten years of his life on the home
farm, attending the country schools as the
seasons would admit, and about 1857 was
taken by his parents to Richmond, Ind., in
the schools of which city he received a prac-
tical education. While still young he began
working on a saw mill, and was thus employed
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
518
until 1864, at which time he enlisted in the
One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana in-
fantry, company I, and accompanied his regi-
ment to the front, the command forming a
part of the Twenty-third corps, army of the
Tennessee. Mr. Wood's first actual military
experience was at Atlanta, Ga. , where he re-
ceived his baptism of fire, taking part in sev-
eral sanguinary battles of that city, and later
participated in the battle of Franklin, Tenn.,
after which his regiment was removed east and
joined the army of Gen. Sherman at Golds-
boro', N. C. Subsequently, Mr. Wood ac-
companied his command on the historic march
to Raleigh, N. C., where the Confederate
forces under Gen. Johnson capitulated, and at
the close of the war was mustered out of the
service at New York city. Returning to Rich-
mond, Ind. , after leaving the army, Mr. W'ood
began working at the carpenter's trade, which
he followed success(ully for a period of three
years, and then engaged in the manufacture of
lumber four miles south of \\'inchester, Ran-
dolph count}', in partnership with his brother,
W. H. H. Wood. During the succeeding
three years Mr. Wood carried on a very suc-
cessful lumber business, at the end of which
time he came to Muncie and began dealing
quite extensively in hard wood timber and
lumber, following this line of trade until 1881, I
when he entered the employ of A. L. Johnson
& Co., manufacturers of hard wood lumber, as
superintendent of their mills in the city. He
continued as superintendent until 1890, in >
January of which year he purchased an inter- j
est in the enterprise and has since been a |
member of the firm, also its general manager.
With every detail of the lumber business Mr.
Wood is thoroughly familiar, and the com-
pany with which he is identified has borne no
little part in contributing to the well being of
Muncie and Delaware county. In business
circles he occupies a conspicuous position, his
judgment being seldom wrong in matters of
business policy, and he may be regarded as a
noted example of those principles which win
success. Fraternally, Mr. Wood is a Mason
of high standing, having taken all the Scottish
rite degrees and filled the various positions of
the York rite. Politically, he has ever been a
supporter of the republican party, and in re-
ligion subscribes to the Methodist creed,
belonging with his wife to the High street
church of Muncie. Mr. W'ood and Miss Clara
Morgan, of Wayne county, Ind., daughter of
William and Sarah Morgan, were united in
marriage October 10, 1867, the offspring of
which union is one child, Charles A. Wood, a
civil engineer of Muncie.
^y^HILIP W. PATTERSON is the
1 m youngest son of Philip and Nancy A.
M (Kinkaid) Patterson. His father was
a Virginia farmer and raised a family
of three sons and four daughters, of whom
there are living to-day the eldest brother,
Amaziah B., a farmer in Henry county, Ind.,
and two widowed sisters, living near Fairmont,
W^ Va. , viz: Mary Ann Ross and Clemenza
Swearingen. Philip W. Patterson was born on
a farm in Marion county, W. "V'a. , April 10,
1829. His boyhood and youth were spent at-
tending the common schools of that period
and working on the farm until he reached his
majority, when he learned the trade of a
tanner. On completing his apprenticeship, he
established a tannery of his own near Fair-
mont, W'. Va. , and operated it- successfully
from 1850 to 1859; at which time he dispo.sed
of his interests and migrated to Indiana, set-
tling in Henry county, at the head of Buck
creek, three miles from the village of Luray.
Here Mr. Patterson purchased a comparatively
new farm, and during his residence of twenty-
514
MUNCIE CITY
two years there he cleared up and improved a
large portion thereof and erected upon it
superior farm buildings and other improve-
ments.
Mr. Patterson moved to Muncie in 1881
primarily for the purpose of securing better
advantages of education and society for his
family. He, however, still retams his real
estate interests at his old home in Henry
county, which consists of 275 acres of land
adjacent to Buck creek, and consisting of rich,
alluvial bottom and uplands, well watered and
under a high state of cultivation. During Mr.
Patterson's residence there he was successfully
engaged in raising both stock and grain.
Since coming to Muncie, he has devoted his
time to the supervising and caring for his farm
interests in Henry county and renting his
properties in Muncie. In politics, Mr. Patter-
son has been a republican since the time of
Abraham Lincoln, having previously been a
whig; and while always active in the advance-
ment of his party's interest, had never allowed
his name to be used in connection with any
position of trust during the earlier and more
active period of his life. In 1891, he was
elected councilman from the Fourth ward of
Muncie, and is at present ably and con-
scientiously representing his constituents in
that body. During the last three years, Coun-
cilman Patterson has been actively identified
in the vast public improvements inaugurated
in this city, being chairman of the committee
on streets and alleys and serving on several
other important committees.
Mr. Patterson united with the Methodist
Protestant church when twenty-four years of
age, and, during the entire years of his man-
hood, has been not only a zealous worker in
building up the spiritual interests of the church,
but in three different communities, in which
he lived, has aided with a beneficent hand in
advancing the material interests of the church.
He serves his church here as trustee, and with
untiring zeal. He has contributed liberally
both of his time and means to the erection of
the beautiful new church on Jackson street.
Mr. Patterson was married in 1854 to Miss
Rebecca Graham, daughter of Ebenezer and
Elizabeth (Thomas) Graham, of Fairmont,
W. Va. Of this marriage, eleven children
have been born, five of whom died in infancy.
The others are Rosa Lee, wife of I. T. Lake,
a prominent grocer of Muncie; Florence V.,
wife of Henry Klein, a leading jeweler of
Muncie; Mary Frances, widow of the late F.
M. Boyer, of Muncie; Bertha May and Sylvia
G., are still at home with their parents; Cora
P. was the wife of John F. Shore and died at
the home of her father, September 25, 1893,
at the age of twenty-one.
m
ILLIAM NEEDAM WHITELY is
one of those generous, talented and
gifted men that Ohio is so proud to
number among her famous sons. He
has sounded the same of his native city and
state in every country in the world, and his
inventive genius has benefited all mankind.
The city of Muncie is fortunate in adding to
her citizenship one whose inventive genius has
already built one flourishing city, and which
will materially insure her own future growth
and prosperity. Mr. Whitley was born August
3, 1835, near the city of Springfield, Clarke
county, Ohio. He was the eldest of six chil-
dren, and his father, Andrew Whitely, was a
farmer and a man of ability. William's boy-
hood days were spent in school, and in assist-
ing his father on the farm, where he acquired
an experience in agricultural life which was
destined to shape his future career. He early
showed a fondness for tools and machinery.
At the age of seventeen he invented a breech-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
515
loading rifle, which was so successful that the
same principle is still used in the breech-load-
ing cannon of the most improved pattern, and
in the rifle of the present day. While labori-
ously wielding the cradle and scythe in his
father's fields, the great need of a speedier and
easier method of harvesting so impressed itself
on his mind, that the invention of labor-saving
machinery for the farmer became the great ob-
ject of his life. His first idea of a reaper was
a huge pair of shears, each cut of which was to
make a sheaf. The application of horse power
to harvesting grain had long been thought of
and some active minds had undertaken the so-
lution of the problem. Gladstone and Bell,
in England, fully fifteen years previous, had
failed to make it practical; McCormick, Hus-
sey, Ampler and others had attempted to solve
the difficulties that could not be overcome in the
seventeenth century, but none of them, with
the exception of Hussey, had been successful.
It was nearly two years after his first concep-
tion of a reaper that an old Hussey machine
came into the neighborhood, and from that
time until now Mr. Whitely's life has been
devoted to the construction of a perfect har-
vesting machine. The year following, he left
the farm and went to Springfield to learn the
machinist's trade with Hatch & Whitely, the
latter being his uncle; he remained with that
firm while it continued in business, and later
became owner of its little plant. He now
stood upon the threshold of a great career; he
saw before him the mighty possibilities of the
agricultural resources of this country; his early
experience told him what was needed to de-
velop them, and he set to work to construct
a harvesting machine. His creative genius,
combined with untiring energy and close at-
tention, brought the desired result, and in 1852
there sprung from his brain the greatest inven-
tion of his age. His was a complete machine
from the first; it has been added to and beau-
tified, but the original idea was full fledged
and complete. Mr. 'Whitely constructed one
reaper during that year and twenty-five during
the next; operating them in the harvest of
1853, ahd improving and developing them in
1854. In 1855, he perfected and manufac-
tured for the trade the first combined self-
raking reaper and mower. In 1856, Mr.
Whitely entered into partnership with Jerome
Fassler, and the following year, Mr. Oliver S.
Kelley joined the firm, since which time, in all
thirty-six years, Mr. Kelley has had some in-
terests directly or indirectly with Mr. Whitely.
Such untiring energy, such determination and
pluck always succeed, and it did with Mr.
Whitely.
By i860, all obstacles had been surmount-
ed; his business increased and prospered.
The firms established through his instrumen-
tality were those of Whitely, Fassler & Kelley,
The Champion Machine Co., and Warder,
Bushnell & Glessner; the latter concerns
building Whitely Champion machines under
royalty; also the Whitely Malleable Iron works,
and two factories in Canada, one of which was
The Toronto Reaper works. These combined
concerns employed 4, 500 men and manufac-
tured 60,000 machines per year. They did a
business of $10,000,000 a year, and extended
the name of Mr. Whitely to every part of the
ci\ilized world.
Mr. Whitely constructed the largest manu-
facturing establishment conducted on private
capital on this continent, covering forty-five
acres of ground, and costing $1,000,000 to
equip, employing 2,800 men. Meeting some
business reverses, he sold the great East street
shops, of Springfield, as they are called, and
sought the natural gas fields of Indiana, where
free fuel and other natural advantages render
it possible to manufacture at less cost than in
any other locality. He selected Muncie as
the best city in the gas belt, and erected his
MUNCIE CITY
factory on the north side of White river; other
factories are locating near him, and already an
enterprising suburb has sprung into existence,
which bears the name of Whitely. With
possibly one exception, Mr. Whitely has taken
out more patents than any other living Ameri-
can, and is interested in nearly i,ooo patents
on harvesting machinery; he has designed
probably lOO different styles of grain binders,
terminating in what is know as the Whitely
Open-End Harvesting binder. Being a small,
light machine, with an unlimited capacity for
handling the shortest or longest length of
straw, he received a gold medal at the World's
fair on his machine. The output of Mr.
Whitely's factory will do more than any other
to extend the name of Muncie as a manufac-
turing city, not only over the entire United
States, but into foreign countries. The
Whitely mower and the Whitely Open-End
binders are the only perfected machines of
their kind to-day, and the demand for them is
constantly increasing. It is this finished
product that will advertise the city nf Mr.
Whitely's adoption. Mr. Whitely is a man
of prodigious mental and physical power, and
of remarkable endurance. He is a most cour-
teous gentleman, affable in manner, and gen-
erous to a fault; his donations to charity and
public enterprise have been made often and
with great liberality: His busy, active life
fills a bright page in the archives of American
history, already replete with the records and
deeds of distinguished men. Mr. Whitely
was married to Miss Mary Gove, of Spring-
field, in 1867, where he resided continuously
until his removal to Muncie.
The new town of Whitely, adjoining Mun-
cie, already contains over 200 dwellings, has
an electric street railway, a beautiful park and
natural gas in great force. The general office
of the Whitely Land company is at 100 west
Washington street, Muncie.
£~V*AMUEL DYER, superintendent of
•^^^ William N. Whitely Go's Harvesting
^ y Machine works, Muncie, Ind. , was
born in Somersetshire, England, Sep-
tember 26, 1846. He attended the public
schools until eleven years of age, when he was
apprenticed to learn the trade of machinist
and model maker, at which he served seven
years. He subsequently worked four years as
a journeyman machinist for his old employers,
then immigrated to America, at the age of
twenty-two, and having acquaintances at Mans-
field, Ohio, from his native country, he first
located there and found employment with the
Mansfield Machine works, in which he worked
on reapers and mowers two years.
He was next employed in the same city by
the firm of Blymer, Day & Go., where he
worked as machinist on farm implements for
three years. He then formed a co-partnership
with Ferris Ogden, and engaged in repair and
experimental work, also in making all kinds of
models. This partnership lasted six years, and,
during this period, Messrs. Dyer & Ogden em-
barked in experimental work in self binders
and twine knotters on their own account.
They progressed successfully in this work, to
the extent of placing a complete self binder in
the field. Having carried this project forward
to the full extent of their means, they solicited
the attention of the "reaper king," William N.
Whitely, of Springfield, Ohio, to the results of
their work, the result of this interview result-
ing in the permanent engagement of Mr. Dyer
as a co-worker in the great reaper works, at
Springfield, Ohio.
Mr. Dyer began operations as a model
maker, and progressed from that to experi-
mental work, and later to invention, a field in
which he has taken active part and interest
for the last fifteen years. He served Mr.
Whitely as foreman of the binder department,
and later was transferred to the knotter de-
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
517
partment, and ultimately was jjiven full
supervision of the patent office department,
in which he continued until the William
N. Whitely company transferred its manu-
facturing interests from Springfield, Ohio,
to Muncie, Ind., in 1892. In November of
that year, Mr. D3'er removed to Muncie, and
was installed as superintendent of the com-
pany's works here, which position he has filled
ever since, in an able and successful manner.
Mr. Dyer was married in England, in
1864, to Miss Catherine Pullman, of Devon-
shire. Seven children have blessed this union;
they are, Fredrick H. Dyer, foreman of the
large \^'hitely machine shop at San Francisco,
Cal. ; Henry Dyer, tool maker for the Chicago
Screw company, Chicago, 111. The five
younger children, Nellie, Mattie, Frank, Edith
and Florence, are still at home with their
parents.
>^ACOB H. WYSOR, capitalist, miller
M and farmer, is one of the earliest pio-
/• 1 neers and most prominent business men
of Muncie. His parents, Jacob and
Margaret (Miller) Wysor, were of German de-
scent, and were born in Virginia. His pater-
nal grandfather was a commissioned officer in
the war for American independence. All the
Wysors' ancestors engaged more less in tilling
the soil, and were honest, hard-working peo-
ple, endowed with that strength of body and
mind characteristic of the Teutonic race. As a
valued heirloom, Mr. Wysor preserves a quaint
old wine chest made in Germany 1 80 years ago.
Mr. Wysor was born in Montgomery (now Pu-
laski) county, Va. , December 6, 18 19. He was
the only child ot his father, who died before
his birth. His mother married again, but re-
mained in Montgomery county until her son was
well advanced in boyhood. In 1835 he re-
moved with the family to Delaware county,
Ind., quite an event for a boy who had scarcely
been out of his native county. In his new
home he attended school, but only for two win-
ter terms, and after five years he returned to
Virginia, and there studied diligently for one
year. Having acquired a good knowledge of
the English branches, Mr. Wysor was ready to
carry out his long cherished purpose of becom-
ing a business man. Accordingly, in the fol-
lowing year (1841) he returned to this state
and engaged in the grocery and dry goods trade
in Muncie. He felt, in some degree, conscious
of the abilities that have since marked his
career and won him success, and he anticipa-
ted immediate prosperity. His way to for-
tune, however, lay through loss, for only a few
months had passed when nearly all his prop-
erty was burned. In March, 1843, he made
another venture by renting what was known as
the Gilbert mills; and, after two years in part-
nership with John Jack and James L. Russey,
he bought the mills and conducted the busi-
ness as one of the firm of Russey, Jack & Co.
In 1849 Mr. Wysor joined the throng of gold
seekers that hurried toward California. ' His
course was down the Mississippi, across the
Gulf of Mexico, thence over to Panama, where,
I owing to the rush for berths, he was compelled
to wait five weeks before a passage up the
coast could be secured. At length he em-
barked in a sailing vessel, which was thirty-
four days in making the voyage to San Fran-
cisco. After he had been there about two
months, Mr. Russey followed by the same
route, but was killed by the Indians in the
summer of 1850. Mr. Wysor engaged suc-
cessfully as miner, teamster and stock tra-
der, until May, 1852, when he returned
to Muncie. In 1854, with the remain-
ing partner, Mr. Jack, he began build-
ing the large grist-mill, which he still
owns, known as the Muncie mills. It was
completed in 1856. It contained si.\ run of
518
MUNCIE CITY
stone, was provided with every needed facility,
and was considered at least equal to any mill of
like capacity in the state. The firm was
Wysor & Jack until the death of the latter, in
October, 1859. In 1858 WilHam B. Kline
had been admitted as a partner, and on the
death of Mr. Jack the firm became Wysor &
Kline. Through the crisis of 1857, and the
depression of trade that resulted from the late
war, he steadily and safely conducted his in-
creasing business. He dealt largely in land,
and availed himself of his early experience by
engaging also in farming. As wealth increased,
it was employed in useful enterprises — the
building of railroads, turnpikes and other im-
provements. He has been the president of
the Muncie & Granville Turnpike company
ever since its organization. In 1872 Mr.
Wysor built the Wysor opera house. In 1892
he erected the Wysor Grand, one of the finest
buildings in the city, and said to be one of the
most complete structures for theatrical enter-
tainments in Indiana. Mr. Wysor is a demo-
crat, but has never aspired to political honors,
nor taken an active interest in politics. He
married, April 5, 1854, Miss Sarah Richardson,
daughter of John and Martha Richardson.
She was born in Virginia, and comes of a long
line of worthy English ancestors. She is a
lady of refined taste and true christian graces,
and, with her husband, takes great pride in
the education of their children — Harry, Mat-
tie and William. The first named, their
eldest, is a young man of culture, whom ill
health has caused to relinquish a professional
for a business life. The daughter early
evinced artistic talent, painting with skill at
the age of nine; she is now the wife of Will-
iam H. Marsh, bank cashier. Mr. Wysor has
succeeded through natural adaptation to busi-
ness rather than by acquired ability. In
trade he acts intuitively, and every enterprise
is attended with prosperity. He has gained
his wealth by honorable means, sharing its
benefits with others, in promoting the growth
of Muncie and the surrounding country. He
is a silent, thoughtful man, possessing genuine
worth of character, which is fully revealed
only to intimate friends. To know him well
is to respect him, and he holds a high place in
the esteem of the people of Delaware county.
Since the above sketch was put in type,
the sad news has come to hand that Mrs.
Sarah Wysor passed away November 6, 1893.
yOUNG & KESSLER.— The hardware
firm of Young & Kessler is one of the
best known and most substantial
firms in Muncie. It is composed of
William H. F. Young and John P. Kessler,
both young, active, energetic, and conservative
business men. They first embarked in the
hardware business February i, 1884, purchas-
ing the hardware stock and business of L. &
C. A. Shick; and for the first five years Sam-
uel Martin was associated with them under the
firm name of Martin, Young & Kessler, at the
old Shick stand on west Main street. On
February i, 1889, Mr. Samuel Martin retired
from the business and the firm name became
Young & Kessler. During the year 1893, in
the face of business depression, they had the
courage and enterprise to erect one of the
handsomest business blocks in the city of
Muncie. The building of such a structure
marks an epoch in commercial affairs, and will
do much to enlarge the general business inter-
ests of the city. Their new block is on east
Jackson street, between Walnut and Mulberry,
and is a three-story brick structure 100x40 feet,
with pressed brick front and stone trimmings.
It is supplied with water throughout, has a
freight elevator, and is one of the best blocks
and most conveniently arranged business
AND CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
519
houses in the city. The entire ground floor
and part of the second story were fitted up
especially for the business of Young & Kessler.
On the first floor their stock of hardware,
stoves, mixed paints and mantels, is arranged
in attractive style. The storage room and tin
shop are on the second floor. A brief personal
sketch of the partners is given below, since
they are typical self-made men, and furnish
the rising generation with a worthy e.xample to
emulate.
William H. F. Young, son of Martin and
Minerva (Pittenger) Young, was born in Mun-
cie, on the 12th day of December, 1852. He
attended the public schools of the city, until
he reached his seventeenth year, when he en-
tered business life as a clerk in the hardware
store of Putnam & Kirby. He continued in
their employ for fifteen years, and up to the
date of entering into business for himself, as
noted above. Mr. Young's position among the
business men of Muncie has been attained
by his own efforts, and without material aid
from others. His experience in the hardware
trade, aided b\- his progressi\e tendencies,
furnishes the key to his success. Mr. Young
was first married September 10, 1879, to Miss
Adelia F. Keen, who died September 8, 1882,
and he was married, the second time, Novem-
ber 27, 1884, to Miss Mary C. Williamson,
daughter of James and Hannah (Smith) Wil-
liamson, of Hamilton township, and of this
marriage there is one daughter — Blanche, born
August 6, 1888.
Mr. Young is a republican in politics, and
served as a member of the city council for two
years from the First ward. He is also a con-
sistent member of the High street Methodist
Episcopal church and an active member of the
I. O. O. F.
John p. Kessler is a son of Joseph and
Marinda (Ireland) Kessler, and was born in
New Paris, Preble county, Ohio, April 13,
185 I. After receiving an elementary educa-
tion in the public schools, he learned the trade
of tinner in his native town. In 1870 he
worked as journeyman in New Paris, Ohio.
He came to Indiana in 1871, and for two years
worked at his trade at Anderson. In June,
1 873, he came to Muncie, and for two years
worked in the tin department for L. & W.
Shick. He next pursued his trade for seven
years in the employ of Mr. Green, in his tin
shop. At the formation, in 1884, of the firm
of Martin, Young & Kessler, he became an
active partner. Mr. Kessler's reputation as a
skillful and reliable contractor of all kinds of
tin work has brought to his firm a large share
of the tin and metal roofing and other work of
its class in Muncie. This department is fully
equipped with skillful assistants, and its operar
tions will no doubt be largely increased by the
ample facilities afforded in their new establish-
ment.
Mr. Kessler was married June 7, 1877, to
Miss Sarah Kate Young, a sister of his partner.
Mr. Kessler is a consistent member of the
Methodist Episcopal church and a master Ma-
son, also a member of the I. O. O. F. , and is
at present presiding officer of Muncie lodge.
No. 74.
HRTHUR F. PATTERSON, capitalist
and retired worker in copper, brass
and tin, of Muncie, Ind., was born in
Bracken county, Ky. , in 1822, and in
1 83 1 or 1832 was taken by his father, Ander-
son Patterson, to Clermont countj', Ohio,
where the latter made settlement on a farm
near the old Gen. Grant homestead. In 1838
Authur F. began a three years' apprentship at
tinsmithing, then went to Cincinnati and
served a year at copper and bright work, next
worked as a journeyman three years, and then
formed a co-partnership under the firm name
520
MUNCIE CITY
of Patterson & Conley, on Front street, be-
tween Broadway and Ludlow street, Cincin-
nati, and did a large business in copper and
lead pipe, bright iron and tin work on steam-
boats until 1847, when fire destroyed the plant,
and the insurance having expired the night
previous, the loss was almost total and
amounted to $5,000. Mr. Patterson, how-
ever, paid all his debts, and without money
went to St. Louis, and for a year worked at
coppersmithing; then for two years was man-
ager for the J. & G. Quigley shops at Alton,
111. ; saved his money, and with $800 arrived
in Muncie, Ind. , May 15, 1850. His mother
andbrother had moved to Yorktown, Ind., about
1848 and he had come to see them. How-
ever, while at Muncie, J. & L. Shick gave him
employment, and on the 12th day of January,
185 1, Mr. Patterson bought that firm out, in-
vesting all his means. A short time afterward,
he took in a partner, Charles P. Sample, the
firm name established as Patterson & Sample,
and the site fixed at .the spot where the R.
Meeks & Son furniture store now is. They
added stoves to their stock, did copper and
plumbing work, and put two wagons on the
road.
Three years later they bought a tin and
stove store at Marion, ran it a year, and then
sold. In 1855 and 1856 they bought out Neal
McCullough's hardware store, called the "Pio-
neer," ran both branches a year or so, sold out
the tin and stove business and enlarged the
hardware department, adding farm implements
of all kinds, and did an immense business until
1866 or 1867, when they sold to George Seitz,
and, 'going to Indianapolis, formed a joint
stock company, composed of Daniel Yandies,
George McKernan, Delos Root, J. R. Root,
Dr. Pierce, Mr. Sinker, C. P. Sample and A.
F. Patterson. This company went to Brazil,
Ind., and erected a large blast furnace, of
which Mr. Patterson was superintendent of
construction in conjunction with J. R. Root.
While in Brazil, Mr. Patterson also sank a
coal shaft, built two miles of railroad, and had
400 men under him at one time, all in con-
nection with the blast furnace. After one year
and a half devoted to this work, Mr. Patterson
returned to Muncie, and the partners bought
back the stock of Mr. Seitz and carried on the
business together until the death of Mr. Sam-
ple, August 29, 1873. Mr. Patterson, about a
year later, sold out to Mr. Shirk.
After the death of Mr. Sample, Mr. Patter-
son went into the brokerage and private bank-
ing business in partnership with Theo. J.
Riley, which was so conducted until Mr.
Riley's death, since when Mr. Patterson has
employed his time in purchasing real estate,
and in building, developing and renting his
various properties. Mr. Patterson was a
member of the Muncie school board for twelve
years, and the grading of the public schools
was effected during his terms of service.
The marriage of Mr. Patterson took place,
in 1855, to Miss Samantha Collier, daughter
of Samuel R. Collier, who was, a number of
years ago, at different times, surveyor, auditor
and clerk of Delaware county. This union
has been blessed with two children, viz: Will
M. and Cora P., wife of George F. McCul-
loch. In Samantha Collier, Mr. Patterson
indeed found a helpmeet, for to her encourage-
ment and cheering aid is due much of his suc-
cess, as her management of his domestic
affairs acted in a large measure as a stimulus
to renewed and more energetic enterprise on
his part; and it will be readily conceded that
it is due to such enterprise, as exemplified by
such men as Mr. Patterson, that the prosperi-
ty of any community is made an assured fact.
DBkAWARg TOWNSHIP.
e RASMUS ALLEGRE— There are
perhaps few among those who were
at one time prominent and respected
citizens of Delaware township, Dela-
ware county, Ind. , whose memory is more
respected, and whose genuine worth more widely
recognized than that of the late Erasmus Alle-
gre, who was born near Lexington, Ky., Aug-
ust 30, 181 1, a son of James and Rhoda
(Phelps) Allegre, both natives of that state.
The family removed to Ohio in 18 16, locating
in Fayette county where the father engaged in
farming until 1832, when he moved to Dela-
ware county, Ind. , locating near Albany,
where he purchased a large tract of land,
(some of it now in the town) and all now owned
by his descendants. James and Rhoda Allegre
were the parents of a family consisting of nine
children, all of whom are deceased.
Erasmus Allegre was reared a farmer and
his educational advantages were very limited.
He managed to obtain sufficient knowledge of
books to enable him to engage for a time in
school teaching and devoted the rest of his
time to working at his trade of brick mason,
which he continued to carry on until within a
few years previous to his death. This sad
event occurred December 20, 1871, and his
remains were laid to rest in the Bethel ceme-
tery near the town of Albany. His life was
one of success, at the time of his demise be-
ing the owner of five hundred acres of land
and being counted one of the wealthiest men
in the township. He will long be remembered
for his enterprising and progressive spirit.
As a politician he was an earnest supporter of
republican principles and in his religious views
he was a Methodist.
In 1844 he was married to Miss Julia
Pace, born in Ross county, Ohio, June 15,
1822, daughter of William and Mary (Thomas)
Pace. These parents were both born near
Richmond, Va., where they married, after
which they moved to Ross county, Ohio, in
1 8 14, and there engaged in farming. In 1828
they moved to Fayette county, Ohio, and re-
mained there until 1 841, when the}- removed
to Delaware county, Ind., and located on
property near the town of Albany. The death
of Mr. Pace occurred in 1845 ^nd two years
later Mrs. Pace passed away. Their remains
rest in the the Strong cemetery, where a mon-
ument marks their resting place. They
reared a family of nine children, all of whom
have passed out of life except the widow of
Mr. Allegre. The family of Mrs. Allegre were
Baptists, but late in life Mr. Pace became a
Methodist. He was a kind and loving father
and was esteemed by all. After marriage Mr.
and Mrs. Allegre located where they lived for
a period of forty years, the pleasant life only
being interrupted by the lamented death of the
husband and father. The following are the
names of their children : Rhoda, wife of George
Current, who has charge of the farm, and
Martha, wife of Lewis Davis, a physician at
522
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Farmland. Mrs. Allegre is a lady of many
virtues. She is a faithful member of the
Methodist church, and a good, conscientious
christian woman. She still enjoys life and
takes a pardonable pride in living so long on
the old homestead.
^V^^ R. J. V. BAIRD is one of the lead-
I I ing physicians of Albany, Delaware
/^,^_^ county, Ind. . and is very popular in
his profession, having a large prac-
tice. Dr. Baird was born in Jay county, Ind.,
June 13, 1850, and is the son of John and
Eliza (Staley) Baird and grandson of Beedent
Baird, a native of Scotland. Beedent Baird
came to America about the year 1790, and lo-
cated in New York, where he lived for some
time, and then settled in Warren county, Ohio,
where he resided until his death. The father
of Dr. Baird was born November 8, 1808, and
was reared on a farm, receiving his education
in the common schools. He married Eliza
Staley January 27, 1831, and removed with
her to Jay county, Ind., August, 1839, the
country then being a wilderness. The father
purchased property there, improved a farm,
and resided upon the same until his death,
which occurred October 25, 1859; his wife
died July 10, 1870, and the remains of both
rest in Claycome cemetery. They were the
parents-of nineteen children, six of whom are
now living, namely: William, R. C. , Dr. J.
V. , Sarah, Elizabeth and Mary. Beedent Baird
was an abolitionist, having the old fashioned
underground railroad at his house, and was a
very ardent friend of the fugitive slave. He
joined the republican party as soon as it was
organized and remained loyal to it the remain-
der of his life.
Dr. J. V. Baird was born and reared upon
the home farm, and [early in life was taught
the principles of economy and industry. In
his youth he attended school in the old log
house, so common throughout the west, and
at the age of seventeen began teaching, which
he continued for some time, attending, mean-
while, the summer and fall terms at Liber
college, in Jay county. While pursuing his
studies at this institution he began the study
of law with J. W. Heddington, of Portland,
Ind., with whom he continued for one
year, when he exchanged his library for medi-
cal books, and began preparing himself for
the medical profession. He read under Dr.
E. W. Moon, Portland, for over two years,
and then entered the Eclectic Medical insti-
tute at Cincinnati, Ohio, attending in the
years 1879 and 1880, and graduating in 1881.
He then began practice in the village where he
has remained ever since, and in the year 1891
took a post graduate course in the same col-
lege. Dr. Baird has a good practice, and has
been quite successful. He was married Aug-
ust 26, 1876, in Jay county, to Mrs. AureHa
J. Hayes, to which union two children have
been born, namely: John W. , and Morris B.
The mother of these children died February
28, 1890, and on June 30, 1892, in Poplar
Bluff, Mo., the doctor married his present
wife, Mary McGarvey, who was born in Ken-
tucky, August 14, 1857; daughter of Peter and
Margaret (McGrail) McGarvey, natives of
Ireland. Mrs. Baird is a graduate of the
college of Physicians and Surgeons, of Indiana.
She is a thorough student, and her papers on
medical subjects have given her considerable
distinction. She began the practice as a
homeopathist, but now practices in the same
school as her husband. Mrs. Baird is a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian church, while her hus-
band is a free thinker. He is a member of
the republican party, and a strong supporter
of its candidates. He is also a member of the
Odd Fellows and of the Red Men. Dr.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
Baird is connected with the Gas company, and
the Albany Land company, of which he is a
director.
■^^_f OHN BANTZ. — Among the prominent
A citizens of Delaware township, Dela-
_^ ware county, Ind., who did much
^-^ toward the improvement and opening
up of this part of the county, was the subject
of this biographical sketch. For nearly fifty
years he spent his life among this people and
was well known and highly esteemed for those
qualities which characterize the good neighbor,
kind friend and reliable citizen.
John Bantz was born in Preble county,
Ohio, February 3, 1831, a son of Joshua and
Elizabeth (Bremer) Bantz, natives of Ohio
and Maryland, respectively. They were farm-
ers by occupation and remained in the state of
Ohio until 1838, when they removed to Dela-
ware county, Ind., and purchased the property
upon which the widow of the subject of this
sketch now resides. The original purchase
consisted of 160 acres, and Mrs. Bantz is now
the owner of 134 acres. Joshua Bantz died
July 1 1, 1875, his wife having passed away in
1864.
John Bantz was reared on the home farm
and received the education of the common
school, never having removed from the town-
ship. He was married July 18, 1853, to Miss
Rebecca M. Hobbs, daughter of William and
Sarah (Chalk) Hobbs, natives of Greene county,
Ohio, to which part of the country the ances-
tors of the family came from Virginia. Mr.
and Mrs. Bantz had a family of eleven chil-
dren, seven of these now living, as follows:
Isabella, the wife of N. Brinson; James;
Nancy G., wife of Stephen Gray; Catherine,
wife of William Marks; Milroy; Emma, wife
J. Bartlett, and Grant.
The life of Mr. Bantz ended July 27, 1891,
and he was much lamented by a large con-
course of friends. He was a democrat in his
political faith and had ably acted as supervisor
of the township. Mrs. Bantz, with the assist-
ance of her son. Grant, has carried on the
farm, very successfully, since his decease. It
consists of over 130 acres of some of the finest
arable land in the county and has excellent
improvements.
HNDREW BLACK is a prominent cit-
izen of Delaware township, where he
has a fine home, and is surrounded
by all that is calculated to make life
pleasant. He was born in Clarke county,
Ohio, March 9, 1837, and is the son of John
and Margaret Black. His father was born in
Montgomery, county, Va. , November, 1805,
and was the son of Andrew and Susan (Ross)
Black, both natives of Virginia, their ancestry
being Scotch-Irish. The family emigrated
from Ireland to America, in an early day, and
.settled in Virginia, where descendants still
reside. The mother of Mr. Black was born in
Clarke county, Ohio, January 25, 1809; she
was the daughter of George and Catherine
(Fair) Stafford. John Black and Margaret
Stafford were married in Clarke county, Febru-
ary 28, 1828, and located near New Carlisle in
the same county. The husband engaged in
the tanning business, which trade he followed
until 1837, when he came to Indiana and
located upon the land in Delaware county
which his son, Andrew, now owns. The
house he built in 1840 is still standing. John
Black engaged in the milling business and
farming when he came here, purchasing a tract
of forty acres, which he improved and added
to until at the time of his death he owned
seven tracts, each consisting of eighty acres.
He also owned the fine mill, which he built in
524
DELAWARE COUNTY:
1847, and operated until his death; doing a
lucrative business in the manufacture of both
lumber and flour. He died June 30, 1868,
and was buried in the Black cemetery. His
widow lived until June 13, 1876. They were
members of the Methodist church, and devoted
to its teachings. In politics Mr. Black was a
republican.
John Black and his worthy wife were the
parents of four children, namely: Andrew;
Susanna J., deceased; George F. , deceased;
and Catherine, wife of Robert Brammer.
Andrew Black was reared on a farm, and
also learned the trade of milling, taking charge
of his father's mill in 1848, and running it
until 1^51, at which time he took charge of
the home farm, cultivating the same until
1865. In the latter year he again took charge
of the mill, and has ever since operated it
with success and financial profit. Mr. Black
owns 365 acres of land of the old homestead
as well as his mill property, his entire wealth
being the result of hard work and good man-
agement. The mill makes twenty-five barrels
per day, and does corn and feed grinding, be-
side turning out a large amount of lumber.
Mr. Black was married May 22, 1851, in
this township, to Mary E. Fishburn, born in
Greene county, Ohio, August 28, 1832. She
was the daughter of David and Catherine
(Graves) Fishburn. By this marriage he be-
came the father of six children, namely: David
A., of this township; Margaret E., wife of
Henry Brammer; John F. ; Martha, wife of
Andrew Clark; Catherine A., and Clara, de-
ceased. The mother of these children died
October 6, 1866, and on the 25th of February,
1868, Mr. Black was married in Greene county,
to Christine Peterson, whose birth occurred in
the same county and state, November 24, 1837.
The fruits of the latter union are three chil-
dren, namely: Mary, wife of W. Bryant;
Charles E., and Moses. Mr. and Mrs. Black
are members of the Methodist church; he
being a trustee in that body. In politics he
is a republican.
^.^^ AVID A. BLACK is a native of Dela-
I I ware township, is an excellent farm-
/^^^ er, is a prominent man in his commu-
nity, enjoying the confidence of his
neighbors and friends, and setting an example
in the matter of good farming, worthy of imi-
tation. He was born March 28, 1852, being
the son of Andrew Black, whose sketch ap-
pears above. His boyhood was passed on the
home farm and in his father's mill, being em-
ployed in the latter for seven years, afterwhich
he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture on his
own responsibility. His first property he
bought in 1883, being the farm upon which he
now lives, consisting of eighty acres highly im-
proved, beside which he has eighteen acres in
the town of Albany. What knowledge of
books he received came through the common
country school, and work too often interfered
with his educational training. Mr. Black was
married in March, 1875, to Lucette Thomas,
born in this township December 22, 1852. She
is the daughter of George W. and Catherine
(Price) Thomas, natives of Ohio, and pioneers
in this county. The fruits of this marriage
were Cyril A., deceased, Frederick O., John
F., and an infant, deceased. The mother of
these children died March 11, 1882. Mr. Black
was next married in December, 1884, to Mar-
garet C. Thomas, the sister of his first wife.
She was born in Wheeling, this county, April
27, 1867, and has borne her husband three
children, namely: Walter Ray, Leroy E. ,
deceased, and Carl. Mr. and Mrs. Black are
members of the Methodist church. In politics
he is a republican. He has social impulses,
and is a member of the Masonic order. Beside
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
525
owning valuable land interests, Mr. Black
owns fifty shares in the Albany Land company,
and is a director in that corporation.
at
ILLIAM BLACK (deceased)— was
man of extraordinarily excellent
character, respected by all who
knew him and his death caused gen-
eral regret among his entire acquaintance, the
universal sentiment being that a worthy and a
good man had been called away. He was
born in Clarke county, Ohio, August 13, 181 1,
being the son of Andrew and Susan (Ross)
Black. The father, Andrew Black, was born
in Giles county, Va., in 1785, and came west
with his parents, John Black and wife, to Clarke
county, Ohio, where he remained until the
death of his parents. The parents of William
Black were married in Virginia; they reared a
family of ten children, namely: John, Samuel,
Mary, James, \\'illiam, Thomas, jane, Andrew,
Edward and Susan. Andrew Black .served
six months as a soldier in the war of 181 2, and
in politics he was a whig. He was very suc-
cessful in his business affairs and left a hand-
some competence at his death, which occurred
in October, 1854, his wife having departed
this life in September, 1845. This busy and
worthy man was a tanner as well as farmer,
and he succeeded in whatever he undertook.
The subject of this sketch was reared upon
the home farm, remaining there until he was
twenty-three years old, when he came to this
county and entered a half section, and also
forty acres, where his family now lives. He
came here first in 1829, but did not enter the
land until his second visit, in 1832. Imme-
diately after his second visit he erected a log
cabin, eighteen by sixteen feet, having but one
room and a puncheon floor, with a clapboard
door and roof. A handsome brick residence now
occupies the place of that primitive log cabin.
There were no neighbors between Mr. Black's
place and Fort Wayne and he did not often
see visitors at his house in those early days.
Mr. Black was a justice of the peace and his
bailiwick embraced a very large territory.
Game was abundant — deer and wolves, especi-
ally. Bringing along from Ohio plenty of
provisions, clothing, etc., they were not so
limited as some others as to food and raiment,
their stock lasting until the land yielded of its
increase. The work was hard, but their cour-
age was great, and Mr. Black's hands and
those of his help at home cleared 240 out of
300 acres, changing a great forest into bloom-
ing fields that yielded immense harvests of
golden grain year by year.
Mr. Black was married in Clark county,
Ind., November 14, 1833, to Miss Ruthie
Stafford, and came to this county overland
with a horse team of his own and with a hired
ox-team, making the journey in eight days.
This young couple left a home of comfort and
luxury, and entered the great primeval forest
to brave every peril and privation pertaining
to a frontier life. For years there was no
school house, no physician, no store, no neigh-
bor, no anything, but the wolves that howled
by night, the great trees through which the
mournful winds sighed and groaned, and hard
work every day and all the time. Such priva-
tion was necessary in order to prepare the
way for the present civilization. For a period
of nearly sixty years Mr. Black lived here and
saw the forests disappear and flowers smile in
the sunlit places where once the dark shadows
lay at noontime; saw settlers come one by one
and cheerily take up their burden; saw log
cabins spring up here and there to give way
presently to fine residences; saw the country
thickly settled and prosperous; saw himself
surrounded by grown up children who loved
him; saw himself surrounded by every comfort
DELAWARE COUNTY:
and luxury and honored and respected by his
neighbors, and then iinally he died, at a good
old age. May 31, 1891. His remains lie in
the Black cemetery and a handsome monu-
ment marks the spot and tells the passerby of
the brave old pioneer.
Mr. Black was a sincere christian and a
member of the Methodist church. In politics
he was a republican, and his faith in that
party was so strong that he worked for it with
all possible zeal. He filled the offices of
justice of the peace, township trustee and
other township offices, and always to his own
credit and to the good of the community. His
success was the result of honest and hard
labor, self performed, as he received no assist-
ance from any one. Since his death his
estimable widow, whom everybody loves for
her many good qualities, has remained upon
the homestead, carrying on the farm intelli-
gently and profitably.
This patriarch and pioneer was the father
of ten children, namely: Margaret J., wife of
Cyrus St. John, of Albany; Susan E., wife of
William Pace, of Indianapolis; James E., a
carpenter of Eaton, Ind. ; Catherine P., wife
of Aaron Brammer; Martha A., deceased;
Marietta, wife of John Richey; Seline E., de-
ceased; Sarah H., deceased; Ruth, wife of
Gecrge Younts, and William H., at home.
The mother of these children, all of whom are
highly respected and useful members of socie-
ty, is a sincere and devout christian woman
and has proved herself to be a kind and
devoted wife, a sensible and loving mother
and a good neighbor and friend. All who
name her speak in her praise and wish that
every one of her declining days of life may be
peaceful and happy.
This family, in all its branches, proximate
and ultimate, has maintained its respectability
wherever known, and this township of Dela-
ware may well feel proud of them as its citizens.
^y^AVID E. BRAMMER.— All over this
I I great country are men living quiet
/<^^_^ and unostentatious lives, wearing the
simple garb of the agriculturist, but
who bear marks, never to be effaced, of the
years of the late war, and who showed to the
world, at that time, of what material the loyal
man is made. Perhaps the day will never come
when these heroes will obtain their just due,
but a record like this cannot pass by without
at least a brief sketch of some of the most
worthy. David E. Brammer was born in
Lawrence county, Ohio, October 22, 1842, a
son of Roland and Catherine (McCorkel) Bram-
mer. Both parents had descended from old
and highly respected Virginia families. They
married in Lawrence county, Ohio, where they
remained all their lives, the father dying June
6, 1882, and the mother mother February 23,
1859. The father was aged seventy-three
years, one month and twenty-eight days at
the time of his death, but the mother had bare-
ly passed her forty-sixth year when called to
her final rest. They were the parents of the
following children: Robert, deceased; Edmund;
Mahala, deceased; Andrew; Elizabeth, deceas-
ed; William, David; Amanda, deceased, George,
Thomas, Jacob and Henry. Mr. Brammer was
a well known and influential man in his local-
ity, having served as deputy sheriff for several
years, and also as constable at different times.
He was a worthy citizen, and in early life was
a strong whig, later becoming a republican.
The family were reared in the faith of the
United Brethren church, in which Mr. Bram-
mer was much esteemed, and was a notable
example of the moral and upright christian
gentleman.
David E. Brammer was reared on the
home farm, but after the death of his beloved
mother he began to work away from home by
the month, and, in i860, went south to take
the job of deadening timber and of chopping
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
527
roads through the swamps. This, although
very laborious, was profitable work, but the
troublous times came on, and in May, 1861,
he returned north. Here he engaged in gener-
al work until September i 5 of the same year,
when he enlisted in company K, Second Ohio
volunteer cavalry for three years or during the
war, serving until May 25, 1865, and partici-
pating in a number of battles. At the battle
of Stony Creek he was taken prisoner; was
sent on to Petersburg, where he was confined
two weeks; thence to Richmond, where he
was incarcerated in the infamous Libby prison
for twenty-one days, only to be succeeded by
an imprisonment still worse, at Andersonville,
where a wretched existence was dragged out
for nine months, before being paroled. At
Black river they were kept seven days, and
then were taken aboard of the ill-fated steam-
er Sultana, he being one of the unfortunate
soldiers who were on board when that steamer
burned and blew up. His hair was burned
from his head, one leg was broken, and he
suffered untold agony from scalding. One
thumb was so badly scalded that the nail
dropped off. For seven weeks he was cared
for in the hospital in Memphis, and was then
able to be transported to Camp Chase, Ohio,
where he remained two days and then went on
home to stay. It is well for agitators to read
such tales that they may know what war costs.
After his recovery, Mr. Brammer engaged
in farming by the month, but later went south
and engaged at steamboating from New Or-
leans to Shreveport, La. , making several trips
as far as Jefferson, Te.x., and one as far as
Roland, Tex. This occupation he followed
one winter, but came to Indiana in March,
1866, locating in Delaware county, where he
engaged in working by the month, for five
months, and purchased his first piece of prop-
erty in 1870. This was a tract of sixty acres,
which he bas since increased, until he now
owns 240 acres of valuable land, well im-
proved, upon which he resides in great com-
fort. Mr. Brammer was married August 5,
1867, in Delaware county, to Miss Sarah
Brammer, born in this county, daughter of
Edmund and Nancy (Hatfield) Brammer, and
three children have been born of this union:
Emma Z. , deceased; Nancy C, wife of Robert
Cultiei;, and Martha B., wife of Franklin Pe-
terson. Mrs. Brammer is an excellent woman,
and a valued member of the Baptist church.
Mr. Brammer is a republican.
E EN LEY BRAMMER comes from an
old and highly respected family and
reflects credit on the same. He is a
native of Delaware township, where
he was born February 20, 1841 ; being the son
of Edmund and Nancy (Hatfield) Brammer.
The father was born in Patrick county, Va. ,
January 7, iSoi; the son of Edmund and
Mary (Lee) Brammer, the mother an aunt of
Gen. Robert E. Lee, the great Confederate
chieftain. The father of Henley Brammer was
but one year old when his parents crossed the
mountains, and located in Cabell county, W.
Va. , where he remained until his eighteenth
year, after which the family moved to Law-
rence county, Ohio, where the parents died.
He then married, went to Fayette county,
Ohio, and engaged in farming; remained there
until 1836, and then moved to this county,
where his death occurred June 18, 1889. The
mother of the subject departed this life Janu-
ary 10, 1872. This worthy couple had ten
children, namely: Roland, Mary, Rachel
(deceased), Malinda (deceased), Rebecca (de-
ceased), Elizabeth, Mahlon, Sarah A., Aaron
and Henley. Edmund and Nancy Brammer
were firm believers in the doctrines of the Bap-
tist church, and followed its teachings; Mr.
528
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Brammer was a democrat of the old Jackson
school.
Henley Brammer was reared upon the
home farm, and now owns a portion of that
estate, i8o acres of fine land, well improved.
Owing to an accident which resulted in the
loss of his left eye at the age of seventeen, his
education was somewhat limited, but he has
since become the possessor of a fund of prac-
tical knowledge both from books and from
contact with his fellow men in the business
relations of life. He remained at home with
his father until the death of the latter, since
which time his attention has been devoted to
the work of the farm in the township where he
now resides. He was married December 13,
1866, to Seljna E. Black, born in Delaware
county, April 19, 1846; the daughter of Will-
iam Black, whose sketch will be found else-
where. Two children were born to this
union, namely: an infant, deceased, and Will-
iam E. Mrs. Brammer died February 2,
1875, and November 18, 1876, Mr. Brammer
took to wife Margaret D. Black, daughter of
Andrew Black, previously mentioned in these
pages. By this union there have been born
ten children, namely: Charles, Mary A., An-
drew L. , deceased, Frank, Selina E., Thomas
A., Harry and Anna, twins, David E. and Jose-
phine B. In politics Mr. Brammer is a dem-
ocrat. He is a kind neighbor, a good friend,
and an honest, upright citizen.
HBRAHAM CAMPBELL is a promi-
nent resident of the town of Albany,
where he was for some time engaged
in the hotel and livery business. He
was born in Delaware county, Ind., April 19,
1844, a brother of David Campbell, of whom
mention is made in this volume among the
residents of Mount Pleasant township. In the
latter township Abraham was reared on a farm
and remained there until 1885, when he moved
to the township of Delaware and purchased
ninety acres of land, which he improved, and
where he put up substantial buildings. He re-
mained on this place until 1 890, at which time
he removed to Shideler, and engaged in the
butchering and hotel business, but in 1891 he
removed to Albany, where he also became pro-
prietor of a hotel, which he ran for some time
in connection with the livery business, but has
now sold. He has proven himself a fine busi-
ness man and seems particularly well suited to
the different branches of business in which he
has been engaged, but, having disposed of his
business in Albany, it is his intention to re-
sume farming.
Mr. Campbell was married May 30, 1867,
in Douglas county, 111., to Miss Mary E.
Thompson, born in Coshocton county, Ohio,
August 13, 1846, daughter of Charles P. and
Nancy (Cullison) Thompson, to which union
have been born six children, namely: William
A., deceased; Nancy E. , deceased; J. Ora,
Charles T. , Arthur H. and Hattie E. Mrs.
Campbell is an excellent lady and a consistent
member of the Methodist church. Fraternally
Mr. Campbell is connected with the I. O. O.
F. , and is also a well known Mason. Politi-
cally he affiliates with the democratic party.
>nr'OHN P. HALE CASTERLINE.— The
■ well known and pleasant gentleman
A 1 whose name heads this sketch is the
editor and proprietor of the Albany
(Ind.) Journal. Mr. Casterline was born in
Union county, Ind., in the town of Liberty,
March 20, 1853, son of Dr. Ziba and Cather-
ine (Elwell) Casterline. Dr. Casterline was a
native of Washington county. Pa., a son of
Ziba and Mary Casterline, who were natives
of Pennsylvania and New Jersey respectively.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
Dr. Ziba Casterline was educated in his
native state in the excellent common schools,
and at the age of nineteen years, began teach-
ing, which profession he followed for one year,
then attended college, received his diploma,
and began the practice of the healing art in
the village of Fairfield, Ind. He remained
there but a short time, removing thence to
Liberty, Union county, Ind., at which place
he remained until the opening of the war in
1 86 1. At that time he entered the army as
assistant surgeon of the Eighty-fourth Indiana
volunteers, for three years, after which he re-
turned to Courtland, Ohio, where he engaged
in the practice of medicine until 1871; thence
to Liberty, Ind., where he remained for three
years. While visiting his son in Courtland,
Ohio, he died March 27, 1874, and his remains
were interred at Liberty. His first wife died
in 1859, having been the mother of ten chil-
dren, four of whom are living — Anna, the wife
of Gen. T. W. Bennett, a prominent politi-
tican who for twelve years was mayor of Rich-
mond; was appointed governor of Idaho by
President Grant, and then served as delegate
to congress from Idaho for one term; William
M., an attorney and real estate dealer in Cali-
fornia, recently elected to the legislature; Cas-
sius M. Clay, in the government employ at
Washington, and John P. H.
Dr. Casterline was a prominent abolition-
ist, his home in Liberty being known as a
depot for the underground railroad for runa-
way slaves. He was influential in political
circles, a leader of the republican party, and
fraternally was a Mason. He was also a dea-
con in the Presbyterian church, and it is
related of him that one of his first official acts
was to whip one of his brethern.
John P. H. Casterline was reared in Liberty
until seven years of age, and then, on account
of his father going into the army, he and his
brother went to Cortland, Ohio, where he
remained with his uncle Joel, and attended
school in the country until his eighteenth
year, working on the farm in the meantime.
In 1870 he apprenticed himself for four years
to William Ritezel of the Western Reserve
Chronicle, published at Warren, Ohio, and
remained with him until the spring of 1876,
at which time he made a trip into southern
Michigan and Indiana, looking for work. In
1887 he located at Albany, where he started
the Albany Journal, and was engaged until
June, 1 89 1, in its publication. He then re-
moved to Hartford City, where he started the
paper known as The Arena, an organ of the
F. M. B. A., which he continued for eight
months, then sold and returned to Albany,
and in June, 1892, he re-established the Al-
bany Journal, which now is generally conceded
to be one of the best papers in Delaware
county. He was married in Mt. Summit,
Ind., September 24, 1884, to Miss Joan Haz-
elton, a native of Mt. Summit, Ind., whose
parents, William and Elizabeth Hazelton,
were also natives of Indiana. By this marriage,
Mr. and Mrs. Casterline have been blessed
with one child, Anna L. , who is now deceased.
They are active members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and always take part in any
thing that pertains to religious work. In
politics Mr. Casterline affiliates with the re-
publican party, and fraternally he is a Mason,
belonging to Anthony lodge of Albany, and
also is a member of Valentine lodge, K. of P.,
holding the office of K. of R. and S. In his
boyhood days Mr. Casterline was the advance
agent for the Rev. P. R. Van Housen, the
blind minister, and traveled through eastern
Ohio, north Pennsylvania and New York for
five months.
Mr. Casterline has never proven recreant
to the politics promulgated by his illustrious
namesake, John P. Hale, one of the earliest
free-soil advocates in the United States senate.
530
DELAWARE COUNTY:
BRED L. CHILCOTE, cashier and bus-
iness manager of the Citizens' Bank
of Albany, is a native of Indiana, born
December 20, 1866, in the county of
Jasper, where his father, Mordecai Chilcote, had
located about five years previous. Almost im-
mediately after moving to his new home in Jas-
per county, Mordecai Chilcote entered the army
as private in the Ninth Indiana volunteers for
the three months' service, and at the expiration
of his period of enlistment re-entered the service
in company K, Forty-eighth volunteer infantry.
This regiment saw very active service in the
army commanded by Gen. Grant in Tennessee
and Mississippi, and was engaged in some of
the bloodiest battles of the war, including
Shiloh, Corinth, the operations around Vicks-
burg and capture of that city, in all of which
Mr. Chilcote took an active part. In 1863 he
was promoted to the captaincy of his com-
pany, in which capacity he served until the
close of the war, having borne the part of a
brave and gallant soldier from the beginning
of the great struggle until the cessation of hos-
tilities in 1865. In September, 1865, Capt.
Chilcote was united in marriage, at Rensselear,
Ind. , to Miss Lizzie Hammond, since which
date he has resided in that city. Mrs. Chilcote
died January 75, 1865, leaving two children —
Fred L. , whose name introduces this mention,
and Gaylord, present principal of . the high
school of Los Angeles, Cal.
Fred L. Chilcote, after a regular course in
the common schools, attended the high school
of Rensselaer, graduating from the same in
June, 1885, after which he followed the pro-
fession of teaching for two years. In 1887 he
entered upon a thorough course of business
training in the Eastman Commercial college,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , and after he graduated
therefrom the following year became principal
clerk in his father's office at Rensselaer. Sub-
sequently he was elected city clerk of Rensse-
laer, a most deserving compliment to a man so
young in years, and after discharging the duties
of the position in a manner highly creditable
to himself and with satisfaction to the public,
he accepted the responsible position of cashier
of the bank at Monon, Ind. He continued in the
latter capacity until December, 1889, and in
the spring of 1890 became assistant cashier of
the Commercial bank of Lowell, filling the
place very creditably for some time, later ac-
cepting a position in the Citizens' State bank
of Rensselaer, which he held until the estab-
lishment of the Albany bank when he became
cashier of the latter. On the 21st day of
October, 1891, Mr. Chilcote and Miss AUie
Kinney, of Rensselaer, were united in marriage,
the fruits of which union are two children:
Lizzie and Jennie, twins, whose birth occurred
August 16, 1892.
The bank of Albany was organized May 1 5,
1893, under the name of the Citizens' bank,
the management being, D. J. Mann, president;
James E. Stafford, vice-president; F. L. Chil-
cote, cashier; W. H. Maitlen, J. S. Krohn and
W. B. Austin, directors. The enterprise was
established under the most favorable auspices,
and the high character and integrity of the
gentleman connected therewith command the
confidence of the public and guarantee its use-
fulness as one of the solid financial institutions
of Delaware county. The careful commercial
education and thorough business training, as
well as the extended experience in banking,
make Mr. Chilcote thoroughly qualified for the
responsible position he holds in the concern,
the officers of which, as well as depositors, im-
posing in him the most implicit confidence.
Mr. Chilcote was raised in the Presbyterian
church, and while not visibly identified with
the denomination, he is a believer in the truths
of the Bible, and an earnest friend to all moral
and religious movements. He is a member of
Anthony lodge. No. 171, A. F. & A. M., of
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
581
Albany, a republican in his political connection,
and a highl}' respected and popular citizen of
the comniunit\- in which he resides.
HRTHUK S. CLARK, a well known
business man of Aban)', was born in
Decatur county, Ind. , August 22,
1 85 I, the son of Robert and Frances
(Kemper; Clark. Robert Clark is a native of
Kentucky and dates his birth from the 27th
day of January, 18 16. His parents were
Woodson and Patience Clark, and he came to
Indiana in 1840, and became a resident of
Hamilton township, Delaware county, in the
year 1859. Robert Clark followed farming
very successfully until 1886, at which time he
removed to the village of Royertown, where he
is now spending his declining years retired from
active life. He is, and has been, for many
years an active member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, votes the republican ticket,
and is prominently identified witTi the Masonic
fraternity. Of the twelve children born to
Robert and Frances Clark the following are
living at this time, namely: Sarah, Arthur S.,
Carrie, Thomas, Stella and Ralph.
Arthur S. Clark was reared on the home
farm until his eighteenth year, at which time
he apprenticed himself to a mechanic for two
and one-half years to learn the trade of a
machinist. Later he accepted a position with
the Wabash railroad company, in the employ
of which he continued for a period of fifteen
years, and during the succeding four years was
engaged in the mercantile business in the town
of Shideler. Abandoning the dry goods trade
in 1 89 1, Mr. Clark engaged in the undertak-
ing and furniture business, both of which lines
he still continues, and in which he has met
with well deserved success. He is a practical
business man, has a large and constantl)' in-
creasing trade, and is one of the representa-
tive citizens of the town and township in
which for so many years he has resided. In
his religious belief he adheres to the Methodist
creed, in which church he holds the position
of trustee, and he has for some time been an
active member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity.
He also belongs to the brotherhood of Rail-
road Firemen and Engineers, and politically is
a stanch supporter of the republican party,
the principles of which he believes to be for
the best interest of the country.
Mr. Clark was married June 27, 1S77, in
Peru, Ind., to Miss Carrie Bevis, who was
born in the city of Zanesville, Ohio, on the
iith day of August, 1851, the daughter of
William Bevis. Mrs. Clark is also a member
of the Methodist church, and a lady highly re-
spected by a large circle of friends in Dela-
ware township.
eLIJAH F, DAVIS.— In the number
of esteemed and worthy citizens of
Albany the name of Elijah E. Davis
deserves to appear prominently, he
being a most useful as well as successful resi-
dent of that prosperous town. Mr. Davis was
born July 21, 1852, in Delaware county, Ind.,
being the son of Jacob and Mary (Cake)
Davis. Jacob Davis was born in Ross county,
Ohio, March 7, 1805, and was the son of John
and Rachael (Daugherty) Davis, of Irish and
English descent, respectively; who located in
Ohio at an early date, John Davis dying there
of cholera, in the year 1843. He and his wife
were the parents of ten children, all of whom
are dead, except one, Mrs. Sarah V^incent, of
Black Hawk, Iowa. The father, Elijah, was
the eldest son, and followed farming all his life.
He was married three times, and died May 28,
1885, in the faith of the Methodist church, in
532
DELAWARE COUNTY:
which he had Hved; his last wife having pre-
ceded him to the grave, dying March 4, 1881.
Elijah E. Davis received a common school
education and remained with his parents until
attaining his majority, when he began farming
the old homestead, continuing the same until
1876, at which time he bought fifty acres of
land of his own; he resided on the latter until
the spring of 1892, devoting part of his atten-
tion, the meanwhile, to the manufacture of
drain tile, and then removed to the village of
Albany and engaged in the hotel business,
purchasing and refitting a building which has
since became widely known as a favorite resort
of the traveling public.
Mr. Davis was married February i, 1872,
to Martha J. Bartlett, born March 2, 1854,
and the daughter of Robert and Ehzabeth
(Mann) Bartlett, both parents of English ex-
traction. The children of this marriage were
seven, namely: Norman A., Rosie L. , Irene,
Lillie R. , Thomas C. and Cora M., twins, and
Marth C. The mother of this interesting fam-
ily departed this life February 24, 1888, dying
as she had lived, a consistent member of the
Methodist church. Mr. Davis was next mar-
ried August 24, 1889, to Mary E. Beard, who
was born in Wayne county, Ind. , December
I, 1856; being the daughter of John and Su-
san (Leisure) Beard. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are
earnest members of the Methodist church, and
take an active part in all religious work of the
local congregation to which they belong. He
is an accepted member of the Masonic order,
of which body he has been in pleasant relations
for many years. Pohtically he is a republican.
HBIJAH T. DeHAVEN, the honored
subject of the present sketch, who has
gone to the reward of the righteous,
was, during life, well known as one of
the most prominent citizens of Delaware county,
Ind. He was born in Frederick county, Va. ,
November 8, 1823, a son of John and Rhoda
(Doster) DeHaven, natives of Virginia, of
English descent. John and Rhoda DeHaven
were the parents of thirteen children, of which
large family there are but four now living. The
subject was the ninth in the order of birth.
The whole life of his father was devoted to
agricultural pursuits in his native county, where
he lived to a ripe old age.
Abijah T. DeHaven was reared on the
home farm and learned, early in life, the neces-
sity of labor. He was sent to the common
school and assisted on the farm until he had
reached his majority, when he engaged in farm-
ing for himself. Thirteen years of his life were
spent in Greene county, Ohio, and in 1865 he
removed to Delaware county, and here pur-
chased property when the country was yet in
its primitive condition. His death occurred
October 31, 1891, at which time he owned
over six hundred acres of land, which was well
and substantially improved. This was the
direct result of his own hard labor and careful
financiering. He was a man of indomitable
will and perseverance, and was ever ready to
assist in any worthy enterprise tending to
benefit his fellow citizens.
The marriage of Mr. DeHaven took place
May 26, 1864, to Miss Martha C. Strong, who
was born in Delaware township, Delaware
county, March 25, 1845, a daughter of John
W. and Clarissa (Rohrbaugh) Strong, who
were pioneers of Delaware county. To this
union were born five children as follows: Anna
B., deceased, John, Frank L. , Amy E. and
Jessie O. The mother and daughters are
members of the Methodist church, and the
family is one of the most respected in the
county. Mr. DeHaven left to his family some-
thing better even than the large property, a
good name, above reproach, and one of which
his descendants can always be proud.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
QARTIN L. DEPOY.— Among the
successful farmers of Delaware
county who have risen to wealth and
prominence by the exercise of their
own efforts, stands the subject of this sketch.
Martin L. Depoy was born in Delaware town-
ship and county, .\ugust i8, 1851, a son of
Samuel and Melinda Depoy, the father a native
of and the mother of \'irginia. They
came to this county in 1836, located in Dela-
ware township, and engaged in farming, which
occupation they continued in until the close of
life, he dying in i S65, and she in January, 1871. 1
Samuel and Melinda Depoy were the parents ■
of two children, Joseph and Martin L. Mr.
and Mrs. Depoy were respected by all their
friends, and they were many. He was a stanch j
democrat and a prominent member of the Ma- |
sonic order. Martin L. Depoy was reared at
home, received but limited educational advan-
tages, and at the age of thirteen years began
working for John Krohn, by the month At
the e.xpiration of his term of service with that
gentleman, he farmed two years himself and
then purchased thirty-eight acres of land in
section 10. This was in 1878, and one year
later he was able to buy forty acres more; in
March, 1883, twenty-two acres, and in Febru-
ary, 1889, an-additional twenty-two acre tract,
122 acres in all, well improved. He takes great
pleasure in the possession of this land, as it is
the result of his own honest work.
Mr. Depoy was married April 26, 1877, to
Niss Nancy J. Bartlett, who was born in this
county, July 6, 1858, a daughter of Elijah and
Mary (Mann) Bartlett, to which union four
children have been born, as follows: Walter
W., Olive May., Josie and Mary Melinda.
Mr. Depoy's political affiliations are with the
republican party, in the success of which he
takes much interest. He is a holder of twenty
shares in the Albany Land company, and since
1870 has been extensively engaged in the
shipping of stock. This has proved very
profitable under his wise managiMiient. Mrs.
Depoy is an excellent lady, and a member of
the Methodi.st church.
HSA DEVOE, was born in Greene
county, Ohio, August 12, 1834; was
the son of Joseph and Abigail (Og-
glesby) Devoe, who were descended,
on their respective sides, from the German and
French. They were among the early settlers
of Ohio, and farmed on a large scale; and
consequently the subject of our present sketch
remained with his father and engaged in farm-
ing until he grew to manhood. He was mar-
ried March 10, 1859, to Mary J. Smith, daugh-
ter of John and Margaret (Burl) Smith, na-
tives, respectively, of Virginia and Ohio. The
father of Mary (Smith) Devoe came from Vir-
ginia when a young man, settled in Ohio, and
there he first met the lady whom he after-
wards married; she was then just fourteen
years of age, and must have been very capti-
vating and attractive, as the result shows.
They reared a large family, the record show-
ing twelve children grown to man and woman-
hood, and mentioned in the following order:
Burl, William, Eli, Alfred and Henry, all
farmers; Ellen, wife of John Ford; Sarah,
wife of Lafayette Lucas; Elizabeth, wife of
William St. John; Nancy, wife of William
Mendenhall; Margaret, wife of James Clarke;
Emma, wife of John Bosnian, and Mary, wife
of the subject of this mention. Mr. and Mrs.
Smith lived and died where they had spent
many prosperous, happy years; she, departing
this life in 1849; he, in 1883. There were
also left to mourn their loss Mr. Smith's two
brothers and two sisters: William and Jerry
Smith, both enterprising farmers; and Anna,
wife of Andrew Stephen; and Margaret, wife
DELAWARE COUNTY
of Ira, Sutton. Mrs. Smith likewise left rela-
tives to mourn her loss; one brother and four
sisters in the order named: Marshal Burl,
farmer; Elizabeth, wife of Benjamin Hard-
acre; Susan, wife of Alfred Powers; Mary,
wife of John Lucas, and Debra, wife of Sol.
Brainard.
Asa Devoe was the father of five children,
four of whom were living when this sketch was
made. Viz: Albert R., manufacturer of tile
at Albany; John B. and O. H., who became
farmers; Rose, wife of Losan Peterson, and
Emma C, deceased. In the year 1890 Mr.
Devoe moved to Albany, where he had an in-
terest in the tile works; and where his assist-
ance became necessary to the undertaking.
He was actively engaged until the last year,
when he became disabled from work on account
of sickness, and was confined to the house for
some months previous to his death, which oc-
curred December 18, 1892. When Mr. Devoe
first came to Indiana, he settled in Niles town-
ship, where he purchased a farm of eighty
acres from his wife's father, the land he had
formerly bought of Jonas Peterson, who entered
the same. Mr. Devoe lived here for five years,
at the expiration of which time he sold, and
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land
which he left for the comfort of his widow and
children. He was an industrious, hard work-
ing man, a fond husband, a kind and loving
father, a good citizen; highly respected by all
who knew him. Mr. Devoe was assessor for
four years and attended to the office faithfully.
He was also a member of the order of I. O. O.
F. , and he and his wifebelonged to the Meth-
odist Episcopal church.
Mr. Devoe had four brothers and two sis-
ters, viz: David, Ephraim, Washington and
Wesley, all of whom were farmers. The sis-
ters were Sarah, wife of Nathan Fisher, and
Evaline, wife of John Ary. Mrs. Devoe now
lives in Albany, nicely and comfortably situ-
ated, as the result of their early thrift and
management.
^y^"^ ATHANIEL C. DILL, M. D.— The
I m medical profession is ably repre-
l y sented in Delaware county, and
when the association of physicians
and surgeons of this favored sections meet,
they represent a large portion of the learning
and influence of this part of the state. Among
those prominently identified with this body, is
the subject of the present sketch. Dr.
Nathaniel C. Dill, a native of Darke county,
Ohio, where he was born September 8, i860,
a son of Uriah and Rebecca (Morford) Dill.
The father was born in Hamilton county,
Ohio, was there reared to manhood and
learned the trade of carpenter, which he fol-
lowed until his removal to Darke county in
1858, where he remained until 1862. In the
latter year he changed his residence to Butler
county, Ohio, where he met with an accident,
falling from a building, which cost him his
life, in 1 866. He was, like his wife, a mem-
ber of the Methodist church, and for years was
an earnest supporter of the principles of the
democratic party.
Mrs. Dill, was a woman of great ability
and superior intelligence. For nineteen years
she followed the profession of teacher of the
public school, and now lives a quiet, restful life,
an inmate of the home of her only child, the
subject of this mention. Dr. Nathaniel C.
Dill was reared in Butler county, Ohio, and
his mother took care that he should receive a
good education. After finishing his public
school course, he attended the Normal school
for two years and then entered the Ohio Medi-
cal college of Cincinnati, from which he gradu-
ated March i, 1881. The doctor began the
practice of his profession in the town of Riley,
Butler county, Ohio, where he continued for
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
five years, later spending six months in Florida
for his health, and then acted as representative
for D. Appleton & Co., of New York, for
eighteen months. His health being restored
b\- this change, he again began practice, locat-
ing in the pleasant town of Desoto, Ind., where
he has since continued and has gained many
friends, not only among his grateful patients,
but also among others who recognize in him a
pleasant gentleman, and an energetic and en-
terprising citizen.
Dr. Dill was married November 24, 1888,
in Wells county, Ind., to Miss Lizzie A. Carr,
who was born in Butler county, Ohio, June 7,
1865, daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Zel-
ler) Carr, of German and Irish ancestry. Mrs.
Dill is a member of the Methodist church.
Dr. Dill is a republican and is socially con-
nected with the I. O. O. F. , and has taken the
blue lodge and chapter degrees in Masonry,
and is a member of Hanselman commandery
K. T. , of Cincinnati, Ohio; he is also a mem-
ber of the order of Red Men. He has large
business interests in the town, and has made
investments in the Desoto Land company.
>Y»OHN S, FUDGE, the gentleman for
M whom this biography is written, was
/• 1 born in Green county, Ohio, March 7,
1827, and is a son of John and Cathe-
rine (Sellers) Fudge. The father of the sub-
ject was a very prominent man in the state of
Ohio, serving for a number of years in the state
legislature, in both upper and lower houses.
He was born in Boutetourt county, Va. , April
13, 1796, and passed out of life from the
effects of a stroke of paralysis, September 15,
1868, at the age of seventy-three years. Many
years ago he left his native state and removed
to Ohio, locating about five miles west of the
city of Xenia, where he purchased a large tract
of land, which he farmed, and also operated a
tannery. In every walk of life he was promi-
nent, and possessed the confidence and esteem
of the community. For many years he served
as county commissioner, and was appointed by
the whig party associate judge in 1852. He
acted as administrator on about 300 estates, in
which capacity he gave the utmost satisfaction.
In the Methodist church he was an officer for
many years, and was considered one of the best
of citizens and a good, religious man. In his
political faith he was a whig, and united with
j the republican party upon its first organization.
The subject of this sketch received a good
common school education and remained with
his parents until attaining his majority, at
which he desired to try his own fortunes. He
began life for himself as a farmer in Greene
county, Ohio, and continued in agricultural
pursuits in that part of the state until 1864
when he removed to Delaware county, Ind.,
locating in Niles township. Here he purchased
160 acres of land and farmed it for four years.
This farm he exchanged for one of 140 acres,
on which he resided for seven years, when
he sold it and purchased i 50 acres and subse-
quently forty acres more adjoining it, which
he afterwards sold. On this farm he resided
for ten years, when he again exchanged for
another farm of 160 acres, all in Niles town-
ship. In 1885 Mr. Fudge exchanged a part of
his farm for the pleasant and commodious
residence and grounds in which he resides in
Albany. In 1886 Mr. Fudge sold the balance
of this farm in Niles township and purchased
122 acres but one-half mile east of the beauti-
ful and rapidly growing village of Albany. It
has since become very valuable, as it is con-
sidered as good gas land as there is in the
belt. In 1893 Mr. Fudge disposed of 117
acres of this splendid piece of property to the
Albany Land compan}', and it will soon be one
of the busy suburbs of the growing city.
536
DELAWARE COUNTY
Mr. Fudge is a stock holder in the Dela-
ware county Agricultural society and is also a
director and stock holder in the Albany Gas
company. He is retired from business and
will spend the remainder of his days in the ease
and comfort of his pleasant home in Albany.
Mr. Fudge was married in Green county,
Ohio, October 28, 1847, to Miss Martha J.
Boots, who was born in the same county and
state August 4, 1830, a daughter of Joseph
and Catherine (Peterson) Boots, both parents
natives of Ohio. Martha C. , wife of Charles
Racer; John M., who is engaged in farming in
Delaware county; Lewis M., who is engaged
in the stock and provision business in Dun-
kirk; Mary E., wife of J. W. Black, farmer in
Niles township; Susan S., wife of A. N. Bos-
man, farmer; Anna C, wife of D. M. W.
John, farmer, all of Niles township, and
Laura C. , Allie F. and Hattie M. , at home,
engaged in the dressmaking business; Charles
B., principal clerk in the store of Bliss & Kel-
ler, in Muncie, Ind. ; Ulysses F. , with the dry
goods house of S. C. Cowan, in Muncie, and
Joseph R. , who died, in 1861, at the age of
three years.
Mr. Fudge and wife are members of the
M. E. church of Albany and are highly re-
garded in the neighborhood for their many ex-
cellent traits of character.
'^Y'OHN T. gray, farmer, was born in
m Randolph county, April 21, 1841, the
A 1 son of Edward and Nancy (Godwin)
Gray. The parents of Edward Gray
migrated from Virginia to Ohio in 1832,
thence to Randolph county, Ind. , where the
family secured 360 acres, upon which he grew
to manhood. The following are the names of
the brothers and sisters of Edward Gray:
John H., Margaret, wife of William McCam-
ish; Jane, wife of A. W. Jarnigen; Malinda,
wife of John Green, and Emily, wife of George
Booher. The names of the brothers and sis-
ters of Mrs. Gray are as follows: William,
John, Nathan, James, Thomas, Goodwin and
Sarah, wife of Dempsey Harber. Edward
Gray was, for fifty years, a prominent mem-
ber of the Methodist church, and is remem-
bered as a man of most excellent reputation
in the community in which he resided. He
died March 25, 1890, and with his wife, who
departed this life October, 1888, lies buried
in what is known as the Hopewell cemetery.
Edward and Nancy Gray had a family of six
children, namely: WiUiam M., John T.,
Nathan E. , James K. P., Mary and Sarah,
the last two of whom are deceased.
John T. Gray was reared a farmer, and
with the exception of a brief period, has fol-
lowed that calling for his life work. He was
married July 20, 1861, to Elizabeth Pace
daughter of Uriah and Mary (Boots) Pace, of
Randolph county, and immediately thereafter
located on a farm in the county of Randolph,
where he resided for some time. Disposing of
his interest in Randolph county, and thinking
to better his condition, he went to Kansas, but
did not long remain in that state, returning to
Indiana and locating in the town of Albany,
Delaware county, which was his home for
about one year. He then purchased his present
farm in Delaware township, upon which he has
since resided. The following children have
been born to John T. and Elizabeth Gray:
Uriah, deceased; Sarah E. , deceased; Harriet,
wife of David Woolverton; Juliette, wife of
E. A. Frank; Laura L. , Edward, Bertha and
James W. , deceased. The parents of Mrs.
Gray moved from Fayette county, Ohio, to
Delaware county, Ind., in 1833, and settled
near the town of Albany on a farm where the
father died November, 1868; the mother is
still living, and makes her home at this time at
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
587
the town of Albany. She is a tm-inhor of the
German Baptist rhiirch, and the mother of the
following children: Jessie, Edmund, William
D., deceased; Albert, deceased; Harriet, wife
of John Rutledge; Talitha, wife of Otho Dow-
den; Elizabeth, wife of John T. Gray and
Julia Pace. Mr. and Mrs. Gray are members
of the Christian church, and are highly respect-
ed by all who know them. Their pleasant
home, which is the abode of hospitality, is
located on a small but beautiful farm, whose
rich and fertile fields yield a golden tribute to
the care and cultivation of the owner.
eDWARD P. HANNAN. — Among the
prominent and successful business
men of Delaware township, Dela-
ware county, Ind., we note the sub-
ject of the following sketch. Mr. Hannan
was born in Grant county, Ind., November
25, 1861, a son of James W. and Rose A.
(Parks) Hannan, the former born in Taswell
county, Va., in May, 1825, and the latter in
Ohio, in 1828. They were married in Picka-
way county, Ohio, where Mr. Hannaji engaged
in the practice of medicine, later adopting the
profession of teacher, which he continued
until 1852, when he came to Grant county,
Ind., and purchased a small farm, remaining
upon the same until 1867, when he removed
to Delaware county, and again engaged in
agricultural pursuits. He subsequently re-
moved to Wheeling, in Washington township,
but shortly after removed to New Corner, now
Gaston, where he engaged in general mer-
chandise for two years. At the expiration of
that time he sold his property and again engaged
in farming until 1884. Once more he made his
home in New Corner, and for a period of four
years carried the mail between New Corner
and Muncie, and also had charge of the post-
office in connection with a book and stationery
store.
Mr. Hannan was tiie father of the follow-
ing children: Emma 1*'., the wife of Henry
Stover, of Marion, Ind. ; Eliza J., wife of Will-
iam R. Brady, of Indiana; Alii, wife of W. R.
Myers, of Muncie, Ind. ; Mary, wife of George
W. Bryan, of New Corner; E. P., subject of
this mention; John B. , of this state; Nannie
M., deceased, and Joseph B., of Cincinnati.
In his religious preference Mr. Hannan is a
Baptist, and has long been an ardent supporter
of the republican party.
Edward P. Hannan was reared as a farmer
and had excellent school advantages, pursuing
his studies until his seventeenth year, and then
leaving his books to enter the employ of the
mercantile firm of Resoner & Knight, of New
Corner, where he remained for one year. The
following year he spent in the employ of
George W. Stephenson, of Muncie, after which
he spent one year working at the carpenter
trade, and for about one year worked with
Levi Johnson, in Huntsville, in Randolph
count}'. He spent nine months on a farm and
then went into the drug business for one year,
but the ne.xt year was spent in the photograph
business and six months as clerk in Hunts-
ville.
For three summers he traveled for the
American Road company, of Kennett Square,
Pa., and during the winters, he engaged in
clerking and at the end of this time he went
into partnership with M. V. Harness in a gen-
eral store at Point Isabella, Grant county,
Ind. , for a period of about eight months, after
j which he engaged in the same trade with John
H. Salyer, which partnership continued about
I six months. He then went back to New Cor-
ner and went into the hotel and livery business
for a period of two years, after which he moved
to Albany, where he clerked for Hunt & John-
son for fourteen months and then entered into
DELAWARE COUNTY:
a partnership with R. G. Hunt in a general
store, which business he is conducting at this
time.
Mr. Hannan was happily married Decem-
ber 2 1, 1884, in Huntsville, Randolph county,
to Elizabeth F. Hunt, who was born in Hunts-
ville, September 9, 1862, a daughter of John
W. and Rachel (Andrews) Hunt, of Scotch
and English descent. Mr. and Mrs. Hannan
have three children, Dana L. , Loyd and
Ogarita. The family is connected with the
Methodist church, where they are highly es-
teemed. Mr. Hannan is a republican in his
political affiliations, and fraternally is con-
nected with the order o^^ I. O. O.F. , No. 361,
He is well known in this locality and he num-
bers his friends by the score.
vx
'ILLIAM HEBB.— Among the well
known residents of the town of Al-
bany, Ind. , the gentleman for whom
this sketch is prepared is deserving
of especial mention. Mr. Hebb was born in
Preston county, Va. , December 25, 1825, and
is a son of Robert and Nancy (Evans) Hebb,
natives of the same state, where they married
and began domestic life on a farm in the
county of Preston. They removed to Monon-
galia county in 1829, and there remained
until their deaths, in the years 1852 and 1882,
respectively. Robert and Nancy Hebb were
for man}' years members of the Methodist
church and were much respected in the locali-
ty where they lived for their many excellent
traits of character. Their family were as
follows: William, Sybrant, Jehu, Sarah,
Martha, Anna, and Virginia living; Joseph,
John, David and Josina, deceased. William
Hebb was reared on the home farm in his
native state, and at the age of twenty-two
years, began the battle of life for himself as
an agriculturist. When he had attained his
twenty-fourth 3'ear, he learned the «-rade of
carpentering, which he successfully followed at
different places until 1886. In 1854 he left
his Virginia home and emigrating westward,
located in Randolph county, Ind. , where he re-
sided until 1 883, at which time he became a resi-
dent of the flourishing town of Albany, where,
for a period of eight years, he was engaged
in fine carpenter work and contracting. At the
end of that time, he became associated with
his son in the harness business, with which line
he was identified until March i, 1893, when
he retired from active life and at the present
writing is not engaged in any undertaking.
While a resident of the county of Randolph,
he acquired considerable local prominence,
and served the people for eleven years as jus-
tice of the peace, an office to which he was
also elected after becoming a resident of Al-
bany, holding the same in this town two and
one-half terms. His fraternal relationship is
with the I. O. O. F. , and in religion is a
prominent member of the Christian church,
contributing most liberally of his means to the
local congregation with which he is identified.
He is held in the highest esteem as an earnest
and conscientious gentleman, and in the true
sense of the word is one of Albany's repre-
sentative citizens. Mr. Hebb was married
December 25, 185 i, in West Virginia to Miss
Sarah M. Jones, and a family of eight chil-
dren have been born to their union: Adolph,
JohnF. , Daniel R., Adelaid, deceased; Clay-
ton, Lilly, wife of Thomas Cary; Grant, de-
ceased, and Emma, wife of W. Hodge. The
mother of these children departed this life
March, 1875, and in September of the follow-
ing year, Mr. Hebb's second marriage was
consummated with Mrs. Maria Leavell, widow
of the late John F. Leavell: two children,
Rufus and Charles, have been born to this
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
K^^ F- HOUSEMAN, the efficient and
1/''^ affable gentleman who manages the
JK^J telegraphic service of the L. E. & W.
railroad at Albany, Ind., is the sub-
ject of this biographical notice. Mr. House-
man was born in Seneca county, Ohio,
January 4, 1861, and is a son of D. M. and
Elizabeth (Powell) Houseman, natives of
Pennsylvania and of \irginia, respectively.
They were the parents of four children, David,
who died in the army; George, a farmer,
Catherine, an accomplished lady who spent
seven years in Africa, teaching the natives,
and B. F. The father died in June, 1883;
the mother is now a resident of the village of
Albany. Mr. Houseman had been a soldier,
and his death was caused by trouble contract-
ed while in the army. Politicall}-, he was a
democrat.
At the age of sixteen years the subject of
this sketch began life for himself, engaging in
any general work to which he could turn his
hand, until he was twenty-one years of age,
when he began the study of telegraphy under
F. L. Twining, at Kansas, Ohio, remaining
under his instructions for one year. In 1882
he was appointed to take charge of the office
at Buckland, Ohio, and remained in that po-
sition for three years, and in i886 became the
manager of the office of the L. E. & W. , at
Albany, Ind. He has faithfully performed his
duties to the compau}' and has been most
thoughtfully treated in return.
Mr. Houseman was married December 23,
1888, to Miss Wilda M. Bartlett, daughter of
William T. Bartlett, of Albany, and has two
bright little daughters, Lena A. and Blanche.
Mr. Houseman is a democrat and is con-
sidered one of the prominent factors of his
party in Delaware county. Socially, he is a
member of the R. R. Telegraphic union and
in a financial way is a member of the Co-oper-
ative Gas company of Albany.
I
@ FORGE W. JONES.— The subject
of this sketch, the prosperous owner
and manager of the only general store
{ in the thriving little town of Desoto,
Ind., is the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth
(Yeager) Jones, and was born in Monongalia
I county, W. \'a. His parents were also born
in the same state, of Welsh and German an-
cestors. They married there, and remained in
the old place until 1844, when they removed to
Indiana and settled in Delaware county. They
found a primeval wilderness, bought sixty acres
of land and began their pioneer life in earnest.
' Work, hard work, was the order of the day,
and Mr. Jones did much of it. He took a
pride in his home and labored faithfull}-, suc-
ceeding as all do, who persevere, and at the
time of his death, July 15, 1862, he owned
two hundred and forty acres of well improved
land. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were the parents of
five children, as follows: Joseph C, George
W., Rebecca, wife of J. W. Fryer; Jacob Y.
and James B. , the last two of whom were
killed in the army during the late war. Mrs.
Jones died December 12, 1867. Both had been
valued and consistent members of the Christ-
ian church. He was a republican in his politi-
cal convictions, and for a great many years be-
I longed to the Masonic order. Mr. Jones'
second wife was Catherine Synder, who sur-
vives him, but there were no children born to
j this union.
Upon the home farm the subject received
his practical training, which made of him a
I self-reliant and successful agriculturist, and
! after he had reached his legal majority he
; farmed for his father for one year, then rented
land for the two following years. Then he
moved near Idavillc, in White county, where
he purchased property and engaged in clerking
i in a general store, following this occupation for
three years, later spending two years working
i at the carpenter trade. He then purchas e
540
DELAWARE COUNTY;
forty-five acres of land in Delaware township,
moved to the same and engaged in farming and
improving the land, upon which he re-
mained three years. During the six following
years he was engaged in the saw mill business
and then again went to farming, which he pur-
sued for ten years, at the end of which time he
located in the pleasant town of Desoto, which
he decided to make his home. He is now con-
ducting the only general merchandise store in
the place, and in August, 1890, was appointed
postmaster of the town. For the past four
years he has been a prohibitionist in his politi-
cal convictions, and has served the township as
trustee for two terms. He is a man of con-
siderable means, owns forty-seven acres of
land in the township, and has $5,000 in the
Desoto Land company.
Mr. Jones was married April 22, 1859, to
Miss Martha A. Shaffer, and six children were
born to this union, only one of whom is now
living, Addie, the wife of L. McHardie, of
Desoto, who is engaged with Mr. Jones in
general merchandising. The mother died
February 17, 1862. Mr. Jones' second mar-
riage was solemnized April 26, 1863, with Miss
Lydia V. Bell, daughter of John and Maria
(Callender) Bell, who was born in Madison
county, Ohio, June 13, 1861. The marriage
took place in Jay county, Ind. , and has been
blessed with three children, namely: Walter
E. and Alma F. , and an infant daughter. The
family are members of the Christian church,
in which they are much esteemed.
at
'ILL! AM F. IvROHN.— The follow-
ing biographical sketch is written
of one who has arisen by his own
efforts from humble environments
to be one of the wealthiest and most prom-
inent and respected citizens of Delaware coun-
ty, Ind. He was born in Delaware township
and county, a son of William F. and Mary M.
(Pendry) Krohn, the father having been born
in North Germany, May 10, 1805, a son of
William Krohn, of Germany also. William
F. Krohn came to America about the time he
was old enough to enter the militia, but re-
mained only a short time, when he returned
to his native country and there finished his
education. He was a man of fine education,
conversing in five different languages. He
married Mary Pendry, who was born in Greene
county, Ohio, and to this marriage the follow-
ing family of children were born: Mary L. ,
the wife of Isaac Mann; Elizabeth, wife of
William Lister, of Randolph county; John S.,
Henrietta, now residing with her brother
William; William B. , our subject, and Bar-
bara, wife of R. W. Maxwell.
The father of this family passed out of life
May 9, 1868, and the mother in 1847. She
was a Quaker in her religious belief, and he
was a member of the German Reformed
church. He was a democrat in his political
convictions until the late war, when he became
a Douglas man, but later in life a republican.
His profession was that of veterinary surgeon,
and in pursuit of it he traveled through four
kingdoms. His memory of people and places,
as well as events, was wonderful, and made him'
a most entertaining companion.
William F. Krohn was reared in the vil-
lage of Albany and early displayed business
talent, from the age of eight years taking care
of himself. He engaged in driving cattle and
did work often b}' the day, and in 1867 he and
his brother John entered into a real estate
transaction which proved the nucleus of his
fortune. Together, they purchased five lots
in the town of Albany, and when the price
advanced and land became more valuable,
they sold it, purchasing five acres of J. S.
Fudge, himself a good business man, paying
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
641
$ioo per acre, and sold this later at an advance
of twenty per cent, buying then, close by,
a tract of eighty acres which they from time
added to until now they own 726 acres, all of
which is valuable land. In connection with
their other interests they have been successful
in stock raising, and now are considered very-
responsible and wealthy members of the com-
munity. Until the marriage of the others,
Miss Henrietta kept house and lived with them,
but now she is the presiding good genius in the
home of the subject. She is one of the val-
ued and efficient workers in the Methodist
church. In his politics, Mr. Krohn votes with
the republican party.
'^j'OHN S. KROHN.— Prominent among
M the enterprising farmers and stock
A 1 raisers of Delaware county is John S.
Krohn, who for many years has been
one of the leading citizens of the township of
Delaware. Mr. Krohn's parents were William
and Mary (Pendri) Krohn, the father a Ger-
man and the mother a native of this country.
The father came to the United States in 1833,
landing in New York, from which city he pro-
ceeded to Greene county, Ohio, where he
followed his profession of veterinary surgeon
for a period of four years. At the end of that
time he came to Delaware county, Ind. , and
located at the town of Albany, where his death
occurred May 9, 1864; his wife preceded him
to the grave, dying on the 29th day of March,
1848. The following are the names of the six
children born to William and Mary Krohn,
namely: Louisa M., wife of Isaac Mann;
Elizabeth, wife of William M. Lister, of Ran-
dolph county; John S. , whose name introduces
this mention; Henrietta; William B., noticed
elsewhere; and Barbara, wife of Robert Max-
well.
John S. Krohn, born in Delaware county,
December 3, 1S41, was reared in the town of
Albany, and his education embraced the studies
included in the common school curriculum.
At the early age of twelve years he began
working for himself at different occupations,
and later, was employed in driving live stock
to Cincinnati and other prominent shipping
points. At the age of nineteen, with a spirit
that animated so many patriotic young men
during the dark period when the war cloud
spread its sombre folds over the country, he
went forth to do battle in behalf of the Nation-
al Union. He enlisted September 20, 1861,
in company D, Second Indiana volunteer cav-
alry, for a three years' service and remained
at the front one month in excess of his period
of enlistment. He was taken prisoner at
Huntsville, Alabama, December, 1863, by the
confederate general John Morgan, but was
soon exchanged and returned to his command.
He participated gallantly in many hard fought
battles, including the numerous engagements
of the Atlanta campaign, and made a record
as a soldier of which he feels deservedly
proud. Mr. Krohn was honorably discharged
at Indianapolis October 7, 1864. On retiring
from the army, he returned home and engaged
in teaming and general farming, and purchased
his first property in 1866. This was but an
insignificent piece of land, but by well directed
effort and wise forethought, he added thereto,
from time to time, until he is now the fortun-
ate possessor of over 700 acres, which repre-
sent the results of his own labor and successful
management. His farm is under a high state
of cultivation, and in addition to agriculture,
he deals in live stock, — being one of the most
successful stock men in Delaware county.
Mr. Krohn was married February 22, 1872,
in the township where he resides, to Miss
Sarah S. Wingate, daughter of J. W. and Be-
linda (Stewart) Wingate. Mrs. Krohn was
542
DELAWARE COUNTY
born April 27, 1848, and is the mother of four
children: Jamie, William, Othia, Nettie and
John H. C. Politically, Mr. Krohn is a repub-
lican and fraternally is a member of Post No.
418, G. A. R., Dept. of Ind He is a man of
prominence in the community where he resides,
has an excellent reputation as a farmer,
stock raiser and business man, and stands high
in the estimation of his fellow citizens of Del-
aware township and throughout the county.
>^ AMES M. LEA\'ELL, the subject of this
M sketch, is a prosperous farmer of Desoto,
A 1 Delaware township, Delaware county,
Ind., and a highly respected citizen.
He was born in Henry county, Ind. ..February
24, 1848, and is the son of James M. and Ruth
(Corwin) Leavell, The father was a native of
Kentucky, received a fair education, and when
but a child came to Henry county, where he
lived until 1844, at which time he went to
Randolph county, Ind. , where he resided until
his death, December, 1863. His wife died
prior to that date in the county of Randolph.
They were the parents of ten children, of
who five are living, namely: William H.,
Richard J., James M., Nancy A. and Francis
M. James M. Leavell was a farmer, and he
and his wife were members of the Christian
church. He was a republican in politics, a
ver}' highly respected citizen, and a man of
enterprise and public spirit, ready to assist in
any movement calculated to advance the town-
ship or county.
James M. Leavell lived at home, and very
early in life began to do hard work. At the
age of nineteen he went into the army, enlist-
ing in company K; Nineteenth Indiana infan-
try. Entering in 1863, he was discharged in
June 1865, and had suffered from a sunstroke, i
He participated in nine battles, namely: Wilder-
ness, Spottsylvania C. H., North Anna, Cul-
peper C. H., Hanover C. H., Cold Harbor,
Petersburg, and was sunstruck while on the
picket in front of Petersburg, on the day of
the explosion of the mine, 1864, which incapi-
tated him from further service with his regi-
ment.
After his return home from the army he at-
tended school for eighteen months.at Clare and
Portland, after which he farmed for a while
and taught school for two winters. He follow-
ed farming until 1881, when he traveled in the
western states sight seeing and prospecting.
In 1883 he returned home and followed the
business of cutting out and constructing hedge
fences for two years, after which he retired
from work, on account of poor health until
1S90, when he accepted a position on the L.
E. & W. R. R. as agent at the village of
Desoto. He is engaged in buying grain of all
kinds, flour, etc., and has five thousand dollars
worth of stock in the Desoto Land company,
being secretary of the same. Mr. Leavell was
married June 2, 1870, in this township to
Laura Worley, daughter of Isaac Worley, by
whom he has had four children, namely:
Elmer, Lethia, Lewis and Annie.
The mother died in 1880 in the faith in
which she had lived, a devoted Methodist. Mr.
Leavell was married again at Albany, in March,
1888, to Mattie Gettes, who was born near
Peru, Ind, August 29, 1856, to which union
two children have been born, namely: Her-
schel and Ruth.
>^OSEPH LEFAVOUR— The prosperous
M business man for whom the following
^ 1 is prepared, was born in Jay count3^
' Ind., 1 85 1, and is a son of James L.
and Isabella (Engle) Lefavour, the father be-
ing the first white child born in the city of
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
548
Indianapolis, and the mother a native of Ohio.
James L. and Isabella Lefavour were married
in Camden, Jay county, Ind. , in 1848. Mr.
Lefavour followed the trade of harness maker
all of his life, dying in December, 1859, his
wife having passed away in October previous.
They were members of the Methodist church,
good people, whose only regret in leaving life
was that their four small children would be
left alone. These were Emmet, now of Jay
county; Joseph, Randolph, a farmer of Adams
county, and Mary E., wife of John Dean.
Joseph Lefavour was but seven years of
age when he was bereft of his parents and left
without a home. The succeeding four years
he spent as an inmate of the home of his
cousin, Daniel Engle, when he received an
offer of work in a tan yard at Camden, where
he found employment for two years. From
there he went to Muncie and spent one year
working in a potter's shop, and was then given
the advantage of one year of schooling. From
school he went to Bethel, Harrison township,
where he remained one year and later at-
tended school for three years in the town of
Muncie. He improved every opportunity,
made substantial progress in his studies and
then taught school for seven successive terms,
beginning the study of medicine in the mean-
time under Dr. Leach, with whom he continued
for eight months. Coming to Albany he pur-
sued his medical studies with A. P. Murray,
M. D. , after which he took a course of lectures
at Keokuk, Iowa, and then returned to Albany,
where he practiced his profession for a period
of three years.
Abandoningthe medical profession Mr. Lefa-
vour purchased aline of drugs and for eight years
was engaged in the drug business, but finally
sold and entered into the law and real estate
business, also becoming a notary public.
The marriage of Mr. Lefavour occurred
November, 1881, with Miss Lillie Allegre, a
native of .\lbany, born in 1861. Mr. and Mrs.
Lefavour have four children, as follows:
Gladdys, Carrie G , Mable C- and \'ivian. In
political matters Mr. Lefavour is a republican
and always supports the candidates of his party
upon any and all occasions. Socially inclined,
he has connected himself with the order of
Red Men.
eMEKY L. McHARDIE. — Among the
prosperous young business men of
Delaware county, Ind., is the subject
of this sketch. He is engaged in the
mercantile trade and possesses the necessary
qualifications for a successful business career.
Mr. McHardie was born in Delaware county,
November 5, 1871, a son (if David and Lucretia
(Sipe) McHardie, both natives of Scotland.
When only eight years of age Mr. McHar-
die was deprived of the care of parents and he
made his home with his half brother, Frank
Confer, until he was eighteen years of age.
He then engaged in farming, at which occupa-
tion he continued for three years, and then, in
partnership with George W. Jones, began a
general merchandise business, which he has
since successfully conducted. This store is
located in the town of Desoto, and is one of
the prosperous mercantile establishments of
Delaware county.
Mr. McHardie was married February 17,
1892, to Miss Addie M. B. Jones, daughter of
his partner, George W. Jones. Mr. McHar-
die is a temperance man, hence testifies to
the truth of his convictions by voting with the
prohibitionist party. He and wife are mem-
bers of tlie Christian church, and are most
highly esteemed in this community. Their
lives are such as to convince their neighbors
that they are sincere in their profession, and
their upright conduct is such as to win the
esteem of all.
DELAWARE COUNTY;
HDAM MADILL, the subject of this
sketch, one of the most enterprising
farmers of Delaware county, was born
in Montgomery county, Ohio, Sep-
tember 1 8, 1839. He is the son of Adam and
Charlotte Madill, natives of Germany, and in
which country they married, and in 1831 came
to America, locating in New York. From
thence they went to Montgomery county, Ohio,
where the father engaged in the grocery trade
for a time, and then became a farmer. He
died September 11, 1862. She died in 1889,
her death being the result of an accident.
They were parents of seven children : Charlotte,
deceased; Adam, Catherine deceased; Mary
H., wife of B. Daring; Ella, wife of Christian
Brum; Henry and John. Adam and Charlotte
Madill were members of the Lutheran church,
in which faith they died. The father was a
democrat of the Jackson school, a successful
business man, and was possessed of a .sterling
character.
The subject of this sketch was reared on
the home farm, and has followed agriculture
all his life, with the exception of three years,
when he did general labor work, and two
winters when he worked at the cooper trade.
His education was limited, because the schools
of his boyhood were far apart, and he had
short terms. At the age of nineteen he en-
gaged by the month at farm labor and was
thus employed for several years. Mr. Madill
was married January 9, 1862, after which he
enlisted, and upon his return from the army,
bought fifty-two acres of land partly improved,
and this comprises a portion of his present
farm, which now consists of 228 acres of fine
land. As a fact, Mr. Madill has dne of the
finest farm residences in the county.
The war record of Mr. Madill, briefly noted,
is as follows: He enlisted in company D,
Eighty-fourth Indiana infantry, August 1 1 ,
1862, for three years or during the war, and
served until July 3, 1865, participating in the
meanwhile in many skirmishes, but was in no
particular battle. When he had been out
about three months he was one of the three of
his company (there being three detailed from
each company in the regiment) detailed as a
pioneer corps, and their duty consisted in
clearing roads, repairing bridges, etc., until
near the close of the war; then they were em-
ployed in cutting lumber for the building of
hospitals, continuing in this until his discharge.
The wife of Mr. Madill was Martha J.
Pittinger, born in Delaware county, October
27, 1844; daughter of John Pittinger, whose
sketch appears elsewhere in these pages. By
this marriage there are five children, namely:
Sarah, wife of William Fadely, of this town-
ship; Annie, wife of Frank St. John; Emery,
living at home; Ira, living at home, and Car-
rie, at school.
Mr. and Mrs. Madill are members of the
Methodist church, in which body they are
greatly esteemed; he being a trustee of the
local church. Mr. Madill is president of the
Desoto Land company, with a capital of $250,
000, and also president of the Desoto Gas
company. He has twenty acres planted in
berries, and also carries on market gardening
and stock raising. In politics he is a republi-
can.
*w ^ ENRY MONROE MARQUELL, a
»'^V prosperous farmer, was born in Dela-
l ^P ware township, Delaware county,
Ind., December 6, 1857, a son of
Samuel and Catherine (Over) Marquell. He
was reared on the home farm and enjoyed the
advantages offered by the common schools,
and on attaining his legal majority, he engaged
in farming for himself, taking charge of the
home place, where he continued in agricultural
pursuits until he was twenty-six years of age.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
546
In 1883 he purchased a choice tract of land
lying close to the home farni and immediately
began the improvement of it. He erected a
commodious and comfortable residence and
excellent out-buildings, and by 1885 he was
prepared to take up his residence there.
In June, 1885, he was united in marriage
with Mrs. Alice Howell, widow of Oscar How-
ell, who died January 3, 1881. She is a
daughter of William and Mary (Smith) Foster,
natives of England, who came to America in
1 841-2, and were married in Clarke count}',
Ohio. Mrs. Marquell had one child by her
former marriage, namely, Efiie E. Howell, and
she has three bright children by her last union:
Willis L. , William S. and John E. Mr. and
Mrs. Marquell are members of the Christian
church, in which they are much esteemed. Po-
litically, Mr. Marquell is a democrat and is re-
garded as a good business man and an excel-
lent citizen.
The father came to this country at a very
early date, having been a resident of this vi-
cinity for half a century. He has always been a
farmer and is one of the oldest and most re-
spected citizens of Delaware connty.
The mother died February 28, 1890, and
was buried in the beautiful Strong cemetery.
eLIAS MARKS was born in the state
of Virginia, August 17, 181 8, the
son of James and Sarah (Hughes)
Marks, who were natives of the old
Dominion state. They followed agricultural
pursuits, lived quiet and contented lives and
reared a family of nine children, all of whom
have passed to the other land except the sub-
ject for whom this biography is prepared,
Elias Marks grew up on a farm and learned
there the dignity of labor, gaining the true
feeling that all honest work is honorable. His
I tasks were well learned and he became an ex-
1 cellent and intelligent tiller of the soil, under-
j standing in a practical way the rotation of
crops and the best times of sowing and reap-
ing, as well as the best seeds to plant and the
proper amount of work to give to each. He
remained with his parents until he had reached
his majority and then engaged in farm labor
in Allen county, Ohio, now the county of Au-
glaize. He had no educational advantages at
all worth mentioning, but is an intelligent,
plain, practical man who fully knows his own
mind and is under obligations to no one.
Mr. Marks accepted farming as his life's
i vocation and purchased his first tract of land
in Delaware township in 185 1. He at once
located on the property, remaining there until
1878, when he moved to Blackford county,
1 near Millgrove, where he remained for three
years. In 1883 he sold oirt and removed to
I Albany, where he purchased sixty-three and
one-half acres, of which he has sold twenty,
retaining forty-three acres of land which con-
stitutes his present comfortable home. The
marriage of Mr. Marks occurred in Clarke
j county, February 18, 1846, to Elizabeth J.
Winget, born in Clarke county, Ohio, Novem-
ber 18, 1822, daughter of John and Mary
(Boyce) Winget, natives of Ohio, of Holland
1 descent. One child was born of this union,
Sarah M., wife of James H. Black.
On the 2 1st of June, 1893, Mr. Marks was
I called to mourn the death of his devoted wife,
who had been his companion and helpmeet for
nearly a half century. She was a lady of
many admirable traits and died lamented by
all who knew her. Since the above date Mr.
Marks has 'resided in the town of Albany.
Mr. Marks is a democrat in politics and
has served his party as supervisor of the
township. He is ever willing to aid in any
work calculated to advance the interests of his
i party and the public.
546
DELAWARE COUNTY;
^V^AVID MICHAEL.— One of most
I I prominent and best known men in
/^^^ Delaware to\\nship is the subject of
this sketch, who was born in Clarke
county, Ohio, August i2, 1874, and is the son
of Adam and Catherine (Over) Michael, both
parents natives of Ohio. David Michael was
a child of four years of age when his parents
removed to this county, and after the death of
his father he remained at home, and upon at-
taining his majority rented the home farm for
a period of four years. He then purchased
his first piece of land in 1871, consisting of
eighty acres, to which he has added from time
to time, until he now owns 175 acres of valu-
able land.
Mr. Michael was married October 31,
1878, to Catherine Zehnir, who was born in
Wayne county, Ind. , March 6, 1845, being
the youngest sister of Mrs. George A. Stafford.
By this union eight children have been born,
three of whom are living, namely: Samuel
Wilbur, Hester Ann and Joseph Walter.
Mrs. Michael is a member of the Lutheran
church, and a lady who has the esteem and
friendship of all who know her. She has
proven herself to be a good wife, a devoted
mother, and a kind friend. Mr. Michael
takes an active interest in politics, casting his
vote for the candidate of the democratic party.
While he has no aspiration for office, he never-
theless feels it his duty as a citizen to work for
the party of his choice, and his influence is
strong in his community. Mr. Michael is a
good farmer, and understands thoroughly how
to cultivate the land to the best advantage.
His farm consists of fine, well watered land,
and his industry keeps it in splendid condition,
and Mr. Michael is a quiet unostentatious man,
kind and considerate, and is much respected
by his neighbors and friends, with whom he
lives with peace and concord.
While holding to his own opinions, he re-
spects the views of others, and is always will-
ing to accord to them what is their due. He
is a useful man in his township, promptly as-
sisting in carrying forward measures for its
benefit, and is progressive in his ideas. All
who know this man will unite in saying that
he is worthy of confidence, and entitled to the
respect and esteem of everybody. He owns
shares in a gas well, called the Cleveland gas
well.
at
E MORROW, one of the promis-
ing and prosperous young business
men of the town of Albany, Ind.,
was born in Orland, LaGrange
county, Ind., April 20, 1862, a son of J. S.
and Emma (Calkins) Morrow. He was reared
a miller and assisted his father in conducting a
mill until he was eighteen years of age, after
which he worked in Saint Louis, Gratiot county,
Mich., where he continued for two and one-
half years. At the end of that time he con-
cluded to engage in another line, and chose
the trade of jeweler, at which he served four
years with L. W. Holmes, of Grand Ledge,
Mich. , becoming very proficient in the mean-
time and gaining a thorough knowledge of the
business. Not many young men have the ad-
vantage of so extended an experience in me-
chanics as Mr. Morrow, and right well has he
taken advantage of his opportunities.
Mr. Morrow next went to Madison county,
Neb. , where he opened up a business and con-
tinued it for four years, after which time he
came to Albany, Ind., where he has since re-
mained. Mr. Morrow was married in Emery
City, Mich., November 23, 1883, to Miss Bina
E. Holmes, a daughter of his teacher, L. W.
Holmes, by which union he has become the
father of three bright children: Cleo, Elmer
and Arthur. In political affairs, Mr. Morrow
takes a lively interest; is a prominent member
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
547
of the republican party. He belongs to the
K. of P. , and is recognized as one of the most
enterprising and public spirited of Albany's
young business men. His work is well done
and he does a good business in his line,
carrying a full stock of watches, jewelry,
clocks and all other articles usually foiind in
first class establishments of the kind.
HLBERT P. MURRAY, M. D.— Con-
spicuous among the successful medical
men of Delaware county is Dr.
Albert P. Murray, of Albany, who
was born October 1 8, 1 846, near the town of
Blountsville, Henry county, Ind. His father,
Cornelius B. Murray, was born in Washington
county. Pa., December 22, 18 10, the son of
William and Mary (Boles) Murray, who were
born in Westmorland county, that state.
In 1826 William Murray, Sr. and family
moved to Ohio, thence in 1833 to Wayne
county, Ind., and later to the county of
Henry, where his death occurred in 1856.
The doctor's father was a farmer, and in his
younger days, taught school in his native
state, and from the age of twenty-one until
the present time has been an honored resident
of Indiana. He resided in Henry county until
1864, at which time he removed to the county
of Wayne and is now passing his declining
years in retirement at his home in Hagers-
town. His wife died on the 6th day of May,
1872. She bore her husband the following
children: John C, William H., R. V., Mar-
tha E., Albert P., Oran, Ovilla, C. C. and
Julia. Mrs. Murray was a consistent mem-
ber of the Metodist church and a woman
highly regarded by all with whom she came in
contact. Mr. Murray, Sr. , is a member of the
I. O. O. F. and Masonic fraternity, and in
religion is liberal, not subscribing to any
church or creed. He has always taken an
active interest in the cause of temperance and
is at this time an active worker in the order of
Good Templars.
Dr. Murray was reared on the farm until
his sixteenth year and attended, in the mean-
time, the district school, in which he made
commendable progress in the branches usually
taught therein. On the 8th day of February,
1864, he enlisted as a recruit in company K,
Nineteenth Indiana volunteer infantry, with
which he served until the surrender of Lee's
army at Appomattox, April 9, 1865, and was
honorably discharged from the service July 18,
the same year, at Indianapolis, Ind. He was
in the army eighteen months and fifteen days,
and the second day after going to the front
was with his command in the bloody battle of
the Wilderness, and he participated in all the
leading battles of the Virginia campaign until
the final surrender as above noted, going
through all the battles without receiving in-
jury. After receiving his discharge, he re-
turned to his home, and entering school pur-
sued his studies assiduously in the Hagerstown
academy and Earlham college until 1867, at
which time he began. the study of medicine in
the office of Dr. A. McElwee at Hagerstown,
where he remained for the greater part of
three years. Before beginning practice he at-
tended one course of lectures at the Medical
college of Ohio at Cincinnati. In August,
1869, he removed to the village of Sharon,
Delaware county, and began the practice of
his profession, and two years later moved to
Albany, where he has since resided. With a
laudable desire to increase his knowledge of
the profession, the doctor entered the college
of Physicians and Surgeons of Keokuk, Iowa,
from which he graduated June 19, 1878.
Dr. Murray was married January 25, 1872,
to Louisa Orr, who was born in Liberty town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind., on the 30th day
548
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of July, 1850, the daughter of Col. Samuel and
Jane (Moore) Orr. To this marriage five chil-
dren have been born: Edgar C, Gertrude
D., Leo, Weldon Earl and Nellie. Dr. Mur-
ray has an extensive and lucrative practice and
his skill has made him a valued friend to" those
needing medical assistance. He is recognized
as one of the leading physicians of Delaware
county, and, in addition to his profession, has
labored for the upbuilding and development of
the community, being public spirited in all that
term implies. He is a member of the Citi-
zens' Gas company, of Alban}', and has taken
an active and prominent part in the upbuilding
of the town and in the material advancement
of the entire community. His life has been
worthily spent and his upright character has
won him high esteem. He belongs to the G.
A. R. and K. of P., and is an earnest supporter
of the republican party, but has never sought
office at the hands of his fellow citizens.
HLBERT B. PARKER.— The subject
of this sketch is a member of the firm
of Hunt & Johnson, dealers in hard-
ware, gas fixtures, stoves and tinware
in the town of Albany, Ind. , one of the lead-
ing and most prosperous business firms of the
place. Mr. Parker was born in Clinton county,
111., July 30, 1863, a son of Wilham and
Eveline (Keever) Parker, the father a native
of North Carolina, born in 1834, and the
mother born in Ohio in 1838. They were
married in Clinton county. 111., in 1857, and
remained there for six years when they re-
moved to Indiana, locating near Richmond,
where Mr. Parker was engaged for seven years
in milling. Subsequently he removed to the
farm upon which he still resides, and is now
living a retired life. The names of the eight
children of William and Eveline Parker are as I
follows: Hattie, Albert P., Ella, John,
Earnest, George, Louise and Oliver. The
mother died October 18, 1892. She was one
of the best of mothers, and had lived a quiet and
consistent life in accordance with her religious
convictions, being a consistent member of the
Society of Friends. Until he was sixteen
years of age, Albert B. Parker spent his boy-
hood days upon the farm. He received the
education afforded by the common schools and
then entered mto business as a clerk in a hard-
ware store at Lynn, Randolph county, where
he remained for the following two years, sub-
sequently entering the employ of the firm of
Kent & Jackson, of Winchester, Ind., where
he remained for nine years, thus becoming
thoroughly acquainted with the business in all
of its branches. Upon the dissolution of this
firm he remained for one year with the suc-
cessor and then engaged in business for him-
self in Winchester for two years. Selling his
interest there he entered into partnership with
C. F. Hunt, at Albany, Ind., in which busi-
ness connection he is still engaged under the
firm name of Hunt & Johnson.
Mr. Parker was married July 30, 1885, to
Miss Annie M. Hunt, in Huntsville, Ind., a
daughter of William H. and Lovina (Hunt)
Hunt. Mrs. Parker was born in Randolph
county, September 14, 1862, and is a lady
of taste and refinement and a member of the
Methodist church. Mr. Parker, like his father,
is a stanch republican. He is socially con-
nected with lodge No. 361, I. O. O. F. , and
is a man much respected in business circles.
His business is a growing one, and comprises
stoves, tinware, gas fixtures, hardware, agri-
cultural implements and machinery and is very
complete in its line. As Mr. Parker is a com-
petent business man and understands the
wants of the public, his prosperity in this
line is well assured, not only for the present,
but for the future.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
549
aHARLES M. PAXTON.— Among the
prominent business men of the pros-
perous town of Albany, Ind. , is the
well known lumber dealer, Charles
M. Paxton. He was born in Johnstown, Pa. ,
February 22, 1852, a son of William F., and
Isabelle (Sharp) Paxton, natives of Pennsyl-
vania, where they married and reared their
family. In 1855 these parents removed to
Union City, Ind., where they remained for
some time, going thence to Burlington, Iowa,
where they resided three and one-half years.
In i860 they removed again, this time to their
present home in Rensselaer, Ind. , where Mr.
Paxton is engaged in the mercantile trade.
William F. and Isabelle Paxton reared a fam-
ily of eight children, as follows: Virginia, wife
of H. R. W. Smith, editor of Chicago Tribune
Exchange; Charles M.,; John W. and Joseph
C-, twins; Ralph S., William G. . and Albert
C. and Almira, twins.
Charles M. Paxton was reared en the farm
and remained with his parents until he had at-
tained his majority, at which time he engaged
in farming and so continued until 1888, when
he engaged in the butchering business in Rens-
selaer, Ind. Seven months later he went back
to farming and followed agricultural pursuits
until July 15, 1892, when he came to Albany.
Here he has been engaged extensively in hand-
ling lumber, in addition to which he also deals
in all kinds of sash, blinds, doors, shingles, etc.
In his political faith Mr. Paxton is a stanch
democrat, and his services to the party are
highly valued. Socially, he is a K. of P. of
lodge No. 82, at Rensselaer. He was married
August 8, 1875, to Miss Mary G. Richardson,
who was born in Laporte county in October
of 1856, a daughter of D. L. and Elizabeth
(Windle) Richardson. Two children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Paxton: Harry W. and
Edith G. The family are members of the
Free Methodist church of Albany.
QARTIN VAN BUREN PHILLIPS.
Among the careful, discreet and en-
ergetic business men of the town of
Albany, Ind., is the subject of this
biography. He is a son of Indiana, born near
Windsor, in this county, March 16, 1834, a
son of William and Harriet (Brooks) Phillips,
of Pennsylvania, who were married in Greene
county, Ohio, in 1825 Later they removed
to this state and located in Delaware county,
on the old state road, where they lived until
1842, when, on account of the death of Mrs.
Phillips, the family removed to Windsor, where
they resided for two years. Mr. Phillips sub-
sequently married in Greenville, Ohio, Miss
Martha Knight, and afterward moved to the
village of Parker, in Randolph county, where
he lived until his death, which occurred April
25, 1865. He was a republican, a devout
member of the Methodist church, and left four
children; Mary A., John A., Martin V. B., and
William.
At the date of his mother's death, 1842,
the subject of this sketch was but eight years
of age and he was taken in charge by his
grandfather, Brooks, with whom he lived until
his thirteenth year. During the succeeding
three years he worked as a farm laborer, re-
ceiving for his services for that period the sum
of fifty dollars, and he continued working
at different occupations until the breaking out
of the late war.
He enlisted, on July 22 in company K, Nine-
teenth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry,
at Salem, Ind., for three years, and partici-
pated in the battles of the army of the Poto-
mac, the historic names of the following
engagements being those in which his young
life was risked: Gainesville, Chain Bridge,
South Mountain, Antietam, Falmouth, first
and second battles of Fredericksburg, Chan-
cellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Rappahan-
nock and Barley's Cross Roads. After the
550
DELAWARE COUNTY:
battle of Gainesville, Mr. Phillips was trans-
ferred to battery B, Fourth regular artillery
with which he participated in the succeeding
engagements noted. At the expiration of his
period of enlistment, Mr. Phillips re-entered
the service at Culpeper, Va. , for the rest of
the war and was with his command through-
out the eastern campaigns, taking part in the
battles of Spottsylvania C. H., North Ann,
South Ann, Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Horse
Shoe Bend and Old Church. The Nineteenth
Indiana, to which he belonged, was a part of
the famous "Iron Brigade" and during the
campaign last noted was engaged in active
operations and fighting for twenty-one con-
secutive days. At the battle of Old Church,
August, 1864, he was injured in the face and
thigh, necessitating his removal to the field
hospital, from which place he was sent to head-
quarters and given a furlough.
He came to Selma and remained for thirty-
five days and again reported for duty at Indian-
apolis, but his furlough was extended for thirty
days. At the expiration of that time he re-
ported to Capt. Burris at the soldiers' home,
not being yet able to perform his duties as a
soldier, and was given more time, and remained
until the surrender of Gen. Lee and the order
was given for the final discharge of all sick and
wounded soldiers. His discharge was dated
June 22, I §64, but for the following year he
was unable to pursue any kind of business.
Recovering slowly, he cautiously engaged in
farming and perhaps the touch of the soil as-
sisted in his recovery, for he continued it for
six years, in Randolph county. This seemed
too hard labor and he looked about for some
easier way of earning a livelihood, accordingly,
he interested himself in the management of
portable engines and handled threshing ma-
chines for five years; subsequently, learned the
barber trade. He subsequently opened a shop
in Albany and successfully conducted it for
eight years and then sold out to engage in his
present lucrative business of grocery and
restaurant.
Mr. Phillips has worked hard and has
closely followed through life the path of duty.
He votes with the republican party and social-
ly affiliates with the order of Red Men. In
April, 1 89 1, he was elected to be justice of the
peace and since that time has faithfully and
efficiently filled the office. Mr. Phillips was
married, January 25, 1863, to Miss Susannah
Badders, a native of this county, daughter of
Moses Badders, who was a pioneer of the
township of Liberty, and to this union one
child was born, Ida May, deceased; the
mother died in 1866. In September, 1867,
Mr. Phillips married Miss Clare Boyce, a
native of Clinton county, Ohio, daughter of
Leonard Boyce.
>-t'OHN S. pierce.— Among the busi-
M ness houses of the town of Albany,
A 1 Ind. , that owned and managed by the
subject of this sketch calls for special
mention, being one of the most complete of its
kind in this part of the county.
John S. Pierce was born in Knox county,
Ohio, February 23, 1865, son of Orange and
Caroline (Selby) Pierce, both parents natives
of Ohio. Orange and Caroline Pierce reared
a family of five children, as follows: Asa, a
resident of Michigan; J. O., a professor in the
high school at Portland, Ind. ; Emmeline, wife
of John Hockings, of Portland; John S. and
Belle, wife of J. W. Allen, of Portland. The
parents removed to Ridgeville, Ind., in 1866,
and there the mother died in 1868. They
were members of the Baptist church, and Mr.
Pierce at this time is one of the wealthy and
influential men of Jay county, Ind. He is a
republican in his politics, and during the late
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
551
war testified to his loyalty by serving three
years as a member of company A, Thirty-
ninth Ohio volunteer infantry.
John S. Pierce grew to manhood in a pleas-
ant home, was reared on the farm and received
good educational advantages, graduating from
Ridgeville college, in which he took the scien-
tific course. On the completion of his literary
education, Mr. Pierce engaged in the study of
medicine under the instruction of Dr. Far-
quhar, of Ridgeville, in whose office he con-
tinued two }ears, and then he took a course of
lectures in the Miami Medical college, of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, afterward graduating from the
National Institute of Pharmacy, at Chicago.
His first location was at Red Key, Jay county,
Ind., where he went into the drug business and
where he continued for four years, removing to
Albany in 1891, and where he has since car-
ried on a successful trade. He has a very
complete stock of drugs, jewelry, etc. , and is
one of the leading business men and represent-
ative citizens of the town and county, Mr.
Pierce was married November 19, 1889, in
Ridgeville, Ind., to Miss Lillie M. N. Jones,
who was born in Randolph county, Ind. , Sep-
tember 10, 1873, a daughter of Daniel and
Adeline (Wood) Jones. One child was born of
this marriage, Edgar O., deceased, and Mrs.
Pierce also departed this life in May, 1892.
She was a good woman and an active member
of the United Brethren church.
Mr. Pierce affiliates with the republican
party, and takes a deep and intelligent interest
in public affairs. He is connected with the
I. O. O. F., No. 231, of Ridgeville, and be-
longs to Valentine lodge. No. 278, K. of P., of
Albany. Since his residence in Albany he has
made many friends by his pleasant and unas-
suming manner, and all who know him pro-
nounce him a most courteous and genial gen-
tleman, as well as a dealer who understands
his business.
^>^AMUEL J. SHROYER.— The sub-
•^^^kT ject of this sketch, a very worthy and
hs,^y successful farmer of Delaware county,
was born in Henry county, Ind., De-
cember 12, 1837. He is the son of Anthony
and Matilda (Jones) Shroyer; the father born
in Taylor, W. Va. , in 181 5, and the mother
in the same county and state, one year later.
These parents were married in Virginia and
moved to Henry county in 1837, Mr. Shroyer
buying land in Delaware township and county,
the following year. Here he moved in the
spring of 1839, thus becoming one of the
earliest pioneers of the county. His land con-
sisted of 220 acres, being the original purchase
with additions made from time to time by sub-
sequent . purchase. He improved and lived
upon the farm until his death, November 26,
1 88 1. The wife survives and lives upon the old
homestead with heryoungest daughter.
Anthony and Matilda Shroyer were the
parents of eleven children, six of whom are
living, namely: Lewis N., living in Blackford
county, Ind. ; Martha, wife of Thomas Bart-
lett, a farmer of this county; Elmira, wife of
Samuel Williams, deceased; Sarah, wife of
Benjamin Whitehair, of this county; Alice,
wife of Fletcher O. Pittenger, and Samuel
J. Mr. and Mrs. Shroyer were members
of the Methodist church, and active workers
in that body. The father always took a very
lively interest in churches and schools, and
in fact was interested in everything that
promised good to the people. In politics
he was a republican, and earnestly supported
the candidates of that party. He accumulated
a very handsome property in land and personal
effects, and was one of the representative cit-
izens of the township in which he resided for
so many years.
Samuel J. Shroyer was born two months
after his parents became settlers of this county,
and was reared on the home farm, receiving a
552
DELAWARE COUNTY:
common school education. After reaching his
majority he began farming on his own account,
buying eighty acres of land in Liberty town-
ship, where he remained more than twenty-
five years; then he sold this property and
bought fifty acres of fine land where he now
lives, which is well and substantially improved.
He was married April i6, 1857, to Elizabeth
Boyles, who was born May i, 1834, in West
Virginia, of which state her parents, Joshua
and Sarah (Jones) Boyles, were also natives.
Mr. and Mrs. Shroyer are the parents of
ten children, eight of whom are living, name-
ly: William Clark, a teacher in this township;
Sarah E., wife of John Jones, a farmer of
Liberty township; Matilda, wife of William
Barnes, a carpenter; Martha, wife of Gran-
ville Simmons, a farmer of this county; Leora,
wife of Arthur Wingate, a farmer; Clara, wife
of David Boots, of Delaware township; Cora,
wife of Ivan Justice, a farmer of this township,
and Lola, who still lives under the parental
roof. The subject and wife are members of
the Methodist church, and are devoted be-
lievers in its teachings. In politics Mr.
Shroyer is a republican, and has filled the
office of justice of the peace in Liberty town-
ship for twelve years. Since moving to Dela-
ware he has been township trustee, and has
been filling that office since 1889 to the satis-
faction of the entire communitj'. He is a
member of Anthony lodge No. 171, A. F. &
A. M. Beside owning his farm and other
property he has stock in the Albany Land
company.
^y^ AVID W. SLONIKER, senior mem-
I I ber of the firm of Sloniker & Leffler,
^^^_^ dealers in hardware of all kinds, in
connection with agricultural imple-
ments, in the town of Albany, Ind., is the
subject of this sketch. Mr. Sloniker was born
in Hamilton township, Delaware county, Ind.,
February 28, 1844, son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(McCormick) Sloniker, who came to the
county in 1836, being among the earliest pio-
neers. They were the parents of thirteen
children, but only four survive, these being,
Benjamin F. , David, Cornelia, and Martha J.
Jacob and Elizabeth Sloniker were consistent
members of the Christian church, and Mr.
Sloniker became one of the wealthiest men of
the county.
David W. Sloniker was reared on the old
home farm, receiving a good common school
education, and remained under the parental
roof until he was twenty-three years old.
Until 1887 he followed the peaceful life of an
Indiana agriculturist, but at that date he
moved to the town of Albany, and engaged in
the hardware business. At first his stock was
small, as his means were somewhat limited,
but, as the years went by, the country began
to be more settled and farming more generally
carried on in a large way, the demand for his
goods grew apace and now he has a large
trade and a complete stock. His son-in-law,
James H. Leffler, is connected with him and
they are doing a prosperous business.
When the clouds of war hung over the
country, Mr. Sloniker entered the army, en-
listing in company B, Eighty-fourth I. V. I.
July 30, 1862, for three years or during the
war, and served thirty-four months, and was
honorably discharged June 14, 1865, at Nash-
ville, Tenn. He took part in the battles of
Rockyface Ridge, Dalton, Tunnel Hill, Resaca,
Burnt Hickory, Kingston, Cartersville, Alla-
toona Pass, Big Shanty and Kenesaw Mountain,
where he was wounded. He left the hospital
and joined his regiment in time to take part in
battles of Columbia, Franklin and Nashville,
although still suffering from the wound receiv-
ed at Kenesaw. Mr. Sloniker was married
November 15, r866, in Hamilton township.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
this county, t-o Miss Elizabeth E. Green, who
was born in Delaware county, January 6, 1846,
the daughther of Andrew and Massey (John-
son) Green. To this union three children have
been born — an infant, deceased; Nettie, the
wife of James H. Leffler, and Matthew, deceas-
ed. In his political belief, Mr. Sloniker is a
republican, and has served the township as
assessor for five years. Fraternally, he is a
member of the order of Red Men and of I.
O. O. F., and also of Knights of Pythias. He
is* one of the best citizens of the town of
Albany, and enjoys the esteem and confidence
of a large circle of friends throughout the
county.
^^AMUEL B. SMITH was born in Jay
•^^^ county, Ind., June 22, 1841, being
K^^_J the son of Matthew A. and Elizabeth
(Hagler) Smith, natives of Ohio and
Virginia, respectively. The father and moth-
er were married in Greene county, Ohio, July
2, 1840, and removed to Jay county, Ind., in
the following year, where the former's death
occurred March 15, 1882; his widow resides
there at the present time. The following are
the names of their children: Samuel B. ; Laura,
wife of Joel Green ; Mary E. , wife of George
Wilson and Lewis M. By persevering toil
Matthew Smith accumulated a comfortable
portion of Nvorldly wealth and was able to give
to each of his children one hundred acres of
land. In politics he was a republican and
was frequentl}' elected by that party to respon-
sible positions. He served as a justice of the
peace for fourteen years, an equal length of
time as a county commissioner, and likewise
represented his county in the state legislature
from 1875 to 1877.
Although not now a farmer, the gentle-
man whose name introduces this mention
knows all about that life, having spent all his
days upon a farm until the period of his en-
listment in the army. He entered the service
of his country August 11, 1862, at Muncie,
becoming a member of company B, Eighty-
fourth Indiana infantry, and participated in
the following battle.^, namely: Chickamaugua,
Buzzard's Roost, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face
Ridge, Resaca, Kingstown, Pumpkin Vine
Creek, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, Kene-
saw Mountain, Neal Dow Church, Peachtree
Creek, Siege of Atlanta, Shoals Creek, Jones-
borough, Lovejoy Station, Franklin and Nash-
ville. He was discharged June 17, 1865, at
Indianapolis, and of the entire regiment, only
327 men returned, so great was the loss during
its long and active period of service. Return-
; ing home, Mr. Smith engaged in farming and
j continued that useful calling until 1883, at
; which time he moved into the village of Al-
bany, where he has since been engaged in
j mercantile pursuits. After the election of
i Harrison, he was appointed postmaster, and
the record shows that he proved a very efficient
and painstaking official. Mr. Smith has been
a member of the Methodist church since his
fourteenth year, and in politics he is a repub-
lican, firmly adhering to the principles of that
party. He was married September 8, 1866,
to Sarah Burkhead, born in Randolph county,
Ind.,. December 27, 1844. She is the daugh-
ter of George and Catherine (Davis) Burk-
head, natives of Maryland, of English ex-
traction, and has borne her husband two chil-
dren, namely: Annie K., wife of H. E. Babb,
and Cora L. , wife of George A. Murphy.
Mr. Smith is a man who is very popular with
all who know him; genial and pleasant in
manner, considerate of others, and very ac-
commodating in disposition. Mr. Smith has
lived the life of a consistent christian and has
reared his family to lead lives equally moral,
and trained them to habits of industry and
usefulness.
554
DELAWARE COUNTY:
>^AMES E. STAFFORD.— A successful
M business man of Albany and large land
A 1 holder of Delaware township, is the
second son of Ralph Stafford, whose
biography appears elsewhere, and was born
February 1 1 , 1 840, in Delaware county,
Ind. His early educational advantages,
though limited, were diligently improved and,
by a close application to his studies and wide
range of reading, he became the possessor of
a fund of valuable knowledge, which has
enabled him to transact very successfully the
business of an active life. He taught four
terms of school in Delaware township and such
was his success, that had he seen fit to remain
in the educational field he doubtless would
have risen high in the profession. He spent
his boyhood days learning the trade of tanning
with his father, and worked at that business
until his twenty-fifth year, at which time, in
partnership with his brother, George Stafford,
he engaged in farming in sections 6 and 7 this
township. From the beginning, his success
was most satisfactory, and in time he succeeded
in accumulating valuable real estate and now
owns a fine farm, consisting of 229 acres, the
greater part of which is under a high state of
cultivation. Mr. Stafford continued agricul-
tural pursuits until 1883, in November of
which 3'ear he engaged in the hardware~busi-
ness at Albany, which line of trade he con-
ducted with success and financial profit until
1 89 1. In that year he engaged with the
Albany Furniture company, and has since been
a leading member of the firm.
Mr. Stafford was married October 5, 1870,
in Hamilton township to Miss Caroline Rus-
sell, daughter of John and Susannah Russell,
of Columbiana county, Ohio. Mrs. Stafford
was born March 9, 1841, and is the mother of
one child, Laura Helen Stafford, whose birth
occurred October 9, 1871. Miss Stafford is a
young lady of culture and refinement, an ac-
complished musician, and made commendable
progress as a student in the art department of
the Greencastle university. Politically Mr. Staf-
ford is a republican and has been an aggressive
worker in his party for a number of years. He
became identified with the Masonic fraternity
twenty-six years ago, and at this time is one of
the active workers in lodge No. 1 7 1 at Albany.
In addition to his commercial and agricultural
interests Mr. Stafford is extensively engaged
in real- estate transactions in Delaware county.
Vt* H. STAFFORD,— The subject of
M this sketch is a native of Delaware
A 1 township, and a citizen of excellent
reputation, whose success as a farmer
has been very decided. He was born Septem-
ber 27, 1842, being the third son of Ralph
Stafford, whose history may be found else-
where in this volume. Mr. Stafford received
a common school education, and lived at home
during his boyhood days, and learned the trade
of a tanner, which he followed in connection
with farming for several years. In 1 868 he
took entire control of the tan yards, and con-
tinued in that position for three years; then
managed the home farm for some time. In
1 87 1 he bought the property, consisting of
thirty-two acres, upon which he resides.
Besides this, he owns the farm on which his
father first located in 1834, having 234 acres,
in all, of fine farm land substantially improved.
Mr. Stafford was married November 25,
1875, at Muncie, to Rachel Walburn, born in
this township, September 24, 1852, being the
daughter of Jefferson and Rebecca Walburn.
Her father and mother were natives of Ohio,
and are the parents of the following children,
namely: Margaret, Martha, Catherine (de-
ceased), William, Sarah Ann and Rachel. The
parents of these children died in 1876, and now
rest in Union cemetery.
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
555
Jefferson Walburn was a farmer, and a
man of prominence in his community. In
politics he was a republican, and a very active
and useful member of that party. He and his
wife were members of the Methodist church,
and devoted and upright christian people.
They were pioneers, coming to this country in
1 836. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford are members of the
Methodist church, in which body they are rec-
ognized as consistent and upright people. The
husband is a trustee and otherwise prominent
in the church. In politics he is a republican,
and is always ready to lend a helping hand
during any public crisis.
Beside owning valuable landed property,
Mr. Stafford is a stockholder and a director of
the Granville turnpike, and is also interested
in the Delaware Natural Gas company. He
enlisted May 12, 1864, in company G, One
Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana volunteer
infantry, at Muncie. At Indianapolis he was
made a fifth sergeant of the company, which
was recruited in Delaware county by Capt.
Cochran. The company was reorganized May
16, 1864, and they, with the remainder of the
regiment, arrived at Bowling Green, Ky. , June
I, 1S64, reached Nashville June 6; left on the
iith, and reached Decatur, Ala., July 6; re-
treated to Nashville, then on the 17th left for
Louisville, arriving on the i8th; left Louisville
August 4 and reached Nashville on the 6th, and
returned to Indianapolis August 28, 1864. He
was mustered out of the service September 6,
1864. The number of deaths occurring in his
company during the period of service was five,
and of desertion one.
>t'AMES R. STAFFORD, a prominent
m business man of Albany, was born in
A 1 Niles township, Delaware county, Jan-
uary 22, 1846, son of Joseph and Eve
Stafford. Subject's paternal grandfather was
a native of Ireland, but early came to the
United States, locating in Virginia, where he
was employed for some time as a linen weaver.
Later in life, he located in Clarke, Ohio, where
his death occurred. Joseph Stafford was a
native of Clarke county, Ohio. James R. Staf-
ford, the subject of this sketch, was reared on
the home farm in Niles township, attended the
common schools during the winters, and at the
age of twenty, attended school in Muncie,
where he made substantial progress in the
various branches of learning. He fitted him-
self for the teacher's profession, and was thus
employed for twelve consecutive years, devot-
ing his attention in the meantime, during the
summer season, to farming on the home place.
On attaining his legal majority, he engaged in
the pursuit of agriculture on a forty acre tract
given him by his father, and on the latter's
death, in 1877, he purchased a part of the
homestead to which he added other land until
he because the possessor of a fine farm of 135
acres, which is well improved and highly cul-
tivated. On the loth of October, 1867,
when twenty-one years of age, Mr. Stafford was
united in marriage with Miss Nancy E. Sharon,
who was born in Niles township, this county,
January 16, 1846, daughter of Henry Sharon,
Esq. Two children resulted from this mar-
riage, Minnie O., wife of James Syphers, and
Joseph H. , deceased. Mrs. Stafford, a highly
respected lady and consistent member of the
Methodist church, died in the full hope of a
happy future, March 24, 1873, and her body
was laid to rest beneath the shades of the
beautiful Bethel cemetery of Albany. On the
28th of May, 1876, Mr. Stafford again entered
the marriage relation, choosing for his com-
panion, Elizabeth McDaniels, whose death oc-
curred August 1 6th of the same year. She
was born in Greene county, Ohio, in 1846,
and at the time of her departure, had. been an
earnest member of the Methodist church for a
556
DELAWARE COUNTY
period of sixteen years. Mr. Stafford's third
marriage was celebrated December 15, 1881,
in Greene county, Ohio, with Miss Sarah C.
Anderson, a native of the same county and
state, born near Xenia, April 8, 1857. Mrs.
Stafford is the daughter of Thomas and Mary
(Standfield) Anderson, of Ohio, whose respect-
ive parents came from South Carolina and
Virginia. The following are the names of the
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stafford: Edna
May, Ruthie Jane, and Roxey Edith.
Mr. Stafford is a republican in politics, and
as such was elected trustee of Delaware town-
ship, which position he filled for four and one-
half years from 1886 to 1890. He was also
assessor of Niles township. He is one of the
directors of the Albany Land company, and is
the efficient superintendent of the Albany
Natural Gas company. For twenty years he
has been a member of the Odd Fellows frater-
nity, belonging to lodge No. 361, of which he.
is trustee, and he is also an active worker in
the encampment. He is chaplain of the G. A. R.
post of Albany, and is a leader of the Metho-
dist church of his town, to which denomina-
tion his family also belong. In 1864, May 10,
Mr. Stafford enlisted in company G, One
Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana volunteer
infantry, for the hundred days' service, and his
command formed part of the army of the
Cumberland and was assigned to guard duty in
Alabama. Owing to physical disability he
was furloughed but continued in the service
until the expiration of his period of enlistment,
leaving the army September, 1864, at Indian-
apolis.
Mr. Stafford is the leading business man of
the town of Albany and one of the representa-
tive citizens of Delaware county. He is a very
extensive buyer and shipper of grain, handling
a large elevator which has a capacity of over
2,500 bushels per day; he also deals in baled
hay, straw, etc., in which line he does a very
large and lucrative business in Delaware and
other counties. Mr. Stafford is public spirited,
progressive, an earnest friend of education,
and it was during his incumbency as trustee,
that the beautiful graded school building of
Albany was erected. He possesses, in an em-
minent degree, the esteem and confidence of
his fellow citizens, and his name in these
pages is a deserving compliment to an intelli-
gent, enterprising and most worthy man.
@EORGE A. STAFFORD.— The town-
ship of Delaware, in the county of
the same name, has long been noted
for its fine farms and excellent class
of citizens, and a prominent representative of
the latter is found in the person of the subject
of the following sketch.
George A. Stafford was born in Delaware
county, Ind., November 23, 1835, a son of
Ralph and Jane (Black) Stafford, the former a
native of Giles county, Va. . born in 1806.
Ralph Stafford was a son of George and Cath-
erine (Fair) Stafford, both natives of Ireland.
Mrs. Jane Black Stafford was born in Clarke
county, Ohio, May 30, 181 5, and was the,
daughter of Andrew and Susan (Ross) Black,
whose genealogy appears elsewhere in this
volume. The paternal grandparents of the
subject located in Clarke county, Ohio, in
181 I, and there engaged in farming and in su-
perintending a tannery, and remained in that
locality until the times of their demise, the
father dying in 1876 and the mother in 1888.
Ralph Stafford was but a boy of five years
when he accompanied his parents to Clarke
county, and there he grew to manhood, at-
tending the common school at intervals in the
meantime. He early learned the trade of
tanner and also that of shoemaking under the
supervision of an uncle, John Black, with
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
557
whom he remained for a term of two years,
after which he went into partnership with Mr.
Black, with whom he remained until 1835,
when he came to Delaware county. He had
visited this county in 1834, and entered 160
acres of land, returning again in September,
1835. Here he built an old fashioned log
cabin, with puncheon floor, and this covered
but half the area of the house. He remained
on the place until 1854 and then removed to
the farm now owned by his son, William,
where he spent his declining years, departing
this life August 12, 1876; his remains were laid
to rest in the Black cemetery. His wife sur-
vived him until December 21, 1888, at which
time she was laid by his side in the same peace-
ful spot, where a beautiful monument marks
their last resting place. For many years they
were members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and were well known and respected
people. He had served as trustee and gave
satisfaction as an honest official, and at the
time of his death he owned 484 acres of land
in this township. They were the parents of
five children, as follows: George A., James
E., John H., William H. and Susan, deceased.
The immediate subject of this mention was
reared on the home farm and received the ad-
vantages of a good education in the excellent
common schools. He learned the trade of
tanner, which he followed until twenty-four
years of age, and then turned his attention to
agricultural pursuits, renting land of his father.
He was married April 16, 1867, at which date
he located where he now resides, owning at
this time 280 acres of very valuable land, and
his crops annually go far to swell the yield of
the great state. His residence is a modern one
of beauty and utility, and his grounds display,
in their neatness and completeness, the pres-
ence of an excellent manager.
Mr. Stafford votes with the republican party,
and rejoices in its successes. Since 1 864 he has
been a member of the Masonic order. In June,
1892, he became a director in the Farmers'
bank, of Muncie, and is largely interested fn
the same. He married Miss Sarah A. Zehner,
who was born in Wayne county, Ind., June
14, 1844, daughter of Benjamin and Hester
(Hoppas) Zehner, of German ancestry, who
were pioneers of this county in 1841. Mr.
and Mrs. Stafford have a family of four chil-
dren, as follows: David K., Cyrus J., Emma
C. and Ray J. The family is connected with
the Lutheran and the Methodist churches, are
good and worthy people, highly esteemed in
Delaware township.
Mr. Stafford has been largel}' interested in
and identified with the growth of the city of
Muncie, having made a large purchase of real
estate in 1887, which was laid out in city lots
and known as "Winton addition." He has
since kept up his interests in Muncie by subse-
quent purchases, which have been profitable.
He has just completed a large cracker factory,
which will be one of the solid business indus-
tries of the city.
Vy y^ILLIAM HEN]
MM I The subject of
mJL>l live of the cour
IRY STAFFORD.—
of this sketch is a na-
mty and township in
which he lives, and is a man in the
full vigor of life. His neighbors and friends
esteem him because of his honest and manly
qualities. Mr. Stafford was born February 4,
1848, being the youngest son of Ralph Staf-
ford, previously mentioned in this volume.
The boyhood of Mr. Stafford was spent on the
home farm, and at the age of eight years he
removed with his parents to the place where
he now resides. His educational advantages
were reasonably good, and he profited by
them. As a dutiful son, he remained with his
father during the latter's declining years, tak-
558
DELAWARE COUNTY:
ing charge of the farm in 1879. Prior to this
time he had conducted it for a share of the
proceeds. In the year 1889, he purchased
the remaining portion of the farm, which gave
him 236 acres in all of valuable land, well and
substantially improved, and all in one body.
Mr. Stafford was married in this township
(Delaware) May 18, 1879, to Miss Lucinda J.
Knox, a native of the township and county;
born February 20, i860, and daughter of John
and Madeline (Berry) Knox, residents of Ham-
ilton township, this county. To this marriage,
one child, Nora Edith, has been born, whose
birth occurred March 18, 1884, a very bright
and promising child. Mr. and Mrs. Stafford
are members of the Methodist church. In
politics he is a republican, and always takes
an active part in the campaigns as they occur.
When Mr. Stafford was a lad of thirteen,
he ran away from home, in 1863, to Indianap-
olis, to volunteer in the army, was examined
and accepted, but as he was about to take the
oath his father stepped in and vetoed the pro-
ceedings, and the patriotic lad was returned to
his mother.
HLFRED B. STRONG— The promi-
nent citizen whose name introduces
the following sketch, owns and oper-
ates one of the finest and largest
farms in Delaware township. By a proper
rotation of crops, the land has been brought
to a high state of cultivation, and the abun-
dant harvests bear evidence of the thrift of the
manager The father of A. B. Strong was
Reuben Strong, a native of the state of Ver-
mont.
Reuben Strong was twice married, the first
time in Greene county, Ohio, to Anna Wilson,
who bore him four children: Rhoda, widow of
Martin Boots, residing in Randolph county,
Ind. ; John W. , a citizen of the county of
Delaware; Catherine, who married George
Mills, and Benjamin, the last two deceased.
The second marriage was consummated with
Barbara Boots, of Virginia, mother of the sub-
ject. Reuben Strong and family moved to
Delaware county, Ind., from Ohio, in 1834,
and resided here until his death. Upon coming
here, Mr. Strong, entered 600 acres of land in
the woods, erected a log hut and began the
clearing of the land. He had made great plans
for the future, but passed from the scenes of
earth after a residence of only eighteen months in
his new home. His death occurred August 25,
1835, and his remains were laid to rest in a
private ground upon his own land. The wife
and mother realizing that she had a family to
rear, remained upon the farm and conducted
affairs. Her death occurred in June, 1861,
and she was buried by the side of her husband.
She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and both have the reputation of good
and worthy people. The family consisted of
eight children, as follows: Alfred B., the sub-
ject of this sketch; Lydia, deceased; Ehza-
beth, deceased; Melinda, deceased; Minerva, a
resident of Randolph county; Mary, the wife
of E. Bartlett, living north of Albany; Napo-
leon, deceased; an infant, deceased.
At the time of his death Mr. Strong had
amassed a fortune for those days, was the
owner of much stock and of 680 acres of land.
He was a man who always took a prominent
position wherever he lived, and served as just-
ice of the peace in this county, as he had done
for many years in his old home in Ohio. One
of the characteristics of Mr. Strong was his
straightforward way of doing things. He be-
lieved a thing was right and said so; one of his
earnest desires being the suppression of intem-
perance. His voice was ever heard in favor of
any and all things for the benefit of the com-
munity. Being a hard working man, he ex-
pected much from others and he knew how to
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
manage his finances so that he left his family
in affluence. Alfred B. Strong was born in
Greene county, Ohio, February 9, 1817, and
was reared on the home farm, but received
only a limited education. He remained with
his mother until her death, and tiien bought
out the other heirs, and now owns 463 acres of
well improved land. He was married May 20,
1 84 1, in Delaware township, to Miss Mary
Shariii, born in Irwin, Ohio, and a daugh-
ter of George and Nancy (Hughes) Sharin,
natives of Pennsylvania and Maryland, respect-
ively, who also were pioneers of this county.
Mr. and Mrs. Strong had a family of six
children, as follows; Reuben, deceased;
Nancy J., deceased; John, deceased; George,
James, and Laura, the wife of Gordon Smith,
of Jay county, Ind.
The pleasant home of Mr. Strong was
visited by the hand of affliction, January 8,
■ ^73, when the mother of the family was re-
moved by death. She had been a good woman,
affectionate wife and mother, and a good
neighbor and a consistent member of the
Methodist church. Politically, Mr. Strong is
a republican, and his first vote was cast for
William Henrj' Harrison.
,>^^APOLEON B. STRONG.— The fol-
I I lowing record is prepared for one
I y who has passed from the scenes of
this life, but who is yet tenderly re-
membered by a large circle of friends. His
descent can be traced back to his great-great-
grandfather, Noah Strong, who was born July
30, 1752, in Salisbury, Conn. Napoleon B.
Strong's birth occurred in Greene county, Ohio,
September 18, 1830. He was a son of
Reuben and Barbara (Boots) Strong, of Ger-
man* extraction, who reared the following chil-
dren: John, Cynthia, Benjamin, Alfred, Eliz-
abeth, Malinda, Minerva, Mary, the subject of
this mention being the youngest member of the
family.
Of the early life of the subject but few
records are accessible. His marriage with
Miss Catherine Woolverton took place Feb-
ruary 14, 1858. She was the daughter of
Abner and Abigail (Keever) Woolverton, na-
tives of Germany and Ireland. These parents
reared the following family: Catherine, Mrs.
Strong; Mary, deceased; Eva, the wife of
George Andrews; Jane, deceased, and Sarah,
the wife of James Manor. After his marriage,
Mr. Strong settled on the fine farm now ably
managed by his widow, where he lived all of
his days and upon which his death occurred
February 14, 1871. He was a good man, was
a very active member of the Methodist church,
of which Mrs. Strong was also a member, but
upon the organization of the Christian church
at Albany, Mrs. Strong united with the latter.
Mr. Strong's remains lie in the Strong ceme-
tery, where a fine monument marks the last
resting place of this worthy man. He had
been interested in public affairs and voted with
the republican yarty. He came to this county
at an early day and endured many hardships
and witnessed much of its wonderful growth.
Mrs. Strong also remembers many inter-
esting events of pioneer life, as her parents
were early settlers in their neighborhood, the
father conducting a saw mill, and also preach-
ing, as they were devout people, and earnest
members of the Christian church. The early
meetings were held at the home of the parents
of Mrs. Strong. Mrs. Woolverton was an
expert weaver and was one of those capable
and efScient women of whom we love to read.
Mr. and Mrs. Strong had three children;
Sarah L. , wife of J. S. Manor; Elmer A., a
farmer, and Emma. The fine farm of Mrs.
Strong contains 138 acres of well improved
land.
560
DELAWARE COUNTY:
@EORGE W. SYPHERS, a leading
business man of Albany, Ind. , was
born in Pendleton county, Va., April
5, 1827. His father, William Syph-
ers, was a native of the same state, and there
married Eva Kibler, who was born in the
town of Woodstock. William Syphers was,
by occupation, a cooper, which trade he car-
ried on in connection with farming both in his
native state and Ohio, having moved to the
latter in 1833, settling in Champaign county.
In 1 84 1 he removed to Adams county, Ind.,
where the death of himself and wife subse-
quently occurred. William Syphers served in
the war of 1812, was a man of sterling worth
and strict integrity, a democrat in politics, and
an active member of the United Presbyterian
church. His wife, also a member of the
same denomination, is rembered as a woman
of^many excellent traits of character, a kind
mother, a faithful friend, and a most exem-
plary christian.
George W. Syphers, the immediate subject
of this sketch, was reared on the home farm,
receiving a good education which enabled him
to engage in teaching, a profession he followed
very successfully for a number of years. He
taught his iirst term of school in Wiltshire,
Ohio, and his popularity as an instructor is
attested by the fact that he continued in
charge of the same school for twelve consecu-
tive terms. On retiring from the educational
field, he accepted a clerkship in a dry goods
house at Monmouth, Adams county, Ind.,
where he remained one year, after which he
was similarly employed in Wiltshire, Ohio, for
a period of eighteen months. Disposing of his
interest in that town, at the request of his
father, he returned home and managed the
place for eight years, thence removed to Salem,
Ind., and purchased land one and one-half
miles north of the town, upon which he found-
ed a village and engaged in the general trade
in partnership with a brother. This relation
continued until 1883, at which date he re-
moved to Albany, where he has since carried
on a successful business in the retail grocery
line.
Mr. Syphers was first married in Decatur,
Adams county, Ind., in 1859, to Miss Sarah
Davey, a union blessed with the birth of the
following children: Willis, Amy, Alice, Min-
nie, Annie, Maynard, James E. and Eddie.
The mother of these children departed this life
June 2, 1 87 1, and January 11, 1872, Mr.
Syphers married Elizabeth Johnson, in Noble
county, Ind., who died December 9, 1874.
On September 22, 1876, Mr. Syphers and Mrs.
M. J. Mills were united in the bonds of wed-
lock in Belmont county, Ohio, the result of
which union was the birth of one child, Clar-
ence L. Syphers. Mr. Syphers is a worthy
and energetic citizen, fully alive to all that has
a tendency to improve the town or community.
He is treasurer of the German Mutual Fire In-
surance company, of Indianapolis, and in poli-
tics is a supporter of the prohibition party,
believing that the liquor traffic can be sup-
pressed only by national and state legislation.
He is a prominent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and in every respect a repre-
sentative citizen, and a notable example of the
self-made man.
OTHOLIC HENDERSON TINDALL,
the well known resident and official
for whom this sketch is prepared,
was born in Van Wert county, Ohio,
March 21, 1853, a son of Henry and Sarah E.
(Miller) Tindall, the latter a native of Parkers-
burg, West Va. , and the former of Beaver
county. Pa. These parents were married in
Van Wert county, both having been previous-
ly married. Henry Tindall engaged in farm-
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
561
ing until his death in November, 1884. In
his political faith he was a republican, and dur-
ing a long life accumulated some seven hun-
dred acres of land in \'an Wert count}', Ohio.
His reputation was that of a man of the
strictest integrity, and both he and wife were
members of the United Brethren denomina-
tion. His widow now resides with her son,
the subject of this sketch, at Albany.
Otholic Henderson Tindall was reared on
the home farm and early became inured to
hard labor, remaining with his parents until
he had reached his majority. For one year
he farmed the old homestead and then bought
land in Adams county, Ind., \\here he re-
mained nine months, selling this tract to pur-
chase property in Willshire, \' an Wert county,
Ohio. He took charge of the old homestead
for three years, paying a money rent of $300
per year, and later went to the town of Van
Wert, where for one year he was engaged in
the insurance business.
His next business venture was the pur-
chase of forty acres of land, in the county of
Van Wert, where he remained one year, fol-
lowing which he bought eighty acres in Adams
county, Ind., where he remained two 3'ears,
selling it at the end of that time and locating
in the town of Albany, where for a period of
six months he was engaged in mercantile pur-
suits. Having been made constable, he after-
ward engaged in other occupations. His
term of service as constable was two years,
and he served as deputy sheriff under O. H.
Swain for four years. Later he went into the
timber business and afterward engaged as tie
contractor for the L. E. & W. R. R., until
July, 1891, at which time he became identified
with the Creamery Package Manufacturing
company of Portland, Ind. , with which he has
since remained.
Mr. Tindall was married in Willshire,
Ohio, February 9, 1873, to Miss Sarah E.
Stove, born in Van Wert county, Ohio, De-
cember 22, 1853, a daughter of William and
Sarah (Widmer) Stove, of German and Eng-
lish ancestry. Seven children have been born
of this marriage — William, deceased; Henry
Frazier; Amos; John H. ; Birdie; Arlie and
Bessie. The eldest son is the telegraph opera-
tor on the C. & E. R. R. , at Spencerville,
Ohio.
Mr. Tindall is a man of considerable means
and has had a very successful business career.
He owns ten shares in the Albany Land com-
pany and four shares in the gas wells.
>^OHN N. WIN'GATE. —Among the
M prominent farmers of Delaware town-
/i J ship the name of John N. Wingate is
entitled to specific mention. Mr. Win-
gate was born in Highland county, Ohio, April
4, 1830, and is a son of Philip and Mary Win-
gate. The father was born in the state of
Delaware, in 1791, and was married, in 1822,
in Highland county, Ohio, to Mary Anderson,
and for a number of years worked at the car-
penter's trade. He came to Indiana a number
of years ago, moving his family and household ef-
fects in one small cart, and the sum total of his
available wealth, on reaching his destination,
was twenty-five cents in money. He worked
at his trade until 1843, at which time he be-
1 came a resident of Delaware township this
county, where his death occurred in 1872. He
was the father of thirteen children, five of
whom are living at this time. He belonged to
the Methodist church, was originally a whig in
his political belief, and later became a repub-
lican, the principles of which party he advo-
cated until his death.
The immediate subject of this sketch, [ohn
W. Wingate, spent the first fifteen years of
his life in Ohio, and then accompanied his
562
DELAWARE COUNTY:
parents to Delaware county, Ind., remaining
with his father until attaining his legal major-
ity. While still young, he developed con-
siderable skill as a mechanic, and at the age of
twenty, began working at the carpenter's trade,
which calling he followed until 1865, when he
engaged in agricultural pursuits on the farm
where he has since made his home. Mr. Win-
gate is a notable example of what a young
man, without any assistance from friends or
fortune, can accomplish, with the aid of well
directed energy and wise business foresight.
From a small beginning, he has increased his
share of this world's wealth, until at this time
he is the fortunate possessor of 270 acres of
fine land, which has been developed into one
of the best, and one of the most successful
farms in the county of Delaware. His early
education was limited to a few months each
winter in the common schools, and he is in the
true sense of the word a self educated man,
his fund of practical knowledge having been
attained by years of intelligent observation
and business association with his fellow men.
His first marriage was solemnized Febru-
ary 25, 1855, in Ohio, with Amanda M. Black,
who died January 27, 1861, leaving two child-
ren, Theodore W., a farmer residing in Mich-
igan, and Robert N. , a resident of the town of
Albany, Delaware county. On the 23d day of
October, 1863, Mr. Wingate took a second
wife, Mrs. Charlotte R. Wilson, widow of the
late Morgan Wilson, and daughter of James
R. and Eve Black. By her previous marriage,
Mrs. Wingate had two children: Anthony M.
Wilson, of Nebraska, and James R. Wilson,
deceased. The following are the names of the
children born to her marriage with Mr. Win-
gate: Clara E., wife of Richard A. Jones;
Arthur M., Eldora, Clayton B., Lillie Dell,
Maud P. and Laura. Mr. Wingate is a dem-
ocrat in politics, and at one time served as
trustee of his township. He is a member of
the L O. O. F. lodge, No. 361, and is a share
holder and prominent factor in the Albany
Land company. Mrs. Wingate is a member
of the Delaware Chapel Methodist Episcopal
church. Mr. Wingate's residence of fifty years
in this comrnunity has acquired him many
friends and is well respected as a substantial
and honored citizen.
@EORGE W. WHITEMAN.— Few men
in Delaware county have had a more
interesting and varied experience in
life than the gentleman whose brief
biography is presented herewith. George W.
Whiteman was born near Brighton, Sussex
county, England, and is the son of Charles
and Harriet (Clark) Whiteman, both parents
natives of the same country. By occupation,
Charles Whiteman was a railroad contractor.
He laid out the Lewis and St. Albans canal in
1846, assisted in the construction of the same,
and was made superintendent after its comple-
tion. During the great excitement growing
out of the discovery of gold in California, he,
with thousands of his countrymen, was at-
tracted to that far off country, and for two or
three years he participated in the search for
hidden treasures and took part in the exciting
scenes of those times. After living an adven-
turous life in California for some time, he re-
turned to England and again entered actively
into the business of railroad contracting, build-
ing the branch road from Maidestone to Sher-
ness, in Kent, and the London and Charring
Cross railway, which latter work included the
removal of the old suspension bridge across the
river Thames, erected in the time of George
in. Subsequently, he concluded a contract
with the Brazilian government for the con-
struction of a railroad from Rio Janeiro to a
point in the interior, and after completing the
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
563
same, went to San Francisco, Cal. , where he
rejoined his family, which had just arrived
from England, this being about the year 1854
or 1 85 5. After remaining for a limited period
in California, Mr. Whiteman returned to Eng-
land, leaving George W. , the subject of this
sketch, then a boy of about fourteen, an ap-
prentice in the Eureka foundry and machine
shops of San Francisco. This appears to be
the first introduction that George W. had to
active life, and he remained in the above shops
for three years, going, at the end of that time,
to the city of Sacramento. _ where, for eight
years, he was employed in the repair shops.
In 1862 the subject engaged in the con-
struction of machinery at Sacramento, re-
maining there several years and afterwards
worked as machinist and firemen at different
places until 1868, in which year, he and some
companions made an extensive tour of the
southern states. Later he engaged with the
Kansas Pacific R. R., and during the winter
of 1869-70, was employed between Ft. Wal-
lace and Denver in the capacity of locomotive
engineer. In the spring, he crossed the
mountains, and ran from Ogden to Terrace on
the Central Pacific, and for some time, follow-
ing the fall of 1871, was engaged by the Bos-
ton Rolling Stock company on the Santa Fe
road. This company was then building west
of Emporia, Kan., and Mr. Whiteman had
charge of the engines and car department on
the line between that city and Wichita. Later
he ran an engine on the Missouri Pacific out
of St. Louis until the spring of 1872, at
which date, by invitation of a former friend,
whom he knew in the west, and who in the
meantime had located at the town of Albany,
Ind., he paid a visit to the latter place. Sub-
sequently Mr. Whiteman again went west to
Colorado, and was engineer on the Denver and
Black Hawk railroad for one year, then en-
gaged on the Salt Lake division of the Cen-
tral Pacific, remaining with the same a few
months, when he returned to the little town
of Albany, Ind., the attraction being a fair
maiden whom he had met on his previous visit
and who afterwards became his wife.
Remaining in Albany until the spring of
1874, Mr. Whiteman engaged with the
I., B. & W. K. R. in their shops at Urbana,
Ohio, and about three months later, went to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and ran until 1882 on the
Burlington & Cedar Rapids road. In the
latter year he had a collision at Rockford and
was sick for some time thereafter. Prior to
this he was made engineer of the locomotive
used to draw the pay car and officers, and ran
the same for about two years. Owing to seri-
ously impaired health he retired from the
road in 1882, and for one year was engaged in
the grocery business at Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
suffering a loss by fire at the end of that
time. This disaster was followed by three
months' sickness, and upon his recovery Mr.
Whiteman returned to Albany, Ind., in the
hope of recuperating his health and building
up his shattered fortune. For two years he
was not able to engage in business, but in
1885 he opened a drug house, which he has
made successful. Mr. \\'hiteman cast his
first vote for Gen. Grant, but now he is a
democrat.
The marriage of Mr. W'hitcman took place
August 23, 1873, to Miss Juliana McCamish,
who was born in Iowa, September, 1853, the
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Bergel) Mc-
Camish, natives of Virginia. Six children
have been born to this union — George R. , a
telegraph operator at Muncie; Blanche, Charles,
Gertrude, Lenora and Harriet. The family
are members of the Methodist church. Mr.
Whiteman is fraternally connected with the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and is
a member of Crescent lodge, No. 25, Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, A. F. & A. M. In his business
DELAWARE COUNTY;
relations, in Albany, he is much esteemed,
and is a member of the Albany Land company,
secretary of the Building and Loan association
and president of the Co-operative Gas com-
pany.
^>^ ACHEL WOOLVERTON— As early
1/^ as 1820, settlers were making homes
J .P along the White river, in the state of
Indiana, and among those who came
at that date were the parents of the subject of
this mention. The grandparents came from
Ireland in an early day, but the father and
mother of Mrs. Woolverton had grown up in
Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively, and came
to Delaware county, Ind. , in April of the above
year, and settled near Muncie. Here her
father entered one hundred and sixty acres of
land, and here she lived until her marriage.
After that event she and her husband settled
on a farm of 200 acres, one mile east of Albany,
where they remained until the death of Mr.
Woolverton, April 13, 1889.
Abner Woolverton, the husband of Rachel
Woolverton, was born October 20, 181 5, near
Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, a son of
David and Eva Woolverton, of whom he was
the eldest child. The others were: Theresa,
the wife of Dudley Harris; Eva, the wife of
John Sniter; Jane, the wife of John Neal;
Kate, Isaac, John; and Ella, the wife of Frank
B. Banker. In 1820, Abner accompanied his
uncle to Preble county, Ohio, where he grew
to manhood, and in 1834, he was married to
Misi Abigail Keever, who died August lO,
1863. Mr. Woolverton afterward married Miss
Rachel Van Arsdoll, March 1 1 , 1 864, at Mrs.
Woolverton's home, near Muncie, where she
had lived from childhood.
Mr. Woolverton came to Delaware town-
ship at an early day, when Muncie was known
as an Indian village, and by whom it was
named. He settled in the woods and built
one of the first log cabins that was built in
that part of the country. The whole country
was sparsely settled and Mrs. Woolverton's
brother, Isaac, was the first white child born
in Delaware county. Mr. Woolverton was a
member of the Christian church, in which he
was a minister for nearly forty years. Finan-
cially, he was a successful man, and when he
was called away from life he was mourned by
many. He was a kind husband and a fond
and loving father. He left three children by
his first marriage and three by his second, they
being as follows: Catherine, wife of N. B.
Strong; Eva A., wife of G. A. Andrews; Sarah,
wife of D. J. Manor, deceased; Dora A., David,
a brick mason, and Hallet A., a farmer.
The father of Mrs. Wolverton was a preach-
er in the Christian church, and the Indians
used often to come to be a part of his audi-
ence. They respected the family and never
in any way molested them. Mrs. Wolverton's
family can relate many interesting reminis-
cences of pioneer life. When her father first
settled on the land purchased from the govern-
ment, he did not even have a cabin for shelter.
The first night the family slept by a log fire in
the open air with no protection but the hazel
brush, and the next day he, with the help of
another emigrant by the name of Makeprice,
constructed a temporary shed of saplings,
which, being too small to accomodate both
families with their goods, a part of the latter
were, for the time, protected from the rain by
a covering of bark. Mrs. Wolverton remem-
bers very well the many and uncermonious
visits paid the family by their Indian neighbors,
particularly of one old squaw that they called
Sally, who thought much of Mr. Arsdoll and
his family. When her brother Cornelius was
two years old, Sally begged the favor of taking
him home with her to her wigwam, indicating
to his mother by pointing to the sun at what
DELAWARE TOWNSHIP.
505
hour she would bring him home. The child
was promptly returned at the time promised
but old Sally said she "much scared," thought
she had "choked white pappoose almost to
death." She had given him a toothsome mess
of venison on which the child had choked.
The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Wolver-
ton were: Thomas, a farmer of Hacket; Mary,
wife of ^^'illiam Brown; John; Nellie, wife of
Henry Mulkins; William, deceased; Martha,
wife of Christopher Ribble; Isaac, Cornelius,
Jane, the wife of Francis Wilkins; Lucretia,
wife of Charles Hallock.
Mrs. Woolverton has at present a farm of
1 06 acres of good and well improved land, and
also owns a nice home in Albany where she
and her family now reside. The family is one
of the oldest and best known in Delaware
county.
ISAAC WORLEY, a substantial citizen
of Delaware township, was born in
Fayette county, Ind. , February 27,
1827; being the son of Moses and Sarah
(Harmon) Worley. The father was born in
Scioto county, Ohio, the son of Anthony and
Mary Worley, of the same county and state,
and the grandfather was engaged in farming
all his life, and reared a large family of chil-
dren. The father was married in Scioto county,
Ohio, and a short time after came to Fayette
county, being one of its earliest pioneers. He
engaged at once in clearing up a home; then
in the fall of 1836 moved to this county and
located on 120 acres in this township, which he
bought from a relative, paying $350 for it.
The land was covered with trees, which he
began at once to chop away and clear and
burn the brush; building a log cabin with an
old fashioned stick chimney; the house
being eighteen feet square, with an end
cut out for a fire place; the door was of
clapboard, and the log cut out on the side and
pasted over with greased paper, was its win-
dow. The roof did not always keep out the
rain, and the floor was made of puncheons.
This worthy man ami liis wife were the par-
ents of seven chiUlrcn, namely: Mary J.,
Emily, Louise, all deceased; Isaac; Anthony
and Sarah E., deceased; Margaret, wife of M.
Boland, retired, of Muncie. The father died
October, i 864, and the mother, seven or eight
years previous to that date. They were iden-
tified with the Methodist church, and were
good and pious people. He was an old line
whig of the Clay school. He was a hard
working man, and a good manager, and had
the respect of all who knew him.
Isaac Worley was reared on the farm which
he now owns, and his early life was required
to do hard labor. He was but nine years old
when he came to this county, and his work
began thus early. The schools taught but
short terms, and he was not always able to at-
tend them. He remained with his father until
he was twenty-one, and then engaged in farm-
ing the old home place on his own account,
and with the exception of three years, which
he spent in Illinois, he has lived there ever
since he first came to this count)'.
He was married January 30, 1851, in Jer-
sey county. 111., to Harriet Shafer, born
October 9, 1827, in Pennsylvania, being the
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Pittinger)
Shafer, she being related to the families of
that name in this county. To this union were
born three children, namely; Andrew J.,
Mary E., and Laura F., all dead. The
mother died January 29, 1857, and her re-
mains lie in Union cemetery. Mr. Worley
again married October 10, 1857, Nancy N.
Pittinger being the maiden name of this wife.
She was born in Indiana July 4, 1827; the
daughter of John and Nancy (Humphrey) Pit-
tinger. The results of this marriage are the
DELAWARE COUNTY;
following children: Sarah A., wife of T. Con-
fer, of this township; Ida F. , died August 20,
1862; Martha J., deceased; Elizabeth E.,
wife of George Goings. The mother of these
children died October 9, 1872, and on the ist
of March, 1873, Mr. Worley was united in
marriage to Verlinda Fadley, who was born in
Adams county, Ohio, August 8, 1829; being
the daughter of Jesse and Mary (Hamilton)
Wilcoxon. Her parents were natives of Mary-
land and Kentucky respectively, and came to this
county in 1851; locating in Liberty township,
where the father followed farming all his life.
Her parents reared a family of seven children:
Elizabeth, Verlinda, John, of Blackford county;
William J., of Kansas; Thomas, of this town-
ship; James, of Carroll county, Ind., and an
infant, deceased. The father died February
8, 1863, and the mother July 15, 1884. They
were very good people and active members of
the Methodist church. In politics Mr. Wil-
coxon was a republican, and always gave a
hearty snpport to the candidates of that party.
By her marriage with Adam Fadley, Decem-
ber 15, 1852, Mrs. Verlinda Worley became the
mother of five children, namely: Mary C. ,
deceased; Elizabeth J., wife of J. Myers; Ver-
linda J. , wife of Marion Pittinger, and James
W., of this township. Mr. Fadley died Mrrch
8, 1863. Mr. Worley and wife are members
of the Methodist church, and very useful work-
ers in that body. Mr. Worley is a republican,
and has been elected to a number of offices in
this township. He owns 320 acres of fine
land, well improved, and a portion of it lies
within the village of Desoto.
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
'^ i»AMES FLINN is descended, paternally,
M from Irish ancestry, and traces his
^ ¥ family history back through several gen-
^^ erations to the old country. Sevaral
members of the family came to the United
States in an early day, and John Flinn,the sub-
ject's father, was reared amid the exciting
scenes of pioneer life in Virginia, and his career
was more like a romance than reality. When
but six years of age the section of Virginia
where his parents lived was raided by the In-
dians, and in the massacre which followed, his
father was killed, and he, himself, mother and
two sisters were taken prisoners by the sav-
ages, who took them west to Indiana. The
mother remained with the Indians until her
death, and the celebrated Daniel Boone was
instrumental in securing the release of the two
sisters, but John continued to live with the
savages until he grew to manhood. Shortly
after his capture, he was adopted by an Indian
chief by the name of Black Jacket, who not
only treated him well but allowed him many
privileges not enjoyed by other members of the
tribe. Upon one occasion he was sent out on
a hunt, and while absent from the encamp-
ment decided to go back east and look up his
relatives, if living. Accordingly, he started out
on his long and perilous trip and eventually
succeeded in reaching the old home and
finding his relatives, but having been ab-
sent so long he almost concluded that
he was not a white man, and after a
short stay went back to his Indian friends,
with whom he remained a number of years
longer. The longer he stayed with them, how-
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
567
ever, the less satisfied was he with his condi-
tion, and finally carried into effect a resolution
to leave the tribe permanently, which he
eventually did, going to Ft. Wayne and engag-
ing as salesman with Messrs. Murray & John-
son, who kept a public store at that place. At
the time of engaging with this firm Mr. Flinn
could speak fluently nine different Indian lan-
guages, which fact made him a very valuable
assistant, as nearly all the trading was done
with the various tribes of northern Indiana.
His employers paid him a salary of $50 per
month, and he remained with them some
years. Finally, however, he went to Ohio,
and upon his return to Ft. Wayne for the pur-
pose of getting some goods which he had left
there, he was induced, by his former employ-
ers to accompany Gen. Harrison, and act as
interpreter in the treaty made with the In-
dians in 18 1 2. Shortly after this he was again
captured by the savages, but within a short
time succeeded in effecting his escape, after
which he returned to Ohio, settled down in
Miami county, where he subsequently married
Miss Anus Priest, who bore him fourteen chil-
dren, all of whom grew to be heads of families.
James Flinn was raised on his father's
farm in Miami county, Ohio, and shortly after
his marriage, in 1836, to Miss Mercy Taylor,
he moved to Indiana and settled in Delaware
county, where he purchased 120 acres of land.
He has always followed farming for an occu-
pation and by a long life of industry has
accumulated a competence in worldly goods,
being the possessor, at this time, of a fine farm
upon which his declining years are being
passed. To his first marriage, already re-
ferred to, there were seven children born.
The living are, John, who resides in Iowa;
Ellen, wife of John Shideler; Sarah, wife of
Israel Kerschner; and Cynthia Ann, wife of
Samuel Stafford. His wife dying and leaving
him with a large family, Mr. Flinn subsequent-
ly, April 22, 1880, married his present wife,
Mary A. Rish, daughter of Heniy and Esther
Kerchner, natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs.
Flinn is the eldest in a family of fourteen
children and is highly respected by all who
know her. Mr. Flinn's political training has
been with the democratic party, and it is a
fact worthy of record that of the twelve
brothers, of which he is one, six were republi-
cans and six democrats. Mr. and Mrs. Flinn
are members of the Christian church, in wnich
they are highly respected.
^>^ ENNIS HEFFNER is decended pa-
I I ternally from German ancestors, his
/^^_^ father, Lawrence Heffner, having
come to the United States when a
boy of six years and located with his parents in
the state of Maryland Subsequently, he ven-
tured further west, going to Butler county,
Ohio, thence to Clarke county, the same
state, and later, 1849, became a resident
of Delaware county, Ind., where he purchased
120 acres of land. Lawrence Heffner and his
wife, Charlotte, had a family of six children,
namely: Mary, wife of Philip Dick; Dennis;
Catherine, wife of Henry Snyder; John; Perry,
deceased, and Ezra, deceased. The mother of
these children died in 1858 and the father on
the 3d day of November, i860.
Dennis Heffner was born in Frederick
county, Md., March 27, 1820, was raised a
farmer and received a limited education in the
country schools, which he attended but few-
months during the winter seasons. He is a
man, however, with much general information
and intelligence, and by attentive observation
and much mingling with his fellow men, has
become quite well informed. For a nurriber
of years a farmer, he has been successful in
that useful vocation to a goodly degree, and is
568
DELAWARE COUNTY;
now in the enjoyment of a comfortable com-
petence, the result of many years of economy
and labor. At the age of twenty-one he
learned the cooper's trade, which he followed
for some time, but since 1861, upon his re-
moval to Delaware county, he has been en-
gaged in the pursuit of agriculture. Novem-
ber 9, 1847, he was marrird to Sarah Coffett,
daughter of George and Sarah (Rogers) Cof-
fett, the father a native of Virginia, of Ger-
man descent, and the mother born in Iven-
tucky of Irish parentage. Mrs. Heffner is one
of a family of seven children, three of whom
are now living beside herself: Henry, Joseph
and Ellen, wife of John Shafer. George
Coffett died in 1879 and his wife in 1862, and
both are buried in Clarke county, Ohio. The
following are the names of the children born
to Dennis and Sarah Heffner: Elizabeth, wife
of William Dick; Mary E., Sadie E. and
Lawrence, living; those deceased, were
Amanda, Matilda, Charlotte and Millie. Po-
litically, Mr. Heffner is a democrat, and with
his wife, he belongs to the Christian church.
^>^ OBERT A. JOHNSON, a prominent
I /^ farmer and the present efficient trust-
M .P ee of Hamilton township, is a native
of Indiana, born in the county of
Randolph on the 20th day of April, 1853. His
father, Josiah Johnson, was also a native of
the Hoosier state and of German lineage.
Many years ago Josiah Johnson moved from
Wayne to Randolph county, and there married
Nancy Allen, who bore him three children,
namely: Ellen, wife of William A. Kimball:
George W., who resides with his widowed
mother in Wayne county; and Robert A.,
whose name introduces this biography. In
In early life Josiah Johnson followed the car-
penter's trade, but later, on account of a
severe attack of rheumatism, which pre-
vented active exercise, he followed, for some
years, the shoemaker's trade. He died July
22, 1863, in Wayne county, where his widow
is still living.
Robert A. Johnson, at the early age of
thirteen years, was obliged to rely upon his
own resources for a livelihood, and since that
time has had little or no assistance in the
struggle of life. He worked at different kinds
of employment, and in 1869 went to Illinois,
where, for some time, he was occupied as a
farm laborer; he remained in that state about
ten months, returning to Indiana at the end of
that time, and attending school for a limited
period in Wayne county. In the spring of
1870 he again went to Illinois, where he re-
mained until the following fall, at which time
he went further west, locating first in Neosho
county, Kan. , thence to the county of Sumner,
in the latter o*^ which he purchased, in 1871,
160 acres of land. He was a resident of
Kansas for a period of three years, at the end
of which time he returned to Indiana, and
since 1883 has been a resident of Hamilton
township, where he owns a good farm, pur-
chased in the last named year. In addition to
his farming interests Mr. Johnson is exten-
sively engaged in the manufacture of drain tile,
having a large factory on his place, the prod-
ucts of which have a wide sale in Delaware
county. Politically Mr. Johnson is a republi-
can, and as such was elected, in 1890, trustee
of Hamilton township, the duties of which
position he has since discharged with credit to
himself and satisfaction to all concerned.
Mr. Johnson has been married three times,
first in Sumner county, Kan., on the i6th day
of January, 1872, to Hatty Goodell, daughter
of John and Cora Goodell, to which union one
child, Harland D., was born. The death of
Mrs. Johnson occurred on the 23d of Decem-
ber, 1875, and in January, 1877, Mr. Johnson
R. A. JOHNSON
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
married his second wife, whose maiden name
was Edith Bookout, daughter of Thomas and
Nancy (Lumpkins) Bookout. Shortly after
this marriage, Mr. Johnson located in Ran-
dolph county, where he followed contracting
and building about two years, and later
located in Delaware county, at the date above
mentioned. His second wife dying in 1880,
on the 2d of July, 1882, he married his pres-
ent companion, Laura Murray, daughter of
James and Catherine (Taylor) Murray, who
were among the old settlers of Henry county,
where they still reside. The result of the last
union has been five children, whose names
are as follows: Guy B., Clyde C. and Corna
A, twins; Frank N. and Ruby, the last named
deceased. Mr. Johnson is a member of Wel-
come lodge K. of P., of Muncie, and is one of
the leading men of Hamilton township.
@EORGE JONSONBOUGH (deceas-
ed).— Among the departed citizens
of Delaware county, held in grateful
remembrance by a large circle of
relatives and friends, the name of George
Jonsonbough is deserving of special mention.
The ancestors of Mr. Jonsonbough were na-
tives of Pennsylvania, in which state his fath-
er, John Jonsonbough, and mother, whose
maiden name was Hannah Wise, were both
born. They were married in Wayne county,
Ohio, January 29, 1828, and later moved to
Indiana, locating in White county, where Mr.
Jonsonbough followed his trade of coopering
until his death in September, 1878. His wife
died a number of years previous, having been
called to her final rest on the 21st of Novem-
ber, 1846. John and Hannah Jonsonbough
reared a family of eight children, whose names
are as follows: George, whose name introduces
this sketch; Daniel; Elizabeth, deceased;
Catherine, deceased; Henry; Minta, deceased;
Margaret, wife of James Richie; and Hannah,
wife of Perry Godlove.
George Jonsonbough was born in Wayne
county, Ohio, January 25, 1829. When si.\-
teen years of age he began to learn the trade
of carpenter and builder, in which he soon
acquired great proficiency, and at which he
worked for some time in his native state and
in Indiana. In 1867 he removed to Royerton,
purchased the first lot that was sold in that
town, and erected a dwelling thereon, and for
some timeoperated quite successfully a saw mill,
which was extensively patronized by the citi-
zens of Royerton and vicinity. He was a man
of sterling integrity and was highly respected
in the community where he resided. His
death occurred on the 24th day of April, 1888,
and Union cemetery of Delaware county is his
final resting place. Mr. Jonsonbough was
married on the 22d day of August, 1857, to
Louisa Cline, daughter of Abraham and Massey
Cline, natives of Ireland and Virginia respect-
ively. Mrs. Jonsonbough was one of a fam-
ily of nine children, as follows: Jane, Eliza-
beth, Jemima, Amanda, Mahlon L. , Eli B ,
Mary E., Sarah J. and Louisa. The mother
of the above children died September 14, 1855,
and Mr. Cline afterward married Hannah Hat-
field, to which union three children were born:
MarthA., Emmery and Flora. The father and
mother of these children died August 30, 1866,
and October 30, 1892, respectively. To the
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jonsonbough were
born seven children: Sarah A., April 7, 1859,
wife of Eli Studebaker; Elmer E., January 9,
1862; Ira A., January 7, 1865; Henry K.,
June 20, 1870; Leotis, March 31, 1875; James
and Maggie, deceased.
It will thus be seen that the Jonsonbough
family were among the pioneers of Delaware
county, and that the family has alwaj-s main-
tained a high standard of respectability.
570
DELAWARE COUNTY;
QATTHEW Mccormick was bom
rine (Stifler) McCormick, of Irish
25, 1833, son ofWilliam and Cathe-
in Bedford county, Pa., September
and German descent, respectively, and both
natives of Pennsylvania. William McCormick
was, by occupation, a cabinet maker, and
worked at that trade in his native state until
1837, at which date he moved to Delaware
county, Ind. , and entered 160 acres of land in
Hamilton township, and began farming, which
he followed the residue of his days. He died
in 1855, and his wife followed him to the grave
on the 4th day of October, 1881.
Matthew McCormick was the second in a
family of nine children, and since early boy-
hood, has been a resident of Delaware county
in the growth and development of which he
has always taken an active part. His early
education was almost entirely neglected, but,
possessing a strong practical mind, which rises
above environments, he has since become well
informed upon current events, and has been
called to fill important official positions by his
fellow citizens. Shortly after attaining his
majority, in company with other spirits as dar-
ing as himself, Mr. McCormick joined the
exodus of gold seekers and went to California
for the purpose of improving his fortunes. He
went to that far off state via the New York and
Panama route, and was thirty days making the
voyage from New York city to San Francisco.
On reaching his destination, he found employ-
ment for some time in the mines, operated a
claim of his own for several months and then
returned to Indiana and resumed farming, having
been absent from 1854 to 1856. For ashort time
after his marriage, which was cousiimmated
June 21, 1856, with Miss Eliza A. Lefter,
daughter of Philip and Mary (Stadbrook)
Lefter. Mr. McCormick had charge of the
home farm, but subsequently purchased a place
in Hamilton township, where he resided until
March, 1893, when he removed to Shideler.
He entered the army, in 1864, as a member
of the Forty-second Indiana infantry, and was
with his command in the Atlanta campaign,
was present when the confederate Gen. John-
son surrendered his forces, and was mustered
out by the department of war at Louisville,
Ky. , in 1865, receiving his final discharge at
Indianapolis, Ind. Politically Mr. McCor-
mick is an ardent supporter of the republican
party, and as such has been three times com-
plimented by being elected to the office of
county commissioner, the duties of which he
discharged with credit to himself and satis-
faction to his constituents. Fraternally he is
member of the G. A. R. post of Eaton, Ind. ,
and in religion belongs to the Christian church,
with which religious body his wife is also
identified. Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are the
parents of the following children: Amelia and
Cordelia, twins, born .May 22, 1857, — the
former the wife of C. T. Bartlett and the lat-
ter of Charles Mansfield; Mary C. , born
November 13, i860, now deceased; Adam,
born September 8, 1866; Savannah, born
March 24, 1868, wife of Ralph H. Clark; Eva-
line, April 15, 1870; William, born July 11,
1874, and died February 9, 1875. Mr. Mc-
Cormick now owns 160 acres of land, and is
one of the leading men of this county. He is
now president of the board of county commis-
sioners. Evaline, the youngest daughter, has
been a teacher, for three years, in Muncie
schools.
HARON MOORE (deceased).— Few
residents of Hamilton township were
as widely and favorably known as
the late Aaron Moore. He was the
son of Lewis and Patience (Truitt) Moore, na-
tives of Ohio, who came to Delaware county
in the fall of 1829, settling in the township of
AARON MOORE.
MRS. MARY A. MOORE.
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
5T1
Centre, the former dying November 20, 1841,
and the latter in 1874. They were the par-
ents of ten children, of whom the following are
now living: Parker, of Centre township; Rhoda,
wife of Lloyd Wilcoxon of Muncie; Lewis, who
lives in Illinois, and Patience. The names of
the deceased are as follows: Nancy, John,
Aaron, Amanda, Sarah and Mary.
Aaron Moore was born in Scioto county,
Ohio, August 22, 1 8 19, and grew to manhood
on the farm, acquiring, in the meantime, a
practical education in the common schools.
He was married October 28, 1843, to Mary A.
Truitt, and immediately thereafter located on
120 acres of unimproved land, from which he
cleared a valuable farm and to which he subse-
quently added an additional seventy acres,
making his home place one of the best in Ham-
ilton township. He followed agricultural pur-
suits all his life and met with most flattering,
success, acquiring thereby a comfortable com-
petence, which with an' unblemished name he
left to his descendants Mr. and Mrs. Moore
had a family of six children, two of whom are
now living: Lewis and Florence, the latter
born October 24, 1856, and who in 1885 was
married to W. T. Minton. Mr. and Mrs.
Minton have one child, Lucy, born June 2 1 ,
1886. They reside on the home place and are
among the highly respected residents of Ham-
ilton township. The following are the names
of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Moore who
have passed from life: George; Naomi, left one
child; Mary E. Brook, born February 3, 1881;
Sarah, and Julia.
Mr. Moore was one of a class of men who
are rapidly passing from this region, and pos-
sessed, in a marked degree, the characteristics
which distinguish that class, namely, industry,
economy, good business foresight and a high
sense of moral obligation to the community.
He was for years a faithful member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he held
the position of class leader and Sunday school
superintendent, and was always identified with
the moral and spiritual advancement of his
neighborhood. Politically he supported the
democratic party, and at one time held the
office of trustee of his township. The death
of this good man occurred June 25, 1873, and
his body was laid to rest in the family plat of
the Moore cemetery, followed to the grave by
a large concourse of sorrowing relatives and
friends.
Mary A. Moore is the daughter of George
and Frances (Waldren) Truitt, both parents
natives of the state of Pennsylvania. George
Truitt went to Ohio at the age of fourteen,
where he lived until his majority, and in 1820
was united in marriage with Miss Truitt, who
bore him six children ; Mrs. Moore, being the
eldest of the number, was born April 16, 1822,
in Adams county, Ohio. The names of the
other members of the family are as follows:
Miner, deceased; Rhoda, wife of Samuel
Cecil, a farmer of Centre township; Joshua,
who resides in Muncie, and William, deceased.
The mother died in 1836, and the following
year George Truitt took to wife Mary Wal-
dren, who bore him one child, Caroline, who
died some years ago. The father died January,
1872, at an advanced age. Lewis, the eldest
son of Aaron and Mary A. Moore, was married,
in 1874, to Miss Ophelia G. Cones, and now
resides upon the home farm. He is one of the
prominent citizens of the community and one
of the representative farmers of Hamilton
township. He first attended the common
schools of Delaware county, and later spent
three years at Wabash college at Crawfords-
ville, Ind., where he intended to complete the
regular collegiate course, but on account of
the death of his father he abandoned that idea.
At nineteen years of age he enlisted in com-
pany B, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indi-
ana volunteer infantry. For three years he
572
DELAWARE COUNTY:
has been giving special attention to breeding
thoroughbred Jersey cattle.
>Tr*AMES POWELL, an old and honored
m resident of Hamilton township, is- a
(%J native of Hampshire county, Va.,
where his birth occurred on the 2d day
of June, 1809. His father, William Powell,
was born in New Jersey, of English parentage,
and the mother, whose maiden name was
Sarah Cooper, was a descendant of an old
Swedish family, that settled many years ago
in Virginia, where her birth occurred. Will-
iam Powell was a farmer and blacksmith, both
of which callings he followed in Virginia until
the year 1818, at which time he emigrated to
Ohio, thence, three years later to Wayne
county, Ind., where he died in the year 1863.
His wife died several years previous to that
date, and both are remembered as prominent
pioneers of Wayne count}'.
James Powell remained with his parents
until seventeen years of age, when he began
working at the blacksmithing trade for John
Clark, of Richmond, Ind., and later effected
a co-partnership with his father in the same
business, which they carried on for some years
near the town of Hagerstown. On the 2d day
of May, 1830, he married Emma Hancock,
daughter of Joseph and Susanah (Millman)
Hancock, of Montgomery county, Ohio The
fruit of this union was thirteen children, of
whom ten grew to be heads of families, name-
ly: Sarah, wife of Thomas Dean; Vashti,
wife of Benjamin Shaw; Elvira, wife of T.
Bonner; William, Ennis, John, Anna, wife of
Jonathan Shaw; Samuel; Mary, wife of David
Watson; Emily, wife of J. T. Julian. After
his marriage Mr. Powell worked at his trade
about one year in Wayne county, and in the
year 1 846 became a resident of Delaware
county, settling near the town of Shideler,
where he purchased seventy acres of wood
land, upon which he at once erected a cabin
and a blacksmith shop. He cleared a farm,
and in the meantime worked at his trade, and
eventually succeeded in placing himself in very
comfortable circumstances. His grandson,
Robert N. Powell, is now tilling the old home
farm and looking after his grandfather's interest.
In 1 86 1, Mrs. Powell died, and in 1863 Mr.
Powell married his second wife, Eliza J.
Bounds, who dif d in December, 1890 For
many years Mr. Powell has been a member of
the United Brethren church, of which denomi-
nation he is a local minister. He cast his first
vote for Andrew Jackson, but of late years has
affiliated with the republican party.
^y'^ AVID SIMONTON was born in Athens
I I county, Ohio, October 9, 1821, the
/^^_^ son of David and Anna (Ross) Sim-
onton, both parents natives of the
same state. David Simonton remained in
Ohio until 1832, at which time he came with
his mother to Delaware county, Ind., his father
having died ten years previous to that date.
He began life in obscurity and his early sur-
roundings were of the most discouraging na-
ture. Amid the stirring scenes of pioneer
times the years of his early youth and man-
hood were passed, and by the most rigid econ-
omy he succeeded in purchasing forty acres of
land, which he paid for by saving a part of his
meager earnings of thirty-seven cents a day.
From this piece of unbroken forest he cleared
a farm, and, as circumstances would permit,
purchased additional land, until finally he be-
came one of the largest and most prosperous
owners of real estate in the county, being at
one time the possessor of over 500 acres of
valuable land, all of which was gained by his
k*fet;
\' ■ t.
Jas. Powell.
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
678
own unaided efforts. In time he became quite
wealth}-, and by judicious investments suc-
ceeded in laying a foundation for a very hand-
some fortune. To his great credit, be it said,
that not one cent of his possessions was ob-
tained through any but the most honorable
means, and it is stated that no poor man
ever went to him for aid but what the favor
was granted. At the time of his death, it was
ascertained that there were -outstanding ac-
counts to the amount of $5,000 against cer-
tain parties whom he had generously aided
and from whom he never expected a return of
the money loaned. In addition to his large
tracts of real estate in Delaware county, he
was the possessor of much valuable personal
property, and at the time of his death had on
interest over $25,000. Mr. Simonton was a
firm believer in the religion of the Bible, and
for many years was an active member of the
Christian church, in which he held the office
of deacon. The death of this excellent man
occurred in 1885, and his memory is gratefully
cherished not only by his immediate family,
but by a large number of friends whom he
aided in times of distress and financial embar-
rassment. Mr. Simonton's first marriage was
solemnized in 1844, with Mrs. Mary A. Shan-
non, which union was blessed with the birth
of four children: John R. ; Elizabeth, wife of
Henderson Gates; Sarah A., and Maria J., the
last two of whom are deceased. The mother
of these children departed this life in the year
1852, and subsequently Mr. Simonton married
Minerva Burt, daughter of John and Mary A.
(Thompson) Kain, natives respectively of Ken-
tucky and Pennsylvania. To this second mar-
riage, five children were born, only one of
whom, Mrs. Mary Studebaker, is living at this
time. By a previous marriage with Joseph
Burt, Mrs. Simonton had two children: Mandy
and Ludlow, deceased. Mrs. Simonton was
born in Fayette county, Ind. , September 5,
1828, came to Delaware county in 1832,
learned the trade of a tailoress, and worked at
that business for about fifteen years.
Rev. George Studebaker, who married the
only living child of Mr. and Mrs. Simonton,
was born in Richland county. 111., July 17,
1 86 1. After receiving a good education, he
began teaching, at the age of twenty, and
followed that profession for several years
longer with gratifying success. On the 14th
of May, 1879, he united with the German Bap-
tist church, was chosen a minister of the same
in 1881, since which time he has devoted the
greater part of his time to preaching the gos-
pel, in which good work he has been greatly
blessed. His marriage with Miss Simonton was
consummated June 10, 1882, and their home is
now gladdened by the presence of one bright
child, Mark E., who was born January 21,
1888. Their first child, born October 4, 1883,
departed this life on the 21st day of Decem-
ber, 1884.
HLEXANDER SNIDER is one of the
largest farmers of Delaware county,
as well as one of its most progressive
and enterprising citizens. He is the
son of Joseph and Catherine (Stemtebaker)
Snider, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania
and Ohio, and descendants of old and highly
respected German families. Joseph and Cath-
erine Snider were married in Ohio, and came
to Indiana as early as 1835, settling in Union
township, where Mr. Snider purchased 140
acres of land and engaged in farming.
Alexander Snider was born in Miami county,
Ohio, January 26, 1826, accompanied his
parents to Delaware county when but nine
years of age, and here grew to manhood on
the farm, where he assisted his father and
began life, on his own responsibility, as a tiller
of the soil. His early educational advantages
574
DELAWARE COUNTY;
were quite meager, attending the schools of
the country on an average of about four weeks
each year, but being of an inquiring mind and
an intelHgent observer, he has since become
the possessor of a fund of practical knowledge
such as schools and colleges fail to impart.
On the 15th day of March, 1849, he was
united in marriage with Miss Nancy Sharp,
daughter of Absalom and Rachael (Beezly)
Sharp, natives of Indiana and Ohio, re-
spectively. After marriage Mr. Snider en-
gaged in farming on a tract of 80 acres
which he purchased, and to which he has
added from time to time until he now owns
215 acres of valuable land, beside having given
to each of his children a good home. Mr.
Snider had been very thrifty in his dealings,
and by the exercise of rare business tact, has
accumulated a comfortable fortune, being the
largest tax payer in Hamilton township, and
among the wealthiest farmers in the county.
He is a public spirited man, and uses his in-
fluence in behalf of all enterprises having for
their object the welfare of the community, and
stands deservedly high in the estimation of his
neighbors and fellow citizens. Politically he
is a republican, and for many years has been a
deacon in the German Baptist church, with
which his wife is also identified. He is one of
a family of nine children, all of whom grew to
beheads of families, and became worthy people.
The following are the names of the children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Snider: John A., whose
birth occi rred January 7, 1850, married Ehza-
beth Jonsonbourgh, and is located in Hamilton
township; Rachael B., born July 30, i860, the
wife of Jacob Raric, and is also a resident of
the township of Hamilton.
It is to the men of Mr. Snider's caliber that
a country owes its growth and prosperity,
and such as he are always made welcome
wherever new settlements are made by the
pioneers.
HOMAS STAFFORD, of Hamilton
township, is a native of Clarke coun-
ty, Ohio, and dates his birth from the
1st day of January, 1819. His father,
Thomas Stafford, was born in Ireland, and his
mother, whose maiden name was Catherine
(Williams) Stafford, was a native of Virginia
and a descendant of an old and highly respect-
ed German family of that state. Thomas Staf-
ford, Sr. , came to the United States at the age
of ten years, with his parents, and passed the
early years of his manhood in Virginia, subse-
quently moving to Ohio, where he remained
until his death, which occurred at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-two .years. Mrs. Staf-
ford departed this life at the age of fifty-two,
and was the mother of twelve children, all of
whom became heads of families and four of
whom are living at this time, namely: George
W. , of Clarke county, Ohio; Thomas, of Dela-
ware county, Ind. ; Henry W. , a resident of
Clinton county, Ind., and Lucinda, wife of
Michael Snyder, who also resides in the county
last named. Thomas Stafford, Sr., followed
farming all of his life, and was a very success-
ful man, having accumulated a valuable tract
of land consisting of 320 acres in Clarke
county, Ohio.
Thomas Stafford, Jr., for whom this sketch
is prepared, was reared in his native county
and state and was there married on the 20th
day of January, 1846, to Matilda J. Black,
daughter of Samuel and Malinda (Mitchell)
Black, parents natives respectively of Virginia
and Ohio. Having definitely decided upon
adopting the pursuit of agriculture as his life
work, he began the same in Clarke county,
Ohio, and five years after his marriage, think-
ing to improve his fortune further west, he
emigrated to Indiana and settled in Delaware
county, where he purchased a tract of land
consisting of 240 acres, upon which he at once
erected a small cabin and began clearing a
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP.
575
farm. From the days of his boyhood Mr.
Stafford has practiced habits of infjustry which
have borne rich fruit, and ever since locating
in this county his financial condition has con-
tinually improved, having at one time been
the possessor of 400 acres of as choice land as
lies in the central part of Indiana. He has
risen to his present independent position by
his own exertions and the competence he en-
joys is the reward of untiring labor and cour-
age in the battle with the world. He has been
liberal with his children, assisting each to a
good farm, and is now passing his declining
years practically retired from the active duties
of life and in the enjoyment of well earned and
highly appreciated quietude. To bless their
wedded life there were five children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Stafford, namely: Sylvester, a
prosperous farmer who has charge of the home
place; Samuel, a well known resident of Ham-
ilton township; Joseph, a farmer of Delaware
county; Laura E , wife of Charles Spencer.
As members of the Methodist Episcopal
church, Mr> Stafford and his estimable wife
have lead consistent christian lives, and by the
practicc'of the religion they profess, have been
the means of accomplishing great good in the
community.
tV^GBERT W. STRADLING, one of
I /^ the progressive farmers of Hamilton
M .P township and a member of one of the
old and highly respectable families of
Delaware county, of which he is a native, was
born in the township of Hamilton, March 20,
1858, the son of Rhodes and Rachel (McCor-
mack) Stradling. Rhodes Stradling was a
native of Ohio and came with his parents to
Indiana when a boy, and here married Miss
McCormack, who bore him two children,
namely: Willie Ann, wife of Cornelius B.
Price, and Robert, whose name opens this
sketch. Rhodes Stradling was a prosperous
farmer, and at the time of his death, which
occurred in iS()i, was the owner of 240 acres
of valuable hind in Hamilton township. As
a member of the Methodist church, he had
for many years lived a most excellent christian
life; in politics he wielded an influence for the
republican party, and his death was felt to be
a great loss to the community in which he had
so long resided. Mrs. Stradling afterward
re-married, and is still a resident of the town-
ship of Hamilton, being now Mrs. N. Poland.
Robert W. Stradling was but five years old
when his father died, and with the exception
of three years spent with his grandfather in
Muncie, passed his life upon the farm. He was
married February 16, 1877, to Mary E. Weir,
daughter of Even and Louisa (Williamson)
Weir, the father, a native of Pennsylvania, of
Irish descent, and the mother of Ohio, where she
was born of German parentage. After marriage
Mr. Stradling located about three miles from
the village of Royerton on a farm of eighty-
five acres, and in 1879 removed to his present
place, about one quarter of a mile of Royer-
ton, where he owns a valuable farm of 180
acres, upon which there is some of the best
improvements in the township. Mr. Stradling
is one of the progressive men of Delaware
county, a representative farmer, and a man
whom his neighbors and friends all unite in
praising. Politically he is a republican, and
while not a member of any church, gives cheer-
fully to aid all religious movements, and is a
liberal friend of everything that has a tendency
to advance the moral well being of the com-
munity. Like his father, Mr. Stradling posess-
es excellent business qualifications, and by
careful management and wise foresight has
succeeded in accumulating a goodly portion of
this world's goods. Mrs. Stradling is a member
of the United Brethren church, and has been
a very valuable helpmeet to her husband during
576
DELAWARE COUNTY:
their wedded life. Of the eight children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Stradling five are living at
this time, namely: Frank H., Rachel E.,
Huldah L. , Lillian L. , and Jesse W. Mrs.
Stradling is one of five children, namely: Mrs.
Emma Sheets; Julia; wife of Benjamin Boyd;
Rose, wife of Lawrence C. Klus; Thomas Weir
and herself. The mother died in 1870; the
father is still living in this county.
SAMUEL K. THOMAS.— Among the
pioneers who had the courage to cast
their fortunes in Delaware county,
was William Thomas, who moved to
this part of Indiana from the state of Ohio as
early as 1834 and purchased 160 acres of land
in what is now Hamilton township. He
cleared a good farm and became a leading
citizen in the community in which he resided.
He married, in Ohio, Louise Batteral, and was
the father of six children when he came to
this state. The names of the children of
William and Louisa Thomas were as follows:
Nancy, wife of James Abbott; Lydia, wife of
George Fetteral; James, John, Cordelia and
Samuel K. , whose name introduces this bio-
graphical sketch. Of the above number James,
John and Cordelia are deceased. The father
departed this life in February, 1863, and the
mother only a few days previous to that date.
Samuel K. Thomas was reared on the
home farm, and since 1834 has been a resident
of Delaware county, the history of which
would be incomplete without an appropriate
mention of his name. His early educational
training was of the most limited character, at-
tending school but a few months in the winter
season during the years of his minority, and
on reaching his twenty-first year, he began
working for his father on the home farm and
continued looking after the latter's interest
until about the age of thirty. In November,
1 86 1, he was united in marriage with Sarah
Cochran, daughter of Hiram and Betsy Coch-
ran, of Ohio, and one year later located where
he now lives in Hamilton township, purchasing
a piece of unimproved land, which has since
been developed into one of the finest farms in
Hamilton township. Mr. Thomas has made
a careful study of the science of agriculture
and has been rewarded by having his efforts,
in this direction, crrowned with the most flat-
tering success. His place is a model in nearly
every respect, and among the many improve-
ments on the same are a large and commodi-
ous brick residence and a very fine barn, in
which are stowed all the modern appliances of
agriculture. In January, 1881, Mr. Thomas
suffered a great bereavement in the loss of his
wife, who died that year, leaving one child.
Three years later Mr. Thomas was united in
wedlock to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Moses
and Sarah (Bonner) Ashcraft, both parents
natives of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
are faithful members of the Christian church,
and politically he is a supporter of the princi-
ples of the republican party. Mrs. Thomas is
one of the family of six children, the names of
her brothers and sisters being as follows:
Amos, deceased; James, a resident of West
Virginia; Daniel, a farmer of Delaware coun-
ty, Ind. ; Rebecca, wife of Jacob Powell, of
Wilson county, Kan., and John J. Ashcraft,
who resides in West Virginia.
>^OHN D. WHITE, son of John and Han-
m nah (McDaniels) White, was born in
/» w Butler county, Ohio, January 20, 1816.
John White, Sr. , was a native of Penn-
sylvania, where he was born in 1789, and the
mother's birth occurred in Virginia in 1791.
After their marriage, this couple moved to But-
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP
577
ler county, Ohio, and in 1817 immigrated to
Indiana, locating in Franklin county, where,
in 1826, Mr. White purchased from the gov-
ernment 126 acres of land. He died in 1859,
and in 1870 his faithful wife, who had been his
helpmate through so many long years of strug-
gle, was called to her rest in 1870. John and
Hannah White had a family of ten children,
eight of whom lived to have families of their
own, six of the number now living, namely:
Thomas N., retired farmer of Decatur county,
Ind. ; Abigail, the wife of O. Reed; John D.,
Isaac, of Decatur county, this state; Hannah
J., wife of William Eddings, and Samuel S.,
a resident of the state of Kansas.
John D. White lived with his parents until
his marriage, which occurred December 31,
1835, with Louisa Earl, daughter of James
and Nancy (Ward) Earl, after which event he
engaged in farming for himself in Decatur
county, where he lived until his removal to the
county of Delaware in 1869. He has given
the best energies of his life to his chosen call-
ing of agriculture, and financially has met
with gratifying success, owning at this time a
well improved farm in Hamilton township.
By his marriage with Nancy Ward, Mr. White
became the father of the following children:
Thomas, deceased; Mar\-, deceased; Robert;
Isaac; John N. ; Mary J., wife of Charles
Tingle; Nancy L. , wife of Joseph Campbell,
and Thomas R. In the year 1853, death in-
vaded the home of Mr. White, and took
thence his companion, and later he was
united in marriage to Anna Earl, of Indiana.
Mrs. White was born in Franklin county, Ind. ,
and has borne her husband the following chil-
dren: Elizabeth, wife of John Turner; Han-
nah J., wife of Ephraim Colvin; America,
wife of Joseph Shaffer; Hester, wife of George
Rusler; Samuel D., Edda N., Joseph E., and
James O., the last named not living. Mr.
and Mrs. White are well known and highly
respected citizens, and have endeared them-
selves to their friends and neighbors by their
many kindly acts and words of encouragement.
For a number of years they have been mem-
bers of the Christian rluirch, and their lives
have indeed been e\(_'nn)lar\ .
HDAM WILLIAMSON.— The ances-
tors of the gentleman whose sketch
is herewith presented were natives of
Germany, from which country his
paternal ancestors emigrated to the United
States many years ago, settling in one of the
eastern states, subsequently moving to Ohio.
His father, Peter Williamson, was born in
1802, and in 1827 married Rosanna Shafer,
the daughter of a German emigrant who came
to this country in the year 1820. Peter Will-
iamson owned a farm in Ohio, which he dis-
posed of in 1834, and moved to Delaware
county, Ind., where he purchased 320 acres of
land, adding to the latter tract an additional
eighty acres, thus making a good home, upon
which his death occurred in 1870.
John Adam Shafer, the maternal grand-
father of Adam Williamson, accompanied by
the mother of Mrs. Rosanna Williamson, left
Germany on the 19th of September, 1819,
with the object of coming to the new world.
He was accompanied by his family, consisting
of his wife, Sabina, three sons and five daugh-
ters, all of whom were born in the province of
Nuremburg, and after passing through several
provinces of Germany, finally took a sailing
vessel for Amsterdam, Holland, which city
they failed to reach on account of the vessel
springing a leak, which necessitated the cap-
tain putting into the port of Lisbon, Portugal,
where they remained until December 24, of
the same year, when they again put to sea.
From Lisbon the vessel, upon which they em-
578
DELAWARE COUNTY:
barked, made its way directly to Baltimore,
Md. , where they arrived, without any further
mishaps, February 25, 1820. Having been so
long upon the journey from the fatherland,
Mr. Shafer was compelled to expend all of his
means, so that upon arriving in the new
world, three of the older children were bound
out from three to five years, in order to pay
their passage, which amounted to $80 each.
The rest of the family immediately proceeded
by wagon to Brownsville, Pa., thence to
Portsmouth, Ohio, by flat boat, where Mrs.
Shafer died in 1821, a short time after reach-
ing their destination. Three and one half
years after their arrival at Portsmouth, George
Shafer walked to Baltimore to fetch his sisters
to their western home, two of whom returned
wiih him, while the third remained in the east
several years longer, rejoining the family in
1832. Subsequently, Mr. Shafer came to
Indiana and settled in Hamilton township,
Delaware county, where he remained until his
death, July, 1870, at the advanced age of
ninety-five years.
Adam Williamson accompanied his parents
to Delaware county when five years of age,
since which time he has passed the greater
part of his life within its borders, being now
among its oldest living residents. Here he
grew to manhood, and in his youthful days at-
tended the country schools, and on attaining
his majority engaged in the pursuit of agricul-
ture, which has been his life work. April 12,
1853, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah
Moore, daughter of Lewis and Patience (Truitt)
Moore, the parents both being natives of Ohio
and of English descent. Six children were
born to this union, namely: William A., a
resident of Muncie; Flora B., wife of Amos
Garrison; Mary T. , wife of Dant Smith; Hat-
tie, wife of William Norris; Emma Z. and
Effie. The mother of these children died No-
vember 6, 1S80, and lies buried in Beech Grove
cemetery, Muncie. Subsequently, March 8,
1882, Mr. Williamson married his present
wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Pittenger,
daughter of Daniel and Ellen (Jones) Pitten-
ger. Mr. Williamson is a democrat in politics,
belongs to Muncie lodge. No. 74, I. O. O. F. ,
and with his wife is a communicant of the
Methodist Episcopal church. He owns 160
acres of fine land two and one-half miles north
of Muncie. He settled on this farm forty years
ago, and cleared it from the green. He is one
of the leading citizens of the township.
>nr»AMES WOOD.— Among the well known
M citizens of Hamilton township was the
^ 1 late James Wood, who, for many years,
was one of the representative men of
this community. His parents, William and
Dorcas (Bowen) Wood, moved to Delaware
county in 1839 and remained here until their
respective deaths. James Wood was born in
Ross county, Ohio, April 11, 1821, and when
thirteen years of age began to learn the tailor's
trade in the town of Greenfield, the same state,
and after remaining in that place until 1840,
came to Indiana and followed his chosen call-
ing for some time in the town of Anderson;
later he opened a shop of his own in Granville,
Ind. , where he carried on a successful business
for several years. In 1850 he located on the
farm in Hamilton township, Delaware county,
upon which his widow still resides, and became
a leading agriculturist. Mr. Wood was a man
of character and good social standing, a devout
member of the Christian church, in which he
had been a deacon for a number of years, and
the precepts of which he exemplified in his
daily life and conversation. The death of this
excellent man occurred on the 29th day of May,
1892, and his remains now rest beneath the
shades of the Granville cemetery.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
579
His marriage with Miss Susan Gregory,
daughter of John and Nancy (Shideler) Greg-
ory, took place in 1845. Mrs. Wood was one
of a family of eleven children, only one of
whom, besides herself, is living, namely,
Thomas Gregory. The names of those de-
ceased, as far as can be remembered, are as
follows: Mary P., Sarah, Susannah, Elizabeth,
Jane, John S., and Noble; the last named
killed while serving this country in the late
war. The father of these children died Janu-
ary 29, 1843 and the mother departed this life
April 2, 1887. Mrs. Wood resides on the
home farm, which she manages very success-
fully, and is an estimable christian lady, highly
respected in the community. Never having
had any children of her own, she is now rais-
ing a niece. Miss Nettie Gregory, daughter of
Thomas and Jennie Gregory, whom she took
at the age of seven years.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
^>^ ENJAMIN BARCLAY.— All of the
l/''^ people of Harrison township know
('^^J Benjamin Barclay, the subject of this
sketch, and know him favorably. He
was born May 4, 1828, in Licking county,
Ohio, being the son of James and Elizabeth
(German) Barclay. The father was born in
1804 in Virginia, and the mother in Maryland.
The father came to Licking county when but
a boy with his parents, and spent the greater
part of his life in farming. In politics he was
a democrat of the Jackson school. He and
his wife were members of the Methodist church.
Benjamin Barclay lived with his parents
until the age of eighteen, when he was ap-
prenticed to the trade of a blacksmith, work-
ing at this for two years for his board and
clothing. After this he followed his trade for
two years and then was a farmer for one year.
At this time he came to Indiana and located
in Henry county, following his trade, after
which he came to this county and bought
eighty acres of land in the northwest corner of
Harrison township. Here he built a shop and
worked at his trade, farming at the same time
for eighteen years. At this time our subject
lives on a farm in this township, and still owns
the original acres upon which he settled. Mr.
Barclay was married November i, 1849, to
Miss Elizabeth Mclnturf. His wife was born
July 4, 1831, and died January 25, 1865. She
was the daughter of Frederick and Anna
(Myers) Mclnturf, they being natives of Ohio,
her father following the occupation of a farmer.
Mrs. Barclay, the wife of our subject, was a
devoted member of the Methodist church. By
this marriage our subject was the father of six
children, namely: Salathiel, deceased; Louisa,
Susannah, Sarah, Netta, and James Leonidas.
Mr. Barclay again entered into the holy
bonds of matrimony December 24, 1885,
taking for his wife the daughter of Joseph and
Elizabeth (Shafer) Williamson; her father
being a native of New Jersey, where he was
born in 1790, and her mother was born in
Germany in 1802, the latter came to this
country with her parents when but a child.
The father of Mrs. Barclay came to Scioto
county, Ohio, where he owned a fine farm at
the time of his death, which occurred in 1849.
His wife survived him until the year 1880,
when she died in the faith of the Methodist
580
DELAWARE COUNTY:
church, in which she had hved all her days.
The second wife of Mr. Barclay was the
widow of W. F. Nottingham, who was a na-
tive of Ohio and came to this state when but
a child. He was born in 1828, and died in
1880. He was married to the present Mrs.
Barclay August 4, 1850, and by this marriage
Mrs. Barclay had four children, namely: Jos-
eph, deceased; George, deceased; John; and
Sarah Catherine, deceased. Mr. and Mrs.
Barclay are both consistent members of the
Methodist church. Our subject is devoted to
the principles of the democratic party, and
heartily supports its candidates.
,>^ EV. GEORGE BOXELL.— Harrison
I /^ township can point to more than one
1 W of her citizens with pride, for not
only have they fulfilled all the require-
ments of private life, but when occasion de-
manded have assumed the duties of public
office in such a manner as to call forth the
admiration of their constituents. Such a man
is George Boxell, one of the prominent farm-
ers of the township, now serving as township
trustee. Mr. Boxell was born January 16,
1833, in the state of Virginia, a son of Joseph
and Elenor (Shamlin) Boxell, natives of Vir-
ginia and Ireland, respectfully. Mrs. Boxell
came to this country when still young. When
the subject was still a boy, the family removed
to Boone county, Ohio, and in 1835 to Grant
county, Ind. The family name of Boxell is an
old one, the ancestral record reaching back
many generations to English progenitors.
George Boxell remained with his parents
until he reached his majority, when he
engaged in teaching for some three years in
Grant county, after which he began to preach,
riding what was known as the Jonesborough
circuit for a number of years. During his
ministry he was greatly beloved and the good
he did in this capacity can not be over esti-
mated. At present Mr. Boxell is the owner of
eighty acres of choice land in Harrison town-
ship, where he is greatly respected by the
entire community. Mr. Boxell's first marriage
was solemnized January 16, 1858, with Miss
Rhoda McKever, daughter of Noah and Eliza-
beth McKever, natives of Ohio. Mrs. Boxell
died January 10, 1880, and July 26, 1882, Mr.
Boxell was married again, his second choice
being Miss Emma Thompson, who was born
October 18, 1862. By this last marriage one
child, Estella, has been born. It is a remark-
able fact, and but an indication of the popu-
larity of Mr. Boxell, that, at the time of his
election to his present office, he received a
large majority over the republican candidate,
although he had made no canvass, which fact
attests his great popularity with the people,
irrespective of party affiliation. He is a mem-
ber of the democratic party. In the language
of David Hill, of N. Y. , "I am a democrat."
He is a minister of the Methodist Protest .mt
church and for thirty-five years he has been
preaching. He has preached 1,308 funeral
sermons. He has been prominent in church
work.
*y ^ TRAM BRANSON is a man approach-
w^"\ ing seventy years, and has spent his
£ ,* life in such a manner as to command
the respect of his neighbors, and
meet with the approval of his conscience. He
was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 4,
1825; being the son of Elizabeth and Robert
Branson; the former was born in North Caao-
lina, in 1798, and the latter was born in Vir-
ginia in 1802. Robert Branson settled in
Highland county, Ohio, with his grandfather
when a boy, going there on a pack horse. He
was one of the first settlers of Henry county,
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
581
Ind., reaching there in 1827. In the spring
of 1840 he came to Delaware county, Ind.,
where he engaged in farming until his death,
which took place in 1852. Hiram Branson re-
mained at home until his marriage, which
occurred July 27, 1848; his wife being Miss
Charlotte Jackson, daughter of Jesse and
Mary Jackson, both natives of Tennessee.
Mr. Branson had born to him by this marriage
the following children: Rufus, Isaac, Sarah,
Noah C, John, Jerry S., Martin, Phebe Jane
and Oliver P. Mr. Branson married again
January 20, 1865, his choice being the widow
of Wilson Lacy; her first husband being a
native of Tennessee and a farmer. This wife
was called away from earth in August, 1877;
having borne Mr. Branson five children, as
follows: Frances, Martha, George, Cynthia
Ann, and Cora May, deceased. Mr. Branson
married a third time, September 27, 1878, the
maiden name of his wife being Susanna Bur-
gess, the widow of Jacob Jetmore. By this
wife there was one child, Clara Ellen. He
and his wife are both members of the German
Baptist church.
Mr. Branson enlisted during the war in
company B, One Hundred and Forty-seventh
Indiana regiment, for one year, or during the
war. This was in February, 1865, and he
returned home May 22 of that year, having
been in no battle. Our subject was a whig,
after which he became a republican, and is
now a prohibitionist.
J. H. Branson was born in Stony Creek
township, Henry county, Ind., February 10,
1 83 1, and lived with his parents until he was
of age, after which he worked for his father
two years on the farm, and then went to Cal-
ifornia. There he remained two years engaged
in mining, which proved profitable; then he
returned to this township and bought eighty
acres of land, which is his present farm, and
is under good cultivation. He was united in
marriage July 6, 1856, to Miss Mary Fox,
daughter of Asa and Mary Fox; her mother
being a native of Connecticut, and her father
of Pennsylvania.
The father, when a young man, located in
Kentucky, where he remained thirty years, and
then came to Harrison township. The mother
of the wife of our subject was a member of the
Methodist church.
By his marriage with Miss Fox our subject
had the following children: Elizabeth, Sara
Ann, Ellen Martha, George W. , Premma,
William, deceased, Joseph, William Jehosha-
phat, deceased, Edward J., Asa deceased.
Flora Belle and Mary Minnie. In politics
Mr. Branson was a whig until the republican
party came into existence, since which time he
has been an active member of that party. He
is a member in good standing of the Christian
church, and is a worthy and good citizen.
JOSEPH S. BROWN,— No man is so in-
dependent as the farmer. To him the
residents of the great cities look for
theproducts of the soil, while he, if he
wish, can be entirely independent of their toil.
After many years devoted to the tilling of the
soil, the subject of this sketch, Joseph S.
Brown, is ready to agree that, although the life
of a farmer be full of toil and hardships, yet on
the whole it is a very pleasant one. Mr. Brown
was born March 20, 18 19, in the state of Penn-
sylvania, son of John and Elizabeth (Staup)
Bjown, both natives of Pennsylvania, of Ger-
man descent. In 1834 the family removed to
Ohio, settling in Henry county. Mr. Brown,
Sr. , remained in Henry county until the time
of his death, engaged in coopering, carpenter-
ing and farming.
Joseph S. Brown was educated in the com-
mon schools and remained with his parents
582
DELAWARE COUNTY:
until he became of age, when he rented a farm
in CHnton county, Ohio, where he remained
until 1853, at which date he removed to Dela-
ware county, Ind. , and purchased forty acres of
land, to which he later added forty acres, making
eighty acres in all. This farm was a wild, unculti-
vated one, but Mr. Brown reclaimed it from a wil-
derness and brought it to its present state of
cultivation. Mr. Brown was married in 1841,
to Mrs. Mary (Jones) Taylor, born in 1809,
widow of James Taylor, and daughter of Will-
iam and Nancy Jones. Four children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, namely: John,
deceased; WilHam Henry; Ehza Jane, wife of
William Downing, and James H., deceased.
Mrs. Brown died in 1891, and her remains rest
in Nottingham cemetery. She died in the faith
of the Chri.=tian church, of which body her hus-
band has been for years a faithful member. In
politics Mr. Brown supports the principles
enunciated by the democratic party. In every
particular he has fulfilled all the duties re-
quired of him in every walk of life to which he
has been called, and justly meriis the esteem
in which he is held by his neighbors and
friends throughout Harrison and other town-
ships.
at
'ILLIAM H. COFFIN.— Among the
prosperous farmers of Harrison
township whose name his friends
will greet in this volume with
pleasure, is the subject of the present notice.
He was born in this township, Januar} 20,
1847, a son of Isaac and Mary (Reed) Coffin,
the former a native of Hamilton county, Ohio,
born there November 18, 1821, a son of Sam-
uel and Rachel Coffin, natives of Massachu-
setts and of Kentucky. Samuel Coffin was a
stone mason and plasterer by trade. He came
to this state and located in Fayette county,
in 1833, on 100 acres of land there, but six
years later he came to Delaware county and
bought the 160 acres now owned by his son.
He died in 1855 and his wife then removed to
Wayne county where her life ended ten years
later. They had both been members of the
Baptist church. Isaac Coffin lived with his
parents until he was of age, and then engaged
to work, for his father, by the month, for a
few years, at which time he bought a farm of
eighty-five acres of his father. For one year
he lived in Butler county, Ohio, since which
time he has lived on his present farm engaged
in agricultural pursuits. In 1841 he married
Mary Doty, the widow of Samuel Doty, who
had formerly been a Reed. Her death oc-
curred November 15, 1892, and her remains
rest in Bethel cemetery in Harrison township.
For forty years both she and husband were
members of the United Brethern church.
They had two children, William Henry, and
Rachel, the wife of William Brown.
William H. Coffin was reared on the home
farm and remained during his minority with
parents. He learned the carpenter trade and
worked at that for two years, following which
he rented a farm of Mr. Joseph Quick for two
years, and then moved to Grant county where
he was engaged in the manufacture of tile for
two years. He then moved to his present farm,
having since resided in Harrison township. He
has a fine place here, and is a man much
esteemed in this locality. For the past four years
he has held the office of justice of the peace.
Politically, he is a republican. Mr. Coffin was
married November 22, 1873, to Miss Mary Ann
Needier, daughter of George and Lydia (Cun-
ningham) Needier, he a native of Ohio, born
in May, 1832, and she in the same year, No-
vember 20, in the state of Virginia. Mrs. Cof-
fin accompanied her parents to Grant county
when three years of age, and Mr. Needier is
still a resident of that county, where he is en-
gaged in farming. The mother died a year
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
ago. Both parents were members of the
Methodist church, and Mr. Needier is a repub-
Hcan of that county, known as a man of worth
and sagacity. Mr. and Mrs. Coffin are the
parents of the following children. Adam C,
Nora Josephine, deceased; James Henry,
Lydia Margaret, deceased; John, deceased;
Martha R. , \N'alter Earl, and Osa Edna, de-
ceased. Mr. Coffin formerly voted the repub-
lican ticket, but in late years his views of
public questions have undergone a change, and
he now belongs to the people's party. He is a
man who is highly respected wherever known.
eNOCH DRUMM, an enterprising citi-
zen of Harrison township, Delaware
county, Ind. , was born in the county
of Muskingum, Ohio, on the loth day
of June, 1840, son of Peter and Clasissa (Lake)
Drumm. Paternally, Mr. Drumm is descended
from German ancestry, and his father was for
many years a farmer and manufacturer of stone
ware in the above county and state. Mr.
Drumm's boyhood days were spent on the
farm much the same as the majority of country
lads and from the age of twelve his time was
alternately devoted to tilling the soil and
working in the stoneware factory in the sum-
mer and attending the district schools in the
winter season. In his twentieth year Mr.
Drumm came to Muncie, Ind. , near which
city he found employment as a farm laborer,
and later he taught in the public schools for a
limited period. On the 21st day of August,
1 861, he married Margaret Gibson, daughter
of Andrew and Rebecca Gibson, of Delaware
county, and from that time until April, 1867,
lived in Monroe township. He then moved
to his present beautiful farm in Harrison
township, where he has since resided, and
he now ranks among the most energetic and
thrifty agriculturists in the county of Dela-
ware. Mrs. Margaret Drumm bore her hus-
band the following children: Emanuel, An-
derson, Peter Emsley, Marion, Howard, Clara
R. and Enoch Orvil. Of these children Peter
E. and Anderson preceded their mother to the
grave, and on the 24th day of April, 1879, she
was summoned to her final rest, leaving a child
twenty-two days old, Enoch O. , who died
shortly thereafter. Left with a family of de-
pendent children on his hands, Mr. Drumm
managed to keep them all together and look
after their interests as only an indulgent father
could have done, until 1881, on October 29 of
which year he married Mrs. Ann E. (Kern)
Gough, who proved to be a kind mother to the
family and a helpmate in the true sense of the
word to her husband. Two children have been
born to the second marriage: Addie F. and
Maud. As already noted, Mr. Drumm is one
of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Har-
rison township, and it is also just to class him
with its most intelligent, wide-awake and
broad minded citizens. His farm, consisting of
160 acres of highly cultivated land, is well pro-
vided with excellent buildings, among which is
a silo, the first structure of the kind ever erect-
ed in Delaware county. Mr. Drumm was
elected trustee of this township in 1873, the
duties of which office he discharged with credit
to himself and satisfaction to the public for a
period of nine years. He takes considerable
interest in all matters pertaining to natural
gas and he uses that ideal fuel in his home also
for pumping water and operating other kinds
of machinery. He is essentially a self-made
man in all that term implies, and his present
comfortable competence and fortunate position
in life are the results of his own unaided
efforts. In all the relations of life Mr. Drumm
has proven himself up to the mark, whether
those relations were of a public or private
nature.
584
DELAWARE COUNTY:
>T^OHN DRUMM— About as near as one
m gets in this country to being absolutely
A 1 independent is to be the owner of a
nice farm in a section that gives plenty
of rain and sunshine for the crops. Take the
case of John Drumm, of Harrison township,
with his broad acres, his nice house and barn,
his horses and cattle and hogs, there is no noble
in Europe half so happy and independent as
he and his neighbors, who are fixed like him.
Mr. Drumm has passed the three score and
ten of the psalmist, and yet his natural vigor
is not abated, and he enjoys life as it passes.
He was born October 20, 1820, at Hopewell,
Muskingum county, Ohio, being the son of
Samuel and Susan H. (Writner) Drumm, the
father being born December 15, 1786, and the
mother February 12, 1795, he being a native
of Virginia, and she of Philadelphia, Pa.
Samuel Drumm went to Ohio when a boy with
his parents, and lived with them until he was
of age, spending his time upon the farm. Then
he went into the manufacturing business, con-
tinuing at it for fifteen years; after which he
became a farmer and continued at that until
his death, at the age of sixty-eight. In poli-
tics he was a democrat, and voted for the can-
didates of that party. His wife survived him
six or seven years. He and she were members
of the Methodist church. At the time of his
death he owned 640 acres, the result of the
labor of his own hands. He was the father of
twelve children, all of whom lived to a good
old age except one, who died in early woman-
hood.
John Drumm remained at home upon the
farm until he was of age and after that he con-
tinued there, farming on his own account,
until 1863, when he came to Harrison town-
ship and bought land where he now lives —
eighty acres, and afterward added thirty acres
to that purchase. He was married, at the age
of twenty-four, to Sarah, daughter of Andrew
and Mary (Weaver) Wise, natives of Pennsyl-
vania, her mother being seven )'ears the junior
of her father. The father was a farmer and a
member of the United Brethern church, the
mother also being a member of that body.
Mrs. Sarah Drumm bore her husband thirteen
children, and died in 1871 and was buried in
Bethel cemetery. The names of these child-
ren were: Ashford, married to Mary Eber;
Millie Ann, married to John Eber; Mary, wife
of Bolen Weaver; Leonard, deceased; Amelia,
wife of Leander Weaver; Elias, married to
Mary Hale; Harry J., married to Mary Apple- .
gate; Jennie, wife of Peter Wier; George,
married to Eva Shucks; Norma Belle, deceased;
Susannah, deceased; Caroline, deceased; and
Laura, at home.
Mr. Drumm next married, in July, 1873,
Mrs. Auker, the widow of Henry Auker. Mrs.
Drumm died in the following March. Mr.
Drumm was reared a United Brethern, but
after coming to this county he became a Metho-
dist. In politics he is a democrat and always
votes the ticket of that party.
at
ALTER GRAY, prominent farmer
and lawyer, is a native of Indiana,
born on the 15th day of July, 1851,
in the county of Randolph. His
father, Matthew Gray, was born in Wayne
county, Ind. , in the year 1822, moved to
Delaware county in 1853, settling in Perry
township, where he resided for a period of
five years, moving thence to the county of
Randolph. After a residence of seven years
in the latter he returned to Delaware county,
where he made his home until his death, which
occurred in 1891. The mother of Walter
Gray was Margaret (Sanders) Gray, a woman
of most exemplary character.
Walter Gray remained with his parents
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
until arriving at the years of his legal majority,
pursuing his studies in the meantime in the
common schools during the winter seasons and
assisting his father on the farm in the summer.
For some time after his twenty-first year, he
taught school, and followed the pursuits of
agriculture on the home place, meeting with
encouraging success in both vocations. In
1874, on the 30th day of December, when
twenty-two years old, Mr. Gray was united in
marriage with Miss Mary Vanbuskirk, and
shortly thereafter purchased forty acres of land
in Jay county, upon which he resided until
1879, disposing of the same in that year and
removing to Kansas. Not finding the west suit-
able to his taste, he returned to Indiana after
about one year's residence, and located in the
county of Delaware, where he invested his
sole earthly wealth, about seventy dollars, in
a small tract of real estate, consisting of twenty
acres. On this modest homestead Mr. Gray
engaged in agriculture in a moderate way, and
at the same time yielded to an inclination of
long standing and began the study of law, in
the prosecution of which his progress was
most commendable. In due time he was
admitted to the bar, since which date he has
practiced successfully in the courts of Dela-
ware county, where he has a large and lucra-
tive busidess, looking after his farming
interests in the meantime. For four years he
was associated in the profession with Hon.
George H. Koons, present judge Delaware
circuit court, but since the elevation of that
gentleman to the bench, has practiced without
a partner. At this time he resides on a beau-
tiful farm in Harrison township, in which, as
in other parts of the county, he owns valuable
tracts of real estate, being the possessor of
over three hundred acres of land, the result of
his own efforts and well directed energy and
business thrift. In every relation of life Mr.
Gray has proved a most e.xemplary man
and few citizens of his township are as
widely and favorably known. A practical
farmer, he believes in the dignity of
that most useful and honorable calling;
a lawyer of pronounced ability, his legal record
during a number of years of close application
to the profession is unclouded by the slightest
tinge "of anything disreputable in the practice;
and a broad minded, intelligent man of affairs,
he enjoys the confidence of his fellow citizens
and is looked upon in his community as a true
type of the educated, courteous gentleman.
Mr. Gray is the proud father of three sons, and
his home is a model in its various appoint-
ments, and the abode of generous, old fashioned
hospitality. Mr. Gray has always taken an
active part in politics, and at the early age of
twenty years was chosen a member of the
democratic central committee, with which
party he officiated until 1890, since which time
he has been identified with the people's party.
Mrs. Gray was born in Delaware county, Ind.,
June 30, 1858, and is the daughter of James
and Mary (Grim) Vanbuskirk. Mr. Vanbus-
kirk was an Ohioan by birth, but came to
Delaware county in his boyhood, and became
one of the successful farmers of this part of
the country. He died at the age of fifty-four
years; his widow is still livihg, making her
home at this time in Madison county, near the
cit}' of Anderson.
Vt'AMES M. hartley.— The sons of
m pioneers have indeed reason to feel
(• / proud of their ancestry. The early
settlers of Indiana were a class of men
and women who came to the new west, not
alone for personal aggrandizement, but mainly
for the benefit of their posterity. They cheer-
fully endured hardships and wrought gladly
with their hands that they might provide a
DELAWARE COUNTY:
future for those who were dependent upon
them. James M. Hartley was born October
24, 1849, in Grant county, Ind. , where his
parents, Joseph and Ellen (Hammers) Hartley,
settled on a farm of forty acres, which they
purchased from the government. The father
still resides in Grant county, managing his
farm, which now consists of 120 acres, but his
wife died in 1852, in the faith of the Methodist
church, of which she was for years a member.
The father, a native of Virginia, born near
Fremont, came to Indiana with his parents
and settled in Henry county, where he remained
until his removal to Grant county a short time
thereafter.
James M. Hartley remained with his par-
ents until he attained his majority, when he
rented a farm until the spring of 1875, and
then purchased his present farm in Harrison
township, consisting of sixty acres. On this
land he has erected a comfortable dwelling and
barn, and the entire property is the result of
his own unaided efforts. October 23, 1873,
Mr. Hartley was united in marriage with Miss
Marsha Scott, a native of Adams county, Ohio,
daughter of David Scott (see sketch elsewhere).
By this marriage the following children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hartley: Carl,
deceased, Linnie and Icie. Mrs. Hartley is a
member of the Methodist church, in which
body she is an important factor. Mr. Hart-
ley's political convictions are in accordance
with those enunciated by the democratic party.
A life like Mr. Hartley's is an example to all
of what industry and honest perseverance will
accomplish.
QRS. H. E. HARTLEY is a lady who
is highly respected by all the people
of Harrison township, where she
lives. She was born March 8, 1841,
in Henry county, Ind., being the daughter of
Thomas and Dinah (Jones) Gough. Her father
was born June i , 1 800, and her mother Octo-
ber 28, 1 801, both being natives of Monongalia
county, Va. ; the father dying October 22, 1883,
and the mother April 2, 1874. Mrs. Dinah
Hartley, in early womanhood, came from Vir-
ginia to Henry county, Ind., on horseback.
Mr. Gough came to Henry county, Ind., in
1835, and engaged in the practice of medicine,
and at the same time carried on farming. Mr.
Gough was a very prominent man in the county,
and was held in the highest repute. After a
number of years he disposed of his farm, and
lived a retired life at Luray, Henry county.
During his life he filled the office of justice of
the peace for a number of years, to the entire
satisfaction of the people.
Mrs. H. E. Hartley was married in 1863
to Benjamin F. Hartley, a native of Henry
county, who was born September 3, 1833.
He was the son of Elisha and Sarah (Emer-
son) Hartley, both natives of Virginia. Ben-
jamin F. Hartley was a successful farmer,
owning 194 acres, which he acquired by the
labor of his own hands. He came to this
county in 1867 and located on a farm in Har-
rison township, which is now occupied by his
widow. In politics Mr. Hartley was a demo-
crat, and always supported the candidates of
that party. The deceased was a kind and
loving father, and a devoted husband, as well
as a worthy citizen. By her marriage with
Mr. Hartley our subject is the mother of the
following children: John M., Warren, de-
ceased; Harley D., Sarah and Thomas, both
living at home. The father of these children
took much interest in the Odd Fellows, being
a member of Lodge No. 74 at Muncie. His
remains lie in the Beech Grove cemetery, Henry
county. His widow lives at the old home-
stead in the midst of her family, passing her
life quietly, and proving herself to be a kind
neighbor and a considerate friend. Mrs.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
587
Hartley is a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal church.
>T^OHN KIRKMAN.— Among the many
m well-to-do citizens of Harrison town-
m 1 ship, John Kirkman is prominent and
highly esteemed by all who know him.
He was born in 1835, in Bartholomew county,
Ind. ; being the son of John and Malaha (Dil-
lon) Kirkman. His father was born in Guil-
ford county, N. C, March 3, 1788, and his
mother in the same county in 1792. The
father was a hatter by trade, and lived until
his twenty-second year in his native count}-.
At this time he came to Indiana, and located
in Howard county, where he engaged in farm-
ing until 1875. Then he removed to Oregon,
and there lived a retired life in Douglas county
in that state, until October, 1892, the date of
his death, at the age of 104 years. The
mother of our subject died in 1836, when his
father married, a few years later, Margaret
Pike, a native of North Carolina.
In consequence of the death of his mother,
John Kirkman lived with his sister until he
was fourteen, and then for the next four years
with a man by the name of Skein, after which
he made his home with his brother, Peter, in
Howard county. At the latter place he
worked at whatever thing came to hand. He
was married December 30, 1863, to Miss
Elizabeth Parker, daughter of 'Squire Parker,
an old pioneer of this county. She was born
in Delaware county February 13, 1841. Mr.
Kirkman, soon after his marriage, began lum-
bering by renting a saw mill, which business
he followed for thirty years at different places
in the county. He then bought 160 acres of
splendid land in the northwest part of Har-
rison township, where he now lives a retired
life. This farm is the reward of his own
labor. John Kirkman enlisted in 1861 for
one year in company B, Twelfth Indiana regi-
ment, and served si.xteen months, having
taken part in several skirmishes. He receives
a pension of seventeen dollars a month as the
result of disabilities received in the service.
Mr. and Mrs. Kirkman are the parents of one
child, John P., who is a prosperous merchant.
They are prominent members of the Christian
church. Mr. Kirkman is an active member of
lodge No. 425, I. O. O. F., at New Corner.
HOMAS McCREERY is one of the
prominent and successful farmers of
arrison township, being held in
highest esteem by all who know him.
He was born in Carroll county, Ohio, October
7, 1826, and came from that county at an early
day with his parents, with whom he lived until
twenty-four years of age, when he was married.
After he became of age he worked with his
father until his marriage. After the event he
engaged in clearing up an eighty acre contract,
which his father gave him, beside working his
father's farm on shares. He has added to this
property at different times, and at the present
owns 417 acres and has given 160 acres to his
sons. He also owns a half interest in a large
store room in New Corner, and has other prop-
erty located there.
Mr. McCreery was married October 25,
1849, to Miss Catherine Brown, daughter of
Samuel arid Phebe Brown, natives of Clinton
county, Ohio. He came to this county and
located in the western part of it, and was en-
gaged in farming. He was also a cooper by
trade. Mrs. Catherine McCreery was born
April 7, 1828, and died April 15, 1886. Her
remains rest in the Wheeling cemetery, where .
a beautiful monument marks the spot. She
was a devoted member of the Methodist
church, and enjoyed the esteem of everyone.
588
DELAWARE COUNTY:
By the marriage the following children were
born: Samuel J., married to Martha Trout;
Hannah Elizabeth, wife of William Jenny;
Rebecca, deceased; James William, living at
home; Nathan Andrew, married to Nettie
Trout; John Wesley, married to Martha Wood-
ring; Sarah L., wife of John Kirkland; and
Mary M. , wife of of Barney Hannan. Mr. Mc-
Creery married September i8, 1888, for his
second wife, Mrs. Margaret Ellen Anderson,
widow of O, Anderson, a native of Clermont
county, Ohio, who practiced medicine in High-
land county, Ohio, a number of years. Mr.
McCreery is a republican in politics, and a
member of the Methodist Espiscopal church.
He is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth (May-
nard) McCreery. Samuel McCreery was born
July 9, 1 80 1, in Virginia; emigrated to Carroll
county, Ohio, when a young man, and pur-
chased one hundred acres of land, which he
farmed, and remained there until 1838, when
he came to this county and entered 360 acres
of land, then in a primitive state. Mrs. Mc-
Creery departed this life February 2, 1889, and
her remains rest in the Wheeling cemetery.
She was a Methodist and a devoted Christian
woman. Samuel McCreery died November 2 3,
1893, at the age of ninety-two, and was one of
Harrison township's most highly respected citi-
zens ; he was a member of the Methodist church,
and a stanch supporter of the republican party.
*y ^ ENRY MILLER, a well known farm-
1'''^ er and respected citizen of Harrison
J^r township, Delaware county, Ind. , is
the subject of the present sketch. He
was born in Adams county, Ohio, June 14,
1835, a son af Levi and Rheuhama (Summer)
Miller, the former born April i, 1 801, in High-
land county, Ohio, and the latter June 5,
1809, He died in 1871, in Delaware county.
Ind., and she in 1878, in Delaware county,
Ind. Both were members of the Methodist
church. They first located in Henry county
after coming to this state, and then came to
Delaware county, where Mr. Miller entered
eighty acres of land, owning at the time of his
death, a fine tract of 420 acres, i 50 of which
was cleared. He lived here at the time when
transportation facilities were almost nothing,
and the only way to obtain a market for his
wheat was to haul it to Cincinnati, where he
received for it forty cents a bushel.
Henry Miller remained with his parents
until he was of age, when he engaged in work
for his father for one year, and then went into
the same pursuit for himself, on a farm of
sixty acres, from 1858 to 1875, when he came
to his present farm in Harrison township,
which at that time consisted of 160 acres, but
now he owns only 147 acres, all of which is
under a high state of cultivation.
On December 2, 1858, Mr. Miller married
Miss Ellen McLaughlin, who was born June
23, 1 840, in Washington county, Ohio, daugh-
ter of James and Elnora (Boyle) McLaughlin,
the former born in May, 1807, and the latter
in May, 18 14. Mr. McLaughlin came from
Allen county, Ohi6, to this township and lo-
cated on the farm now occupied by Mr. Miller,
but passed out of life June 10, 1852. His
widow is still living in this township. They
were worthy people and members of the
Methodist church.
Mr. Miller was a soldier in the late war,
enlisting August 12, 1862, in company D,
Eighty-fourth Indiana regiment, for three
years and served until the close of the war,
engaging in a number of skirmishes, and now
receives a pension of $4. per month. Mr.
and Mrs. Miller have the following children:
James Levi, Martha Jane, the wife of Derilus
Trout; Sarah Samantha, wife of Andrew
Woodring; Ora Elmer, and Nora Ann who is
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
deceased. Mr. Miller is a democrat in his
political convictions and is a worthy citizen.
He and wife are worthy members of the United
Brethern church.
^^AMUEL J. NEWMAN.— Among the
•^^^ very respectable and honest, hard-
K^y working citizens of Harrison town-
ship, is Samuel J. Newman. He was
born May 30, 1839, in Adams county, Ohio,
being the son of Samuel D. and Serena (Ran-
dall) Newman. The father was born July 1 5,
1803, in Virginia, and the mother February
29, 1804, in New York state. The father,
Samuel D. Newman, came to Blue Creek,
Adams county, Ohio, with his parents when he
was about thirteen years of age, and remained
there until he was twenty-one, when he bought
a farm in this county. When about thirty-
five years old he engaged in the mercantile
business at Blue Creek, Adams county, Ohio,
conducting a general store for about thirty-five
years; also operating a saw mill and grist mill
at the same place during this time. This en-
terprising man was also a very large land
owner, having at the time of his death 1,000
acres. Notwithstanding his arduous duties he
was likewise a minister for the Christian
church for a number of years prior to his death,
which occurred March 26, 1888. In politics
he was a democrat of the Jacksonian school.
His worthy wife, to whom he was married in
1825, died January 30, 1887. Both of them
were of English descent, and were very much
esteemed by their neighbors and friends.
Samuel J. Newman lived with his parents
until he was twenty-two years old, and then
he engaged with his father as an engineer in
the mill, working in this capacity for two years;
then entered a store and continued there as
clerk for the same length of time. He was then
employed as an engineer by William Wansley
for one year, then came to Delaware county,
Ind., and worked in Harrison township for
David Scott, his father-in-law, for five years,
when he bought the farm upon which he now
lives. The marriage of our subject occurred
May 4, 1865, his wife being Melissa Scott, who
was born April 28, 1848, being the daughter of
David Scott, whose sketch appears in another
part of this work. The children of this mar-
riage were nine in number, as follows: Mat-
tie, born September 22, 1866, and died Janu-
ary 28, 1883; Oscar C, born March 1 1, 1S69,
and died October 2, 1876; Charles S., born
September 28, 1870, and died December 24,
1870; Millard, born May 27, 1872; Walter S. ,
born November 6, 1876; S. Pearl, born De-
cember II, 1878; Jessie L. , born February 9,
1882; Cora, born August 2, 1883, and died
May 6, 1887, and Carrie, born May i, 1887.
Mr. Newman was brought up in the demo-
cratic faith and has adhered to the principles
of that party ever since. He owns sixty acres of
fine land.
^ J* A. QUICK, a prominent farmer and
M stockgrower of Harrison township, Del-
/• J aware county, was born February 8,
1839, in Henry county, Ind. He is
the son of John and Nancy (Clary) Quick; the
father was born in Ohio, in April, 1781, and
the mother was a native of Hamilton county,
Ohio. John Quick settled in Henry county,
Ind., in 1827, and entered 160 acres of land,
where he lived the life of a pioneer and
remained there until 1858, when he removed
to Madison county, and lived until his death,
which occurred in 1881. The mother, Mrs.
Nancy Quick, died in 1843, and Mr. Quick
married for his second wife Miss Levina
Heath, the daughter of Robert Heath and a
native of North Carolina. They were prom-
590
DELAWARE COUNTY:
inent members of the Christian church. The
father was an earnest republican, and always
voted the ticket of that party.
J. A. Quick dutifully remained at home
with his parents until he was eighteen years
old, receiving a common school education, and
then became clerk in a store, following this
until he was twenty-one years old. He then
engaged in farming, renting his father's farm
in Madison county, for one year, and then
bought ninety acres in the same county, on
which he located and resided until 1886, at
which time he exchanged this farm for 240
acres in Harrison township, where he now
lives, paying a difference of $2, 500. At the
present time he owns 280 acres, and except
the time he was employed in the store, has
been a farmer all his life. He was elected
township trustee in 1870, and held the office
four years; was again elected in 1876, and
continued in it until 1880. Mr. Quick is a re-
publican, and one of the most prominent men
in the township.
He was married January 2, i860, to Miss
Mary E. Love, daughter of James and Jane
(Johnson) Love, who were natives of Ireland.
Her father was born in 181 2, and her mother
in 1 8 14, and they emigrated to this country in
1849, landing in Pittsburg, Pa.; remained
there a short time, and then went to Franklin
county, Ind., where Mr. Love engaged in
farming and renting land, and then settled in
Madison county. Mrs. Love died, after which
Mr. Love hved with his daughter, Mr. Quick,
for two years, when he removed to Minnesota,
where he resided the remainder of his life.
He and wife were consistent members of
the Methodist church. Mrs. Quick was born
January 2, 1837, and is the mother of four
children, namely: Lizzie Josephine, deceased;
John C, a physician at Muncie; Nettie J., a
teacher, living at home; James M., a teacher
of this county. Mr. Quick and wife are up-
right and worthy members of the Christian
church. He is a republican and a man of
much influence in his township, and this In-
fluence is always exerted for good. He is one
of the progressive men of the county, ever
ready to assist in all public improvements.
>^AMES W. RICHARDSON is one of
M the oldest pioneers and prominent citi-
A J zens of Harrison township. He was
born December 7, 181 5, in Erie-county,
N. Y. , in sight of the old Fillmore place,
where ex-President Fillmore was born. The
parents of James W. were John and Sukey
(Washburn) Richardson, the father of Welsh
descent and a native of Maine, and the mother
of the same state but of Scotch descent.
They both came with their parents to Wood-
stock, Vermont, when quite young. Mr. and
Mrs. Richardson remained with their parents
until 1814, and then came to Erie county,
N. Y. , where the father engaged in shoe-
making (having learned the trade when a boy),
also in farming, and later purchased lOO acres
of land. He sold this in 1835, and came to
Delaware county, settling near Smithfield.
Here he bought 1 20 acres of land, on which he
lived until the death of his wife, which oc-
curred five years later. He was married
soon after to jane Blunt, the widow of William
Blunt, who lived only a couple of 3'ears after
her marriage. His father died on White
River, in this county.
James W. Richardson remained with his
parents until he was eighteen years of age,
and then went to Canada, where he worked
for two years on a farm, and then went to
Michigan, settling near Ann Arbor. Here he
learned the carpenter's trade with Calvin T.
Fillmore, the brother of ex-President Fillmore.
Mr. Richardson remained here for about two
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
591
years and then went to a place in Illinois,
which was about twenty-seven miles northwest
of Chicago, working in a saw mill for eighteen
months. From there he removed to Delaware
county, Ind. , remaining until spring, and then
went to Marion county, where he worked on a
farm for one year at ten dollars per month.
Mr. Richardson then worked on th» Mississip-
pi river for three years, beginning as a common
hand, but in two years acting as captain of
the boat. Tiring of this life, he returned to
Harrison township, where he was married
August 28, 1 84 1, to Miss Lilly Blunt, who
was born in Randolph county, Ind., May 2,
1820, being the daughter of William and Jane
(Barnes) Blunt. They were both natives of
Pennsylvania, and came to Harrison township
when they were about twenty years of age.
Mrs. Richardson's parents built the first cabin
in Delaware county in 181 8 and settled there,
when their only neighbors were the Indians,
and their daughter Lilly's only playmates were
the little Indian maidens. Mr. Blunt died and
then Mrs. Blunt married our subject's father.
James W. Richardson, after his marriage,
rented a farm and worked this for six years.
He then bought twenty-seven acres (which are
now included in his present farm), the land
being in its primitive state. On this tract of
land Mr. and Mrs. Richardson began their
housekeeping, carrying all of their goods to the
cabin in one trip. This couple saw many
hardships, as only the early pioneer can tell
anything about, but they were industrious and
economical, and as a result of their labor they
have a fine home. Mr. Richardson received a
present of $250 from his father, with which he
bought land, continuing until he had ninety
acres, later trading it for ninety acres in a dif-
ferent location with a Mr. Corry. He soon
sold this for $1,600, and bought 160 acres for
$1,200. On this land Mr. Richardson lived for
thirty years, and then bought 100 acres of as
fine land as in the county, included in which
was the twenty-seven acres he had first settled
on. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are both attend-
ants of the Christian church, of which Mrs.
Richardson has been a devoted member ever
since she was eighteen years of age. Politi-
cally, Mr. Richardson is an independent.
^y'^ AVID SCOTT. — Among the many
I I land owners and fine agriculturists of
J\^^ Delaware county, Ind., is David
Scott, who was born in Adams
county, Ohio, December 18, 1820, a son of
James and Agnes (Young) Scott, the former of
Pennsylvania. In that state James Scott grew
to manhood, engaged in farming and also
followed the trade of stone mason, but while a
young man emigrated to Adams county, Ohio,
seeking a better condition. He remained in
the latter state until his death, which occurred
in 1847.
David Scott lived with his parents until
the time of his marriage, having grown up a
farmer, and being employed at various jobs of
work that came under his notice. He then
learned the blacksmith trade in 1847, ^'id
worked at the same until 1865 when he came
to Indiana and located on his present farm,
where he has since remained, engaged in farm-
ing, in connection with his trade, which has
always been a lucrative one. He now owns
1 20 acres of land, forty of which are covered
with valuable timber. The marriage of Mr.
Scott took place in 1843, to Miss Sarah Ham,
born July 9, 1825, daughter of Isaac and
Elizabeth (Anderson) Ham, he a native of
Maine and she of Adams county, Ohio, the
father, by occupation, a farmer and blacksmith.
Mr. Ham lived in Ohio until 1844 and then
moved to Illinois, where he died in 1887; the
mother of Mrs. Scott dying in 1850. Mr.
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Scott and wife have had five children, as fol-
lows: Lee, who married Elizabeth Piles;
Isaac M. , deceased; Malissa, wife of Samuel J.
Newman; Marsha Alice, wife of James M.
Hartley; and Tabitha, wife of James Eber.
Mr. Scott is a stanch democrat and has testi-
fied to his social instincts by becoming a mem-
ber of the Muncie lodge of Odd Fellows, No.
74. The family is one much esteemed in this
neighborhood, where they are best known.
Kind neighbors and good citizens all wish them
well.
>^OHN SIMPSON.— Among those brave
m patriots who promptly responded to the
A I call of duty in the late war occurs the
name of John Simpson, one of the
prominet farmer residents of Harrison town-
ship. Mr. Simpson was born in 1839, nine
miles north of the city of Richmond, Wayne
county, Ind., son of Henry and Polly Ann
(Woods) Simpson. Henry Simpson was a
native of North Carohna and came to Indiana,
when a boy of nine years, with his parents,
with whom he remained until he attained his
majority, when he learned the plasterer's trade.
In addition to this calling he was an engineer,
and followed these two trades throughout his
life. Both he and his estimable wife died
about the year 1861. They were the parents
of eight children, four of whom are still living.
John Simpson, at the age of twenty-one,
in 1 86 1, enhsted in company B, One Hundred
and Forty-seventh Indiana volunteer infantry,
for three months. At the expiration of his
term of service, he re-enlisted for one year or
during the war, and saw some eight months'
service in all. On account of injuries received
during the war, he now receives a pension of
$20 dollars per month. Until becoming of
age Mr. Simpson resided with his parents, but
after his return from the war began life for
himself, and now is the fortunate possessor of
172 acres of land, all well improved.
The first marriage of Mr. Simpson occur-
red in 1872, with Miss Betsy Lenox, a daugh-
ter of John and Nancy Lenox, the former of
whom came to this county at an early date,
almost penniless, but by hard and patient in-
dustry he accumulated property, and at the
time of his death owned some 470 acres of
finely cultivated land. Mrs. Simpson died in
1877, leaving two children: Borter, married
to Nora Hudson, and Jane, wife of Elmer
Reece. Mr. Simpson married in 1878, his
second wife being Harriet Reynolds, a native
of Indiana, born June 4, 1857, daughter of
Breckenridge and Ellen Reynolds, natives of
Virginia. Mr. Reynolds came to Indiana at
an early date, settling near Muncie. Although
he possessed nothing at the time of his location
here, at the time of his death he was the
owner of 1,300 acres of good land, well im-
proved. His death occurred in 1887, his wife
having preceded him to the grave in 1865.
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have one child, Addie,
at home. Mr. Simpson enjoys the respect
and esteem of his fellow citizens and is regard-
ed as one of the substantial farmers of this
region of country.
^y^AVID L. TROWBRIDGE, M. D.—
I I The duties imposed upon a physician
/^^^ are very arduous, and oftentimes he
is taxed beyond his strength in com-
plying with all the demands made upon his
time and skill. David L. Trowbridge, M. D.,
of Harrison township, belongs to this class,
and many there are throughout the county who
can testify to his patience and skill in times of
sickness. Dr. Trowbridge was born in Boone_
county, Ky. , February 4, 1834, a son of Joseph
and Ruama (Riley) Trowbridge.
DR. DAVID TROWBRIDGE.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
593
The doctor remained with his parents until
he attained his majority, his boyhood days
being spent upon the farm. When he became
of age he engaged in farming in Henry county
on a small tract, but in a few years he sold
this place and removed to Bluntsville, where he
became interested in a saw mill, which he con-
tinued to operate until its destruction by fire
about one jear later. This left him with but
little money, but he rebuilt the mill and con-
tinued the business for some nine years. About
the time of the burning of the mill, he began
the study of medicine, also practicing a little
among the neighbors, in 1867, in Randolph
county. In 1868, he changed his location to
Cowan, Delaware county, where he remained
until 1 88 1, at which time he located in Muncie,
remaining in that city until 1885, when he
bought a small farm in Harrison township,
upon which he lived until 1892. In the latter
year he sold the farm with the intention of
again locating in Muncie, but afterward pur-
chased another farm located in Harrison town-
ship, where he now makes his home. In addi-
tion to his agricultural interests, Mr. Trow-
bridge makes chronic diseases a specialty and
also pursues a general practice.
Dr. Trowbridge has been married twice,
his first wife having been Miss Rebecca Stout,
of Henry county, Ind. , born in 1837, daughter
of Elijah and Sallie (Williams) Stout, natives
of Ohio. Mrs. Trowbridge died in 1876 after
bearing her husband the following children:
Alice v., wife of Emerson Case; Sallie R.,
wife of Smith Childs, deputy sheriff of Dela-
ware county; Rosella E., wife of John W.
McKinley; William B. ; Merrit E. and Ernest,
both deceased. The first wife was a member
of the Christian church. In 1878 Dr. Trow-
bridge married again, his second wife being
Amanda Clevenger, born March 14, 1857, in
Delaware county, Ind., daughter of Job and
Elizabeth (Bower) Clevenger, natives of Ohio.
Three children have been born of this marriage,
namely: Jesse, deceased. Barton W. and
Laurel May and an infant unnamed. Both
the Doctor and wife are members of the Chris-
tian church, in which body they are prominent
factors. In politics Dr. Trowbridge was a re-
publican until a few years since, when he
identified himself with the peoples' party. At
the last election he was the nominee for repre-
sentative to the national assembly and was
also endorsed by the democratic party.
Rev. Joseph Trowbridge, the father of
Dr. Trowbridge, was born in New Jersey and
died in the city of Muncie, Ind., in 1884, at
eighty-six years of age. He was a farmer and
minister. He began preaching at twenty-one
years of age and continued until his death, a
minister of the Christian church. The mother
of Dr. Trowbridge was also born in New Jer-
sey, in 1 8 18, and is now living with her son
David. The family came originally from Eng-
land and settled, first, on Long Island, N. Y. ,
prior to the Revolutionary war, then went to
New Jersey, then to New York and later to
Ohio.
>^OHN UNDERWOOD, a well known
m farmer and good citizen of Harrison
A 1 township, is the subject of this sketch.
He was born January 27, 1827, in
Jefferson county, Ind , a son of James and
Nancy (Ray) Underwood, the former a native
of Virginia and the latter of Jefferson county,
Ind. He came to the latter county at an
early day and lived there until his death,
which occurred in 1839, and that of his wife
in 1834. Both were members of the Presby-
terian church, and good and worthy people.
Mr. Underwood made a success of his farming,
owning, at the time of his death 160 acres of
fine land. John Underwood lived with his
parents until he was twelve years of age, 'then
594
DELAWARE COUNTY;
he went to reside with his brother for two
years, and then with a Mr. Camon, where he
lived until the time of his marriage, in 1849,
with a Miss Nancy Himelick, who was born
April 8, 1833, and died April 4, 1881. Her
parents died when she was young and she
knew but little of them.
Mr. Underwood rented land until 1866,
when he bought fifty-five acres in Jennings
county and remained upon it for a few years
and then moved to Madison county, where he
bought forty acres. He remained there
twelve years and then came to this county,
purchasing forty-five acres, upon which he
now resides. Mr. Underwood's family con-
sists of the following children: Samantha
Jane, Elizabeth Ann, Mary Catherine, Cyn-
thia Ellen, Sarah Alice and George W. His
wife was a member of the Dunkard church,
and a most estimable lady.
LlBgRTY TOWNSHIP.
,>^R. ALONZO H. GOOD.— Perhaps
I I there is no broader field for a man to
/^^^ become familiar with all phases of
human life than that of a physician.
Among those well known and appreciated in
Liberty township, Delaware county, Ind., is
the subject of this biographical sketch. Dr.
Good was born in Wayne county, Ind., Sep-
tember 22, 1843, son of John W. and Mornin
(Howell) Good, natives respectively of Penn-
sylvania and Indiana. The father settled in
Wayne county about 1832, and still resides
there. He is an active member of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church, is prominent in the
Masonic order, and is regarded as one of the
best citizens of the county. Dr. Good is one
of a family of two children. He received his
early education in the common schools of his
native county, and in 1862, entered his
country's service by enlisting in company D,
Sixty-ninth Indiana volunteer infantry. In the
first engagement in which his regiment took
part, at Richmond, Ky. , on the 30th of August,
1862, he was wounded and taken prisoner,
which occurred about eighteen days after his
enlistment. He was paroled on the field of
battle and sent to Paoli camp at Richmond,
Ind., where he remained until he was ex-
changed, some two months afterward. On his
return south with his regiment, he contracted
the measles at Indianapolis, which, together
with cold from exposure, caused him to be
again ordered to the hospital, where he was
dangerously ill for several weeks; upon his
partial recovery he was offered a discharge, the
surgeons saying that on account of the solidifi-
cation of his lungs, and loss of voice, conse-
quent upon his disease, he would be unfit for
further service; but the doctor's patriotism,
which was strong, and his wish to be of further
use to his country was such that he refused to
accept it. He was then assigned to detached
service, in capacity of clerk for Gen. William
Hanaman, sanitary agent for the state of In-
diana, in which capacity he made several trips
to Washington, D. C, and several points
south, in the interests and care of the Indiana
troops, under the direction of the celebrated
war governor, O. P. Morton. Afterward he
was placed on duty with Capt. (afterward
Col. ) Frank Wilcox, and several of his success-
ors. During this time he was offered a com-
DR. A. H. GOOD.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
597
mission by Gov. Morton as major in the Nine-
teenth Indiana cavalry, which position he de-
clined, as his physical condition was such that
he was unable to go into active service. In
1864, he was transferred to the Ninety-fourth
company Y. R. C, in which corps he served
until the expiration of his term of service,
when he was mustered out as first sergeant of
the Twentieth company Second battalion V.
R. C.
Prior to his enlistment the doctor engaged
in the study of medicine and was kept much
of the time in the medical department of the
army, and was from time to time, in the ab-
sence of the commander, in charge of the
soldiers' home in Indianapolis. Upon his
return to Wayne county, he completed his
medical studies under the able instruction of
Drs. P. H. Jamison, of Indianapolis, and
J. B. Clark, of Economy, Ind. In 1867 he
commenced practice in Bloomingsport, Ind.,
and continued there for fourteen years, and in
1880, located at Selma, where he has since
enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. He
has many of the gifts which go so far to make
a successful physician, for nothing is truer
than that in many cases of illness the adminis-
tration of medicine is the least part of a'
physician's art of curing.
Dr. Good is a member of the Delaware coun-
ty Medical society and has been called upon to
fill many of the of^ces of this body. He also
is a member of the Indiana State Medical
society and the American association. In the
District Medical association he has been chair-
man and secretary and is noted for his skill
and wise manner of treating difficult cases.
Dr. Good is a member of Col. S. J. Williams
post. No. 267, G. A. R. of Selma; a member
of Selma lodge. No. 189, I. O. O. F. , and
also of Selma encampment. He has found
time from his labors and studies to acquaint
himself with business interests, and is a char-
ter member, a director and treasurer of the
Citizens' Land, Gas and Improvement com-
pany of Selma, Ind.
Dr. Good was married in 1866, at Econ-
omy, Ind., to Miss Nannie, daughter of
Charles Green, of Ohio. Mrs. Good died in
1878, leaving four children, who are named as
follows: Magnolia G., the wife of Homer K.
Lewis; John B., deceased; Lillian M. and
Edna L. In 1879 Dr. Good married Miss
Sadie Personette, daughter of Dr. L. D.
Personette, of Wayne county, Ind. In
his political faith, the doctor is a stanch
republican, and was appointed pension
examiner by President Harrison, and is a
member of the board of health of Delaware
county. His family are members of the Meth-
odist church and are among the most respected
residents of the county.
*-r* ENON FAMILY.— The biographer
I I takes pleasure in mentioning, among
^^^^ the prominent families of Liberty
township, Delaware county, Ind., the
Lenon family, which has been prominenty
identified with the interests of the county for
many years. Peter Lenon was born near
Lima, Ohio, in 1820. He was reared a farm-
er, and when yet a young man, came to Indi-
ana, locating in Delaware county, and
purchasing land in Perry township, consisting
of a tract of 160 acres. This he improved,
and subsequently purchased a tract of 320
acres, where his two sons, Orrin S. and Alonzo
R. , now reside and where he lived until his
death in 1881. He married Miss Ann Jane
Stanley, of Indiana, who survives him and re-
sides in Liberty townshfp. By this union they
became the parents of five children: George L. ,
James M., Walter, deceased, Orrin S. and
Alonzo R. In his political views, Mr. Lenon
DELAWARE COUNTY
was a democrat, was liberal in his religious
faith and was a member of the I. O. O. F.
Orrin S., the fourth son of the above, was
born April 12, 1855, in Perry township. He
was reared on the homestead and received his
education in the common schools. At the death
of his father, he and his brother, Alonzo R.,
purchased the homestead, and there they have
since resided, engaged in general farming. He is
interested in other business enterprises outside
of his farming, being one of the stockholders
in the Lenon, Cecil & Dunkin Natural Gas
company of Liberty township. Mr. Lenon
married Miss Dora Terrill, a native of Indiana,
in 1882, and one little daughter has been born
to them, named Annie. In his political affilia-
tions, Mr. Lenon is a republican and takes the
deepest interests in the welfare of the party.
Alonzo R. Lenon, the youngest son of the
family, was born February 23, 1861, upon the
home farm, and received his education in the
public schools, in which he made commendable
progress. He was reared a practical farmer,
and has successfully engaged with his brother
in conducting the home place. In 1883 he
married Miss Emma, daughter of J. K. Norris,
and they are parents of three children, Izora,
Maud and Lenna. His political sympathies
are with the republican party and he has been
active in promoting its success. In connection
with his farming interests, Mr. Lenon is finan-
cially connected with the Lenon, Cecil &
Dunkin Natural Gas company. The Lenon
brothers early received those lessons in agri-
cultural life which they have so applied as to
make farming successful, and their fine place
is well stocked and supplied with all necessary
modern labor saving machinery.
The Lenon family, taken as a whole, has
done as much as any other toward the ad-
vancement of the interests of Liberty town-
ship, as each male member has been an active
agriculturist and business man.
*^ EWIS FAMILY.— Among the promi-
I r nent families of Liberty township, the
1 ^ above named takes a front rank.
William Lewis, the progenitor of the
family in Indiana, was born in Norwich, Conn.,
December 20, 18 10, a son of Jabez and Eliza-
beth (Cozzens) Lewis. He received a common
school education and learned the trade of shoe
and boot maker, at which he was engaged at
various places until the age of twenty-five
years. He subsequently engaged in merchan-
dising in Hartford, Conn., where he remained
for some years doing a successful business in
the notion line, and in 1836 settled in Cincin-
nati and establishedhimself in the same branch
of trade. At one time he was engaged in the
mercantile business in St. Louis, and also in
Wayne county, Ind. In 1845 he settled at
Smithlield, Ind., where he engaged in general
trade, and at the same time he carried on an
extensive business of the same kind in Selma,
and also the warehouse at the same place,
which was erected by Mr. Lewis immediately
on the completion of the Bellefontaine line of
railroad. This he carried on until 1865, when
he retired from active business and devoted his
time to his extensive farming interests, being
the owner of 900 acres of land in Liberty and
adjoining townships at that time. He was one
of the early postmasters of Smithfield and was
largely interested in the construction of the
Cincinnati & Chicago railroad, and was also
one of the originators and stockholders of the
Bee Line railroad, and for ten years he was
director in the First National bank of Muncie.
In politics he was a republican, always taking
the deepest interest in public affairs, and was
prominent in the Presbyterian church. His
death occurred January 26, 1892.
William Lewis was four times married.
His first wife was Miss Mary Deming, a native
of Massachusetts, who died in 1838, leaving
one son, William D., of Berkshire county,
WM, LEWIS
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
Mass. The second Mrs. Lewis was Mrs. Eliza
Mix, who died in 1854, by whom he had a
family of three children: Cornelia A., the wife
of Frank M. Brown, of Lafayette, Ind. ; Mary
L. , the w'ile of George Denny, of Dayton,
Ohio, and Lorinda, the wife of John L. Moore,
of Indianapolis, Ind. The third Mrs. Lewis
was Miss Margaret Dynes, whose death oc-
curred in 1865, and the present Mrs. Lewis
was Miss Mar}' S., the daughter of Conrad
Kurtz, of Greene county, Ohio. She survives
her lamented husband and resides on the old
homestead, a fine property of 387 acres of land
in a high state of cultivation, and a commodi-
ous residence erected by Mr. Lewis thirty years
ago. By this marriage two children were born.
Homer R. and Harriet.
Mr. William Lewis ended his life of useful-
ness on the 26th of January, 1892, having been
an invalid for the greater part of his life, not-
withstanding which he was a man of very
active habits of life. The immediate cause of
his death was la grippe, followed by pneumo-
nia, which ended his life after a short illness of
a week. Miss Harriet Lewis was born Octo-
ber 3, 1868, at Hartford, Conn. She was
educated in the common schools, the high
school at Selma, and later took a course of
study in the Conservatory of Music at Chicago.
She was married at her home June 1, 1893, to
Dr. E. D. Clark, of Economy, Wayne county,
Ind., where he is engaged in practice with his
father, who has been in practice in this locality
all his life. The family is an old and promi-
nent one in Wayne county. Dr. E. D. Clark is
a graduate of Bellevue college hospital of New
York, and is highly regarded as an able and
competent physician.
Homer Lewis was born at the family home-
stead, in Liberty township, Ind., July 19, 1866,
and was educated in the common schools. He
now resides on the old place and attends to the
great farming interests of the extensive estate
left by his father. In 1891 he was married to
Miss Magnolia, the daughter of Dr. A. H.
Good, whose sketch is presented in this vol-
ume. Politically he is a republican, and is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
The family is one well known and highly es-
teemed in the county, and has been prominent
in the affairs of Liberty township.
m
LLIAM JACKSON MOORE. —Few
of the early settlers of Delaware
county were as widely and favorably
known as the late William Jackson
Moore, a brief epitome of whose life is here-
with presented. Mr. Moore was an Ohioan
by birth and a descendant of a sturdy Scotch
family, a number of the representatives of
which became residents of the New England
states at an early period of the country's his-
tory. The parents, John and Nancy (Jackson)
Moore, moved from their New England home
to Ohio many years ago, settling in the county
of Scioto, where the birth of William J. occur-
ed on the 14th day of June, 181 3. The sub-
ject was reared a farmer, received a common
school education, and on arriving at man-
hood's estate began the pursuit of agriculture,
to which he devoted his attention until his
thirty-ninth year. In early manhood he ac-
companied his parents to Delaware county,
Ind., locating about three and one-half miles
east of Muncie, in the townsihp of Centre,
where the mother died in 1838, and the father
in 1840.
After the death of his father, Mr. Moore
settled the estate, and continued farming until
1852, at which time he erected a large saw
mill at the town of Selma, Ind., and engaged
in the manufacture of lumber. Subsequently,
he opened a general mercantile business in
Selma, and was also engaged for some time as
DELAWARE COUNTY:
carpenter and builder, his skill as a mechanic
having been utilized in the erection of a num-
ber of dwellings and other buildings in various
parts of Delaware county. Shortly after
moving to Delaware county, Mr. Moore was
employed as a teacher at Selma and did much
toward awakening an interest in matters edu-
cational. Mr. Moore was married August 13,
1835, to Miss Sarah Wilcoxon, daughter of
Lloyd Wilcoxon, one of the early settlers of
Delaware county, and a family of four sons
and four daughters were the fruits of the union:
their names are as follows: Louisa, widow of
Dr. Clark Skiff; Asbury, a cabinet maker of
Bellefontaine, Ohio; John L. , wholesale mer-
chant of Indianapolis; Elizabeth, wife of Henry
Burt; William R., secretary of the Delaware
County Building, Saving & Loan association
of Muncie; Charles R., dealer in boots and
shoes, Winchester, Ind. ; Sarah A. , and Cyn-
thia E., wife of John Clark, of Selma.
In many respects Mr. Moore was much
more than an ordinary man, and to him is the
township of which he was an honored resident
for so many years greatly indebted for much
of its present prosperity. He took an active
and prominent part in the building of the Big
Four railroad through Delaware county, and as
local agent of the same at Salem was instru-
mental in developing a large business at that
village and making it one of the best trading
points in the county. His intelligence and
superior business qualifications made him a
very useful man in the community, and he was
frequently consulted in the settlement of es-
tates. He served as justice of the peace for
several terms and proved a model dispenser of
justice. In early life he united with the
Methodist church, of which he was an honored
and consistent communicant for over a half-
century — his wife and the majority of his
family also belonging to the same denomina-
tion. Fraternally he was a member of the
Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, the princi-
ples of which he exemplified in his every day
life and conversation. He departed this life
on the 1st day of September, 1893, at the
ripe old age of eighty years. His wife, who
had been his faithful helpmate for so many
years, preceded her husband to the grave Jan-
uary 12, 1893, at the age of seventy-six.
a APT. WILLIAM H. MURRAY, ex-
auditor of Delaware county, is the
second son of Cornelius B. and Lu-
cinda (Burroughs) Murray. The father
is a native of Westmoreland county. Pa., and
the mother was born near the town of Pendle-
ton, Madison county, Ind. Cornelius and Lu-
cinda Murray were married in the year 1836,
in the county of Randolph, Ind., to which part
of the state Mrs. Murray's parents had previ-
ously removed. About two years later (1838)
they settled upon a farm near Blountsville,
Henry county, where, on the i ith day of Janu-
ary, 1840, William H. Murray was born.
Mrs. Murray departed this life in 1873, after
which Cornelius B. Murray moved to Hagers-
town, Wayne county, where he still lives,
aged eighty-two years.
William Murray, grandfather of Capt. Will-
iam H., was of Irish parentage and a native of
Pennsylvania. His father, great-grandfather
of William H., was a native of Ireland, came
to America in the time of the colonies and
fought valiantly in the struggle for American
independence. William H. Murray was reared
upon the home farm near Blountsville up to
eighteen years of age, receiving the educational
advantages afforded by the common schools of
that period. His father having given him
freedom to do for himself at the above age, he
first sought higher educational attainments
with the object of entering the teacher's pro-
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
601
fession in view. For some time he was a stu-
dent in the Blountsville academy, where he
pursued his studies until the breaking out of
the rebellion, at which time, in iS6i, July 14,
he laid aside his books and entered the service
of his country as a member of company K,
Nineteenth Indiana volunteers, with w hioh he
served during the war, re-enlisting January 1,
1 864. Entering the army as a private and
passing up through the various grades of non-
commissioned officers, Mr. Murray, on the 2d
of July, 1863, was promoted second lieutenant
of his company for gallant conduct at the bat-
tle of Gettysburg, and the following year was
commissioned a first lieutenant. By reason,
however, of his regiment consolidating with
the Twentieth Indiana volunteers, he was
never mustered in with said rank of first lieu-
tenant, but at the close of the war he received
a commission as brevet captain from Gov.
Morton, of Indiana.
It would far transcend the limits of a sketch
of this kind to give in detail an account of
Capt. Murray's military career, as he saw
much active service and participated in some
of the bloodiest battles of the war, among
which may be mentioned Lewinsville, Rappa-
hanock Station, Second battle of Manassas or
Bull Run, and South Mountain. In the
engagement last named he was dangerously
wounded in both hips by a minieball, disabling
him to such an extent that he was compelled
to remain for two months at the hospital at
Middletown, Md. As soon as he was able to
travel, he returned home, but after a short
time rejoined his command in time to take
part in the battle of Fredericksburg, fought on
the 1 2th and 13th days of December, 1862.
Subsequently, on account of his wound, he
was placed on detached duty until more fully
recovered, serving as clerk in the quarter-
master department, in preference to again
entering the hospital. Hero-like, and without
being reported for duty to his company, and
with a musket borrowed from a disabled sol-
dier, he voluntarily rejoined his regiment to
help tight the great battle of Gettysburg, in
which he took part from the firing of the first
gun until the retreat of the enemy, displaying
such praiseworthy conduct that at the instance
of his lieutenant. Col. W. W. Dudley, he re-
ceived his first promotion, as above noted, of
second lieutenant. Subsequently he accom-
panied his command throughout the opera-
tions of the army, took part in a number of
engagements, including the battle of the
Wilderness, where he was again severely
wounded in the right leg on the first day of
that terrible conflict. May 5, 1864. Having
been removed to Washington on account of
his wound, he was furloughed home for sixty
days, and at the expiration of that time was
granted an extension. Finally recovering suf-
ficiently, he returned to the front, joined
his command near Yellow Tavern, and
took part in the siege of Petersburg. He
remained at his post until September 14, 1864,
when, by reason of physical disability caused
by his various wounds, he was hqnorabl}- dis-
charged from the service. Returning home,
he settled in Selma, Delaware county, and on
February 16, 1865, was united in marriage to
Miss Maggie Orr, daughter of Hon. James Orr,
of Liberty township, alternately pursuing the
vocations of farming and teaching in the pub-
lic scools until April, 1870, when he engaged
in the mercantile business at the town of
Selma, where he conducted a very successful
business until October, 1878, at which time he
he was elected auditor of Delaware county,
discharging the duties of that position in a
highly creditable manner for a period of four
years. At this time Capt. Murray is living a
life of retirement on his beautiful farm in Lib-
erty township. He still owns business prop-
erty in Selma and Muncie, and his life has
DELAWARE COUNTY:
been one of great activity. In the language of
another, the following is a brief statement of
his standing in the community since earl}- boy-
hood: "An industrious, studious boy; an
ambitious, self educated youth; a patriotic,
valiant soldier; an earnest, successful man of
business, an efficient, faithful servant of the
public; liberal and enterprising beyond his
means; happy in his domestic relations, he is
a genial associate and enjoys the esteem of a
large circle of friends." Mr. and Mrs. Mur-
ray are the parents of the following children:
Lulu M., James O., Don P., Maggie, Arthur
L. , Edna K. and Robert F. Lulu M. is the
wife of John E. Reed, deputy clerk of the Del-
aware circuit court; James O. is a successful
merchant, and Don P. recently graduated
with high honors from the Medical college of
Indiana, and is now a physician with a lucra-
tive practice. The other four children live at
home with their parents.
*y— ^ ON. JAMES ORR was born near the
l''^\ town of Omagh, county Tyrone, Ire-
M .r land, February 25, 181 5. His parents
were James and Elizabeth (Jamison)
Orr, both members of very large families, the
ancestors of which lived in the Emerald Isle
for many generations. They were protestants,
and were active for many years in their oppo-
sition to the prevailing church of Ireland. Mr.
Orr's parents were substantial farmers, and
leading members of the Presbyterian church
of the town where they resided. In the year
1 82 1, James Orr and family, consisting of the
wife and six children, emigrated to the United
States, taking ship at Londonderry, Ireland,
for St. John, New Brunswick, thence to Balti-
more by water, and from the latter place,
moved in wagons to West Virginia, locating at
what is known as White Sulphur Springs,
Greerbrier county. They lived in what is
known as the "Tuckahoe Draft" during the
winter of 1821, and the following year moved
to Monroe county, the same state, where they
resided for a period of five years. The life
work of Mr. Orr, Sr. , was that of farming,
but he added to his income by teaching school,
having been a man of good mental attainments
and education. The family moved to Ohio in
1836. locating in Greene county, near Xenia,
where they remained until 1838, at which time
Mr. Orr moved to Delaware county, Ind.,
selecting a home in what is now the township
of Delaware. As noted above, the family of
James and Elizabeth Orr consisted of six
children. The eldest, Joseph, married in
Greene county, Ohio, Mary Hopping, and died,
on his farm in Liberty township, Delaware
county, Ind., in March, 1881; his wife died
August 26, 1885. The second child, Margaret,
married Robert Dean, a prominent citizen of
Greene county, Ohio, and died there in 1859,
her husband departing this life a short time
previous to that date. The second son, Samuel
Orr, a farmer by occupation, was lieutenant
colonel of the Eighty-fourth Indiana infantry
during the late war, and also represented Dela-
ware county three times in the state legislature
as a whig. He was twice married, his first
wife having been Jane Moore, of Xenia, Ohio,
and his second wife, Mrs. Jane Morrison, whom
he married in Muncie, Ind. ; he died November
19, 1876. Hon. James Orr is the fourth in
order of birth, after whom came Martha, wife
of John Jones. She moved to Kansas with
her husband many years ago, in which state
they both died. The youngest member of the
family, William Orr, died when a young child
at the family home in Virginia.
Hon. James Orr passed his youthful years
in Virginia and Ohio, and grew to manhood
possessed of a vigorous constitution and great
bodily strength. He was early taught the
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
principles of industry, perseverance and econ-
omy, which made him so successful in all his
undertakings in afterlife; in 1836 he moved
with his parents to Greene county, Ohio,
thence, in October, 1837, came to Delaware
county, Ind. He remained here but a short
time, returning, in the fall of the above year,
to his former home in Ohio, where, on the i ith
day of January, 1838, he was united in mar-
riage to Julia Ann L. Hopping. Within a
short time after his marriage, Mr. Orr returned
to Delaware county, and has been an honored
resident of the same every since and one of
its most substantial and well known citizens.
Agriculture has been his life work, in which
useful calling his success, always very en-
couraging, has placed him in the front rank
among the representative farmers of Delaware.
He has, at different times, been called to fill
prominent official positions, having been elect-
ed commissioner of Delaware county in 1844,
and served five years. In 1853 he was elected
representative to the general assembly from
this county, re-elected in 1861, and in 1871
was elected joint senator for the counties of
Delaware and Madison, in which body he
served two sessions. Politically, Mr. Orr was
a whig until the organization of the republican
party, since which time he has been a stanch
supporter of the latter. In religion Mr. Orr is
a member of the United Presbyterian church,
in which he is highly respected and in which
he has held different official positions. Mrs.
Orr, who is remembered as of most excellent
Christian character, departed this life on the
30th of April, 1869; she bore her husband eight
children, namely: William, James D., Margaret
J., Samuel, Joseph N., Charles M. , Elizabeth
M., and Mary R. ; of these, five are yet
living.
William, the eldest son, was born in Dela-
ware county in the year 1838, received a liber-
al education and began teaching school at the
early age of fifteen. While still young, before
attaining his majority, he began taking an
active interest in political matters and acquired
considerable reputation as a campaign speaker.
He began the study of law in 186S with
Thomas J. Sample of Muncie, finished his
legal course at the Indianapolis Law school,
after which he began to practice his profession
in partnership with his preceptor. At the
breaking out of the war he entered the army,
enlisting in the Nineteenth Indiana volunteers,
— being made lieutenant of company K. He
participated in a number of battles in which
his command was engaged, was shot through
the lungs at Antietam, the effects of which
necessitated his retirement from the service for
a time. After being sufficiently recovered, he
rejoined his command, from which time until
the close of the war he took part in a number
of active campaigns and bloody battles. He
was commissioned second lieutenant in July,
1861, promoted first lieutenant August 23,
1862, became captain of his company Septem-
ber 18, 1862, was made major August 4, 1864
and upon the consolidation of the Nineteenth
with the Twentieth regiment was appointed
colonel Col. Orr was married November 18,
1862 to Margaret J. Small, who bore him one
child, a daughter, wife of Charles P. Camp-
bell of Chicago. Margaret J. Orr, married
William H. Murray, who lives near Selma.
James D. Orr, second son of subject, was
born April 5, 1841. He was a farmer by oc-
cupation, served in the late war in the One-
hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana infantry,
and married December 20, 1864, Mary L.
Baldridge, who bore him two children: Mary
A., and Julia M. James D. Orr died in the
year 1876. Samuel Orr, born November 3,
1846, married Mary Jane Goings August 6,
1868; his wife died in February, 1884; he died
in 1 87 1, Joseph N. Orr was born February
18, 1849, married Miss Mamie Simmons, who
DELAWARE COUNTY
bore him three children: Bertha, James G. and
NeUie. He is a prominent merchant of Sel-
ma, where he has carried on an extensive
business since 1871. Charles M. Orr was
born August 3, 1 850; married July 15, 1875,
Kate Sayers, and is now in the United States
postal service. Elizabeth M. , born April 20,
1853, married Dr. Fertich of Dunkirk, Ind.,
and is the mother of six children. Mary R.
Orr was born August 9, 1857, married Lewis
S. Sparks March 30, 1875, and has three chil-
dren.
Hon. James Orr married for his second
wife, June 30, 1870, Miss Martha J. Camp-
bell, daughter of Samuel G. and Elizabeth
Campbell, old citizens of the town of Selma.
,>^^R. CLARK SKIFF (deceased).—
I I Many of the brightest minds and the
/<^^_^ leading thinkers of the last century
have been found in the medical pro-
fession, and in the life of Dr. Skiff could be
found an example illustrating these facts in a
local sense in the practice of his profession in
Delaware county, Ind. His birth occurred
near Wilmington, in Clinton county, Ohio,
January 16, 1826; son of John and Lucretia
Skiff, natives of New York state. The boy-
hood days of Dr. Skiff were passed upon the
farm in his native commonwealth, where he
was a student in the common schools. He
began the study of medicine in the office of
Dr. Hubble, of Amelia, Ohio, at which place
he practiced his profession for some time,
having attended lectures and graduating from
the Eclectic Medical institute, of Cincinnati,
Ohio. In 1854 Dr. Skiff located at Selma,
^Ind., where he established an extensive prac-
tice and made for himself a reputation that
lives beyond his death. He was a man gen-
erally well appreciated, and his friends were
numerous. The practice of medicine, which
he loved, he continued until forced, by failing
health, to abandon it. He was an active
member of the Medical association; kept fully
abreast of the profession, and was always re-
garded as a true physician. In politics. Dr.
Skiff was an earnest republican, and a member
of the Masonic and Odd Fellows societies. His
first marriage was with Miss Catherine Smith,
of Clinton county, Ohio. Mrs. Skiff died in
1853, leaving a son, John Skiff, now of
Lebanon, Ind. November 18, 1855, Miss
Louisa Moore became the wife of Dr. Skiff.
To this marriage relation, there is one son,
Charles Eberle, an enterprising farmer of Lib-
erty township, this county. Mrs. Skiff is the
daughter of William J. Moore (one of the
early settlers of Delaware county), and was
born in Liberty township, this county, Janu-
ary 13, 1837. She resides at Selma, and has
a comfortable home. Mrs. Skiff is a promi-
nent member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and is regarded as a woman of rare
worth throughout the community. Dr. Skiff
united with the Methodist Episcopal church in
1880 and lived a devoted christian the remain-
der of his life, an untiring worker in the
church. The death of Dr. Skiff occurred
October 12, 1888.
m^
I AM HENRY WILLIAMS,
ownship trustee and leading citizen
the town of Selma, is the son of
the late gallant Col. Samuel J.
Williams, who was killed in the late war while
leading his regiment, the Nineteenth Indiana,
in the battle of the Wilderness. Col. Will-
iams was born in Montgomery county, Va. ,
and while quite young, was brought by his
parents to Delaware county, Ind., where he
grew to manhood. Reared on a farm, his
DR. CLARK SKIFF.
MRS. LOUISA SKIFF.
COL. S. J. WILLIAMS.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
605
early educational training embraced the studies
usually taught in the common schools of that
period, but he obtained his principal knowledge
of books by private study and wide reading
after attaining his majority. At the early age
of eighteen, he was united in marriage with
Lorena Davis, who at that time was but
seventeen years old, to which union one child,
Lorena, wife of Luther Harris, of Muncie, was
born. Mrs. Williams dying. Col. Williams
afterward, when twenty-two years of age, was
united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Shroyer
of Delaware county, who bore him five chil-
dren, the subject of this mention being the
oldest in point of birth. The next oldest
child, Parthena, was born in 1854 and married
W. P. Dunkle, a carpenter and builder of
Selma; Mary E. , was born in 1856, married
A. C. Martin, and is the mother of six chil-
dren, five of whom are living; her husband
died in January, 1891; Samuel J., the next in
order of birth, is general freight agent of the
M.,K. & T. R. R., with headquarters at Par-
sons, Kansas. The youngest member of the
family, Cassius, was born in i860, and de-
parted this life in the year 1874.
In 1855 Col. Williams located in the town
of Selma after the completion of the railroad,
and engaged in the warehouse and stock ship-
ping business, continuing the same until the
breaking out of the great rebellion, when he
recruited company K, Ninteenth Indiana vol-
unteers, and entered the service of the country
as captain of the same. For gallant and meri-
torious conduct on a number of different bat-
tle fields, he passed through different grades of
promotion, including that of major and lieu-
tenant colonel, and finally became colonel of
the Nineteenth, and as such fell, as already
noted, at the head of his men in the battle of
the Wilderness. Col. Williams was a brave
and gallant soldier, and in the civil walks of
life was honored and respected by all who
knew him. Williams post, No. 78, G. A. R. ,
of Muncie, Ind., was named in his honor, also
Col. S. J. WilHams post. No. 267,6. A. R., of
Selma, Ind. He was an active member of the
Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities, and
originally supported the democratic party, cast-
ing his first presidential ballot for Franklin
Pierce. He was always opposed to the insti-
tution of slavery, however, in consequence of
which he changed his political views and be-
came a republican on the organization of that
party, and supported its principles until his
death.
William Henry Williams was born in Del-
aware county, Ind., August 3, 1853. He
married March 12, 1872, Joanna Fielder, who
has borne him six children, namely: Myrtle,
Willie, Samuel Claude, Iva Pearl, Anna Fern
and Pansy. Mr. Williams has always been a
citizen of Liberty township, and for some
years followed agricultural pursuits in connec-
tion with the manufacture of brick, in both of
which occupations he was very successful.
During President Arthur's administration he
was in the United States mail service for thir-
teen months. He is now in the employ of
J. N. Orr, of Selma. He was elected trustee
of Liberty township in 1891, since which date
he has discharged the duties of the position
with credit to himself and satisfaction to the
people of his township, irrespective of party.
Politically, he is a republican, and fraternally
is identified with the I. O. O. F., belonging to
lodge No. 189, Selma. The Methodist church
represents his religious creed, of which denom-
ination both he and wife are active mem-
bers.
MONROg TOWNSHIP.
<JX
'ILLIAM F. ANDERSON, a promi-
nent farmer and stock raiser, and
one of the large land holders of
Monroe township, was born in Miami
county, Ohio, January 21, 1854, and is a son
of Joseph and Mary (Smith) Anderson. His
paternal ancestors were early residents of Vir-
ginia, in which state his grandfather was a
planter and large slave holder. Joseph and
Mary Anderson had a family of eight children
whose names are as follows: Maggie, wife of
Charles Malcolm; David H. ; John W. ; James
J. ; Charles E. ; Joseph H. ; and Sallie, wife, of
H. H. Youngs; and the gentleman whose name
introduces this sketch.
William F. Anderson spent the years of
his youth and early manhood in his native
state where he was raised on the farm, and in
April, 1875, became a resident of Delaware
county, Ind. , settling in the township of
Monroe, where he now has a beautiful farm,
consisting of 300 acres of good land, upon
which are some of the best improvements in
the township. Mr. Anderson has made a suc-
cess of farming, and the comfortable com-
petence which he now enjoys is largely the
result of his own well directed efforts, and
through real estate received by marriage. He
received his education in the schools of his
native state, was a teacher for some time, and
having always been a reader and observer, is
now one of the well informed men of the com-
munity in which he resides. The father of
Mr. Anderson died August 3, 1886, and his
widowed mother still resides in Miami county,
Ohio. December 23, 1875, was solemnized
the marriage of William F. Anderson and
Martha Clark, the issue of which union is two
children, namely: Charles E., and Anna B.
Mrs. Anderson's parents were natives of Vir-
ginia, and members of the Roman Catholic
church. She had two sisters, namely: Mary
J., wife of Thaddeus Tuthill; and Julia A.,
who died February, 1876.
>T^OHN D. BARTLING.— Few of the
m deceased residents of Monroe township
A 1 are held in more grateful remembrance
than the late John D. Bartling, who,
for a number of years, was a well known and
highly respected citizen of the county of Dela-
ware. Mr. Bartling was a native of Ohio,
born in Hamilton county, the son of William
and Christina Bartling, who came to the
United States from their native country, Ger-
many, many years ago.
Mr. Bartling passed the years of his youth
and early manhood in his native state, and in
the spring of 1864, became a resident of Dela-
ware county, purchasing a beautiful farm in
the township of Monroe, upon which the re-
maining days of his life were passed. He
early chose agriculture for an occupation, and
followed that useful calling all of his life, and
such was his success, that, without any assist-
ance in a financial sense, he succeeded in
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
607
accumulating a fair share of this world's wealth,
owning a farm in Marshall county, Ind. Mr.
Bartling responded to the country's call for
volunteers at the breaking out of the rebellion,
enlisting July 8, 1861, in company E, Eighth
Missouri volunteer infantry, with which he
shared the vicissitudes and fortunes of war for
a period of three years. During his term of
service he was with his command in a number
of campaigns and participated in eleven hard
fought battles, in all of which his conduct was
that of a brave and gallant soldier, and against
his military record no breath of suspicion was
ever known to have been uttered. He received
an honorable discharge July, 1864, in the city
of St. Louis: from which time until death his
life was devoted to the peaceful pursuit of his
chosen calling.
Mr. Bartling was married November 16,
1869, to Mrs. Rachel Armitage, the fruits of
which union were three children, namely:
Effie M., wife of J. R. Stipp; Laura L. and
Addie F. Mr. Bartling's death, which oc-
curred on the 4th day of June, 1878, was felt
as a great loss to the community, and he was
followed to his last resting place in the Tom-
linson cemetery by a large concourse of sor-
rowing friends and neighbors. He was a mem-
ber of the L O. O. F., a most worthy and
conscientious citizen, and every laudable en-
terprise that had a tendency to elevate and
improve the community found in him a zeal-
ous friend and earnest patron. In his imme-
diate family he is remembered as a fond and
loving husband, a kind father, and the influ-
ence of his example is the richest heritage to a
grateful posterity. Mrs.. Bartling's maiden
name was McDonald, and she was born in
Champaign county, Ohio, September 16, 1833.
She now owns eighty acres of land in Monroe
township, where she lives in quietude, enjoy-
ing the esteem and respect of a large circle of
acquaintances and neighbors.
HBSALOM BROWN is a native of
Delaware county, Ind., and the eld-
est son of Joel and Diana (Gibson)
Brown. He was born in the town-
ship of Monroe, December 18, 1841, and grew
to manhood on the farm, and with the excep-
tion of the time spent in the army has ever
since followed the pursuit of agriculture in the
county of his nativity. He entered the service
of his country December, i 863, as a member
of company G, Ninth regiment Indiana caval-
ry, and took part in some of the bloodiest
battles of the southwestern campaign, in-
cluding the first engagement of Lawrence,
Tenn., Franklin (where he received a severe
wound in the left side), and Nashville. Owing
to disability occasioned by the wound he was
for three months compelled to remain in the
hospital, and on the 4th of July, 1865, was
honorably discharged from the service. From
the effects of disability received while in the
army Mr. Brown has never entirely recovered
and he is now remembered by a grateful
country with a pension amounting to $12
per month. After his discharge, Mr. Brown
returned to Delaware county and resumed his
chosen calling, and is now one of the well
known and successful agriculturists of Monroe
township. He is a highly respected citizen
and belongs to that large and influential class
who in a quiet way do much for the moral
well being of the community.
Mr. Brown was married January 24, 1871,
to Rebecca Grim, daughter of Nicholas and
Susanna (Jones) Grim, who has borne him the
following children: Caroline, wife of Arch
Brown; Samuel, Benjamin, David, John and
Thomas. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members
respectively of the Methodist church and the
Society of Friends. In March, 1893, Mr.
Brown removed from Monroe township to a
farm in Centre township, and now is living on
i the John McConnell place.
DELAWARE COUNTY:
(D
RS. NELLIE CHEESEMAN— A
well known and popular lady of
Monroe township, was born in Gray-
son county, Va., May i6, 1820, and
spent the years of her girlhood in the state of
her nativity. She was married to Richard
Cheeseman, a prosperous farmer who moved
with his family to Indiana 1857, settling, in
September of that year, in Delaware township,
this county, on forty-five acres of land, which
he cleared and brought under cultivation. The
country at that time was comparatively new,
and Mr. and Mrs. Cheeseman made their way
to their new home by blazing their path through
the woods, traveling under many difficulties.
Game was plentiful and formed a large part of
the diet of the family for some time after
making their settlement. Subsequently, Mr.
Cheeseman moved to a point twelve miles
northwest of Muncie, and in 1861, purchased
land in Monroe township, upon which he built
a cabin, and from which he developed a good
farm. He was a man of great industry, and
his efforts were crowned with success, and
■Bt the time of his death, he was the possessor
of 160 acres of valuable land, the greater
part of which, under his successful manage-
ment, was brought to a high state of cultiva-
tion. He was a popular citizen of the com-
munity, intelligent and enterprising, and well
deserves mention as one of the representative
men of Monroe township. His memory is
revered in his neighborhood by all with whom
he came in contact. Ten children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. Cheeseman, namely: Man-
tilla, wife of Samuel Andrews; Alexander, de-
ceased; Mary J., wife of George Mansfield;
Thomas J.; E. Lydia, wife of David White;
Sarah A., wife of John Roller; Isaac L., de-
ceased; William J. ; Hannah E. , wife of Amos
Acer, and Sylvester. Mrs. Cheeseman has
borne her full share of the vicissitudes of life
on a farm in a new country, and has reared
her large family to honorable manhood and
womanhood. She has, indeed, been a true
woman, and in her declining years her children
rise up to call her blessed. In 1887 she had
the misfortune of becomfng crippled in the
ankle, from the effects of which she has not
been able to walk since. This severe affliction,
has been borne with most commendable pati-
ence, and has been the means of bringing out
all the finer and better qualities of her nature.
She is beloved by all, and her example could
safely be imitated by those who are just be-
ginning the toilsome journey of life. See sketch
of John Roller.
at
ILLIAM T. CLARK.— Upon the
successful farmer depends, in a large
measure, the material well being of
the country, for it is to his efforts
that all occupations and professions must de-
pend for an existence. The subject of this
mention belongs to that large class of success-
ful tillers of the soil who have done so much
toward the development of our noble state,
and particularly that part embraced within the
present limits of Delaware county. William
T. Clark was born in Delaware county, Ind.,
March 4, 1847, the son of James and Hester
(Goble) Clark, natives respectively of Ohio
and Pennsylvania. He grew to manhood
amid the active scenes of farm life, and his
inclinations leading him to agricultural pur-
suits, he early became a tiller of the soil and
has devoted his entire time and attention to
that useful and honorable occupation. He
owns seventy-three acres of land in Monroe
township, which is well improved, and he is
surrounded by many of the modern conveni-
ences of farming which bespeak the presence
of a careful and painstaking manager. Mr.
Clark has been twice married, the first time on
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
609
the 24th of December, 1882, to Nancy E. .
daughter of John and Barbara Lambert, who
died October i, 18S4. The second marriage
was consummated May 17, 1887, with Nancy
Moffet, daughter of Lambert and Maria Moffet.
Mrs. Clark's parents were natives of Ohio, but
moved from Tennessee when quite young to
Fayette county, Ind. , where they were mar-
ried and where they resided until their deaths,
the mother dying September 30, 1887, and
father on the 7th day of February, 1892. They
reared a family of eleven children, namely:
Mary, wife of Abraham Pence; Samuel C,
Susan M., wife of D. C. Campbell; James A.,
Sarah, deceased; William H., deceased; Nancy
E., wife of William Clark; Jemima A., wife of
Henry Stewart; John T. , and Clarinda, wife of
Thomas Barret. Mrs. Clark's parents were
earnest christian people, the mother having
belonged to the United Brethren church and the
father to the Lutheran denomination. Mrs.
Clark owns eighty acres of fine land in this
township, which she inherited from her par-
ents. She is the mother of one living child,
Dayton Ray, and one deceased, Irven M.
m
[LLIAM S. COOLEY was born in
W^ashington county, \'t., March 4,
[800, and came to Muncie, Ind., in
the year 1837. By occupation Mr.
Cooley was a manufacturer of woolen goods,
but he abandoned his trade eighteen years
after moving to Delaware county, and pur-
chased a farm of 100 acres and engaged in the
pursuit of agriculture. Subsequentl}', he pur-
chased his present farm in Monroe township,
consisting of 140 acres, upon which he resided
the remainder of his life. Mr. Cooley's origi-
nal purchase consisted almost entirely of wood
land, and he shared, in full measure, the hard-
ships encountered by the early pioneers of the
great west, and by industry and judicious
management became, in time, the possessor of
a very comfortable fortune. On the 5th day
of January, 1824, he was united in marriage
with Miss Jane Rogers, daughter of Charles
and Nancy Rogers, who moved from their
native country, Ireland, to the United States
in 18 16, settling at Albany, N. Y. To the
union of William S. and Jane Cooley was born
the following children, namely: Blanchard,
deceased, Jennie, deceased, John, deceased,
Charles, by occupation a miller, Henry, a
farmer, William, also a tiller of the soil;
Nancy, wife of John Wilson, and I'Jobert, an
engineer and farmer. Mr. Cooley was a firm
believer in the doctrine embodied in the Uni-
versalist creed and died in the full hope of a
happy future, on the 17th of September, 1874;
his wife, who is a member of the Presbyterian
church and a woman of many christian virtues,
is still living at an advanced age with her son
in Monroe township.
Robert Cooley, son of W'illiam S. and Jane
Cooley, was born May 18, 1846, on the old
homestead, in Monroe township, Delaware
county, where he still resides, looking afterthe
interests of his aged mother. He received a
good education, and, with the exception of six
years, has always followed agriculture, which
useful calling he still carries on with success
and financial profit, being one of the represent-
ative farmers of Monroe. For six years he
was an engineer, during which period he did
not lose sight of his farming interest. He
owns eighty acres of land in Jackson township,
Blackford county, well improved. He married
September 18, 1893, Christena (Stainbrook)
Potter, a member of the Christian church.
Mr. Cooley's neat farm gives every out-
ward indication that it is under the control of
a master hand, and that intelligence, skill and
thrift are the prime factors in its management,
and that these are backed by industry.
610
DELAWARE COUNTY:
HNDREW JACKSON FLEMING is
descended from Virginia ancestry and
traces the family history back through
a number of generations to the first
settlement of the Old Dominion state. His
father, Andrew Fleming, was born in what is
now West Virginia, near the town of Fair-
mont, where his family were among the first
settlers, having emigrated to the head of the
Monongahela river in company with a large
number of settlers from the eastern part of the
state. Settlements were made along the val-
leys, farms were opened upon which cabins
were erected and the people began to feel hap-
py over the prospect of soon having homes.
This feeling of content, however, was soon
doomed to be dissipated, for alas, the savages
from the Northwest Territory found out the
settlement and at once planned a raid against
the same. They killed several of the settlers,
burned dwellings, stole horses and committed
other depredations until it became necessary
to take some decided means of protecting the
settlers from their encroachments. According-
ly a meeting was held and volunteers called
for to act as scouts between the settlement
and the Ohio river, a distance of fifty or sixty
miles through an unbroken wilderness. A
well known spy, by the name of Morgan, and
Andrew Fleming tendered their services for
this ardurous and dangerous duty, which right
nobly they performed. The Indian warriors,
after crossing the Ohio, would follow some
creek or water course to its head, and then go
down the other side of the ridge until they
reached the settlement. The duty of the
scouts was to traverse the country from
spring until fall, not far from the Ohio river,
and search for Indian trails, and when it was
ascertained that the savages had crossed the
river the scouts would start for the settlements,
traveling day and night through the wilder-
ness until they had reached their destination
and given the alarm. The settlers would then
hasten to the fort and protect themselves
against their wily foes, who, finding them-
selves outwitted, would soon retreat into the
wilderness. Upon starting on this dangerous
duty Mr. Fleming took nothing with him but
his gun, blanket and a sack of salt, being com-
pelled to obtain his food from the wild game
with which the country then abounded. How
long he continued in this dangerous duty is
not now known, but upon his return home he
was worn out, broken in health, having given
the very prime of his life to the protection of
his countrymen, while they attended to the
clearing of their farms and laid the founda-
tions of their fortunes. For all this sacrifice
of health and means, Mr. Fleming never re-
ceived a single cent, in consequence of which
he was little able to assist his children, finan-
cially, when they grew to the years of man-
hood and womanhood.
Andrew Jackson Fleming was born in
Marion county, W. Va. , January 9, 18 19, was
reared on the home farm in his native state
and remained there until 1863, at which time
he came to Henry county, Ind. , and engaged
in the mercantile business in that county. He
took charge of his father's place when but
seventeen years of age, and continued to oper-
ate the same until 1850, when he moved to
Palatine, opposite Fairmont, where, for some
time, he was variously employed, giving con-
siderable attention to painting. In the fall of
1 86 1 he entered the Union army as private in
company C, Sixth regiment. West Virginia vol-
unteer infantry, and shortly thereafter was pro-
moted first lieutenant, in which capacity he
served for a period of two years. While in the
service, he participated in a number of skir-
mishes and irregular battles, in one of which he
received a severe wound in the thigh, and for
some time was detailed with his command to
guard the B. & O. railroad. After his dis-
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
611
charge he returned to his home in Virginia,
and, subsequently, as already stated, moved to
Indiana and carried on the floods business for
some years in Henry county. Abandoning
merchandizing, he engaged in the pursuit of
agriculture in Henry county, purchasing a farm
of sixty acres, which he afterward sold, and in
1870 came to the township of Monroe, where,
for three succeeding years, he again followed
the mercantile trade, meeting with a fair de-
gree of success in the meantime. He then pur-
chased his home place, consisting of sixtj-si.x
acres of well improved land, and is now pass-
ing his declining years upon the same in the
enjoyment of that quietude which a long and
somewhat arduous life has so nobly earned.
He has served his township as trustee, aside
from which position he has never been an as-
pirant for the. honors of office. Mr. Fleming
was married September 17, 1851, in Marion
county, W. Va. , to Mary E. Miller, who was
born in Harrison county, that state, September
32, 1827. Mrs. Fleming was a daughter of
Jesse and Eliza (Brown) Miller, natives of
Maryland and West Virginia respectively, and
of English descent. Mr. Fleming comes of a
good family, which is widely and favorably
known in West Virginia, of which state one of
his relatives, A. B. Fleming, is now serving as
governor. Mr. Fleming is personally very
popular, and is a man of more than ordinary-
powers of mind, having for years been a close
reader and intelligent observer of men and
events. He stands deservedly high in the com-
munity and may be taken as a true type of the
Virginia gentleman of the old school.
aHARLES A. FLEMING, a well
known business man of Oakville,
Monroe township, was born in Marion
county, W. Va. , March 29, 1840.
His parents, Andrew B. and Mary Fleming,
were both born in the town of [-"airmont, W.
Va., in 1803. The father died in 1885, in
Fairmont, and the mother departed this life in
February, 1892, at Oakville, Ind. They were
both estimable people, and Mrs. Fleming was,
for over fifty years, an active member of the
Methodist church. Charles A. Fleming was
reared to manhood in his native state, and in
Novembej, i860, came to Indiana, locating in
Middletown, Henry county, where he remained
until the breaking out of the war, at which
time, in August, 1861, he entered the army,
enlisting in company E, Eighth Indiana volun-
teer infantry. He accompanied his command
to St. Louis, Mo., thence to Georgetown, and
while at the latter place was poisoned, from
the effects of which he was sent to the hospi-
tal, where he remained for a period of four
months, being discharged November 25, 1862.
December 15, 1863, he re-enlisted in company
E, Ninth Indiana cavalry, which was assigned
to duty at Nashville, and later to Pulaski,
Tenn., where Mr. Fleming for some time did
garrison duty. On the 25th of September,
1864, he was with his regiment in a severe
battle at Sulphur Branch, Ala., where his com-
pany lost heavily, and on December 7, the
same year, took part in the bloody battle of
Franklin, Tenn. In February, 1865, the com-
pany left Gravely Springs for New Orleans,
but before reaching its destination, was order-
ed back to Vicksburg, and the following May
was sent to Mississippi. Mr. Fleming was dis-
charged September 6, 1865, and was immedi-
ately thereafter returned to Indiana, and has
since that time been a resident of Delaware
county, where he is widely known and uni-
versally respected. He was married August 16,
1882, to Mary F., daughter of James and
Matilda (Losh) Watson, to which union one
child, Alta L. Fleming, has been born. The
following are the names of the brothers and
sisters of Mrs. Fleming: Martha, wife of
612
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Frank Nottingham; Laura, wife of Thomas
Peckenpaugh; George, Homer, John, deceased;
and Charles Watson.
Mr. Fleming has been engaged in business
for a number of years at the town of Oakville
and has met with a reasonable degree of suc-
cess. He suffered a serious loss by the cyclone
of 1884, in which all the town, except three
houses, was destroyed. Mr. Fleming was badly
injured and his store and goods were completely
destroyed, so that he was rendered well nigh
penniless by the disaster. He recommenced
business, however, in a box car, and has since
succeeded very well, being at this time in the
enjoyment of a lucrative trade, which is con-
stantly increasing. Mr. Fleming is a republi-
can in politics and enjoys the esteem and con-
fidence of the people of the town in which he
resides. Maria Fleming, sister of Charles A.
Fleming, was born December i, 1844, in Fair-
mont, W. Va., and came to Delaware county,
Ind., in the year 1885. She resided first at
Cowan, then at Oakville, where she has since
resided, making her home with her brother.
^y^^ J. FLEMING, a well known farmer
I 4 of Monroe township, was born March
^ \ 2, 1 84 1, in Henry county, Ind., and
is a son of George and Clarissa Flem-
ing, natives, respectively, of Indiana and Vir-
ginia. George Fleming settled in Henry
county as early as the year 1830, and experi-
enced, in full measure, all the vicissitudes and
hardships incident to a life in the wilderness
during the pioneer period. Subsequently he
moved to Delaware county, where he died;
but he is still remembered as an industrious
and energetic man, and a true type of the
pioneer of a half century ago.
N. J. Fleming was raised in the country
and his educational training embraced the
English branches which constituted the course
usually taught in the common schools. He
early chose agriculture for an occupation, and
has followed that useful calling all of his life,
with results that are very gratifying and which
speak well for his competency as a farmer.
Mr. Fleming has lived an upright and credit-
able life and by his fair and honorable dealings
has established himself in the confidence of his
fellow citizens, among whom he is highly es-
teemed. He has succeeded well in life, from
a financial standpoint, and with but little
assistance of a pecuniary nature, has worked
his way from humble circumstances to a posi-
tion of comfort, being at this time the possessor
of a beautiful farm of 129 acres, the greater
part of which is under a high state of cultiva-
tion. Mr. Fleming was married October 24,
1 87 1, to Cynthia Babb, daughter of Evan T.
and Martha Babb, natives of Ohio and Vir-
ginia, respectively. Three children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Fleming — Lillian L. , a
college student; Martha C. (deceased); and
Andrew Claude, who is also attending school.
Mr. Fleming wields an influence in the demo-
cratic party but has never been a seeker after
office. The following are the names of the
brothers and sisters of Mr. Fleming: Mary,
wife of Benjamin Thomas; Francis P., died in
Illinois April 11, 1872; Sina, wife of Noah
Swain; Eugene; Nathan R. ; and Loverna,
wife of Madison Peckinpaugh, and Louisa,
wife of John Jones. Mrs. Fleming is one of a
family of eight children born to Evan and
Martha Babb; the following are their names:
Samuel, Milton, Jennie, wife of Edward Healy;
John M., Frank B., Charles and Henry Babb.
ILLIAM GIBSON, deceased, was
born in Monroe township, Delaware
county, Ind., April i, 1838, on the
farm entered from the United
States government by his father, Robert Gib-
Wm. Gibson .
MRS. WM. GIBSON.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
618
son, in 1822. Robert Gibson was born in
Virginia in 1804, and died on this farm in
Delaware county, Ind., in 1858. The family
from which he descended came originally from
Ireland and settled in the Carolinas, whence
they moved to Virginia; later several of its
members located in Ohio, and eventually, in
1822, Robert with four brother found his way
to Delaware county, Ind., when the county
was a wilderness teeming with wild animals,
while men were particularly scarce. Robert
Gibson married for his second wife Miss Nancy
Davis (the mother of \\'illiam, her first born,
whose name opens this sketch), but this lady
survived only until about 1844, and the re-
mains of these two pioneers now repose in
Rees cemetery, this county. William Gibson
was reared on the farm on which he was born,
and for about forty-five years pursued an in-
dustrious farmer's life, and at the time of his
death, August 28, 1893, owned 120 acres of
fine land five miles south of Muncie. His
education had benn such as is usually given
farmers' lads, and at the age of twenty-one
years he began farming on his own account.
But the Civil war came on, and he, being a
staunch republican and a true patriot, became
a member of the One hundred and Forty-ninth
Indiana volunteer infantry, joining in 1864
and serving until the close of hostilities, and
being mustered out as sergeant.
In the fall of 1892, Mr. Gibson bought
property in Muncie, on which he resided until
August, 1893, when he returned to Monroe
township. He was always a prosperous man
in his business, was careful, considerate and
just, and never contracted an obligation unless
he was positive that he could meet it. He
was a consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, a devout observer of its
teachings, a liberal man to the poor, and
never turned from his door a hungry man.
He was also a member of the G. A. R.,
Williams post. No. 78. He was popular with
young and old, and especially with yonng
people, who loved him for his jovial disposi-
tion.
October 14th, 1S5X, Mr. Gibson was
united in marriage with Mi.ss Catherine John-
son, born in Henry county, Ind., March 8,
1838, daughter of John and Charlotte (Ste-
phenson) Johnson. Her father was born June 2,
181 1, in Virginia, and then moved to Ohio,
and in a very early day came to Indiana and
settled in Henry county. Here he lived until
his death, March 21, 1889, He was mar-
ried in Ohio before coming to Indiana,
November 27, 1834, his wife being Charlotte
Stephenson, who was born April 9, 1812, in
Muskingum county, Ohio. Mrs. Johnson now
lives in Henry county on the old homestead.
To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were born nine
children, four of whom are living, as follows:
Catharine J., Silas; Lewis, and William K.
The names of the deceased ones are Martha,
who died August 23, 1840; Elizabeth, June 25,
1871; Sarah, August 16, 1852; Anna, Septem-
ber 10, 1852, and Mary, March 21, 1858.
Mrs. Gibson is a member of the High street
Methodist Episcopal church of Muncie, and
holds a eigh position in the esteem of neigh-
bors and friends.
m:
ILLIAM P. GILMORE, one of the
intelligent and promising young
farmers of Monroe township. Ind.,
was born September 20, 1867, a
son of Ames B. and Mary (Wilson) Gilmore,
natives of Indiana. He was reared at Spring-
port, Henry county, Ind. , and for twelve years
worked for his father at that place, in <he
warehouse. His father was born in Madison
county, Ind., and is now about fifty-three
years of age. His mother was born in Rush
614
DELAWARE COUNTY;
county, Ind., and is now about forty-two
years of age. His father was a stock merchant
and a worthy member of the Christian church.
Wilham P. Gilmore was educated at the com-
mon schools; began life empty handed; estab-
lishing a home of his own by his marriage,
November 22, 1888, to Miss Cora Bowers,
daughter of Jacob and Rebecca (Sharp) Bow-
ers; to this union two children have been born:
Mabel R. and Lottie. Mr. Gilmore has a fine
farm of fifty-five and one-half acres of well
improved land, and in connection with farming
he is making a specialty of raising Jersey
cows, in which he is very successful. Socially,
he is connected with the L O. O. F. , and re-
ligiously he and wife belong to the Christian
denomination. He is much respected by all
in his locality. In politics he is a democrat.
>T^OHN C. HAYS is a native of Henry
m county, Ind. , and dates his birth from
rttj the /th day of December, 1850. His
father, Simeon Hays, was a native of
North Carolina, and his mother, whose maiden
name was Catherine Bouslog, was born in In-
diana. Simeon and Catherine Hays had a
family consisting of the following children:
John C. , David M., Maggie, wife of William
Painter; Miles A., died in 1878; Rachel, wife
of Joseph Mann; Strauther, Mary J., deceased;
Martha and an infant which died unnamed.
The early life of John C. Hays was quiet and
uneventful, being made up chiefly of the du-
ties of farm life. Having been early obliged to
rely upon his own resources for a livelihood, he
has labored arduously and his efforts have been
crowned with success in a financial sense. He
attended school in the winter during his boy-
hood, acquiring a practical education, and ever
since his early manhood has devoted all his
time and attention to the pursuit of agricul-
ture. He settled on his present farm, in Mon-
roe township, in 1881, and now has a comfor-
table home, consisting of eighty acres of fer-
tile land, upon which are some of the most
substantial improvements in the neighborhood
where he resides.
On the 1 8th day of December, 1879, Mr.
Hays was united in marriage to Sarah A.
Strough, daughter of Absalom and Mary
(Foltz) Strough, parents natives of Virginia
and early pioneers of Henry county, to which
part of the state they removed when the conn-
try was a comparative wilderness. The wed-
ded life of Mr. and Mrs. Hays has been blessed
with the birth of six children, whose names are
as follows: Amanda E., Mary C, Cordia J.,
Alta May, died January 24, 1889; Edna F. and
Edith B. Mr. Hays is a member of the Christ-
ian church and fraternally belongs to the I. O.
O. F. The following are the names of the
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Hays: John D.
Strough, Ora O., Frank W. , George L. ,
Amanda E. , Eddie and Cora Strough, the last
two of whom died in infancy.
QILES HARROLD is one of the old
settlers of Monroe township, of
which, for over a half century, he
has been a well known figure. Mr.
Harrold was born in Hardin county, Ky. , July
8, 18 1 5, and is a son of Jonathan and Esther
(Nelson) Harrold. Jonathan Harrold, the
father, was born in North Carolina April 23,
1780, the son of Jonathan and Charity (Bee-
son) Harrold, descendants of old and well
known families who settled in that common-
wealth at a period antedating the war of the
Revolution. Jonathan Harrold, Jr., was the
third son in his father's family and was reared
a farmer in his native state, and departed this
life May 17, 1865. Originally a democrat,
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
615
he afterward changed his political views, and
at the time of his death was a supporter of
the repubhcan party. His wife, the mother
of the subject, died on the 20th day of July,
1858. They were the parents of eight children
and were most excellent and worthy people,
highly respected by all who knew them.
Miles Harrold passed his boyhood days in
traveling about from place to place, as his
father was a man of rambling disposition, and
never resided at one point any great length of
time. Until seventeen years of age he re-
mained with his parents and then began learn-
ing the blacksmithing trade, and which was
his occupation for about one year. Abandon-
ing this calling he engaged in farming, which
he has since followed with success and finan-
cial profit, and February, 1837, became a resi-
dent of Delaware county", locating in the
township of Monroe upon eighty acres of land
which he had purchased a year previous from
the government, at $1.25 per acre. He re-
sided upon his original purchase until 1866,
when he disposed of the same and bought his
present place, consisting of 160 acres.
Mr. Harrold's early educational advantages
were very limited, but he acquired sufficient
information from books to enable him to teach,
which profession he followed during the winter
season in a rude log cabin in Wayne county.
Mrs. Malinda Rhodes, who was born in Ohio,
November 3, 1812, becarn,e his wife August
25, 1838. Mrs. Harrold is the daughter of
Valentine and Catherine (Harrold) Gibson,
who were the parents of fourteen children,
seven sons and seven daughters, six of whom
are living at this time. To Mr. and Mrs.
Harrold have been born the following children:
Almira, deceased; Calvin, deceased; Mary A.,
wife of S. Fleming; Esther, wife of R. Robe;
Valentine, Jonathan, Wilson, deceased; John
W., Bnj. F. and Milton, deceased. In public
affairs Mr. Harrold has ever manifested con-
siderable interest, and from 1864 to 1866 held
the office of county commissioner, beside
which position he has held other places of
trust. Financially, he has met with most
gratifying success, and in addition to his fine
farm owns valuable town property, and has
stock in a gas company. Mr. Harrold is es-
sentially a self-made man, and his success in
life is the immediate results of his industry
and unaided efforts. He looks back upon
a long and useful life, against which no suspi-
cion of anything dishonorable has ever been
uttered. Politically, he is a republican.
@EORGE W. HIMES, was born in
Wayne county, Ind., on the 2d day
of March, 1842, and is the son of
Louis and Martha Himes, of German
and Irish descent respectively. By occupation
the father was a farmer and shoemaker, and
died on the 30th day of August, 1856; the
mother died August 22, 1852. They were both
members of the Christian church, and earned
the reputation of most excellent and praise-
worthy people.
George W. Himes remained in Wayne
county, until a little past ten years of age,
when he moved with his parents to the county
of Howard, and there resided until the spring
of 1861. He received a liberal education, and
in 1865 began teaching, which profession he
continued with gratifiying success for a number
of years, having taught in all some thirty-three
terms. On severing his connection with the
teacher's profession, Mr. Himes accepted a
clerkship with a mercantile firm, in which capa-
city he continued two years, and for sometime
afterward, sold books in various parts of Dela-
ware and other counties. He became a resi-
dent of Monroe township in December, 1865,
and after following the vacations already re-
616
DELAWARE COUNTY:
ferred to, purchased the farm where he at
present resides. Mr. Himes was married Octo-
ber 27, 1868, to Mary McLain, daughter of
Isaac and Maria (Hinaker) McLain. The
wedded hfe of Mr. and Mrs. Himes has been
blessed by the birth of the following children,
namely: Cindora, wife of D. H. Smith; Al-
nora A.; Loyola M., wife of C. M. Harris;
Leora, Indamora, Mary Lavora, and Ethel
Lacora. Mr. Himes has always been active
in behalf of the interest of his township, and
for two years served as trustee of the same.
He and wife are members of the United
Brethren church, to which denomination the
different members of their family also belong.
Mr. Himes has a military record of which
he feels justly proud and of which a brief syn-
opsis is herewith presented. In the spring of
1 86 1 he started from Kokomo to Indianapolis,
expecting to become a member of the Twelfth
Indiana volunteer infantry under Capt. T. P.
Kirkpatrick for the twelve months service.
While at Indianapolis a call was issued from
Washington for three years' troops and, Mr.
Himes with other of his comrades of the
Twelfth regiment, asked to be transferred to
the three years' service. The request of his
company, in this regard was accordingly
granted, and he became a member of company
E, Thirteenth Indiana volunteer infantry,
which took the oath of allegiance on the 9th
day of June, 1861. On the evening of July 4,
the command received orders to proceed to
the front, and at once went to West Virginia,
where he received his first introduction to the
active service of war. After a long and tire-
some march over almost impassable roads,
meeting with some opposition from the enemy
on the way, the regiment engaged in its first
battle at Rich Mountain on the iith day of
July, 1 86 1. Subsequently, Mr. Himes parti-
cipated, with his command, in the battle of
Greenbrier, and was with Gen. Milroy in an
expedition which resulted in a number of skir-
mishes and battles, in one of which Mr. Himes
was badly wounded by a minie ball which
passed through his left hand, rendering that
member uselees for life. The missile also
shattered the gun stock, passed through nine
thicknesses of clothing and penetrating the
right breast and lung, almost disabling the
right hand at the time. His sufferings, from
this severe wound were most painful, and for
four months thereafter he was confined to the
hospital. On attempting to rejoin his regi-
ment he was intercepted by the proper authori-
ties and compelled to remain one month
longer in the hospital in Maryland. He re-
joined his regiment at Winchester, Va., how-
ever, but after one month's service was
discharged on account of his disability and re-
turned home where he has since been engaged
in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. His
wound rendered him a cripple for life and he
now receives a liberal pension from a generous
government, in the saving of which he bore
so brave and gallant a part.
'^^ T. HOLSINGER, manufacturer of
J drain tile, was born in Bedford county,
/» 1 Pa., November 27, 1845, the son of
John and Sallie (Teter) Holsinger, par-
ents natives ofthe^ame state. John Holsinger
moved to Indiana with his family in 1849,
settling first near Hagerstown, Wayne county,
thence later moved to the county of Henry,
where in addition to farming he worked at his
trade of coopering. He purchased 160 acres
of land, to which he afterward added another
quarter section, upon which he lived until
1876. In 1870 he laid out the town of Oak-
ville, and was there engaged in the mercantile
business for a brief period and then went to
Fillmore county. Neb., where he purchased a
J. T. HOLSINGER.
MRS. M. C. HOLSINGER.
JOH N HOLSIN GER .
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
617
farm of i6o acres, upon which he lived until
1889, when he returned to Indiana. He died
at Oakville, August 20, 1892. He was born
in Franklin county, Pa., Februarj' 2, 1820.
He was a son of Jacoh Holsinger, Sr. , a native
of Pennsylvania. The mother was born Jan-
uary 16, 1822, in Bedford county, Pa., and
died November 8, 1889. He was a member
of the German Baptist church, a consistent
christian and a very succeseful business man.
His body lies buried in Beech Grove cemetery,
Henry county, and his wife, who died in
Nebraska, was laid to rest near the town of
Carlton, that state.
J. T. Holsinger was but a lad when his
parents moved to Indiana and he has spent
the greater part of life in this state. He was
reared a farmer, received his educational
training in the common schools, and on the
1 8th day of April, 1872, was united in mar-
riage to Mary C. Graham, daughter of David A.
and Mary (Rutherford) Graham, the father a
native of Ireland. David Graham moved with
his family to Delaware county in 1859 and
remained here until entering the service of his
country at the breaking out of the great rebel-
lion. He passed through the Virginia cam-
paigns, and participated in numerous battles
and engagements and earned the reputation of
a brave soldier. His wife died in the spring
of 1859 and was buried near Fairmount, W.
Va. Besides Mrs. Holsinger, Mr. and Mrs.
Graham had one son and four daughters,
namely: Anna, wife of Joseph Jenkins; Ellen,
wife of James Skinner; Fanny, wife of Samuel
Conwell; Eliza, wife of Coleman Waters; and
John Graham, who married Miss Sarah
Waters. The wedded life of Mr. and Mrs.
Holsinger has resulted in the birth of three
children whose names are as follows: Eva P.,
now Mrs. George A. Metzger; Rosa L. and
Meda, the last named of whom died August
24, 1887. At the present time Mr. Holsinger
is extensively engaged in the manufacture of
drain tile. His success in this line of industry
has been very marked, and the output of his
tile factory finds a ready sale in the markets
of Delaware and other counties. As a busi-
ness man Mr. Holsinger has an enviable repu-
tation, and as a citizen is fully alive to all the
interests or benefits of the public; he is widely
and favorably known throughout the township
in which he resides. In politics he is a repub-
lican; and a member of the Progressive Breth-
ren church. He has made his own way in life
and is successful. His tile factory has a
capacity for 150,000 tiles per annum, sizes
ranging from three inches to twenty inches.
>^ EDI AH HOUCK (deceased) was born
J in Lancaster county, Ohio, February
mj 4, 1832, the son of George and Eliza-
beth Houck, parents both natives of
Germany. Mr. Houck was raised in his native
state, came to Delaware county a number of
years ago, settling in Monroe township. On
the 1st day of February, 1852, he was united
in marriage to Hannah Rogers, daughter of
George and Anna (Sprattsj Rogers, and to
Mr. and Mrs. Houck were born six children:
Viretta, Ann E. , Sarah, Arminta, John and
Alice.
Mr. Houck continued to reside on his farm
in Monroe township until his death, which oc-
curred about twenty-eight years ago. He was
a man widely and favorably known in the
community, noted for his honesty and integ-
rity of purpore and his death was felt to be a
great loss in the neighborhood in which he had
for so many years resided. His widow re-
mained single for three years and then mar-
ried George Vores. This marriage resulted in
the birth of four children: Mary E. , deceased,
James V., Melvina and Frank. George and
618
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Anna Rogers, parents of Mrs. Vores, were
descendants of Irish and German ancestors
respectively, and they reared a family of eight
children, whose names' are as follows: Eliza
J., wife of James Powers; Rachel, wife of John
Miller; Hannah, Henry E. , Candace, wife of
Wilson Daniels; Watson, deceased, Clarissa,
wife of Marion Davis, and Amanda, wife of
Silas Kennedy.
Sarah Houck, third daughter of Jediah and
Hannah Houck, was born January 12, 1859,
in Delaware county, Ind., and has spent the
greater part of her life in the township of
Monroe. She early began making her own
living working from place to place, and since
early girlhood has made her home with Mrs.
Lackey, with whom she at present resides.
Her hfe has been one of great usefulness and
her friends are numerous in the community
where she lives and throughout the township
of Monroe.
aHARLES HOUCK, an intelligent gen-
tleman and progressive farmer of Mon-
roe township, of which he is a native,
was born February 1 8, 1 860, and is a
son of George and Sarah (Louthain) Houck.
George Houck, the father, was a native of
Virginia, but early moved to Henry county,
Ind. , where he was married in 1 849, and where
he followed farming until he moved to Dela-
ware county, in 1852. On coming to this
county he purchased 160 acres of fine land
which, at that time, was in a primitive condi-
tion, and by dint of hard work succeeded in
developing therefrom a beautiful home. Un-
fortunately he was not long permitted to enjoy
the fruits of his labor, having been called to -his
final reward on the 26th day of January, 1887.
George Houck was a man known far and wide
for his sterling worth and high sense of honor.
By careful financiering he became the possessor
of a goodly portion of this world's goods, and
his death was felt as a great loss to the com-
munity.
Charles Houck is, in many respects, like
his father before him, whose qualities of man-
hood he has inherited. Reared on the home
farm, he was early taught those lessons of in-
dustry and frugality by which his subsequent
life has been characterized, and upon attaining
his legal majority he chose the pursuit of agri-
culture for his permanent business and has
since followed the same with success and finan-
cial profit. Mr. Houck was married December
22, 1883, to Miss Malissa Davis, a native of
Delaware county, born in the township of Sa-
lem, April 4, i860. Mrs. Houck is a daughter
of Samuel and Emily (Trout) Davis, natives of
Ohio and Virginia. These parents had a family
of nine children, eight of whom are living at
this time, Mrs. Houck being the fourth in or-
der by birth. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are living a
life of retirement in a beautiful home in the
city of Muncie. To Charles and Melissa Houck
have been born four children: Warren W. ,
infant, deceased; Maggie and Effie E. Mr.
Houck enjoyed but few advantages of obtain-
ing an education in his youth, attending the
common schools, but is now one of the well
informed men of the neighborhood where he
resides. He is a good farmer and an industri-
ous and enterprising citizen, and possesses in a
marked degree the confidence and esteem of
those who know him.
>^OHN WESLEY HOUCK, a prominent
M business man of Cowan, and an old
A J and well known resident of the town-
ship of Monroe, is a native of Henry
county, Ind., born on the 25th day of March,
1839. His father, George Houck, was born
in Hagerstown, Md. , about the year 1786, and
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
619
grew to manhood in that state, moving in
1834, to Indiana, and locating in Henry county.
His wife, whose maiden name was EHzabeth
Mummaugh, and whom he married in 1834,
was born in Fairfield county, Ohio. Shortly
after their marriage they removed to this state,
and were residents of Henry county until 1866,
at which time they removed to the county of
Delaware, where their respective deaths occur-
red, the mother dying February 22, 1867, and
the father on the 3d day of March, 1872.
George Houck was by occupation a farmer,
which useful calling he followed all his life,
and is remembered as a man of excellent parts,
and a devout member of the Christian church.
Mrs. Houck was also a member of the same
denomination, and was noted for her many
kindly acts and deeds.
John Wesley Houck was reared to man-
hood in Henry county, and early in life learned
those lessons of industry which have redound-
ed to his success in subsequent years. He
labored hard on the farm during his minority,
attended the indifferent schools of the country,
in which he obtained a limited education, and
at the age of twenty-one began life for him-
self as a farm laborer, receiving for his ser-
vices first $16 per month, and afterward the
sums of $20 and $25 per month. He was
thus engaged for a period of six years, when
he married and began farming for himself on
rented land, continuing to receive a share of
the proceeds of the soil tilled for about eight
years. At the end of that time he purchased
an improved farm of eighty acres, which he
now owns, and upon which he resided until
1890, when he discontinued agricultural pur-
suits, and engaged in the manufacture of coil
hoops at the town of Cowan. He is asso-
ciated in this interest with Messrs. Davis &
Perdiue, under the firm name of the Cowan
Coil Hoop company, and is doing a very suc-
cessful business. In addition to his manu-
facturing interests, he is also proprietor of a
hotel at Cowan, which is a well known and
favorite stopping place for the traveling public.
Mr. Houck was married November 29,
1866, to Miss Rebecca Conner, who was born
in Henry county, Ind. , January 17, 1847.
Mrs. Houck is a daughter of Marshall and
Susan (Fadley) Conner, and is one of the fam-
ily of eight children, only one of whom, beside
herself, is living at this time, to wit, Mrs.
Susan Clevenger. To Mr. and Mrs. Houck
have been born three children, namely:
Charles L. , principal of the New Corner
school and one of the efficient instructors of
Delaware county; Laura Bell, also a well
known teacher, and Dora Lee, at present a
student of the Cowan schools. Politically Mr.
Houck is, and always has been, a supporter of
the democratic party and he is also a wide
awake and progressive citizen. He is a mem-
ber of the I. O, O. F. lodge. No. 561, of
Cowan, in which he holds the positions of
trustee and treasurer. Of the family of ten
children, of which he is a member, only two
beside himself are now living, namely, Michael
and Maria.
^^EORGE W. KABRICH, farmer of
■ Q\ Monroe township, was born October
\^_^ 3, 1852, in Loudoun county, Va.,
and is the son of Rev. John M. and
Eve M. (Fry) Kabrich, both parents natives of
the Old Dominion state. Rev. John M. Ka-
brich moved to Indiana in 1863, locating near
Fairfield, Franklin county, thence in 1874 to
the county of Delaware. At this time he is
pastor in charge at Daleville, where he resides
— one of his preaching points. John M. and
Eve M. Kabrich have a family of eleven chil-
dren, seven of whom were born in Virginia,
and all save one are living at this time. Their
names are as- follows: Lydia M., deceased;
620
DELAWARE COUNTY;
George W. , David W. , Henrietta, Sophia,
Florence, Eliza, Henry, Recompense, Minnie
and Charles. The first ten years of the life of the
subject of this sketch were spent in his native
county and state, and he then removed with
his parents to Maryland, which was his home
until the family located in Franklin county in
the year above noted. In 1875 he came to
Delaware county, and for the four succeeding
years was employed by M. R. Harris in labor
upon a farm. December 8, 1878, he married
Josephine Kessinger, who was born in Henry
county, Ind. , October 9, 1859, and who died
December 31, 1883, leaving one child, Walter
M. Kabrich. She was a true wife, a sincere
christian, and died highly esteemed by all who
knew her. Mr. Kabrich's second marriage
took place December 25, 1889, with Bertha I.
McLain, who was born in Delaware county,
October 12, 1868, daughter of Thomas and
Jane (Perdiue) McLain, a union blessed with
the birth of one child, Gladys. Mr. Kabrich
purchased his present farm in Monroe town-
ship in 1880, and has a good home supplied
with a comfortable portion of this world's
goods. He is a republican in his political be-
lief, stands high in the community where he
resides, and is one of the intelligent and well
informed citizens of Monroe township. He
now owns fifty-seven acres of choice land.
He and wife are members of the Christian
church at Tabor.
>^OSEPH E. KERN is a native of West
m Virginia and dates his birth from the
« 1 20th day of December, 1855. His
parents, Jacob and Mary (Dean) Kern,
were of German descent and came from Vir-
ginia to Indiana in October, 1861, settling
in Henry county near the town of Luray, and
seven years later, removed to Oakville where
the mother's death occurred February 17,
1880. The father, by occupation, is a car-
penter and he reared a family consisting of the
following children, namely: Eliza, wife of
Enoch Drumm; Sophia, wife of Samuel
Drumm; Sarah, wife of Robert A. Johnson;
James W., Mary, wife of Rev. L. T. Holsinger,
Isaac Kern and Susan E., wife of James
Harris.
Joseph E. Kern accompanied his parents
from Virginia to Indiana and grew to manhood
on the farm, attending, in the meantime such
schools as the country afforded. He resided
for some years near Oakville, Delaware coun-
ty, and after beginning life for himself moved
to his present farm, consisting of sixty acres of
well improved land, situated in Monroe town-
ship, Delaware county, where he has since
resided. Mr. Kern is a man of intelligence
and excellent judgment and has been compli-
mented by his fellow citizens by being elected
to the responsible position of township trustee,
the duties of which he has discharged in a
highly commendable manner.
Mr. Kern was married January 21, 1877, to
Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Hayden and
Nancy Yelton, and his family consists of three
children, Walter, Hayden and Jacob; the old-
est child, whose name was Frank, is deceased.
The parents of Mrs. Kern were natives of
Kentucky and early settlers of Hancock coun-
ty, Ind. Subsequently they removed to the
county of Henry, and afterward purchased the
present home west of New Castle, on the i8th
day of June, 1865. By his first marriage with
Nancy Hopkins, Hayden Yelton had the fol-
lowing children: Varonia A., deceased; Mrs.
Elizabeth Kern; Charles A., Amelia M., wife
of Dr. R. Marshall; Sarah J., wife of Stephen
Harlan; Mary L. , wife of James Baughn,
Peter, deceased, and Hayden. Two years-
after his first wife's death, Mr. Yelton married
Jennie Cook, by whom he has one child, Joel
ISAAC LENOX.
HAZEL A. LENOX, Granddaughter.
MRS. A. C. LENOX.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
621
C. Mr. and Mrs. Kern are members of the
Society of Friends, in which church he has
been an assistant in the ministry for five years.
In politics Mr. Kern is an ardent republican
and is one of the representative men of Mon-
roe township.
ISAAC LENOX was born in Delaware
county, Ind., Monroe township, and is a
son of John and Nancy (Brown) Lenox.
He was reared to manhood on the farm,
and like the majority of country boys his life
was comparative uneventful. His opportuni-
ties for acquiring an education were somewhat
limited, and the schools he attended were sup-
ported by voluntary subscription and lasted
but two or three months of the year. His life
has been one of great industry, and, actuated
by a determination to succeed, he early en-
gaged in farming upon his responsibility, and
in 1858 purchased a tract of wood land from
which he cleared and developed a beautiful
home, owning at this time a highly improved
farm of 160 acres. He was married April 12,
1855, to Catherine, daughter of James and
Thankful A. Masterson, to which union the fol-
lowing children were born: Borter, Thankful
A., died June 5, 1858; Thomas, died June,
1 861; James, John T. , Nancy, wife of Alonzo
Cooper, and three children who died in infancy
unnamed. The mother of these children died
March 19, 1888, and lies within the silent
shades of the Rees cemetery, where a hand-
some marble shaft with an appropriate epitaph
serves, to mark her last resting place. Mrs.
Lenox was held in high esteem by her many
friends and neighbors, and bore, nobly, her
part towards the founding of the comfortable
home where the family now reside. She was
a woman of many excellent qualities, uniformly
kind and considerate to all, and her life was
a grand simple poem of toilsome duties well
and uncomplainingly done. Mr. Lenox in his
political affiliations was originally a whig and
cast his first presidential vote for Gen. Win-
field Scott. Since the birth of the republican
party he has been one of its supporters, and
takes great interest in the leading questions of
the day, but has never been an aspirant for
official position.
John P. Lenox, son of Isaac and Catherine
Lenox, was born November i, 1864, in Dela-
ware county, Ind., and has passed the greater
part of his life within the limits of his native
township. He received a liberal education,
early became a farmer, and, in addition to
agriculture pursuits, pays considerable atten-
tion to stock raising, which he has pursued
very profitably. His life has been marked by
industry and thrift, and he is a true type of
that large and progressive class of American
farmers to whose industry our western country
is largely due for much of its present advance-
ment and prosperity. He is a member of the
Improved Order of Red Men and takes an
active interest in the affairs of the fraternity.
Mr. Lenox was married April 4, 1888, to Miss
Sina Skinner, daughter of William and Eliza-
beth Skinner, a union blessed with the birth
of one child, namely, Hazel A. Lenox. Mrs.
Lenox is a consistent member of the Society
of Friends and a lady highly respected by
every body in the community.
,>^ ORTER LENOX, the eldest son of
1^"^ Isaac and Ann Lenox, was born in
J^^J Monroe township, Delaware county,
Ind., January 12, 1856. He was
educated at the country schools and remained
on the home farm with his father until twenty-
one years of age, when he began general farm-
ing on his own account, and this pursuit he
has successfully followed until the present
DELAWARE COUNTY:
time, living on the farm of his father, which
comprises i6o acres, and is situated five miles
south of Muncie. October 29, 1889, he
married Miss Ann Evans, who was born in
Henry county, Ind., August 18, 1856, and is
the daughter of David and Elizabeth (Johnson)
Evans. The father is a native of Ohio, and is
now fifty-five years of age. Miss Evans had
the misfortune to lose her mother, June 25,
1 87 1, when the former was very little more
than an infant. She was thus thrown upon
the world at a tender age, but was taken
charge of by Mrs. Catherine Gibson, her aunt,
and Mr. William Gibson, her uncle, who
reared her with parental affection and care
until her marriage. To the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Lenox has been born one son, William
Clifford, who consummated the happine.=s of his
parents August 20, 1890. The parents enjoy
the esteem of all their neighbors and are con-
sidered to be among the most worthy of the
county, Mrs. Lenox being an exemplary
member of the Methodist church, of which he,
also, is an attendant. In politics he is a
republican, and is a faithful worker for his
party at the polls.
>-T*OHN LOSH (deceased) was born in
m Northumberland county. Pa., June 18,
«1 1 8 19, the son of John and Susannah
Losh, parents both natives of the same
state. John Losh was reared a farmer and
came to Delaware county in 1855, and pur-
chased the farm still in possession of the
family, upon which he resided until his death.
He was married November 5, 1840, to Mary
Tompson, daughter of Robert and Matilda
Tompson, and became the father of the follow-
ing children: Matilda, wife of James Watson;
Robert T. , died June 21, 1849; Martha, wife of
Oliver Carmichael;' Wilson, died June 24,
1865; John F. , died June 21, 1885; infant, de-
ceased, and Charles M. Losh, a resident of the
city of Muncie. Mr. Losh was always a hard
working man, was upright and honorable in
his dealings, won universal respect and confi-
dence, and was valued as a substantial and
public spirited citizen, and loved as a friend
and neighbor. He departed this life at Eaton
Rapids, Mich., on the 17th day of July, 1880.
Mrs. Losh was subsequently united in mar-
riage to Aaron Lackey, son of Joseph and Ad-
die Lackey. Mr. Lackey was born in Butler
county, Ohio, in 1821, and has always followed
the farmer's occupation. He has been a resi-
dent for some years of Monroe township, where
he is universally respected, and as a citizen oc-
cupies a conspicuous place in the estimation of
his friends and neighbors. Mrs. Lackey is a
highly esteemed lady in the community in
which she resides, and her life has been
fraught with kind words and good deeds. She
has indeed been a helpmate, and in the later
years of her life many are the friends that rise
up and call her blessed. Mrs. Lackey has
lived in Monroe township continuously since
1 84 1. She and her former husband settled in
the southwest part of this township, where
they cleared a farm from the green. She came
to her present place of residence in 1853.
HBRAHAM McCONNELL is an in-
dustrious and highly respected farmer
of Monroe township, and possesses
in an eminent degree the esteem and
confidence of a large circle of friends through-
out the county. Mr. McConnell was born in
Delaware county, Ind., June 17, 1843, and is
a son of John and Elizabeth (Covault) Mc-
Connell. He was reared a farmer, has followed
that useful occupation all his life, and at this
time has a well improved place of seventy-
MONROE TOWNSHIP,
nine acres, which is under a very successful
state of cultivation. As a tiller of the soil
Mr. McConnell has met with well deserved
success, and by well directed effort has ac-
cumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods to
enable him to live in comparative independ-
ence. He served his township as assessor for
one term, acted as supervisor for a period of
about seven years, and he has always taken an
active interest in promoting the well being of
his neighborhood and community.
Mr. McConnell was united in marriage
October 30, 1864, to Elizabeth Fuson, who
departed this life April 6, 1867, deeply lament-
ed by all who knew her. She was a consistent
member of the United Brethren church, and a
lady of many excellent traits of character. On
the 1 6th day of February, 1868, Mr. McCon-
nell married his second wife, Frances E. Heath,
who died May 14, 1886. Like the first Mrs.
McConnell, she was a woman whose life was
fraught with good deeds, a sincere christian,
and a fond and loving mother. To the second
marriage the following children were born:
Minnie O., Bertha L. , Mary V., Harvey H.,
Charles N. , Curtis O., Jessie L. , and three
whose deaths occurred in infancy. Mr. Mc-
Connell, on the 7th day of April, 1887, mar-
ried his present wife, whose maiden name was
Elizabeth Gossett, a union blessed with the
birth of one child, Asa Mabel McConnell.
Mrs. McConnnell was born in Henry county,
Ind. , November 9, 1856. John and Elizabeth
Gossett, the parents of Mrs. McConnell, were
prominent members of the United Brethren
church, and most excellent citizens. Of their
family of eight children, three are living at
this time, Rebecca R. , wife of B. B. Richards;
Mrs. McConnell and Malinda, wife of William
Miller.
Mr. McConnell has an army record of
which he feels deservedly proud and which
proves him to have been one of the brave de-
fenders of the national Union in the dark days
of the Rebellion. On the 22nd day of Octo-
ber, 1 86 1, he enlisted in company E, Fifty-
seventh regiment Indiana volunteer infantry,
and was actively engaged in the service for a
period of four years, during which time it was
his lot to take part in a number of bloody
battles. October 3, 1862, his regiment went
to Louisvile, thence to Prairieville, and after
leaving Nashville, was engaged in the battle
of Stone River, January i, 1863, where Mr.
McConnell received a severe gun shot wound
in the face, which necessitated his remaining
in the hospital for a period of six weeks. Sub-
sequently he rejoined his command and par-
ticipated in the battle of Chattanooga in the
summer of 1863, and afterward took part in
the battle of Mission Ridge. He re-enlisted
at Knaxville in the spring of 1 864, from which
time until June, of that year, he was almost
continually under fire, having taken part in
nearly all the battles around Atlanta. At
Kenesaw Mountain he was shot in the left
shoulder and right hand, from the effects of
which wounds he remained in the hospital
eight months. He was then sent to Rock
Island, III, thence to Springfield, where he
remained until honorably discharged Novem-
ber 12, 1865, reaching home one month later
than that date. Mr. McConnell is a promi-
nent member of the United Brethren church,
belongs to the Knight of Honor and is promi-
nently identified with the F. M. B. A. Mr.
McConnell is a stalwart and true republican.
Vt'ESSE W. McKIMMEY, a native of In-
M diana, was born in Salem township,
A 1 Delaware county, and was the son of
James and Susanah (Adamson) McKim-
mey, parents natives of North Carolina and
Indiana respectively. Mr. McKimmey was
DELAWARE COUNTY:
reared a farmer, and spent the greater part of
his Hfe within the boundary of his native county,
and always followed agriculture as his occupa-
tion. He was married, in i860, to Lucinda
Clevenger, daughter of Samuel and Margaret
Clevenger, who bore him four children, namely:
Sanford L. , Elnora A., wife of John Lowe;
James O., died in infancy, and Charles B.,
also deceased. Mrs. McKimmey dying, Mr.
McKimmey, two years later, was united in
marriage to Rebecca (Sharpe) Bowers, daugh-
ter of Edward and Anna Sharp, a union blessed
with the birth of three children, namely: In-
fant, deceased August, 1877, March M. and
Erie E. Mrs. McKimmey, who had previously
been married to Jacob Bowers, was one of the
family of fourteen children, whose names are
as follows: Nancy, wife of Benj. Sourewine;
Thompson, William, Mary, wife of Noah
Bowers; Amanda, wife of Rev. Mr. Quick;
Minerva, deceased; George, deceased; infant,
deceased; John, Martha, wife of Ira Kidwell;
Loretta J., wife of_Solomon Skinner — she died
March 7, 1888; Joseph P., died March, 1890,
and Sophia C, wife of Rev. W. R. Lowe.
Mrs. McKimmey is the ninth in order of birth.
The wedded life of Jacob Bowers and Re-
becca Sharpe resulted in the birth of thirteen
children, as follows: L. C. , Edward M. ,
Isabella A., Oliver P., Russell, Cora L., wife
of William P. Gilmore; Amanda, died in 1859;
John C, died in 1858; infant, died August,
1862; Martha, died 1863; infant, died Octo-
ber, 1869, and Earl O., died 1870. After his
marriage, Mr. Bowers moved to the present
home farm, where he lived until his death,
which was caused by an accident at th^^is-
ing of a neighbor's barn, on June 6, 1873. By
a life of industry and prudent management,
Mr. Bowers became the possessor of a reason-
able amount of this world's wealth and at the
time of his death was in very comfortable cir-
cumstances. In the affairs of business and
every day life his actions were governed by a
high sense of honor and right, and by a long
life of usefulness he gained and retained the
confidence of all with whom he came in con-
tact. Mrs McKimmey's father and mother
died in the years 1854 and 1877, respectively.
They were prominent members of the Dis-
ciples church, belonged to the Independent
Order of Good Templers, and were people
highly respected in the community where they
resided.
<>^ MARSHALL, M. D., a well known
I /^ physician and surgeon of Cowan, is a
M. .F native of Delaware county, Ind., born
April 9, 1840, the son of Miles and
Elizabeth (Bell) Marshall. The doctor's an-
cestors paternally were among the early
settlers of Tennessee, in which state his grand-
parents, Thomas and Hannah Marshall, were
born, and from which they emigrated many
years ago to Indiana, locating in Wayne coun-
ty, where Miles Marshall was born September
13, 181 1. The family were among the pio-
neers of Wayne county, where a number of
descendants still reside. Miles Marshall was,
by occupation, a farmer, and he was known as
a successful, reliable man. He was married
in Wayne county, Ind., 1834, to Elizabeth
Bell, and reared a family consisting of the
following children: Thomas, Margaret, Miles,
Reuben, Hannah, wife of J. H. Templin,
William H., Jacob W. , deceased; Jane Eliza-
beth, wife of J. B. Jackson, Rebecca E., who
was the wife of Albert Ofterdinger; Horace,
deceased, and John B. The father died
March, 1886; the mother is still living.
Doctor Marshall was educated in the com-
mon schools and grew to manhood on a farm.
After reaching the years of his majority he
taught school for some years in Delaware and
Henry counties, in all eight terms, pursuing
R. MARSHALL, M. D.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
his literary studies in the mean time. Orig-
inally, he had no intention of entering the
medical profession, but while teaching con-
cluded to prepare himself for the practice of
the healing art, and, accordingly, began the
study of the same about the year 1872. In
1874, in order the better to prepare himself for
the medical profession, he entered the Miami
college of Medicine, of Cincinnati, in which
he took two courses of lectures. In 1877 he
located in the permanent practice of his pro-
fession at the village of Cowan, where he re-
mained until 1S79, at which time he moved
to Gifford, Champaign county, 111 , thence
one year later to Ogden, same county and
state, where he practiced for about twenty
months, returning to Cowan December, 1881,
where he has since resided. Dr. Marshall is
well read in the principles of the healing art,
keeps fully abreast of the times and is now in
the enjoyment of a lucrative practice, in which
he has met with well deserved success. In
politics a republican, he has never been am-
bitious for official preferment, all of his atten-
tion having been given to the practice of his
chosen calling. September i, 1888, the doctor
was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Yelton,
who was born in Henry county, Ind., Novem-
ber 5, 1856, the daughter of Hay den and
Nancy (Hopkins) Yelton. In 1889 Dr. Mar-
shall was president of the Delaware county
Medical society. He is also secretary of the
Cowan Exploring company.
m:
'ILLIAM H. NEFF.— Prominent
among the representative citizens
and manufacturers of the gas belt
of Indiana is William H. Neff,
whose birth occurred on the 19th of Septem-
ber, 1848, in Rockingham county, Virginia.
His father, Elias Neff, was born in the same
county and state March i, 18 18, and there
married Sarah Ritchey, also of Virginia birth,
who became the mother of three children,
namely: George, William H., and Catherine,
wife of George Will, the first named being de-
ceased. The mother of these children de-
parted this life in the year 1854 and subse-
quently Elias Neff was united in marriage with
Margaret Lamb of Rockbridge county, Va. ,
who bore him fourteen children, of whom the
following are living: Michael, Sarah, Mathias,
Ada, Lewis, Alice and John. Mrs. Neff dying,
Mr. Neff afterward wedded Leana Miller by
whom he had one child, Hannah. By occu-
pation Elias Neff is a carpenter and cooper,
both of which trades he has carried on, since
early manhood, in his native county and state,
where he still resides.
The early life of William H. Neff was
passed amid the ordinary routine of home
duties, and while still young he entered upon
an apprenticeship to learn carpentering with
one William Toppin, of Rockingham county,
under whose guidance he continued for a
period of eight months. Becoming proficient
in his chosen calling, he worked about one
and a half years with an uncle, Jacob Ritchey,
at the end of which time, thinking that the
west afforded better advantages to a young
man, he came to Indiana, locating in Henry
county, where, for a brief period, he found
employment as a wood chopper, and later
made rails, for a short time, in the same
locality. For about one year he was employed
as a farm laborer by O. E. Clevenger, Esq.,
of Delaware county, and later resumed car-
pentry, which he carried on until 1882,
having in the meantime devoted much atten-
tion to the perfecting of an improved washing
machine, for which he obtained letters patent
in the year noted. Satisfied that the machine
of which he was the patentee possessed supe-
rior merits, he began its manufacture at Cowan,
626
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Delaware county, in 1882, on a small scale,
employing three workmen. After continuing
at the business for some time he disposed of
his establishment to R. M. Ball, of Cowan,
now of Muncie, and for one year thereafter
was engaged in the general mercantile trade at
the former place. Discontinuing the goods
business, Mr. Neff again turned his attention to
the manufacture of washing machines, which he
has since continued, being at this time the
proprietor of ,the largest and best equipped
factory for the exclusive manufacture of these
necessary articles of household comfort and
convenience in the United States. The story
of Mr. *Neff's experience as a manufacturer
would form an interesting chapter, and for the
benefit of those whose lives are beset with
discouragements, caused by repeated miscarry-
ings of well laid plans, the following brief out-
line, gleaned from a published account written
by himself, is given: In 1882, as already
stated, he commenced the business with a cash
capital of $10 and an indebtedness of $200
hanging over him. He made his own ma-
chinery, principally out of wood, which cost
him $2, thus leaving him $8 with which to pur-
chase material for the machines. After judi-
ciously spending the $8, and having one man
to furnish steam power, he proceeded to busi-
ness, and the first week manufactured six
washers, which were painted and sold the week
following. He continued in this way until
March, 1883, when he purchased a horse and
horse power, which, attached to his machinery,
greatly facilitated the means of manufacturing
and enabled him to place the products of his
factory on the market in greater numbers.
Through the medium of the machines previ-
ously sold, the merits of the washer went
abroad, in consequence of which the demand
increased to such an extent that an establish-
ment of greatly enlarged capacity became nec-
essary, accordingly he purchased a larger
building, which was supplied with improved
machinery, operated by a ten-horse power en-
gine. Under the new conditions he was en-
abled to manufacture about 100 washers per
week, yet in less than twelve months he was
again obliged to enlarge his buildings and
grounds and purchase new and better ma-
chinery, including a twenty-five horse power
engine, thus turning out a large number of
machines to meet the demands of the con-
stantly increasing trade. He continued in this
manner with the demand gradually spreading
and crowding until 1891, when, for the fourth
time he was compelled not only to enlarge his
old buildings, but to erect new and more com-
modious structures and add to the space al-
ready occupied until, as stated in a preceding
paragraph, his factory is the largest and most
thoroughly equipped establishment of the kind
in the United States. The machine he makes
is known as "The Perfection Washer," which,
as the name implies, has no superior in the
market. The almost phenomenal sales during
the few years past is proof sufficient that the
Perfection is duly appreciated by the public,
and in view of the continued demand it is safe
to predict that within a comparatively brief
period the capacity of the factory will again
have to go through a process of enlargement.
Mr. Neff is a wide awake, progressive man,
fully alive to the interest of his business and
the general prosperity of the community.
Personally he is very popular with all, and
those who know him best, unite in pronounc-
ing him a true type of the broad minded, in-
telligent and courteous gentleman. He is a
supporter of the democratic party, and while
not a partisan in the sense of aspiring to offi-
cial honors, he has decided opinions on all
public questions and expresses the same in a
manner not to be misunderstood whenever
occasion makes it necessary. With the I. O.
O. F. local lodge. No. 561, he has been identi-
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
627
fied for some years and is also a member of
the Improved Order of Red Men, belonging to
Cheyenne tribe, No. 133.
Mr. Neff and Miss Helen Fulton were
made man and wife on the 6th day of Novem-
ber, 1 87 1. Mrs. Neff was born in Delaware
county, Ind., in 1852 and she is the mother
of the following children: Sanford, an employe
in his father's factory; Alberta May, wife of
Jacob Rinker; Edward, also works for his
father; John, Lillie and Nellie.
^^^EORGE NICHOLS (deceased)— Few
■ Q\ residents of Monroe township were
\^_^ more highly esteemed and universally
respected than the late George Nich-
ols, whose death was felt as a personal loss to
the community in which he formerly resided.
He was born in Delaware county, Ind. , on the
14th day of May, 1857, the son of John and
Martha (Lyons) Nichols. He became a suc-
cessful farmer, and displayed good ability as a
financier, having accumulated during his life,
a comfortable fortune, which he left to his
widow, who still resides upon the home place.
As a member of the German Baptist church,
he exemplified the teachings of the Christian
religion in his daily life, and as a citizen few
men in the township enjoyed, in as great a
degree, the confidence of the community.
Educated in the common schools, which he
attended at intervals in his youth, he was not,
in the strict sense of the word, a scholar so
far as books were concerned, but, possessing a
fund of practical common sense, he was
enabled to discharge very successfully the
duties of a very active life. He was married
September 11, 1878, to Ida L. Hill, daughter
of Charles and Eunice Hill, to which union
the following children were born: Charles E.
deceased; Lemuel N., Arietta T., Roscoe T.,
John L. , and Lulu M., deceased. Mr. Nichols
died on the 20th day of August, 1892, and
amid a sorrowing concourse of friends and
neighbors was laid to his last rest in what is
known as the Fall Creek cemetery.
The parents of Mrs. Nichols were early
settlers of Monroe township, to which they
removed many years ago, and where they still
reside. Mr. Hill is a successful farmer, owning
I 20 acres of valuable land, is a republican in
politics, and a member of the Odd Fellows
fraternity.
aLAYTON NICODEMUS, proprietor
of a large and successful saw mill of
Monroe township, was born in Preble
county, Ohio, October 11, 1863, a
son of Aaron and Maria (Sayler) Nicodemus,
both parents natives of the same county and
state, and of German descent. Aaron Nico-
demus is by occupation a farmer and is still
living in the county of his nativity; all his
family of six children are living at this time.
Clayton Nicodemus, like the majorty of country
boys, early became acquainted with the rug-
ged usages of farm life, was reared to agricultural
pursuits in his native county and had the ad-
vantages of a common school education. He
remained with his parents until reaching the
years of his majority, ahd then began farming
for himself on rented land, and was thus em-
ployed for a period of three years. In March,
1892, he purchased the mill of which he is
now proprietor, and since that date has been
actively engaged in the manufacture of lum-
ber, which business is now among the most
profitable of the kind in Delaware county.
His mill is supplied with the latest improved
machinery for the manufacture of lumber.
Mr. Nicodemus was united in marriage
December 2, 1886, in Preble county, Ohio,
with Miss Dora E. Goodwin, of the same
DELAWARE COUNTY;
county and state, where she was born, on the
30th day of October, 1861, the daughter of
Timothy and Sarah (Parish) Goodwin. Mr.
Nicodemus is a pnbhc spirited citizen, a repub-
lican inpohtical beHef, and is a member of the
Improved Order of Red Men, belonging to
lodge No. 133. He stands high in the com-
munity where he resides and has a wide
acquaintanceship throughout his township and
Delaware county.
at
ILLIAM H. PEACOCK.— Promi-
nent among the well known citizens
of Monroe township is the gentle-
man whose biographical sketch is
herewith presented. William H. Peacock,
son of Elijah and Mary (Wright) Peacock, was
born in Tyler county, Va. , March 28, 1845,
and in his veins flows the blood of Scotch and
Irish ancestry. His father, a blacksmith by
occupation, moved with his family to Indiana
a number of years ago, settling in Henry
county, where, near the town of Luray, the
early years of William H. were passed. He
spent his youth on a farm and remained under
the parental roof until the age of seventeen,
at which time he responded to the country's
call for volunteers, enlisting, December 15,
1863, in company G, Ninth Indiana cavalry,
with- which he served until honorably dis-
charged June 25, 1865. His mihtary career
was an eventful one, and during his period of
service he participated in a number of battles
and experienced vicissitudes, through the like
of which but few ever passed and lived to tell
the story. He was made a prisoner of war at
Sulphur Branch Trestle, September 25, 1864,
and kept in confinement at Castle Morgan,
Alabama, for nine months, during which period
his sufferings and privations were of a most
aggravated character, the effects of which
served to impair his health seriously for a
number of years after leaving the army.
When captured, he was in robust health, weigh-
ing 197 pounds, but when released his weight
had diminished to eighty-one pounds, and his
constitution was greatly shattered by cruel
treatment and exposure. His daily rations,
during the greater part of his prison life, con-
sisted of one quart of corn meal, ground cob
and all, and at one time he was compelled to
undergo much inconvenience and suffering
caused by an overflow of the Alabama river,
which flooded the prison to a height of almost
six feet. Among the battles in which he took
part were Sulphur Branch, Duck River, and
Franklin, beside which his command was
engaged in skirmishing with the enemy nearly
all the way from Nashville to Atlanta and
back again to the former city. After his re-
lease from prison he started from Vicksburg
with several thousand others by boat, but
seven miles above Memphis the boiler of the
steamer exploded, resulting in the loss of
nearly two thousand lives. This terrible dis-
aster occurred in the night time, and the hor-
rible sufferings of the poor scalded creatures
who plunged or were thrown into the merciless
waves of the Mississippi, baffle all efforts of
description. Mr. Peacock was on board the
ill fated vessel and he struggled between
death by scalding and in the waves most
bravely during the long hours of that sad
night, and was picked up about seven and
one-half miles below where the disaster oc-
curred. He received a severe cut on the left
shoulder, and after reaching the shore
rambled around for three days before he suc-
ceeded in finding any of his comrades. The
agony experienced by Mr. Peacock in this ter-
rible catastrophe, made a vivid impression
upon his mind, and he recalls the scene only
with feeling of the most acute emotion. For
nearly three years after returning from the
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
army Mr. Peacock suffered greatly from the
effects of his imprisonment, and at one time
became so emaciated that his weight was only
seventy pounds. After sufficiently recovering
his health he began working for his father, and
on July 25, 1868, was united in marriage to
Martha A. Reynolds, to which union three
children were born, namely: Mary E., wife of
John Watts; James R. and John C.
Mr. Peacock has a nice little home, the
abode of hospitality and plent)-, and he is
highly respected by all who know him. Breck-
enridge Reynolds, the father of Mrs. Peacock,
was a large and wealthy land holder, being at
one time the possessor of over 1,000 acres.
He was a native of Virginia and the father of a
number of children, a mention of whom is
found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Peacock
owns 140 acres of land, and built his present
residence in 1893. In his political views he is
an uncompromising republican.
aLARISSA PHILLIPS, a well known
lady of Perry township, of which she
is a native, was born November 18,
1854, the daughter of Daniel and
Elizabeth Kisling, natives respectively of Vir-
ginia and Indiana. Daniel Kisling left his na-
tive state in an early day, emigrated to Indi-
ana, and, in 1831, come to what is now Monroe
township and settled on a farm of 160 acres,
which he purchased from the government. He
bore an active part in the growth and develop-
ment of the country, and saw the county of
Delaware redeemed from a wilderness state
and become one of the most highly civilized
and progressive sections of Indiana. He died
on the 6th day of April, 1884, and on the loth
of September, 1S90, his good wife followed him
to the grave. Daniel and Elizabeth Kisling
raised a large family, consisting of the follow-
ing children: Sophia, John, Sarah, Martha,
Isaac, Hugh, Jacob, Mary C, wife of John
Will; Daniel, Emma, Elizabeth, Clarissa, wife
William Phillips, and Rosanna, wife of Elwood
Reese.
Clarissa Kisling was raised in Monroe
township, where, on the iith day of April,
1872, she was united in marriage to B. G.
Cunningham, of Virginia, and son of B. G. and
Mary (Rees) Cunningham. By this union she
became the mother of five children, namely:
Stella A., Nellie E., Elsie L., Isca E. and
Rollin, who died February 14, 1879. Mr. Cun-
ningham was a man highly prized in the neigh-
borhood for his integrity and honorable deal-
ings, and his success as a farmer is attested by
the fact that he accumulated a good property
which he left to his children. After Mr. Cun-
ningham's death, which occurred on August 17,
1880. Mrs. Cunningham remained single until
January 29, 1891, when she was united in mar-
riage to Mr. W. H. Phillips, a successful
farmer and businessman, and a prominent citi-
zen of Liberty township. Religiously he and
his wife are earnest workers in the Methodist
denomination. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are peo-
ple of eminent respectability, and few resi-
dents of Liberty township possess the confi-
dence and esteem of their fellow citizens in a
more marked degree than they.
t>^ ENJAMIN F. RALSTON, a native of
l(''^ Wayne county, Ind. , was born on
JK,^ the 14th day of February, 1835. His
father, Andrew Ralston, was a native
of Kentuck}-, in which state his mother, whose
maiden name was Millie J. Street, was also
born, both families being of English origin.
Benjamin F. Ralston grew to manhood on a
farm, received a common school education, and
after his twenty-first year engaged in various
DELAWARE COUNTY:
employments. He subsequently engaged in
farming, and on the 5th day of August, 1862,
entered the army, enlisting in company G,
Eighty-fourth Indiana volunteers, for the
three years' service or during the war. He
was with his command until May 19, 1865,
and participated in many of the hardest battles
of the rebellion, in all of which he bore the
part of a brave and gallant soldier, thus
making a record in which his family takes
pardonable pride. During his period of serv-
ice he encountered many severe hardships
the effect of which was a serious impairment
of his health, and he retired from military life
a great sufferer, and continued as such until
his death, on the 9th day of May, 1877. Mr.
Ralston was a true type of a gentleman and
numbered his friends by the score in whatever
locality his lot was cast. He was a republi-
can in his political belief, but he never aspired
to office. On the 27th day of May, i860, Mr.
Ralston and Nancy J. Windsor were united in
the bonds of wedlock, a union blessed with
the birth of five children, namely: Hannah,
wife of Frank Angel; William A.; Laura B.,
wife of Valentine Turner; John R. ; and Dick.
Mrs. Ralston was born in Monroe township,
Delaware county. May 12, 1845, and is the
daughter of William and Jane (Conner) Wind-
sor. These parents were of English and Irish
descent, respectively, and emigrated from
Kentucky to Indiana in an early day and were
among the pioneers of Delaware county. Mrs.
Ralston is a highly respected lady and a con-
sistent member of the Christian church, with
which she has been connected for a number of
years.
>T^ACOB REPLOGLE, is a native of In-
M diana, born in the county of Wayne,
nj on the 7th day of February, 1845, the
son of David and Nancy Hoover Replo-
gle. Both these parents were natives of Penn-
sylvania, where they were reared and married,
and where the father followed the occupation
of farming in connection with that of milling,
which trade he learned in his early manhood.
David Replogle left his home in Bedford
county. Pa., and emigrated to Wayne county,
Ind., where he engaged in farming, and where
he remained until his removal to Jefferson
county, Kan., in the year 1857. In the latter
state Mr. Replogle died on the 20th day of
March, 1870, and five years later Mr. Replogle
followed her to the grave. Ten children was
the result of their union, all of whom grew to
the years of manhood and womanhood, and
the majority of whom became heads of fami-
lies. The following are their names: Katie,
deceased; John, Samuel, David, Jacob, Susan,
Barbara, Nancy, Mary, deceased; and Levi.
David Replogle earned the reputation of a
very worthy citizen, and his success in life was
most gratifying, having by close attention to
his business accumulated a comfortable com-
petence, which he left to his children. He was
a member of the German Baptist church, and
while not a partisan, took considerable interest
in matters political, voting with the republican
party.
Jacob Replogle was reared to agricultural
pursuits, and his lot, Hke the majority of boys
raised in the country, was one in which hard
work formed a goodly part. While still young,
he learned the cooper's trade, which he followed
with fair success for a period of five years,
and then began farming, which, in connection
with threshing, he continued during the greater
part of the time until 1875. I" the mean time
he spent four years in the state of Kansas, and
in 1877 engaged in the manufacture of lumber
in Wayne county, purchasing a mill at Cam-
bridge City, which he operated with financial
profit until his removal to the town of Oak-
ville, Delaware county, in 1880. Eight years
from the last date he moved to the place where
B. REYNOLDS.
MRS. E. REYNOLDS
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
681
he now resides, where, in addition to the saw
mining business, he carries on the manufacture
of drain tihng, both these enterprises being
very successful and largely patronized. By
strict integrity and honest dealing with all
men, Mr. Replogle has won the confidence
and esteem of all with whom he has had busi-
ness transactions. As a member of the Soci-
ety of Friends, he has proved his profession of
religion genuine, by a life of good deeds, and
his denomination finds in him an earnest friend
and liberal promoter. Mr. Replogle was mar-
ried in Wayne county, May lo, 1866, to Miss
Susan Heiney, daughter of Jacob and Susanah
(Kinsey) Heiney, both parents of German
lineage. Jacob and Susan Heiney were mar-
ried in Ohio and raised a family of eight chil-
dren. He was a soldier in the war of 181 2, a
prominent member of the Lutheran church and
died on the ist day of July, 1883; his widow is
still living, residing at this time in the town of
Hagerstown, Wayne county. To the union of
Mr. and Mrs. Replogle have been born four
children, whose names areas follows: Charles,
a well known teacher of Delaware county;
Clinton S., who also follows the profession of
teaching; Amos E., a student, and an infant,
which died unnamed.
<>^ RECKENRIDGE REYNOLDS— (de-
l^"^ ceased). The late Breckenridge Rey-
J^^_^ nolds, one of the pioneers of Dela-
ware county, was a native of Vir-
ginia, born on the 2d day of March, 181 5. He
came to Indiana when the country was new,
and settled about four miles south of Muncie,
where he built a small cabin, and in a primi-
tive way began life in the wilderness. ' Within
a short time he moved to the site of the pres-
ent home in Monroe township, where he clear-
ed a farm, which, in after years, became one
of the finest and best cultivated places in the
southern part of the county. He began this
strugle in Delaware county, with but a limited
amount of this world's goods, and it is stated
that he paid for the corn with which to plant
his first crop by grubbing for a neighbor at the
insignificant remuneration of twenty-five cents
a day. He toiled early and late, and being a
man of great physical endurance and deter-
mined energy, he eventually succeeded in lay-
ing the foundation for the competence which
rewarded his efforts in alter years. In a finan-
cial sense, he met with the most encouraging
success, and at the time of his death was the
owner of 925 acres of valuable land, beside a
great deal of personal property, and a com-
fortable bank account. He died on the 17th
day of February, 1887.
Mr. Reynolds was twice married, the first
time, on the 13th day of September, 1838, in
Virginia, to Ellen Lucas, who bore him the fol-
lowing children: Archibald H. , deceased; James
A. ; William A. : Hugh C. ; Mary, deceased wife of
H. Brown; Martha, wife of William Peacock;
John H. ; Robert H. : and Harriet, wife of John
Simpson. Mr. Re} nolds' second marriage was
solemnized June i, 1868, with Euphamia
Gibson, daughter of Borter and Mary A.
(Rhoads) Gibson. The parents of Mrs. Rey-
nolds came to Monroe township in a very early
day and were among the prominent pioneers
of the southern part of Delaware county. The
following are the names of the children born
to Borter and Ma.y Gibson: Nicholas (de-
ceased), Julia (deceased), Thomas, Elizabeth,
wife of John Bradrick; Harriet, wife of Robert
Rees; Eliza, wife of William Bridges; Francis,
deceased. Mrs. Euphamia Reynolds; Maria,
wife of John Driscoll; and Charlotte, wife of
Charles Kiger. Mr. Reynolds' second mar-
riage resulted in the birth of three children,
namely: Indiana, wife of Philip Turner;
Union, wife of Charles Springer; an infant,
DELAWARE COUNTY;
died April 25, 1875. Mrs. Reynolds resides
upon the home farm, consisting of 236 acres,
and is a woman highly respected in the com-
munity where she has lived for so many years.
She is a consistent member of the Christian
church.
>Y'0HN H. REYNOLDS is a well known
M farmer and stock raiser of Monroe
A 1 township and one of the representative
agriculturists of Delaware county, Ind.,
Mr. Reynolds was born in Monroe township,
the son of Breckenridge and Ellen (Lucas) Rey-
nolds, natives of Virginia and the father a
farmer by occupation. John H. Reynolds was
reared on the home farm, received an education
in the common schools and has devoted all his
life tilling the soil, having commenced farming
for himself on 140 acres of land, a part of which
was left him by his father. He has been a
hard worker, and industry and economy have
been the characteristic traits of his life. He
has added to his original place from time to
time, and is now the possessor of 180 acres of
valuable land, the greater part of which is un-
der a successful state of cultivation, and his
improvements rank among the best in the
neighborhood where he resides.
On the 13th day of September, 1873, Mr.
Reynolds and Mary J. Masterson were united
in the bonds of wedlock, and their union has
been blessed with the birth of the following
children: Frank, died March 22, 1875; Breck-
enridge, James, infant, died November 29,
1878; Charles, Lucy, died March 1 1, 1883, and
two infants, whose deaths occurred January,
1884, and January, 1886, respectively. The
parents of Mrs. Reynolds were James and
Thankful (Daniels) Masterson, natives of Penn-
sylvania, and of Irish descent. They removed
to New York in 1830, and in an early day emi-
grated to Indiana, settling first in Henry coun-
ty, thence moving to Delaware county, locating
in the vicinity of Muncie, when there were but
three houses in the place. Mr. Masterson, at
one time, operated a carding machine, a saw
mill and a distillery, but after coming to Indi-
ana gave his entire attention to farming. He
cleared a farm from the woods, and, at the
time of his death, which occurred in August,
1870, owned a valuable tract of 240 acres of
land. He was a member of the Catholic
church, served as trustee for three terms, and
is remembered as a man of local prominence
in the neighborhood of his home. He was
buried in the Lebanon cemetery, and his wife,
who died in 1853, rests by his side. The fol-
lowing are the names of the children of Mr.
and Mrs. Masterson: Mrs. Mary J. Reynold?,
Albert, Henry, John, Thomas, Josiah, Anna E.,
James E., Samantha and Maria, the last five
of whom are deceased.
'^-t'AMES L. RINKER was born Septem-
M ber 26, 1842, in Shenandoah county,
/» 1 Va., and was the son of Philip and
Lydia Rinker. The father was, by
occupation, a farmer and died in Delaware
county, Ind., in the year 1882; the mother is
is still living and makes her home, at this time,
in the township of Salem. James J. Rinker
always followed the farmer's occupation and
devoted himself to his chosen calling with an
earnestness that wrought good results. He
was an honest man, whose word was as good
as his bond, and, as a member of the Chris-
tian church, he lived out his profession in the
actions of his daily life. Financially, he met
with well merited success, and by diligent at-
tention to his chosen calling succeeded in gain-
ing a fair share of this world's goods. His
honorable dealings with his fellow men won
their confidence and esteem, and he was
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
recognized as one of the best citizens in the
community in which he resided.
Mr. Rinker was married October 31, 1861,
to Miss Mary A. Clevenger, daughter of James
and Mary Clevenger, natives, respectively of
\'irginia and Ohio. This marriage resulted in
the birth of si.x children, namely: Amanda,
wife of Joseph Myres; Ida L. , wife of Fred
Cewert ; Marion O. ; Otto E. ; Ollic E. and Bertha
E. Mr. Rinker departed this life on the 26th
day of October, 1870, deeply lamented by all
who knew him. Mrs. Rinker resides upon
the home place, a beautiful farm, in the man-
agement of which she displays great energy
and forethought. The following are the names
of the two brothers and one sister of Mr.
Rinker: John H. , Jacob and Julia A. James
and Mary Clevenger, the parents of Mrs.
Rinker, had a family of si.x children, whose
names are as follows: Mary A.; Sarah J.,
wife of William Kneepman; Nancy E., wife of
R. Gum; Catherine, wife of Calvin Skinner;
John; and Phebe, wife of Frank Heaton.
>^OHN ROLLER was born June 4, 1855,
m in Wayne county, Ind., the son of
«1 William R. , and Anna M. (Smith)
Roller. The names of the children of
these parents, aside from the subject are
Alonzo, Frank, deceased; Emma, wife of
Jonathan Harrold; Kate and Lizzie Roller.
The mother of these children died November
14, 18S3, and the father resides at this time in
the city of Muncie. John Roller re^.eived his
education in the common schools, and moved
to Delaware county in the year 1862, his voca-
tion at this time being that of farming. He
spent three years in the village of Cowan,
resided one and one-half years in Muncie, and
moved from there to Harrison township, where
he followed the pursuit of agriculture for a
period of three years. From Harrison he
moved to his present place, in the township of
Monroe, and at this time is one of the success-
ful farmers of the community in which he re-
sides. As a citizen, Mr. Roller is held in high
esteem, and he has a host of friends among
the people of Monroe and adjoining townships,
who respect him for his many sterling qualities
of manhood. He is recognized as one of the
wide awake and enterprising men of Monroe
township, and takes an active interest in the
advancement of his neighborhood, both ma-
terially and morally. Mr. Roller was married
February 25, 1879, to Sarah H. Cheeseman,
who has borne him two children, Charley and
Stella. Mrs. Roller is the daughter of Richard
and Nellie Cheeseman, whose sketch appears
elsewhere in this volume. See sketch of Mrs.
Nellie Cheeseman.
^^"^ALENTINE SHOCKLEY, an old
^ / and highly respected farmer of Mon-
^y roe township, now living a life of re-
tirement, was born in Delaware
county, Ind., March 11, 1838, the son of
James and Mary (Ogle) Shockley. These
parents emigrated .from Virginia to Indiana in
1834, and settled in Delaware county, where
they bought forty-five acres of land and cleared
a farm. They bore their full share of the
hardships and vicissitudes of life in the back
woods, and were creditable representative of
that large class of pioneers to whose industry
and perseverance the county is so largely
indebted for its present advanced and prosper-
ous condition. James Shockley was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal church for a great
many years, as was also his wife, and they are
remembered as people of excellent character
and consistent christians.
Valentine Shockley grew to manhood in
684
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Monroe township, where he was born, and re-
mained with his father until the latter's death,
which occurred on the 15th day of June, 1849.
He early learned those lessons of industry and
economy which bore their fruit in the success
of subsequent life, and, having decided upon
agriculture as an occupation, steadily pursued
that useful calling until a competency enabled
him to retire from the active duties of life.
Mr. Shockley is a self made man in all that
term implies, and the beautiful and highly
cultivated farm of 1 50 acres and other proper-
ty which he now owns are the direct results of
his own efforts. Mr. Shockley was married
February 2, 1863, to Martha, daughter of
John and Cynthia (DeWitt) Gibson. The
wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Shockley has
been gladdened by the birth of seven children,
namely: Etta, deceased wife of William
Hutchings; she left one child, Oracle; Re-
becca, wife of Allen Drumm; Frank; Ollie,
wife of Grant Keesling; Marion, Charles, and
an infant that died without being named.
The father and mother of Mrs. Shockley died
in the years 1882 and 1844, respectively, and
lie buried in the Reynolds cemetery. They
were the parents of the following children:
Rebecca, wife of Robert Turner; Mary, wife of
James Ross; Jane, wife of John Nelson; Fran-
cis, deceased; Clark, and Gibson. Mr. Shock-
ley is an active worker in the F. M. B. A. and
a republican in his political affiliations. He is
a member of the church of the Christian Con-
nection, in which he is highly esteemed, and
to which his wife also belongs.
Wi
TLLIAM SNIDER, late prominent
farmer of Monroe township, was
born July 16, 18 14, in the state of
Kentucky, and was a son of Peter
and Mary Snider. These parents settled in
Henry count}^ in an early day on a farm and
there resided until their respective deaths.
William Snider was by occupation a farmer,
and during a long residence in the township of
Monroe, earned the reputation of an honorable
citizen, and by his upright conduct gained
many friends in the community. He was mar-
ried, in 1839, to Jane Russell, who subse-
quently died, leaving one child, Calvin Snider.
Afterward Mr. Sutton met and married Sabra
Sutton, daughter of Thomas and Candace
(West) Sutton, the ceremony having taken
place on the 27th day of January, 1876. The
result of the second marriage is four children,
namely: Ola, Effie, Vora and Sylvia.
By industry and diligence, Mr. Snider met
with much success as a farmer, and the result
of his labors was a beautiful home of 230
acres of well improved land, upon which his
widow and children now reside. He lead a
busy and useful life, and during his residence
in Delaware county, gained a host of friends,
who mourn his loss as almost a personal ca-
lamity. His death occurred on the 4th day of
May, 1 89 1, and he was laid to his last rest in
the Hillsborough cemetery, where loving hands
have erected a beautiful and costly monument
to his memory. Born, married, reared a fam-
ily and died — thus, as a tale that is told,
endeth life's brief histor}^ His widow, a lady
widely and favorably known and highly re-
spected for her many excellent traits of char-
acter, resides upon the home farm, which she
manages with care and good judgment.
aHARLES W. SPRINGER was born in
Marion county, W. Va., January 3,
1864, the son of John J. and Rebecca
(Dodds) Springer, natives of the same
state. John Springer and family moved to In-
diana in an early day, settling in Henry coun-
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
ty, thence moved to the county of Delaware.
In his native state Mr. Springer was, for a
number of years, engaged in rafting timber
down the Kanawha river, but after coming to
Indiana engaged in farming, and bore his part
in assisting to clear and develop the country.
He died in October, 1883; his wife preceded
him to the grave, departing this life the lOth
day of May, 1872. They were both members
of the Baptist church and people of the high-
est respectability in the community in which
they resided. Charles W. Springer was less
than four years of age when he accompanied
his parents to Indiana, and the greater part of
his life has been spent within the limits of
Delaware county. He has always been a
farmer and ranks with the successful agiicul-
turists of Monroe township, where he is widely
and favorably known, not only as a thrifty til-
ler of the soil, but also as a man of intelligence
and good social standing. Mr. Springer was
married July 5, 1890, to Union, daughter of
Breckenridge and Euphemia (Gibson) Rey-
nolds, to which union one child, Gailord, has
has been born.
Breckenridge Reynolds, father of Mrs.
Springer, came to Delaware county many years
ago, and his sole wealth, upon arriving at his
destination in the new country consisted of
forty-five cents in cash. It is stated that the
first money he ever earned was a dime, which
he received as pay for carrying a pail of water
for an auctioneer. Shortly after coming to
Indiana, he went back to his native state of
Virginia, and rhoved two families through to
the west with a lumber wagon, making the
journey in the face of many serious obstacles.
He was a man of industrious habits, possessed
shrewd business tact, and by skillful manage-
ment accumulated great wealth, and left his
children in good circumstances. Mr. Springer
is a democrat in politics, and is faithful in e.x-
ercising his franchise for that party.
H
BRAHAM TUTTLE, farmer, and in
point of continuous residence, one of
the oldest citizens of Monroe town-
ship, was born July 10, 1833, in
Warren county, Ohio, being a brother of
Darlin M. Tuttle, whose sketch appears in
this connection. Mr. Tuttle spent his youthful
years on the old homestead in Delaware county,
and amid the active labors cf the farm, receiv-
ed a fine physical training in the country
schools of that period. He was brought by
his parents to Delaware county in October,
1836, and he distinctly recalls the journey to
the new home, which was reached by cutting
a road through a thick forest; a number of
friends and acquaintances, who had proceeded
them, meeting the family at a point about
three miles northwest of Sulphur Springs, on
what is now the Bell Creek turnpike, accom-
panied them to their destination. The land
on which the family settled had been entered
by the father previously, and a more dis-
couraging prospect than the first home pre-
sented on the family's arrival, would be diffi-
cult to imagine.
Young Abraham contributed his share to-
ward developing the farm, and he also taught
school for some time. With the use of the ax,
plow and old fashioned flail, he easily became
familiar, and at the age of eighteen he began
operating a "chaff piler" in the neighborhood,
one of the first threshing machines ever brought
to his part of the county. Later he operated
a separator, one of the first machines of the
kind in Monroe township, and did a good busi-
ness threshing wheat for several years. On
attaining his legal majoritj', Mr. Tuttle pur-
chased eighty acres of land, from which he
afterward developed a good farm; he has met
with good success, acquiring a comfortable
competence of this world's goods. He now
owns 1 10 acres.
On the 1 8th day of February, 1858, Mr.
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Tuttle and Miss Saloma Heath, of Delaware
county, were united in the bonds of wedlock;
their marriage has been blessed with the fol-
lowing children: Marion S., a farmer residing
in Wells county; Morton L. , farmer of Mon-
roe township, also leader of the Cowan "Cornet
band; Charles E., an employee in the Neff
manufacturing establishment, and Cora B.,
whe lives with her parents. He resides in the
village of Cowan. For a number of years he
has been a faithful and consistent member of
the Society of Friends, belonging, at this time,
to the Winchester Quarterly, Muncie Monthly
and Cowan Preparative meetings. He pos-
sesses a deeply religious nature, dignifies his
profession by a dignified life, consecrated to
the Master's service, and since the dedication
of the Cowan church, October, 1888, has been
present and participated in nearly every exer-
cise, missing but one prayer meeting, except
when prevented from attending by sickness.
His chief delight is to know and do the will of
the Heavenly Father and to keep a conscience
void of offense before God and man; the ful-
fillment of his honest obligations, however
small, he considers as part of the very founda-
tion of his religion, and temperance, without
which no christian character would be com-
plete, he looks upon as one of the great needs
of the age. With consciencious devotion he
has ever been growing in the christian graces,
and he firmly believes that an intelligent
knowledge of the Sacred Record is a potent
means of spiritual advancement. With this
object in view he began, January 12, 1868, to
read the New Testament, betwen which date
and July 5, 1892, he perused its pages thirty-
six times by reading one chapter each day.
Politicall}', Mr. Tuttle is a republican, the
principles of which party he has ever sup-
ported, always favoring, however, absolute
prohibition. Although nearly sixty-one years
of age, he is still vigorous, and with the excep-
tion of an injury received by a fall in 1892,
while descending a stairway, he has always
enjoyed good bodily health. He is one of
Monroe township's represenattive citizens and
the future awaits him with bounteous re-
wards for the duties he has so faithfully per-
formed.
QORTON L. TUTTLE.— Prominent
among the intelligent and popular
younger residents of Delaware
county .is the gentleman whose
name introduces this sketch. He was born
September 16, 1865, the son of Abraham J.
Tuttle, whose biography also appears in this
connection. Morton Tuttle was reared and
educated in his native county, and after com-
pleting the prescribed course of the common
schools, attended the High school of Muncie,
where he acquired a good knowledge of the
higher branches of learning. For a period of
three years he was one of the successful teach-
ers of Delaware county, and such was his
record during that time, that, had he concluded
to remain in the profession, he would no
doubt have achieved distinction in educational
work. After abandoning the teachers' pro-
fession, he began farming on the old home-
stead, which place he still operates, and which,
under his snpervision, is easily classed with
the best improved places of the township.
Mr. Tuttle was united in marriage December
20, 1888, in Muncie, with Miss Minnie Myers,
who was born in Delaware county on the 19th
day of March, 1868, daughter of Thomas and
Anna (Hatfield) Myers. These parents were
born, respectively, in Ohio and Indiana and
are of German and English extraction. The
home of Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle is brightened by
the presence of three children — Herschel G. ,
William Bliss, and Fay Anna. Mr. Tuttle is
one of the thrifty farmers of Monroe township
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
and occupies a prominent place in the public
affairs of the county, being, at this time, a
member of the republican central committee,
in which his advice and good judgment have
been felt in the planning and carrying to a
successful issue several important campaigns.
He has achieved some distinction as a musician
and as a leader of the McCovvan Cornet hand
has acquired more than a local reputation.
Enterprising and progressive in all those terms
imply, he is justly esteemed by his neighbors
and friends, and has before him a future
fraught with much promise.
,>^EV. JOHN S. TUTTLE, deceased,
I ^r son of Darlin Tuttle, of Rumley, Va.,
1 ,r was born January 29,1804, in Clinton
county, Ohio, where he received his
education and grew to manhood. In the twen-
tieth year of his age, June 3, 1823, he married
Hannah Hale, and thirteen years later he came
to Indiana, in the prime of vigorous manhood,
to carve for himself and family a home from
the forests of Delaware county. He settled in
the west part of Monroe township and there
cleared and improved a farm, upon which he
lived the residue of his life. In his youth,
Mr. Tuttle gave a great deal of attention to
music, and he was a man of much more than
ordinary mental endowments. In a financial
sense, he became quite successful, and was the
owner of a fine farm, which became noted
throughout the country as the abode of plenty
and hospitality. In the early day he became
quite a skillful hunter, and with an old gun,
an heirloom in the family, he used to kill from
one to three deer each day. He possessed a
powerful constitution, was a stranger to weari-
ness, and hardly knew, by actual experience,
what the word sickness meant. He was a no-
ble christian gentleman, a prominent minister
of the Protestant Methodist church, and his
kindness of heart and generosity of disposition
were such that all who knew him united in
pronouncing him a good man. He was the
friend of all public improvements, and every
enterprise that had for its purpose the moral
or commercial well being of the community
was sure to receive his encouragement and co-
operation. He took an active, though unsel-
fish, interest in political affairs, and labored
earnestly for the success of his party in all its
campaigns. He died April 4, 1872, in the
sixty-ninth year of his age, deeply lamented by
those who had known him in life. His wife,
who had been his companion for so many
years, departed this life April 4, 1873, and lies
by his side in the Taber cemetery. John S.
and Hannah Tuttle reared a family of fourteen
children, all of whom lived and married and
had children of their own. Their names are as
follows: Delilah, wife of Solomon Clevenger,
deceased; Mary J., deceased; Isaiah, deceased;
Thomas W., Elizabeth, wife of Henry Reming-
ton, deceased; Hannah, wife of Morris Kid-
nocker; Abraham J. ; Amanda, wife of Addison
Stafford; Ellen, wife of Elisha Clevenger; Dar-
lin M. ; Minerva, deceased; Catherine, wife of
Isaac Lake; John W. ; and William P., de-
ceased.
Darlin Marion Tuttle, tenth child of John
S. and Hannah Tuttle, was born in Monroe
township, Delaware county, Ind., July 7,
1839, and grew to manhood on the home farm,
attending, in the meantime, the public
schools, in which he received a fair English
education. He spent fourteen seasons thresh-
ing wheat, receiving for his labor seven bush-
els out of every hundred the first two years,
and continued the same until 1858. On the
I ith day of June, 1S58, he was united in mar-
riage to Susan Lake, a native of Licking
county, Ohio, where her birth occurred July
10, 1840. She is the daughter of George D.
DELAWARE COUNTY;
and Nancy (Roe) Lake. By her marriage
with Mr. Tuttle she is the mother of the fol-
lowing children: John S., Mary R., wife of
Walter G. Shiry; George A., Oliver F. , Mari-
on H. and Lillian. Mr. Tuttle, with the
assistance and economy of his faithful com-
panion, has accumulated a sufficiency of
worldly goods to place him in comfortable
circumstances, owning at this time a beautiful
farm of lOO acres, the greater part of which is
well cultivated. He has served as justice of
the peace in his township, besides filling other
official positions, and since attaining his legal
majority has exercised the elective franchise
in behalf of the republican party. He is a
member of the United Brethren church; his
wife is a member of the Society of Friends.
In May, 1864, Mr. Tuttle enlisted in company
G, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Indiana
volunteer infantry, and served until honorably
discharged at Indianapohs on September 2, of
the same year. Fraternally he is a Mason,
belonging to lodge No. 334, and is also a
member of the G. A. R., Williams post, at
Muncie.
Ky~\ OBERT TURNER.— Among the well
I /^ known citizens of the township of
1 P Monroe was the late Robert Turner,
who was born in Greene county, Ohio,
July 17, 1846, the son of George and Fanny
Turner. His early life was passed amid the
scenes of farm labor, and until his marriage
he found employment at different occupations,
but agriculture was practically his life work.
He came to Delaware county a number of
years ago, purchased a tract of woodland,
from which he developed a comfortable home,
and at the time of his death was an owner of a
farm of 120 acres of highly cultivated and
well improved land. He began the struggle
of life with but a small amount of this world's
goods, but possessing an energy, born of a
determination to succeed, he overcame the
many difficulties and obstacles by which his
pathway was beset, and accumulated a com-
fortable competence. Personally, he was a
genial and intelligent citizen, whose integrity
and social standing were never qnestioned, and
in his immediate neighborhood he was held in
the highest esteam by a host of friends, with
whom he was always popular. He was de-
voted to his family, earned the reputation of a
loving husband and kind father, and died in
full assurance of the christian faith October
15, 18S2.
Mr. Turner was married to Rebecca,
daughter of John and Cynthia (DeWitt) Gib-
son, to which union eight children were born,
whose names are as foUoows: John, deceased;
George, Martha, deceased; William R. , Clark
E., Phillip E., Francis M. and Emma F. The
following are the names of the brothers and
sisters of Mrs. Turner: Martha, wife of Valen-
tine Shockley; Mary, wife of James Ross;
Jane, wife of John Nelson; Francis, deceased,
and Clark Gibson. The father and mother of
Mrs. Turner died in June, 1882, and in De-
cember, 1844, respectively. They were na-
tives of Ohio and were highly respected by all
who knew them. Since her husband's death
Mrs. Turner has resided upon the home farm,
which her son manages. She is a woman of
excellent tact end judgment, and occupies a
prominent position in the society of Monroe
township and in the United Brethren church,
of which she has, for years, been a consistent
member.
Philip Turner, son of Robert and Rebecca
Turner, was born in Delaware county on the
9th day of February, 1 866. He was reared on
the farm, and remained with his mother until
his marriage, which occurred on March 17,
1888, to Indiana, daughter of Breckenridge
and Euphemia Reynolds. After his marriage,
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
Mr. Turner resided on the home farm for one
year, and then removed to his present place, a
valuable farm of eighty acres, where he has
since resided. Mr. Turner has some very valu-
able improvements upon his place, among
which may be noted a handsome residence,
erected in the summer of 1892. He has been
a very successful farmer, and is not only a
leading agriculturist but is recognized as a very
valuable citizen in the community. In 1886,
Mr. Turner met with a serious accident, by
having his leg broken in a fall, and the next
year was similarly unfortunate in having his
shoulder broken, from the effects of which he
never expects to recover. Two children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Turner, namely:
Estella L. , deceased; and Glenn ^^^
HAD. TUTHILL, farmer and stock
raiser of Monroe township, was born
in Delaware county, Ind., May i,
1856, the son of Phineas and Amanda
(Horner) Tuthill, natives respectively of Ohio
and Pennsylvania. Phineas and Amanda Tut-
hill were among the early pioneers of Dela-
ware county, locating here as long ago as 1830.
He was by occupation a shoemaker, but en-
gaged in farming on coming to this county,
and now lives a retired life at the town of New
Burlington. He and wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and the parents
of the following children: William, a plas-
terer of Muncie; Nettie, wife of George Wil-
son, and Tbad. Tuthill, whose name appears
atithe head of this paragraph.
Thad. Tuthill was reared to manhood in
Delaware county, within the boundaries of
which his life has been spent, and he early
chose agriculture for his life work and has met
with most encouraging success in that voca-
tion. In addition to tilling the soil he gives
considerable attention to stock raising, paying
special attention to hogs, and keeps upon his
place the finest of thoroughbred Poland China
and other valuable breeds. He has served as
justice of the peace one term, and is in every
respect an intelligent and progressive citizen,
and a man worthy of the high esteem and con-
fidence with which he is held by his many
friends and neighbors. His large and beauti-
ful farm contains 210 acres of valuable and
highly improved land, beside which he owns
good property in the city of Muncie. He is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church
and is prominently identified with the Masonic
fraternity and the Improved Order of Red
Men.
Mr. Tuthill was married August 20, 1891,
to Mary J., daughter of James and Harriet
(Armprister) Clark, parents natives of Mary-
land. Mr. and Mrs. Clark entered 160 acres
of land in Delaware county as early as 1832,
and their deaths occurred March 7, 1858, and
October 17, 1866, respectively. Mrs. Tuthill's
grandparents are buried on the old home farm,
which has been in the family for three genera-
tions, over sixty-five years. Grandmother
Glark died August, 1830, and her husband
followed her to the grave on the 5th day of
December, 1840. Mrs. Tuthill has one sister,
Martha, wife of W. F. Anderson.
'^rr'AMES WATSON, a retired farmer, re-
m siding in Monroe township, Delaware
A 1 county, Ind., was born in Muskingum
county, Ohio, January i, 1834, a son
of James and Frances (Frantz) Watson, natives
of Virginia. In an early day these parents
moved to the above named county and state,
where they married, and where James Watson
followed the occupation of farming until 1840,
at which time he moved to Delaware county.
642
DELAWARE COUNTY:
At that time he bought his present place, upon
which he now resides, and where he has a fine
residence — one of the best in the township.
Beside having his fine farm under a successful
state of cultivation he engages quite extensive-
ly in the breeding of Hambleton and American
Boy breeds of horses, for which he receives
the best prices. His animals are of fine grade,
as he will have none but the best. He is con-
sidered one of the most successful among the
young farmers of the locality and also stands
high in the estimation of his neighbors as an
honorable and upright fellow citizen.
Mr. Black was married December 24, 1882,
to Miss Henrietta Neely, daughter of Isaac
and Sarah Margaret Landry, both of whom
died when she was very young, and their
remains rest in Mount Pleasant cemetery. At
one time Mr. Landry was a man of considera-
ble means, but lost all by misfortune. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Landry were members of the
Methodist church.
Mrs. Black is an excellent lady of many
pleasant traits of character, and is the happy
mother of two bright children, Sadie Pearl and
Carl Washington. Mr. Black is a stanch
democrat and boldly upholds the principles of
that party. The religious connection of the
family is with the Christian church.
@BRINDEL. — There are many land
owners who would be well enough
pleased to reap the benefits of the
yields from the surface of a fine Indiana
farm, but the subject of this mention is doubly
fortunate, as he not only does that, but also
enjoys a liberal income from three gas wells
underneath the surface. This prominent and
well-to-do citizen of Mount Pleasant township,
Delaware county, Ind. , was born in Franklin
county, Pa., February 6, 1838, a son of J.
Brindel, who was also born in the same county
and state. The father was a tanner by occu-
pation and carried on that trade in connection
with his farming interests. He is still living,
having been born in 1805, and owns 300 acres
of land in his native township, where he has
been trustee and is a respected citizen. He is
a republican, politically.
The gentleman for whom this sketch is
prepared was born and reared on a farm, re-
mained on the old place until he was twenty-
two years of age, at which time he moved to
Indiana and settled near New Castle, where he
remained about a year, working on a farm.
He then went to Pennsylvania, working in that
state until the following summer for $10 per
month, but again came to New Castle and
found employment on the farm. He married
January i, 1861, Miss Margaret Brenneman,
who was born September 14, 1842, the daugh-
ter of Henry and Fannie (Doane) Brenneman,
the father a native of Pittsburg, Pa. , born in
1805, and the mother of Bartholomew coun-
ty. Pa., born in 1809. Mr. Brenneman learned
the trade of shoemaker and worked at it until
1 85 1, when he removed to Henry county, Ind.,
and engaged in farming, at his death, in 1878,
owning 200 acres of land. His wife had passed
away one year prior to this, and their remains
rest in the Eliot cemetery, in Henry county.
After marriage, Mr. Brindel engaged in
farming on rented land, and so continued
until 1869, when he bought 120 acres of his
present farm, to which he has since added
until he now owns 15 2. J acres of well improved
land in Delaware county. Mr. and Mrs. Brin-
del have worked hard and often practiced self
denial, but are now in a condition financially to
enjoy the best that life affords. The three
gas wells upon the place make it of great
value. •
The following children have been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Brindel: Catherine Hettie, wife
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
648
of William Moore; Rozilla, wife of Morton L.
Cassell; Tamar Doane, wife of James Pierce;
Ida, wife of Shuman Ross, a Methodist minis-
ter; William Henrj', Malachi, and Claydelia.
Mr. Brindel is a stanch republican and is one
of the solid, substantial citizens of whom any
county may be proud. He and his good wife
are active and useful members of the Metho-
dist church, in which they are highly esteemed.
aHARLES BROWN was born May 6,
1829, in Wayne county, Ind., and is
the son of Samuel and Susan (Stout)
Brown, both parents natives of Vir-
ginia. The family moved to Indiana in an
early day, locating in the county of Wayne,
thence, in 1828, moved to Delaware county,
having been among the early pioneers of Mon-
roe township, where Mr. Brown, Sr. , purchas-
ed a tract of land, consisting of 160 acres.
Upon this farm Charles Brown passed the
years of his youth and early manhood, and
having decided to make the pursuit of agricul-
ture his life work, began the same at the age
of twenty-one, tilling his father's place for a
share of the proceeds. After a year thus spent,
he purchased forty acres of his own, to which
he moved two years later, and on which he
made some very substantial and valuable im-
provements. He purchased his present beauti-
ful farm in Mount Pleasant township about
the year 1871, and has since that time given
his attention almost exclusively to the cultiva-
tion of the soil, in which he has met with most
encouraging success, being now among the
well-to-do citizens of the community in which
he resides. For a limited period the subject's
father was engaged in teaming between the
cities of Cincinnati and Muncie, but did not
long continue in that occupation. He was for
many years a prominent minister of the Ger- !
man Baptist church. j
Charles Brown and Miss Julia Ann Gibson
were united in marriage. Mrs. Brown was the
daughter of Valentine and Catherine Gibson,
who came to this country in an early day,
locating in Delaware county, of which they
were pioneers. Mrs. Brown was born in 1830,
and died in 1889; she was the mother of the
following children: Caroline, wife of William
Jones; Sarah Jane, wife of David Gibson, An-
drew, Garret, Millie, wife of Peter Smeltzer;
William, Louisa, wife of George Howe; Eme-
line, wife of Walter Everett; and Susan, wife
of R. Wilbern. Mr. Brown is a republican in
politics, and belongs to the Christian church,
of which his wife is also a devoted member.
V-7*OHN BURK was born November 18,
M 1850, in Wayne county, Ind., and is
A 1 the son of George and Elizabeth (Ma-
honey) Burk. George Burk, the father,
was a native of Germany, which country he
left when a boy, coming to the United States:
and about the time he attained his majority
became a resident of Wayne county, Ind.
From Wayne he subsequently moved to the
county of Madison, where he lived for a num-
ber of years, following the occupation of farm-
ing, and subsequently exchanged his land in
Madison for a farm in Delaware county, upon
which he lived for a limited period, eventually
returning to the county of Madison. John
Burk lived with his parents until his twenty-
first year and then began life for himself as a
farmer, to which useful vocation he has since
given his entire attention. He is a progressive
man, stands well in the community, and
politically wields an influence for the demo-
cratic party. His wife, whom he married May
26, 1878, was Miss Nancy Walker, daughter
of Hugh and Mary (Richard) Walker, an ap-
propriate mention of whom will be found else-
644
DELAWARE COUNTY;
where in this volume. Mrs. Burk is a lady of
excellent judgment and rare business tact, and
occupies a deservedly popular place in the
social circles of Mount Pleasant township.
She is, in the true sense of the word, a help-
meet, and the successful management of their
beautiful farm is largely due to her intelligence
and wise foresight. Mr. and Mrs. Burk own
a fine farm of eighty acres in the township of
Mount Pleasant, upon which are a number of
valuable improvements, including a splendid
barn, and they are now preparing to erect a
large and spacious dwelling. He is a member
of Yorktown lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 345.
^y^^AVID CAMPBELL was born in
I I Miami county, Ohio, on the 4th day
y\^_^ of September, 1827. He is de-
scended from an old family which
settled in Virginia many years ago, in which
state his father, Adam Campbell, was born on
the 6th day of May, 1802. Adam Campbell
married in Miami county, Ohio, in the year
1826, Elizabeth Kepper, who was born, in the
same state in the year 1804. Mr. and Mrs.
Campbell lived in Miami county, Ohio, about
six years after their marriage, and then re-
moved to Lidiana, settling in Delaware county,
having been among the pioneers of what is
now Salem township. Adam Campbell pur-
chased 220 acres of woodland and experienced
all the vicissitudes and hardships of life in a
new and undeveloped country His wife died
in 1840, and he afterwards married Judith
Luce, also a native of Miami county, Ohio,
and resided on his original purchase until
1865, at which time he disposed of the prop-
erty and emigrated to Douglas county. 111.,
purchased land in the latter state and resided
upon the same, and in 1868 returned to Dela-
ware county, Ind., and here his death occurred
on the 27th day of April, 1872. Mr. Camp-
bell was a very energetic and successful man,
a democrat in politics, and attended the Bap-
tist church. His widow afterward married
Daniel Howell, and at this time resides in
Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county.
David Campbell was reared to manhood
on the farm, received a limited education in
the indifferent schools of the country, and re-
mained with his parents until attaining his
majority, when he went to Miami county,
Ohio, and was employed there for a period of
one year. He then returned to Delaware
county, but shortly thereafter, thinking to bet-
ter his condition financially, went to the dis-
tant states of California and Oregon, where
he remained for five years, prospecting and
running a pack train in the meantime, in the
latter of which he was fairly successful. He
went west b}' the overland route, starting on
the 20th of May and reaching Portland, Ore. ,
his destination, on October 20, of the
same year. During his sojourn in the west he
accumulated considerable money and, upon
his return to Delaware county, purchased a
farm in Mount Pleasant township, which he
disposed of in 1 866. In that year he bought
the farm where he now resides, which under
his successful management has been greatly
improved, until it now ranks with the best
places, not only in Mount Pleasant township,
but in the western part of Delaware county.
His farm consists of 162 acres of fertile land,
over 1 50 of which are under a high state of
cultivation. Mr. Campbell was married No-
vember 15, 1858, to Miss Susan Moffett, who
was born in Salem township, on the lOth
day of October, 1837. Mrs. Campbell died
July 13, 1 861; leaving two children, namely:
Adam, and Minerva, deceased. Mr. Camp-
bell's second marriage was solmnized October
4, 1865, with Miss Ellen Buckles, of Delaware
county, who bore him two children: Cora B.,
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
645
wife of D. R. Slack, and an infant that died
unnamed. On the 13th day of October, 1870,
Mr. Campbell wedded his present wife, whose
maiden name was Catherine E. Shimer. Mrs.
Campbell was born in Chesterfield, Madison
county, Ind. , the daughter of Jacob Shimer,
and has borne her husband and child, Nellie
C, deceased. Mr. Campbell is a democrat
in politcs, and a member of the I. O. O. F. ,
with which he is prominently identified. He
started in life for himself a poor boy, with
nothing to depend on but his own exertions,
but his industry, perseverance and good man-
agement have gained for him a comfortable
competence of this world's goods. He is an
estimable citizen and very popular in the town-
ship where he resides.
Vj'ACOB WILLIAM CRAWFORD —The
■ ancestors of the subject of this sketch
A 1 were of German and Irish descent, and
were among the early settlers of Penn-
sylvania, in which state his grandparents,
George and Rebecca (Rambo) Crawford, were
born and married. In an early day George
Crawford emigrated to Perry county, Ohio,
thence to the county of Pickaway, that state,
where his death occurred in January, 1888, at
an advanced age. His wife died about fifteen
years previous to that date. They were the
parents of ten children, the following of whom
are living at this time: Eliza, Allen, Alfred,
Jane, Rachel, Augustus, Maria, Susan and
Amanda. Alfred Crawford, the third of the
above children, and father of the gentleman
whose name introduces this biography, was
born in Perry county, Ohio, on the i 5th day of
November, 1832. His early life was passed on
his father's farm, and his educational advan-
tages were limited to a few months' attendance
each year at the common schools, which, at
that time, were very indifferent. He was early
taught those lessons of industry, thrift and
economy which contributed to his success in
after life, and, at the age of nineteen, began
working for himself at farming in the county of
Pickaway, Ohio, to which he had previously
removed. His first marriage was solemnized in
1 843 with Miss Frances Merrill, who died in 1 86 1 ,
leaving two children, Jacob William and
James I. Crawford, both residents of Delaware
county, Ind. Mr. Crawford enlisted June 15,
1862, in company A, Forty-fifth Ohio volun-
teer infantry, with which he served three years,
four months and twenty days, during which
period he participated in a number of hard
fought battles, including, among others, the
engagements at Knoxville, Frankfort, Nash-
ville, and numerous battles around Atlanta.
He was honorably discharged at Columbus,
Ohio, in June, 1865, and immediately there-
after returned to his home in Ohio, where he
remained until his removal to Delaware county,
Ind., in March, 1881. On moving to this
county he purchased sixty acres of fertile land
in Mount Pleasant township, upon which he
has since resided, engaged in farming and
stock raising. He was married in July, 1886,
to Caroline Blaine, who bore him three chil-
dren, namely: Frank, Lawson, and Pearl.
Mrs. Crawford departed this life in 1883, and
on the 1 2th day of December, 1887, Mr.
Crawford wedded his present companion,
Sarah E. Thumma, of Madison county, Ind.
Mr. Crawford is a democrat in politics and a
man of local prominence in the community.
He is an intelligent and highly respected citi-
zen, and is well deserving of mention in this
connection with the representative men of
Mount Pleasant township.
Jacob William Crawford, son of the prece-
ding and present postmaster of Yorktown, was
born December 28, 1858, in Pickaway county,
Ohio. He passed the years of his youth and
DELAWARE COUNTY;
early manhood on the home farm, and, after
attending, for a Hmited period, the common
schools, took a course in the Northwestern nor-
mal at Ada, Ohio, for the purpose of preparing
himself for the teacher's profession. He taught,
successfully, several terms of school, and on
the 19th day of April, 1885, was united in mar-
riage to Martha E. Koontz, who was born near
Mount Shasta, Cal., September 23, 1861,
daughter of L. D. and Matilda Koontz. After
his marriage, Mr. Crawford engaged in the drug
business at Yorktown, to which place he had
previously moved, and, after continuing in that
line of trade for seven years, established a meat
market, which he sold out in February, 1893.
Mr. Crawford has always taken considerable
interest in the affairs of Yorktown and Mount
Pleasant township, and served as trustee of the
latter from 1886 to 1888. He was appointed
postmaster of Yorktown in 1889, and is the
present incumbent of that office, the dufies of
which he has discharged in a very acceptable
manner. He is a stockholder and secretary of
the Yorktown Natural Gas company, belongs
to the I. O. O. F. , and is in every respect a
praiseworthy and energetic citizen, in whom
his fellow townsmen have implicit confidence.
He is a republican in politics, and as such has
done good service for his party in a number of
local campaigns.
QRS. RHODA CATHARINE CUR-
TIS was born April 10, 1828, the
daughter of Hieronymous Curtis, a
Virginian, whose birth occurred in
the year 1 800. Mrs. Curtis's maternal ances-
tors came from Maryland, in which state the
family settled a great many years ago, moving
thence to Virginia. Shortly after their mar-
riage the parents of the subject emigrated to
Ohio, where the family resided until the
father's death, which occurred in 1839; the
mother subsequently moved to Minnesota,
where she died a few years ago at an advanced
age. She left to her descendants the wealth
of a good name and was remembered as a
woman of many excellent virtues and a sincere
christian, having been a devout member of the
Christian church. Mrs. Rhoda C. Curtis was
born in Virginia, in which state she passed the
greater part of her early life, marrying there, in
1847, Benj. Curtis, who was a native of Ohio.
For six years following their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Curtis resided in Clinton county, Ohio,
and then came to Indiana, locating in the
county of Delaware, where they remained one
year, removing, at the end of that time, to
Madison county, where they made their home
for a period of three years. Disposing of
their farm in the latter county, they again re-
turned to Delaware and located in Mount
Pleasant township, purchasing their present
place, which has been the family residence
ever since. Mr. Curtis followed agricultural
pursuits all his life, was a practical farmer and
succeeded in accumulating a valuable tract of
real estate, his farm consisting of 140 acres of
very valuable land. He was a most exemplary
citizen, and his death, which occurred on the
1 8th day of February, 1890, was felt as a
great personal loss to every person in the com-
munity where he resided Politically he was
a democrat, and in religion subscribed to the
creed of the Christian church, of which relig-
ious order his wife was also a member. To
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis were born
the following children, namely: Richard;
Mary E., wife of John C. Brown; Benjamin
Franklin, John P., William Alvin, General
Grant and Charles Marion.
Since her husband's death Mrs. Curtis has
resided on a part of the home farm and has
won for herself an affectionate place in the
hearts of her friends and neighbors by her
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
647
many kindly acts and deeds. Her life has
been fraught with good works and she is now
passing her declining years cheered by the
consciousness of having discharged faithfully
her duties as a neighbor and christian.
*y ^ IRAM H. DARTER, retired farmer
l'^^^ and business man and representative
K_^r citizen of Mount Pleasant township,
is a native of Indiana, born in Fay-
ette county, on the 5th day of May, 1828.
His father was Samuel Darter, a native of
Virginia, and his mother, whose maiden name
was Letitia Parker, was born in the state of
North Carolina. These parents moved to In-
diana in an early day, and settled in the county
of Fayette, where they lived for a number of
years, and where Samuel Darter became the
possessor of valuable real estate, owning at
one time a farm of 160 acres. This he dis-
posed of, and, moving to Delaware county,
purchased fifty-two acres in Mount Pleasant
township, and a tract of one hundred acres in
the adjoining township of Harrison, on the
latter of which he made his home until his
death. Mrs. Darter died in 1856, and subse-
quently Mr. Darter was united in marriage
with Sarah Black, a native of Indiana, who
departed this life in the year 1887. Mr. Darter
was a man of local prominence in the com-
munity where he resided, took an active part
in the promotion of the cause of religion as a
member of the Methodist church, and was in-
tensely radical in his political views, having
been one of the original abolitionists of Indiana.
Hiram H. Darter remained with his parents
until the age of fifteen, at which time he com-
menced life for himself by learning the carpen-
ter's trade, in which he soon became quite
proficient, and at which he worked for the first
three years for the insignificant sum of $199.
In connection with carpentering he also gave
considerable attention to painting, both of
which trades he followed from time to time
until the breaking out of the rebellion. Ani-
mated by a patriotic desire to serve his country
he enlisted, and for some time thereafter
served as a recruiting officer, being instru-
mental, in 1862-3, in raising a company,
which he entered as a private in 1 864. Shortly
after being mustered into the service, he was
appointed first lieutenant, in which capacity
he continued for five months, when, on ac-
count of gallant and meritorious conduct, he
was promoted captain, and served as such
until the close of the war. This company
took an active part in a number of engage-
ments, and Capt. Darter, with his command,
participated in several raids.
During his period of service Capt. Darter
husbanded his pay with true economy and
succeeded in sending sufficient money to his
wife to enable her, at his suggestion, to pur-
chase their present home at Reed station.
While in the service Mr. Darter contracted a
chronic ailment from which he suffered greatly
for the period of two years after leaving the
army, the effect of which was to impair seri-
ously his subsequent health. In 1867 he
engaged in merchandising in the town of
Bethel, Harrison township, and after conduct-
ing a fairly remunerative business there for
five years, disposed of his interest, and, re-
moving to Reed station, erected the first store
building in the latter town in 1872. He
carried on a successful business with a mis-
cellaneous assortment of merchandise until
1882, at which time he engaged in the manu-
facture and sale of lumber, operating a mill
very successfully until its destruction by fire
in 1884, entailing upon him a loss of over
$2,000. From the latter year until 1887 he
was engaged in farming, and subsequently
entered the mercantile business in Mount
648
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Summit, Henry county, where he carried on
the trade for a limited period, removing thence
to the town of Oilman, Madison county, where
he sold goods for about two years. Disposing
of his interest he retired from active life and
is now living on his farm in Mount Pleasant
township, which he oversees and manages with
the same success that has attended him in his
various business enterprises. In addition to
his land in Mount Pleasant, he owns a valu-
able tract of about loo acres near the city of
Anderson, and in connection with farming
pays considerable attention to the breeding of
fast horses, in which he has earned consider-
able of a reputation. Mr. Darter was married
October 4, 1844, to Sarah McKinley, daugh-
ter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Waltz) McKin-
ley, the father a soldier in the war of 1812
and for many years a well known resident of
Fayette county, Ind. Mrs. Darter was born
August, 1842, and is the mother of the following
children: John, deceased; Riley and Frank
K. Darter. Capt. Darter is an earnest sup-
porter of the republican party and enjoys the
respect and confidence of a large circle of
friends both at his home and throughout the
county.
>Y*ONATHAN R. DOWNING, M. D.,
m is one of the leading physicians of
n J Yorktown, Delaware county, Ind. He
was born in Logan county, Ohio, Octo-
tober 18, 1844, son of Israel and Elizabeth
(Rector) Downing, the former a native of Vir-
ginia and the latter of Ohio. They located in
Logan county, where they engaged in farming,
which occupation Israel Downing followed all
of his life, although he combined with it the
trade of a skillful carpenter. In 1851, Mr.
and Mrs. Downing came to Delaware county,
and located on a farm, where he resided until
his death, March 13, 1854. His remains were
interred in Mount Pleasant cemetery, where a
modest stone marks his last resting place. In
1870, Mrs. Downing removed to Vermillion
county. 111., where her life ended in 1872, in
the month of April; her place of interment is
at Newtown cemetery, in that county. Three
children were born to this worthy couple,
Daniel G. , a farmer of Eugene, Ind., Jonathan
R. and Samuel G., a physician of considerable
note, now a pajtner of Dr. J. R. Mr. and
Mrs. Downing were people most highly re-
garded wherever known, and were consistent
and earnest members of the United Brethren
church. Mr. Downing was identified with the
whig party in early life, and was a successful
man in his financial affairs. He was a man of
great firmness and possessed a wonderful
amount of vitality and great bodily strength.
Dr. Downing was reared on the home farm
and was early taught the dignity of labor. The
various duties of an agricultural life were
learned by a practical experience, and he made
a good farmer, as he has since become an ex-
cellent physician. At the age of nineteen years
he was but poorly educated, as his school ad-
vantage had been limited. He then began to
learn the trade of blacksmith in 1862, and in
December, 1863, enlisted in company G, Ninth
Indiana cavalry, for three years or during the
war, and served until July 8, 1865. On Sep-
tember 25, 1864, he was captured and kept a
prisoner until March 6, 1865, at which time he
rejoined his command and was twelve days on
the way to join his regiment at Vicksburg. He
participated in several hard fought battles and
many lesser engagements, but returned to Dela-
ware county without any serious injury. On
severing his connection with the army he en-
gaged for one year in farming and then went to
Vermillion county, 111. , and followed his trade
of blacksmith for five years. Finding that his
army service had impaired his health and ren-
dered it imperative that he should seek some
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
less laborious way to gain a livelihood than at
the forge, he decided to prepare himself for the
medical profession. His inclination had al-
ways been toward medicine, and about 1872
he began the study of the same under the in-
struction of Dr. Van Camp, a well known prac-
titioner of Danville, 111. He continued with
this excellent tutor for three years, taking two
courses of lectures in Indianapolis in the
meantime, and then located at Ogden, Cham-
paign county. 111., where, for four years, he was
a very successful practitioner. Returning to
Delaware county, he located at Reed's Station,
and in 1886 came to Yorktown, where he has
built up a fine practice, and is universally re-
cognized as one of the most skillful of the phy-
sicians and surgeons of the county. Dr. Down-
ing was married January 6, 1882, to Miss
Lizzie C. West, a daughter of William West,
of Delaware county. Dr. Downing affiliates
with the republican party and is socially con-
nected with the I. O. O. F. Both he and
wife are members of the Methodist church and
are among the most prominent people of York-
town.
^>^ S. DRAGOO.— When the subject of
l/'^L the present sketch came to Delaware
g^^^J county, at the age of sixteen years,
farming was still almost a life of
drudgery, but now the farmer has so many
aids to assist him in his work, in the shape of
improved machinery, that the life of the agri-
culturist is one of enjoyment and independ-
ence. This is a fortunate state of affairs for
Mr. Dragoo, for, with his great farms it would
be drudgery indeed to carry on his great agri-
cultural labors in the old way. Mr. Dragoo
was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and is a son
of Ephraim, who was a native of Kentucky.
The father removed to Brown county, Ohio,
where he lived for some years, and then came
to Delaware county, Ind., and bought a farm
of 400 acres in Mount Pleasant township,
where he lived until the time of his death. His
wife's father was a soldier in the war of 181 2, and
came with his son to this county, dying in
Yorktown. The mother passed her last days
in Ohio.
B. S. Dragoo remained with his parents
until he had reached maturity and was sixteen
years of age when his parents came to this
county, where he is now one of its most re-
spected residents. He was married March I,
1854, to Miss Minerva Cox, a native of Clin-
ton county, Ohio, her parents being old
pioneers. She died June 7, 1857, leaving two
children, both of whom are deceased. He
married again, March 13, i860. Miss Sophia
McKinley, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah
McKinley, the father a native of Virginia and
the mother of New Jersey. Mr. McKinley
came to this county in 1834 and located near
Muncie, where he engaged in farming, and
remained there until his death, which occurred
in 1842, his wife surviving him until 1856.
By this marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Dragoo be-
came the parents of two children, Samuel,
who married Miss Rebecca Williams, and now
engages in farming and school teaching, and
Catherine, deceased. The farm of Mr. Dragoo
consists of 359 acres of land, which is well im-
proved.
^y^AVID WHITMER FLOWERS, late
I I a prominent merchant of Mount Pleas-
/^^_^ ant township, was born in Darke
county, Ohio, June 9, 1846, son of
Amos and Phebe (Longstreet) Flowers. Mr.
Flowers' paternal ancestors were of English
descent, and in early day settled in eastern
Pennsylvania, in Bucks county, of which part
of the state his grandparents, William and
Mary Flowers, were pioneers, locating there
650
DELAWARE COUNTY:
before the dawn of the present century. Amos
Flowers was born in Bucks county, December
5, 1811, and there married his wife, who was
born in the same county and state in the year
1 82 1. She was the daughter of Miller Long-
street, who was also one of the early settlers
of eastern Pennsylvania, where he located in
the time of the colonies. Amos and Phebe
Flowers had a family of eleven children, of
whom the following grew to maturity: Virena,
wife of L. W. Colvin; Ella, wife of L. S.
Allen; David W. , the subject of this sketch,
and George M. , a resident of Delaware county,
Ind. The parents moved to Darke county,
Ohio, in 1840, where they resided on a farm
until 1852. Amos Flowers died in 1861. He
was for many years a local minister of the
Methodist church, in which he was highly es-
teemed; belonged to the Masonic fraternity,
and was a firm supporter of the principles of
the republican party. He passed away in the
hope of a life beyond, and left as a legacy to
his children an unblemished reputation and a
record of a life well spent in the service of his
Master and in behalf of his fellow men. His
wife, a woman of most excellent character,
and a consistent member of the Methodist
church, in the communion of which the greater
part of her life was passed, was summoned to
her final rest in 1874.
David Whitmer Flowers enjoyed the ad-
vantages of a liberal education, attending,
first, the common schools and later the Nation-
al normal at Lebanon, Ohio, where he pur-
sued his studies for a period of one year. In
1866 he went to Mason county, 111., where he
was engaged in teaching for some time, and
afterwards accepted a clerkship in a general
store, in which capacity he continued two
years. In 1869, April 25, he was united in
marriage to Miss Cassie Kelley, of Miami
county, Ohio, who bore him two children:
Harry W. and Ellis C. Mrs. Flowers died
July 3, 1873, in Mason county. 111., and in
September, 1875, Mr. Flowers married Mattie
Curtis, in Butler county, Ohio, where she was
born in 1853. To this marriage four children
were born, namely: Edna M., Laura B.,
Charles and Oscar. While in Illinois Mr.
Flowers, for some time, held the office of
town clerk. He removed to Vermillion coun-
ty, that state, in 1882, and engaged in farm-
ing for two years, and, later, began
merchandising, which he carried on for one
year, removing at the end of that time to
Yorktown, Delaware county, Ind., where,
after 1885, he successfully conducted a gener-
al goods establishment. Mr. Flowers, by
diligently pursuing a straightforward and
honorable course, succeeded in building up a
very profitable business, and at the same
time was an honor to the occupation in which
he was engaged. He carried a large stock of
miscellaneous merchandise, and by consulting
the wishes of his many customers, kept fully
abreast of the times, and occupied a front rank
among the successful commercial men of Del-
aware county. He was a member of the Odd
Fellows fraternity, and prominently identified
with the order of Red Men. August 25, 1893,
David Whitmer Flowers passed from earth, a
sincere member of the Methodist Episcopal
church of Yorktown.
QISS JULIA GILBERT.— Perhaps
no profession or occupation has
conduced more largely to the gen-
eral well being of mankind than
that of teaching, in the ranks of which noble
profession are to be found many of the real
benefactors of the race, both man and woman,
whose earnest work and self denying efforts
may not be fully appreciated until the time
when all things are estimated at their true
D. W. FLOWERS.
MRS. MATTIE FLOWERS.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
651
value. To this self denying class belonf^s
Miss Julia Gilbert, the greater part of whose
life has been spent in the discharge of the
active and onerous duties of the school room.
Miss Julia Gilbert is a native of New York,
having been born near the city of Rochester,
on'the 13th day of February, 1833. While a
mere child she formed a determination to de-
vote her life to teaching, and with this object
in view, bent all her energies to its accom-
plishment. She engaged in this profession in
her native state when quite young, and was
there employed continuously until her removal
to Indiana in i860, making a record, in the
meantime, as an instructor, which enabled her
to secure a position in the schools of Muncie
shortly after moving to this state. After resid-
ing in Muncie lor a limited period, she accom-
panied her parents to Mount Pleasant, and
for sometime thereafter taught in the common
schools, and later accepted a position at York-
town, where she taught for several years. Sub-
sequently she was again employed in the Mun-
cie schools; later for a period of five years was
first assistant in the high school at Amboy, Lee
county, III., and afterward held a position of
principal of the grammar department at that
place for four years. Severing her connection
with the schools of Amboy, she returned to
Muncie, and for two years thereafter was em-
ployed in the intermediate grades of the city
schools, and later held a similar position in the
school at Yorktown for the same length of
time. For several years she has not been
actively engaged in her profession, and now
gives her entire attention to the management
of her farm in Mount Pleasant township, own-
ing a beautiful place of eighty acres near York-
town. Miss Gilbert has performed well her
part in life, and is held in grateful remem-
brance by many hundreds who have at differ-
ent times listened to, and profited by, her
valuable instruction.
HOMAS H. GILBERT, one of the
enterprising farmers of Mount Pleas-
ant township, and one of the brave
soldiers in the late war, was born in
Erie county, N. Y. , August 19, 1834, a son of
John and Mahala (Potter) Gilbert, both par-
ents natives of Washington county, N. Y.
The father was, by occupation, a cooper. He
located in Muncie at an early day, and for
forty years worked at his trade and also man-
aged a farm, at the time of his death owning
340 acres of land. He was a prominent man
in the county in those days, being judge of the
county court for several years, and serving as
justice of the peace for six years. His first
wife died in 1857, and later he married Phebe
Potter, the widow of Horace Potter. In early
life he was a whig, but upon the formation of
the republican party, became a member of it,
and so continued until his death.
Thomas Gilbert remained at his child-
hood's home until the time of his father's
death, and then enlisted, July, 1861, for a
period of three years or during the war. He
served three years in the Nineteenth Indiana
regiment and one year in the Thirteenth Indi-
ana infantry, and saw much hard service,
taking part in the battles at Bull Run, South
Mountain, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wil-
derness, Laurel Hill, Petersburg, Cold Harbor,
North Anna, Five Forks and Appomattox.
He passed through the war uninjured, and on
leaving the army was engaged, for some time,
building bridges in Bartholomew county, Ind. ,
and later bought his present farm in Mount
Pleasant town.ship, Delaware county.
Mr. Gilbert was married March 11, 1868,
to Miss Hannah E. Reynolds, daughter of
Berry and Lucinda Reynolds, natives of Ken-
tucky. Mr. Reynolds was a farmer by occu-
pation and a democrat in politics, and both he
and wife were members of the Christian
church. The following children have been
DELAWARE COUNTY:
born to Mr. Gilbert and wife: Catherine, wife
of Thomas Collier; Mary, wife of George
Hensley; Bessie, Harry, Archie, Webber
William, Loesse, Emma and Charlotte! Mrs.
Gilbert is a member of the Methodist church,
in which she is highly esteemed. The farm
which Mr. Gilbert owns is a fine place of
sixty-five acres, is well cultivated and makes a
pleasant home. The army record of Mr. Gil-
bert entitles him to the repect of all good
citizens who remember the troubled times of
the late war. True Americans can never
forget the heroes of the sixties nor should they
ever fail to do them honor.
Vt*OHN GRIESHEIMER,an aged and well
M known citizen of Mount Pleasant town-
A 1 ship, is a native of Germany, born in
the province of Hesse Darmstadt Janu-
ary I, 1807. His father, Peter Griesheimer,
and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary
Neutzenhultzer, were both natives of the same
province, and there reared their family, dying
in their native land. Peter and Mary Griesh-
eimer were the parents of three children, all
deceased except John Griesheimer, who grew
to manhood in his native country and lived
there until 1848, at which time he came to the
United States, landing at New York ifter a
long and tiresome voyage of forty-two days'
duration on the sailing ship St. Anna. On ar-
riving in this country he immediately proceeded
to Chillicothe, Ohio, and after remaining there
a few months went further west, eventually
reaching the town of Connersville, Ind., near
which place he resided until his removal to
Delaware county in 1850. In the latter year
he purchased the land from which his present
farm has been developed in Mount Pleasant
township, and has since been one of the most
industrious and respected citizens of the com-
munity, in the substantial growth of which he
has taken such an active part. On coming to
this county, Mr. Griesheimer found his pur-
chase in a very primitive condition, the coun-
try being covered with a dense forest growth
and game of all kind being very plentiful. He
has labored hard to accumulate a competency,
which he is now enjoying in his declining years,
having retired from active life. Mr. Griesh-
eimer was married in his native country to
Elizabeth Knecht, also born in the province of
Hesse Darmstadt, June 12, 1807, and to their
union have been born the following children,
namely: Catherine, wife of John Wiggerly;
John, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; Mary,
wife of Jacob Hofherr; Wilhelmena, widow of
John Raible; Christina, deceased; Margaret,
wife of John Bishop; Eva, wife of Marion E.
Jones; Sarah, wife of John Zeigler.
Mr. and Mrs. Griesheimer are members of
the Reformed Lutheran church, and are known
far and wide as devout christian people.
Their greatest pleasure now is taken in the
Scriptures, and they can daily be seen read-
ing the old Bible which has been in their
family for five generations. This worthy old
couple celebrated the anniversary of their
golden wedding in 1880, which occasion was
one of great joy to them, there being present
over 100 invited guests. Mrs. Griesheimer
is a remarkably well preserved woman for
her years, and is still able to attend to a large
share of the household duties, reads without
the aid of glasses and is noted for her wonder-
ful memory.
The long years which these worthy people
have passed in each other's society have only
served to cement closer the bonds with which
they are united, and as hand in hand they go
onward toward the twihght and the journey's
end they present a pleasing picture, which all
their friends unite in wishing may never fade.
Thirty-seven years ago, Mrs. Raible was
JOHN W. HARMAN.
MRS. LAVINA HARMAN.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
653
united in marriage to John Raible, who died
in 1 87 1. He was a tailor by occupation.
Mrs. Raible lived in Indianapolis from 1861
to 1889, since which time she has been living
at the old homestead, taking care of her aged
parents. Mrs. Raible has two children:
Frank and Lizzie Goodall.
HLBERT GWINN, a prominent busi-
ness man of Mount Pleasant township,
Delaware county, Ind. , is one who
has made his own way in the world
in the face of adverse circumstances. Albert
Gwinn was born in Hancock county, Ind. ,
September 27, 1855, a son of Samuel and Jane
E. (Conger) Gwinn, of Scotch and German
extraction. They were married in Ohio and
reared a family of four children, as follows:
Royal, Albert, Fannie and Charles. The father
died a bout i860, but he mother is still living
and finds a pleasant home with her daughter
in Hancock county. Mr. Gwinn was a whig
in his political views; and followed the trade
of saddler as an occupation.
The subject of this biography was but
eight years of age when he was left to care for
himself. He had no education worthy of
mention, and until he was twenty-five years of
age could scarcely read or write. However,
he took advantage of later opportunities for
improving himself, and is now a well informed
man, apparently as well able to successfully
conduct his business affairs as if he had had
much better opportunities than fell to his lot.
He early became a general laborer, and in
searching for honest work traveled through
almost every state in the Union, finally locating
at Acton, Ind. .where he learned the barbertrade
under Thomas Gardener, and there he worked
for one year, but in 1877 came to Yorktown,
where he has since remained and has carried
on a very successful trade. He now has a
very comfortable home and a fine business in
this growing village. He married, in Hancock
county, Ind., October 27, 1878, Miss Frances
Hiday, who was born in Hancock county,
Ind , in 1861, to which union one son has
been born, Charley, July 27, 1880. Mr.
Gwinn is an example of what honest effort
combined with perseverance and economy will
produce. He is now respected and looked
upon as one of the good citizens of the place,
even if his beginning was humble and dis-
couraging. All the more credit is due him for
his own brave efforts, and his example may
well be imitated by those whose youthful
environments are not of an encouraging nature.
>^OHN W. HARM AN. —Prominent among
J the widely known and popular citizens
/» 1 of Mount Pleasant township, Delaware
county, Ind., is the gentleman whose
name introduces this biographical sketch.
Mr. Harman is a native of Maryland, where
his birth occurred September i, 1829, being
the son of John and Elizabeth Harman,
natives of the same state, the father of Ger-
man descent, born in 1805, and the mother of
French-English descent, born January i, 1797.
To the marriage of John and Elizabeth Har-
man two children were born: Elizabeth Ann,
whose birth occurred on the 20th day of June,
1827, and John W. The father of John W.
dying, the mother, after seven years of widow-
hood, married David Orsborn, a native of
Madison county, Ohio.
After the death of her first husband the
subject's mother was left with but limited
means, in consequence of which, although she
did all that lay within her power for her chil-
1 dren, John received but meager advantages of
I obtaining an education. In the year 1833, in
654
DELAWARE COUNTY;
company with his mother and her father, he
went to Madison county, Ohio, where he
Hved five years, thence moving near Indianap-
oHs, Ind., which was his stopping place for a
limited period; when they moved to the coun-
ty of Tipton, where he resided for about one
year. The family next moved to a point
known as "Broad Riffle," about three miles
from the city of Indianapolis, where they
lived until 1842, when they again returned to
their former home in Tipton county, Ind.
After two years they again changed their
home, locating in the township of Salem, Del-
aware county, Ind., thence in March, 1847,
moved to the county of Madison, but finally
returned to Salem township in March of the
ensuing year.
John W. Harman began work for himself by
hiring out to one Francis P. James, for nine dol-
lars a month, being employed during the summer
on a farm, and in the following fall he labored
in a brick yard. During the winter that suc-
ceeded, he did "chores" for his step-father
and went to school, worked a month in the
spring for Jason Hudson for ten dollars, and
during a part of the same season was employed
by Francis Pugsley, who paid him for his serv-
ices, thirteen dollars a month, the latter
price being considered very high for common
labor in those days. Later, he worked for
various other parties, doing any labor that
would bring him an honest dollar, and in the
winter of 1849, attended school, paying for his
board, by doing "chores" and other odd jobs.
His accumulations, up to the time noted,
amounted to fifty dollars, and in the spring, he
engaged to work on a farm for Peter Smeltser
for eight months for the stipulated sum of
ninety-two dollars. He cut wood at Conners-
ville during a part of 1850, and in 1851 got
out on a contract, in sixteen days, 500 railroad
ties, for which he received forty dollars, and
during the following winter, his time was occu-
pied in cutting cord wood. Mr. Harman pur-
chased his first piece of land in the year 1850,
in Bartholomew county, paying therefor the
sum of $350, but did not move to it. During
the harvest seasons of 1851 and 1852, he was
engaged in cutting grain, his eight days' labor
in the latter year amounting to thirty-two
acres. When this work was finished, he re-
turned to his home in Delaware county, carry-
ing his grain cradle and clothing, a distance of
fifty miles.
Mr. Harman was married September 2,
1852, to Lavina Van Matre, daughter of
James M. and Mary Van Matre, after which
he rented the place where he now lives, con-
tinuing on the same, as a tenant, for a period
of about four years. He exchanged his land
in Bartholmew county for 120 acres -in Mount
Pleasant township, paying a difference of
$400, making the latter cost him $750 in all.
He stayed upon the new farm until July, 1861,
clearing, in the meantime, forty-five acres,
and then moved back to where he now lives,
owning a share of the present home place at
that time. He then began buying portions of
the farm until, finally, he became possessor of
the entire fine property. In June, 1865, he
purchased eighty acres, paying for the same
$2,000, and in June, 1869, sold 100 acres of
his land to Pollard S. Hancock for $3,600.
His present handsome residence was begun in
1869 and completed the same year. When
a mere boy, Mr. Harman resolved that, before
he was forty, he would own forty or eighty
acres of land and a residence, and he carried
out his purpose, for before arriving at that age
he had a comfortable home and much more
than the number of acres noted. He bought
eighty-nine acres in 1869, and his next pur-
chase consisted of twenty-two acres, for which
he paid the sum of $770. In 1879 he bought
eighty acres for $3,500, and later made pur-
chases for his children to the amount of
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
655
$10,000. In 1885 he purchased forty acres,
paying for the same $400; in 1889, bought
another forty acre lot for $2,600, and the
same year, exchanged forty acres of his Mount
Pleasant land for 200 acres valued at $13,900.
At this time Mr. Harman is the owner of 590
acres of valuable land, being one of the
largest holders of real estate in the county of
Delaware.
Mr. Harman is a republican in politics,
and with his wife belongs to the Methodist
Protestant church. Mrs. Harman is a daugh-
ter of James M. and Mary (Jones) VanMatre
and was born in Henry county, Ind., March
31, 1832. Her father was born in Clarke
county, Ohio, May 10, 18 10, and the mother's
birth occurred in Fayette county, Ind., August
17, 1813. James M. VanMatre came to
Delaware county, Ind. , when sixteen years of
age, became the possessor of a good farm and
died in 1844, leaving a widow and a large
family. Mrs. VanMatre died, regretted by all
who knew her, in the year 1863.
Vj'OHN HARMAN, JR., is one of the
m representative farmers of Mount Pleas-
A 1 ant township, in which he was born on
the 2 1st day of January, 1862, the son
of John and Lavina Harman, a sketch of
whom appears above. Mr. Harman has spent
the greater part of his life in the county of his
nativity, received a practical English education
in the common schools, which he attended
during his minority, and at the age of twenty-
one was employed by his father on the home
farm, where he remained until 1883. On
March 8, of that year, he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Emma E. Stewart, daughter
of John and Mary Stewart, both parents na-
tives of Indiana. The father was born April
15, 1840, and the mother on the 8th day of
February, i84f. John Stewart was one of the
pioneers of Delaware county, became a very
successful man financially, followed farming
for his occupation, and is now living a retired
life. Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Harman
moved to his present home in Mount Pleasant
township, where he has since resided and
where he operates very successfully a very
beautiful and productive farm. He is indus-
trious, energetic and progressive in all those
terms imply, and has brought to his life work
the intelligence acquired by years of close ob-
servation and careful study of the science of
agriculture. Mr. and Mrs. Harman are the
parents of two children, namely: Charles Har-
rison and Marion Martin; the latter was born
October 5, 1892, and departed this life Decem-
ber 4, of the same year.
HNTON C. HEFEL. civil engineer of
Muncie, is a native of Austria, born
on the 8th day of April, 1844, in the
town of Feldkirk, province of Vorarl-
berg. He attended the common schools of his
native town during his youthful years, later
pursued his studies for four years in a normal
school, and afterward became a student of the
university of Munchen, Bavaria, in which well-
known institution he completed the prescribed
course, having graduated in 1864. Mr. Hefel
early turned his attention to mechanics, and
for some time after leaving the university was
employed as a builder of water works in vari-
ous parts of Bavaria, notably at Augsberg,
where for two years he acted as superintundent
of construction. In 1866, when twenty-three
of age, he came to the United States, locating
at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he engaged as
draughtsman for the water works of that city,
in which capacity he continued for a period of
six years, and afterward served as engineer and
656
DELAWARE COUNTY:
assistant superintendent for the same company
until hisremoval to Vandalia, III, in 1877. Inthe
latter city he was made enj^ineer in chief of the
Kaskaskia Bottom Drainage district, hisofftcial
duties consisting of making surveys and esti-
mates for dredging, draining, and reclaiming a
large tract of land, twenty-five by forty-five
miles in area. He was thus engaged from 1877
to 1886, during which period he whs twice
elected surveyor of Fayette county, 111., enter-
ing the contest both times as a candidate on
the people's ticket.
In 1886 Mr. Hefel accepted a position with
the American Water Works and Guarantee
company, of Pittsburg, Pa., as superintendent
of construction, and engineer in building
water works and plants at New Philadelphia,
Ohio; Huntington, W. Va. ; Cheboygan, Wis.;
Meridian, Miss.; and Wichita, Kan., continu-
ing in that capacity for two years, during
which time his headquarters were at Muncie,
Ind.
In 1888 he made surveys and drawings for
two maps of the city of Muncie, the first of
which, known as Hefel's natural gas map,
showing gas wells, gas lines, additions, etc.,
was copyrighted and printed in colored litho-
graph. Both maps were extensively sold and
are still commended for their accuracy, as
well as for the neatness and skill displayed in
the workmanship.
In July, 1 89 1, Mr. Hefel entered the
employ of the Western Improvement com-
pany, of -Rochester, N. Y. , to lay out and
prepare drawings for the town of West Mun-
cie, which, in due time, were made and placed
on record. The plat of West Muncie dis-
plays superior ability on the part of the engi-
neer, the beautiful artificial lake and other
improvements which have given the place
much more than a local celebrity, being the
original design of Mr. Hefel. Mr. Hefel is a
skillful engineer, thoroughly familiar with every
detail of the profession to which he has de-
voted his life, and the responsible positions
which he has been called to fill, from time to
time, testify of confidence in which his abili-
ties are held by the large companies and cor-
porations with which he has been identified.
In 1868, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr.
Hefel and Miss Magdalena Good, a native of
Germany, were united in marriage — a union
severed by the death of Mrs. Hefel in 1881,
after bearing two children, Carrie and Ermine.
Mr. Hefel married his present wife, whose
maiden name was Kate Boeckley, in 1881, a
union blessed with the birth of one child, a
daughter, Hattie.
QRS. NANCY HANCOCK.— Recent
biographers are not unmindful of
the fact that as much credit is due
the wives and mothers of the pres-
ent generation for the moral and material ad-
vancement of our great western country as to
the fathers and sons. In the following sketch
is a brief mention of the leading events in the
career of one of the pioneer mothers of Dela-
ware county, whose whole life has been the
grand simple poem of rugged, toilsome duty,
faithfully and uncomplainingly done. Mrs.
Nancy Hancock, whose maiden name was An-
trim, is a native of Clinton county, Ohio,
where her birth occurred on the i8th day of
August, 1820. Her father, Robert Antrim,
was born in Virginia, March 12, 1787, and came
to Delaware county, Ind., as early as 1833. lo-
cating in what is now Mount Pleasant town-
ship, where he purchased and improved eighty
acres of land. He married Justina Leeka,
who was born in the same year as her husband,
of German parentage. Mr. Antrim was a
successful man, and during his residence in
Delaware county succeeded in accumulating a
MRS. NANCY HANCOCK.
J. W. HENSLEY.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
657
handsome competence, including a farm of 120
acres, upon which his death occurred in the
year 1869.
Mrs. Hancock resided with her parents
until the time of her first marriage, which was
solemnized in April, 1838, with Solomon Mc-
Laughlin, a native of Kentucky, where he was
born September 10, 18 10. To this union were
born the following children: John W. , de-
ceased; Lewis Clark, married to Nancy Stout,
and residing in Muncie; Sarah Ellen, wife of
Martin Shoemaker, and Justina, wife of Law-
rence Doyle Mr. McLaughlin died in 1854,
and four years later his widow was united in
marriage to Edward Curtis, also a native of
Kentucky, who .came to Delaware county
when a young man. Mr. Curtis was by occu-
pation a farmer, and followed his chosen calling
until his death, which occurred in 1863. To
the second marriage one child was born,
namely: Levi Marion Curtis. In 1880, Mrs.
Curtis was again married, choosing for a hus-
band, John Hancock, a native of Ohio, and a
respectable farmer of Mount Pleasant town-
ship. On the 14th of March, 1885, she was
left a widow the third time, her husband dying
at that date. Mrs. Hancock has been a resi-
dent of Delaware county for a period of over
sixty years, during which time she has wit-
nessed a great many remarkable changes both
in the country and the people. For over a
half century she has been a consistent mem-
ber of the Methodist church, and finds
great comfort and consolation in her religious
experience. Mrs. Hancock's maternal grand-,
father was an Englishman and served in the
British army in the war of the Revolution, j
He was taken prisoner soon after landing on
American soil, and held captive during the
war, at the close of which he was released and
given the privilege of returning to his native
country or of remaining in the United States.
He chose the latter, became a naturalized cit-
izen, and for many years was a resident of
Virginia and later of Ohio, in which state his
death occurred.
>^AMES W. HENSLEY, one of the lead-
m ing farmers and stock raisers of Mount
A 1 Pleasant township, is a native of Indi-
ana, born in Rush county, on the "th
day of December, 1829, the son of William
and Sarah (Peterson) Hensley. William W.
Hensley was a native of Kentucky, but early
emigrated to Indiana, settling in Rushville,
near which place he was, for a few years, en-
gaged in farming, and later moved to the county
of Delaware, and engaged in the milling busi-
ness near Muncie, but disposed of his interest
within a short time, and, moving a few miles
east of the county seat, bought land and en-
gaged in the pursuit of agriculture. After till-
ing the soil for a period of three years, he re-
moved to Muncie, and for some time thereafter
was employed in a grist mill, which occupation
he followed until purchasing a tract of land
northwest of Yorktown, where he again en-
gaged in farming, and where he passed the
residue of his days.
James W. Hensley remained with his pa-
rents until attaining his majority, and since his
seventh year has been a resident of Delaware
county, being at this time one of the oldest
and best known citizens of the same. He was
reared to agricultural work and has followed it
exclusively. His first purchase of real estate
consisted of forty acres in the township of Sa-
lem, then two y-ears later bought forty acres
more in Mount Pleasant township, and subse-
quently he bought a tract of eighty acres on Eel
river, which he retained a few years, disposing
of it and purchasing the west part of his pres-
ent farm in Mount Pleasant township. To the
latter he has made additions from time to time
658
DELAWARE COUNTY;
until he is now one of the largest land holders
of Mount Pleasant, owning at one time 380
acres, forty acres of which he recently gave to
his daughter, leaving his present farm of 340
acres, upon which are some of the most valua-
ble improvements in the community in which
he resides. In addition to his lands he owns
good property in Yorktown.
Mr. Hensley was married on the 4th day of
November, 1857, to Miss Susan Humbert,
daughter of Elias and Rosa Humbert, both of
which parents were natives of Indiana, the
father being one of the earliest pioneers of
Delaware county. To this marriage twelve
children were born, six of whom are living,
namely: Samuel, who resides on the home
place; William, married to Amanda Fullhart;
Abel Sanford, married to Jennie Priest; Jacob,
married to Maggie Snodgrass; Sarah, wife of
Maynard Childs; and Lewis, who still remains
with his father on the home place.
Mrs. Hensley was a kind and dutiful mother,
a faithful wife, and departed this life on the
15th day of November, 1890. She was a
member of the Methodist church, and her
remains were laid to rest in the Hawk cemetery.
Mr. Hensley married his present wife, Nancy
McNairy, a native of Delaware county, on the
gth day of July, 1891. Polically, Mr. Hensley
is a democrat, and his wife belongs to the
Separate Baptist church, in which they are
both active workers.
vx
'ILLIAM W. HENSLEY, JR., is one
of the progressive farmers of the
township of Mount Pleasant, and a
son of William W. and Sarah (Peter-
son) Hensley, a notice of whom appears in
connection with the biography of James
Hensley. William W. Hensley, Jr. , was born
in Rush county, Ind., February 11, 1835, and
from early boyhood has been a resident of the
county of Delaware, which he has seen devel-
oped from a comparatively wild state to its
present advanced position among its sister
counties of the state. He passed the years of
his youth and early manhood upon the farm,
where he learned those lessons of industry and
economy which have brought their reward to
him in after life, and has made agriculture and
stock raising his principle business. He re-
ceived his educational training in such schools
as the country afforded, and by close observa-
tion and a life of great business activity, has
become, in many respects, an intelligent and
well informed man. Until his twenty-first
year, he remained with his parents on the
home place, after which he found employment
as a farm hand and followed this for a period
of ten years, or until his marriage, in 1865.
Carefully husbanding his means, he was en-
abled to make a judicious investment in real
estate about 1862, at which time he became
the possessor of 100 acres of land in Mount
Pleasant township, a part of his present home
farm. To his original purchase he has since
added, and at the present time owns 160 acres,
the greater part of which is well improved and
under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Hen-
sley has exercised the best of judgment as a
farmer, and his life has been characterized by
great industry and economy, the reward of
which has been success in all that term im-
plies. Beginning life's battle with but a lim-
ited supply of this world's goods, he has, with
the aid of his industrious companion, been
enabled to acquire a comfortable com-
petence and is now classed with substantial
and well-to-do farmers and stock raisers of
the community which has been his home for
so many years.
Mr. Hensley's marriage was solemnized in
1865 Elizabeth Dragoo, daughter of Abner
and Martha (Perkins) Ratcliff, natives,
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
659
respectively, of North Carolina and Ohio —
the father of German and the mother of Eng-
lish descent. Abner Ratcliff became a resi-
dent of Indiana as early as 1835, and pre-
empted 120 acres of land in Delaware county,
upon which were made some of the first im-
provements in Mount Pleasant township. He
became a very prominent citizen and success-
ful farmer, and died in August, 1864. His
wife preceded him to the grave, departing this
life in 1861. They were both highly respected
members of the Society of Friends, and are
held in grateful remembrance by their descend-
ants, who are classed among the best citizens
of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Hensley are the
parents of the following children: George,
married to Mary Gilbert; Jonas, married to
Clara Paul; David, William, and Charles, the
last three of whom are still at home with their
parents. Mr. Hensley is a member of the
Christian church, and in politics he supports
the principles of the democratic party.
,y^ANIEL P. HOWELL.— Prominent
I 1 farmer and stock raiser of Mount
J^,_^ Pleasant township, is a native of
Miami county, Ohio, and dates his
birth from June 5, 1820. His father, John
Howell, was born in Virginia, December 10,
1783, and remained there until 1829, at which
time he removed to Ohio, locating in Darke
county, where he became widely and favorably
known; having served as sheriff of that county
for a period of six years. Subsequently he
moved to Delaware county, Ind., settling near
Muncie, and purchasing an eighty acre tract of
land, upon which but few, if any, improve-
ments had been made, the country at that
time being an almost unbroken wilderness.
After a residence here of ten years he dispos-
ed of his land, and moved to the county of
Wabash, where he met with serious financial
reverses by going security for a friend, whose
failure caused the loss of nearly all of his
early possessions. Following this reverse in
his fortune, Mr. Howell went to Cincinnati,
where he resided for two years with a son, and
later returned to Wabash county, where he
lived until the death of his wife. After this
sad bereavement, he traveled for a couple of
years through Illinois and Missouri, and, re-
turning to Indiana, again settled down in the
county of Wabash, where he resided with a
son until his death, which occurred January
10, 1858.
Daniel P. Howell remained with his par-
ents until his fifteenth year, attending such
schools as the country afforded in the mean-
time, and then learned the trade of brick
masonry with his brother-in-law, J. Flinn, at
Muncie, with whom he remained four years.
He also became proficient as a plasterer, and
carried on both trades in Clinton county, Ohio,
to which he had removed and where he found
constant employment until the year 1852.
Having purchased property in Ohio, he ex-
changed the same for the piece of wood land
in Mount Pleasant township, Ind., to which he
at once removed, from which he has, by great
industry and energy born of a determination
to succeed, developed his present valuable
farm, which is now justly ranked among the
i most beautiful places in Delaware county.
Among the valuable improvements of this farm
is an elegant and substantial brick residence,
erected, in 1873, representing a capital of sev-
eral thousand dollars, being one of the best
country residences in Mount Pleasant town-
ship. Mr. Howell is an intelligent farmer,
gives wise attention to the proper rotation of
crops, and is one of the well informed class
who has succeeded in elevating agriculture to
its true dignity as a science. When twenty-
one years of age, Mr. Howell was married to
660
DELAWARE COUNTY;
Miss Mary McKinley, of Ohio, daughter of
William and Sarah McKinley, to whom the
following children were born: William, de-
ceased; James, deceased; Mary Ellen, wife of
John Shaffer; John, Louisa, wife of William
Brewer; George, Joseph, Emma, wife of Will-
iam Ogle, and Samuel. Mrs. Howell died in
April, 1872, and, subsequently, Mr. Howell
married his second wife, Mrs. Judith Camp-
bell, widow of Adam Campbell. Hr. Howell
has long been a supporter of the democratic
party, the principles of which he believes to be
for the best interest of the country. Religi-
ously, the Baptist church represents his creed,
to which denomination his wife also belongs.
Mrs. Howell was stricken with paralysis Au-
gust 3, 1890, and had a second stroke in
November, 1892, and is greatly afflicted.
*y-* EWIS JOHNSON.— The state of In-
I r diana gave freely of her wealth and
I J^ of her men to the defense of the
Union when the call came from Pres.
Lincoln for troops to suppress the war of the
rebellion, and all over her confines you may
find men living in quiet retirement who, in
those stormy days, did battle and endured
hardships which have often left lasting marks
upon them. One of these we find in the sub-
ject of this mention, Lewis Johnson. Mr.
Johnson's birth occurred November 27, 1845,
a son of John and Charlotta (Stevenson) John-
son, the father a native of the state of Virginia
and the mother of Muskingum county, Ohio.
John Johnson was born in 181 2 and died in
1888. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were married in
Ohio, but later immigrated to Indiana and en-
gaged in farming, buying 120 acres of land,
where they lived until his death. He was a
stanch republican all of his life and a consis-
tent member of the Baptist church. Mrs.
Johnson still lives on the old farm in Henry
county, is a member of the Methodist church,
and is much respected for. many kind and
womanly qualities.
Lewis Johnson was reared on the old farm
and grew up as farmer lads usually do, en-
gaging early in labor and attending such
schools as the county afforded, in the mean-
time. He was one of a family of eight child-
ren, his brothers and sisters being as follows:
Rebecca, wife of M. D Driscoll, a farmer of
Delaware county; Ada, wife of William Eliot,
a farmer of this county; Frank, a resident of
Muncie; and Lotta; Grace; and Lilly; Fan-
nie, wife of J. Humphrey.
At the outbreak of the civil war Mr. John-
son left his school books, being then only a lad
of eighteen years, and enlisted in company G,
Ninth Indiana cavalry, for three years or dur-
ing the war. He participated in the battle of
Sulphur Branch, where he was captured and
kept a prisoner for six months, during which
period he was fed with corn meal made out of
corn and ground cobs, from which coarse diet
he contracted camp diarrhoea. After his re-
lease he rejoined his regiment at Vicksburg and
was sent, with some 2, 100 other soldiers, on a
boat to go up the river. The boilers of this
boat exploded and some 1,600 poor men were
killed, but Mr. Johnson escaped with a wound
in the side, from which he has never fully re-
covered, and which entitles him to a pension
of four dollars a month. He was sent to In-
dianapolis, where he was honorably discharged,
and came home, and soon after resumed his
work on the farm.
In 1868 he was united in marriage with
Miss Mary Hoover, daughter of D. M. and
Fannie Hoover, natives of Pennsylvania, who
emigrated to Henry county, this state, in 1848,
and engaged in farming. At this time Mr.
Hoover owns 157 acres of land, upon which he
and his wife now reside. Mr. Johnson is a
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
661
large land owner, possessing a fine farm of 1 29
acres, all of which he has under a high state
of cultivation. His improvements are among
the best in Mount Pleasant township, and he
has won the reputation of being one of the best
farmers in the county. He is social by nature,
and has testified to it by becoming a member
of the Red Men, in the deliberations of which
order he takes an active interest.
HLFRED JONES is descended pater-
nally from Virginia ancestry, his
father, John Jones, having been born
in the Old Dominion, on the 9th day
of April, 1808. Tracing the family history
back, it is learned that the remote ancestors
came originally from Ireland, in which country
the subject's grandfather is supposed to have
been born. John Jones removed with his
parents to Clinton county, Ohio, when he was
three years of age, remaining in the latter state
until his nineteenth year, at which time he
came to Indiana, locating in Wayne county,
thence five years later he removed to the county
of Delaware, and purchased eighty acres of
government land not far from the present site
of Yorktown. In 1843 he married Lucinda
Reed, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio,
on the 7th day of April, 1820, daughter of
James and Elizabeth Reed, both parents na-
tives of Ireland. John Jones was by occupa-
tion a farmer and weaver, and he and wife
were for many years earnest members of the
Christian church.
Alfred Jones was born March 17, 1843, and
spent the days of his boyhood on the farm,
working during the summer season and attend-
ing school in winters. His life has been that
of a farmer, and he now owns a well improved
place of seventy acres in the township of
Mount Pleasant, where he is widely and favor-
ably known for his many sterling qualities of
manhood. In addition to farming he gives
considerable attention to the raising of stock,
in both of which callings his success has been
gratifying. Mr. Jones was first married, at
the age of twenty-one, to Miss Ann Snod-
grass, who was born in Randolph county,
Ind. , May 3, 1844, and whose death occurred
in Delaware county, January 20, 1S74. Mrs.
Jones was the daughter of Dr. Snodgrass, and
is remembered as a devoted wife and kind
mother. She was the mother of the following
children: Clarissa, wife of John Ward; Laura,
and Lucinda, deceased. Mr. Jones' second
marriage took place July 27, I874, to Sarah
Antrim, who was born July 24, 1855, the
daughter of Beardsley and Susan Antrim. On
the 24th of February, 1875, Mr. Jones was
again bereaved, his wife dying on that date;
her body now rests by the side of his former
companion in the Jones cemetery. In the
year 1876, December 26, Mr. Jones and Sarah
J. Hensley were united in marriage — a union
blessed with the birth of one child, Sarah
Jones. Mrs. Jones was the daughter of Will-
iam and Elizabeth Hensley, and departed this
life on the 16th day of March, 1882. Decem-
ber 13, 1884, Mr. Jones married his present
wife, Mrs. Cela (Childs) Reed, daughter of
George and Sarah Childs, and widow of the
late David C. Reed. The parents of Mrs.
Jones were natives respectively of Virginia
and North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are
prominently identified with the Christian
church, and fraternally he belongs to the Im-
proved Order of Red Men.
QRS. MATILDA KOONTZ is a well
known and highly respected lady of
Mount Pleasant township, widow of
the late L. D. Koontz, who is re-
membered as one of the leading citizens of
DELAWARE COUNTY
Yorktown. Mrs. Koontz was born November
24, 1835, in the state of Maryland, and is a
daughter of Wilham and Elizabeth Green,
natives of the same state, who came to Dela-
ware county, Ind., as early as 1837, locating
at Yorktown. William Green was by occupa-
tion a mechanic, and for a number of years
carried on the blacksmithing business at York-
town, where he became quite successful in the
accumulation of property. He was a man
highly respected by all who knew him, exceed-
ingly popular, and departed this life in the
year 1846; his wife died the previous year, and
they lie side by side in the Yorktown cemetery,
where a beautiful monument marks their last
resting place. Mrs. Koontz has spent the
greater part of her life in the county of her
adoption, and is a woman noted for her many
virtues and excellent traits of character. Her
marriage with L. D. Koontz took place on the
4th day of May, 1851, and the fruit of their
union was the following children: Jacob M. ;
William J. ; Mary Jane, wife of Daniel Ying-
ling; Deborah Ann, wife of Orvin Moore; Mar-
tha Ellen, wife of William Crawford; Albert
D. ; Urilla Belle; Amanda V., wife of Louis R.
Steward; Josephine: Montana; and Clara Maud,
the last two of whom are not living.
Mr. Koontz was a prominent resident of
Mount Pleasant township and at one time
owned a large and highly improved farm ad-
joining the village of Yorktown. He was one
of Delaware county's most progressive citizens, I
and his death, which occurred November i, 1
1892, was felt to be not only an irreparable |
loss to his family, but a calamity to the com- i
munity as well. A short time prior to his death |
he disposed of his farm to the Western Im- '
provement company of West Muncie, and the
city is now being invaded by the improvements
of that thriving town. He was a farmer by '
occupation, was a member of the Masonic fra-
ternity and a republican in his political faith.
>nr»OHN LOSH is a native of Licking
M county, Ohio, and dates his birth from
«1 the year 1832. His parents, Adam
and Elizabeth (Minick) Losh, were
born in Northumberland county. Pa., and in
an early day emigrated to Ohio, settling in
Licking county about 1830, where the
father followed the trade of carpentering for a
period of twelve years, moving, at the end of
that time, to Delaware county, Ind., where,
in addition to his chosen calling, he was for
sometime engaged in agricullural pursuits
After a residence of twentj'-fivc years in this
part of the state, he removed to the county of
Wayne, Ills., where he engaged in farming
and where his and his wife's deaths subse-
quently occurred.
John Losh passed his youth on his father's
farm, with the rugged usuages of which he
early became familiar, and left the parental
roof at the age of eighteen and found employ-
ment on a farm in Licking county, Ohio, and
lived in that part of the state until his removal
to Clermont county, Ohio, where he remained
for a period of three years. Going thence to
Lima, Ohio, he found employment at various
occupations, and subsequently removed to
Delaware county, Ind., locating in Washing-
ton township where he engaged in farming.
In February, 1865, he entered the army, en-
listing for one year, or during the war, in
company D, Forty-seventh Indiana volunteer
infantry, with which he served until honorably
discharged August 4th of the same year. Al-
though to the front but a short time, he ex-
perienced, in all of its reality, many of the
vicissitudes of war, having undergone some
very hard service, at one time being compelled
to go seven days without food, the effect of
which was to render him greatly disabled.
From ailments contracted while in the army,
he has never entirely recovered, and like
many other brave men who went forth to do
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
battle for the national Union, he is now re-
membered by a grateful country with a liberal
pension of $30 per month.
On leaving the army, Mr. Losh returned
to Indiana and engaged in blacksmithing at
New Corner, the present sight of Gaston,
Washington township, where he carried on the
trade successfully until about 1880. During
the succeeding four years he was employed in
carrying the mail between different points, but
for some time has been living a retired life in
Camack Station, Mount Pleasant township,
where he owns a pleasant home, in which his
declining years are being spent in quiet and
content. Mrs. Losh was born in Trumbull |
county, Ohio, in the year 1829, and is the
mother of the following children: Andrew,
Joseph and Noah Losh. Religiously, Mr.
Losh is a member of the church known as the
Christian Connection, while the United Breth-
ren denomination represents the creed in
which Mrs. Losh is a firm believer. In poli-
tics, Mr. Losh supports the principles of the
republican party, but has never been a partisan
in the sense of seeking official position. He
belongs to that large and eminently respecta-
ble class of people who by their actions, rather
than by loud professions, have been such im-
portant factors in building up and maintaining
the well being of the community .
^>^ OBERT McKINLEY.— Mount Pleas-
I f^ ant township, Delaware county, Ind.,
I y deserves its beautiful name, not only
on account of the finely cultivated
farms within its border, but also on account of
the kind and excellent people who reside here.
Among these we find Mr. Robert McKinley, a
retired farmer and stock raiser. He was born
in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 5, 1834, a
son of Samuel and Sarah (Williamson) Mc-
Kinley, both of whom were natives of Virginia.
The grandfather of Robert McKinley died
when his son, Samuel, the father of Robert,
was a small boy, and the latter was bound out
to a man by the name of Conigan until he
became of age. He then came to Pickaway
county, Ohio, to engage in stock buying, but
as this did not prove profitable, he came to
Delaware county. Ind., where he entered 320
acres of land in Mount Pleasant township, this
farm now being in the possession of Robert
McKinley. Here Mr. McKinley worked on the
place during the summers, and employed the
winters in teaming and hauling to and from
Cincinnati. He succeeded well in his business
ventures, and was a man of upright character,
loved and respected by all. He was a stanch
democrat in his political faith. His death
occurred in this county, his wife living some
ten years longer, and their remains were laid
to rest on the old farm.
Robert McKinley lived with his parents
until the time of their death, and then engaged
in any kind of work that would pay him an
honest dollar. In 1857 he married Miss Lora
Landry, daughter of Joseph and Louisa Lan-
dry, the former a native of Troy, Ohio. The
father of Mrs. McKinley was a cooper by trade
and worked at his chosen calling until he was
sixty years of age. He came to Delaware
county when he was twenty years old and en-
tered twenty acres of land. Keeping on adding
to this, he soon accumulated 240 acres and had
over $8,000 at interest. This he earned by his
own labor. Politically he was a republican,
and was considered a good citizen. Although
he was connected with no branch of the church,
he was a moral man and cheerfully gave of his
means to all churches and to all charitable in-
stitutions. His death occurred in 1889, at the
age of eighty-seven years, his wife having died
in 1869; the former was buried in Mount Pleas-
ant cemetery, but the latter was interred on
the old home farm. After his marriage, Mr.
664
DELAWARE COUNTY:
McKinley worked a farm for a share of the
crops for a few years, and then bought eighty
acres of the old farm, and has kept on adding
nntil he now owns 336 acres of fine land. He
has been engaged in farming and stock raising
all of his life, and has been very successful in
a financial way.
Mr. and Mrs. McKinley have a family of
four children: Josiah, who married Miss Letta
Lewis, deceased, who is a farmer of Madison
county; Franklin, married Miss Flora Buskirk
and lives on the home farm; Sarah Louisa,
married William Stevenson and lives on the
home farm, and Theodore, who died in infancy.
In his pohtics Mr. McKinley is a repubhcan,
and believes firmly in the principles of the
grand old party. Although not connected
with any religious body, he is known as a man
who gives to every worthy object and is chari-
table to the greatest limit. He is one of the
most respected of all the farmer residents of
his locality and a citizen who enjoys the re-
spect and confidence of all with whom he has
come in contact.
*-|^ UCINDA MAHONEY.— The estima-
I r ble lady who is the subject of this
[ ^ sketch was born January 17, 1833,
in Clinton county, Ohio. Her
mother dying when she was three months old,
she was reared by her aunt, Mrs. Ellen
Antrim, and lived with her up to the time of
her marriage, which occurred when she was
twenty-seven years of age. She came to this
state when she was but nine months old, and
settled with her relatives near Yorktown, and
remained in Indiana ever since. Her mother
was a native of Clinton county, Ohio, and she
knows but little of her parents. Her father
came to this county a number of years after
her arrival, and from here he went to North
Carolina, where he died.
Our subject married J. W. Mahoney, a
native of Virginia. He came to this state
when a young man, and owned sixty acres of
land at the time of the marriage, this being a
farm now occupied by Mrs. Mahoney. Her
husband died March 18, 1889, and his remains
rest in the Jones cernetery. He was a life-
long democrat, and devotedly attached to
that party. Three children were the fruits of
this marriage, namely: Clara, wife of John
Jester, of Madison township, he being a farmer;
Elijah, and Elmira, wife of William Lexing-
ton, a farmer living in this township.
Vj'AMES MARTIN.— Few farmers in
m Mount Pleasant township are more
A 1 widely and favorably known than the
gentleman whose biographical sketch
is herewith presented. James Martin is a na-
tive of Indiana, born in the county of Dela-
ware on the 29th day of December, 1864, and
is a son of Andrew W. and Mary Emily
(Knott) Martin. Andrew W. Martin is a na-
tive of Ohio, which state he left a number of
years ago, immigrating to Indiana, and at
this time is a well known resident of Delaware
county. James Martin early learned those '
lessons of industry and frugality by which his
life has been characterized, and amid the rug-
ged duties of his father's farm passed the years
of his youth and early manhood, attending, in
the meantime, the public schools, in which he
obtained a practical English education. Strictly
speaking, he is not an educated man in the
sense of an extensive acquaintance with litera-
ture, but a practical knowledge of men and
things, acquired by years of close observation,
has enabled him to discharge very successfully
the duties of an aetive life. He worked on the
home farm until his marriage, at twenty-three
years of age, which occurred on the i sth day
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
665
of August, 1888, Miss Sarah Florence Har-
man, daughter of John W. and Lavina Har-
man (see sketch), becoming his wife. For a
short time after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martin
resided with the latter's parents, but in the
spring of 1889 they became residents of Mount
Pleasant township, moving to their present
farm where they now have one of the pleasant
homes of the community. To Mr. and Mrs.
Martin was born one child, Roxie H., whose
birth occurred on the 21st day of May, 1891,
and whose little form was laid to rest in the
Mount Pleasant cemetery September 10, 1S92.
Mr. Martin is a public spirited citizen, and all
movements having for their object the welfare
of the community find in him a patron and
well wisher. A republican in politics, he
does not aspire to official honors, preferring to
give his entire attention to his farming inter-
est.
HLEXANDER MILLER, a farmer and
stock raiser of Mount Pleasant town-
ship, was born October i5, 1838, in
Delaware county, Ind., and is a son
of Peter and Mary Miller, boih parents natives
of Virginia. Peter Miller was born in the
year 1805, and at the age of twenty-two mar-
ried Mary Hayes, and immediately thereafter
emigrated to Indiana, settling in Henry coun-
ty, of which he was one of the pioneers, and
engaged in farming. After residing in that
county for a period of about twenty years, he
removed to the county of Delaware, and pur-
chased a farm of forty acres on which he
resided five or six years, and then exchanged
the place for an eighty-acre tract in the town-
ship of Mount Pleasant. He died in the year
1868, and was the father of the following
children: Eliza, Harriet, Henry, Harrison J.,
Mary, deceased, Alexander, Simon, deceased.
Perry and Noah.
Alexander Miller remained under the
parental roof until his eighteenth year, at
which time he began working for himself at
different kinds of employment, making an
honest dollar whenever an opportunity pre-
sented itself. October 23, 1861, he was united
in marriage with Miss Malinda Reed, and
immediately thereafter engaged in farming,
subsequently purchasing real estate, which he
afterward sold and bought his present farm in
Mount Pleasant, consisting of eighty acres.
This place is under a successful state of culti-
vation, and its owner is justly considered one
of the intelligent and progressive farmers of
the township. Mr. Miller was, for some time,
engaged in merchandising in Yorktown, where
he carried on a successful business from about
1864 till 1869, and for a period of sixteen
months was proprietor of a hotel at the
same place, which he conducted with a
fair degree of success. In addition to his career
as a farmer and business man, Mr. Miller has,
also, a military record, having entered the
army at the beginning of the war for the three
months' service, being the first man to enlist
in Mount Pleasant township. Owing to dis-
abilities contracted while in the service, Mr.
Miller has been a sufferer and is now drawing
a pension from the government amounting to
$12 per month. Politically, Mr. Miller is a
republican, fraternally, belongs to the Grand
Army post. No. 529, at Daleville, and in relig-
ion is a member of the Society of Friends,
with which his wife is also identified. The
following are the names of the children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Miller: John H., married
Mary Richmond; Allie, married to A. D.
Kootz: Melvina E., deceased; Daisy and
Maggie Bell, the last two of whom are
still living with their parents. Mrs. Miller
is a daughter of John and Nancy (Dragoo)
Reed, the former born in 1809 and the lajter
in 1 814. John Reed was by occupation a
DELAWARE COUNTY;
farmer, and a prominent resident of Mount
Pleasant township, where he owned eighty
acres of land, on which he resided until his
death, in 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Reed reared a
family consisting of the following named chil-
dren: George W. , Elizabeth, Polly Almeta,
deceased; Malinda J., MarthaEllen, deceased;
John, deceased; Hannah M., Sarah, Josiah
and James, deceased. The mother of Mrs.
Miller died April i, 1893, at the residence of
her daughter.
,>^ ICHARD N. MILLER is one of the
1 /^ well known residents of Mount Pleas-
J y ant township, Delaware county, Ind.,
and was born September 9, 1845.
He lived with his parents until he was nine
years of age, and was then taken by his sister,
Harriet Thompson, and later by his brother,
Henry Miller. At the age of nineteen years
he entered the army February 13, 1865, for
one year, enlisting in company E, One Hun-
dred and Forty-seventh regiment, Indiana
volunteers, of which he was made a corporal.
He was discharged at Harper's Ferry, W. ^■ a. ,
on the 4th day of August, 1865, and now re-
ceives a pension.
Returning from the army, Mr. Miller
worked for some time by the month, and at
the end of one summer he married. He then
rented land from a Mr. Hancock, on which
farm he remained for two years; the ne.xt two
years he acted as an engineer, but finally
settled down again to agricultural pursuits.
He has been very industrious and persevering,
and is now the owner of twenty acres of fine
Indiana land located in Mount Pleasant town-
ship, and Mr. Miller has shown himself a very
successful farmer.
The marriage of Mr. Miller took place in
Mount Pleasant township, Delaware county,
to Miss Mary Emma Summers, who was born
in 1850 in Pennsylvania, and who came to
this county June 9, 1861, a daughter of Jacob
and Catherine Summers, and the following
children have been born of this union: Rilla T.
Miller, born December 24, 1867; Etta C.
Miller, born October 14, 1869; William S.
Miller, born August 27, 1873; Mary E. Ger-
trude Miller, born April i, 1887; and Bertha
L. Glen Miller, born August 3, 1890. Mr.
Miller is a republican and the family are con-
nected with the Christian church. They are
among the most respected citizens of Mount
Pleasant township and enjoy in a marked de-
gree the esteem of a large circle of friends in
Delaware and other counties.
>Y*OHN JACOB OERTHER.— Few men
J in Delaware county are more widely
m J and favorable known than the gentle-
man for whom this biographical sketch
is prepared. Essentially a self made man, he
stands as a representative citizen of Mount
Pleasant township, and, in a financial sense,
few people in the county of Delaware have
been as successful in overcoming embarrassing
obstacles, and in rising to a position of afflu-
ence, as he. John Jacob Oerther was born in
the province of Rhinepfaltz, Germany, April
17, 1834, the son of John and Margaret (Dahl)
Oerther. These parents were both natives of
the Fatherland, married there, and there rear-
ed their family. John Oerther died in Ger-
many on the 9th of January, 1852, and sub-
sequently, in 1865, his widow came to the
United States and made her home with her
son, John Jacob Oerther, until her death,
which occurred in 1876. John Oerther, by
occupation, was a linen weaver and a farmer,
and was a most exemplary man. He reared a
family of six children, four of whom are living
at this time, namely: Dorotha, Margaret,
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP,
667
Elizabeth and John J. John J. Ocrther was
educated in the schools of his native country,
and remained in the Fatherland until Novem-
ber, 1^52, at which time he came to the United
States, landing at New Orleans, after a long
and tiresome sea voj'age in a sailing vessel. His
passage cost him $40, and he found him-
self all alone, without employment, among
strangers in a strange land. Making his way
to Ohio, where a sister lived, who had pre-
ceded him to the new country, he found em-
ployment as a farmer, and subsequently enter-
ed upon an apprenticeship of two years at the
town of New Boston, Ohio, to learn the black-
smith trade. He soon acquired great skill and
proficiency as a mechanic, and, after finishing
his apprenticeship, removed in August, 1S59,
to Yorktown, Delaware county, Ind. , where he
began working at his trade, and where, with
the exception of about two years spent in the ■
immediate vicinity, he has since resided. He
has followed his chosen calling very success- i
fully, and ranks among the most efficient and I
best known mechanics in Delaware county.
He was, for two years, engaged in the tannery \
business, and for the same length of time, 1
carrying on farming, but finally abandoned
both those occupations and returned to his
trade of wagon making and blacksmithing.
Mr. Oerther has met with success, financi-
ally, such as few attain, and from an insig- •
nificant and discouraging start in life, has suc-
ceeded in overcoming the many obstacles, by
which, for so many years, he was surrounded, 1
and is now in the enjoyment of a comfortable I
fortune, the result of wise management, econ-
omy and well directed industry. He is a large
land holder in Mount Pleasant township, his
real estate in the county at this time repre-
senting 364 acres, and he recently disposed of
139 acres of very valuable land to the Muncie
Land company at a very handsome figure.
Mr. Oerther is interested in the Yorktown Gas
company, and in the growth and development
of West Muncie he has been a prominent and
substantial factor. Mr. Oerther was married
November 27, i860, to Isabelle Daugherty, a
native of Mount Pleasant township, where she
was born June 6, 1842, the daughter of Will-
iam Daugherty, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Oerther
have a family of nine children, whose names
are as follows: John William, a merchant of
iFarmland, Randolph county; Charles P., Amy
Alene, wife of Louis D. Overmier; Rosa M.,
deceased; Mellie, Myrtle D., Doanie Elizabeth,
Clen and Frederick. Mr. Oerther feels a
father's pardonable pride in his family, and he
has every reason for so feeling, as his children
are a credit to themselves and an honor to
their parents.
*w ^ ENRY OVERMIRE is a well-to-do
l'^^^ and contented citizen of Mount Pleas-
l ^P ant township. He was born in Ham-
ilton county, Ohio, July 16, 1837,
being the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Espells)
Overmire, both natives of Germany. They
were married and came to America in 1836,
landing in New York, and going thence to Cin-
cinnati, where Mr. Overmire engaged in a
foundry for three years. After this he went to
Franklin county, Ind., where he employed his
time in farming and shoemaking until his
death, 1877. His widow lives with her daugh-
ter. The father and mother reared a family of
six children, of whom three are living, namely:
Henry, Elizabeth, living in Cincinnati, and Mary,
wife of Joseph Groothouse, of Franklin county,
Ind. The parents and other members of the
family were members of the Catholic church,
with the exception of Henry, who left that
body, and now belongs to the Methodist de-
nomination.
Henry Overmire, when but fourteen years
of age, was apprenticed to Henry Haffer, of
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Brookville, Ind. , to learn the trade of tanner.
He lived with this man two and one-half
years, and then, receiving a higher offer, went
to another tannery in the same place, receiv-
ing eight dollars per mouth, and remaining
four months. He was then employed on a
canal boat from Cincinnati to Larwell for a
month, and after a short time spent in travel-
ing, he engaged in the trade of tanning for
over two years for a number of different em-
ployers. Later, he went to Middleton, Ind.,
and engaged as a tanner for a year, after which
he followed the same trade with different men
for three years longer. Then, having made
some money, he bought a small tannery in
Jerome, Howard county, Ind., which he oper-
ated one year; his venture being unsuccessful,
he was compelled to make an assignment, and
found himself in debt aftrr his property had
been taken. Subsequently, he came to Dela-
ware county, Ind. , and worked for thirty dol-
lars a month, one-half of which he applied on
his debts, keeping the rest for himself, and
living very cheaply. He came to Yorktown
about that time, where he engaged with
Thomas Allen & Co. as a journeyman for
three years, when he and Jacob Oerther bought
the tannery, and the partnership continued for
three years, purchasing his partner's interest
at the end of that time, and operating it alone
for ten years. He owns the site upon which
the tan yards stood, but no vistige of it now
remains. While thus engaged Mr. Overmire
also conducted a large boot and shoe and har-
ness establishment, making up most of the
leather he produced. In 1882 he enlarged his
business, adding groceries, and his son, L. D.
Overmier, before mentioned, was his partner.
This partnership existed until 1892, when his
son became sole proprietor, and the father,
the subject, engaged in the harness business.
He also carries gas supplies and fixtures.
Mr. Overmire was president of the first
gas company in Yorktown, and superintendent
of the two first gas wells. He served as presi-
dent four years, and is now director, treasurer
and collector of the company. He was mar-
ried in Howard county, Ind., in 1858, to Eliza-
beth Sharp, born in Delaware county, July 22,
1840, and daughter of H. B. and Tabitha
Sharp. Two children, Lewis D., mentioned
elsewhere, and William M., a member .of the
Yorktown Novelty works, were born of this
marriage. Mr. Overmire located in this
county in 1862, and has since exerted himself
to the advancements and interests of the
county. He is a member of lodge No. 345,
I. O. O. O., and in politics is an agressive
democrat, working with might and main for
the success of that party. He is one of the
most enterprising and active citizens of York-
town. He is also a member of the Muncie
encampment, No. 74.
*-r' EWIS D. OVERMIRE.— One of the
I r prominent business men of Yorktown
^^^^ is Lewis D. Overmire, whose name
appears at the head of this sketch.
He was born in Madison county, Ind., Novem-
ber 21, 1 86 1, a son of Henry and Elizabeth
Overmire, of whom a sketch appears above.
Lewis D. Overmire was only four years of
age when his parents came to the village of
Yorktown, and here he has spent the greater
part of his life. He was educated in the com-
mon schools and took a three months' course
in the business college at Indianapolis, after
which he engaged with a wholesale dry goods
establishment for a time in that city, and later
entered into partnership with his father in a
general mercantile trade in this place. The
firm thus constituted continued until June,
1892, when he became the sole owner of the
establishment, the business of which is yearly
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
growing more profitable, being at this time
one of the leading mercantile houses of York-
town.
Mr. Overmire married, August 26, 1875, at
this place. Miss Emma E. Oerther, born here
March 10, 1866, a daughter of Jacob Oerther,
whose sketch appears in another part of this
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Overmire are the par-
ents of two bright children, Gladys M. and
Mildred Lucille. Mrs Overmire is a member
of the Methodist church. He is a prominent
politician of this place, was postmaster under
the last administration of President Cleveland,
and votes and works with the democratic
party. Fraternally, he is a member of
I. O. O. P., No. 345, takes an active interest
in the growth and development of his town
and county, and in business circles enjoys a
reputation much more than local.
@EORGE W. PARKISON.— Promi-
nent among the representative self
made men of Mount Pleasant town-
ship is George W. Parkison, who
was born in Perry county, Ohio, February 25,
1826, the son of Samuel and Ellen Parkison,
natives respectively of Pennsylvania and
Maryland. Samuel Parkison was by occupa-
tion a carpenter and mill-wright, married in
Perry county, Ohio, Ellen Mohler, and in
1839 immigrated to Indiana, locating in Dela-
ware county, of which he was one of the
pioneers. Previous to his settlement in Dela-
ware county, he had entered, in 1837, forty
acres of land, to which he added, from time to
time, until, at the date of his death, he was
the possessor of a tract of 220 acres, the
greater part of which was under cultivation.
He was a hard working man, a very careful
farmer, and for a number of years was a lead-
ing member of the German Lutheran church;
t after coming to Indiana, was a Presbyterian.
I His wife was also a member of both of these
[ churches, and is remembered as a woman of
I many excellent parts. Samuel and Ellen
1 Parkison reared a family of eleven children,
and departed this life in the years 1856 and
j 1874, respectively. The following are the
names of their children: Eli; Catherine, wife
of Emanuel Warfel, of Yorktown; George
W., the subject of this mention; Elizabeth,
died at the age of thirteen, William J., de-
ceased; Samuel; Ellinor, deceased; Anna
Maria, deceased; Sarah J., wife of James D.
Reynolds, of Yorktown; Harriet, deceased,
and Henry C. George W. Parkison was
reared amid the active duties of the farm, and
received but limited educational advantages,
attending the indifferent schools of the coun-
try at intervals during the winter season. He
remained with his parents until his twenty-
first year, at which time he left home and
began working for himself for the insignificant
sum of seven dollars per month, his principal
occupation being that of chopping cord wood.
In 1847, he enlisted in company A, Fourth
Indiana infantry, for the Mexican war, with
which he served until July of the following
year, in the meantime accompanying his com-
mand to that far off country, and participating
in a number of battles. Severing his connec-
tion with the army, he returned to Delaware
county and engaged in farming, which useful
calling he has since continued, and in which
he has met with well deserved success, owning
at this time nearly 200 acres of valuable land,
which is well cultivated, and upon which are
to be seen some of the best live stock in Mount
Pleasant township. From 1856 to i860 he
held the office of justice of the peace in Mount
Pleasant, and in 1861, responded to the
country's call for volunteers, enlisting in com-
pany A, Eighth Indiana infrantry, of which he
was elected . first lieutenant shortly after the
670
DELAWARE COUNTY;
company's organization. He served with his
command for a period of only eight months,
when he was compelled to resign on account
of a severe attack of rheumatism, which
rendered him unfit for military duty.
Mr. Parkison was married January 29,
1849, to Eliza J. Beath, who was born in
Greene county, Ohio, November 29, 1829, a
daughter of John and Martha (Kelly) Beath,
natives respectively of Ohio and Kentucky.
Ten children were born to this union, seven of
whom are living: John B., Samuel E.. Martha
E., William W., Thomas B., Harriet E., wife
of L. S. Jones; and Orville E. , the deceased
members of the family are as follows: Charles
I., George I., and Oliver P. Mrs. Parkison
died May 24, 1868, and on the lOth of Sep-
tember, 1870, Mr. Parkison was united in
marriage to his present wife, Mary Perdeiu,
who was born in Delaware county, April 30,
1839. The latter marriage has resulted in the
birth of five children, namely: Clara J.,
Mabel, George W., Emma K., and Frank L.
In politics Mr. Parkison is a democrat, and
fraternally belongs to the I. O. O. F., being a
member of Yorktown lodge, No. 345.
^~V*AMUEL PARKISON, brother of
•^^^ George W. Parkison, whose sketch
K^^_y appears above, and sixth child of
Samuel and Ellen Parkison, was born
in Perry county, Ohio, August 29, 1831, and
since 1839 has been a citizen of Delaware
county, being among its oldest living settlers.
Like the majority of country boys, his youth
was passed amid the hard labors of the farm,
and he distinctly recalls the rude log school
house, with its slab benches, puncheon floor
and greased paper windows, in which he re-
ceived the rudiments of an English education.
He assisted his father on the farm until at-
taining his majority, and then began hfe for
himself as a farmer in the township of Mount
Pleasant, which had been his home ever since
coming to the county. His first purchase of
real estate was made in 1857, and later he
bought what is known as the Dragoo farm,
which is considered by good judges to be
among the very best land in the county. He
made additional purchases from time to time
until he became the possessor of a large
amount of real estate, all of which he has dis-
posed of with the exception of thirty acres
where now resides. He disposed of the most
of his land to the Western Improvement com-
pany for a valuable consideration, and is now
interested in several gas wells, which return
him a handsome revenue. December, 1892,
Mr. Parkison purchased what was known as
the Gilbert farm of 208 acres, on which are
extensive stone quarries. This tract joins Mr.
Parkison's residence farm on the east, and was
formerly known as the Gilbert, and, later, as
the Wilson place. In every respect Mr.
Parkison has, during his long residence in
Delaware county, proved himself to be a
straightforward man, a good citizen, and he
numbers his friends by the score through-
out Mount Pleasant and other townships.
He is a republican in politics, but has
never aspired to official position, and be-
longs to the I. O. O. F. fraternity, his mem-
bership being with lodge No. 345, Yorktown,
and Muncie encampment. No. 30. In religion
he is a zealous member of the Methodist Epis-
copal church.
Mr. Parkison was married February 24,
1885, in Mount Pleasant township, to Miss
Eliza J. Neely, who was born in Delaware
county, Ind. , November 23, 1837, the daugh-
ter of John and Sarah (Diltz) Neely. To this
union were born five children, whose names
are as follows: Emma C. , deceased; Isaac N. ;
John A. ; Oliver P. deceased, and Joseph A.
qA 0/}iujJuy(J u/i/HA^
(rr^^^
WM. PITTSER.
MRS. ELMA PITTSER.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
671
Parkison. The mother, a most estimable
woman, departed this life on the 2d day of
March, 1880, and in October of the same year
Mr. Parkison's second marriage was consum-
mated with Mrs. Margaret Reed, daughter of
Peter Keiger, of Madison county, Ind. One
child, Lua, whose birth occurred July 20, 1883,
is the fruit of this union.
vx
' ILLIAM PITTSER. —To the sturdy
pioneers of the county too much
praise cannot be given in a general
sense, and in a special Sense is this
true concerning the late William Pittser and
his most estimable widow, Elma Pittser. The
Pittser family came to Delaware county in
1 83 1 and settled in Salem township. They
assisted in clearing the forest and causing to
issue therefrom beautiful farms. William
Pittser was a native of Ohio, born February
18, 1823, and died in Mount Pleasant town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind., August 15, 1889,
on the farm which he cut from the unbroken
wood and upon which he had lived since April,
1849. His entire life was devoted to agricul-
tural pursuits, and he was always considered
one of the leading farmers of Mount Pleasant
township. He was a student of the early
schools of the community, which he attended
during the mid-winter season. He grew up
on his father's farm, where he remained until
1849, or two years after his marriage, which
occurred January 17, 1847, to Miss Elma Van
Matre. At the time of his death he owned
160 acres of fine land in the western part of
Mount Pleasant township. The eighty acres
upon which the substantial residence stands
was entered by the father of Mrs. Pittser,
David Van Matre. In politics Mr. Pittser
cast his right of suffrage with the interests of
the republican party. He was a member of
the Methodist Protestant church. Through
his death Delaware county lost one of her
best citizens. His father, Matthias Pittser,
was born in Pennsylvania, February 15, 1781,
and died in Mount Pleasant township, this
county, November 18, 1869, and his wife,-
Sarah Jane Pittser, was born in Ohio May 4,
1789, and died in this county in 1867. They
were industrious, hard working people, and
respected wherever known.
Mrs. Elma Pittser was born in Salem
township, this county, October i, 1827, and
all her life has resided in this county, and
since 1849 on the farm where she now lives.
She is one of the old settlers of this county,
and is a woman known far and wide for her
many good qualities. David Van Matre, from
Ohio, father of Mrs. Pittser, was one of the
early settlers of this county, and died in Salem
township December 21, 1882. The mother
of Mrs. Pittser was Maria Van Matre, who
was born in Ohio and died in Salem township
in December, 1882 To omit from the bio-
graphical record of Delaware county a notice
of these two old and highly respected families
would be a wrong to the pioneers and an in-
justice to the community.
Vj'OSEPH H. RICE, one of the intelli-
M gent young business men of the thriving
A 1 town of Yorktown, Delaware county,
Ind., was born in Higginsport, Brown
county, Ohio, February 12, 1858, a son of
Joseph and Martha (Goetz) Rice, natives of
Baden, Germany. The father, on coming to
the United States, located in Brown county,
Ohio, where he remained until his death,
which occurred in September, 1876. He was
by trade a professional cook and baker, which
calling he followed during the greater part of
his life. Ten children were born to Joseph
672
DELAWARE COUNTY:
and Martha Rice, only five of whom reached
the age of maturity. The mother found a
home with her daughter in Higginsport after
the death of the father of the family, who had
been a man of honest life and industrious
habits. In religion they were Catholics, and
in politics he was a republican.
Joseph H. Rice was reared in the usual
manner of farmer lads, and early in life was
taught the principles of economy, which he
has applied in his later life, and has grown to
be one of the most respected and esteemed
business men of this locality. He received
some educational advantages, and at the age
of twenty-one enlisted in the regular army,
entering company I, Seventeenth infantry, for
a period of five years, and was sent out to the
plains to do garrison duty. After his discharge,
he farmed for one year, and then removed to
Higginsport, where he engaged in the dry
goods and grocery trade, which business he
continued until January 4, 1892, when he
closed out and moved to Yorktown and opened
up his business here. At his present location
Mr. Rice has a very nice store, well stocked
with salable merchandise, including dry goods,
groceries, gentlemen's and ladies' furnishing
goods. He was married at Muncie, in this
county, June 24, 1882, to Miss Linnie E.
Williamson, born in Yorktown, March 25,
1861, daughter of William and Martha
(Dragoo) Williamson, of Brown county, Ohio.
Two bright boys have been born of this mar-
riage, Edgar and Eugene. They are of the
spiritualistic faith, and politically, Mr. Rice is
a democrat.
^>^ R. DAVID M. SHIVELY, a success- :
I I ful physician of Yorktown, son of
/^^_^ Michael and Keziah (Laboyteaux)
Shively, was born on the 25th day of
September, 1840, in Henry county, Ind. His i
father was a native of Kentucky, and his mother
of Ohio, in Hamilton county of which state
they were married in the year 1830. In 1831
Michael and Keziah Shively removed to New
Castle, Ind., where they resided until Mrs.
Shively's death, which occurred November 12,
i860. Mr. Shively, in 1885, removed to Wells
county, Ind. , where he is now living a life of
retirement. He has been a very successful
man, and bore his full share in developing the
county of Henry, which, upon the time of his
arrival, over sixty years ago, was in a very
primitive state. He walked from Hamilton
county, Ohio, to Indianapolis for the purpose
of entering his land, and his accumulation- of
property, in after years, was entirely the result
of his own efforts. In an early day he achieved
considerable note as a hunter, and it is stated,
upon good authority, that he shot the only
bear ever killed in Henry county. In early
life he worked at the wheelwright trade, but
after coming to Indiana devoted his entire at-
tention to the pursuit of agriculture. He has
always been a democrat in his political affilia-
tions, and religiously subscribes to the creed of
Universalism. Of the ten children born to
Michael and Keziah Shively, five are living at
this time, namely: Catherine, wife of Frank
Roof; Peter, David M., Naomi and Mary Ann,
wife of William May.
David M. Shively was reared to agriculural
pursuits, and his early educational advan-
tages were limited to the common schools,
which he attended only during the winter sea-
son. He made up for the early deficiency in
his early education by attending the schools of
New Castle for the greater part of five years,
and while pursuing his studies, formed a de-
termination of entering the medical profession.
He began the study of the same under the
instruction of Dr. Ray, of New Castle, in
whose office he remained for one year, at the
end of which time, owing to circumstances
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
673
over which he had no control, was compelled
to discontinue his reading and engage in other
pursuits. Naturally skillful, he turned his at-
tention to blacksmithing, and for nearly three
years worked at that trade in Blountsville, in
Henry county, pursuing his professional read-
ing in the mean time. Subsequently, he
established a shop of his own, which he oper-
ated for eight months and then went to New
Castle and accepted a position with Michael
Swigert, a well known mechanic of that place,
with whom he worked for a limited period.
His next move was to Middletown, where he
effected a copartnership in the blacksmith
business with Jacob A. Good, which continued
for three years, when he disposed of his inter-
est and removed to Mechanicsburg, where he
followed the trade for two months, locating at
the end of that time in Middletown. Later,
he moved to the town of Epworth, Iowa,
where he carried on his trade for a short time,
and then, returning to Indiana, became a
member of the firm of Shively & Fisher, at
New Castle, where he remained for two years.
During all the time that he worked at his
trade, he never, for a moment, abandoned the
idea of entering the medical profession, but
continued his study of the same as circum-
stances would admit. After disposing of his
mechanical business at New Castle, he entered
the Physio-Medical institute, at Cincinnati, in
which he took a full course and then located,
in 1874, at Yorktown, where he began the
active practice of his profession, and, after a
short residence here, moved to Carthage, Rush
county, where he resided for a limited period,
and then returned to Yorktown, where his skill
as a physician has been attested by a large and
lucrative practice in Mount Pleasant and ad-
joining townships of Delaware and Madison
counties.
Dr. Shively was married in Middletown,
Henry county, January 10, 1864, to Jennie,
daughter of Joseph and Effie (McCune) Moore.
Mrs. Shively was born in Pennsylvania and
has borne her husband the following children:
Minnie, deceased; Augustus, a student of the
Medical college of Indiana; Bernie, deceased,
and Emma, deceased. Dr. Shively began his
practice under circumstances not at all au-
spicious, and met with much opposition on
the part of certain ill disposed persons who
used all their influence for the purpose of
embarrassing him. By attending strictly to
his business, however, and devoting all his
energies to his profession, he succfeded in
overcoming the many obstacles by which his
way was beset, and his practice is now large
and lucrative, and he occupies a prominent
place among his professional brethren in Dela-
ware county. A democrat in politics, he has
never sought official position; and, a firm be-
liever in the truths of the Bible, belongs to the
Universalist church.
,>^ OBERT M. SNODGRASS is one of
I /^ the leading farmers and stock raisers
M .r of Mount Pleasant township, and is
descended from Kentucky ancestry,
in which state his parents, Samuel and Mary
(Polly) Snodgrass,were born, the father on the
4th of October, 1802, and the mother on May
9th of the same year. Samuel Snodgrass left
his native state in 1816, accompanying his
parents to Preble county, Ohio, where he re-
mained until 1835, at which date he removed
to Indiana, Kosciusko county, which was his
home for a short time, returning thence to
Ohio, and settling in Darke county. After a
residence there of a few years, he returned to
Indiana, and from 1837 to 1843, resided in the
county of Randolph. In the year i 847, he be-
came a resident of Delaware county, locating
near the present farm of Robert M. Snodgrass,
674
DELAWARE COUNTY;
where he purchased ninety-one acres of land,
upon which he resided until his death, Septem-
ber 25, 1879. Samuel Snodgrass was a man
of excellent parts, a most highly esteemed
citizen, and for many years an able minister of
the Christian church. He was a farmer by
occupation, and during a long and useful life
did much, in a quiet way, for the moral and
spiritual advancement of his fellow man. His
wife, a most consistent christian lady, also a
member of the said church, departed this life
the 23d day of May, 1S80.
Robert M. Snodgrass was born August 28,
1838, in Randolph county, Ind., was reared to
agricultural pursuits, and remained under the
parental roof until attaining his majority, hav-
fng in the meantime received a fair English
education in the common schools. By dili-
gent application to his studies he was enabled,
at the early age of nineteen, to engage in
teaching, which profession he followed suc-
cessfully for a period of nine or ten years. In
1862, when the war cloud spread its dark
folds over the country, he responded to the
call of volunteers, and enlisted x^ugust 13, of
that year, in company D, Eighty-fourth Indi-
ana infantry, for the three years' service or
during the war. He remained with his com-
mand until honorably discharged, April 24,
1865, and during his period of service partici-
pated in a number of battles, including Chick-
amauga and Kenesaw Mountain, where he
was wounded, and was with Sherman in his
celebrated march from Atlanta to the sea.
From the effects of disability incurred while in
the service, he is now remembered by his
country with a pension amounting to $6 per
month. At the close of the war Mr. Snod-
grass returned home and engaged in farming,
purchasing his present place in Mount Pleasant
in 1867. For a limited period he was engaged
in the mercantile business in the town of
Bethel, this county, but since taking charge of
his farm, has given his entire attention to ag-
ricultural pursuits, in which his success has
been most encouraging, owning at this
time a finely cultivated farm and a beautiful
and commodious brick residence — one of the
best appointed farm dwellings of the township.
Ha\'ing been very fortunate in all his transac-
tions, Mr. Snodgrass is now able to live a life
of retirement, and knows how to enjoy that
quietude which only one, who has successfully
battled with the world for so many years, can
fully appreciate. He has always taken an
active interest in public affairs, and for four
years served the county in the responsible po-
sition of county commissioner. Mr. Snod-
grass was married September 24th, 1861, to
Miss Malinda Isley, daughter of David and
Isabella Isley, natives, respectively, of North
Carolina and Indiana, and of German origin.
Mrs. Snodgrass died March 20, 1870, the
mother of the following children: Mary I.,
deceased; Thursy Ann; Robert E., deceased;
Orphia and Minnie M., deceased. On the 9th
day of April, 1874, Mr. Snodgrass was again
married, choosing for his wife Mary E. Jetmore,
daughter of Jacob and Martha (Branson) Jet-
more, to which union the following children
have been born: Emma M. , deceased; Marion
M., Vena Pearl, Ina Florence, and Eda Ethel.
The parents of Mrs. Snodgrass were born
July 7, 1833, and May 22, 1833, respectively.
Jacob Jetmore was a farmer and stock dealer,
a member of the Baptist church, and died in
the year 1875; Mrs. Jetmore died in 1870.
IMOTHY C. STEWART, one of the
popular farmers of Mount Pleasant
township, is a native of Delaware
county, Ind. , and dates his birth from
the 1 8th day of January, 1830. His parents
were Timothy and Catherine (Criswell) Stew-
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
art, the former born in Kentucky August 15,
1793, and the latter October 19, 1799. Tim-
othy Stewart, Sr. , was a pioneer of Delaware
county, moving to the same as early as 1827,
and for some years thereafter was engaged in
making pumps for the settlers, which trade he
followed, at different places, for a number of
years. Previously to locating in Delaware
county he had lived four or five years in the
county of Tippecanoe, and in 1837 he engaged
in farming in Delaware, which he followed the
remainder of his days, departing this life
December 23, 1866. His wife followed him
to the grave August 27, 1877. Mr. Stewart
was a man prominent in local affairs, an
earnest supporter of the democratic party, and
for several years had been a consistent mem-
ber of the church of the Christian Connection,
to which denomination his wife also belonged.
Timothy C. Stewart assisted his father on
the farm during the ) ears of his minoril}-, and
at the age of twenty-one, begun life for him-
self as a tiller of the soil, fainiing in Tijjpeca-
noe count}', Ind , for a sh;iie of the proceeds
until his twei.i\ -si.xth year. At that time,
thinking that the west afforded better advan-
tages than Indiana, he went to Gentry countv.
Mo., and bought land and farmed for three
years, and then t.o Colorado, where, for three
years, he was engaged in mining, which, not
proving remunerative, he abandoned, and went
to Illinois, locating in Champaign county,
where he purchased a farm of eighty acres,
upon which he resided for a period of three or
four years. Disposing of his interest in the
latter state, Mr. Stewart returned to Delaware
county, Ind., and purchased eighty-two acres
of land in Mount Pleasant township, which he
subsecjuently sold, and invested the proceeds
in a 180 acre tract, also in Mount Pleasant.
He afterward exchanged this land for 1 60 acres,
which he still owns, and has also purchased
twenty-five acres additional, where he now
resides, his land being well improved and un-
der a successful state of cultivation. Mr. Stew-
art is one of the progressive farmers of Dela-
ware county, and takes front rank among the
representative citizens of the township in which
he resides. He is a pleasant and affable gen-
tleman, well informed on the current events of
the day, and is highly respected by all with
whom he has business or other relations. In
1868 Mr. Stewart was united in marriage with
Miss Malinda Jones, daughter of Henry and
Nancy Jones. The father of Mrs. Stewart was
born in Virginia and came to Delaware county
as early as 1827, and was one of the pioneer
school teachers for a number of years. He be-
came a successful farmer and was a prominent
man of Mount Pleasant township. Mrs. Stew-
art was born in Delaware county, February 5,
1 84 1, and is the mother of the following chil-
dren: Lewis K., Lettie, Dora Augusta, Pres-
ton DeSoto, Marcus Clinton, Emma Pearl,
George Harvey, Lenora and Walter Scott, the
last three deceased.
>T^ESSE SWIFT, of Mount Pleasant town-
m ship, has for many years been identified
A 1 with the agricultural interests of Dela-
ware county, and is regarded as one of
her most respected and reliable citizens. He
was born in Butler county, Ohio, March 25,
1 8 16, a son of John and -Louisa Swift, who
were natives of the state of Delaware. They
moved to Butler county, Ohio, and located
upon a farm, where they continued to reside
for forly-hve years, and then removed to
Franklin county, in the same slate, which was
j their home for a short time before coming to
j this township, where they lived until their
i respective deaths occurred Mr. Swift was
born in 1792, and died in 1872, and Mrs. Swift
1 was born in 1793, and also lived to a good old
676
DELAWARE COUNTY:
age, departing this life at the advanced age of
eighty years. At one time Mr Swift had ac-
cumulated considerable wealth, but he was the
victim of misplaced confidence, and lost it all,
at the time of his demise owning very little of
this world's goods. Through all of his troubles
he was a good man, and both he and wife were
among the valued members of the Methodist
church. He was an ardent democrat, and
voted with that party from principle. The
remains of this excellent old couple repose in
the Hawk cemetery.
Jesse Swift, now one of the prominent
men of Mount Pleasant township, started out
for himself at the age of twenty-one, with but
a very limited supply of this world's goods.
He had a brave heart and strong hands and
soon engaged in work of various kinds, chop-
ping and making rails, and, in fact, doing any-
thing honorable that came to his attention.
When he was thirty years of age he married
Miss Martha Gray, a most excellent lady, who
departed this life June 5, 1890. Her remains
lie in the cemetery at Hawk, beneath a beau-
tiful and costly monument which her sorrow-
ing husband erected to her memory. Her
father was a native of Ireland and her mother
a Kentuckian. Mr. Swift now owns 1 17 acres
of fine land in Mount Pleasant township, all
of which is well improved. He is a republi-
can in his political belief, and both himself
and wife were members of the New Light
church, in which they had long been esteemed.
QRS. ETHALINDATUTTLE, awell
known and highly respected lady,
was born in Delaware county, Ind.,
March 27, 1831. Her parents,
William and Tamer (Thornburg) Daugherty,
were both natives of Clinton county, Ohio,
but came to Indiana at an early day, locating
in Delaware county, where Mr. Daugherty
entered 160 acres of government land, from
which he developed a home, and upon which
he resided until his death at the advanced age
of eighty-seven years, having been born in
1783. Both himself and wife were members
of the Christian church, and were among the
well known pioneers of this county. The
marriage of Ethalinda Daugherty with Daniel
Tuttle was solemnized June 24, 185 1, from
which date until the present she has been a
resident of Mount Pleasant township. Daniel
Tuttle was born in Butler county, Ohio, but
came to Delaware county in early manhood,
where for a number of years he was alternately
engaged in farming and working at his trade
of carpentering. Late in life he abandoned
agricultural pursuits, and purchased a number
of lots in the village of Reed Station, to which
place he removed and in which the residue of
his years were passed. Mr. Tuttle's. birth oc-
curred December 14, 1831, and he was called
away by death October 13, 1892, his remains
being laid to rest in what is known as the
Hawk cemetery. He was a faithful member
of the Methodist Protestant church, with
which he had been identified for a number of
years, and was not only a christian in name,
but his daily walk was a practical exemplifica-
tion of the genuineness of his religious profes-
sion. He earned the reputation of a devoted
husband and kind father, and those who knew
him best bear testimony to his true worth as a
citizen and neighbor. The following are the
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle: Re-
becca, wife of A. Hayden; Mary E., deceased;
Thomas, married Clara Conard; Lydia C,
deceased; Marion, deceased; Silas Franklin;
Monroe (deceased); Viola Florence, wife of
Charles Mahoney; John Wilham; and Sarah,
wife of C. Ensley. Mrs. Tuttle, like her
husband, is a member of the Protestant Metho-
dist church, in which she is highly respected
for her christian character.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
677
>^OHN WALKER.— Prominent among
■ the agriculturists of Mount Pleasant
A 1 township is John Walker, a native of
Delaware county, Ind. , where his birth
occurred on the 23d of November, 1848, son
of Hugh and Mary Walker. He lived with his
parents until attaining his majority, at which
time he began life for himself as a farmer,
renting part of the home place, which he tilled
very successfully for some years. He inherited
sixty acres in 1878; later, in partnership with
his brother, bought 120 acres additional. He
then exchanged his interest in the former tract
with his brother for sixty acres adjoining the
first purchase, thus giving him {20 acres in a
body, upon which he has made many valuable
improvements, and which is considered one of
the most fertile and productive farms in the
township of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Walker is
an intelligent and energetic farmer, fully
abreast with the times, and is classed among
the representative citizens of the township of
which he has for so many years been a promi-
nent resident. On the lOth of February, 1881,
was solemnized his marriage to Miss Huldah
Fosnaught, daughter of Peter and Emily Fos-
naught, both parents natives of this country
but of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Walker
are the parents of three children, namely:
Marshall, deceased; Mary E. and Bessie.
They are active members of the Christian
church, and highly respected by all who know
them.
Hugh Walker, father of John Walker, was
the son of an Irish immigrant who came from
the old country many years ago and settled in
Ohio. Hugh Walker was married March 28, 1
1838, to Mary Richards, and afterward lived
for a short time at Clinton, Ohio, moving
thence to Indiana and locating in Mount
Pleasant township, Delaware county, where
he purchased eighty acres of land from the
government at $1.30 an acre. The county
was at that time an almost unbroken wilder-
ness, and Mr. Walker at once went to work
clearing and improving his land, and within a
reasonable period had a goodly number of
acres under cultivation. He afterward pur-
chased an adjoining eighty acre tract, and
being a man of great industry and determina-
tion, worked diligently until he had made a
number of substantial improvements. On
locating in the wilderness the family encoun-
tered many hardships difficult to surmount,
and for the first few years were forced to rely
largely upon wild game for their principal food
supply, while their nearest neighbors, except
the red men, lived a number of miles distant.
Mr. Walker paid for his first land with money
earned by working by the day for Judge Kil-
gore, and on going home at night would fre-
quently toil in his own clearing until within a
few hours of morning. He lived to see the
greater part of his farm brought under a high
state of cultivation, and witnessed the devel-
opment of Mount Pleasant township from a
wilderness condition to its present state of
civilization. Hugh and Mary Walker were
the parents of ten children, four of whom
reached their majority and are still living, as
follows: Matthew S. , married Mary Pittser;
Eliza, wife of Levi Watson; John R. , whose
nanie introduces this sketch, and Nancy, wife
of John Burk, all of whom reside in Delaware
county. Mr. Walker, Sr. , was a man of good
mind, excellent judgment, and at one time
held the office of trustee of Mount Pleasant
township. Politically, he acted with the dem-
ocratic party until after the election of
Buchanan to the presidency, after which he
identified himself with the republican party
and so remained until his death. He was a
Presbyterian in his religious belief, and in all
the relations of life earned the reputation of an
honest and law abiding citizen.
Mrs. Walker, who is still living with her
678
DELAWARE COUNTY:
son Matthew, was born August 13, 1812, in
county Antrim, Ireland, of which county her
parents were also natives and in which they
lived and died. She came to the United
States in 1834 in company with her brother,
and landed at Philadelphia after a long and
tiresome ocean voyage of six weeks' duration.
She has been a faithful mother, and has the
satisfaction in her old age of seeing her chil-
dren grown up to be honorable men and
women.
QATTHEW WALKER.— Prominent
among the representative farmers of
Mount Pleasant township is Mat-
thew Walker, who was born on the
loth day of November, 1844, in Delaware
county, Ind. His parents, Hugh and Mary
(Richards) Walker, are appropriately mention-
ed in connection with the biographical sketch
of John Walker, which appears above. Like
the majority of men reared on the farm, the
life of Matthew Walker has been uneventful,
he having grown up amid quiet rural scenes,
and having early become acquainted with the
rugged duties of country life. He was reared
on the farm which he now owns, attended the
country schools at intervals until his majority,
and then began farming upon his own respon-
sibility, which he has since successfully con-
tinued. His farm consists of 120 acres of
finely improved land, which his father pur-
chased from the government, and in addition
to tilling the soil, he pays considerable atten-
tion to the raising of stock, in which he has
also met with most gratifying encouragement.
Mr. Walker is one of the substantial citizens
of Mount Pleasant township, is highly respect-
ed in the community where he resides, and
has always manifested an active interest in the
growth and material prosperity of the town-
ship. He is married and has a family of three
interesting children, whose names are as fol-
lows: Mary, Chester and Ward. The maiden
name of Mrs. Walker was Maggie Pittser,
daughter of a well known citizen of Delaware
county.
"^T^GNAS WARFEL was born in Lancas-
m ter county. Pa., June 19, 1819, and is
n^J a son of Daniel and Fannie (Warfel)
Warfel, both parents natives of the
same state. Daniel and Fanny Warfel left
Pennsylvania in 1840, emigrated to Indiana,
and, settling in Delaware county, in Centre
township, Mr. Warfel purchased a large tract
of lard and engaged in farming. These
parents both resided in the county of their
adoption until their respective deaths, which
occurred in the years i860 and 1870. Mr.
Warfel was a master mechanic in iron work-
ing, which he followed in his native state a
number of years, and both he and wife were
members of the religious order of Menonites.
They reared a family of nine children, namely:
Amelia, Jonas, Emanuel (deceased), Tobias
(deceased), Adam (deceased), Andrew, Daniel
(deceased), Elizabeth (deceased) and Jacob.
Jonas Warfel was reared to agricultural pur-
suits, received a limited education in such
schools as the country afforded, and at the
age of twenty -one began teaching, having in
the meantime succeeded, by diligent applica-
tion to his studies, in acquiring a fair knowl-
edge of the various branches of learning. He
was engaged in teaching for several years,
principally during the winter seasons, and
taught, in all, about eleven terms. Mr. War-
fel has been a farmer all his life, in which use-
ful calling he has been very successful, owning
at different times valuable lands in Delaware
county, beside good town property, all of
which represented his own unaided labors and
skillful financiering. He is, at this time, the
MOUNT 5LEASANT TOWNSHIP.
679
of a good home in Mount Pleasant
township, and though practically retired from
active life, still pays considerable attention to
business affairs as well as to current events.
He is essentially a self-made man, and from a
very unfavorable beginning has made his way,
in spite of the many obstacles by which his
path was beset, and in his declining years is in
the possession of a competency which places
him beyond any fears so far as this world's
goods are concerned.
Mr.Warfel was married in Delaware county,
July 14, 1842, to Miss Samantha Baxla, a
native of Greene county, Ohio, where her
birth occurred April 28, 1822, the daughter of
Julian and Catherine (Turner) Baxla. Julian
Baxla was a native of Tennessee, and his
wife, whom he married in Greene county,
Ohio, was born in the city of Cincinnati. They
reared the following family of children: Sa-
mantha, Susanna, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane and
Hiram. The family removed to Delaware
county in 1840, where the parents died, the
father on the 31st of May, 1862, and the
mother October 21, 1887. To the marriage
of Mr. and Mrs. Warfel were born thirteen
children, whose names are as follows: Alfred,
a soldier of company E, Nineteenth Indiana
regiment, now deceased; Catherine, wife of
James A. Jester; Fannie, deceased; Isabella,
wife of Perry M. Miller; David, decease(>J;
Adam, Dottie, deceased; Jonas, Lizzie, de-
ceased; William and Samantha, twins; Mark
and Daniel. Mr. Warfel held the office of
justice of the peace of his township for some
time, and since 1837 has been a member of
the Methodist church, in which he is now a
class leader. He is interested in the York-
town Corporate company, and in politics votes
with the republican party.
The standing of Mr. Warfel and his family
with the residents of Mount Pleasant town-
ship is all that could be desired.
>^ AMES WATSON is a well known citizen
m of Mount Pleasant township,* and a son
/» 1 of Strawder and Emeline (Driscoll)
Watson, both parents natives of Indi-
ana. Strawder Watson is one of the most
successful farmers of Delaware county, and is,
. at this time, superintendent of tlie poor farm, in
the management of which he displays great
wisdom and forethought, and under his super-
vision a number of very important reforms
have been effected. He is in every respect a
representative man of his class, stands high in
the community where he resides, and but few
people of the county are as widely and favora-
bly known. Mrs. Watson, whom he married
in 1857, is of Irish descent and a woman of
most excellent judgment and intelligence.
James Watson has lived all of his life in
Delaware county, Ind. , where he was born on
the 2d day of November, i860. He was reared
on the farm, received his educational training
in the country schools, and on attaining his
majority rented the home place, which he has
since operated and where he resides at the
present time. In many respects he is a model
farmer, and in addition to the cultivation of the
soil, gives considerable attention to stock rais-
ing, making a specialty of fine hogs, in the
raising of which he has achieved well merited
success.
Mr. Watson was married on the i8th day
of November, 1880, to Martha McGriff, daugh-
ter of James and Delila McGriff, who moved in
an early day from Ohio to Madison county,
Ind. James McGriff is living at this time in
the state of Minnesota, but his wife, the mother
of Mrs. Watson, died when the latter was but
six years of age. Mr. Watson, while an ear-
nest supporter of the principles of the republi-
can party, has never aspired to official honors.
His live stock and his farm claim his chief
and most serious attention, and the result is
his present highly prosperous condition in life.
680
DELAWARE COUNTY:
^y^ EV. JOHN R. WELLINGTON, a
I /<^ farmer and stock raiser, was born in
J ^ the state of Ohio, August 7, 1840,
and is a son of WilHam Wellington, a
native of Pennsylvania. William Wellington
moved to Ohio in an early day, and after a
few years' residence in that state, immigrated
to Indiana, settling in Grant county, in which,
it is stated, he built the first frame house in
Fairmount. He was, by occupation, a car-
penter and followed that calling a few years
after coming to Indiana, later engaging in the
manufacture of lumber at the town of Summit-
ville, where he'operated a saw mill until the
time of his death, which occurred in 1858, at
the age of fifty-one. For some years he held
the office of justice of the peace, took an
active interest in public affairs as a republican,
and in religion was a member of the Wesleyan
Methodist church. John R. Wellington was
eighteen years old when his father died, after
which event he resided with his mother for a
period of two years, lookingafter her interests.
He early selected carpentering as the occupa-
tion to which he would devote his life, and
has followed that useful calling for twenty-
five years. He purchased his present farm in
1868, since which time he has had consider-
able farming done.
Mr. Wellington was married, in the year
1859, to Miss Malinda Holt, of Rush county,
Ind. , daughter of Drury Holt, one of the pio-
neers of that part of sthe state. Mr. Holt was
a successful farmer, owning a large tract of
land in the county of Rush, and for nearly
half a century was an earnest minister of the
gospel. He was born in the year 1807, and
died on the i ith day of March, 1883. At the
time of his marriage his sole earthly posses-
sion was represented by a two year old colt,
beside which his indebtedness amounted to
over $40. With an energy which has since
characterized the man, he at once went to
work, and, actuated by a determination to
succeed, has overcome the many difficulties by
which his early life was surrounded, and is
now the possessor of a beautiful and well cul-
tivated farm, consistingof 165 acres, the greater
part of which is under an advanced state of
cultivation. Mr. Wellington is a prominent
member of the German Baptist church, of
which he has been a faithful minister for over
twenty years. His wife is also a member of
the same denomination, and the family is one
of the most highly respected in the township
of Mount Pleasant. For years Mr. Wellington
has been an earnest advocate of temperance
reform, and, believing that the liquor traffic
can be successfully suppressed only by law,
votes with the prohibition party. The follow-
ing are the names of the children born to Mr.
and Mrs. Wellington: Lewis, Calvin, Seigle,
Leathy, Lucinda, wife of J. S. Aldridge;
Drury, Ottoway and Edgar Wellington.
^Fj'OHN WIGGERLY, one of the model
M farmers of Mount Pleasant township,
A 1 and a gentleman of wide business and
social standing, is a native of Indiana,
born in Delaware county on the 27th day of
September, 1848, son of David and Catherine
(Knightenhelser) Wiggerly. As the names of
the family indicate, Mr. Wiggerly's ancestors
are of German descent, and his father came to
Delaware county, in an early day, from the
town of Connersville, where, for some years
he worked at his trade, that of a baker. On
moving to this county he engaged in the pur-
suit of agriculture, in which vocation he was
quite successful, having become the possessor
of a farm of 120 acres of valuable land. He
was born in the year 181 3 and died in 1879.
He and wife adhered to the religious faith of
the Presbyterian church, and in politics he was
a supporter of the democratic party.
MOUNT PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
681
John Wiggerly grew to manhood on a
farm, early became accustomed to its rugged
duties, and at the age of twenty-one began
the hfe of an agriculturist, which he has since
continued with success and financial profit.
In partnership with his brother, he now owns
the old homestead, one of the most beautiful
and fertile farms in Mount Pleasant township,
and since com.ing into his possession it has
lost nothing by his careful and painstaking
management. Mr. Wiggerly exercises good
judgment in his chosen \-ocation, is an intelli-
gent observer and keeps fully abreast of the
times in all matters pertaining to agriculture,
which he considers in the light of a science.
Politically he wields an influence for the dem-
ocratic party, and while not aspiring to official
honor at the hands of his fellow citizens, has
always taken an active interest in political
affairs.
ISAAC WRIGHT is a large land owner
and an honored ex-soldier of Mount
Pleasant township, Delaware county,
Ind. He was born in the state of In-
diana, July 4, 1 841, a son of Jesse and Eliza-
beth (Wrightsman) Wright. The father was
a native of Ohio, born March 6, 18 16, and
died February 16, 1890; and the mother, a
native of Wayne county, Ind., was born in
December, 1824. The boyhood of Jesse
Wright was spent on the Ohio farm until he
was eight years of age, when he accompanied
his parents to Indiana and located in the north-
west part of the state, where for a few years
he worked at the carpenter's trade. He then
came to Delaware county for a short time,
going thence to Henry county, but in 1862 he
removed to Dallas county, Iowa, where he
lived until his death, and where his widow
still makes her home.
Isaac Wright remained at home until the
age of seventeen years, and then engaged in
teaching school for a time, but, August 22,
1862, entered the army, he enlisting in com-
pany K, Eighty-fourth Indiana volunteer in-
fantry, and marched off under his country's
banners. He participated in the battle of
Chickamagua, where he was wounded by a
musket ball and was obliged to spend six
weary months in the hospitals at New Albany
and Louisville. He also was engaged in a
number of sharp skirmishes, and was finally
honorably discharged and receives a pension
of $6 per month for his injuries.
Mr. Wright was married April 3, 1866, to
Miss Charity Jones, a daughter of John D.
and Laodicia Jones — he of Ohio and she of
Tennessee; the father born May 16, 1809,
and the mother October 27, 1807. Mr. and
Mrs. Jones married in Clinton county, Ohio,
and came to this state in 1833, locating in
Mount Pleasant township, on a part of Isaac
Wright's present farm. Here he became a
very successful farmer, owning, at his decease,
January 13, 1870, 400 acres of land, the most
of which is improved. Mrs. Jones is still liv-
ing, making her home, at this time, with the
family of her son, Isaac.
After marriage Mr. Wright engaged in
farming on rented land, for a period of four
years, at the end of which period he bought a
farm in Harrison township and engaged in
farming and stock raising, which he has con-
tinued very successfully ever since. He now
owns 180 acres of land in Mount Pleasant and
Harrison townships, and is considered one of
the strong financial men of the county. In
political affairs he takes a lively interest, and
is a prominent member of the democratic
party; in religion both he and his excellent
j wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal
I church. They find time to take part in the
j furtherance of all good projects. Two children
I have blessed their marriage, John A., now
DELAWARE COUNTY:
married to Miss Ocie Kirkpatrick and living in
Harrison township; and Mary A., the wife of
Jonas Jester.
(D
RS. REBECCA YINGLING (de-
ceased), the estimable lady for
whom this biographical notice is
prepared, was born in Lawrence
county, Ohio, January 25, 1820, the daughter
of Hamilton and Catherine Harpers, both
parents natives of the state of Maryland.
Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Har-
pers moved to Virginia, and after a few years'
residence in that state emigrated to Ohio,
where Mr. Harpers' death occurred, at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-nine years. Hamilton
Harpers was by occupation a farmer, in which
useful calling he was very successful, and all
who came in contact with him were ready to
bear witness to his true worth as man and
citizen.
The marriage of Rebecca Harpers and Will-
iam Yingling was consummated in the year
1837, in Lawrence county, Ohio, where Mr.
Yingling was born, October 23, 181 1. For the
fifteen years following their marriage, this
couple remained in Ohio, Mr. Yingling being
engaged in farming and the manufacture of
charcoal. About 1852 Mr. and Mrs. Yingling
moved to Indiana and purchased a tract of
eighty acres of land in Mount Pleasant town-
ship, Delaware county, which is still the home
of the family, and upon which Mrs. Yingling
resided until her death. On moving to this
county, the greater part of the township of
Mount Pleasant was a comparative wilderness,
and the land upon which Mr. Yingling located
was an unbroken forest, made doubly forbid-
ding on account of its being nearly covered
with water. To redeem this woodland and
make of it a home was a task of no small mag-
nitude, but Mr. Yingling, aided and encouraged
by the wise counsel of his excellent wife, la-
bored diligently for a number of years and
eventually saw his efforts crowned with suc-
cess and a home prepared for his family.
Mr. Yinghng was a most exemplary citi-
zen, took an active interest in the public
affairs of his time, and was an earnest believer
in the christian religion, the precepts of which
he exemplified in his daily walk and conversa-
tion. During the last few years of his life he
was a great sufferer, becoming almost a help-
less invalid, during which time the manage-
ment of the farm devolved altogether upon his
faithful wife, who right nobly performed the
task. Mr. Yingling died in 1889, deeply
lamented by all who knew him. Mrs. Ying-
ling still resided on the home farm which,
under her management, was brought to a high
state of cultivation, and she was considered
one of the kind neighbors and excellent christ-
ian women of the community in which she
she lived. She was a devoted member of the
Christian church, to which denomination her
husband also belonged. Mr. and Mrs. Ying-
ling had a large family, consisting of fourteen
children, whose names are as follows: Ham-
linton, who died in the army; Catherine, de-
ceased; Elizabeth, deceased; John, married
Sarah Preston, and is now a blacksmith; Na-
thaniel, a farmer and carpenter, married Lu-
cinda Wilber; Mary, wife of Nicholas Finegan;
Margaret, deceased; Lewis, deceased; Rebecca,
deceased; Elias, deceased; Matthias, married
Malinda Pugh; Thomas, married Mary Ep-
hart, and George, who married Rose Bonner.
Mrs. Rebecca Yingling passed from earth,
February 15, 1893, most deeply mourned, not
only by her own large family, but by an ex-
tensive circle of friends who appreciated her
many good qualities, and who now sadly miss
her venerable presence from their midst, and
more especially will she be missed by the suf-
fering poor, whom she was wont to succor.
NILBS TOWNSHIP.
aHARLES W. ANDREW is a native
of Niles township, and is a young
man of more than average abiUty as
a farmer. He has taiien hold of
things and is making money by strict attention
to his business. He was born September 8,
1866, being the son of James and Nancy
(Allen) Andrew, of Irish and English descent,
respectively. They went to Greene county,
Ohio, at an early day, and settled near Tre-
bine station, where the father owned a large
farm. The father remained with his parents
until he grew up, married early in life, and
started out for himself. After his marriage to
Nancy Allen he removed to Delaware county
and settled on a farm of fifty acres that now
forms the home of his son, Charles W. Some
years later he went into the grocery business
in tne village of Parker, but tnis life did not
suit him and he traded for the farm he had
parted with. Here he settled down contented,
and lived a farmer until his death. May 4,
1 88 1. His remains rest in the Bethel ceme-
tery. By two marriages he became the fatner
of ten children, seven by the first, namely:
Martha A., wife of Calvin McCoy; William L.,
died soon after the war; Rankin, a grocer;
Molly G., wife of James Jellison; Sally J., wife
of Samuel Dill; Talitha and Nancy, deceased;
by tne second marriage he had three children,
namely: Lillie F. , Effie E., deceased; and
Charles W. , whose name opens this sketch.
He was a farmer and an active worker in the
republican party. He owned a good farm of
fty-three acres, which is well improved.
Charles W. Andrew was married Decem-
ber 31, 1888, to Barbara E., daughter of
Lewis Bud Martha (Williams) Collins, natives
of Ohio. Her parents settled in Perry town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind., at an early day
on a farm of 160 acres near New Burlington,
where he spent many of his days. His wife is
buried in the Burlington cemetery, and he
lives in Albany. Lewis Collins had one
brother, namely: William, and Mrs. Collins
had four brothers, namely: Morrison, Samp-
son and Laban, farmers; and Elias, a retired
farmer. The mother of Mr. Andrew was a
member of the Christian church.
The union of Mr. and- Mrs. Andrew re-
sulted in two children, namely: William L.
and Nellie F. Mrs. Andrew has two sisters,
Minnie F. , the adopted daughter of a farmer
named Lunn, living in Iowa, and Laura, de-
ceased, buried in the Granville cemetery.
The mother of Mrs. Andrew was buried in the
same place. Charles W. Andrew received a
start in life from his mother, who now makes
her home with him. He and and his wife
have a good common school education, and
are very much esteemed by all their neigh-
bors.
>Y'0HN S. ANDREW.— One of the most
M industrious, energetic, and hard work-
A ■ ing men of this farming community is
James S. Andrew, whose comfortable
and well appointed farm is located in Niles
township, Delaware county, Ind. He was
684
DELAWARE COUNTY:
born in this township, November 24, 1853, son
of James and Nancy (Law) Andrew, natives
of England, who had settled in Greene county,
Ohio, coming from thence to Delaware county
in 1845. After living here some time they
moved to Randolph county, to a small hamlet
named Parker, where he engaged in the dry
goods businessf five years later removing to
another farm located in Perry township, where
he remained two years, and then bought back
the first farm that he had settled on. He was
a good man, and both he and wife were mem-
bers of the United Presbyterian denomination.
She died in i860, and he May 4, 1881, both
being laid away in Bethel cemetery, where a
fine monument marks their last resting place.
John S. Andrew was one of the following
family of children: George F. , a farmer; Will-
iam, who died in the army; John S., Rankin
H., a grocer; Carl W., a farmer; Martha, the
wife of Calvin McCoy; Mary G., wife of James
Jellison; Sarah S., wife of Samuel Dill; Eliza-
beth, deceased; and Nancy.
John S. Andrew was married February
17, 1876, to Miss Ida F. Bryan, daughter of
Milo and Elizabeth (Cannon) Bryan, natives
of Ireland and England. They came from
Ohio in 1869 and settled on the farm where
they now reside, a beautiful tract of 120
acres. The families on both sides ate long
lived. Mr. Bryan's brothers and sister are
Almira B. , wife of John Smith; Mary J., de-
ceased; Wesley, in the dry goods business;
Joseph, a farmer; Levi, deceased, and William
F., retired. The family of Mrs. Bryan was as
follows: Randolph, a farmer; Wellington,
Quincy, Montera, Curtis and William, de-
ceased; Caroline, wife of Lewis Zyle; Eureka
v., wife of Harrison Lovett, and Narcisse, de-
ceased.
After marriage John S. Andrew first lo-
cated on a farm in Liberty township and then
went to Dunkirk, Jay county, Ind , where he
engaged in the livery business for a period of
five years and then returned to the farm,
buying his present home of forty acres. He
engages in stock buying and finds this very
profitable, as he understands how to manage
it, in connection with his farming. He has
made many improvements on his place and
built his fine new house in 1883. Mr. and
Mrs. Andrew belong to the Methodist church,
in which he holds the positions of steward and
class leader.
'^rr'AMES BALES is an influential citizen
M of Niles township, Delaware county,
rtt J and was born in Greene county, Ohio,
August I, 1 82 1. He is the son of Jacob
and Dorothy (Hickman) Bales, of Irish and
German descent respectively. These parents
went from Virginia to Ohio a number of years
ago, settling near Jamestown, on Cssar creek,
where they spent their days and died, the
father in April, 1865, and the mother in 1872.
They were highly respectable people, members
of the Methodist church, and their remains
were laid to rest in what is known as the Shirk
cemetery, Greene county, Ohio.
The following are the names of the broth-
ers and sisters of James Bales: Cyrus, a
farmer; James, a farmer; Sarah, wife of John
Jones; Elizabeth, wife of Adam Shirk; Rebec-
ca, wife of John Beale; Louis, a farmer; La-
ban; Amanda, wife of C. H. Spahr; John, a
farmer; Dorothy, Mrs. C.H. Harness; Jacob and
Leon, the last two and Mrs. Shirk deceased.
James Bales was married November 20, 1842,
to Melinda, daughter of Jacob and Catherine
(Kimmell) Shirk, natives of Virginia. Jacob
and Catherine Shirk were the parents of
eleven children, namely: Jemima, wife of
James Dougherty; Sarah, wife of Jesse
Bowlen; Alfred, a farmer; Melinda; Susan,
wife of John King; Polly, wife of El
NILES TOWNSHIP.
685
Bales; Adam, a farmer; Jacob, deceased;
Henry, a farmer, and William, a farmer. By
his marriage with Miss Shirk, Mr. Bales is the
father of eleven children, namely: David M.,
Alfred R., and Henry, farmers; Hannah, wife
of Isaac Wingate; Leah, wifeof William Frank;
Laban, a farmer; Melinda J., wife of Morrison
Klugh; James H., a farmer; Jacob L., a farm-
er; John, a furniture dealer at Dunkirk, and
Cyrus. The mother of this interesting family
of children died September 5, 1892, and was
buried in the Strong cemetery. She was a
worthy member of the Methodist church, and a
woman of many noble qualities of mind and
heart. Mr. Bales came to Delaware county,
September 19, 1853, settled in the woods,
built a log cabin, and endured the usual hard-
ships incident to pioneer life. He now owns
240 acres of land, which is well improved, and
has one of the most comfortable and pleasant
homes in Niles township, where he is spending
the declining years of life in the enjoyment of
the fruits of his early labors.
HNDREW J. BARLEY is a native of
Niles township, Delaware county,
and is an industrious and honest
farmer, respected by all who know
him. He is the son of John and Lavena
(Haines) Barley, of German descent. The
parents went from Virginia to Greene county,
Ohio, May 4, 1812, and lived there until 1838,
when they came to Delaware county. Here
the father entered land and proceeded at once
to clear the forest. After a while he disposed
of his farm and went to Illinois, but did not
remain long, and on his return bought the farm
of eighty acres in this township, where the
widow now lives.
Andrew J. Barley was married November
3, 1872, in Delaware county, to Rachel,
daughter of Cyrus and Cynthia (Beal) Bales;
her parents being of Irish descent, and natives
of Ohio, who came to Indiana in 1851 and
settled upon a farm, then in the woods, where
he now resides. The brothers and sisters of
her father are: James, Lewis and Laban,
farmers; Rebecca, wife of John Beal; Eliza-
beth, wife of Adam Shirk; Sarah, wife of John
Jones; Amanda, wife of Creighton Spore, and
Dorothy, wife of Creighton Harness. The
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Rachel Bailey are:
John, Evan, Stephen, William, Aaron, and
Samuel, farmers; Rachel, wife of Henry An-
drew; Louisa, wife of John Finley; Mary A.,
wife of Henry Beech, and Rebecca, wife of
Louis Beason. The union of Mr. Barley with
Miss Bales resulted in five children, namely:
George A., WildaM., Eva L. , Mary F. and
an infant deceased. Mr. Barley first located
on a farm in Niles township, where he lived
si.v years, and finally settled on his pleasant
farm in the same township, consisting of forty
acres of well improved land. John Barley
died March 12, 1884, and was laid to rest in
the Eaton cemetery. Mrs. Lavena Barley
was a pious member of the Methodist church,
and her people were hard shell Baptists.
at
ILLIAM D. BARLEY is one of
the large land holders and prominent
business men of Niles township,
Delaware county, Ind. , who has a
war record of which he is justly proud. He
was born in Greene county, Ohio, near the city
of Xenia, March 23, 1838, a son of John and
Lavena (Haines) Barley of German and Irish
ancestry. They came from the state of Vir-
ginia in 1828, and settled on a farm in Greene
county, Ohio, where they remained until 1840,
when they came to Niles township, and settled
on eighty acres of land in the forest. Many
686
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of the early settlers selected the woodland on
account of the proximity of water, which in a
new country is a necessary object to keep in
view. In the wilderness they built a log cabin
in a little clearing, and dismal it was at first,
no doubt, but the hearts of our pioneers were
strong, and from that lonely beginning, and
life of hardship, grew up a fine home, and a
sturdy family gathered at the hearthstone.
The first place was sold after improving, and
the present home farm of eighty acres was
bought, and here the father lived until his
death; his remains now lie in the Eaton ceme-
tery. His brothers and sisters were: Samuel,
a farmer by occupation; Mary, the wife of
Isaac Carkuff; the family of Mrs. Lavena
Barley is as follows: William F. , a farmer;
Philip, a trader; Elizabeth C. , the wife of
Edmund Boots; Cyrus H., deceased; Mary C,
the wife of Aaron Boots; Angeline, wife of
Samuel Barley; Evaline R. , wife of Archie
Peterson, Daniel, deceased; and Samantha,
deceased. Her people are all buried in the
cemetery at the old home in Clinton county,
Ohio. Mrs. Barley and son, William D. , reside
together. She and her husband reared a family
of twelve children, of which William D., is
the eldest, as follows: Samuel K., deceased;
John A., a farmer; Peter A., and Andrew J.,
also farmers; Mary E., the wife of George W.
Koile; Evaline V., the wife of Samuel Hoff-
man; Martha E., the wife of Morgan Wilson;
Luvenia A., the wife of Marion Shirk; Emaline
J., the wife of John B. Shiller, and Angeline
S. , the wife of Newton G. Weaver.
William D. Barley has always made his
home with his mother, until lately, when he
purchased the home and the adjoining land,
and now has a farm of 210 acres. He is a
carpenter by trade, and worked at this for a
period of seventeen years. Early in life, hav-
ing had good school advantages, he taught
for eight terms. On February 13, 1865, he
enlisted in company B, One Hundred and
Forty-seventy regiment, Indiana volunteers,
at Richmond, Ind. From there the regiment
was sent to Charlestown and then shortly to
Berryville, Va. , and on to Harper's Ferry,
where he was discharged August 4, 1865. He
had performed all the duties of a soldier and
came home unscathed, going to work at his
trade. He is a member of the G. A R. post,
of the I. O. O. F., and of the Red Men. He
has now retired from farm labor, finding more
congenial and easier employment in the buy-
ing and selling of cattle. He is an industrious
and enterprising man, highly respected by all
who know him, and in politics is a republican.
"^-r*OHN BEAL, retired farmer and promi-
J nent citizen of the town of Albany,
A 1 was born and reared in Greene county,
Ohio, about seven miles southeast of
the city of Xenia, near Paintersville, on the
1 8th day of March, 1821. His father, George
Beal, was one of the old Quaker settlers of
that region, moving there in early life from his
native state, Pennsylvania, where his ances-
tors for many generations had resided. By
occupation he was a tiller of the soil, and he
is remembered as a steady, honest citizen,
honorable in all his transactions and eminently
respected in the community where so many
years of his life were passed. His death oc-
curred in Greene county, Ohio, in the year
1877
John Beal spent his youthful days in the
above county and state, and became a resident
of Delaware county, Ind., about forty years
ago, settling in Niles township, of which he is
now one of the oldest citizens in point of con-
tinuous residence. He followed farming very
successfully until 1893, at which time, owing
to advancing age and a competence acquire
NILES TOWNSHIP.
687
by years of patient toil, he retired from active
life to the town of Albany, where he owns a
beautiful home, in which the declining years of
his life are being passed. Mr. Deal's first
marriage was solemnized in Greene county,
Ohio, about the year 1844, with Rebecca
Bales, who bore him thirteen children, but four
of whom are living at the time of this writing.
Like the rest of mankind Mr. Beal has
frequently been called to pass through the
deep waters of affliction, his children having
been taken from him, one by one, and about
eleven years ago his faithful wife, who had
been his companion for so many years during
the earlier and later struggle of life, was sum-
moned to her final home by the unsparing
hand of the grim destroyer. Death. Subse-
quently Mr. Beal chose for a wife Mrs. Eliza-
(Stafford) Warfel, widow of Daniel L. War-
fel, late resident of Centre township, this
county. By her previous marriage, Mrs. Beal
had seven children, four of whom are living at
this time. Mr. Beal has always been a very
industrious man, and as a reward of his thrift
and economy, he is now enabled to live in a
manner befitting one who has battled so long
and so successfully with the world. A demo-
crat in politics, he has never been an office
seeker; and a member of the Old School Bap-
tist church, his dail}' walk and conversation
have ever been in harmony with his religious
profession. His life has been fraught with
good works, and the future awaits him with
bounteous and abundant rewards.
VV^^ AVID M. BELL is a worthy and
I I good man who lives in Niles town-
/<^^_^ ship, and is greatly respected by all
his neighbors. He was born in Jay
county, Ind., September 8, 1842, the son of
David and Lydia (Kyles) Bell, the parents
being of Scotch-Irish descent. They went
from Greene county, Ohio, in 1835, and
settled in Richland township. Jay county, on
a farm of eighty acres, which he entered up;
there he lived until his death, February i,
1850. The mother died on the old homestead
August 15, 1887. Their remains are buried
in the Bethel cemetery, where a fine monu-
ment marks their last resting place. The
brothers and sisters of David M. are: Samuel
K. , a plasterer; William C., deceased; John
D., a farmer; Nancy A., wife of Joseph Leval-
ly; Sarah E. , wife of Louis Levally; and
Lydia M., Freeborn and Viney R. , the last
three deceased; George and Nathaniel, farmers.
Grandfather Bell was a land surveyor in
the early days of this country, and his father
was a sea captain. Grandfather Kyles came
to Delaware county, Ind., in 1836, and
entered eighty acres of land, upon which he
lived and died, and his remains are buried in
the Bethel cemetery. The brothers and sis-
ter of Mrs. Lydia Bell were: ^Delilah, wife of
Philip Harness; Elizabeth, wife of Gideon
Sparr; Sarah, wife of Daniel Colet; Savilla,
wife of George Maxwell, Ezekiel D., a farmer;
John S. , a brick maker; Julia A., wife of
David Pollock, and Seth A., a merchant and
farmer.
David M. Bell has had his war experience
and has proved himself to be a valiant soldier.
September 22, 1861, he was mustered in as a
private in company D, Second Indiana cavalry,
Forty-first regiment Indiana volunteers, and
served in the army of the Tennessee, through
the campaign from Shiloh, or Pittsburg Land-
ing, to the front of Atlanta, and was mustered
out October 4, 1864.
David M. Bell was married, at the age of
twenty-four, to Lucinda, daughter of Abraham
and Magdalen (Flummer) Cemer. She was
born February 6, 1846, is of German descent,
and her parents came from Pennsylvania to
DELAWARE COUNTY:
this state in an early day and settled on a
farm in Niles township, where the mother
died, and her remains lie buried in the Bethel
cemetery. The father died in Howard county.
Mrs. Lucinda Bell had the following brothers
and sisters: Jacob, born December 6, 1830;
Louisa, born July 23, 1832; Nancy, born
March 18, 1836; Hester, born September 8,
1838; Mary and Jane, twins, born October
18, 1 840; Abraham, born July 2, 1843; an
infant brother, who died; William, born June
7, 1848; and Samuel, born March 8, 185 1.
After his marriage, David M. Bell moved upon
the farm of seventy-seven and one-third acres,
where he now lives. By his marriage he is
the father of five children, namely: Laura
E. , died June 15, 1884; Cora A., John E.,
Oran E. and Wilbur V. The parents of these
children are active workers in the Methodist
church. Mr. Bell is a member of the Odd
Fellows encampment, as well as the subordi-
nate lodge, and also of the Grand Army of the
Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Bell are most worthy
people, and are held in the highest esteem by
every one that knows them.
eDWARD BLACK is a very prominent
and popular citizen of Niles town-
ship, who was born in Clarke county,
Ohio, December 1,1818. He is a
son of Andrew and Susanna (Ross) Black, both
of Irish descent. The parents left Virginia
and went to Ohio in 1805, settling in Clarke
county, where they spent the remainder of
their days. The mother died September 25,
1845, the father followed October 18, 1854.
The latter entered 160 acres of land, and
added 160 acres more, which he cleared, and
had in a fine state of cultivation before he
died. Their remains are buried in the Black
cemetery, in Clarke county, where a suitable
stone marks the place of their sepulture. An-
drew Black was born in 1773, and Susan in
1 77 1, and they were the parents of the follow-
ing children: John, a farmer; Samuel E., a
farmer; Mary, wife of Charles Mitchell; James,
and William, farmers; Thomas, deceased;
Jane, wife of Ralph Stafford; Andrew, a farm-
er; Edward, and Susan, wife of James Stafford.
The father had the following brothers and
sisters: Samuel, John, James, William, Jane
and Crockett. The mother had ten or eleven
brothers and sisters, most of whom reached
maturity, and all of them proved worthy and
good people.
Edward Black remained on the farm with
his father until the year before his marriage.
The name of his wife was Mary Brammer,
daughter of Edmund and Nancy (Hatfield)
Brammer, both of French descent. They
went from Virginia to Lawrence county,
Ohio, with their parents, grew up there and
married, and then moved to Fayette county,
Ohio, staid there a short time, and then, in
1837, came to Delaware county, Ind. Here
they purchased eighty acres of land. Success
favored Mr. Brammer, and in all he owned 313
acres of good land. Here he spent the rest of
his days, passing away in 1887, his wife hav-
ing died in 1873. Their remains rest in Black
cemetery, in Delaware county. The children
born to Mr. and Mrs. Brammer are as follows;
Roland, a farmer; Mary, wife of Mr. Black;
Melinda, wife of Alfred Richey; Rachel, wife
of John Cochran; Rebecca, wife of Augustus
Hance; Aaron, a farmer; Elizabeth, wife of
James Black; Henly, a farmer; Malina, wife of
William Cochran, and Sarah, wife of David
Brammer. The brothers and sisters of Mrs.
Black's mother were: Nancy, wife of Mr.
Brammer; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lea;
Eli;ia, wife of Washington Sanders; Sarah, wife
of Henry Brammer; Isaac, John, William, Henly
and Calvin, farmers. The brothers and sisters
NILES TOWNSHIP.
of the father of Mrs. Black are: Anna, wife of
Jas. Fudge; Artie, James, John, Roland, Henry,
Jesse, Edmund and William, farmers. When Mr.
Black first started in Delaware county for him-
self he bought 3 20 acres of land, all in timber, lo-
cated in Niles township, paying $900 for the
same. He had to endure the hardships of life
in a new country, but he has the pleasure of
knowing that he is surrounded in his old days
with peace and plenty. At one time he owned
570 acres, but had generously divided it among
his children, giving his boys 120 acres each,
and the girls eighty acres each.
The names of the children of Edward
Black are: John W., married to Mary Fudge;
James, married to Elizabeth Harshman; Ed-
mund A , married to Mary J. Stewart; Melin-
da J., wife of Samuel McDonald; and Susaan-
nah E., wife of John M. Fudge. When Mr.
Black first settled on this farm he built a little
frame house, fourteen by sixteen, and got
eight acres cleared the first year. Game was
abundant, and he almost supplied his family
in meat from this source. He has eighteen
grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
No family in the township is held in higher
esteem than that of Mr. Black, every member
of it being a worthy and good person. He is
a republican.
>nr'AMES B. BOSMAN, farmer of Niles
m township, Delaware county, Ind., was
A 1 born in Ross county, Ohio, October
15, 1858, son of Daniel and Elizabeth
(Lister) Bosman, of Irish and English ances-
try. They emigrated from Maryland to Ohio
in 1832 where they remained two years, and
then came to this county and township. Here
they entered 160 acres of land and immedi-
ately began the clearing of it, remaining upon
it unti 1876, when they removed into the vil-
lage of Dunkirk. Their residence there did
not exceed one year, and then they went back
to the farm, where Mr. Bosman is still living
in very comfortable circumstances. He reared
a family of four children: James B., John W. ,
who is engaged in the breeding of fast horses;
A. N., a farmer, and Nancy J., the wife of
Joseph Thomas.
James B. Bosman remained at home dur-
ing boyhood and attended the common schools.
When he had reached his majority he engaged
in farming and married Miss Mahala Thomas,
daughter of Samuel and Martha (Smith)
Thomas, natives of Indiana. Mrs. Thomas
died in 1857 and is buried in the Union cem-
etery. Mr. Thomas now resides in Dunkirk.
He is a member of the Masonic order and
both he and wife were connected with the
Methodist church. The family of Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas were as follows: Josiah, a farm-
er; James, a carpenter; Amanda R., wife of
John Ray; Martha, wife of A. J. Wilson;
John, a blacksmith; Elizabeth, wife of John
Williamson; Emma, wife of George Shatto,
Henry, a painter, Jacob and the wife of Mr.
Bosman. Mr. Thomas is a stone mason by
trade.
Mr. Bosman received eighty acres of good
land from his father, which he has improved
and lives upon with comfort. He is a repub-
lican in his political convictions, and Mrs.
Bosman is a valued member of the Methodist
church. They have one child, Willie Forest.
They are people much esteemed in the neigh-
borhood where they are best known.
aORNELIUS BOYD is a prominent
farmer of Niles township, Delaware
county, and a native of Monongalia
county, Va. , born April 16, 1830.
He is the son of William and Rebecca (Austin)
Boyd, the father a native of New Jersey, and
DELAWARE COUNTY
the mother of Maryland. WilHam Boyd went
from New Jersey to what is now West Virginia
in 1811, and there lived with his father on a
farm, after which he married and died there.
He became the father of the following chil-
dren: Jane, wife of Bnjamin Felton; John,
William and James, farmers; Sarah, wife of
Thomas Hatfield; Mary; Elizabeth, wife of
Andrew Frume; CorneHus, Laverna, wife of
Alta Stelle, and Margaret. The father of
these children had two sisters and two broth-
ers, namely: Archibald, Andrew, Catherine
end Margaret. Mrs. Rebecca Boyd had six
brothers and two sisters, namely: James,
Hannah, Cornelius, Daniel, Hugh, William,
Jesse and Emily.
Cornelius Boyd was married at the age of
twenty-four to Martha, daughter of Benjamin
and Ann (Doolittle) Jacobs; her parents were
of German and French descent, and born in
West Virginia, where they grew up, married,
reared a family, and died. Their children are
named as follows: Joseph, Raleigh, John
Jacob, Benjamin and Thomas, farmers; Susan,
wife of Michael Smell; Jemima, wife of Thomas
Tarlton; Martha, wife of Cornelius Boyd; Re-
becca, wife of Edgar Stephen, and Nancy.
When Cornelius Boyd came to Delaware
county he chopped wood for two years; then
engaged in farming seven years, at the end of
which time he went to Kansas; a short stay
satisfied him and he was willing to come back
to Indiana. He rented a farm in this county
and lived on it for one year, after which he
purchased, in 1883, a farm of 120 acres in and
near Granville. Mr. Boyd came to Indiana
in March, 1864, being compelled to leave
Virginia on account of the war, he having been
treated as a bushwhacker. The first year Mr.
Boyd lived in Indiana he cleared $800 by
chopping wood. Early in life he followed
teaming, working at it for fotrteen years, and
driving a si.x horse team the entire time. Mr.
Boyd was the second man that drove a team
in what is known as the Big tunnel on the
Baltimore & Ohio railroad, and his entire load
consisted of shovels, picks and wheelbarrows.
Mr. Boyd has always been a hard working
man, and very kind to his neighbors and to
the poor. Eight children have been born to
him and his wife, namely: Olive M., died
September, 1863; Nancy, wife of Riley Staf-
ford; Rebecca F. , wife of Roily Wright; Susan;
William, a farmer; Nora; and Malinda, who
died in September, 1863. Mr. and Mrs. Boyd
are active and pious members of the Methodist
church. He is a member of the order of Red
Men, in which body he is much esteemed. In
politics he is a republican, and votes the
straight ticket of that party every time.
>T^AMES C. BULLOCK is an enterpris-
M ing and greatly respected farmer of
A 1 Niles township, who was born in
Greene county, Ohio, March 31, i860.
He is the son of E. J, and Narcissa (Strack)
Bullock, natives of Ohio and New York re-
spectively. The father came to Ohio with
his parents, where he grew to manhood, mar-
ried, and where he lived for several years
afterward. Then he came to Delaware coun-
ty, where he bought a farm of 100 acres; lived
upon it for some time; then sold it and bought
the farm of 120 acres upon which John C.
now lives. The father has retired from farm-
ing, and lives at Dunkirk, Jay county, Ind.
The father had the following brothers and
sisters: William H., a farmer; Hamilton J.,
a farmer; Anna, wife of J. H. Hoover; Morgan,
deceased; Susan, wife of James Goddard. The
brothers and sisters of Narcissa Bullock, are:
Mary A., wife of Jesse Hobblet; Abbie, wife
of William Johnson; James, a grocer; John, a
farmer; Amanda, wife of William Turner;
NILES TOWNSHIP.
691
Margaret, wife of Hiram Turner; Samuel, a
farmer; Minerva, wife of Hfnry Turner.
E. J. and Narcissa Bullock had the following
children: \\'illiam H., a farmer; Samuel S. , a
painter; James; Charles M.. a farmer; Eugene,
worker in a glass factory; Louis, a farmer;
John, a factory hand; Emma, single; Frankie,
Maggie, Alfred, and Melda, the four last de-
ceased.
James C. Bullock remained at home until
he was twenty-one years old, and then mar-
ried Arabelle, daughter of William and Mary
(Haines) Reed. Her parents are natives of
Ohio and Virginia respectively, and after their
marriage came to Randolph county, Ind. , in
1865. Her father bought a farm of 160 acres,
upon which they still live. Her parents had
the following children: Sarah R. , wife of
William Bullock; Arabelle; Levi, a farmer;
Mahlon; William S., a farmer; Cornelius, a
school teacher; and the following who are
single: Phebe E., Gilbert, Charles, Oscar,
Verna, RoUie, Gertie and Blaine. The family
are members of the Methodist church. Three
children have blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. James C. Bullock, namely: Mazie, Zorah
N., and India. The father of James C. came
to this county at an early day, and endured
the hardships of a pioneer life. With his own
hands he built a farm house, he being a car-
penter, and then went to work manfully, and
cleared sixty acres of his farm, upon which he
lived for twelve years. This he sold, and
bought 160 acres two miles west of his first
purchase, where he lived eleven years, and
then bought his present farm at Dunkirk. He
works at his trade, but takes it easily because
he has a right to do so after so many years of
toil. James C. is running the farm to the
entire satisfaction of his father. James C. is
a zealous republican, and does all he can to
help along the party, believing it to be the
party of the people.
*w ^ YLON COLBY is a prosperous citi-
I'^'^k zen of Niles township, and a native
J ,* of New York, having been born Feb-
ruary 18, 1824, near Buffalo. He is
the son of Alvin and Sarah (Morton) Colby,
of English and German descent. His parents
came from New York to Illinois in 1834; lived
there five years, and returned to their old
home, where his father died March 21, 1841,
the mother living until September 15, 1883.
After the death of his father, Hylon Colby
and his mother kept the family together, he
working at the carpenter trade, and his mother
at the spinning wheel. Since his marriage,
and the death of his mother, he has devoted
his entire time to the farm. Alvin Colby had
the following brothers and sisters: John, Arad,
Jesse, farmers; Alvin, a carpenter; Asa, a
turner, and Mary, wife of John Drake. Sarah
Morton had two brothers and two sisters,
namely: Hylon, a mason and farmer; Free-
man, a farmer; Belinda, wife of Shadrach Har-
ris, and Abigail, wife of John Bigford. Hylon
Colby had two sisters, namely: Belinda, wife
of Enos Hunt, and Ellinor, wife of Charles
Gilger.
Hylon Colby was married November 16,
1849, to Amelia, daughter of Zachariah and
Amelia (Chellis) Hunt, of German and Eng-
lish descent. Her parents were born in New
York, where they spent all their days in Erie
county; her father dying in 1850 and her
mother in 1848. By his marriage with Amelia
Hunt, Hylon Colby is the father of four chil-
dren, namely: Augustus, a teamster; Estella,
wife of Hillus Irey; Lillian, wife of John
Price; and Emma, deceased. Mr. Colby and
his wife were first settled in New York, lived
there one year, moved to Illinois, and then to
Lake county, Ind. Here they lived for si.x
years on a farm of eighty acres. The brothers
and sisters of Mrs. Colby's father were:
James, a farmer; Daniel, deceased; Hugh
692
DELAWARE COUNTY:
and Thomas, merchants; Margaret, wife of
Jerry "Woods; Ellen, wife of John Wethering-
ton; Jennie, wife of Peter Newlon; Elizabeth,
wife of C. R. Bell. Her mother had one
brother, John, a farmer, and a sister, Sarah,
wife of Elijah Corban.
After separation he was married to Mrs.
Sarah Bundrant, his present wife. She has
been a resident of Indiana for seventy-four
years. When her husband, Mr. Bundrant,
first came here in 1 840, he entered eighty acres
and bought forty more. It was then a wilder-
ness, and located one-half mile east of Mill
Grove. Here he lived for three years, and
then moved to Fayette county and lived four
years, then returned to the Mill Grove farm,
where he lived six years, then to the present
farm, where Mrs. Colby now lives. This was
in 1854, and he died November 6, 1864, and
was buried in the Bethel cemetery.
The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Colby are:
John, aged seventy-five, , a farmer; Robert,
aged seventy-eight, a farmer; Amos, aged
eighty-one, a farmer; Thomas, aged sixty-five,
a farmer; Hannah, wife of William Evans,
aged eighty-six; Mary, wife of Richard Nuz-
man, aged eighty-four; Lucinda, wife of Orville
Mcllwain, aged seventy; Sarah, wife of Mr.
Colby, aged seventy-three; Lizzie, wife of
William Vanmeter, aged fifty-three. Her
grandfather, Woster.was 102 years old when he
died. Her grandfather Miliner was ninety-four,
her father was sixty-six and her mother eighty-
seven when they died. Mr. Colby has lived
with his present wife for eighteen years, and by
hard labor they have succeeded in making a
fine home, with the well improved farm of
eighty acres. They are very much respected
by all who know them.
Mr. and Mrs. Colby hold their lives in
peace and are now enjoying in comfort the
fruits of their early industry, surrounded with
every convenience that makes life enjoyable.
aALVIN CROOKS is a worthy and
honest citizen of Niles township, who
was born in Delaware county, Ohio,
August 17, 1829. He is the son of
George and Susanna (Cowles) Crooks; the
father being a native of Pennsylvania, and the
mother of Connecticut. They lived and died
near Ashley, Ohio, the father passing away in
1835, and the mother in 1875, and they are
buried in the cemetery near that place.
Calvin Crooks was married January 14,
1855, to Harriet, daughter of Peter and Eliza-
beth Becker; her people being natives of New
York, who settled in Huntington county, Ind. ,
where the father bought 320 acres of land, and
here spent the remainder of his days; passing
away in September, 1853. When Calvin
came to Indiana he settled first at Warren-
town, Huntington county, and lived there four
years; then came to Granville, Delaware
county, and went into the general merchan-
dise business, which he followed twenty-six
years. Since that time he has lived a retired
life, caring for his property interests. He
owns a farm of 160 acres, and a half interest
in ninety-six acres of well improved land. Calvin
Crooks and his wife are members, he of the
Missionary Baptist, and she of the Christian
church. Mr. Crooks is a member of the Masonic
order, and is much interested in that body.
Mr. Crooks has had born to him six chil-
dren, namely: George, living in Muncie;
Harriet, wife of George Sheller; Clara, wife of
Carl Blakely; Orland, a butcher; Bessie and
Walter. The mother of the two eldest chil-
dren died January 16, 1863, and was buried
in the Granville cemetery. Mr. Crooks re-
mained single one year, and then married
Priscilla Batreall, but she was privileged to
life but a short time, and she passed away
March 15, 1878, and was buried in Granville
cemetery. He was next married December
14, 1 88 1, to Priscilla, daughter of Vincent
NILES TOWNSHIP.
and Elizabeth (Yates) Martin. Her parents
were born and reared in Ohio, and came to
Indiana, Delaware township, this county, in
1833; lived there some time, and then moved
to Union township, where they died — the
father Februar}' 14, 1880, and the mother
December 24, 18S0, and were buried in Dunk-
ard cemetery.
The brothers and sisters of the present
Mrs. Crooks were: Jonathan, a teacher; Mary,
wife of J. W. Lewis; Isaac, deceased, and
Phebe, wife of Isaac Flynn. Vincent Martin
had the following brothers and sisters: Susan,
wife of John Lewis; Jirard, a farmer; William,
a carpenter, Catherine, wife of James Black;
Martha, wife of Liberty Ginn; Mary, wife of
William Custer; Lydia, deceased, and Eliza-
beth, wife of Sampson Williams. The broth-
ers and sisters of Elizabeth (Yates) Martin
were: Thomas, a farmer; Susanna, wife of
Carmine Carvault; Elizabeth; Phebe, wife of
Joshua Lockworth; Priscilla, wife of Shubal
Starbrook; Rebecca, wife of John Bowen;
Saphron, wife of Alfred Miller, and Mary, de-
ceased. The people of the present Mrs.
Crooks are all members of the Baptist church,
and are very worthy and good people. Mr.
Crook's first wife had one brother and three
sisters, namely: James, who died in the army
during the war; Helen, wife of J. Boyd; Almira,
wife of Posy Martin, and Lavina, wife of John
Pribble.
•-|-' EWIS W. DAVIS is a leading farmer
I I and stock raiser of Niles township,
^^^^ and one of the representative citizens
of the county of Delaware. His
family history is an interesting one and he
traces his ancestry back through several gen-
erations to Wales, from which country one
Charles Davis, the progenitor of the American
branch of the family, emigrated to America as
early as the year 1724. Charles Davis mar-
ried a Miss Metcalf and reared sons and
daughters, among whom was John, who mar-
ried Molly Chamness. William Davis, son of
John, married Anna Marshall and became the
father of Joseph, who, by his marriage with
Catherine Farmer, had several children, one
of whom, Nathan, was the father of the imme-
diate subject of this mention. From the most
reliable information obtainable, the family ap-
pears to have settled, originally, in North
Carolina, from Surry county, of which state,
Joseph and Catherine Davis emigrated, in the
year 1808, to Ohio, settling in Montgomery
county, thence, about 1823, moving to Wayne
county, Ind. Joseph Davis purchased a farm
of 160 acres in the county of Wayne, upon
which the remaining years of his life were
passed. He reared the following children:
Nathan, father of the subject of this mention;
Mary, wife of David Baldwin; William: Annie,
wife of Newton Baldwin; Hannah, wife of
Dan Thornburg; John and Edom.
In Wayne county Nathan grew to man-
hood, and then married Hannah Moore. The
brothers and sisters of the latter were: Ander-
son, Marshall, William, Zimri, Mrs. Rhoda
Pickering, Mrs. Charity Marshall, Dempsey
and Rufus Moore. The Moores were moral
and religious people, having been reared in
the pure, simple doctrines of the Quaker
faith. At that time it was the custom to
serve out whisky upon nearly every occasion,
and the subject's grandfather was the first
man in his section of the county who had the
moral courage to break away from the time
honored custom and refuse absolutely to have
anything to do with any kind of intoxicants.
Lewis W. Davis was born May 22, 1841,
being one of a family of seven children, whose
names are as follows: Newton B. , Martha A.,
wife of Jesse Reed; Rufus H., Mary E., de-
ceased; Catharine, deceased, and Sarah A.,
wife of Eli W. Frazer.
694
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Mr. Davis grew to manhood on a farm,
and began the pursuit of agriculture on his
own responsibihty in Henry county, where he
hved two years, moving thence to the county
of Randolph. In the latter, he was united in
marriage, on the lOth daj- of August, 1867,
to Miss Lucinda Jones, daughter of Jacob and
Matilda (Chappell) Jones, natives of Surry
county, N. C. For ten years after marriage
Mr. Davis resided in Randolph county,
dividing his time between farming and
school teaching, in both of which his
success was most encouraging. Later he
returned to Henry county, where he lived for
a period of two years, at the end of which
time he became a resident of the county of
Delaware, locating upon the present beautiful
place of Niles township, where he has since
resided. At this time Mr. Davis owns a fine
farm of 170 acres, the greater part well im-
proved. In addition to general farming, he
gives considerable attention to stock raising,
being considered one of the leading men in
this line of business in Niles. Politically, Mr.
Davis is a stanch supporter of the republican
party, and as such takes an active interest in
all the leading public questions of the day.
He served four months in the late war as
member of company B, One Hundred and
Thirty-fourth regiment, Indiana volunteer in-
fantry, but did not participate in any battle.
Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic,
Odd Fellows, Red Men and Grange orders,
and in religion belongs to the Christian church,
of which the different members of his family
are also communicants. Mr. and Mrs. Davis
are the parents of five children, namely:
Elmer J., a well known teacher of Delaware
county; Lenora, wife of Samuel Wilson: Orpha
M. , wife of Aaron C. Wilson; Charley N., and
Bertha A.
Following is a brief record of the family of
Mrs. Davis. As already stated, Mrs. Lucinda
Davis is the daughter of Jacob and Matilda
(Chappell) Jones. The parents of Jacob were
James and Lydia (Bramblet) Jones, and their
other children were Lemuel, Solomon, Jesse,
Ambrose, Jonathan, James, Free, Mary, Jane
and Lydia. Mrs. Matilda (Chappell) Jones was
the daughter of Amos and Mary (Johnson)
Chappell. The following are the names of her
brothers and sisters: David, Joshua, Reuben,
Cynthia, Elizabeth and Malinda Chappell.
The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Lucinda Da-
vis are as follows: James E., married Clara
Atkins; Joshua C, married Mary Ann Collins-
worth; Jonathan P., married Susan Covalt;
Lydia, wife of James P. Dykes; Sarah Jane,
wife of David N. Kimball; Nancy, wife of
Lewis W. Main.
Jacob Jones and wife moved from their
North Carolina home to Ohio many years ago,
and from the latter state to Henry county,
Ind. , where he purchased land and resided un-
til reaching the advanced age of eighty-nine
years. He died January 18,, 1889, and was
laid to rest in Hillsborough cemetery beside his
wife, whose death occurred on the 24th of
June, 1824. He served in the war of 1812,
and was a member of the Protestant Methodist
church for many years. Mrs. Jones belonged
to the Christian church, of which she was a
very valuable member.
aHARLES DUDELSTON (deceased)
was a highly respected citizen of Niles
township, Delaware county, Ind.,
was born in Ohio, March 9, 1836,
being the son of Ralph and Nancy Dudelston.
He came to this county with his parents when
nine years old and settled with them in Ham-
ilton township, on a farm, where he grew up
to manhood. Charles Dudelston was married
March 6, 1858, to Susanna, daughter of Abra-
NILES TOWNSHIP.
ham Gray, and the newly married pair settled
upon a farm just across the road from the
land upon which his widow, Mary A., now
lives. Susanna Dudelston died March 23,
1877, and was buried in the Granville ceme-
tery, after having borne her husband five chil-
dren, namely: Amanda, wife of Hamilton
Bell; Savannah, wife of William Addingtcn;
George, a farmer; Anna, wife of Albert Needle,
and Dorcas, deceased. Mr. Dudelston re-
mained single for about six months, and then
was married to Mary A., daughter of James
and Sarah (Taylor) Goodrick, her parents
being of Garman and English descent, res-
pectively. They came from Ohio to Dela-
ware county, Ind., in 1850, and settled on a
farm, in Harrison township, consisting of forty
acres, where they yet live. The brothers and
sisters of Charles Dudelston were: Belle, de-
ceased; Frances, wife of Frank Lee; Lucinda,
wife of William Stanley; Florence, wife of
Charles Winnop; Alice, wife of John George;
Harriet, wife of Samuel Rogers; George,
Alonzo and Goldston, deceased.
Charles Dudelston was married to his pres-
ent wife September i, 1877, and they moved
to the present farm of 100 acres; here he died
November 3, 1889, and was buried in the
Granville cemetery. The children of this 1
union are: Ralph, Josephine, Ella, Mary and
Charles Dudelston. Since his death the worthy
wife has kept the little flock together by man-
aging the little farm, and has done it very
well, indeed. He left her the little home of
fifty-two acres, well improved, and she has
kept it up in excellent shape. The deceased
was a consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and a kind father, a devoted
husband, and a good neighbor, respected by
all who knew him.
The deceased went out in the one hundred
days' service during the war, and remained out
six months; the widow receives a pension of
$54 per quarter, and this, with what she gets
from the farm, enables her to keep the wolf
away from her door. She is a brave and good
woman, who bears her burden cheerfully as
she may, and is greatly respected by her neigh-
bors, who admire her for her courage in taking
upon herself the grave duties of mother and
farmer, and discharging them with such good,
practical sense.
OH. DEVOE, deceased, was one of
the most worthy and enterprising
farmers of Niles township, Delaware
county, Ind., of which he was a na-
tive, and was born February 7, T867, son of
Asa and Mary (Smith) Devoe, both being na-
tives of England. The father came from
Greene county, Ohio, in 1862, and settled on
Green Street, Niles township, on a farm con-
sisting of eighty acres. After living here for
five years he sold out, and purchased 160 acres
of well improved land, on which his son, O.
H., lived, having had eighty acres in his own
right. O. H. Devoe remained at his comfortable
and parental home until November 19, 1891,
when he was married to Miss Malissa, daugh-
ter of L. B. and Margaret (Leaird) Wilson,
natives of Indiana. Mr, Wilson followed the
occupation of a farmer, and, with his wife,
settled, in 1850, on a farm consisting of 120
acres, which was near Granville. In this
pleasant location he lived until November 15,
1878, when he was called to the other world,
and was laid to rest in the Bethel cemetery.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Wilson moved
to Dunkirk, where she now resides.
O. H. Devoe was socially a member of the
I. O. O. F., being in the encampment. His
wife is a Rebecca in the I. O. O. F., of which
she is secretary. She was highly educated
and taught two terms in a public school. Mrs.
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Devoe also possesses a fine talent for music,
and displays her accomplishment for the enter-
tainment of her friends. Mr. Devoe and his
wife were blessed with one child, who is now
deceased, having left the beautiful home of its
parents for a more beautiful one above. Mr.
Devoe was politically a republican, and took
great interest in the helping along of his party.
He was well known and highly respected
throughout all of the country, and his death,
which occurred in the spring of 1893, was not
only mourned by the surrounding members of
his immediate family, but deplored by his
many friends, who felt that in him the county
had lost one of its most useful citizens.
>^AMES FLANNERY is a well known
M and popular citizen of Niles township,
n J where he has lived and prospered for
many years. He was born in Mont-
gomery county, Ohio, at Dayton, December
26, 1850; being a son of John and Mary
(O'Brien) Flannery, natives of Ireland. His
parents went to Ohio at an early day, and
settled in Dayton, where the father worked as
a laborer some years, and then became a farm-
er. The parents were members of the Catho-
lic church.
James Flannery was thrown upon the
tender mercies of the world at the early age
of twelve, when he went to Darke county,
Ohio, and worked for several years on a farm.
Then he got a position on the Panhandle rail-
road, becoming presently a section hand; then
went with the fencing gang; then was on the
road, and finally became a brakeman on a
local freight. He then went to Union City,
Randolph county, and staid there some time,
working on a farm. From this place he went
to Dunkirk, Jay county, Ind., and was a
ditcher for four years. At this time he mar-
ried Rosetta Vincent, daughter of William
H. and Cynthia (Hole) Vincent; her father
being a native of Ohio, and her mother of
Maryland. Her grandparents came to Dela-
ware county, Ind., and settled on the farm
where Mr. Flannery now resides; her grand-
father having entered the land, eighty acres,
which he cleared and improved. This worthy
man lived to be eighty-three years old, and was
buried in Bethel cemetery, where his wife also
lies, she dying when seventy-three years old.
Upon the death of her grandfather her father
came into possession of the property, where
he reared his family, and then died January 6,
1878, her mother living until April 30, 1890.
Her parents are buried in the same cemetery
as her grandparents, a fine monument indicat-
ing the spot. The brothers and sisters of
Mrs. Flannery are — Margaret', wife of Frank
Srack; Manaen, a farmer; David O., a farmer;
Louisa J., deceased; and Elizabeth. The
father of these children left, at his death, 360
acres of land, eighty of which includes the
farm of Mr. Flannery, the remainder having
been divided among the brothers and sisters of
his wife. William Hole made his life a de-
cided success, financially. He was socially
inclined, and was a member of the Masonic
order. In religion he was a Methodist, and
an active member of that body.
The marriage of Mr. Flannery resulted in
the following children: Katie; John, died
November 3, 1889, and buried in Bethel cem-
etery. The farm of Mr. Flannery consists of
the eighty acres referred to, it being land well
improved. In politics he is a democrat, and
a strong supporter of that party.
^^ AMUEL LEAIRD is a man of seventy,
•^^^ full of vigor, and one who has acquir-
K^^_^ ed a good property by the labor of his
own hands. He was born in Greene
county, Pa., July 13, 1823, being the son of
NILES TOWNSHIP.
697
Ephraim and Rebecca (Gregon) Leaird. His
parents were natives of Pennsylvania and
of German and Irish descent. His father
came from Pennsylvania to Delaware county,
Ind , in 1833, and settled in Union town-
ship, remaining here for some years. When
the gold fever was at its height, he went
to California, remained there one year,
and came back and married. Then he went
to Missouri, but that country did not suit him,
so he came back to Delaware county, and
ended his days here, his last years being spent
with his son, Samuel. The father died in
February, 1865, and the mother in February,
1 85 I, and were buried in the Leaird cemetery,
on the old farm he once owned. They were
members of the Methodist church, and con-
sistent members of that body.
The brothers and sisters of Ephraim
Leaird were: Robert, a stone mason; Samuel,
a carpenter; George, a farmer; Mary, wife of
Samuel Price, and Anna, wife of Russell Wil-
liams. The brothers and sisters of Mrs.
Rebecca Leaird, were: Samuel, a farmer;
Noble, a minister of the Methodist church;
William, a farmer; James, a farmer; Mary,
wife of Benjamin Clark; Elizabeth, wife of
Andrew Gregg; Margaret, wife of Robert Carl,
and Wesley, a farmer. The brothers and sis-
ter of Samuel Leaird are: John Wesley and
William, farmers, Elizabeth, wife of John
Corner; Nancy, wife of Samuel Bryant; Mar-
tha; Margaret, and .Anna, wife of J. W.
Keeman. Samuel Leaird was forty-five years
old when he married, his wife being Mary J.,
daughter of Henley and Barbara (Stover) Hat-
field, her parents being of German descent.
They came from Ohio to Delaware county,
where they spent the remainder of their days;
the father dying in 1848, and the mother in
1880, and both are buried in the Granville
cemetery. The father of Mrs Leaird had
three brothers and three sisters, namely:
John, James and Washington, farmers;
Nancy, wife of Edward Brammer; Sarah, wife
of Washington Sanders, and Elizabeth, de-
ceased. Mrs. Leaird's mother had two broth-
ers, Joel and John, and two sisters, whose
names are not remembered by her. Mrs. Leaird
had the following brothers and sisters: Louis,
George, Henley and Joel, all of whom fought
for their country during the war; Reuben, died
in infancy; Evaline, wife of Moses Clark; Re-
becca, wife of Jacob Walters, and two half sis-
ters, Lydia and .Nancy Baissinger.
Samuel Leaird first settled upon a farm in
Union township, just across the road from
where his house now stands. It consisted of
1 52 acres, and by hard work he has made him-
self a fine farm and comfortable home. Mr.
Leaird is a member of the Christian church,
and his wife of the Methodist church. They
are highly respected and much esteemed by all
who know them. They are the parents of four
children, namely; Margaret A., George, Es-
tella, and Burt H. George died in August,
1872.
*-|-» AFAYETTE LUCAS, late well known
I r farmer and prominent citizen of Niles
^^^^ township, was a native of Virginia,
born on the 28th of February, 1825,
in the historic old county of Greenbrier. He
left the Old Dominion in 1839, going to
Greene county, Ohio, where, on the 6th day
of October, 1848, he was united in marriage
to Miss Sarah Smith, daughter of John and
Margaret (Burl) Smith, both parents natives
of \'irginia. The following are the names of
the brothers and sisters of the wife of the sub-
ject: Burl Eleanor, wife of J. Ford; Mary J.,
wife of Asa Deboe; Margaret, wife of J. Clark;
Nancy, wife of William Mendenhall; Alfred;
Emily, wife of J. Bosman, and Elizabeth, wife
of William St. John. The father of Mrs.
DELAWARE COUNTY;
Lucas was a man of local prominence and for
many years filled the office of justice of tfie
peace; he and wife were active member of the
Baptist church and are remembered as a most
estimable christian couple.
Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Lucas,
thinking to better his financial condition, came
to Indiana and settled in Niles township, Del-
aware county, purchasing a part of the home
farm, which is still in possession of his family.
He improved this place well and in time it
became one of the most valuable and desira-
ble farms in the township, and his home was
known far and wide as the abode of generous
and large-hearted hospitality. His marriage,
in the year above noted, resulted in the birth
of eight children, namely. Franklin, who was
killed by lightning on the 16th of July, 1869;
Martha J., born October, 1850; George W.,
born February 13, 1857; Louis, born July 17,
1858; Lafayette, born November 4, 1859;
Margaret, wife of William Wilson; James A.,
born September 8, 1864, and John, born June
22, 1867.
Mr. Lucas belonged to that large and high-
ly respectable class of citizens who pursue
' the even tenor of their way" and do much in
a quiet and unostentatious manner toward
promoting the moral and material well being
of the community. He lived a long and use-
ful life and died deeply lamented by all who
knew him, on the i6th day of April, 1877.
VVAMES E. McDANIEL is a well known
J farmer and stock dealer of Niles town-
A y ship, Delaware county, where he re-
sides upon a fine farm of ninety acres.
It is a good and well improved farm, which
once was the property of his father in law.
Mr. McDaniel was born in London, Madison
county, Ohio, August 10, 1855, son of A. L.
and Mary E. (Moxey) McDaniel, of Scotch and
Irish ancestry. They lived in Greene county,
Ohio, for fifteen years, and then removed to
Indiana, where they spent their declining
years. Mr. McDaniel, Sr. , was a stock dealer,
buying and shipping. His family were: Will-
iam, a farmer; James, a ministerof the Metho-
dist Episcopal church; Logan, a farmer;
Amanda, the wife of W. L. Lloyd; and Judith,
the wife of James Donalson. The maternal
uncles and aunts of our subject were: Malinda,
the wife of Addison Smith; Anna and Charles.
Both Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel were members
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and they
reared the following children: Harry, afarmer;
Chauncy, a carpenter; Elma E., the wife of
Russell Davis; and W. L. , a painter.
James E. McDaniel left home at the age of
sixteen, and engaged in driving a team for a
liveryman, but soon became tired of this, and
after one year returned to the farm. He re-
mained at work en the farm for a year, and
then hired out to a stock buyer, and followed
that occupation for a period of eight years,
subsequently going into the business for him-
self, and keeping at it until his marriage,
which took place April 27, 1882, to Miss
Linnie L. Smith, daughter of Benjamin
and Emily (Peterson) Smith, natives of
Germany and of West Virginia. They came
to Ohio, where they lived for thirty years, and
then removed to Niles township, Delaware
county, Ind. , where they spent their last
years. Here Mr. Smith purchased a farm of
240 acres, upon ninety of which Mr. McDaniel
and family reside. The mother of Mrs. Mc-
Daniel died February 5, 1881, and the father
May 5, 1888, and they were laid to rest in
Eaton cemetery. They reared the following
family: Mary A. , wife of John Barley; Charles,
a stock dealer; Sophia L. , wife of G. R. Lowe;
Louis L. , a farmer; M. R., Linnie and Emma
A. , the wife of Charles Miller. Mr. McDan-
NILES TOWNSHIP.
iel deals chiefly in trotters and draft horses,
and is known as the owner of the great Ham-
bletonian trotter, "Speed}." The family
have a long time back been members of the
Methodist church, the grandfather of our sub-
ject having been a minister in that denomina-
tion in 1775.
'^-t'OHN S. manor.— Among the well
M kept farms which show the attention of
A 1 a wise and intelligent manager, is that
owned by John S. Manor, of Niles
township, Delaware county, Ind. It was a
present to him by his father, and he has made
of it the pleasant home where he lives in peace
and plenty. He was born in Richland town-
ship, Jay county, Ind., January 16, 1S51, a
son of David and Jane (Shirriard) Manor, na-
tives of Ireland and Germany. Mr. Manor
came to Jay county in 1834, where he entered
160 acres of land, built a log cabin and began
the clearing of the forest. Almost all of the
farm was cleared by his own hands, and he
was very industrious and hard working, and
before his death accumulated a great deal of
property. At that early day game was still
abundant, and the family was well supplied
with venison and turkey for the killing. Mr.
Manor died August 5, 1890, and was buried in
the Fairview cemetery in Randolph county.
He was class leader and steward in the Metho-
dist church, of which the family had long been
valued members. Mrs. Manor still lives on the
home farm of. 200 acres which was left to the
widow and children. Of the latter there was
a family of sixteen, eleven of them still living.
Their names are as follows: Mary C, the wife
of William Rees; Samuel, a farmer; William
and John S. , likewise engaged; Rosa A., the
wife of James Lord; Martha, the wife of
Charles Havling, Hannah, the wife of Sam
Dowden; Harriet, Charles, a farmer; Emma,
the wife of Lem Boots, and Deborah, the
wife of Eli Bales.
John S. Manor remained under the par-
ents' roof until he was thirty-three years of
age, when he married, his wife being Miss
Sarah Strong, the daughter of Napoleon and
Catherine (Wolverton) Strong, who had two
other children, Elmer and Emma. Mr. and
Mrs. Manor have two children, Herbert S. ,
and David E. He is a republican in his poli-
tics and socially he is connected with the Red
Men. Mrs. Manor is a valued member of the
Christian church. They are people greatly
esteemed in their neighborhood, and Mr. Man-
or is one of the best citizens.
vV^ANIEL B. MOORE is one of the
I I prominent agriculturists and enter-
/^^_^ prising citizens of Niles township,
Delaware county, Ind. His grand-
parents were residents of Canada, but his birth
took place in the city of Wilkesbarre, Luzerne
county. Pa., October 29, 1839, a son of John
R. and Sarah (Bodle) Moore, natives of Ireland
and of Germany. His parents removed from
Pennsylvania to Illinois in the spring of 1855,
where they remained until the time of their de-
mise, the father dying April 17, 1863, and the
mother November 12, 1869, and they were laid
to rest in Henry county. 111. They were good
and worthy people, the father being a deacon
in the Baptist church, in which both were es-
teemed members. Mr. Moore, Sr. , was a jus-
tice of the peace for many years and also
taught school.
Daniel B. Moore made his home with his
parents until the time of his marriage, when he
was twenty-eight years of age. He had re-
ceived educational training in the public schools
and was an intelligent and apt pupil, and when
he started out for himself was a capable man
700
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of business. He chose for his wife Miss Kate
Weinman, daughter of Christian and Kate
(Wolf) Weinman, natives of Germany, born in
Wurtemberg, who came thence to Philadelphia
and from there to Illinois. They settled in
Henry county, that state, on a farm of i6o
acres. By trade Mr. Weinman was a butcher,
and both he and wife were members of the Lu-
theran church. He died December 27, 1869,
and the mother died February 22, 1886, and
they were laid to rest in the Weathersfield
cemetery in Illinois. The family of Mr. and
Mrs. Weinman were: George F. , a butcher by
trade; Margaret, wife of William Wolf; Ed-
ward, a farmer; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas
Lincoln; Mary; Joseph, a farmer, and Kate,
who became the wife of Daniel B. Moore De-
cember 4, 1867. The family of children born
to the parents of Mr. Moore consists of six:
Sarintha, the wife of H. C. Merritt; Robert, a
farmer; Susan, the wife of Tracy Sykes; Daniel
B. ; John, a merchant, and Sarah, the wife of
Daniel A. Bigelow.
Daniel B. Moore first located on the old
homestead, where he carried on farming for
several years, but in 1874 he moved to Indi-
ana and went into the lumber business, but
later purchased the farm of 160 acres where
he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have
two children, Kate C, the wife Daniel Storer,
and Annie Mabel, yet single. Mr. Moore is a
member of the Masonic order and has taken a
prominent part in the affairs of the township.
He was one of the first advocates of the pike
roads, and, although there was much opposi-
tion in some quarters, he finally carried his
point and the people are grateful. He is the
president of the Niles Natural Gas company
and is very highly regarded, in every way, as
an enterprising and excellent citizen. The
family are members of the Missionary Baptist
church, in which body he is a trustee, and all
his acts conform to its teachings.
Ky^\ ANIEL N. PETERSON.— This name
I 1 is one well known in Niles township,
/<^^^ Delaware county, Ind. , by those who
gladly turn from the rough country
by-ways and enjoy the pike road known as the
Peterson & Black Pike road, the best in the
township. He was considerably instrumental
in having the road built and the gratitude of
the traveling public is his.
Daniel N. Peterson was born in Greene
county, Ohio, November 11, 1839, son of
Jacob and Deborah (Mock) Peterson, natives
of Virginia and of German extraction, the
father born November i, 1806, and the mother
December 28, 1807. They removed to Greene
county, Ohio, entered land, and there the
father died September 7, 1863, and the
mother, November 13, 1886, their burial
being in Greene county. They were members
of the German Reformed church. The
brothers and sisters of Mr. Peterson, Sr. ,
were Catherine, the wife of Joseph Boots;
Samuel, a retired farmer; Christina, the wife
of Solomon Bergdoll; Hannah, the wife of
George Iman; Mary, the wife of Jonathan
Ketterman; Joel, Jacob and Felix, farmers,
and Moses, deceased. The brothers and sis-
ters of Mrs. Deborah Peterson are as follows:
Hannah, wife of John Calhoun; Lydia, wife
of Thomas Lucas; Mary, wife of William
James; Cynthia, wife of Perry Kilgore; Cath-
erine, wife of Ezra Compton, and Daniel, John
and Hezekiah, farmers. These are well known
names through the count}-.
Daniel N. Peterson remained at home until
he was married, November 27, i860, to Miss
Martha A. Ford, daughter of William and
Harriet (McDonald) Ford, natives of Vir-
ginia, who went to Clinton county, Ohio, in
1838, and settled on a farm, where his death
took place in June, 1845, his wife surviving
him three years. The brothers and sisters of
the mother of Mrs. Peterson, are Louis, Bailus,
MISS EMILY E. PETERSON.
NILES TOWNSHIP.
701
Mary, Martha and Harriet, and the brothers
and sisters of her father are Chancellor, James,
Mary and Elizabeth, wife of Grayson Hump-
ston. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Peter-
son are Mildred, deceased; Sarah, wife of Jacob
Peterson; James, John, deceased; William,
deceased; Emily, deceased; Bailus, deceased;
Mary E. , wife of Silas Adsit; Martha (Mrs.
Peterson) ; Charles, deceased, and Elizabeth wife
of James Ashley. The brothers and sisters of
Daniel L. Peterson are Lydia C. , the wife of Allen
Long; Hiram, deceased; Mary E. , deceased;
Jacob L. , a mechanic, deceased; Virginia,
wife of James R. Babb; Amy, wife of Martin
Snyder, and John M., a farmer.
Daniel N. Peterson first settled on a farm
in Greene county, Ohio, where he remained
until 1865, and then came to Delaware county,
Ind., and located in Niles township on a farm
of eighty acres, nearly all of it cleared and
well improved at this time. In the township
he has been a most faithful man of affairs,
serving as trustee for a period of ten years,
which was a longer term of office than any
other ever held in the township. It was
during his administration that the splendid
pike road was built of which he is superin-
tendent, and he also was the means of having
six brick school houses erected in the town-
ship. He is well educated himself, and desires
that the present generation shall have every
advantage. Mr. Peterson is a stanch repub-
lican and a prominent member of the party in
local circles, his first vote having been for
Lincoln. He is socially connected with the
F. M. B. A., and is one of the best citizens, of
whom too much can not be said. He has an
adopted daughter who bears the name of Car-
rie Peterson. Mr. Peterson has been very
unfortunate in some ways, having been injured
very seriously by a mowing machine some
time ago, and one year since was caught in a
barn door, by which he was hurt again, having
two ribs broken. Notwithstanding these acci-
dents, Mr. Peterson attends to his business
and is a fine man in every way. Since i S66,
Mr. Peterson has been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a
steward, and in which for twelve years he was
a class leader. Mrs. Peterson united with the
church at the same time as did her husband,
and they have since remained consistent mem-
bers of the same.
^Y'ACOB P- PETERSON has shown that
J economy and good management will
m 1 result in the accumulation of a good
property. He was born in Greene
county, Ohio, being the son of Moses and
Melinda (Juda) Peterson, both of German de-
scent. The parents of his father and mother
went from Virginia in 181 3, to Greene count},
Ohio, and Moses and Melinda Peterson were
married in 1827. They owned 320 acres of
land in Greene county, where they died; the
father in 1867, and the mother in 1865, and
are buried in the Xenia cemetery. They were
the parents of nine children, namely: Emily,
Amanda, Jacob P., Martha, Eli, a retired
farmer; Christena, and Wilbur, a famer; Mary
E. deceased; and Harriet, deceased.
Moses Peterson 'was the brother of the
following: Samuel, Joel, Felix, Jacob, farmers;
Catherine, wife of Joseph Boots; Mary, wife
of Jonathan Ketman; Christina, wife of Solo-
mon Bargdel; Hannah, wife of George Iman.
The mother of our subject had one brother and
two sisters, namely: Absalom, a farmer; Su-
sanna, wife of William Shook; and Penina,
wife of John Sparr.
Jacob F. Peterson was married at the age
of twenty-two to Sarah, the daughter of
William and Harriet (McDonald) Ford, of
i Scotch-Irish nativity. The parents of the
702
DELAWARE COUNTY:
wife of Mr. Peterson went from Virginia to
Ohio, where they lived and died — her father
June 6, 1S45, and her mother, January 8,
1850, and both sleep their last sleep in Anti-
och cemetery, Clinton county, Ohio. They
were the parents of the following children:
Mildred, deceased; Sarah, wife of subject;
Emily, died September 11, 1836; Mary, wife
of Silas Addsit; Martha, wife of D. A. Peter-
son; Anna E., wife of James Ashley, of Illi-
nois; James, a farmer; Mary, single; John,
died September 11, 1839; Balis, died in 1842,
and Charles, died in 1856. Her parents were
members of the Baptist church. Jacob F.
Peterson settled, after reaching twenty-one,
on the old homestead, and lived there until
August, 1866, -when he moved to Delaware
county, Ind. , and settled on his pleasant farm
in Niles township, consisting of 325 acres of
land. It was then but partly cleared, but is
now a beautiful home. A fine structure occu-
pies the place of the old cabin, and it is sur-
rounded by very substantial barns and
outbuildings. Mr. Peterson has been very
successful in his farming operations, and owns
325 acres of splendid land. He and his wife
are very worthy members of the Methodist
church, and are most useful in that body.
They are the parents of a large and interest-
ing family, namely: William, a carpenter;
Newton, a farmer, marrifed to Ella McDaniel;
Lawson, a farmer, married to Rosa Devoe;
Emily, was killed by a runaway horse, April
14, 1891; Florence, wife of Judson Bryan;
Martha C. , wife of John Murphy; Frank,
married to Martha Brammer; Clair, wife of
Ed Brammer. The entire family is held in
highest respect, and are esteemed by the
people of the township, and by all who know
them. The Peterson family is highly moral
and altogether upright in its walk through life,
each member adhering in good faith to his
religious convictions.
at
ILBUR PETERSON is a well-to-do
citizen of Niles township, Delaware
county, and was born in Greene
county, Ohio, November 23, 1840.
He is the son of Moses and Malinda (Juda)
Peterson. (See sketch of Jacob Peterson )
Wilbur Peterson was married November 20,
1868, to Sarah J., daughter of Samuel and
Angeline (Haines) Barley, natives of Virginia,
who moved to Ohio at an early day; lived there
for a number of years, and then moved to Niles
township, where the father entered eighty acres
of land. Here they lived until the death of the
mother, when he came and made his home
with his son, Wilbur, until his death, Octo-
ber 24, 1886. The mother died February 23,
1883. The father of Mrs. Peterson had one
brother and one sister, namely: John, a farmer,
and Mary, wife of Isaac Carkuff. The parents
of Mrs. Peterson were consistent members of
the Methodist church. Her father, at one time,
owned 259 acres of good land, which he gave
to his children, they being named as follows:
David, a farmer; Esterline, wife of Amos Fore-
man; Kindrick S., deceased, and Charles E. ,
a farmer.
After Wilbur Peterson married he settled
in Ohio, near Xenia, where he remained one
year, and then moved to his present home in
Niles townsaip, where he owns a fine farm of
662 acres. His father gave him, when he
started out for himself, $3,500, and his wife
was given fifty-eight acres of land by her
father. By this marriage there are four chil-
dren, namely: Samuel M., Emma J., Efifie F.,
and Mary A. Mr. Peterson makes stock rais-
ing his chief business, and is very successful at
it. He and his wife are members of the
Methodist church, in which body they are
recognized as sincere christians. Mr. Peter-
son is a member of the G. A. R. and of the
the order of Red Men.
William Peterson enlisted August 22, 1862,
NILES TOWNSHIP.
703
in company D, One Hundred and Tenth regi-
ment, Ohio volunteer infantry, at Xenia, and
went to camp at Pickaway; then to Parkers-
burg and remained there three weeks; thence
to Clarksburg, Va. ; and then to New Creek
station. From the latter place he went to Cum-
berland, Md. , where he was taken sick and re-
mained in the Kelly hospital for a short time, was
then taken to the Olive hospital, where he re-
mained a month, and was then discharged. He
soon, however, joined his company just in time
for the battle of Gettysburg. From this place his
company went to Philadelphia, then to Balti-
more, and afterward joined the army of the
Potomac. They remained at Culpeper C. H.
for three or four weeks; then marched to
Bristol Heights, where they had a severe en-
gagement and drove the enemy to the Rappa-
hannock. From this point his regiment moved
to Helton Station, where it had another en-
gagement; then at Kellys' Ford the enemy was
driven to Brandy Station, where another bat-
tle was fought. November 26, 1863, his reg-
iment crossed the Rapidan river and had an
engagement with the enemy at Locust Grove.
Here Mr. Peterson was wounded and laid up
for several weeks. When he recovered he was
sent with his regiment to re-enforce Gen.
Ward, and marched twenty-four miles from
10 A. M. until 3 o'clock of the following morn-
ing. He has always been a republican, and
he and wife are Methodists. He is also a
member of the G. A. R. and the Red Men.
^V'^AVID C. RACER.— To possess the
I I comforts of a home that is all one's
/<^^_^ own, and to live apart from the jost-
ling crowd of the city in an air which
is pure and sweet, this is real living; while the
sojourner of the noisy and ill-smelling place
filled with houses, and people does but stay
here upon earth. When to the health of the
country are added, as in this case, the esteem
of friends, and the respect of neighbors, this
indeed is the sum of all living. David C.
Racer was born in Washington county, Ohio,
December 18, 18 16; being the son of Dennis
and Mary (Haldron) Racer, they being of
French and Scotch descent, respectively. The
parents of Mr. Racer went from Pennsylvania
to Washington county, Ohio, in the year 1800,
and lived there until 1847, when they removed
to Indiana. While they were living in Wash-
ington county, D. C. Racer was born near
Marietta. When his parents settled in Indiana
they occupied the farm upon which he now
lives and which he owns. His brother entered
the land, and he subsequently purchased it of
him. Here it was that his father and mother
lived and finally died, the mother February 23,
1871, and the father September 13, 1871.
They now lie side by side in the John Black
cemetery, after a married life of seventy years.
The mother of our subject was a member of
the Methodist Episcopal church. The children
by the marriage of this estimable pair were:
Joseph, lost off a steamer, in Arkansas, in the
Red river; Mary, deceased; Susan, Elizabeth,
and Melissa, also deceased; Dennis, died on
on the way to California, and was buried at
sea; David, a farmer; died in Iowa; Anna, wife
of James Poser; and James, a farmer, died in
Ohio. The father of David C. Racer has a
brother and sister, Benjamin, a farmer; and
Mary, wife of Henry Straight. The brothers
and sisters of his mother are: John, who died
at the age of one hundred; Joseph, died at the
age of seventy; Colman, died at the age of
seventy; Rebecca, wife of J. McVery; Ruthy,
wife of Daniel Dowlton; and Nancy, wife of
William Guilky.
David C. Racer was married at the age of
twenty-four, to Malinda Farabee, daughter of
William and Sarah (Headland) Farabee, the
704
DELAWARE COUNTY:
date of the wedding day being January 17,
1840. The parents of Mrs. Racer came from
Pennsylvania to Athens county, Ohio, in 1838,
where they settled upon a farm of 120 acres.
There the parents finally died, the father in
1877 and the mother in 1856; being laid away
in the cemeter)' at Athens, after forty years of
happy married life. They reared a family of
nine children, as follows: Mary, wife of James
McWhorter; Thomas, a physician; Melinda;
Catherine, wife of George Canny; Anna, wife
of Samuel McKibben; Elias, a farmer; and
Silas and Samuel, deceased. Beside these,
Mrs. Racer has the following half brothers and
sisters: Nancy, wife of John West, John and
Benjamin V. , farmers.
The parents of Mrs. Racer were mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal and of
the Presbyterian churches, respectively,
her father being a class leader in his church.
The grandfather of Mrs. Racer owned 800
acres of land in Washington county, Pa.
When David C. Racer first came to this
country he was very much annoyed by the
wolves and the panthers. He has killed four-
teen of the former out of fifteen shots and has
also brought down many a deer. His market
was Muncie' and thither he had to drive his
hogs. He and his wife kept house for twenty
years before they had a cook stove, and still
hBve the kettle they first used, a ten gallon
one, which the grandson retains as a momento.
Mr. and Mrs. Racer have in their possession a
pocketbook, which has been in the family
since before the Revolutionary war.
Dennis Racer was a soldier in the war of
1812, and his grandfather was stolen when
seven years of age and kept by the Indians
until he was fourteen, when he was found and
taken back to his parents. Mr. and Mrs.
Racer have had by their marriage the follow-
ing children: James C, a farmer; Thomas
H., a farmer; Sarah, wife of Samuel Stafford; |
William C, ^ farmer; John E., a farmer, and
Susan, who died August 17, 1856, and was
buried at Granville. David C. Racer was
supervisor of the township for a period of
three years. At one time he owned 320 acres
of land; but he has helped his children and
now he owns but 120 acres. He makes it a
rule to give each of his children $1,200 when
they start out in life for themselves. Mr.
Racer is a strictly temperate man and can
truthfully say that he never drank a drop of
liquor in his life. In politics he is a strong
republican and gives to that party a hearty
support. Mr. and Mrs. Racer are members of
the Methodist church, and they, as well as all
the members of the family are highly re-
spected by all who know them.
HDAM SHIRK. — Among the prominent
residents of Niles township, Adam
Shirk is well known as a successful,
honest and prosperous farmer and
stock raiser. He was born April 20, 1824, in
Greene county, Ohio, son of Jacob and Cathe-
rine (Kimmell) Shirk, natives of Virginia, who
came to Ohio at an early day and settled on a
farm situated on Caesar creek, near James-
town. There they lived and died, the father
in 1872 and the mother in 1875. In their early
days they were connected with the Methodist
church, and the elder Mr. Shirk frequently
walked a distance of three miles through the
woods to attend divine service, carrying young
Adam in his arms. Jacob and Catherine Shirk
reared a family, as follows: Alfred, a farmer;
Adam, whose name introduces this sketch;
John, Jacob, Henry, William, Jemima, wife of
James Dougherty; Sarah, wife of Jesse Bow-
len; Malinda, wife of James Bales; Susan, wife
of John King, and Mary, the wife of Eli Bales.
Adam Shirk has been a hard working man and
NILES TOWNSHIP.
706
now takes pardonable pride in his fine farm of
320 acres, which he has earned by his own
close attention to business. He moved upon
this place in September, 1853, and now has a
fine estate, well improved and well stocked
He first lived in a log cabin on the place for
sixteen years, and then built the present beau-
tiful residence, in which may be found every
comfort.
Adam Shirk was drafted into the Uniied
States service March 22, 1865, and went
to Richmond, Ind., where he hired a substitute
for $800. He married, February 16, 1846,
Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Dorothy
(Hickman) Bales, natives of Ireland and Ger-
many, and to this union seven children have
been born, as follows: John, who died Janu-
ary 20, 1852; Amanda J., who died August
10, 1 87 1; Marion, a factory hand; Jacob, a
a farmer; William, a farmer; Adam B. , who
died August 7, 1871; and Mollie, wife of
Charles Bullock. Mr. Shirk has taken an
active part in public affairs in the township.
He was for some time drainage commissioner,
and socially is a member of the Masonic order
and the Patrons of Husbandry. He was mas-
ter of the grange for four years, and all of his
offices have been efficiently filled. He is a
member of the Methodist church and one of
the leading citizens of the community -in which
he resides.
Sp-^ ENRY SHIRK, a well-to-do and pop-
|f\ ular farmer of Niles township, Uela-
M. .r ware county, was born in Greene
county, Ohio, April 10, 1832, and is
son of Jacob and Catherine (Kimmell) Shirk.
The father was of German descent, and set-
tled on a farm of 120 acres in Greene county,
having come from West Virginia. There he
lived until his death in 1872, and three years
later his devoted wife followed him to the
grave. Jacob and Catherine Shirk were the
parents of the following children: Jemima, Sa-
rah, Susan, Alfred, a farmer; Melinda, Adam, a
farmer; Jacob, died in the army during the war;
Henry, and William, a farmer. Henry Shirk
remained at home until he was twenty-one
years old, at which time he was married to
Dorothy Bales, daughter of Jonathan and
Sarah (Hickman) Bales, both natives of Penn-
sylvania. Jonathan and Sarah Bales went to
Ohio at an early day, where the father bought
land which cost him $10 per acre. The father
of Mrs. Shirk was a soldier in the war of 18 12,
in which he served three years, and later filled
the office of justice of the peace for a number
of years. The parents of Mrs. Shirk were
honest, good people, and members of the Bap-
tist church. Their children were four in num-
ber, namely: Elizabeth, wife of George
Brickies; Jonathan, a farmer; Leah, wife of
Calvin Mullen, and Mrs. Dorothy Shirk; the
latter died March 8, 1890, and was laid to rest
in the Strong cemetery, where an appropriate
! monument marks the spot.
Mr. Shirk remained single for one year,
; and was then married to Mrs. Hannah M.
Jones, widow of Matthew Jones and daughter
of David and Magdalen (Zimmerman) Baker,
1 of German descent, and nati\es of Pennsyl-
\ vania. They came to Muncie in the fall of
1 86 1, and then moved to Dunkirk, where Mr.
Baker purchased a farm of 160 acres, upon
which his and his wife's deaths subsequently
occurred. The wife of Mr. Shirk is a pious
member of the Baptist church and is highly
regarded in the community. Mr. Shirk has a
j farm of si.xty acres of good and well improved
1 land. He is an honest and hard working
I man and much respected in the township where
he has resided for so many years. His educa-
tion was received in the common schools, and
] he is a man of good practical common sense.
I In politics he- is a democrat, and strongly at-
I tached to his party.
706
DELAWARE COUNTY;
The first husband of Mrs. Shirk was
Matthew Jones, a native of Butler county,
Pa., and the son of Thomas and Elizabeth
(Sanderson) Jones, natives of Pennsylvania.
The following are the names of the brothers
and sisters of Matthew Jones: Henry, a farm-
er; Isaac, a farmer; William, a cooper; Betsy,
wife of John Marks; Rebecca, wife of Levi
Doty; Polly, wife of J. Reed, and Anna Will-
iams, a half-sister. Matthew Jones is the
second son, and a cooper and carpenter by
trade. By his first marriage, which took
place September 24, 1851, in Pennsylvania,
he became the father of the following children,
namely: Allen R.. Jefferson Z., Magdalen,
Catherine, Anna, deceased, and David W. H.
Mr. Jones was a member of the Methodist
church, and an active worker in that body.
He was a member of the Masonic order, being
of a social mind, and making many friends.
This good man was a kind father, and was
highly respected by all knew him.
Wi
'ILLIAM SHIRK is an honest, hard
working and succes.=ful farmer of
Niles township, who was born in
Greene county, Ohio, in the year
1833. His parents lived and died in Ohio,
the father passing away in 1859, and the
mother in 1866. They are buried in the
Shooks cemetery, in Greene county. The
father was a farmer, and he and his wife were
highly respected people. They lived and died
in the faith of the Methodist church. William
Shirk remained at home until he was twenty-
three years old, and then married Margaret
Colder, daughter of John and Emeline (Bul-
lock) Golder. Her parents went from New
York to Greene county, Ohio, where her
father purchased a farm of 100 acres near
New Jasper, upon which they lived and finally
died; the father in 1883, and the mother
August 10, 1890. Mrs. Shirk has two brothers,
John W. and Hiram A., both farmers. John
and Emeline Golder were members of the
Christian church, and are buried in the James-
town cemetery, in Greene county, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Shirk are the parents of seven
children, namely: John A., a farmer; Hiram
G., a farmer; Dorothy E, wife of N. H.
Bailey; Jacob M., a carpenter; William S., a
farmer; Margaret E., wife of J. C. Fudge,
and Laura D., at home. Mr. Shirk came to
Niles township, Delaware county, Ind., Sep-
tember 6, 1873, and settled at his present
home, where he owns a farm of 160 acres of
land, well improved. He and his wife are
members of the Methodist church. Mrs.
Shirk is a faithful and good wife, coming from
honest and hard working parents, who set-
tled in Ohio in an early day, endured all the
hardships of pioneer life, a portion of which
she herself experienced.
Mr. Shirk was a soldier in the late civil
war, enlisting in 1864 in an Ohio regiment
with which he served until July 17, 1865,
when he was discharged on account of a
wound received in the battle of Buzzard's
Roost, Ga. He remained in the hospital for
many months and now draws a pension from
the government.
(D
R. SMITH is a representative far-
mer of Niles township, who was born
in Greene county, Ohio, March 4,
1857. He is the son of Benjamin
F. and Emily (Peterson) Smith, both parents
of German extraction. The father went from
West Virginia to Greene county, Ohio, where
he met the lady who afterward became his
wife. He lived in that county for thirty-six
years, and then came to Niles township, Dela-
NILES TOWNSHIP.
707
ware county, Ind. , where he purchased the farm
of 340 acres, upon which M. R. Smith now
lives. This land was partly cleared when it
came into his hands, and he devoted himself
to developing and putting in order the fine
place, which, at this time, is one of the best
farms in the township. At one period of his
life Benjamin Smith owned 718 acres of good
land. He died May 5, 18S8, and his wife Feb-
ruary 5, 1 88 1, and both were buried in the
Eaton cemetery.
Benjamin Smith had the following brothers
and sisters: John, minister; Martha A., wife of
Joseph Stowe; Betsy, wife of Levi Gustin; Har-
riet, wife of William McDaniel; Sophia, wife of
Eli Anderson; Louisa; Catherine, wife of Alfred
McDaniel. The following are the names of
the brothers and sisters of Mrs. Emily Smith:
Jacob F. , a farmer; Amanda, wife of Smith
Babb; Tena, wife of Andrew Black; Eli, a
farmer; Wilbur, a farmer; Harriet, wife of
James Anderson; and Ellen, wife of Edward
Paget. Benjamin Smith was a very success-
ful stock dealer, as well as a farmer, who made
the tilling of the soil a thing of profit. His
fellow citizens made him commissioner for
nine years, and assessor for two terms. He
was an honored member of the Masonic order.
He and wife were members of the Methodist
church, and highly respected in that body.
M. R. Smith received, for his portion, the
old homestead, consisting of 120 acres. He
remained at home until he was of age, and
then married Sarah, daughter of Henry and
Martha (Laturner) Shannon, of French and
German descent. Her parents came from
Maryland and Ohio respectively, and both
came to this state with their parents, and here
they were married in i860; settling in Union
township, Delaware county, where the father
owned a farm of forty acres. Upon this he
lived for twenty-two years, and then moved to
Granville, where he owns a farm of 1 20 acres,
and upon which he now resides. Mrs. Emily
Smith died July 17, 1885.
Mrs. Sarah Smith had one sister, Mary,
wife of Walter Berry. The brothers and sis-
ters of her father were: Alexander and Will-
iam, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of William
Gregory; Simon, a farmer; Nancy, wife of
David Simongton; Mary, wife of David Si-
mongton; Maria, wife of Miller Sherry. The
brothers and sisters of the mother of the wife
of our subject were: Mary, wife of William
Wright; Maggie, wife of William Sherman;
Lizzie; and Adolphus, a minister.
M. R. Smith moved on the farm which his
his father gave him, soon after his marriage,
and has lived there every since. He is nicely
located, and has the best of improvements
upon the place. He is an enterprising, hard
working man, and highly esteemed by all who
know him. His life companion is a pious
member of the Methodist church. Mr. Smith,
in addition to farming, devotes much of his
time to the raising of stock, in which he is
very successful. He is a member of the order
of Red Men, and takes much interest in that
organization. In politics he is a republican,
and never fails to assist that party when ever
his services are needed. He has the following
brothers and sisters: Mary, wife of John Bar-
ley; Charles a farmer; Sophia, wife of George
R. Lowe; Louis F., a farmer; Linnie, wife of
J. E. McDaniels; Anna, wife of Charles Miller.
>Y'0HN R. STAFFORD, a prominent
m farmer of Niles township, of which he
« 1 is a native, is a son of Joseph and
Amrilla Stafford, and dates his birth
from the 17th day of March, 1861. Paternally
he is descended from Irish ancestry, and on
the mother's side is of German lineage. Joseph
Stafford and wife moved from Ohio to Dela-
708
DELAWARE COUNTY:
ware county, Ind., a number of years ago,
settling in the township of Niles, where they
reared a family, and where they resided uutil
their respective deaths, the former departing
this life April 3, 1877, and the latter August
30, 1882. The following are the names of
the brothers and sisters of Joseph Stafford:
Finley, George, Relph, Catherine (wife of
Valentine Pence), Margaret (wife of John
Black), Betsey, and Ruth (the latter married
to William Black).
Amrilla Stafford, whose maiden name was
Dinsmore, was the daughter of John Dinsmore,
whose birth occurred near Winchester, Va. ,
on the 28th of June, 1797. Mr. Dinsmore in
an early day emigrated to Ohio, where he re-
sided until 1837, in October of which year he
became a citizen of the Hoosier state. He
was married on the 25th of June, 18 19, to
Elizabeth Anderson, whose birth occurred May
9, 1798, in the state of Maryland. The follow-
ing is a brief record of the family of John and
Elizabeth Dinsmore, viz: Robert H. Dinsmore,
the eldset son, was born December i , 1855; Will-
iam, born December 24, 1824 — died December
28, 1862; Rachel A., born February 15, 1828;
Amrilla J., born August 8, 1831 — died August
30, 1883; Mary N., born August 18, 1833;
Daniel M., born October 31, 1837 — died Oc-
tober 12, 1843; Eli W., born February 25,
1 841 — died October 12, 1843. The mother of
these children died March 23, 1848, and the
father was called to his final reward on the
29th of October, 1865. John R. Stafford
grew to manhood in Delaware county, and
has resided within its borders ever since his
birth, making his home in Niles township,
upon the site of his fathe's original purchase.
At the age of twenty, he was united in mar-
riage to Nancy A. Boyd, daughter of Cornelius
and Martha (Jacobs) Boyd, to which union the
following children have been born; William M. ,
Bessie M., Susan Fair, Nellie E. and Charles
R. , the last named deceased. Mr. Stafford
began life for himself as a farmer, and still de-
votes his attention to that useful caUing, being,
at this time, one of the successful agricultur-
ists of the township of Niles. His first real
estate consisted of forty acres, to which addi-
tions have been made from time to time, until
the area of his farm now contains ninety-five
acres of fertile land, the greater part in a suc-
cessful state of cultivation. Mr. Stafford is
enterprising and progressive, a leading citizen
of the community in which he resides, and his
name is well worthy of mention among the
representative men of Niles township. Po-
litically, he is an ardent republican, and in
religion, a Methodist. Mrs. Stafford is a
member of the Christian or New Light church.
«>^ ENONA THOMAS is a well-to-do and
1/''^ excellent citizen of Niles township,
J^^J who was born in Miami county, Ohio,
June 2, 1836, being the son of Price
and Anna (Bobo) Thomas. The parents are
of German and Welsh-Irish descent, and went
from Kentucky to Ohio in 18 16, settling upon
a farm of 160 acres. They lived there until
1833, when they came to Niles township, Del-
aware county, Ind., settling at Granville. The
father carried a chain to lay out the towns of
Granville and Albany. He had the following
brothers and sisters: Milton, a doctor; Susan-
na, wife of BenonaRobbins; Price, an auction-
eer; Dorinda, wife of Andrew Battrell; Jerry,
a farmer; William, a plasterer, and Michael, a
farmer. Mrs. Anna Thomas had the follow-
ing brothers and sisters: Martin, a farmer;
Jemima, wife of T. Clemings; Jared, a farmer;
Alley, wife of John Thomas; Margaret, wife of
Absalom Carner; Dorcas, wife of Thomas
McKinney, and Garner, a blacksmith. Price
and Anna Thomas had born to them, beside
NILES TOWNSHIP.
709
Benona, the following children: Milton, a liv-
eryman at Muncie; Alice, wife of Logan
Jackson; Ferinda, deceased; Millie, wife of
James Collins; Jerry, a saw mill owner; Ellen,
wife of Gordon Collins; Elizabeth, wife of
John Turner; Martha, wife of Joseph Sloniker;
Elmira, wife of John Spence; Susan, wife of
Joseph Crouch, and Emazetta.
Benona Thomas was married July 1 2, 1859,
to Phebe, daughter of Isaac Best, by whom he
had two children, Ida M., died February 12,
1880, and Harriet C, died October 12, 1865.
Ths wife died August 4, 1882, and was buried
in Muncie cemetery. Mr. Thomas again mar-
ried, his choice being Martha J., daughter of
Jefferson Walvern. She died five years after
marriage and was buried in the Granville ceme-
tery. Mr. Thomas ne.xt married Mary E. ,
daughter of Big George and Clarissa Fleming,
her parents being natives of Virginia.
Benona Thomas enlisted in the Union
army in August, 1862, in the three years' serv-
ice, in company K, Eighty-fourth regiment,
Indiana volunteers, at Muncie. He went to
Richmond, Ind. , and to Indianapolis, and was
then sent to Guyandotte.W. Va., then to Nash-
ville, where he was taken sick. He remained irr
Hospital No. 6 for a time, and then was taken
to Louisville and placed in Hospital No. 7,
ward No. 7; from which place he was finally
sent home, having lost his right eye. He draws
a pension of $16 a month as the result of this
affliction. Mr. Thomas was postmaster for a
period of four years and is a democrat in poli-
tics. He is a member of the G. A. R. post,
and is much attached to his old army comrades.
He and his wife are members of the Christian
church and are very much respected. They
pursue the even tenor of a christian life,
showing in all their acts the sincerity of the
faith that is within them, and Mr. Thomas
has not failed to inculcate his children with the
principles of morality.
>^OAB THORNBURG. — Among the
m many worthy people who have fine
/% 1 homes in Delaware county, Ind., we
note Joab Thornburg and his worthy
wife, who came here when there were no neigh-
bors, no improvements, nothing but great
woods and wild game, and possibly a lurking
savage for company. Joab Thornburg is a
representative of a state which has sent to
sister states many of the settlers who have
done the most toward upbuilding and civilizing
— the state of Ohio. His birth occurred in
Montgomery county, January 23, 1816, a son
of Morgan and Hannah (Harl) Thornburg,
natives of Tennessee, who had located for a
few years in Ohio, and had then pushed farther
west into Indiana, locating in Randolph county
in 1806, where they lived for ten years, and
then moved back to Tennessee. There they
lived some years, and then went into Perry
township and made a home.
In Niles township Mr. Thornburg entered
eighty acres of land and then moved to Ring-
gold county, Iowa, near Mt Ayr, where he spent
the rest of his days, dying in the fall of 1865,
his wife having preceded him two years.
They were buried in Iowa. They had reared
the following family: Elisha, a wheelwright;
Rebecca, the wife of Thomas Cox; Jonathan,
a farmer; Charity, deceased; Joseph, deceased;
Joab; Morgan; Hannah, the wife of Sam
Adamson; and Mary, the wife of Reuben
Schockley.
Joab Thornburg remained at home until
his marriage, but neither he nor his wife
had any educational advantages whatever.
Hes name was Elizabeth Medsker, daughter of
David and Catherine (Hoover) Medsker, of
German parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Thornburg
were married March 12, 1840, and she became
a helpmate, indeed, to her husband. She
entered bravely into all of his plans for the
new home in the wilderness, and many times
710
DELAWARE COUNTY:
worked by his side, clearing up brush and as-
sisting in every way that her strength would
permit.
Mr. and Mrs. Medsker came to Indiana
from Pennsylvania, locating first in Henry
county, and then in Randolph county, where
they died, the father, February i8, 1874, and
the mother August 10, 1883. They were laid
to rest in Hagerstown cemetery. They were
good, christian people, beloved by all who
knew them. They reared the following family:
John, deceased; Daniel, Zachariah and Corne-
lius, all farmers; David, deceased; Jacob, died
in the army; Isaac, a farmer; Elizabeth, wife
of Joab Thornburg; Christina, the wife of
Christopher Davis; Anna, the wife of Franklin
Burroughs; and Susannah, deceased.
Joab Thornburg first settled in Randolph
county, where he lived four years, and then
removed to Niles township, Delaware county,
where his present pleasant home is located.
It required much perseverance and enterprise
to get the new home under way, as rolling
logs by the week was not an infrequent task,
but comfort finally reigned and now the farm
of 280 acres repays them for all their trouble.
They saw a large family grow up around them,
as follows: Catherine, wife of David Bales;
Maria, deceased; Nettie, wife of Elisha Win-
gate; Mary A., wife of Jackson Klugh; Martha
J., wife of Elisha Harty; Sarah E., wife of
Henry Bales; Elizabeth W., wife of Jerry
Williams; William M., who died May 9, 1878;
Rettie S., wife of Lamar Cunningham and
Amanda, wife of Aaron Rook.
Mr. Thornburg has been blessed with
many of the blessings of life, and perhaps
among them not the least are his sons-in-law.
One of these, Elisha Harty, has descended
from a good old Randolph county family. He
was born in that county in 1844. He has had
some misfortunes, having lost both of his
little children, and fire having destroyed all
his buildings in 1885. He owns a farm of
twenty-six acres. Another, Lamar Cunning-
ham, was born in Brown county, Ohio, in
1857. He has three children by his marriage
with Mr. Thornburg's daughter, Hattie and
Charles; infant not named. Mr. and Mrs.
Thornburg are members of the German Bap-
tist church, and politically he is a democrat
and a good citizen.
QG. WEAVER, one of the thrifty
farmers and stockmen of Niles town-
ship, is a son of A. C. Weaver, who
located in this part of the county
nearly half a century ago, moving to his home
in a comparatively unbroken wilderness over a
road cut through the woods from the town of
Muncie. A. C. Weaver is one of the oldest
living pioneers of Delaware county, moving
here from Virginia at a time when but little
attempt had been made to reclaim the country
from its original forest growth. He became a
large owner of real estate in what is now the
richest gas territory of Indiana, and since the
discovery of this marvelous fuel, he has been
very actively interested in the growth and de-
velopement of the country.
N. G. Weaver was born where he now re-
sides, on the 1st day of December, 1863, being
the youngest of a family of eight children. He
commenced life as a farmer, to which useful
calling he has always given much attention,
though a good portion of his time has been
devoted to mercantile pursuits, in which, as in
agriculture, his success has been of the most
encouraging nature. In addition to his farming
and mercantile interests, Mr. Weaver for some
years has been engaged in buying and shipping
livestock, and other speculations, and to him is
the township of Niles indebted for a large
share of the recent development which has
NILES TOWNSHIP.
711
placed this section among the most advanced
and enlightened portions of the highly favored
county of Delaware. He has labored assidu-
ously for the benefit of the community, and in
the spirit of enterprise has done as much, if
not more, than any other citizen of Niles to-
ward the development of the natural gas and
oil interests, which are destined, in time, to
make this region one of the most prosperous
and progressive sections of the great gas belt.
Mr. Weaver's home is a model of comfort, and
his beautiful farm, consisting of 240 acres of
choice land, ranks among the best cultivated
and highly improved places in Niles township.
Mr. Weaver was married September, 1879, to
Miss Angle Bailey, of this township, her ances-
try being of the same Virginia origin as his own
family. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are highly re-
spected citizens of the community, and possess
in full measure the high regard of all with
whom they come in contact.
@EORGE V. WILSON.— The name of
Wilson is well known in Delaware
county where, before the manhood of
our subject, it had been made dis-
tinguished by his father. George Wilson was
born in Delaware county, Ind., in Niles town-
ship, July 5, 1851, and son of Josiah and
Elizabeth (Vincent) Wilson, natives of Ohio
who came to Delaware county, Ind., in the
fall of 1837, settling in Niles township on a
farm of eighty acres, upon which Mr. Wilson
built a log cabin, and the family lived as pio-
neers. He was a man who exerted a great
deal of influence, was prominent in many
ways in the township, is a member of the
Methodist church, and for the past four years
has resided in Albany. His family is as fol-
lows: Morgan A., connected with the furni-
ture factory; John W. , also in the factory;
George V., Nafry P., a farmer; Pruda L. ,
the wife of George Barnes.
In 1873, George V. Wilson was married to
Miss Mary E. Smith, daughter of Matthew
and Elizabeth (Hagler) Smith, natives of Ohio
who came to Jay county, Ind., in 1840, set-
tling on a farm of 160 acres of land. Mr.
Smith was a man of prominence in the
county; for fourteen years was justice of the
peace, a member of the Masonic order, was
county commissioner for one term, and for one
term represented the district in the legislature.
He was highly respected, and when his life
ended, March 15, 1882, he was lamented by
all. His remains lie in the Bethel cemetery.
The mother still resides upon the fine farm of
160 acres. The children of Mrs. Smith are,
Samuel B., a farmer; Laura S., the wife of
Joel Green; Louis M., a farmer, and Mary
E. , the wife of our subject. One child has
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Alma G.
Mr. Wilson has a fine farm of eighty_ acres of
well improved land, and in 1889 he built a
very fine house, which makes a pleasant home.
He is a good and worthy citizen, one of the re-
liable kind, whom any county may be proud
to class as a citizen.
^^>^ AMUEL H. WILSON is a thrifty far-
•^^^kT mer of Niles township, where he was
K^ y born November 13, 1864, being the
son of Alfred and Martha E. (Wright)
Wilson. He was reared upon the farm upon
which he now resides, which contains ninety-
two acres of well cultivated and finely im-
proved land. He remained at home with his
parents until he was twenty-one, and was then
married to Lenora H., daughter of Lewis and
Lucinda (Jones) Davis, natives of Indiana.
Her parents came from Henry county to Dela-
ware county, Niles township, in March, 1883,
712
DELAWARE COUNTY:
and settled on a farm, where he now hves on
1 72 1 acres of very good land. The brothers
and sisters of Mrs. S. H. Wilson are: Elmer
J., a school teacher; Orphia, at home; Charles
N., a farmer; and Bertha A., the baby.^
Lewis Davis is a farmer of superior skill,
and a stock raiser. He is widely known,
giving his attention to the breeding of thorough-
bred Poland-China hogs. He has a public
sale of the increase in October of each year.
This enterprising man is a member of the Ma-
sonic order, and of the order of Red Men. He
and his wife are members of the Christian
church, and very prominent and popular peo-
ple. Alfred Wilson cleared up the farm upon
which Samuel H. now lives, while he is living
a retired life at Muncie.
Samuel H. Wilson has two brothers and
two sisters, namely: Samantha J., wife of D.
W. Wingate; Lillie A., wife of J. A. Dwyer;
Aaron C, a school teacher, and Oscar T. , a
farmer. He also has a half-sister, Sarah E.
Wilson. The father of our subject had a sis-
ter, Dissie L. Wilson, who died in August,
1878. The marriage of Samuel H. Wilson
resulted in two children, namely: Lalah L.
and Charles E. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are
both members of the Christian church. Both
of them received a good common school edu-
cation and are well informed people. Mr.
Wilson is a republican, and a very enterprising
and industrious young man, highly respected
by everybody.
>T^AMES W. WINGATE.— Niles town-
m ship has a number of worthy and good
A ■ citizens, and prominent among these is
James W. Wingate. He was born at
Georgetown, Susse.x county, Del, July 16,
1815, being the son of Philip and Sarah
(Wright) Wingate, natives of Delaware and
Maryland respectively. The parents of Philip
Wingate were born in Caroline county, Md.,
and lived in Georgetown. Philip was a car-
penter by trade, first serving as an apprentice
for live years, and then following the occupa-
tion for the rest of his life. Mrs. Sarah Win-
gate died in 1821, and was buried close by
where she was born and reared. After this,
Philip moved to Highland county, Ohio, and
settled near Leesburg, where he warked at his
trade. Then, in 1847, he came to Albany,
Delaware county, Ind., and worked at wagon
making. He finally died at the home of his
son, James W. , October 9, 1871, and was
laid to rest in Bethel cemetery. He was
married a second time in Maryland, and this
wife died in 1851; being buried also in Bethel
cemetery. Philip Wingate had the following
brothers: Cannon, a farmer, and John, a
painter. The brothers and sisters of Philip's
wife are: Celia, wife of William Maloney;
Tilman, a trader; Rodgers, a farmer; Elisha,
a farmer; Aaron, a farmer; James, a school
teacher, and Hatfield, a farmer.
James W. Wingate was married in Fayette
county, Ohio, March 30, 1837, to Melinda,
daughter of James and Sophia (Chew) Stew-
art, of Irish and American descent. Her par-
ents came to Indiana, Delaware county, and
settled on a farm of 160 acres. She had the
following brothers and sisters: Lucinda, wife
of Thomas Dowden; Matilda, wife of Morris
Bennett; William Fishback; Margaret, wife of
Colby Pepple; Rebecca, wife of Thomas
Klugh; Mary, wife of Charles Ray; Rees, a
blacksmith; William W., a carpenter; Harriet,
wife of John Rees, and James J., a lawyer.
The brothers and sisters of James W. Wingate
are: Elisha, a carpenter; Francis, a laborer;
William H., Robert, Thomas M., and Philip
A., farmers; Louisa, deceased; Sarah A., wife
of David McDaniel, and John N., a farmer.
James W. Wingate first settled in Ohio, in
NILES TOWNSHIP.
713
the town of Munroe. and worked at his trade,
a carpenter, until 1852, when he moved to
Niles township, this county, and settled upon
the farm where he still resides. When he
came, the woods covered the surface of the
country, and the eighty acres that he bought
were all in timber. With a brave heart he went
to chopping down the trees and making his
land ready for cultivation. He went into
debt to pay for the land, but by hard
work and close economy he has become
independent. Then he began living in a
hewed log cabin that had no doors nor window
sash, and the flooring of which was composed
of loose boards. Mr. Wingate never lost
heart, but kept his eyes straight ahead, and
continued to make money. Mr. Wingate has
held the office of township trustee for four
years; he is a member of the Masonic lodge,
and also of the Good Templars. He and his
wife are upright members of the Methodist
church, and joined that body in 1837, and he
and his wife brought their letters of member-
ship with them to this county. Mr. Wingate
is a trustee and a steward in the church to
this day. He and his wife are the parents of
the following children, namely: Isaac W. , a
carpenter; Elisha R. , a farmer; Colby C , a
peddler; James S. , Philip R. and Bootle W. ,
farmers; Sarah, wife of John Krohn; Thomas
M. , and David W. , farmers; Jackson N., de-
ceased. The mother of these children died
February 21, 1875, and was buried in Bethel
cemetery. A fine monument is erected upon
the place of her sepulture.
Since the death of his wife Mr. Wingate
has had his youngest son with him on the old
homestead, where he continues to live. Mr.
Wingate owns 665 acres of good and well im-
proved land, which proves the industry and the
good management of the man. He is highly
respected by all his neighbors, and is a kind
father and good friend. Few men are looked
up to for advice so much as he, and his words
are words of wisdom.
@EORGE W. YOUNTS is a well
known name in Niles township, he
being a very successful and popular
citizen. He was born in Miami
county, Ohio, January 8, 1850, being the son
of Eli and Mary (Michael) Younts, of German
and Scotch descent respectively. They went
from North Carolina to Miami county, Ohio,
lived there until 1856, and then came to Del-
aware county, Ind., settling in Union town-
ship, upon a farm of eighty acres. There
they lived nine years, then moved to Niles
township, lived there seven years, and then
returned to Union township, where the father
died in the spring of 1879. The mother then
left her farm and went to Eaton, Union town-
ship, where she still resides.
Eli Younts had the following brothers and
sisters: John, a farmer; Abraham, a preacher;
Joseph, George, Andrew and Isaac, farmers;
Davis, a preacher; Mary, wife of Henry Hanel,
and Catherine, wife of Jacob Helmick. Mrs.
Eli Younts had the following brothers and sis-
ters: Samuel, a farmer; Lucinda, wife of
John Younts; Solomon, a farmer; Jane, wife
of Jonathan Jones; Mahala, wife of George
Younts, and Philip, a farmer. George W.
Younts had four brothers, all deceased, and
four sisters, but one of whom, Martha, the
wife of William Schweitzer, is now living.
George W. Younts was married, at the
age of twenty-two, to Martha A. , daughter of
William and Ruth (Stafford) Black. Mr.
Younts first settled in Delaware township,
lived there for three years, and then moved to
his present farm, in Niles township, consisting
of eighty acres, which was partly cleared. He
1 moved into the old log house that yet stands
714
DELAWARE COUNTY:
in the lane, and there, by hard toil and good
management, he has acquired a property of
155 acres of good and well improved land,
with a fine brick residence. Mr. Younts is a
man of more than average ability, and has
always had an ambition to better his condition.
The confidence of his neighbors resulted in his
election as justice of the peace and his re-elec-
tion, he serving in that capacity eight years in
all. In 1890 he was elected township trustee
by a large majority, which office he still holds.
Mr. Younts is very much admired by all who
know him. He is a member of the Masonic
order, and also of the order of Red Men. Mr.
and Mrs. Younts are the parents of one child,
namely: Laura Forest. The parents received
good educations, and are people of superior
intelligence. They are members and active
workers in the Methodist church. Mr. Younts
is a republican, and always takes a prominent
part in politics during election times.
Mr. and Mrs. Eli Younts were members of
the German Baptist church, and were very
good people. Eli was township trustee of
Union township for one term. This worthy
man once walked from St. Joseph, Mo., to
Bear Valley, Cal., driving an ox team, and
consumed six months and seventeen days in
the journey. His return was by way of the
ocean, from San Francisco to the Isthmus of
Panama. He walked across the Isthmus,
sailed to New York, and proceeded the rest of
the way home by rail. He had to pay thirty
dollars per hundred for flour in California, the
same having been brought around by Cape
Horn. The trip was a great benefit to him,
as previous to that time he had been a man in
poor health, but afterward continued well and
hearty until his last illness.
The Younts family are upright in their
conduct in every respect, and enjoy the re-
spect of the community in which they live.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
at
ILLIAM BEALL is a well known
and prosperous citizen of New Burl-
ington, Perry township, Delaware
county, and a native of Henry
county, Ind. , where he was born November
26, 1853. He is the son of Charles and
Vashti (Rea) Beall ; the father a native of Ohio,
and the mother of Indiana, and both of Eng-
lish descent. The father was a farmer all of
his life, and at the time of his death owned
173 acres of land. He and his wife were the
parents of fourteen children, namely: Martha;
Andrew J., Sarah M., and James R., deceased;
William; John, deceased; Eliza E., Melinda;
Lawson, deceased; Charles B. ; Lawrence;
Thomas; Marcus; and Lewis, deceased. The
father was a hard working man and gave his
children every advantage that he could. His
wife died in 1872, and was buried in the
Friends' cemetery in Henry county. He
died January, 1892.
WilHam Beall lived with his parents until
he was of age, when he took his father's farm
and managed it for four years. He was mar-
ried, in 1877, to Lucy Wilkinson, daughter of
Samuel and Angeline (Hubbard) Wilkinson,
natives of Ohio, and of English descent.
Mrs. Beall's father was born in 1833, and in
i860 moved to Henry county, where he was
engaged in farming. Mrs. Beall was born
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
715
March 2, 1862, and is one of eleven children,
nine of whom are living. Both her parents
reside in Henry county. By his marriage,
William Beall is the father of three children,
namely: Clement, born October 9, 1878;
Bertha, born April 15, 1884; Lavaria, born
April 3, 1892. After his marriage Mr. Beall
located on a farm of forty acres in Henry
county: lived there five years, then bought the
farm upon which he now lives, consisting of
eighty-five acres of well improved land. Mr.
Beall has built a fine new house and barn,
and although a young man he has earned
every dollar that he owns, being a hard work-
ing farmer, and a good manager. He has
never speculated, but has made his money as
a farmer. He was a republican until 1892,
when he voted the prohibition ticket.
>T^OHN N. BELL, M. D.— In these latter
M days, the aspirant for success in any
A 1 line must have not only have zeal in his
heart but also wisdom in his head.
Fortunately this has been the case with the
distinguished gentleman whose name intro-
duces the present sketch. Dr. John N. Bell
was born in West Virginia, April 21, 1858, a
son of Henry and Louisa (Swisher) Bell, the
former of Irish descent, and the latter of Ger-
man. Henry Bell was born February i, 1824,
and the mother of the doctor December 24, of
the same year. The paternal grandparents of
the doctor are yet living, at a good old age, in
West Virginia. His parents were there married
and became the progenitors of a family of ten
children, eight of whom are yet living. The
family record is as follows: Mary V. and Sarah
A., deceased; Andrew J., Margaret L. , George
W. , Samuel H., John N., Charles P., Carrie
F. , and a deceased infant.
Dr. Bell was reared to agricultural pursuits
in the county of his birth. He attended the
common schools, and being unusually intelli-
gent, was able, at the early age of si.xteen
years, to successfully teach school. This pro-
fession he followed for ten years. In 1885, he
began the study of medicine, and later took a
two years' course at Columbus, Ohio, and then
entered the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati,
from which he graduated in March, 1888. Im-
mediately coming to New Burlington, he found
a field awaiting him, and has been signally
successful in his practice.
Dr. Bell was married, November 28, 1888,
to Miss Carrie L. Will, the daughter of John
and Mary (Keesling) Will, both of them na-
tives of Indiana and of German descent. Mrs.
Bell was one of four children, and her family
are among the most highly respected in Perry
township. One little daughter has came into
the happy household of Dr. Bell — Letha E.,
born June 18, 1891. Both Doctor and Mrs.
Bell are earnest and working members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Politically he is
a republican, as is his father, who is also an
ex-soldier. Since his location in New Bur-
lington, Dr. Bell has built up a large and lucra-
tive practice and now takes rank among the
foremost physicians and surgeons of Delaware
county. He is not only distinguished for emi-
nent attainments as a healer of disease, but he
is known as the friend of the rich or poor who
need his skill. He is an indefatigable worker
and is among that class of physicians who en-
courage all the advancements of science, and
he gladly takes advantage of them for the ben-
efit of the medical profession.
>T^AMES CARMICHAEL is a resident of
m Perry township, Delaware county, Ind.
/• 1 He was born in Union county, in the
same state, December 6, 18 19, and is
a son of Andrew and Margaret (Mansfield)
716
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Carmichael, the former of whom was a native
of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio, both
being of Irish descent. James Carmichael
was one of nine children, only three of whom
still survive. He remained at home until he
lost his father, whom he had assisted ably in
the cultivation of the home farm, which farm
also received his personal attention in the in-
terest of the family until his marriage. He
was united in marriage with Tacy Watson, in
1 84 1. She was the daughter of James and
Frances (French) Watson, natives of Vir-
ginia, the former being of English descent and
the latter of Irish. By. this union, children
were born as follows: Rebecca, the deceased
wife of Samuel Hindman; Margaret F. , the
wife of Wellington Rees; Elizabeth L. , de-
ceased; William W. , Andrew, George L. ,
John L. , Charles M., deceased; Mary, the
wife of Samuel Richison; Eliza, the wife of
William Stanley, and Milton.
The republican party enunciates the prin-
ciples with which Mr. Carmichael can agree,
and it has his vote and influence. He is a
man of prominence in the community where
he resides, takes an active interest in all move-
ments having for their object the public wel-
fare, and occupies a conspicuous place among
the representative citizens of Perry township.
^ » ACHARIAH W. CECIL.— The fine es-
j'jT'f tate of Z. W. Cecil is located in Perry
^ ^ township, Delaware county, Ind., and
is known to be one of the finest by
nature as well as one of the best improved
farms in the county. Its owner was born in
Shelby county, Ohio, October 25, 1820, a son
of Aaron and Anna (Springer) Cecil, the for-
mer a native of Virginia and Scotch descent;
the mother born in Kentucky of Swedish par-
ents. These parents were married in Ken-
tucky in 1 81 2, went to Ohio, and in 1831
moved to Delaware county, Ind. Aaron Cecil
reared a family of eight children, all of whom
hved to rear families of their own. Their names
were: John, Sarah A., Zachariah W. , Elihu,
Samuel, Rebecca, Mary and Gordon. At one
time Aaron Cecil owned 366 acres of land,
which he had made by his own efforts, as he
was a very hard working and prudent man.
Zachariah W. Cecil was reared on his
father's farm in Ohio, and had but limited edu-
cational advantages, not exceeding three months
in the year. After he became of age he began
farming for himself in Delaware county, where
he now lives. At the age of twenty-four, in
1844, he married Miss Mary J. Legg, daughter
of Walter and Barbara (Berges) Legg, and five
children have been born to this union, namely:
John B.,born June 16, 1851, a farmer; Sarah
A., born November 11, 1845, the wife of
Thomas J. Jordan, a farmer of Daviess county,
Ind.; Barbara A., born December 16, 1848,
the wife of J. W. McDaniel, a Methodist min-
ister, residing in Daviess county, Ind. ; Charles
W. , born May 20, 1857, a farmer on the old
home farm, and Ellen, who died in infancy.
Walter Legg, the father of Mrs. Cecil, was
a native of Lapland, of Scotch descent, and
her mother was a native of north Canada, of
English descent, and they were parents of six
children. They emigrated to Wayne county,
Ind., in 1818, and in 1862 Mr. Legg came to
Delaware county on a visit, and died while
here; eight years later the mother died, both
of them being buried in the cemetery at Mount
Tabor.
After marriage Mr. Cecil located on the
farm where he now lives and has followed ag-
ricultural pursuits all of his life. At this time
his fine farm of 236 acres of fertile Indiana
soil is his own, and the possession of such a
fine property must be some recompense for the
hard labor employed in obtaining it. He and
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
71T
wife, and also the children, are members of
the Methodist Episcopal church, in which all
take a deep interest. Socially, he is a member
of one of the Masonic lodges located at Mun-
cie. His political opinions are those advanced
by the republican party. He is an honest
man, a good citizen, and stands deservedly
high in the estimation of the community, in
the material and moral advancement of which
he has been for many years a potent factor.
'^j'ACOB CLEVENGER, owner of one of
M the fine farms of Perry township, Dela-
nj ware county, Ind., was born in Dela-
ware county, Ind., March 20, 1832,
son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Conner) Clev-
enger, the former a native of Ohio, and the
latter of Indiana, and both of Irish descent.
Thomas Clevenger came with his parents to
Randolph county at an early day, and endured
all of the hardships of pioneer life. He was
married to Elizabeth Conner, and reared a
family of ten children, with the exception of
two, to years of maturity, but Jacob and a
brother are the only living members. Thomas
Clevenger died February 23, 1867, having been
a farmer all of his life.
Jacob Clevenger lived at home with his
parents until he was eighteen years of age, at-
tending the poor schools of that time and
neighborhood. He recalls one school which
he attended, where the master regaled his
pupils at Christmas with whisky. At the age
of eighteen he married Mary Smith, a daughter
of John Smith, and they reared four children:
Charles C. , born September 23, 1853, who
married Louisa Johnson, and resides in Yates
county, Kan.; Sarah J., was born July 18,
1855, and is the wife of John VanFleet, and
resides in Henry county. Mo.; Thomas W. ,
born June 11, 1859, married Ella Bell, and
they reside in Tacoma, Wash. ; and Jonathan
L. , born December 24, 1862.
When the iirst Mrs. Clevenger died, his eld-
est daughter took charge of the household until
his second marriage, which was with Miss
Samantha Ray, daughter of William and Sa-
rah (McClain) Ray, both natives of Ohio, the
former of Scotch and the latter of Irish de-
scent. Samantha was one of a family of ten
children, of whom but only four are now
living. By this marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Cleven-
ger had two children: Leonia M., born Sep-
tember 23, 1866, the wife of Parker Marshall,
and Ada B., born November 11, 1875, wife of
Luther Daughty, of Perry township. Soci-
ally, Mrs. Clevenger is a member of the Whit-
ney Masonic lodge. No. 229, located at New
Burlington. He and his wife are members of
the Christian church. Politically, he is a re-
publican, although formerly he voted the
democratic ticket, but his first republican vote
was for Abraham Lincoln. He is one of the
old and well known residents, and is highly
esteemed.
HOMAS CLINE, deceased. — "The
evil men do lives after them, the good is
often interred with their bones."
The fact that this quotation is fre-
quently reversed is brought forcibly to the
mind of the thoughtful reader as he cons the
pages of this book, and learns that the pros-
perity of this fertile region is due not only to
the efforts of the present generation, but
largely to those who have passed away, prom-
inent among which enterprising and worthy
men occurs the name of Thomas Cline. Mr.
Cline was born in the state of Pennsylvania,
March 18, 18 10, the son of Peter and Nancy
(Inghram) Cline, both natives of the same
state, of German descent. The parents of
Mr. Cline were very poor, and from earliest
youth Thomas was taught the true dignity of
718
DELAWARE COUNTY;
labor. While still a boy he started toward
the setting sun to seek his fortune, selecting
Ohio as a field of operation. While in that
state he met and married Miss Sarah Wilco.x,
and by this marriage had ten children, six
girls and four boys, namely: Joseph, born
December 4, 1840; Mary, born January 19,
1842; David L., born July 9, 1843; Henry C. ,
born October 16, 1844; Martha J., July 6,
1847; Nancy H., born June 12, 1849; Eliza-
beth A., born July 9, 185 i; Harriet C. , born
May 25, 1853; Maria A., born December 23,
1855; and Inghram B. , born September 25,1859.
December 26, i860, Mr. Cline lost his wife, and
the same year removed to Indiana with his chil-
dren. Five years later he was united in marriage
with Miss Margaret J. Wilcox, daughter of
Joseph and Maria (Brant) Wilcox, a sister of
his former wife. Joseph Wilcox was a native
of New Jersey, while his wife was a native of
Ohio, both being of English descent. Mr.
Wilcox died in Miami county, Ohio, while his
wife ended her days in Butler county, same
state. By his second marriage Mr. Cline had
two children, namely: William R., born Feb-
ruary 24, 1 87 1, and Burtice E., born Novem-
ber 23, 1872.
When Mr. Cline commenced working for
himself, he engaged by the day until he earned
enough money to buy a farm, and so success-
ful was he that at the time of his death he
owned 370 acres of well improved land, all of
which was purchased with money earned by
his own efforts. In all matters which affected
the public welfare, Mr. Cline's political views
were in accordance with the principles enun-
ciated by the republican party. He was a
man who was proud of his township, his
county, state and nation, and always did all in
his power to advance the interest of the com-
monwealth. During life he was a devout
member of the Methodist church, with which
body his wife and children are still connected.
HLEXANDER B. CUNNINGHAM.—
The annals of Delaware county abound
in the names of many noble men of
whom the present generation feel de-
servedly proud, and a true record of their
lives, placed upon the printed page, will not
only be perused with pleasure by those who
know and honor them for their many sterling
qualities of manhood, but will also be a source
of much gratification to those who come after
them. Among the hardy yeomen, to whose
efforts and self sacrifices is the flourishing
county of Delaware largely indebted for its
present proud position among the sister coun-
ties, is Alexander B. Cunningham, a brief
epitome of whose life is herewith presented to
the reader. Mr. Cunningham was born in
York county, Pa., November 17, 1825, and is
a son of Samuel and Julia Cunningham, both
natives of the "Keystone state," the former of
Scotch and the latter of English extraction.
Samuel Cunningham was born April 7, 1778;
married, January 15, 1807, Julia Boyd, whose
birth occurred December 10, 1788. He
served in the war of 181 2, and his father, one
of the early settlers ol Pennsylvania, was a
soldier in the Revolutionary struggle. Mrs.
Cunningham died in the state of nativitj in
1834, and in 1845 Samuel Cunningham emi-
grated to Delaware county, Ind. , where his
death occurred September 17, 1849. The
children born to these parents were ten in
number, Alexander B., being the eighth in
order of birth.
Alexander B. Cunningham remained with
his father until he was twenty-three years of
age. He attended school in Pennsylvania in
his youth, but when left to his own resources
learned the trade of carpentering under an ex-
cellent workman by the name of James Truitt,
and soon became very skillful in all depart-
ments of his chosen calling. He continued
carpentering for some time, but, being at-
A. B. CUNNINGHAM.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
719
tracted by the finer class of mechanical work,
finally discontinued building and began work-
ing at cabinet making in a shop with Mr.
Lewellen, at the town of Smithfield. After
working at this place for a period of two years
he went east, where he once again engaged in
carpentering, but, at a later date, accepted a
position as agent and track supervisor with the
B. & O. railroad company, in the employ of
which he continued four years. After severing
his connection with the road, Mr. Cunning-
ham was for two and one-half years engaged
in the mercantile business in Virginia, at the
end of which time he returned to Indiana, and
in partnership with his brother purchased a
large tract of land in Delaware and other
counties. For many years Mr. Cunningham
has devoted his attention almost entirely to
agricultural pursuits and stock raising, and his
success in both these lines has been most en-
couraging, his farm at this time being one of
the largest and best improved in the county of
Delaware. His home is known far and wide
as the abode of free-hearted hospitality, and
his elegant residence, erected at a cost of
$20,000, is perhaps the finest farm dwelling in
this part of the state. Mr. Cunningham was
married December 12, 1865, to Mollie C.
Hoopman, daughter of Rev. John and Liza
(Redman) Hoopman, the result of which union
has been three children: Elord E. was born
October 12, 1867, and died February 12, 1888;
Bertha L. was born July 6, 1870, and is now
the wife of William Gilmore, to whom she
was united in marriage August 5,^ 1889; Frank
H., whose birth was September i, 1873.
Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham and their two
children are members of the Methodist church,
in which they are highly esteemed. Frater-
nally, he is a member of the I. O. O. F. , be-
longing to lodge No. 186, at Selma, and his
political opinions are those enunciated by the
republican party. Mr. Cunningham's busi-
ness and social standing in the community are
of the very besc, and universal is the esteem
in which he is held. For nearly a half cen-
tury he has been an honored resident of Dela-
ware county, in growth and developement of
which he has borne no insignificant part.
Among his friends and neighbors, and
wherever he is known, his word is considered
as good as his bond, and it is a fact worthy of
note, that he has never been sued at law on
his individual paper, nor had much business of
consequence in the courts. He is one of Del-
aware county's representative farmers, and in
all that goes to make up true citizenship, few
occupy a more prominent position in the com-
munity.
QARION A. CUNNINGHAM.— To
be an efficient and honorable agri-
culturist in this highly favored sec-
tion of Indiana, where the soil
responds so generously to the hand which cul-
tivates it, is to be assured of a comfortable
home and favorable surroundings. Among the
successful men of Perry township, in Marion
A. Cunnningham, who was born in Delaware
county, Ind. , October 6, 1854, a son of Ben-
jamin G. , born August 28, 181 1, and Sarah
(Rees) Cunningham, natives respectively of
Pennsylvania and Indiana. The ancestors of
the family for many generations were indus-
trious tillers of the soil, and, following their
custom, Benjamin G. Canningham early chose
agriculture for his life work, and so continued
until his death. He came to Delaware county
in 1 836, a poor boy, but any one who then noted
his energy and thrift might reasonably have
predicted what followed, namely: His final
standing as one of the wealthiest men, and
most successful farmers of the section in which
he resided. At the time of his death, which
occurred May 14, 1865, he was the owner of
720
DELAWARE COUNTY:
786 acres of well improved land, all of which
was acquired by his own energy and thrift.
His wife survived him a number of years,
dying in 1887. Six children were born to Ben-
jamin G. and Sarah Cunningham, as follows:
Greer B., Louis S., Marion A., Stephen B.,
Adeline and Joseph, all living except the first
named.
Marion A. Cunningham was reared on the
home farm, and had better advantages in the
way of acquiring an education than many of
the youth of his neighborhood, attending first
the common schools, and later the Muncie high
school, and one term at the Normal college at
Valparaiso, completing his studies before at-
taining his majority. In 1881, he was united
in marriage to Miss Anna Jump, daughter of
S. V. and Rebecca Jump, natives of Ohio and
the state of Delaware respectively. Mr. and
Mrs. Cunningham are the parents of five in-
teresting children, whose name are as follows:
Mary Rebecca, born July 18, 1883; Fannie L.,
born June 30, 1885; Ethel R. , born June 4,
1888; Nelson F. , and Neva T. (twins), whose
birth occurred August 29, 1890.
Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Cun-
ningham located on the place where he now
resides, and he enjoys the distinction of having
one of the finest and most successfully culi-
vated farms of his neighborhood, and the most
complete and comfortable dwelling in the
township of Perry. Fraternally, he is a mem-
ber of the Masonic order, belonging to Muncie
lodge. No. 18, and politically, wields an influ-
ence for the republican party. For two terms
he held the office of township trustee, and at
this time he is the efficient commissioner from
his part of the county, to which responsible
position he was elected November, 1891. As
an official, Mr. Cunningham is painstaking and
methodical, and he loses no opportunity to
look after the welfare of the county. His du-
ties are discharged in a manner highly satis-
factory to all, and by his diligence in looking
after the people's interests he has won for
himself a warm place in the hearts of his fel-
low citizens, irrespective of party.
>^AMES DAVISON, one of the most
M enterprising farmers of Perry township,
A 1 Delaware county, Ind., was born in
Butler county, Ohio, December 28,
1822, son of James and Polly (Doty) Davison,
both of whom were natives of Virginia, of
English descent. James learned the trade of
broom maker and did a good business in that
trade for many years. In 1847 he married
Miss Martha Kenyon, daughter of Daniel and
Nancy (Dortch) Kenyon, the former a native
of the state of Maine and the latter of Vir-
ginia, and both of English descent. Mr. and
Mrs. Kenyon were the parents of eight chil-
dren, but Mrs. Davison is the only survivor.
Mr and Mrs. Davison reared a family as fol-
lows: William T., born September 16, 1847,
deceased; Mary, born September 15, 1849,
the wife of Dr. J. L. Hendricks; Delisca I ,
born July 27, 1851, the wife of Volna Sears;
John B., born March 16, 1854; Laura A.,
born October 16, 1857, the wife of John C.
Wiggins; Orlef R. , born September 26, i860;
Arthur I., born November 6, 1862; Frances
A., born November 15, 1864, the wife of
David L. Rees, and Omar L. , born January
14, 1868.
One year _ after marriage, Mr. Davison
moved to the place where he now lives and
brought with him the first cook stove ever used
in Perry township. He owns now 460 acres
of land, which he has made by application to
his work, being a man who has labored stead-
fastly and has accumulated his large posses-
sions honestly. He has never speculated and
has never received any assistance. After lo-
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
721
eating on his farm he worlced at his trade in
connection with his agricultural pursuits. He
is what rnay be called a self made man, and is
one who enjoys the respect of the citizens
throughout Perry township. Politically, he
affiliates with the democratic partw
\y"\ AVID FLETCHER, who has passed
I I his three score and ten years, is a
/^^_^ very worthy citizen of Perry town-
ship, and a native of Hamilton
county, Ohio, born May 29, 1823. He is the
son of John and Polly (Templen) Fletcher,
the father being a native of Pennsylvania, and
the mother of Ohio; he being of German, and
she of English descent. In 1830 the parents
came to Delaware county, where the father
bought forty-nine acres of land in the woods,
and endured many hardships while clearing
the same. Of their children, only two have
lived to be the heads of families, namely:
David, and Mary A., wife of Hiram Pendlum,
and they are the only living children. The
deceased were: Rebecca, Eunice, William
and an infant. The father died August 20,
1852, and the mother June 28, 1861, and both
are buried in the Union cemetery.
David Fletcher was reared on the farm,
but the schools of his day were far apart;
hence he had but very little opportunity for
gaining an education. The longest time he
ever attended, at one time, was three weeks.
His father was a tanner by trade, and when a
boy David devoted his time between the farm
and the tan yard. After attaining his majority
David became a partner of his father, and
worked at the tannery business about fifteen
years. David Fletcher was married Decem-
ber 10, 1846, to Asenath Thornburg, daughter
of Joab and Elizabeth (Holloway) Thornburg,
and five children have been born to him and
his wife, namely: John E., born December
23, 1848; Rebecca, born in 1850, wife of J.
B. Howell; Joab, born December 19, 1855,
died July 25, 1861; Samuel V., born Septem-
ber 13, 1861; and Elizabeth E., deceased.
The first land that David owned was twenty
acres, to which he added, from time to time,
until he got together 220 acres. This, how-
ever, he divided among his children, so he now
has but 160 acres. Beside other property,
Mr. Fletcher owns stock in a gas well. Mr.
and Mrs. Fletcher are members of the Method-
ist church, and are very useful in that body.
Socially he is a member of lodge No. 331, A.
F. & A. M. He is a prohibitionist, and very
ardent in his support of that party.
,>^ETER A. HELM was born in Dela-
1 W ware county, Ind., October 27, 1828,
£ and is widely known and much re-
spected in Perry township, where he
resides. He is the son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Slick) Helm, natives of Pennsylvania and of
Irish and English descent. Peter A. is the
sixth of twelve children, and remained at
home until twenty-one years old. He received
about three months' schooling in each year,
working upon the farm during the remainder
of the time.
David A. Helm enlisted, in 1861, in com-
pany K, Thirty-sixth Indiana regiment, and
took an active part in many of the engage-
ments in which his regiment participat-
ed. For eighteen months he was on detail
duty, building pontoon bridges. He was
discharged September 22, 1864, at Indianap-
olis, and returned home. He was mar-
ried the same year to Elizabeth Clevenger,
daughter of William and Jane (Smithton)
Clevenger; her father being a native of Ohio
and of Irish descent, and her mother a native
722
DELAWARE COUNTY
of Indiana, and of Scotch descent. By this
union there were born the following children:
George T. , born October 19, 1865; Rebecca,
May 27, 1868; Margaret E., born October 19,
1870, deceased; Clara L. , born March 16,
1873, wife of Schuyler Farlow; Mary G. , born
January 18, 1876; William, born February 20,
1 88 1, deceased; and Ota J., born October 22,
1882.
After his marriage, Mr. Helm bought iio
acres of land, and began farming. He now
owns 207 acres of well improved land, all of
which has been acquired by money he earned
himself. Mr. and Mrs. Helm are members of
the Christian church. Socially, he is a mem-
ber of the G. A. R., at Windsor. In politics,
Mr. Helm is a republican, has held the office
of township trustee for two years, and is now
assessor. He is a self-made, intelligent man
of high character, having the confidence of all
who know him.
>Y* OSEPH HEWITT is one of the success-
m ful farmers and respected citizens of
A J Perry township, Delaware county, Ind. ,
also is known as a brave and efficient
soldier during the late war. Mr. Hewitt was
born in Randolph county, Ind., April i, 1843,
a son of Joseph and Sarah (Putman) Hewitt,
both natives of Ohio, of Irish descent. In 1841
Joseph Hewitt removed to Randolph county,
Ind., where he bought 160 acres of land, and
there he and wife spent their last days.
Joseph Hewitt was reared on the farm of
his father and received a common school edu-
cation. When President Lincoln issued his
call for troops in 1861, he was one of the brave
men who responded to the call. He enlisted
in the Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteers and
went into camp at Richmond, Ind., from there
being sent to Louisville, Ky. , thence with his
regiment to Fort Donelson, in the great battle
of which he bore a gallant part. He passed
through the war uninjured, but took part in all
of the engagements of the regiment until he
was mustered out, September 2, i86z, at In-
dianapolis. Mr. Hewitt was married June 19,
1864, to Miss Louisa Stump, daughter of
Joseph and Anna (Kesler) Stump, natives of
Virginia and Ohio, of German and English de-
scent. Mrs. Hewitt is one of eleven children.
Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt reared the following
family: Morton, born January 6, 1866;
Anna E. , born January 25, 1868; Martha E. ,
born February 9, 1870, the wife of William
Lindsley; Clinton R. , born December 4, 1872;
Bessie J., born October i, 1875; Mary L., born
October 8, 1877; Lula G., born October 27,
1879; Gola, born January 2, 1882, and Blaine,
born March 26, 1885, who died December 5,
1886. Since his marriage, Mr. Hewitt has
lived in Perry township, where he engages in
farming. For many years he voted the repub-
lican ticket, but in 1892, desiring a change, he
voted with the people's party. Mr. Hewitt is
a kind father and a good husband, and one of
the best of neighbors. He is universally re-
spected in his neighborhood and belongs to
that large and respectable class of people who,
in a quiet and unassuming way, do so much
for the moral and social advancement of the
community. Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt have re-
cently become members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church.
HOBERT HINDMAN, one of the pio-
neers of Delaware county and a man
who has made his record for indus-
try, hard work, perseverance and in-
tegrity, was born in Ohio, May 10, 1808, a
son of Samuel and Isabella (Hamilton) Hind-
man, both natives of Pennsylvania, the
Jas. H. Jackson.
Mrs. Elizabeth Jackson.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
728
former of Irish and the latter of Scotch birth.
Samuel Hindman moved from Pennsylvaiiia to
Kentucky and learned the trade of weaver,
which he followed all of his life, also engaging
in farming in connection with his chosen call-
ing. He reared a family of eleven children.
Robert Hindman was reared a farmer and
assisted his father in his work. At that time
there were few schools, and young Robert had
but limited educational advantages. After he
had reached maturity and had gone out from
under the parental roof, he worked for a time
at various kinds of labor, earning money and
living uprightly. When he began to desire a
home of his own, he married Miss Rosanna
Murry, daughter of William and Mary (Boles)
Murry, both of them natives of Pennsylvania,
of English descent. After two years of mar-
ried life in Wayne county, Mr. Hindman de-
cided to become a farmer for the remainder of
his life, and for the purpose of obtaining land,
he immigrated to Indiana and located in the
woods, in Delaware county, entering eighty
acres and purchasing forty, there being just
enough of the eighty acre farm cleared to ena-
ble a log cabin to be erected upon it.
Mr. and Mrs. Hindman have reared a fam-
ily of eight children, as follows: Samuel; Cyn-
thia, the wife of Samuel Hackman; Fremont,
and Florence, the wife of David Brooks; all
the rest are deceased. The family are mem-
bers of the Presbyterian church, to which Mr.
Hindman has contributed liberally of his
means and to which he lends his influence.
Politically, he is a stanch republican, and gave
his first presidential vote for John Quincy
Adams. He is one of the oldest and most
respected of the good citizens of the township,
and a representative farmer of Delaware
county.
Robert Hindman and his wife have de-
servedly won the esteem which they enjoy, and
the children are also highly esteemed.
>-T»AMES H. JACKSON.— The following
M biography is written of one who has
A 1 passed from the scenes of his earthly
labors, but who has left behind him a
record of an honest and industrious life, filled
with kind deeds to those around him. James
Jackson was born in Shelby county, Ohio,
February 6, 1823, a son of Jesse and Mary
Jackson, both natives of Virginia, and both of
English birth. He emigrated from Ohio to
Delaware county, Ind., in the year 1873, and
located in Perry township, where he engaged
in the pursuit of agriculture. He married De-
cember I, 1845, Miss Elizabeth West, a daugh-
ter of Thomas and Mary (Benbow) West, both
of whom were natives of South Carolina, of
English descent. Mrs. Jackson was one of six
children, and she became the mother of four,
as follows: John B., born September 3, 1846;
Edward D. , born March 28, 1849; Elizabeth
J., born February 11, 1853; the wife of Jacob
H. Kilmore, of Henry county, and Emma C,
born March 22, 1859; the wife of Mark Swear-
engen.
After his marriage, Mr. Jackson located on
his farm, and faithfully followed agricultural
pursuits until he was called away by death,
October 28, 1889. He was a man of excellent
traits of character, kind, but just, and was a
capable manager of his business. The fine
farm of 1 84 acres of good land was earned by
his own efforts, and he took great comfort in
thinking how well he had provided for those
dependent upon him. His remains lie in the
peaceful cemetery at Mount Pleasant. Both he
and his excellent wife, who still survives, were
members of the United Brethren church, and
were faithful in their attendance and support.
Mr. Jacks3n always manifested the interest of
a good citizen in the affairs of the nation, and
voted with the republican party. He was in
all respects a representative citizen, and his
death was felt as a personal loss, not only by
724
DELAWARE COUNTY
his immediate relatives, but by the people of
his township, who had learned to respect him
for his sterling worth and manly character.
>T^OHNB. JACKSON.— Delaware county,
m Ind., is noted not only for its fine
/• 1 farms, but also for its wide awake and
progressive citizens, and many of these
reside in Perry township. Among the latter
may be named John B. Jackson, who was
born in Delaware county, September 3, 1846;
a son of James H. and Elizabeth (West) Jack-
son, whose sketch precedes this.
John B. Jackson was the eldest of the
family of four children, and lived with his
parents until he was twenty -one, having at-
tended the common schools during the winters,
as was the custom of the boys of the time and
neighborhood. When he was twenty-two he
entered upon the life of school teacher, and
successfully continued it for some time. Mr.
Jackson was married July 2, 1870, to Miss
Elizebeth J. Marshall, daughter of Miles and
Elizabeth (Bell) Marshall, and by this union
became the father of five children, as follows:
Miles H., born December 12, 1871; Clyde E.,
born April 27, 1873, but was taken away Sep-
tember 12, of the same year; Fatima L. , born
December 20, 1875, who now is one of the
efficient teachers of Delaware county; Gola M. ,
born April 9, 1877, and Eva E., born Novem-
ber 16, 1 88 1.' After his marriage, Mr. Jack-
son bought 100 acres of land and began the
cultivation of it, giving up the teacher's pro-
fession entirely. He is now the owner of 140
acres, which are under a high state of cultiva-
tion, and he is considered one of the prosper-
ous farmers of the community in which he
resides. Socially, Mr. Jackson is a member
of the Masonic order, belonging to Whitney
lodge, No. 229, at New Burlington. In his
political opinions, he is a republican, and has
efficiently filled the office of assessor of Perry
township for five years, and is at present
serving as trustee of the same. He possesses
in a marked degree the respect of the com-
munity and is justly entitled to a prominent
place among the representative citizens of
Perry township and Delaware county.
at
ILLIAM A. JORDAN.— Among the
prosperous farmers of Perry town-
ship stands William A. Jordan,
who was born in Wayne county,
Ind., November 9, 1826, and is the son of
William and Mary (McClellen) Jordan. His
ancestors came from Scotland in an early day
and settled in Pennsylvania in 1800. William
Jordan, father of William A. , came from Penn-
sylvania to Wayne county, Ind., and entered
a tract of land and made a comfortable home
there in 18 10. He was also a soldier in the
war of 181 2. He then went back to Pennsyl-
vania, and married Miss McClellen; and soon
after returned with his bride to Indiana, to
his farm. Here, through his industry, Mr.
Jordan succeeded in accumulating considerable
means, owning at one time a fine farm con-
sisting of 400 acres, and a tract of 560 acres
of valuable land in Wabash county. Mr. and
and Mrs. Jordan reared a family of eleven chil-
dren, as follows: George, John, Rachel, Rus-
sell, deceased; Jane, deceased; Margaret, de-
ceased; William A., James R. , Smith, Eliza-
beth A., deceased, and Nancy. The father of
these children died, at the age of eighty-six
years, in 1878, and the mother in 1883. They
were laid to rest in the Jordan cemetery, and
were much mourned by their relatives and a
large circle of friends.
William A. Jordan was reared on the farm
and received a good education for those days.
W. A. JORDAN.
MRS. M. JORDAN.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
725
as he had the advantage of eighteen months of
training in a graded school. He married, in
1847, Miss America Davidson, daughter of
William and Mary (McSherley) Davidson, who
were natives of Kentucky, of Scotch descent. Mr.
and Mrs. Jordan became the parents of twelve
children: Viretta, wife of Dr. A. L. Murray, of
Eaton, Francis M., a farmer; Mary C, wife of C.
R. Howell; Harriet J., wife of J. L. Thornburg;
Olive A., deceased; Webster, a farmer; John
S. ; Florence N., deceased; Clay, deceased;
Carrie, wife of Fremont Gates; William, a
farmer, and Volney M. After his marriage Mr.
Jordan settled in Delaware county, and in 1847
purchased 140 acres of land, nearly all of
which was covered with undergrowth, but by
hard work and close economy he kept adding
to his farm, and at the present time owns 640
acres of well improved land. In 1872 Mrs.
Jordan was called to the land of departed spir-
its, and now lies buried in the Blountsville
cemetery. In 1873, Mr. Jordan was married
to Miss Minerva Finch, daughter of John and
Mary (Blount) Finch. Mrs. Minerva (Blount)
Jordan was born in Randolph county, Ind ,
May 6, 1836, and daughter of John and Mary
(Blount) Finch, who were of Scotch and Irish
e.xtraction and who were pioneers of this coun-
ty, and the family located in or near Blounts-
ville about 1 8 10. His grandfather was in the
war of 1 81 2. Mr. Jordan and his wife are de-
voted members of the Methodist Episcopal
church. In his politics he is a republican and
socially he is a member of the Good Templar
lodge. He has served as justice of the peace
for one term, and was also trustee for one term
during the time the first school houses were
being built in Perry township. Mr. and Mrs.
Jordan are very highly respected and loved by
all who know them, their walk through life
having been such as to command the affection
and esteem of their neighbors, as well as that
of many outside the township.
@EORGE W. KEESLING grew up in
Delaware county, Ind., amid scenes
of forest clearing, and at a time when
the country was settling but slowly.
He was born October 15, 1842, being the son
of Martin and Corassa (Rees) Keesling, the
father a native of West Virginia, and the
mother of Ohio, and both of German descent.
They were the parents of ten children, name-
ly: Morris, deceased; Lewis; Sophia; an in-
fant, deceased; Mary; Mahala; George; Lee,
deceased; Henry C. and Stephen C, an in-
fant, deceased. Martin Keesling came to
Delaware county with a brother and sister,
being comparatively poor, but he was a
shrewd, hard working man, and owned at the
time of his death 756 acres of land. He died
in 1868, and his wife in 1880, both being
buried in the Rees cemetery. George W.
Keesling lived at home until he was eighteen
years old, receiving the advantages of the dis-
trict school, and at the age of nineteen enlist-
ed in company G, Ninth Indiana cavalry,
under Capt. J. R. Nasher, and went into
camp at Nashville, Tenn. The first engage-
ment he was in was at Lawrenceburg, Septem-
ber 16, 1864; then at Florence, September 18,
1864; Pulaski, September 28, 1864; Franklin,
December 17, 1864, and Little Harpeth, De-
cember 17, 1864. He escaped injury, and was
discharged at Vicksburg, August 18, 1865. He
returned home and lived there until his marriage,
which occurred February 28, 1867. His wife
was Cora Cunningham, daughter of Joseph
and Margaret (Farmer) Cunningham, her
father being a native of Pennsylvania, and her
mother oT Maryland. Cora was one of three
children, two girls and a boy. Her father
came from Virginia to Delaware county, Ind.,
in the year 1865. He now lives at Converse,
where he is a general merchant.
By his marriage to Miss Cunningham, Mr.
Keesling is the father of seven children,
726
DELAWARE COUNTY :
namely: Ella M., born June i6, 1868, de-
ceased; Ida, born August 19, 1869, wife of
Cormelias Swingly; Laura, born March 14,
1872, wife of William Jordan; George B., born
July 4. 1874; Homer, born February 16, 1877,
deceased; Clara, born November 7, 1881; and
Hildrey, born December 7, 1889. After his
marriage Mr. Keesling lived at the old place
one year, and then bought 140 acres of land,
to which he has added until he now owns 449
acres in Delaware county, beside 270 acres in
York county, Pa. Mr. Keesling is a self made
man, and well liked, being much respected by
all who know him, and is a man of superior
management, In politics he is a republican,
and his influence, which is always exerted for
that party, is considerable.
>T^OHN LINDSEY is a well-to-do and
m popular farmer of Delaware county,
/• 1 who was born in Wayne county, Ind. ,
July 9, 1834, being the son of Thomas
and Sarah (Finch) Lindsey. His parents are
of Scotch-Irish descent, and in 1828 immi-
grated to Delaware county, Ind. They were
the parents of eleven children, namely: Mel-
muth E., John, Sarah, William, Robert,
Thomas, Clarence, Monroe and Matthew, the
last four deceased; the remaining two died in
infancy. The father of these children died in
1 88 1, and five years later the mother also
died, the two now resting in Blountsville
cemetery. John Lindsey lived at home until
he married, in 1853, Emma, daughter of
Samuel B. and Mary (Truitt) Clevenger. By
this marriage eight children were born, namely:
Francis M., Thomas C. , James M., Laura,
wife of Charles Hegwood; Clara, wife of J. C.
Thornburg; Ora, wife of Jonathan Jefferson;
Martha, wife of C. Clevenger, and Allie, wife
of Walter Thornburg. After Mr. Lindsey
married he bought forty acres of land, lived on
it for seven years; then sold it and bought
eighty acres in Delaware county. In 1864 he
sold the property and went to Parker, where
he engaged in general merchandise for two
years; then went to Blountsville and followed
the same business for one year. Then he re-
turned to farming, buying 120 acres, and
later, eighty more. In the meantime he had
gone security for Henry Jacobs and Ben Evans,
and had to pay the whole amount, being com-
pelled to sell his land, and it took all his
money. Mr. Lindsey would not be cast down,
but borrowed the money to buy 175 acres of
land, paying ten per cent interest four years;
later, he bought eighty acres more, and now
owns 389 acres in all. He has bought and
shipped stock, together with farming, for the
past thirty-five years. In the year 1880 his
wife died, and in 1882 he again married, his
second wife being Sarah, daughter of John
and Mary (Burnside) Sivvee. By this mar-
riage are two living children — Corwin and
Ethel. In politics Mr. Lindsey is a republi-
can and very strong in that faith.
QARY H. Mccormick.— Among
the large and well cultivated farms
of Delaware county, Ind., here and
there may be found smaller ones,
just as carefully managed and just as product-
ive, according to size, and upon one of these
pleasant tracts, of fifty-two acres, in Perry
township, resides the lady for whom the fol-
lowing sketch is prepared.
The birth of Miss McCormick took place
in a state which has, in times past, produced
many brave and self reliant women. She en-
tered the world, April 15, 1836, in Bedford
county, Pa., a daughter of James and Eliza-
beth (Langham) McCormick, both of whom
PERRY TOWNSHIP,
727
were natives of the Keystone state, the former
of Irish and the latter of German extraction.
In 1839, Mr. and Mrs. McCormick immif;;rated
to Fayette county, Ind. , where Mrs. McCor-
mick died, after which the father brought his
children to Delaware county. In 1841, Mr.
McCormick was also removed by death, leav-
ing three orphan children, Mary H. being the
eldest, and at that time but five yaars of age.
She was taken by her grandmother, and lived
with the latter until, at the age of ten, she was
bereft of this natural guardian. The next five
years were spent in the family of a Mr. Hoover,
but at that time she undertook the care of Mr.
and Mrs. Lyman Halstead, and faithfully per-
formed a daughter's part to them until their
respective deaths. Miss McCormick, in her
life, has displayed those qualities which make
successful the lives of the hospital nurses,
those noble women who smooth so many dying
beds and show tenderness and care to those
who have none other to care for them. Pa-
tience, tenderness, piety, industry and econ-
omy are necessary qualities to one who can
take up such a burden. That the ministra-
tions of Miss McCormick were appreciated,
was shown by a bequest of $1,800, at the
time of the death of her employers. With
this money she wisely invested in land adjoin-
ing the Halstead estate, and has lived here,
her own mistress, ever since. The biographer
is not informed concerning Miss McCormick's
attitude on the question of woman's rights,
but she has shown by her life that she has not
preferred marriage, and has sufficiently proved
by her efficient management of her affairs that
she has needed no male directing hand. She
has one sister, the widow of Joseph Runkle.
For thirty-six years she has been an active
and valued member of the Christian church.
Few ladies, indeed, have exhibited as much
self reliance as Miss McCormick, and none,
certainly, deserve higher commendation.
QILES MARSHALL.— In considering
the progress made by any section of
country, the thoughtful person will
ask concerning those who have
passed away, as well as uf those who still car-
ry on the affairs of life and enjoy its honors.
The past has made the present what it is.
One of those who for many years lived among
the residents of Perry township, Delaware
county, Ind., and whose life commanded the
highest regard and confidence, is represented
by the name with which this sketch is opened.
Miles Marshall was born in Wayne county,
Ohio, in 181 1, and in 1836 immigrated to
Delaware county, Ind., bringing with him his
wife and infant. He had been married in
1834 to Miss Elizabeth Bell, daughter of
James and Margaret (Blare) Bell, and ten
children were born of this union, eight of
whom yet live. The record is as follows:
Thomas B., born August 27, 1S35; Margaret
A., born November 15, 1837; Reuben, born
April ^, 1840; Hannah, born April 11, 1842,
the wife of Henry Temple; Jacob W. , born
August zo, 1847, deceased; William H. ; Eliz-
abeth J., born March 9, 1850, the wife of John
B. Jackson; Rebecca E., born May 3, 1853,
the wife of Albert Offterdinger; Miles H., born
February 15, 1856, and John B., born March
18, 1S60.
Mr. Marshall spent his boyhood days on
his father's farm and attended the neighbor-
hood schools at intervals during his minority.
His early life was attended with obscurity, but
he lived to become one of the most prominent
and successful men of Perry township, and at
one time was the owner of 320 acres of land.
At present his widow owns eighty acres and
resides with a daughter. Mr. Marshall pos-
sessed a mind of a judicial cast, and the con-
fidence of the whole neighborhood was reposed
in him He was called upon continually to
assist in the settlement of estates, and as a
728
DELAWARE COUNTY:
man of excellent judgment he could not be ex-
celled. Politically, he was a republican for
many years, but at the time of the second
term of President Grant he became a demo-
crat, and so continued all his life. He was a
man of many good qualities of mind and heart
and was much lamented by the people of the
community, who had learned to esteem him for
his many sterhng- qualities of manhood.
HUGUST OFFTERDINGER, deceased.
As the name of the subject of this
mention indicates, he was born in
Germany and inherited, in a great
measure, those qualities which have made his
race respected and independent in whatever
part of the world their fortunes may have
placed them. His birth occurred January 7,
181 1, a son of Gottleib and Frederica (Helfrie)
Offterdinger, both natives of Germany, who
spent their whole lives in the Fatherland., Mr.
Offterdinger grew to manhood in his native
country, and at the age of twenty years crossed
the Atlantic and located in the state of Penn-
sylvania, remaining there one year, and then
coming to the state of Indiana and settling in
Wayne county in 1832. He had learned the
trade of tanner in his native country with his
father, and after coming to Wayne county en-
gaged in his chosen calling for Jacob Sinks
until 1836. At that date he married Hannah
Mendenhall, daughter of Isaiah and Christiana
(Clark) Mendenhall, both natives of North
Carolina, of English descent. Mrs. Offter-
dinger was one of a family of ten children, and
her birth took place January 16, 1818. She
has but one sister living, Margaret, born in
1812. Mr. and Mrs. Offterdinger reared a
family of twelve children, as follows: Gottleib,
born July 12, 1837, deceased; Theresa B.,
born November 26, 1838, deceased; Christina
M., born April 4, 1841, the wife of Samuel
Parks; Sarah A., born February 5, 1843, de-
ceased; Caroline, born August i, 1844, the
wife of David Doubty; Amanda, born Septem-
ber 23, 1846, wife of David Waller; Mary J.,
born December 6, 1848, deceased; Franklin
B., born January 12, 1851, deceased; Albert
M., born August 17, 1853; Luther J., born
August 5, 1855; John, born December 7, 1857,
and Julia E., born March 9, i860, the wife of
Horace Marshall, deceased.
After marriage Mr. Offterdinger lived in
Wayne county for five years, and then removed
to Delaware county in 1842. In the latter
county he engaged in farming, buying a small
tract of land to begin with, and by industry
and economy, accumulated from time to time,
until at the time of his death he owned 696
acres of fine land. He received but a small
amount of assistance from his home,' never
speculated, but made his money honestly, and
by the dint of hard work and German thrift.
His parents were members of the Lutheran
church, and in that belief he was brought up,
although he never united with any denomina-
tion in America. For many years he was a
republican, but at the time of the second can-
vas of Gen. Grant, he became an independent,
holding that position until his decease. He
was one of the solid farmers and good citizens
of the township, and left many friends behind.
^^AMUEL PARKS.— The name which
•^^^k* opens this sketch has been a familiar
K„^^y one to the residents of Perry town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind., for
many years, and the original is known to be
one of the best citizens and most prosperous
farmers of the township. Although at present
an invalid, having been prostrated in July,
1892, with a stroke of paralysis, he still views
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
729
life cheerfully from his comfortable sick room
and takes an interest in all that goes on about
him. He was born May 8, 1845, in the state
of Virginia, a son of Amos and Sarah (Sikes)
Parks, both natives of North Carolina, of Irish
ancestry. Amos Parks died in the Old North
state in 1888, but Mrs. Sarah Parks is still living
there. Samuel was one of seven children and
had no educational advantages, but by the e.\-
ercise of his strong mind he partially educated
himself and became a good business man. In
1868 he was married to Miss Matilda Offter-
dinger, daughter of August and Hannah (Men-
denhall) Offterdinger, whose sketch appears
in another part of this volume. Although no
children have been born to this union, Mr.
and Mrs. Parks have taken an adopted daugh-
ter to their hearts and home. The illness of
Mr. Parks interfered with his active life, he
having been president of one of the gas well
companies in this township. He is a member
of the Masonic order, connected with lodge
No. 331, located at Blount ville. Politically
Mr. Parks is a prohibitionist, and he and wife
are both members of the Methodist church.
He has a fine farm of ninety-four acres, a
beautiful home and a most excellent surround-
ings, with every convenience for thorough
farming. He and his wife are much eeteemed
in the neighborhood.
HBNER H. RATCLIFF, one of the
the honored ex-soldiers and promi-
nent farmers of Perry township, Del-
aware county, Ind., was born in
Clinton county, Ohio, April 23, 1846, a son of
Nathan and Phebe (Hayworth) Ratcliff, both
natives of Ohio, of English descent. Their
removal to Howard county, Ind., took place
in 1850; and they became the parents of seven
children, Abner H. being third in order of
birth.
In 1856, the mother of Abner H. died, and
some four years later his father married Naomi
White, who departed this life in 1892.
Abner Ratcliff lived at home, with his
parents, until his enlistment in the arm.y, in
the late war, when he entered the Eleventh
Indiana cavalry, in company L, under Capt.
Lindsey, going into camp at Kokomo, Ind.,
and then at Camp Carrington, and then at
Nashville, Tenn., in 1864. He continued
with his regiment during the remainder of the
war, except a few months, when he was within
the walls of the hospital, and received his dis-
charge May 23, 1865. He was at the battles
of Franklin, Tenn., and at Spring Hill; also at
the battle of Nashville and many minor skir-
mishes.
After the war he returned home and
worked in a saw mill and did some farm
work until April 10, 1871, when he mar-
ried. His wife was Miss Hannah E. Cof-
fin, daughter of Francis, born March 11,
1798," and Susanna, born June 16, 1805
(Stanton) Coffin, the father a native of North
Carolina, and the mother of Virginia. Mrs.
Ratcliff was born, where she now lives,
July 22, 1 841, her parents having settled
in Perry township in 1834. Mrs. Ratcliff
is one of a family of twelve children.
Her parents have both passed away, the mother
in 1885, and the father in 1850. By this
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ratcliff have become
the parents of three children — Sarah E. , born
January 27, 1872; Frances O., born March
27, 1874; and Ada S., born April 15, 1878.
Mr. Ratcliff owns 100 acres of well im-
proved land in Perry township, and has a
pleasant home. He and wife are members of
the Christian church, in which thay take a
deep interest, and for whose prosperity they
cheerfully labor. He is on of the esteemed
members of the G. A. R. Abram D. Sholty
post. No. 73, at Windsor, and the republican
DELAWARE COUNTY:
party, in its declarations, embodies the politi-
cal doctrines to which he subscribes. He is
no office holder, never desiring any recogni-
tion, preferring to give his entire atttention to
his farming interests. To the credit of Mr.
Ratcliff, be it said he has made his own way
in life, as far as receiving any aid from his an-
cestors may be concerned. To him and wife
belongs the credit of their success. The
parents of Mrs. Ratcliff were of English de-
scent. Her father was a whig. In addition
to being a farmer he was a harness maker by
trade.
>T^OHN N. REECE, a well known and
J popular citizen of Delaware county, was
A 1 born in the state of Delaware, August
28, 1809, being the son of John and
Susanna (Hogner) Reece. His father was a
native of Delaware state, and of Welsh de-
scent; his mother was a native of Pennsylvania,
and of German descent. They were the
parents of seven children, of whom John N.
is the only survivor. The latter had no advan-
tages of schooling, because the district schools
of his time were few and far between. John
N. Reece was married, in 1834, to Catherine
Meyers, daughter of Jonathan and Margaret
Meyers, her father being a native of Maryland,
and her mother of New Jersey, and both of
German descent.
John N. Reece and his wife are the parents
of the following children: Susanna, born
November 3, 1834, wife of J. S. Fetter; Louis
C, born June 25, 1836; Margaret, born May
II, 1838, deceased; Elmer, born May 6, 1840
Elizabeth, born August 27, 1842, deceased
Mary J., born February 9, 1845, deceased
Thomas C,, born July 29, 1847; Sarah, born
August 28, 1849, deceased; Solon, born Octo-
ber 3, 1853; twins, died in infancy; Catherine,
born May 6, 1858; William W., born January
12, 1 86 1. After Mr. Reece had married he
lived in Pennsylvania for ten years; then re-
moved to Randolph county, Ind., in 1844; in
1854 he located in Delaware county, Ind.,
where he bought seventy-four acres of land.
His wife was an invalid for a period of three
years prior to her death, which occurred Octo-
ber 28, 1885. In politics Mr. Reece is an in-
dependent, voting for those who, in his judg-
ment, will make the best officers.
>^ACOB H. REES, an honored and
m prominent citizen, an ex-soldier of the
A 1 late war and a well known farmer of
Perry township, was born in Delaware
county, Ind., November 5, 1840, son of John
and Martha (Powers) Rees, both natives of
Virginia, of Welsh descent. These parents
came to Delaware county, Ind., in 1827, and
entered 160 acres of land and erected a log
cabin in the wilderness. A family of eleven
children grew up around them, si.x of whom
lived to be heads of families, five of whom
are yet living. Mr. Rees died in 1864, and
his wife in 1876, and both are lying in the
Powers cemetery.
Jacob H. Rees was reared on the old home
place and attended the neighborhood school
for about three months in the year. He en-
listed, in 1864. in company G, Ninth Indiana
cavalry, and immediately thereafter went into
camp at Richmond, Ind., but was soon sent
with his command to Nashville, Tenn. His
first engagement was at Franklin, from which
place the regiment was driven back to Nash-
ville, and from there pursued Hood's army to
Athens, Ala., where it went into winter quar-
ters near Sulphur Springs. From the latter
place the regiment marched to Vicksburg,
thence to Nashville, and later to Port Gibson,
where Mr. Rees was taken sick and was sent
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
781
on to Vicksburg to the hospital, where he was
obliged to remain until mustered out August
27, 1865, going to Indianapolis, where he
received his honorable discharge September
10, 1865. In 1874, Mr. Rees was married to
Miss Elizabeth Conwell, the daughter of
George and Mary (Messick) Conwell, both na-
tives of the state of Delaware, the former of
Irish descent and the latter of Welsh. Mrs.
Rees is one of twelve children. Mr. and
Mrs. Rees have two children, William E.,
born July 17, 1875, and Mary A., born .De-
cember I, 1885.
Choosing agriculture for his life work, Mr.
Rees first located on an eighty acre tract of
land, which he improved and farmed for six
years, and then sold and bought his present
place, consisting of 160 acres, it being the old
homestead farm which his father purchased
from the government. Fraternally, Mr. Rees
is a member of the Whitney Masonic lodge at
New Burlington, No. 229. Politically he is
a republican, and bravely upholds the princi-
ples for which he fought. Mrs. Rees' father
was a gallant soldier, gave up his life on the
Mississippi river, and was buried at Helena.
His wife passed away in 1883.
'^-t'OHN rees. — Among the prominent
m business men of the thriving town of
« 1 New Burlington, Ind., the gentleman
for whom this sketch is prepared takes
a foremost place. John Rees was born in
Delaware county, Ind., July 13, 1826, a son
of Louis and Polly Rees, both of whom were
natives of Wales, who came to Ohio with
their parents when children. They married in
Ohio, and reared a family of ten children, as
follows: David, Louis, Robert and John, liv-
ing, and Gracie, Bowen, Morris, Mary A., Syd-
ney and Bort, deceased.
John Rees grew up on the farm of his
father and learned by experience the practical
duties of agricultural life. After he became of
age he farmed the old homestead for his father
for five years. The place was large, and the
family needs were great, so that John did not
get as many school advantages as he would
have liked. In 1849 he married Mary A.
Rees, daughter of David and Sydney (Oldaker)
Rees, both of whom were natives of Wayne
county, Ind., of German descent. Mrs Rees'
father was born February 5, 1804 and her
mother, September 20, 18 14. They had but
two children, Levina, the wife of Borter
Rees, and the wife of the subject of this biog-
raphy, the sisters marrying brothers.
John Rees and wife reared a family of
eight children: Adeline, born October 8, 1854,
deceased; Corracy, born November 25, 1857,
deceased; Louis D., born December 5, i860;
Wesley, born September 9, 1863, deceased;
Levina E., born October 9, 1865; Mary E.,
born November 9, 1869; Aburtis, born June 8,
1873, and Gunda B. , born December 2, 1878.
After his marriage, Mr. Rees lived on the
old homestead for some time, and then sold to
advantage and bought the place where he now
lives, consisting of 600 acres of well improved
land. He is one of the wealthiest farmers in
Perry township, and possesses the real esteem
of all, and none are better known for kindness
of heart to those less fortunate than himself.
Politically, he votes with the republicans, but
has never been a partisan in the sense of seek-
ing official honors, never having had any aspi-
rations in that direction. Such men are the
bone and sinew of a country and their places
in a community are eminently honorable and
exceedingly difficult to fill. Mr. Rees has
been something of a traveler. In 1859 he
went to Pike's Peak and engaged in mining
there, being quite successful. He had a fine
claim near Mound City and made as much as
732
DELAWARE COUNTY:
$40 per day, and did not regret his venture.
He is uow a stock holder in some of the gas
wells in this vicinity, and occupies no unim-
portant position among the substantial and
well-to-do citizens of Delaware county.
*y—^ EZEKIAH SHUTTLEWORTH. —
■'''^V Among the well known names in
|[ .p Perry township, Delaware county,
Ind. , that of Mr. Shuttleworth will
always be held in kind remembrance. He
passed out of life in his prime, but relatives
and friends will ever cherish for him feelings of
the deepest affection, and long mourn his de-
parture from among them. He wis born in
West Virginia in 1844, a son of Joshua and
Mary J. (Marrand) Shuttleworth. He was
twenty-one years of age when he came here.
He had been in the army, during the late war,
having enlisted when a mere lad of nineteen
years, and never entirely recovered his health,
which the hardships of army life had shattered.
Mr. Shuttleworth was reared on the farm,
and at a time when he should have been ac-
quiring an education, was obliged to labor, but
he was of a quick intelligence, and experience
taught him many lessons, making of him a
man who could well attend to all of the busi-
ness affairs of his life without asking aid of
any one. It is not always a college education
which makes of men successful citizens in a
financial point of view. One of the wise and
never regretted actions of his life was his mar-
riage, in 1 871, to the most estimable lady who
still survives him. She was Miss Elizabeth
Felton, a daughter of Elijah and Elvina(Clem-
mond) Felton, and from this union the following
family of interesting children were born: Mar-
tha, Charles, Richard, Mary, Louis, Rosa,
Alvina and Margaret. After marriage, Mr.
Shuttleworth bought 180 acres of land and
engaged in farming, but later he traded this
place for another of 102 acres, where he made
improvements, and then exchanged again for
another farm of 1 60 acres, each time bettering
his condition financially. Had his life been
spared he would no doubt have been one of
the wealthiest men in the township, as he
possessed good judgment and was not easily
deceived in any business transaction. What
he had, he earned by the exercise of thrift and
hard labor. Mr. Shuttleworth died in 1891,
from disease contracted while in the army, as
above stated. Since his death, his wife has
most efficiently managed the affairs of the
farm, showing most excellent judgment and
wise discretion. Both Mr. Shuttleworth and
wife were consistent and valued member of
the United Brethren church, and long will be
the time before his prerence will cease to be
missed in the sanctuary. He was a good cit-
izen, took much interest in the success of the
republican party, to which he belonged, and
was ever active in promoting the welfare of
the community of which, for a number of
years, he was such an honored and upright
citizen.
vx
ILLIAM THOMPSON.— The suc-
cess that William Thompson has
attained in life is due entirely to his
own unaided efforts, as he was left
an orphan at the tender age of five years.
William Thompson was born in Coshocton
county, Ohio, September 25, 1822, son of
James and Margaret (Gary) Thompson, both
parents natives of Wales. Mr. Thompson, Sr.,
served in the war of 1812 and died at the age
of fifty-two years, leaving a family of nine
children, of whom William was the youngest
son. At the death of his father, the young
boy went to live in the family of a resident of
Coshocton, with whom he remained two
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
788
years, at the end of which period he found a
home with his eldest sister. Here he remained
until attaining his majority, during which time
he enjoyed the advantage of twenty-seven
days of school. When his twenty-first birth-
day was passed, Mr. Thompson began work
for a man by the name of Jacob Elliott, a
farmer, agreeing to give his services for $7
a month. This agreement lasted for a year,
at the end of which time his employer failed,
and consequently Mr. Thompson never re-
ceived a single cent for his labor. In 1843 he
came to Indiana, and as he had greatly im-
proved the knowledge gained in his three
weeks' schooling by hard study at night, he
began teaching school at Stringtown, in an
old log cabin. All his school appliances were
very primitive, the first writing lessons being
given on the clap boards with a piece of char-
coal. In spite of all the disadvantages under
which both teacher and pupils labored, the
instruction gained in that little school was
thorough, as the young instructor put all the
energy of an earnest nature into his work.
Mr. Thompson was married March 12,
1844, to Miss Elizabeth P. Drake, a daughter
of Joel and Mary (Stewart) Drake, natives of
Ohio and Virginia, both of Irish descent. Mrs.
Thompson was an only child. Mr. Drake
died in 1845, but his wife survived him until
1867. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Thompson one child has been born, George
O., whose birth occurred April 28, 1849.
After marriage the young couple settled down
on the farm where the ceremony was solem-
nized, and have made it their home ever
since. Religiously Mr. Thompson is connec-
ted with the United Brethren church and has
been the efficient superintendent of three Sun-
day schools for as many successive years.
Mrs. Thompson occupies a prominent place
in the Methodist church. Politically Mr.
Thompson is a stanch republican and is well
informed on all the leading topics of the day.
He is a farmer who keeps fully abreast of the
times and is a man who enjoys the respect and
esteem of the entire community.
eDWARD THORNBURG is a well-
to-do farmer who was born in Guil-
ford county, N. C, in 1807. He is
the son of Isaac and Rebecca (Hud-
son) Thornburg, both natives of the same
state. The father was of Irish and the
mother of Welsh descent. Isaac Thornburg
came to Randolph county in 1831, bringing
his family with him, and entering 320 acres of
land, upon which he settled, and finally died
in the year 1861. His remains are buried in
the Hordshaw cemetery.
Edward Thornburg lived with his parents
until he was twenty-two years of age, and re-
ceived no advantages of schooling whatsoever.
He came to Randolph county in 1829 and
worked at such employment as he could find,
in order to earn a livelihood. Two years
afterward, he was married to Susan Thorn-
burg, daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Bales)
Thornburg. This marriage proved a very
fruitful one, there being thirteen children born,
the names of the entire number being as fol-
lows: Elizabeth J., born March 20, 1832, de-
ceased; Rachel, born January 18, 1834,
deceased; Margaret, born December 27,
1835; Mary, born December 12, 1837; Martha,
April II, 1840; Rebecca, July 11, 1842; Eliza-
beth, August 5, 1844; Caroline, December 28,
1846; Isaac, May 20, 1848, deceased; Joseph
M., October 21, 1850, deceased; John W. ,
January 3, 1853; Sarah E., November 4, 1855,
deceased; and George H., born April 13, 1859.
After Mr. Thornburg married he entered 120
acres of land in a howling wilderness. This
he improved, and has added to it until he now
734
DELAWARE COUNTY:
owns in all 340 acres of well cultivated land.
On November 7, 1862, his wife died, and in
1863 he was married to Mrs. Lydia A. Petro,
daughter of Jacob and Martha (Boyles) Nevil,
both natives of Pennsylvania, and of German
descent. Mr. and Mrs. Thornburg are faith-
ful members of the Christian church. He is a
republican, and prior to the birth of this party
he was a whig, and cast his first vote for John
Quincy Adams for president. Mr. Thornburg
is a worthy and good citizen, and is much
respected by all who know him.
VVOSEPH H. THORNBURG is a farmer
M of worth and influence in Perry town-
A 1 ship, Delaware county, and is recog-
nized as a man of energy and strong
force of character. He was born in Clinton
county, Ohio, April 17, 1831, being the son of
Alexander and Malinda (Huskins) Thornburg.
His father was a native of Ohio, and his
mother of North Carolina, both being of
English descent. They were the parents of
two children only. Mrs. Malinda Thornburg
died in 1834, and in 1836 Alexander Thorn-
burg married a second time, his wife being
Angeline Sullivan, by whom he had five chil-
dren. The father was a farmer, and a very
successful one, owning 300 acres of land at
the time, of his death, having previously
divided a large part of his property among his
children. This worthy man died in 1883, and
was buried in the Union cemetery.
Joseph H. Thornburg was reared on his
father's farm, and received a very limited edu-
cation, the schools of that time holding very
short terms, and being far apart. Beside, the
farm work was so hard that it was pretty diffi-
cult to get away from it. He was married, in
1854, to Hannah Cunningham, daughter of
Samuel C, and she bore him four children,
namely: Francis M., William A., Elnora,
and Sarah H. The mother of these children
died in 1862, and in the following year he took
Paulina Swearinger for his second wife, who
bore him two children, namely: Emma, wife
Eli Yockey, living at Muncie; and Irwin V.
The second wife died, and in 1870 he married
his third wife, Sarah W. Benbow, daughter of
Edward and Susannah Benbow, by whom he
had two children, namely: Jane, wife of Will-
iam Knox; and Charles. The third wife died,
leaving him a widower for the third time, and
in I872 he married his present wife, Sarah
Thornburg, daughter of John and Eliza (Evans)
Craig, her parents being natives of Ohio, and
of English descent. There were three children
by this marriage, Elnora, Sarah, and Burtice.
As will be seen, Mr. Thornburg has lost several
wives, and other misfortunes have befallen
him, but he has courageously met them, and has
the satisfaction of knowing that he has done
his duty, and has now arrived at a point where
he can take life easily. Mr. Thornburg owns
360 acres of fine land in Perry township, and
is highly esteemed by all who know him. He
and his wife are devoted members of the
Christian church. Mr. Thornburg is a member
of the republican party, and supports its nomi-
nees with much earnestness.
''I-^ AFAYETTE WHITNEY.— The gen-
I r tleman whose name introduces this
1 ^ sketch is one of the excellent farmers
and business men of Perry township,
Delaware county, Ind. , and was born in Wash-
ington county, Ohio, April 21, 1827, a son of
Thomas and Hannah (Preston) Whitney, the
former a native of Vermont, of Scotch descent,
and the latter a native of Pennsylvania, of
German lineage. They married in Washing-
ton county, Ohio, and reared a family of eight
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
735
children, namely: Lafayette, Mcrdecai, Nancy,
Phineas, Artimesia, William, David and Frank-
lin, the last three deceased. These three were
soldiers in the late war and died while in the
heroic performance of duty — William losing
his life at Winchester, Va. , David dying in
Salisbury prison, and Franklin being killed in
the battle of the Wilderness.
In 1 83 1 , Thomas Whitney brought his fam-
ily to Delaware county, Ind., and entered
eighty acres of land in Liberty township and
lived thereon for eight years, then sold it and
bought 240 acres, which he improved and lived
upon until his death, which occurred July 4,
1 88 1, his wife having preceded him to the
grave November 27, 1870. According to his
wish, their remains were interred in the door-
yard at the old home.
Lafayette Whitney was reared on his father's
farm and received practically no education
while at home. After he became of age he
learned the carpenter trade under the super-
vision of his uncle, Louis Smith, and after
learning proficient in the same, worked with
him for two years, at the end of which time
he began taking contracts and continued work-
ing at this trade for about twelve years. Mr.
Whitney was married, April 21, 1858, to Miss
Mary M. Snyder, a daughter of Jesse and
Catherine (McGlaughlin) Snyder, the former
of German descent and the latter of Irish, and
both natives of Virginia, who came to Dela-
ware county in 1848. Mrs. Whitney was
born April 5, 1841, and was one of a family
of eleven children. Her father was a farmer
by occupation, and his death occurred in 1858.
Mr. and Mrs. Whitney became the parents of
five children, namely: Minerva A., born Jan-
uary 12, 1859, the wife of Dr. William A.
Spurgeon, of Muncie; Nancy E., born January
18, i860, the wife of William Compton, of
Muncie; John L. , born January 3, 1861, mar-
ried Clara B. Lindville, and follows farming;
Laura J., born May 8, 1862, the wife of Mala-
chi Swift, and resident of Smithfield; and Nel-
lie B.,born August 22, 1865, the wife of William
E. Martin, a resident and prominent farmer
of Mount Pleasant township.
After his marriage Mr. Whitney bought
eighty acres of land in Centre township, and
remained thereon nearly a year, and in con-
nection with agricultural pursuits also carried
on the harness making trade, and one set of
harness which came from his hands was sold
to the government and was used in the Indian
war in Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney
are devoted members of the Christian church,
and have had the pleasure of seeing four of
their children unite with the same denomina-
tion. Socially, Mr. Whitney is a member of
the Masonic order, belonging to Whitney
lodge No. 228, at New Burlington. In his
politics he is a republican, and is one of the
most respected citizens of the county.
*w ^ ENRY WILL, a worthy citizen of
I'^'^V Perry township, living at New Bur-
^ ,r lington, is a native of Germany, born
in 1 814, and is the son of George H.
Will. When a young man he came with his
two brothers to this country, and settled in
Indiana. His first work was done under his
brother Thomas, as an apprentice, in a cooper
shop, where he remained about two years,
and then went to Smithfield and bought a grist
mill. This he occupied for a number of years,
when he traded it for a farm in Perry town-
ship, where he now owns 244 acres of fine
land. He received a very superior education
in the old country, and is a man of fine intelli-
gence, and has made his home with his
nephew, John Will, since 1879. John was
born in Wayne county, Ind., December 27,
1849, and is the son of Thomas and Margaret
736
DELAWARE COUNTY;
(Singer) Will, both natives of Germany.
Thomas Will, father of John Will, immigrated
to America in 1838, was a cooper, and follow-
ed this trade in this country. After living in
America five years, Thomas returned to Ger-
many for the girl he left behind him in 1845,
and after their marriage he returned to Indi-
ana, where he resumed his old trade. By
this marriage he is the father of ten children,
namely: Henry; an infant, deceased; John,
George, Thomas, Mary, Daniel, Samuel, de-
ceased; Adam; and Loua, deceased. Thomas
Will, the father of these children, died Feb-
ruary 17, 1865, and his wife followed him ten
years later. His son John is taking care of
Henry Will, the subject of our sketch. John
began working for himself at the age of fifteen,
and was married September 30, 1869, to Mary
Keesling, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth
Keesling. By this marriage he is the father of
three children, namely: Carrie L. , wife of
Dr. Bell; Burton E. and Martha E. M. John
Will and his wife are members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal church.
HBRAHAM YOCKEY— One of the
successful farmers who have shown of
what Indiana soil is capable is Abra-
ham Yockey. He is located in Perry
township, Delaware county, and was born in
Starke county, Ohio, August 10, 1820, the son
of Peter and Christina (Hoover) Yockey, both
natives of Pennsylvania, of Germao descent.
In 1840 Peter Yockey came to Delaware coun-
ty with his parents. He learned the trade of
carpenter and followed that occupation until
his marriage. He was the father of nine
children, two of whom are yet living, Levi
and Abraham. In 1852, Mr. Yockey, Sr.,
died and thirteen years later his wife followed,
in 1865. The former was interred in Ran-
dolph county, and the latter in Allen county.
Abraham Yockey was reared on the home
farm until he was seventeen years of age, at
which time he started out to take care of him-
self, working in a general way at anything
which offered proper remuneration. For about
seventeen months he worked in a saw mill and
a year in a distillery. In 1849 he was married
to Eliza Hoover, daughter of Eli and Nancy
(Rockenfield) Hoover, the former a native of
Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. Mr.
and Mrs. Yockey reared a family of four chil-
dren, as follows: Mark, born September 19,
1852, married Martha Bowers; David, born
November 17, 1854, married Estella Ross;
Nella A., born April 7, 1857, the wife of
Andrew Blount; Eli, born November 15, 1858,
married Emma Thornburg. After marriage
Abraham Yockey engaged in farming, renting
land for that purpose for five or six years.
He then bought thirty acres of land, and after
improving it in some degree sold it and bought
forty acres, adding since until he has 140 acres
in all. He has built a fine house with all
modern improvements, and has the best of
modern tools with which to carry on success-
ful farming. He and-wife are members of the
Christian church, in which they are held in
high esteem. Politically Mr. Yockey is a re-
publican, and one of the best and most relia-
ble residents of the countv.
^U\yt^^, ..^^H^.^^/.^^i'
SAkBM TOWNSHIP.
fiICHARD A. ANDES, one of the
prominent residents of Salem town-
ship, Delaware county, was born in
Rockingham county, Va. , November
22, 1838, being a son of Adam and Elizabeth
(Jones) Andes, both natives of Virginia, who
could trace their lineage back to German and
English ancestors. By trade, Adam Andes
was a blacksmith, and until his death, in 1845,
he followed that occupation. Mrs. Andes
died two years prior to the above date.
Richard A. Andes remained at the old
home until 1858, when he started out in life
for himself, first locating in Tennessee, where
he remained until 1862, working on a farm
and carpentering. His educational advan-
tages having been somewhat limited, he was
obliged to depend upon the labor of his hands.
The winter of 1862 was spent in Ohio visiting
with friends, but in the spring of 1863 he
came to Delaware county, Ind. , and later
went to Indianapolis, where he began working
at the carpenter trade, having become pro-
ficient in the same, while living in Tennessee.
For twelve years he remained in that city,
where he labored industriously, taking large
contracts and succeeding well in his chosen
occupation. Mr. Andes was married, in 1865,
to Miss Sarah Rubush, and one little daughter
was born of this union. In 1867 the young
wife died, and in 1875 Mr. Andes married
Mrs. Mary S. Bowers, the daughter of Edward
and Anna (Thompson) Sharp, the former a
native of Tennessee and the latter of Virginia,
and respectively of German and English ex-
traction. Mrs. Andes is a sister of William
Sharp, whose sketch will be found on another
page.
Mr. and Mrs. Sharp emigrated to Henry
county, Ind., in 1832, coming to Delaware
county, where Mr. Sharp became one of the
most successful farmers, and owned one of the
largest and best farms of the county, which he
made by his own exertions. He was honored
and respected by all with whom he came in
contact. He was born in 1801, and died in
1854, his wife following him to the grave in
1878. Both were buried in the Sharp ceme-
tery, where a large monument marks their last
resting place. Mrs. Andes was one of thirteen
children; was born in 1831, and lived with her
parents until her marriage to Noah Bowers,
who was also one of Delaware county's suc-
cessful men. They were married just twenty
years when he died, leaving her and three
children. In 1875 she married Richard A.
Andes, making him an excellent and capable
wife. All of her family have been members of
the Christian church, and her ancestors lie
buried together in one sacred spot. Mrs.
Andes is a consistent member of the same
church, in which she is much esteemed, and
Mr. Andes is as highly regarded in the Metho-
dist church, of which he is a member. Politi-
cally Mr. Andes is a republican, and takes
much interest in the progress of public affairs,
although he never had any ambition to serve
as a public officer.
738
DELAWARE COUNTY:
QICHAEL BOWERS, a well known
and reliable resident of Salem town-
ship, where he has large land inter-
ests, was born in Delaware county,
Ind. , May 9, 1841, a son of Andrew and Mary
(Shafer) Bowers, nativesof Rockingham county,
Va., of German parentage. In the year 1839,
Andrew and Mary Bowers immigrated to Del-
aware county, Ind., where Mrs. Bowers died
in 1864, and in 1881 Mr. Bowers was called
away. They were the parents of ten children,
four of whom are yet living. Michael Bowers
lived at home with his parents until he was
twenty-three years of age. As he was the
next to the eldest in a large family, he was
early obliged to work, and had but limited
means of acquiring an education. In 1864,
feeling that his country needed his services, he
enlisted in the Twenty-fifth Indiana light in-
fantry, was sent to Nashville, and from there
marched to Huntsville, requiring twenty-two
days to make the trip, owing to the rain which
fell in torrents during sixteen days of the time.
From this place the regiment was sent to De-
catur, Ala., and here Mr. Bowers remained until
he was mustered out, and discharged July 24,
1865. He came home safely, but one of his
brothers died in the awful prison pen at An-
dersonville of starvation.
On leaving the army, Mr. Bowers engaged
in work for his uncle for $200 per year, and on
March 5, 1867, was united in marriage to
Martha E. Summers, daughter of Terrel and
Elizabeth (McClintock) Summers. Mrs. Bow-
ers was one of a family of four children, and
she became the mother of four children, but
died January 23, 1883. She had been a de-
voted member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and left a large circle of sorrowing
friends. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bow-
ers were: William O., a graduate of DePauw
university; Dora, the wife of George E. Painter,
who resides in Henry county; Laura, a teacher
in this county, and Edna. Mr. Bowers is the
owner of 102 acres of fine land, and this prop-
erty is the result of the honest and persever-
ing labor of its owner. He lives in much
comfort and is one of the representative farm-
ers of the county. In 1885, he married Mrs.
Dorothea J. Kirp, a widow with four children.
Socially, he is a member of the I. O. O. F.,
No. 561, located in Cowan. The Christian
church is the religious body with which he has
membership, and in this denomination he is
much esteemed. Politically he is a republi-
can, and boldly asserts the principles of that
party.
5>^^ OAH BOWERS deceased, was for
I M many years one of the most enter-
ic ^ prising and successful farmers and
stock growers of Delaware county.
He was born in Rockingham county, Va. ,
June I, 1826, and was a son of Jacob and
Susanna Bowers, of German descent, and the
parents of a family of nine children, viz: An-
drew, George, Noah, one unnamed, Shem,
Jacob and Elizabeth, all deceased; Christina,
wife of T. Sharp, and Susanna, wife of Joseph
Shirey. The parents of this family were con-
sistent members of the Presbyterian church,
and followed its teachings with unvarying
steadfastness. In politics the father was a
democrat.
Noah Bowers was reared on the old home-
stead in Virginia, where he passed his early
days in attending the "old field" schools in
winter and in assisting his father on the farm
in summer. At the age of twenty-four he be-
gan the race of life for himself, engaging in
Delaware county, Ind., to which he came
with his parents in 1835, in the vocation to
which he was reared — that of farming — in
which he met with phenomenal success. Janu-
ary 24, 1850, he married Miss Mary Sharp,
NOAH BOWERS.
v-f^
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
739
a sister of Thompson Sharp, of Washington
township, and present county commissioner,
and of William Sharp, of Salem township, in
whose sketches will be found full details re-
lating to the family of her parents. She bore
Mr. Bowers six children, who were born in
the following order: Elnora J., Sanford H.,
Charlie B. and Oliver P., all deceased; and
John G. , a liveryman of Muncie, and Joseph
F. , a successful physician of the same city.
September 13, 1870, Noah Bowers was
called from earth. He had long enjoyed the
esteem of the entire communit}-, who turned
out en masse to attend his funeral, which was
perhaps the largest that ever took place in the
township. His remains was interred in the
Sharp cemetery, and a magnificent monument
marks the location of his final resting place.
At the time of his death Mr. Bowers was the
owner of 600 acres of land, beside much other
valuable property — his administrator selling,
that year, hogs alone to the value of $4,000.
And let it be remembered that this great wealth
was all accumulated through his own unaided
industry and economy. His course through
life was upright and prudent, and his example
is one worthy the emulation of every poor boy
in the county, who should strive to so live that
he may leave an equally clear record behind
him.
In 1875, Mrs. Mary S. Bowers was united
in matrimony with Richard A. Andes, whose
sketch may be found elsewhere, and whose
home and life she is causing to be made as
happy as she had made those "of Mr. Bowers.
K
USSELL BOWERS, a prominent
young farmer of Salem township, is a
native of Delaware county, Ind., and
son of Jacob and Rebecca (Sharp)
Bowers. He was born in the township of Sa-
lem June 7, 1867, and grew to manhood on the
farm, attending in the meantime the public
schools, in which he acquired a fair knowledge
of the English branches. Subsequently, he
took a full business course in a commercial col-
lege at Dayton, Ohio, from which he gradua-
ted, and shortly thereafter spent two years in
the west, in the states of Missouri and Nebras-
ka. Returning to Delaware county, he re-
sumed farming, and has ever since carried on
the pursuit of agriculture with success and
financial profit. Mr. Bowers is yet a young
man and his life just in its prime. From early
boyhood it has been marked by industry and
economy, and by honest toil he has accumula-
ted a comfortable estate. He has a cozy home,
consisting of forty-six acres of fertile and well
tilled land, and among his fellow citizens he is
recognized as an upright and honorable man,
possessing the esteem and confidence of all
who know him. Mr. Bowers was married
January 31, 1889, to Lucinda J. Runyan,
daughter of Noah and Lydia Runyan, and one
child, Leonard Bowers, has come to brighten
their home. The parents of Mrs. Bowers
moved from Henry to Delaware county in
1 88 1, and purchased a farm in Salem town-
ship. Their children were three in number:
Emma and Ida, twins, and Lucina.
at
S. BRANDON, M. D.— In no de-
partment of biographical literature
is there more abundant cause for
inspiration and enthusiasm than in
writing of the medical profession. The per-
fect physician, whose smallest duty is the ad-
ministration of physic, and whose very pres-
ence heals, is a theme worthy the pen of a
gifted writer. Among the noted physicians of
Delaware county who are much regarded, and
whose fame has penetrated beyond her borders,
740
DELAWARE COUNTY:
is Dr. W. S. Brandon. He is yet a young
man, having been born in this county, in the
town of Yorktown, January 26, 1852, a son
of Joseph F. and Mary A. (Saxon) Brandon,
the father a native of Bourbon county, Ky.
Dr. Brandon was reared in Fairmount,
Grant county, Ind., where the most of his
boyhood was spent in school, and at the age
of eighteen he began the hfe of a teacher,
continuing thus until he was twenty-six years
of age. In 1876 he attended medical lectures
in the city of Cincinnati, and began practice
in Grant county, Ind., working faithfully
among the sick and needy from 1880 until
1881, when he attended the medical depart-
ment of the Butler university, from which he
graduated in the winter of 1 880-1. He then
located at Andrews, Ind., remaining there
until 1889, when he came to the pleasant vil-
lage of Daleville, where he has since been
actively engaged in the practice of his profes-
sion. He has taken advantage of every op-
portunity for perfecting his knowledge, and
during 1888 took a course in a hospital for
practice, going to New York for this purpose.
Dr. Brandon is a very pleasant and genial
companion, beside being a physician of rare
skill, and is a close student. His success in
his profession has been very gratifying, and
has gained him name and fame in the com-
munity. He is now pension examining sur-
geon for Delaware county. Fraternally he
is a member of the Masonic order and of the
Red Men, while in politics he is an ardent
democrat. In Van Buren, Grant county,
Ind., the doctor was united in marriage to
Miss Mary S. Green, who was born in that
county October 27, 1854, a daughter of Lott
and Polly Green. Two children have been
born to Doctor and Mrs. Brandon, Chloe and
Delia L. , both bright and prepossessing chil-
dren. Both the excellent doctor and his wife
are members of the Christian church, in which
they are not only members but active and
earnest workers.
BRANK DANIELS, of Daleville, Dela-
ware county, Ind. , is a member of the
firm of Daniels & Overman, owners
of one of the most successful mills in
this portion of the country. Mr. Daniels was
born in Madison county, Ind., July 15, 1853, a
son of F. W. and Lucinda (Heritage) Daniels,
natives of Virginia and Indiana respectively.
Mr. Daniels, Sr. , had the advantages of a good
education and for some years followed the
occupation of teacher, and then went into the
milling business in Alexandria, Ind., for a
period of four years. In 1871 he disposed of
his property, moved to Tennessee, and there
went into the milling business again, but was
so unfortunate as to be burned out and to lose
all of his property. Coming back to Indiana,
he located at Richmond, where he was again
engaged in milling for two years, removing
then to Middletown, Henry county, where he
died February 27, 1882. His widow still re-
sides in her comfortable home in Middletown.
In his political views he affiliated with the re-
publicans, and his wife is connected with
the Methodist Episcopal church. Two chil-
dren were born of this union, J. C, a resident
of Middletown, and Frank.
Frank Daniels was reared to the occupa-
tion of miller. _He received a good education
and was thus prepared to conduct business
successfully. In 1878 he, with his only
brother, bought the flouring mill at Middle-
town, and, after operating it until 1882 he
came to Salem township and purchased the
mill which he is now engaged in conducting.
Since 1889 he has had a partner in J. W.
Overman. They entirely refitted the mill
and put in the full roller process, with all
GRANVILLE ELLISON.
MRS. A. C. ELLISON.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
lil
modern improvements, and it is now con-
ducted as a first class mill and is doing a good
business. Mr. Daniels was married February
17, 1880, to Miss Cora Moore, daughter of
John K. and Elnora (Crini) Moore, of English
extraction, and one child has been born of
this union, namely, Edith. Politically, Mr.
Daniels adheres to the republican party, and is
one of the progressive and wide awake citizens
of the town of Daleville.
@RANVILLE ELLISON is a well-to-
do and much esteemed citizen of
Daleville, and was born in Monroe
county, W. Va. , February 17, 1825.
He is the son of James and Susanna (Mitchell)
Ellison. His parents were born in the same
county, and reared their family there until
1838, when they moved to Madison county,
Ind., and lived there until death — the father
passing away in 1856 and the mother in 1865.
The grandfather of Granville Ellison was a
Frenchman, and came to America as a soldier
during the Revolutionary war, remaining and
becoming a worthy citizen. The parents of
Mr. Ellison were of French and English de-
scent, and reared the following family: Fan-
nie, widow of James Pearson, of Madison
county; Lucy, widow of William Fox, Madi-
son county; Granville, Ellen, Riley, living at
home; Elizabeth, James, deceased; Jesse, died
in the army; John living in Missouri; Joseph,
living in Kansas; WiUiam, David, living in
this county; Buckels and Susanna. James
Ellison was a whig of the Henry Clay school;
was a successful man, having acquired several
hundred acres of land. He and his wife were
members of the Baptist church. Five of the
sons above named entered the Union army
and fought bravely.
Granville Ellison was brought up on a farm,
and received but a limited education. The
chief schooling was received in the college of
economy. He was married in Delaware county,
in 1846, to Mary Hurley, born in the county,
the daughter of John and Phebe (Coon) Hurley,
of German and Irish descent respectively. By
this marriage Mr. Ellison became the father of
four children, two of whom attained maturity:
John, a carpenter, of Leachville; and Emma
F., wife of Alfred Hoppos, of Daleville. The
mother of these children died January 5, 1878,
and was buried in the Ellison cemetery. Mr.
Ellison lived in Madison county until 1879,
when he removed to Daleville, where he mar-
ried his present wife August 5, 1879; she being
the daughter of Abraham and Rosanna (Sum-
mers) Dipboye. Arbena C. Dipboye was born at
Newmarket, Va. , September 17, 1823. Her
father and mother were of French and German
descent respectively. This wife was the widow
of J. Hurley, by whom she had twelve chil-
dren, namely: Phebe, John, Frank M., Sarah,
Milton, Maryette, William, Arbena, Rohanna,
Homer, Emeline and Harriet. Mr. and Mrs.
Ellison are members of the New Light or
Christian church. Mr. Ellison was engaged in
manufacturing for a short time, but is now re-
tired from all business, and living quietly at
Daleville. Until the outbreak of the civil war
he was a democrat, but since that time has
voted the republican ticket until last year,
when he supported the Weaver ticket, and he
is now an alliance man.
aAREY FENWICK is a prominent
builder and contractor of Salem town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind., and was
born in Highland county, Ohio, Jan-
uar}' 4, 1833, a son of William and Mary
(Gilbert) Fenwick, the former a native of
Ohio, and the latter of Kentucky, of English
742
DELAWARE COUNTY:
and Welsh ancestry, respectively. The par-
ents immigrated to Indiana in 1835, S-nd Mrs.
Fenwick died in that state in 1844, her hus-
band living until 1882, when he passed away
at the age of eighty years.
Carey Fenwick, at the age of eleven years,
went to live in the family of Jonathan Shepp,
one of the old pioneers of Delaware county.
Mr. Shepp took young Fenwick to live with
him until he was eighteen years of age, giving
him his board and clothes, and for one year
extra a horse, saddle and bridle. At the age
of nineteen years Mr. Fenwick began to learn
the carpenter trade, working under Mr. Shepp,
and, spending two years more in the employ
of Green Brandon, acquiring great proficiency
in his chosen calling in the meantime.
In October 28, 1858, Mr. Fenwick was
married to Miss Elizabeth Saunders, daughter
of John and Levina (Sullivan) Saunders, who
were natives of North Carolina, of Irish ori-
gin. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders emigrated to the
state of Tennessee, thence to Ohio, and from
there to Delaware county, Ind. After his
marriage Mr. Fenwick continued working at
his trade, and during the period up to 1870
did a good business and became well known
as a builder and contractor, but at that time
he abandoned carpentry and engaged in farm-
ing, which he has since followed with encour-
aging success. To Mr. and Mrs. Fenwick
have been born the following named children:
Mary J., born May 4, i860, wife of Samuel
C. Rinker, and they now reside in Salem
township; Lowell H., born February 8, 1862,
married Mary Grow and resides in Daleville;
Joseph N., born January 10, 1865, and is a
teacher in Delaware county; John N., born
July 22, 1867, resides in Colorado; Carey P.,
born September i, 1871; Jephtha V., born
November 24, 1874; Viola J., born April 21,
1878, and Grover S., born April 10, 1884.
Mr. Fenwick has never united with any church
organization, but Mrs. Fenwick is one of the
most valued members of the Christian church.
Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F. ,
having joined Daleville lodge. No. 309, June
6, 1868, and has held all the offices in the
lodge. In his political views, Mr. Fenwick
affiliates with the democratic party, believing
that the principles enunciated by that party
are the best for the government of the country.
'^-t'OHN G. hupp is a prominent farmer
m of Salem township, located on sections
^ 1 7 and 13 in Delaware county, Ind. He
was born in this county March 29, 1824,
and was here reared and attended school.
His first school house will be long remem-
bered by him, as it was built of logs, with,
greased paper in place of glass in the windows,
and the seats were of the roughest boards.
Mr. Hupp was not able to attend this temple
of learning very regularly, as his father was in
limited circumstances and required his son's
assistance upon the farm. He faithfully worked
until he was twenty-two with his father, and
on March 3, 1866, was united in marriage with
Miss Emma Myers, a daughter of Solomon and
Louisa Myers and a sister of Jane (Myers) Sle-
gel, the wife of Henry Slegel. At this time he
was in poor financial condition — in fact, find-
ing it necessary to borrow the money with
which to purchase his wedding outfit — ^but he
decided to make a success of his life and worked
hard. The first land purchased by him was
forty acres in Salem township, and to this he
kept adding until he now has 140, the greater
part of which has been earned by the sweat of
his brow. The same spring of their marriage,
Mr. and Mrs. Hupp united with the Christian
church, of which they have since been good
and conscientious members. They are the
parents of four children : Ida B. , wife of
J. J. HURLEY.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
743
Charles Hays, of Green county; Aggie, wife of
C. Lambert; Josephine, wife of Henry Rinker,
and Walter. Mr. Hupp is a home loving man,
never having been outside of his county except
once when he went to Dayton, Ohio, and once
when he intended to enter the army during the
late war, but his relatives finally succeeded in
pursuading him to remain at home. Politi-
cally he is a republican, and has been one ever
since the formation of the party.
>^OHN J. HURLEY in an old and hon-
M ored resident of Delaware county, Ind. ,
/» 1 was born January lo, 1841, and is a
son of Joannan and Arbena (Deboise)
Hurley, the former of Scotch and the latter of
German ancestry, and both natives of Virginia.
At the age of ten years Joannan Hurley ac-
companied his father to Delaware county,
Ind., and worked at the stone cutting trade,
in connection with farming, and died April 26,
1875. I^is widow subsequently married Gran-
ville Ellison, whose sketch appears on another
page of this volume. John J. Hurley remained
under the parental roof until July 11, 1863,
when he enlisted in the Seventh Indiana regi-
ment, was examined and mustered into service
at Indianapolis, and was then sent to Ken-
tucky. His first experience under fire was
near Memphis. He, with others, was riding
on the top of a car when the party was fired
upon by a band of guerrillas, and he was hit
in his right limb. When he reached the hos-
pital at Memphis, it was found that he had
twenty-three holes in his clothes, although but
the one shot had taken serious effect; he sus-
tained, however, four flesh wounds. This
mishap made it necessary for him to be con-
fined to the hospital for some time, but as
soon as he was able he rejoined his command
at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where he received
his discharge, Februarys, 1865. Immediately
after the close of the war Mr. Hurley returned
home, where he remained until he married,
which event occurred January 12, 1878, with
Miss Melvina Shaffer, a native of Virginia and
daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Gund)
Shaffer, both natives of Virginia and of Ger-
man descent. Two children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Hurley, namely; Garland
H., born January 7, 1879, and Berzman,
born April 5, 1881. The first purchase of
real estate, by Mr. Hurley, consisted of eighty
acres, of which he became possessor before
marriage, and since that time he has become
owner of 136 acres of land, all of which is
suitable for farming purposes and is well de-
veloped. He has shown, in his manner of
farming, that he is a man of thrift and energy
and understands his own business. Frater-
nally he is a Mason, and for several years has
held the office of tyler in the lodge, located
formerly at Chesterfield, but now known as
lodge No. 53, Middletown. He is a republi-
can, and believes the principles enunciated by
that party to be for the best interest of the
government. He has held the office of town-
ship assessor, and in the discharge of the
duties of that position has given satisfaction to
all concerned. Mr. Hurley is a worthy citizen,
is remembered for his gallant services during
the late war, and for his honest, upright life
in times of peace.
>Y'AMES H. JONES.— Perhaps nothing
J will impress the reader of this volume
ntj of biographical sketches of prominent
residents of Delaware county, Ind ,
more forcibly than that so many of them have
arisen by their own efforts from comparative
poverty to their present positions of affluence,
and that their success has been so often at-
744
DELAWARE COUNTY:
tained without any early educational advan-
tages. The life of James H. Jones, subject of
the present sketch, is a case in point.
James H. Jones was born in Fayette
county, Ind. , May 26, 18 19, and is a son of
James M. and Mary (Ostian) Jones, both na-
tives of South Carolina, the former of Irish
and the latter of English ancestry. The
parents emigrated from North Carolina to
Indiana in 1808, locating first in Franklin
county, and later removing to the county of
Fayette. They reared a family of nine chil-
dren, as follows: John, Balis, Bufur, Jane H.,
Elizabeth, and Mary, all deceased; Martha,
James and David W. (the last also deceased).
At the early age of seventeen James H. Jones
began life for himself. He engaged in all kinds
of honorable work, principally farming, and
received from $8 to $12 a month. For one
man he worked four years, giving entire satis-
faction. His school advantages were none at
all beyond learning the rudiments of reading
and writing, but he taught himself, and, pos-
sessing an active mind and business tact, has
succeeded well in his battle with the world in
spite of his early disadvantage. Learning the
cabinet maker trade, he worked at that for
three months, and then engaged in carpentry,
for which work he seemed especially fitted by
nature. Before long he was able to make and
fill contracts, and from that time, aided by his
honest and persistent efforts and good habits,
his life was successful In 1841 he married
Miss Martha Stewart, daughter of Samuel and
Mary (McKibben) Stewart, and by this union
has become the father of three children, viz:
John S., born September 22, i€44; Samuel
T., born February 8, 1847, and David H.,
January i, 1852. Mrs. Jones died March
3, 1854.
After his marriage, Mr. Jones bought twenty
acres of land in the timber, upon which he
erected a log house, and the smoke from his
pioneer home soon arose in the wilderness. At
that time game was still abundant and filled
the larder during the winter season, and during
the summers he worked at his trade, which he
followed for many years, also giving his atten-
tion to his now much enlarged, and well cul-
tivated farm. He owns 190 acres of improved
land, and is the fortunate possessor of a very
commodious and comfortable country home.
March 3, 1853, Mrs. Jones died, leaving three
children. January 5, 1855, Mr. Jones married
Miss Martha J. Bennett, and six children have
been born of this union, as follows: Joseph B.,
born February i, 1856; Arabella, born October
2, 1857; Frank W., born August 3, i860;
Albert B., born September 25, 1862; an infant
son, born October 16, 1867; and Martha, born
December 16, 1869. Mrs. Jones was removed
by death, December 16, 1891, Mr. Jones
again being left a sad and lonely man. Politi-
cally Mr. Jones is an ardent democrat, and his
sons join with him in voting the democratic
ticket. He is one of the best known, and most
highly respected men of the community where
he has so long resided.
HNDREW J. McAllister, one of
the successful farmers of Salem town-
ship who has passed off the stage of
life, was born in the state of Ohio
and was a son of Alexander and Ruanna McAl-
lister, natives of Virginia and Ohio, and of
Irish ancestry. Mr. McAllister grew up in his
native place and about 1854 married Miss Ma-
tilda Luce, the daughter of Benjamin and
Anna (Jarrard) Luce, the former of whom was
born in Kentucky of German parentage, and
the latter was English by descent, born on the
Ohio river. Mrs. Anna Luce was the mother
of fifteen children, six of whom were girls, and
all lived to maturity with the exception of two.
MRS. MARTHA J. JONES.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
745
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McAllister re-
sulted in a family of six children, as follows :
Francis J., born in 1857, married Mollie Jerni-
gan and resides in Delaware county; Henry J.,
born in 1859, married a Miss Daily and resides
in Iowa; Catherine A., born in 1861, married
William Delinger and resides in Virginia;
Oliver P., born in 1863, married Rachel Parker
and resides in Iowa; Viola B., born in 1865,
died in February, 1866, anil Joseph A., born
in 1867, married Emma Riser and resides in
Delaware county.
By occupation Mr. McAllister was a farmer
and followed this calling all his life, dying in
1 88 1 and leaving a widow and five children.
His remains lie in Painter cemetery. His son
Francis is now farming the old home place,
and here Mrs. McAllister resided for the next
two years, when she married Calloway Pierce,
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.
The church to which Mr. McAllister was con-
nected was the Christian, and in its welfare he
took a deep interest. He was a republican in
his politics, and all the boys have imbibed
their father's principles. Mrs. McAllister is
a member of the Methodist church, and two
of the children also joined that denomination.
James E. Pierce was born in Salem town-
ship, Delaware county, April 21, 1863, a son
of Calloway and Ruanna (Goodpasture) Pierce
— the father born in Montgomery county, W.
Va. , September 17, 1822, and the mother at
Lebanon, Ohio, December 10, 1827, of Eng-
lish ancestry. These parents were married in
Delaware county and by occupation were
farmers, although for some years Mr Pierce
worked at intervals at the carpentering trade.
He was a successful man in business, and al-
though he began with nothing he attained a
comfortable competency. He reared a family
of eight children, six living as follows:
Thomas, Calvin, Walter, William, Flora, and
Mattie, deceased. The mother of this family
died November 27, 1873, and Mr. Pierce now
lives in Daleville the life of a retired farmer.
James E. Pierce was reared on his father's
farm and from early life was accustomed to
hard work. He received a good education
and prepared himself for teaching, which pro-
fession he followed for ten years, two years of
which time he was principal of the Princeton
schools and two years were passed in the same
capacity in Daleville. He then engaged in
drugs, and has built up a very fine business in
this line. His means were sniall at first, but
since 1891 he has continually .progressed and
now is considered one of the rising young men
of the place. Mr. Pierce was married April
24, 1884, to Miss Donnie Brindel, who was
born in Yorktown, this county, April 24, 1864,
a daughter of M. G. and Margaret Brindel, of
German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have a
family of five children, as follows; Leona,
Ralph, Chester, and Herbert and Russell,
twins. Mrs. Pierce is a member of the Metho-
dist church, a lady of many excellent traits.
Politically, Mr. Pierce is a republican.
ePHRIAM McCONNELL, a repre-
sentative business man and manu-
facturer of the town of Daleville,
Ind., was born, in Delaware county,
August II, 1850. His father, John McCon-
nell, and his mother, whose maiden name was
Mary E. Cavault, were both natives of Ohio,
and they reared a family of seven children, of
whom the following reached the years of ma-
turity: Thomas N., Abraham, Bethuel, Mary
E., Ephriam, and John D. The parents of
these children died in the years of 1854 and
1876, respectively, and are remembered as
most excellent people.
Ephriam McConnell passed the years of
his youth and early manhood amid the routine
746
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of farm labor, received a practical education
in the common schools, and for some time,
after beginning life upon his own responsibility,
found employment at various occupations.
He early turned his attention to the manufac-
ture of lumber, having manifested a decided
preference in that direction, and, becoming
the possessor of a saw mill, operated the same
very successfully for some years, in the town-
ship where he now resides. Disposing of his
first saw mill he subsequently purchased
another, which, in turn, gave place to a third,
and he is operating the last one very ex-
tensively, at the town of Daleville, at this
time. Since about the year 1887, Mr. Mc-
Connell has been associated in the manufac-
ture of lumber with J. N. Dale, but he is best
known among the mill men as the inventor and
patentee of the the most complete appliance for
the elevating of saw dust or grain ever put upon
the market. He received letters patent for
this valuable invention on the 28th of June,
1892, since which date, in connection with
the lumber interests, he has been selling the
exclusive right to manufacture the same
among the mill men of Indiana and a number
of other states. The chief characteristic of
Mr. McConnell's life is an energy which hesi-
tates at no obstacle, and his business career
has been .marked by a success such as few,
whose early struggles were similar to his, have
attained. He is famiHar with the lumber
trade in all its details, and as an inventor of
the useful appliance above noted, his name is
destined to become still more widely and
favorably known among the people interested
in machinery, wherever lumber is manufac-
tured.
Mr. McConnell was united in marriage in
September, 1873, to Miss Sarah E. Miller,
daughter of Elijah and Mary Miller, of Ger-
man and Irish lineage respectively, from which
union have sprung the following children:
Willie O., Ada B., Wattie A., Walter and
John L. Mr. McConnell and family are
highly respected and consistent members of
the United Brethren church, and in the esti-
mation of the people of the town they are
held in the highest regard.
^^AMUEL McNAIRY, a resident of
•^^^ Salem township, Delaware county,
^^^ J Ind. , and one of her bravest ex-sol-
diers, was born in this county, Sep-
aember 13, 1840, a son of Francis and Mary
(Price) McNairy, both of them natives of North
Carolina, of Irish origin, who emigrated to
Indiana in the year 1831. In 1870, Mrs.
McNairy died, and some time after Mr. Mc-
Nairy remarried.
Samuel McNairy was one of a family of
four children, and had no educational advan-
tages whatever. He was obliged to assist his
father in clearing up the farm, and worked
very faithfully until he had attained his major-
ity. In the memorable year, 1862, he en-
listed in the Union army, entering the Eighty-
fourth Indiana infantry, under Capt. Taylor,
of Muncie, and later served under the famous
Capt. McClellan, of Muncie.
Mr. McNairy experienced his first camp
life at Richmond, Ind., going from there to
Covington, Ky. , and then to Catlettsburg,
thence to Nashville, and from there to Frank-
fort, where he was taken sick and was sent to
the hospital at Nashville. In about six months
he rejoined the regiment, again resolved to do
his full duty, at Blue Springs, Tenn. , and there
the regiment remained during the winter of
1863-4. In the spring the regiment belonged
to that grand army, which, under the leader-
ship of Gen. Sherman, started to the sea, but
our brave soldier got no farther than Kenesaw
Mountain, where he was shot through the leg.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
747
He was then taken to the hospital at Chatta-
nooga, where he remained two weeks, being
then sent to Nashville, where the ball was re-
moved, entailing much suffering. After two
weeks in the hospital he was sent home on
furlough, and two months later rejoined the
regiment at Pulaski, Tenn., and was in time to
assist at the battle of Nashville, following
which came his honorable discharge at Nash-
ville.
March 28, 1867, Mr. McNairy married Miss
Margaret McAllister, daughter of Andrew and
Nancy (Johnson) McAllister, and three chil-
dren were born of this union: Mary B., the
wife of Elmer Pittenger, of this township;
Samuel A., born November i, 1873, and died
September 21, 1874; Osee A., born May 15,
1876, was the third. Politically, Mr. McNairy
is a democrat, and believes firmly in the doc-
trines of that party. Sociall}', he is a member
of the I. O. O. F., of lodge No. 345, located
at Yorktown. He and wife, and one daughter,
are members of the Christian church, and the
family is much esteemed in the neighborhood.
Walltown, Winchester, Fisher Hill, Newmarket,
and Cedar Creek. This list represents regu-
lar engagements in which Mr. May took an
active part, and, strange as it may appear, he
passed through all of* this dangerous time
without a wound. He gave four years of the
best part of his life to his country, being hon-
orably discharged at Darien, Ga. , August 28,
1865, although he received no pension until
April 27, 1 89 1, when the government granted
him $4 per month, but this was increased
November 17, 1892, to $8 per month.
Three years after his return he married
Miss Melissa Helvie, daughter of Henry and
Lillie Helvie, Mrs. May being a native of Vir-
ginia. Mr. and Mrs. May are the parents of
the following children: George E., born
August 21, 1870; Lillie F. , born May 21,
1872; Mertie L. , born October 19, 1874.
Politically Mr. May is a republican, and is one
of the good citizens of the township who merit
the esteem of the community.
'^t'ONATHAN MAY is a prominent farmer
M of Salem township, who is now en-
(• / gaged in managing his fine farm on
section 32. He is the son of George
and Leana (Sheets) May, and one of a family
of twelve children, seven of whom are yet
living. He was reared on the home farm and
continued under the parental roof until the
time of his enlistment, at the age of nineteen,
under Capt. Tykle. He was sent to St. Louis,
and during his service took part in the follow-
ing battles: Rich Mountain, W. Va., Black
\\'ater, Mo., Sugar Creek, Ark., Pea Ridge,
Ark., Cotton Plant, Ark., Champion Hills,
Jackson, Big Black, Vicksburg, Jackson, No.
2, Fort Esperanza, Austin, Baton Rouge,
*---» AMBERT MOFFETT.— The follow-
I I ing sketch concerns one of the pio-
I ^ neer settlers of Delaware county,
Ind., who has passed out of life,
leaving behind him a record to which his chil-
dreh turn with pride, as he was an honest,
industrious and successful man, who lived a
life of peace and died respected by the com-
munity. His birth occurred early in the cen-
tury, December 12, 1806, in Granger county,
Tenn., and later he accompanied his parents
to Fayette county, Ind. His parents were
natives of Ireland. Of the early life of Mr.
Moffett but meager accounts are accessible,
but of his life as a. pioneer and the privations
and vicissitudes of those early days local his-
tory gives us a few glimpses. He was married
December 18, 1832, to Miss Maria McCray,
748
DELAWARE COUNTY;
following which event he worked four years in
a saw mill, then immigrated to Delaware
county, Ind., in 1836, with his young wife.
They here entered 160 acres and bought eighty.
The father-in-law of Mr. Moffett gave him
$125, but this was all the assistance he ever
received, all the labor involved in the clearing
up of this land was done by himself.
At the time of the settlement of Mr. Mof-
fett in this locality, the land was covered with
dense forest and the amount of labor to make
of it a cultivated and productive farm was
simply prodigious. Mrs. Moffett died Sep-
tember 23, 1887, and five years later Mr.
Moffett passed away at the age of eighty-five
years. His life had been one of hard work,
but he had made it successful in a financial
way and left a fine property to his children.
In his political behef he was a democrat and
all the sons follow the example of their father.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Moffett are
as follows: Elizabeth, born May 5, 1834, and
was the wife of A. Pence, she dying March 16,
1869; Samuel C, born January it, 1836,
married October 2, 1862, to Miss Rebecca
Dewitt; Susan M , born November 18, 1837,
and married David Campbell, but died July
13, i860; James T. , born September 11,
1839; Sarah J., born July 31, 1841; William
H., born February 10, 1844; Nancy A., born
November 22, 1845, married Taylor Clark;
Jemima, born June 3, 1848, married Henry
Stewart; John T. , born October 29, 1850;
Clarinda E., born February 12, 1853, married
Thomas Barrett, and Lambert E., born Au-
gust 9, 1855. The last named with his sister
Sarah now own the old homestead. They
are people of the greatest respectability in the
county where their homes have always been.
The children married above have maintained
the enviable reputation established by their
parents, and are a credit to the township in
which they live.
at
ILLIAM M, MOORE, a successful
farmer and an ex-soldier, now liv-
ing upon his own farm in Salem
township, Delaware county, Ind.,
was born in Franklin county. Pa., March 26,
1846, a son of David M. and Effie E.
(McEwen) Moore, both of whom were natives
of the Keystone state. Mr. Moore was of
German and his wife was of Irish descent,
both vigorous and enterprising people.
They immigrated to Middletown, Ind., Sep-
tember I, 1848, where Mr. Moore followed
his trade of wagonmaker for some time, later
in life becoming a farmer. His death occur-
red in 1880; Mrs. Moore still survives, and
resides with a daughter in Fall Creek town-
ship, Henry county.
William M. Moore is one of a family of
ten children, and remained with his parents
until he enlisted in the Union army during the
late war. November 18, 1861, he entered the
One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Indiana
volunteer infantry, under Captain Jackson,
and was sent to Indianapolis, thence to Lou-
isville, then to Nashville and to Murfreesboro,
and took part in the battle of Buzzard's Roost,
this being the first engagement with Hood.
They went all through Georgia, and Mr. Moore
was with his regiment and participated in the
battles, skirmishes and marches of that brill-
iant campaign and followed Hood's army to
Clifton, Tenn. They also were through North
Carolina, and the last engagement was at
Kinston, that state. They were mustered out
the last day of August, 1865, at Greensboro,
and arrived safely in Indianapolis, September
10, 1865.
After his return from the army, Mr. Moore
worked at the trade of wagonmaker for four
years, but later became a farmer, and now
owns a fine place, well improved, which he has
obtained by his own honest and untiring labor.
He was married January 15, 1873, to Margaret
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
E. Vanmatre, the daughter of Henry and Eliz-
abeth (Summers) Vanmatre, and by this union
seven children have been born, four of whom
are now living, the family record being as fol-
lows : Iva Ethel, born November i, 1873;
Sadie V.. born February 20, 1875; Joseph H.,
born February 23, 1877; Carrie B., born No-
vember 18, 1879; Blanchie, born August 11,
1 88 1, and died December 20 of the same year;
Helen V., born May 28, 1888, and died Janu-
ary 31, 1889, and William M., born March 16,
i8go, and died August 20, 1891. Politically
Mr. Moore is a republican, and is well known
and much esteemed in the county.
>^OHN MORELAND, a representative
m citizen of the township of Salem, and
n 1 one of the intelligent and progressive
agriculturists of Delaware county,
Ind., is a native of Pennsylvania, and son of
David Moreland, who was born in the Key-
stone state in 1792. David Moreland lived in
Pennsylvania until 1854, at which time he
immigrated to Indiana, locating in the county
of Henry, where he engaged in farming, and
where his death subsequently occurred. His
wife, Isabelle Long, whom he married in 1821,
was born October 17, 1797, in the above
state, and bore her husband six children, of
whom John Moreland is first in order of birth.
John Moreland, as stated above, is a na-
tive of Pennsylvania, born March 9, 1822, in
the county of Franklin, where the years of his
early youth were passed. His father being in
rather indifferent circumstances financially,
young John was compelled to remain at home
and contribute his share to the support of the
family, in consequence of which he had but
little time for acquiring an education. He re-
mained with his parents until his twenty-fifth
year, looking after their interests with com-
mendable fidelity in the meantime, and then,
for a number of years, obtained a livelihood at
any kind of honest labor to which he could
turn his hand. At the age of thirty-three Mr.
Moreland was united in marriage to Mary Ann
Brumbaugh, the result of which union is seven
children, whose names are as follows: John,
William, David, Henry, Emma, Elizabeth,
and Frank. Mrs. Moreland is the daughter of
Abram and Elizabeth Brumbaugh, and dates
her birth from the 27th day of January, 1830.
For a number of years Mr. Moreland
rented farms in various parts of the country,
but in 1870, purchased the place where he now
resides in Salem township, owning a comfort-
able home in which a true hearted hospitality
is generously dispensed by both himself and
wife. Mr. Moreland belongs to that large and
highly respected class of people who do much,
in a quiet way, toward the moral and the well
beinj; of the community, and he is content to
pursue the peaceful vocation of a tiller of the
soil rather than aspire to official preferment,
political or otherwise. Originally, he was an
old line whig, casting his first presidential ballot
for Henry Clay, but since the dissolution of
that party, he has been earnest in his allegi-
ance to the principles of its successor, the
republican party. Mr. and Mrs. Moreland
united with the Lutheran church in 1873, and
have been consistent members of that denomi-
nation from that time until the present.
HLFRED M. PENCE, an honored cit-
izen and one of the most influential
men of Salem township, Delaware
county, Ind., was born in Henry
county, Ind , January 13, 1837, son of Chris-
tian and Frances (Fisher) Pence, who were
both natives of Rockingham county, Va. , of
German extraction. Christian Pence came
750
DELAWARE COUNTY:
with his family from the old home, traveling
in a wagon, to the new state of Indiana, in-
tending to fount! a home in the wilderness.
They entered i6o acres of land in Jefferson
township, Henry county, and lived in the
traveling wagon until they could erect a log
cabin in the woods. These were lonely and
trying times, as they were among the early
pioneers of the section and were obliged to
subsist mainly on wild game, which fortunately
was very abundant.
Mr. and Mrs. Pence reared eight children
in this pioneer home, of which family Alfred
M. is a representative. Although hardships
had to be endured, perhaps the privations of
those times taught children lessons of self de-
nial and economy which served to help them
in after years over many rough places. Chris-
tian Pence lived until 1875 and his wife until
1884.
Alfred M. lived with his parents and as-
sisted in the clearing up of the large farm, at-
tending, perhaps, one monlh out of twelve on
the nearest school. In 1864, he enlisted in
the ranks of the Union army, but one week be-
fore this he married Miss Delilah J. Painter,
daughter of Abraham and Rhoda (Sanders)
Painter, natives of Henry county. Notwith-
standing this occurrence, Mr. Pierce left his
young bride, as his country needed his stal-
wart services, and marched away in company
H, One Hundred and Fortieth Indiana regi-
ment, leaving Indianapolis November 15, 1864.
-The regiment reached Murfreesboro, Tenn.,
on the twenty-second of the same month and
took an active part in all of the battles around
Nashville during Hood's raid, joining the Third
brigade at Columbus and arriving in Clinton,
Tenn., January 8, when they embarked for
Fortress Monroe, landing at Fort Fisher Feb-
ruary 7, 1865, and participated in the fights
around Wilmington, took part in the battle at
Fort Anderson, was on the skirmish line for
two days on Town Creek, N. C, and entered
Wilmington February 22, 1865. He also par-
ticipated in the skirmishing around Kings-
ton and Raleigh, and was also at the final
surrender; the regiment was mustered out of
the service at Greensboro, N. C, July 11,
1865. He was honorably discharged July
26, and returned home, after a year of
hard fighting, without a wound. After the
war he settled down to an agricultural life, in
which he has reaped success. His has been a
happy home and he and good wife have had
born to them a family of twelve children, as
follows: Otto B., born June 19, 1867; Leroy
M., deceased, born April 21, 1869; John D.,
born March 13, 1871; Hattie M., born Octo-
ber 4, 1873; Walter R., born April 21, 1875;
Mary E., born July i, 1877; Francis M., born
May 8, 1879, deceased; Lenona, born June
12, 1 881; Deha F., born August 21, 1882;
William O., born January 26, 1885; Chester
A., born September 26, 1888, and Jessie,,
born April 21, 1891. Althouge Mr. Pence
has been very fortunate both in peace and
war, he has sometimes felt the hand of afflic-
tion, one case being the burning of his barn,
in 1590, which caused the loss of 500 bushels
of wheat and all of his farming implements,
but he has fully recoved from that, has built
a finer barn and is most comfortably situated,
being a very fine farmer.
aALAWAY PIERCE, a retired farmer
of Daleville, Salem township, Dela-
ware county, Ind., was born in Mont-
gomery county, in what is now West
Virginia., September 26, 1822, and is a son of
Thomas and Susanna (Thompson) Pierce, na-
tives of the same state. They were married
in West Virginia (then a portion of Old Vir-
ginia), in 18 1 8, and resided there on their
^ ^^c^^^c^^^i^^^^c^y ^^c£^ej^
Mrs.Ruannah Pierce.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
761
farm until 1828, at which time they removed
to Clarke county, Ohio, and then to Miami in
1S30, but were not over pleased with the coun-
try, and consequently tarried there but three
years, when, in 1833, they came to Indiana,
and settled in Salem township, Delaware
county, when the mother died in 1840, and
the father in 1855. Beside their son Calaway
they had born to them ten children, viz: Ma-
linda, Rebecca, Amanda, Susanna, Eliza,
Arminda, Jane, Vorintha and two infants that
died unnamed. The parents were devout
members of the Methodist Episcopal church;
the father who was a very successful man
through life, was in politics a stanch democrat.
Calaway Pierce remained on the home
farm, sharing its hard toil and its rude enjoy-
ments, until he was eight years of age, and
doubtless found more of toil than he did of
enjoyment in the rugged life; yet he learned
many lessons in thrift, industry and frugality
that were afterward of benefit to him and laid
for him the foundation of a future competence
in the same vocation, which he eventually
adopted as his life pursuit. On leaving the
home place he employed himself at farm labor
by the month for two years, and then engaged
in carpenter work for nineteen years in Tipton
county, Ind. He then moved back to Dela-
ware connty, and in 1859 resumed his old oc-
cupation of farming, purchasing a tract of 120
acres of land in Salem township, which he
cultivated with great success for several years,
but which he later sold, and then bought a
tract in of eighty-eight acres in Richwood,
same township, which he continued to work
with profit until 1892, when he retired to
Daleville, to enjoy in peace, ease and honor
the reward of his early toil.
Mr. Pierce was first married in Delaware
county, January 11, 1849, to Ruannah Good-
pasture, of Warren county, born December
10, 1827, and this union was fruitful in the
birth of eight children, who were named as
follows: Thomas, Walter, Flora, James E.,
Calvin, John, William, and Mattie. The
mother of this family was called upon to part
from her children November 28, 1870, and
laid to rest in Palmer cemetery. After duly
and sincerely mourning her loss, November
28, 1882, Mr. Pierce chose a second companion
to share his joys and sorrows, and wedded
Matilda McAllister, whose name has been ad-
verted to elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce are
members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
and by their daily walk through life give evi-
dence of the sincerity of their faith. Mr.
Pierce is also a member of lodge No. 271, A.
& F. M., and in politics is a republican, under
which party he has filled several township
offices. To such men as Mr. Pierce it is that
the prosperity of every township is due.
HARON RINKER is an enterprising
farmer residing in section 7, Salem
township, and is a native of Henry
county, Ind. He was born April 16,
1842, a son of John and Jane (Clevenger)
Rinker and a brother of Daniel Rinker, whose
sketch appears below, in alphabetical order.
Aaron Rinker spent the days of his boyhood
and youth on his father's farm, attending
school in the neighborhood about one month
in the year. His father had a large family to
support and needed Aaron to assist on the
farm, hence his education was somewhat neg-
lected. In the spring of 1862, he enlisted in
the Union army, entering the Thirty-sixth
Indiana regiment under Col. Groose. From
Indianapolis he was sent to Jeffersonville, to
Louisville and Nashville with his regiment,
then was sent to Pittsburg, and was placed on
detached duty to drive cattle. The party
started from Chattanooga, Tenn., with 3,000
752
DELAWARE COUNTY:
head of cattle for the arm) . About 125 miles
from Atlanta they were attacked by the Con-
federates, who captured 1,500 of the cattle,
and his partners were also captured, but he
managed to reach Atlanta, where he joined
his regiment. The regiment had a skirmish
at Jonesborough, and from Atlanta they went
to Frankfort, Tenn., thence to Nashville, and
then on to Athens, Ala., where they went into
winter quarters. In the fall of 1863 he went
to Dalton, 111., with Confederate prisoners.
He faithfully served his country for two years
and participated in many skirmishes and bat-
tles, but never received a wound. He burst
some of the veins in his legs by hard march-
ing and had to be taken to the hospital on ac-
count of it, but as soon as able, he went back
again to his army life.
At the close of the war Mr. Rinker return-
ed home and gave his attention to the tilling
of the soil, soon after his return being married
to Wilminna Schlegel, a daughter of Henry
and Margaret (Bush) Schlegel, and by this
union three children were born, as follows:
Clarence, born October 22, 1867, died May 3,
1877; Henry, born December 10, 1870, and
1890 married to Miss Josie Hupp, and is now
farming his father's farm; Maggie, now Mrs.
Charles Painter, of this township. In 1866,
Mr. Rinker moved on the place where he how
lives, it then being owned by his father, but
four years later he bought eighty acres of the
place for $3,200, paying down $1,000, and he
now owns 145 acres of fine land. He has
identified himself with the best interests of
the township and county, and is numbered
among the representative citizens. Since his
return from the army he has been a republican,
and is a prominent member of the G. A. R.
post, holding the office of surgeon, the head-
quarters being in Daleville. Both he and
family are members of the United Brethren
church, in which they are highly regarded.
Mr. Rinker is deservedly considered one of
the best citizens of the county, has a fine war
record, and is universally esteemed.
^y^ ANIEL RINKER is a well-to-do and
I I honest farmer of Salem township, and
^•^^^ one of the early settlers of Delaware
county. He was born in Union
county in 1832, November 7, and is one of a
family of eleven children, seven sons and four
daughters, all of them living except two of the
last. John Rinker, his father, was born in
Shenandoah, Va. , in 1803, and followed farm-
ing throughout his life, which was such as to
command the respect of all who knew him.
He died in 1872, and his wife survived him
until 1888. They lie side by side in the Sand-
ers cemetery.
Daniel Rinker lived with his parents until
he was twenty-one, and went to school only
when the weather was too bad for him to stay
at home and work. At the age of twenty-two
he was married to Theresa Minnick, daughter
of Andrew Minnick, a farmer, by which union
four children were born. Their married life
continued for about twelve years, when
she died, leaving one son and a husband to
mourn her untimely loss. This son, Samuel
C, at the age of twenty-two, married Mary
Fenwick, by whom he had four children,
namely: Alonzo E., Vivian A., Grover T. ,
and Cary D. Four years after the death of
his wife Mr. Rinker married Joanna M. Schle-
gel, sister of Henry C. Schlegel, whose sketch
will be seen on another page of this volume.
She was born in Prussia, and came, with her
parents, to this country, first to Pennsylvania
and thence to Madison county, Ind. Mr. Rin-
ker is a member of the United Brethren church,
and has been honored with the offices of
trustee and steward of that body, filling both
^.^,^5/J^^
MRS. LAURA J. SCHLEGEL.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
758
positions with credit and to the satisfaction of
the members, as his re-election shows. He
has ahvays taken active part in church work,
and has many warm friends throughout the
conmiunity. He is a democrat in poHtics,
and heartily supports the nominees of that
party. He now owns i 20 acres of fine land.
*» ^ ENRY C. SCHLEGEL, an enterpris-
|r^k ing farmer, residing on section 36,
JL^r Salem township, Delaware county,
Ind. , is a native of Prussia, born in
the city of Aszler, August 31, 1843, a son of
Henry and Margaret (Bush) Schlegel, the
former a native of the same country, and a
farmer by occupation.
When nineteen years of age, Henry Schle-
gel, Sr. , entered the Prussian army, where he
served three years, and on the expiration of
his term accepted the position of farmer on a
large estate, where he lived for eleven years.
In the year 1838, he was married to a Miss
Bush, and in 1852 he emigrated to the United
States, locating in Pennsylvania, and two
years later removed to Madison county, Ind. ,
locating near the town of Chesterfield. In
i860, he came to Delaware county, where he
resided until his death, which occurred Oc-
tober 27, 1S72, and his remains rest in the
Mount Pleasant cemetery. His wife is still
living with her eldest daughter, in Delaware
county. Henry C. Schlegel started to school
in his native country at the age of five years,
and remained under tuition until his fath-
er emigrated to the United States, when
he was eight years old. After coming to
Pennsylvania, he lived with a man by the
name of Tobias Martin for a period of eight
months, for his board and clothes, at the end
of which time 'he returned to his parents and
came with them to Madison county and en-
gaged in work among the neighbors at such
labor as one of his age could accomplish, in
the winter of 186 1-2 working for Solomon
Myers for a saddle and bridle, and in many
ways earning an honest dollar.
At the age of twenty years he married Miss
Laura Jane Myers, born in Madison county,
Ind., May 31, 1849, and located on the farm
of Solomon Myers, where he farmed during
the summer and engaged in teaching school
during the winter and gradually accumulated
means of his own, which enabled him to pur-
chase a farm of eighty acres, and afterward
enlarged to 128 acres of land in sction 36, in
Salem township, Delaware county, where he
has since made his home. Mr. Schlegel has
not been content with the slow mode of stock
stock raising. He is a progressive and intel-
ligent man. In 1892 he purchased some fine
Jersey cattle and entered into the raising of
the same. Understanding his business thorough-
ly, and carefully looking after it, he has made
it a flattering success. He is one of the self
made men of this section and deserves, as he
receives, the respect of the community. He
has good financial standing, is a stanch repub-
lican, and one of the best and most reliable
citizens of the county. Such men are the ones
of which a neighborhood may be permitted to
to be proud, as the self made men are those
on whom the state can depend in time of
need.
William H. Schlegel is one of the pros-
perous farmers of Salem township, Delaware
county, Ind., and is a member of a well
known and highly respected family of this lo-
cality. He was born December 29, 1864, a
son of Henry C. and Laura Jane Schlegel,
natives of Prussia and of Indiana. His father,
a very intelligent man, started William to
school when only si.x years of age. The lat-
ter continued in his attendance at school until
he was twenty-one, at that time entering upon
754
DELAWARE COUNTY:
the life of a teacher. Prior to this, however,
he spent two terms at Hartsville, and several
years later enjoyed two terms at Valparaiso,
at the excellent normal school there. About
this time he was united in marriage with Miss
May Davenport, a daughter of William and
Cassandra Davenport, natives of Henry
county. Mrs. Schlegel is a lady of intelligence
and education. She grew up on a farm, her
father being a farmer and also a minister, and
was afforded the advantages of the public
schools. At present, Mr. and Mrs. Schlegel
are living on a farm in Salem township.
They are the parents of two little boys, Carl
Leslie and Chester Dean.
Elmer S. Schlegel is among the promising
young farmers of Delaware county, Ind. , and
one who understands his business very thor-
oughly. He was born April 25, 1866, a son
of Henry and Laura Jane Schlegel, whose
sketch appears above. He was reared on his
father's farm and assisted in the work during
the summers, and was afforded the best school
advantages of the vicinity during the winters.
Until he was twenty-two years of age he re-
mained under the parental roof, but on attain-
ing his majority set up a domestic hearth of
his own. Mr. Schlegel married March 20,
1889, to Miss Martha Stewart, a daughter of
John and Mary Stewart, the former a dealer
in real estate in the city of Muncie. Mrs.
Schlegel was reared on the farm until her mar-
riage. One child. Bertha Blanche Schlegel,
is the daughter of the household, and the fam-
ily have a pleasant residence on a farm in
Salem township, where they are much re-
spected.
John Calvin Schlegel. — It is a pleasant re-
flection in after life to know that some act or
vocation in which we have been engaged has
left the world better and wiser than we found
it. Such must be the reflections of a teacher
after a successful season among the young.
The early lessons received are often the most
lasting, and the conscientious teacher often has
the chance to mold aright many young lives.
Delaware county, Ind., has many successful
educators, and John C. Schlegel has for some
time been among the number. He was born
March 12, 1872, a son of Henry and Laura
Jane Schlegel, whose sketch appears in this
connection, and remained at home attending
to the duties on the farm, and closely apply-
ing himself to his books at school until he was
nineteen years of age. He then engaged as a
teacher in the country schools, and has been
very successful, his services being in great de-
mand. Good teachers are never too plentiful,
and his friends predict a bright future for this
promising young educator of Delaware county.
Mary Florence Schlegel. — This is the age
of woman. Time was when it was not
thought proper for a woman to venture beyond
the confines of her home, but the day of
emancipation has come and now the female
sex takes place in educational matters by the
side of the male, in many cases receiving the
same salary and public recognition. Among
the prominent and successful teachers of Del-
aware county, Ind., for some time, was Mary
Florence Schlegel. She was born March 4,
1870, a daughter of Henry and Laura Jane
Schlegel, and grew up in her pleasant home,
attending school, including one term in the
normal school at Valparaiso, during the win-
ter, and assisted her mother in the summer
until her nineteenth year, when she engaged
in teaching. Her success was very marked,
and the people of Daleville were very loth to
part with her services when her failing health
warned her that her labors among the youth
of that town would have to be given up for a
time. She now is at home, assisting her
mother in household duties, a good and faith-
ful daughter, having been compelled to suc-
cumb to the demands of exhausted nature.
WM. SHARP.
m-i^ 1
MRS. WM, SH/iRP.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
765
at
ILLIAM SHARP, a representative
of one of the pioneer families of
Delaware county and a gentleman
who has been identified for many
years in the farming and horse raising interests
of the county, was born in Henry county,
Ind., April 6, 1829, a son of Edward and
Anna (Thompson) Sharp. Edward Sharp
was born in 1801 and Mrs. Sharp in 1804,
being of German and English ancestry, re-
spectively. They immigrated to Delaware
county, Ind., in the spring of 1832, and Mr.
Sharp died here in 1854. His wife survived
until 1878, and both lie buried in the Sharp
cemetery.
William Sharp was reared on the farm and
during his minority had school advantages of
about one month in the year. On December
1, 1849, he was married to Miss Desdamona
Banks, the daughter of Thomas and Jane
(Moffett) Banks, to which union five children
were born, as follows: Perry E., who died at
the age of eleven months, Sanford I., Mary
A., Anna E. and Edward T. After marriage
Mr. Sharp bought a small farm, of which he
cleared si.xty acres and then traded it for 400
acres in Iowa, and realized a good sum of
money for the place. He then bought 240
acres of fine land in Delaware county, known
as Tomlinson Farm, where he lived for twelve
years, at the end of which time he bought the
place where he now lives.
When the late war broke out, Mr. Sharp
offered himself as a soldier, but the medical
examiner refused him and he was compelled
to return home. In October, i860, Mrs.
Sharp died, and Mr. Sharp found himself with
four motherless little children. In 1862 he
married Margaret Carmichael, a daughter of
Andrew and Margaret (Mansfield) Carmichael,
natives of Ohio, of Irish descent. Mr. and
Mrs. Carmichael emigrated from Ohio to Indi-
ana, November 2, 1832, and here spent the
remainder of their days, dying July 6, 1841,
and in 1864 respectively. Mrs. Sharp is one
of a family of ten children, three of whom are
now living, and so scattered have been the
family that no two of the band have been laid
to rest in the same cemetery. Mr. and Mrs.
Sharp are consistent and valued members of
the Christian church, in which he is a deacon,
having held that office for thirteen years.
Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of
Honor, in which order he has. held the office
of dictator for a year. Politically, he belongs
to the republican party, and is one of the
wealthiest and most esteemed citizens of
Salem township. He has made a great suc-
cess of the raising of fine horses and takes
great interest in all matters which promise
good to the farming interests of the country.
He spent eighteen years in handling fine stock,
and brought more fine cattle into the state
than any man in the county — chiefly short
horn Durhams. Mrs. Sharp has had the care
of thirteen orphan children and raised seven
until they married.
>^ONATHAN SHEPP is one of the
m honored and greatly respected pioneers
/* 1 of Delaware county, and resides on a
valuable farm in section 5, Salem town-
ship. Jonathan Shepp was born October 9,
1807, in Virginia; being the son of Jonathan
S., a native of Germany, and an old Revolu-
tionary soldier. He fought under Col. Wal-
lace, and was in the battle when he was taken
prisoner. For a period of twenty-one days
the old patriot and his comrades were almost
wichout food, and deprived of sleep. Jonathan
Shepp came from \'irginia to Henry county,
Ind., when it was all a wilderness. He was a
millwright by trade, and later learned the car-
penter trade. After completing the latter he
756
DELAWARE COUNTY:
began work, as a cabinet maker, for himself,
following it for three years. He put up the
first saw mill in Henry county, in the year
1836, add ran it successfully for a few years,
when he sold out and erected the first saw mill
in Daleville. Then he returned to the carpen-
ter trade and followed that for years.
Mr. Shepp was united in marriage, at the
age of thirty, with Lydia Fenwick, and they
located at Middletown, where he and his wife
resided for eight years, during which time he
pursued his trade as a carpenter. Eight years
subsequent to his marriage Mr. Shepp moved
on the farm, and built the house in which he
now lives; following the occupation of a
farmer, and doing carpenter work for his
neighbors. This family shared in all the
hardships of pioneer life, but nevertheless the
members of it prospered. The forest trees
were felled, and the ground plowed and made
to yield crops year by year. Two years after
purchasing the farm Mr. Shepp built a mill on
Francis Pugsley's farm, and was overseer of
that for one year, when he sold it to Henry P.
Henry, and returned to his farm work. The
union of Mr. and Mrs. Shepp has been blessed
with four children, namely: Margaret, born
March 8, 1839; Mary Ann, born July 22, 1840;
Sally, born November 4, 1842, and Sophia,
born May 22, 1844 In politics Mr. Shepp is
a strong republican, and has voted that ticket
ever since the party was founded. His re-
ligious belief is that of the Universalist, and
he holds firmly to the teachings of that de-
nomination.
Vt'OHN SHOEMAICER is one of the well
m known residents of the town of Dale-
nt J ville, Delaware county, Ind., where he
has been engaged in business for almost
thirty years, and is esteemed and respected by
all. Mr. Shoemaker was born in Montgom-
ery county. Pa., April 18, 1808, a son of John
and Elizabeth (Myers) Shoemaker, both of
whom were natives of Pennsylvania, having
been born in the same county, and both of
whom died at the advanced age of eighty-eight
years and six months. In 18 10 John and
Elizabeth Shoemaker removed to Adams
county, Pa., and in 1824 to Franklin county,
the same state, where they remained until
1837, at which time they came to Delaware
county, Ind. , being among the earliest pioneers
of the county. They located in the Richwoods
district, and there remained until their death,
his occurring in about 1865 and hers in 1861.
They were members of the Dunkard church in
early life and later became identified with the
Christian church, of which they remained faith-
ful members until their death. They were
very successful in life and accumulated consid-
erable property. Mr. Shoemaker was a repub-
lican in politics and earnestly supported the
principles of that party.
When the subject of this sketch was a
young man he engaged for several years in
teaching vocal music, both to German and
English pupils, and acquired great proficiency
as an instructor of melody. He was reared on
the home farm, received his education in the
common schools, and at the age of twenty-four
years he began life for himself as a farmer in
Franklin county. Pa. One year prior to his
father's location in. this county he entered a
tract of 160 acres of land, which is still owned
by the Shoemaker family. They began the
improvement of the property, and in 1844
bought 160 acres more. In 1864 our subject
sold his land to his brother, and moved to
Daleville, where he has since resided, and en-
gaged in the handling of general merchandise,
grain, etc., from which business he retired in
1886. That same year he went to California,
and again in 1887, visiting his son, since which
time he has lived a retired life. Mr. Shoemaker
^,^-':^l'y^ jg^^^-t^/?*^^^/^?^
E. C. SNIDER.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
757
was married November 15, 1832, in Franklin
county, Pa., to Miss Maria Myers, born in the
same county, in December, 181 3, a daughter
of Henry Myers, a prominent minister of the
Dunkard church. Thirteen children were born
oftthis union, eleven reaching maturity, Michael,
Elizabeth, deceased; Susannah, wife of J.
N. Templer, an attorney of Muncie, Henry,
a farmer of Centre township; Jane, wife of E.
M. Rudly, of Delaware county; John P., of
Middletown, Ind. ; Joseph of Salem; Miles, of
California; Daniel, deceased; Sylvester, a mer-
chant, and Allie, deceased. The mother died
July 24, 1S74. Three of the sons of Mr.
Shoemaker served in the late war, doing their
duty bravely. Mr. Shoemaker has been a local
preacher since 1850, and is a christian gentle-
man, a conscientious member of the Christian
church, and for three generations his family
has belonged to this religious order.
eDWIN CLARK ANTHONY SNY-
DER is a prominent business man of
Daleville, Ind., where he has large
interests and is the proprietor of the
largest brick manufactory in the county. Mr.
Snyder was born in Centre township, Dela-
ware count}, December 10, 1835, and was
named for a son of good old Dr. Anthony, a
pioneer of Muncie, this state. The father of
our subject was John T. Snyder, of German
descent, and his mother, Cynthia S. (Gustin)
Snyder, born in Warren county, Ohio, a
daughter of John and Jane Gustin, of the same
state. John T. Snyder was born in Pennsyl-
vania, but was reared to manhood in a small
village called Red Lion, in Warren county,
Ohio, in which county his father, Conrad Sny-
der, was sheriff for eight years. For the
greater part of his life he followed auctioneer-
ing and was a very successful man of business.
John T. Snyder was the only son in a family
of five children, all now deceased. He fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits for the greater part
of his life, and in 1832 removed to Delaware
county, Ind., where he remained until 1837,
when he changed his location to Madison
county, Ind., but died in Illinois while on a
business trip to that state in 1842. His widow
was remarried in 1843, to Thomas Tripp, and
spent her declining years in Madison county,
Ind. , but died December 24, 1 885, in Delaware
county; her remains are laid to rest in Mount
Pleasant cemetery. When John T. Snyder
and wife located in Delaware county they had
no floor in their cabin, and had to hang a quilt
in the doorway in lieu of a door proper. On
one occasion, when Mrs. Snyder was left
alone, she was compelled to burn hickory
bark throughout a whole night, in order to
keep the wolves at bay. The cabin was later
improved somewhat, by Mr. Snyder hewing
out puncheons for flooring.
E. C. A. Snyder is the only surviving
child of a family of seven children and en-
joyed but very limited educational advantages,
walking two and one-half miles to reach the
school house. He lived with his step-father
until he had reached his majority, and then
went into business with him. The latter had
a contract for building one and one-fourth
miles of the C, C, C. & I. R. R., and this
resulted in the accumulation of enough money
fo enable them to purchase eighty acres of
land in Madison county and they began im-
proving it. Upon the death of his step-father
Mr. Snyder inherited the other portion of the
farm, which had cost $550, and nine years
later was able to sell it for $2,500. He then
purchased 160 acres of land in Delaware
county for that amount, and after operating it
for twenty-two years he sold it for $8,000.
Moving at this time to the town of Daleville,
he engaged in business with J. V. Stewart in
758
DELAWARE COUNTY:
the handling of agricultural implements, for a
term of five years. In 1 891, in company with
Granville Ellison, this energetic and far-seeing
man engaged in the manufacture of brick,
which partnership continued until July, 1892,
when Mr. Snyder became sole proprietor.
This is the largest manufacturing establish-
ment of the kind in the county, and has a ca-
pacity of 25,000 brick per day.
Mr. Snyder is pre-eminently a map of busi-
ness, and, in addition to his manufacturing in-
terests, is engaged in the handling of grain,
being the owner of a large elevator, and is also
the owner of several fine farms, which he finds
time to oversee, and also looks after his valu-
able town property with care and good judg-
ment. His varied interests employ his time,
but do not cause him to neglect any of the
duties of the good citizen. He is a democrat
in politics and votes with his party, taking
great interest in all public questions. Mr.
Snyder married in Madison county, Ind. , April
12, 1857, Miss Amanda Groenendyke, a native
of Madison county, and one child, Elias, was
born, but is now deceased, and his wife died
August 20, 1839. His second marriage was
solemnized November 8, 1861, with Lydia J.
Lloyd, who was born in Madison county, May
7, 1842, a daughter of Thomas and Lydia
(Wheatly) Lloyd, of Welch and English ex-
traction. By this marriage Mr. Snyder has
became the father of nine children, as follows:
Matilda, deceased; Mariah, the wife of }. C.
Fish; Thomas E., Florence, wife of L. Nel-
son; Norris A., Josephine, Jessie, deceased,
Dora A. and Leroy. The family are members
of the United Brethren church, in which they
are much esteemed. Mr. Snyder is the present
trustee of the church, fulfilling the duties of
the office with the same care that he gives his
private business. He is one of the worthy
citizens who do much for any locality by their
enterprise and progressive spirit.
eDWIN R. STEWART, of Salem
township, Delaware county, Ind.,
comes of good stock, and was born
in Clarke county, Ohio, the son of
James and Matilda (McBeth) Stewart, both of
Irish descent. The father was born in Ken-
tucky, December 28, 1801, and at the age of
eleven emigrated with his parents to Ohio, and
there learned the trade of a brickmason. When
twenty-six years old he was married, and be-
came the father of three children by his first
wife, who died in 1832, her place of burial
being in Clarke county, Ohio. He was next
married, November 5, 1833, to Druscilla Rey-
nolds, who died December 4, 1888, and was
buried in the Saunders cemetery. To this
union were born nine children. Prior to this
time, however, in 1881, he sold his farm and
moved to Muncie, made his home with his
daughter in the latter place, and is now living
with her and the rest of the children.
Edwin R. Stewart lived at home until he
was twenty «years old, going to school in the
winter, and working in the summer on the
farm, and at the age named, went back to
Ohio to learn the carpenter trade with a cousin,
O. S. Kelly, remaining two years. He then
went with this cousin to California, starting
from Springfield, Ohio, proceeding down the
Ohio river and the Mississippi river to New
Orleans, to Georgetown on the Isthmus and
from there in canoe to Lake Nicaragua, and
crossed that in a sloop, and from there to the
Pacific coast on mule back, twelve miles, and
then took a bark to San Francisco. During
his trip across the Isthmus he was stricken
with the Panama fever, and was near death's
door for a long while. He journeyed from San
Francisco to Sacramento city by steamboat;
thence to Marysville by steamboat, and from
the latter place to Downeyville on the back of
a mule. The trip was quite an expensive one
as well as protracted; costing him $306.50,
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vSALEM TOWNSHIP.
759
and consuming the time from March 29, 1832,
to July 18, .1852.
From Downeyville, Mr. Stewart traveled
on mule back eighteen miles to Canon creek,
where, with three companions, Oliver Kelley,
Joshua Gore and David Bright, he bought a
claim for $300, paying $100 down, and agree-
ing to pay the balance when they had mined
it, but they failed to find more than two
ounces of gold, so they gave up the claim.
Oliver Kelley and the others went their way,
and Mr. Stewart went down the canyon and
engaged in putting in a fiume in a mine at a
salary of $6 per day, this employment lasting
two months, when Mr. Stewart bought an in-
terest in the mine, which interest he held for
three weeks, panning out occasionally as high
as $64 per day, and averaging $12 per day.
But while at work the water in the creek rose
to such an extent as to drive them away —
although the claim would yet be a profitable
one. Mr. Stewart then went to Slate creek,
across the mountains, and there re-engaged in
mining until the snow became so deep — being
ten feet on a level — as to drive Mr. Stewart
and his companions, thirteen in all, to seek
new quarters. They progressed at the rate
of three miles a day for two or three days
until they reached Hansomville, after which
they made better tin\e, as the trail had been
broken from that point. Mr. Stewart and
Wash George parted with their companions
somewhere hereabout and continued on to
Sacramento, and thence crossed over to Wil-
low creek, where the companions separated,
and Mr. Stewart engaged in mining during the
winter of 1853; he next went to Murphy's
camp, but did not meet with any success at
this place. However, he continued mining at
various points for another year, made some
money, and then engaged in fluming and
framing for the Union Water company, of
Calaveras county, conducting water inland
from the Stanislaus river. At this employ-
ment he was engaged about a year and a half,
when he returned home. It was while Mr.
Stewart was there that four men were em-
ployed four weeks in cutting down a huge tree
that measured twenty-nine feet across the
stump, the object being to send it to the Crys-
tal Palace at New York, but it was found to
be too bulky for shipment.
In the year 1856 he returned home and
bought a farm of 144 acres of Delaware
county's best land, which he has increased to
228 acres. In 1858 he married Margaret J.
Shepp, daughter of Jonathan and Lydia (Fen-
wick) Shepp, whose sketch will be seen on
another page of this volume. By this mar-
riage our subject became the father of eight
children, namely: Alice F. , born November
24, 1858; Oliver K., born October 22, i860;
Lydia L., born July 6, 1863, and died April 6,
1864; Milton H., born March 7, 1865;
Mary I., born August 6, 1867; Matilda J.,
born February 6, 1869; Lilly I., born
September 18, 1873; Edwin R. , born De-
cember 24, 1876. The father of these
children is a prominent republican, and active
in all matters in his township.
^y^ERRY V. STEWART.— There are
1 m many fine farms in Delaware county,
£ Ind., and upon one of these, located
in Salem township, lives Perry V.
Stewart. He was born in this county, Octo-
ber 13, 1845, and is the son of Samuel a:nd
Anna (Summers) Stewart, the former a native
of Wayne county, Ohio, of Irish descent, and
the later of Highland county, in the same
state. Samuel Stewart accompanied his par-
ents to Indiana in 1835, and married in this
state in 1844. He prospered, and at the time
of his death, in April, 1859, was worth con-
760
DELAWARE COUNTY:
siderable property. His widow now lives with
a daughter in the city of Muncie, this state.
Perry V. Stewart Uved with his parents
until he was twenty-two years of age, and had
attended the common schools, so closely ap-
plying himself that he was able at that time to
become an acceptable teacher, and continued
in that profession until 1 869, when he engaged
as a clerk with Samuel Williams, and one year
later went into the employ of W. A. Brundage
& Co., in Muncie, in the same capacity. He
remained with this latter firm from 1871 to
1873, when he was taken in as a partner.
One year later he sold out and entered
the house of George W. Stephenson as book-
keeper, and continued with him for three
years. Mr. Stewart was married March 2,
1879, to Miss Margaret Sunderland, daughter
of Samuel and Lavina (Kepper) Sunderland,
and one of a family of ten children. Samuel
Sunderland, a native of Ohio, was born Feb-
ruary 26, 1 81 2, and immigrated to Delaware
county, Ind. , locating on the farm where he
died. He began life in obscurity, being but
one year old when his father died, and at the
early age of ten years little Samuel had to
start out for himself. His first engagement
was to work for $50 per year, and he contin-
ued at these wages for four years, contriving
to save a greater part of the amount, and in
1836 he made his way to Delaware county,
where he entered 160 acres of land. He kept
adding to this until he had 12,000 acres, all of
it won by hard and persistent labor and by no
scheme of speculation. At death he was
worth $75,000, which was divided among his
children, and the subject of this mention now
lives on the old farm which his father first
entered. Fraternally, Mr. Stewart is a mem-
ber of I. O. O. F. No. 345, of Yorktown.
Politically he prefers to think for himself on
the important questions of the day, but usual-
ly votes with the republican party.
EC. SUMMERS, M. D., is one of
the most highly respected citizens of
Daleville, and one of the leading
physicians of Delaware county. He
was born in Henry county, Ind., November
22, 1843. son of Simon and Cynthia (Van
Matre) Summers. His father was born in
Virginia, and his mother in Ohio, their mar-
riage having occurred in 1835, in Delaware
county, Ind. After his marriage, Simon Sum-
mers located in Fall Creek township, Henry
county, Ind., in 1835, and began the occupa-
tion of farming, which he continued, with good
success, until 1857, his death occurring in
1879. His wife survived him until January,
1885, and their remains were laid in Middle-
town cemetery. They were the parents of
five children, namely: J. V., who holds a
government position in Indian Territory; W.
H., deceased; H. C. ; Faraba E., wife of Frank
H. Smith; and Mary J., wife of Samuel H.
Davis, of Stockton, Mo. Mr. Summers was a
prominent man and is still remembered as an
active politician, having represented the people
of Henry county in the general assembly, from
1848 to 1856, but as his health, at that time,
was seriously impaired, he was forced to with-
draw from political life. His church connec-
tion was with the Christian denomination.
He was a whig in early life, but upon the birth
of the republican party, soon knew where to
place his allegiance. Fraternally, he was a
charter member of the Fall Creek lodge of I.
O. O. F., and in business circles his success
was unusual.
H. C. Summers was reared upon the home
farm until he was fourteen years of age, at
which time his parents removed to Middle-
town, Henry county, Ind. , where he attended
the graded schools until he was eighteen years
of age. He had long been interested in medi-
cine, and now took the opportunity offered of
pursuing a medical course under Drs. Summers
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
761
and Guisinger, remaining four years under
their tuition, going from thence to Chicago,
where he enjoyed the advantages of lectures
during the term of 1864-5 ^-t Rush Medical
college. He began practice in Henry county,
where he continued for two years, coming
thence to Daleville, and here he has built up a
practice and has obtained the respect and con-
fidence of his fellow citizens. Dr. Summers
married in Middletown, Ind., in 1864, Miss
Sarah A. Laboyteaux, a native of Henry
county, to which union four children have been
born, as follows: Ollie, wife of W. H. Lind-
sey of Anderson, Ind.; Frank L. , of Anderson;
Glenn S., of Stockton, Mo., and Ella, wife of
W. S. Johnson, of Lima, O. Mrs. Summers
died in March, 1873, and her remains were
laid to rest in the cemetery at the village of
Daleville, where may be seen a handsome
monument erected to her memory. Dr. Sum-
mer's second marriage occurred August 4, 1 88 1 ,
to Miss Louise L. Stewart, born in Madison
county, a daughter of J. V. and Sarah (Bishop)
Stewart. In political life the doctor is a re-
publican, and he is socially connected with the
order of Red Men.
^^w^ILLI.
gd I Dela
[LLIAM SUMMERS was born in
Delaware county, Ind., September
>54, a son of Terrell and Eliza-
beth (McClintock) Summers. His
father had come with his parents to Delaware
county and was married January 13, 1842, to
Miss Samantha Witt, but she died one year
later and he then married Elizabeth McClin-
tock, April 28, 1344. The first wife left one
little daughter, who died at birth, but five
children were born of the second marriage
Martha E., the wife of Michael Bowers
Sarah J., born in 1852, died October 9, 1890
John W. , born in 1856, died in infancy, and
Emma B., born August 18, 1862. The father
of this family died July 12, 1887, and was
buried in the Tumbleson cemetery. The date
of birth of William is given above.
William lived at home with his parents
until he was twenty-four years old and at-
tended the district schools. At the above age
he married Josephine Thomas, the daughter of
John, he being a tanner by trade and a native
of the state of Virginia, dying in 1867. Mrs.
Summers was one of eight children, three of
whom are yet living, James L. , Charles L.
and Josephine. After marriage, Mr. Summers
located on the old home farm, buying out the
other heirs. He is the owner of 140 acres of
well improved land and is one of the stock-
holders in the Richmond gas well. Two chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sum-
mers: Bertha F., born March 21, 1880, and
Arthur T. , born September 22, 1882. Mrs.
Summers is a member of the Christian church,
and Mr. Summers, like all of his name, is a
stanch republican.
^^V*AMUEL K. SUNDERLAND.— Dela-
•^^^k* ware county, Ind., is noted all over
K^ ^ the whole state for its fine farms and
its excellent class of agricuiturists.
The finely cultivated farm of Samuel K. Sun-
derland answers for itself as to the efficiency
of its owner. The broad fields and fertile soil
from which abundant yields are realized must
be very gratifying to the owner of them, and
are almost calculated to excite envy in the
minds of the poor passing traveler, whose only
claim can be to six feet of mother earth when
his time comes to no longer cumber the
ground.
Samuel K. Sunderland was born in Dela-
ware county, Ind., November 26, 1851, a son
of one of the best known and wealthiest men
762
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of the county, Samuel Sunderland, and his
wife, Elvina (Kepper) Sunderland. Samuel
K. resided at home with his indulgent parents
until he was of age. He received an excellent
education at the public schools, and April 5,
1882, laid the foundation of his own home by
his marriage with Miss Anna Bell, daughter of
Hiram and Mary (Clark) Bell, both of whom
were natives of Kentucky, of Irish descent.
Mr. and .Mrs. Bell reared a family of eleven
children, all of whom are yet living. Mr. and
Mrs. Sunderland have one child, Carl, born
December 28, 1884. Mr. Sunderland has one
of the finest tracts of land in the county, con-
sisting of 185 acres, well improved, and is
considered one of the most prosperous of the
young farmers of his locality. Politically he
is a democrat, as have been the members of
the Sunderland family as far back as their po-
litical opinions can be traced. He is a good
citizen and takes deep interest in the progress
of public affairs.
at
'ILLIAM SUNDERLAND.— Promi-
nent among the progressive farmers
and stock raisers of the township of
Salem is William Sunderland, a
native of Delaware county, Ind. , and son of
Samuel and Elvina (Kepper) Sunderland. He
was born on the 12th day of October, 1848,
and like the majority of country boys grew to
manhood amid the peaceful pursuits of the
farm, where he early learned the true dignity
of labor and those lessons of industry and per-
severance which have inured to his success in
the later years of life. In the common schools,
which he attended at intervals during the
years of his minority, he acquired a practical
knowledge of the brances usually taught there-
in, and, chosing agriculture for his life work,
he early embarked in the same, continuing the
useful calling with most flattering success to
the present time. Mr. Sunderland believes in
the nobility of the farmer's vocation, and his
well cultivated lands, consisting of 178 acres,
fine residence, commodious barn and other
buildings, bespeak the owner possessed of
superior ability as a successful as well as tasty
manager.
In the year 1873 Mr. Sunderland and Miss
Orlena Marker, daughter of William and Mary
(Bishop) Marker, the former of Pennsylvania
and the latter of Indiana, were united in the
bonds of wedlock. Mrs. Sunderland's father
came to Indiana with his parents when but
twelve years of age, and is living at this time
at Yorktown, following the plasterer's trade,
which he learned in early manhood. Mr. and
Mrs. Sunderland are parents of three children:
Jessie P., born March 4, 1876; Arthur E. ,
born January 4, 1879, and Marker S. , born
October 8, 1887. In addition to his fine farm
Mr. Sunderland has financial interests in the
Richwood gas well, and is one of the well-to-
do citizens of the township of Salem; he and
wife are members of the Presbyterian church,
and politically he supports the democratic
party.
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
7G3
<>^ ENJAMIN F. LEFTER, one of the
l^*"^ enterprising business men of Dela-
J^^J county, Ind., and proprietor of an
extensive tile factory in Daleville,
Salem tcwnship, was born in Franklin county,
Ind., December I2th, 1846, the son of Jacob
and Eui ice (Ryckman) Lefter. Jacob Lefter,
the father, is a native of Kentucky, was born
in 1 81 2, and is a son of a Revolutionary
soldier. Jacob was reared a farmer, and early
in life left his Kentucky home and came to
Indiana; he settled in Franklin county, and
there continues to follow his vocation. He
affiliates with the democratic party, and with
his wife, is a member of the Methodist church.
Jacob and Eunice Lefter had born their mar-
riage, twelve children, of whom ten reached
maturity.
Benjamin F. Lefter is the seventh in order
of birth in this family of twelve. He received
a fair education and was early inured to the
hard work necessary to the proper care and
cultivation of the home farm, where he also
imbibed those lessons of frugality and industry
which proved of so much utility and benefit to
him in latter years in the prosecution of his
business. He opened his career in active life
as a. teacher, a profession he followed for over
twenty years in the public schools of Franklin,
Rush and Deleware counties, this state, and
in which he achieved an enviable reputation
for capability and thoroughness. In 1884 he
located in Centre township, Delaware county,
erected a tile factor}', and for two years carried
on a profitable trade; he then found it to be
to his advantage to remove to Daleville, in
Salem township. Here he erected his plant
for the manufacture of tiles, the building being
64x1 52 feet with a capacity per annum of over
600,000 tile of all grades. This plant is in
most excellent condition and speaks well for
the thrift, enterprise and comprehensive knowl-
edge of details of the owner. Although his
capital was quite limited at the start, Mr.
Lefter, through his knowledge of the business
and of financiering, has won for himself a
handsome competence.
The enterprise and energy of Mr. Lefter
have been the means of adding considerably
to the growth and prosperity to the town of
Daleville as well as the township of Salem in
general, his plant being quite an extensive one,
as will be seen by the figures given above, and
furnishing employment to a large number of
workmen of more or less skill, who would
otherwise be, beyond doubt, out of steady em-
ployment. His products find sale in all parts
of the country, having become quite celebrated
for the excellence of their qaulity, their dura-
bility and for the low figure at which Mr.
Lefter, through his great facilities, can afford
to place them on the market.
June 21, 1 87 1, Mr. Lefter was united in
marriage in Franklin county, with Miss Ade-
line Schofield, daughter of Caleb and Hannah
(Lounsberry) Schofield, natives of New Jersey
and of English extraction. To this felicitous
union have been born three bright and intelli-
gent children, named Adah, Mattie and Claud-
ius, who have been reared to become useful
members of society and ornaments to the com-
munity. In politics Mr. Lefter is a democrat
of somewhat aggressive characteristics, and
fraternally, he is a master Mason, a Knight
of Pythias and a Red Man. He and wife are
consistent in their observation of the tenets of
the United Brethren church, of which they are
working members, and they enjoy to the full
the respect and esteem of their neighbors and
the community in general.
Since the above sketch was put in type.
Miss Adah, the elder daughter of Mr. Lefter,
has been united in marriage (December, 1893),
with Mr. M. Painter, a prominent teacher of
Henry county, Ind., and well known in Ran-
dolph county.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
765
his present successful undertaking in the vil-
lage of Eaton. In 1890, in connection with
B. F. Houseman, he established the business
of manufacturing hoops and spokes in Albany
and Eaton, and at the present time the out-
put of the factory is the enormous number of
20,000 yearly. This plant has become widely
known for the excellence of the work done and
is well patronized. In March, 1893, Mr.
Bartlett purchased the interest of his partner,
and has since conducted the business on his
sole account.
Mr. Bartlet was married February i 5, 1 887,
in Eaton, to Miss Lola, daughter of David
Brandt, of Eaton, and one child has been
born, September 22, 1891, and has been
named Lerlie. Mr. Bartlett believes that the
democratic party advocates those measures
which will best govern this great country,
hence he always votes with that organization.
Socially, he is a member of the Masonic order
and is much esteemed ^ in his place of resi-
dence. He is one of the representative busi-
ness men of the town in which he resides and
enjoys the confidence and esteem of a large
and influential circle of friends throughout
Delaware and adjacent counties.
<>^AVID BRANDT.— Although the town
I I of Eaton, Ind., is but a small part of
/^^^ the county of Delaware, it has more
than its portion of successful busi-
ness men, and among these the gentleman for
whom this sketch is written is well and favor-
ably known. Mr. Brandt was born in Fair-
field county, Ohio, July 3, 181 5, a son of David
and Martha (Hamilton) Brandt. The father
was born in Mechanicsburg, Pa., October 22,
1876, the mother near Shippensburgh, the
same state, July 27, 1875. David Brandt,
Sr. , lost his wife July 17, 1847, and he sur-
vived her about two years. They were the
parents of thirteen children, asfollows: Adam,
Barbara, Eve, Francis, Mary, John, George,
David, Ruth, Samuel, Jacob, Martin, and
Isaac, all of whom passed away except David
and Isaac, the last named being the present
post master at Des Moines, Iowa. During
early life, David Brandt, Sr., was a school
teacher, also was engaged in the making of
saddles, and carried on farming at the same
time. He was a Dunkard in his religious faith,
and a very conscientious and moral man. His
declaration to his sons that he would leave
them a legacy of an unblemished life, was
carried out, and is now recalled with pride by
the survivors. Early in life he was a whig,
but at the formation of the republican party
he attached himself to that faith, and so con-
tinued until his death. Mrs. Martha Brandt
was a member of the Presbyterian church, a
good and pious woman. When seventy-eight
years of age Mr. Brandt moved to De Kalb
county, Ind., and took charge of the post
office, and attended to his official duties until
within two weeks of his death.
David Brandt, Jr. , was reared to manhood
in Fairfield county, Ohio, and there learned
the shoemaker trade, in which he was engaged
until 1840. He left Ohio February 17, of
that year, and located in Cass county, Ind.,
where he was engaged in the manufacture of
shoes until May 15, 1842, when he came to
Delaware county, locating in Union township,
where he followed the shoe business, moving
in 185 I to the town of Eaton, with the com-
mercial interests of which he has since been
prominently identified. He has now a very
prosperous business, owning a dry goods store,
and also dealing in boots and shoes. Mr.
Brandt has seen the country grow from a
wilderness to its present advanced state of
civilization. When he came, it was an almost
unbroken forest and the location where his
DELAWARE COUNTY;
business house now stands was covered with
brambles. He can relate, in the most inter-
esting manner, tales of those early times when
all settlers stood upon the same social plane,
and good feeling and hospitality were uni-
versal. During his long residence here he has
seen the changes, many for the better, but a
few not so much so. At one time Mr. Brandt
owned 400 acres of land, but he has sold all
but eighty, in this township. He married in
this county, October 22, 1842, Miss Jane
Long, born in Clinton county, Ohio, a daugh-
ter of Robert and Jane (Woodruff) Long, na-
tives of Kentucky, of Irish ancestry. Six
children were born into the family of Mr. and
Mrs. Brandt, as follows: John, who gave up
his life for his country. He entered the Sixty-
fourth regiment, Indiana volunteer infantry,
September 20, 1863, and died January 12,
1864, in Chattanooga hospital. No. 4; Robert,
a merchant of Eaton; Martha, wife of Daniel
Endee, the secretary of the Glass works;
Alice, the wife of Mitchell Neff; Wayman,
deceased and Elmira, the wife of James Long,
a farmer of Nebraska. Mrs. Brandt died
April 15, 1 86 1, and her remains lie in the
cemetery at Eaton. She was a consistent
member of the Disciples church. Mr. Brandt
married April 17, 1862, Mrs. Susan Sabin,
who was born near Germantown, Mongomery
county, Ohio, August 27, 1827, a daughter of
Beniah and Sarah (Shafer) Eshtenfelder, of
German extraction. To this marriage six
children were born, as follows: an infant, de-
ceased: Louise, wife of R. C. Peterson;
Willie, clerk for his father; Viola, wife of
Oscar Bartlett, a hoop manufacturer, and
Chloe and Gertrude, deceased. For more
than forty years Mr. and Mrs. Brandt have
been members of the Christian church, he
being the only one now left of the original or-
ganizers of the church in this locality. Polit-
ically he is a republican, \'oted for William
Henry Harrison in 1^36, and in 1892 voted
for Benjamin Harrison. Socially he is a
member of the Masonic order and is one of the
best citizens of the county.
QILLIAM COX is a highly respected
citizen of Union township, Dela-
ware county, and was born in Preble
county, Ohio, December 7, 1832,
being the son of Isaac B. and Mary (Helm)
Cox, both of English descent. His father went
from Maryland to Tennessee when eighteen
years old and was married while living in the
latter state. He then went to Ohio and re-
mained for five years, when he came to Dela-
ware county, Ind., and settled upon the farm
which he now owns. With haste he built his
log cabin and removed into it when it had
neither floor nor door. After a number of years
he split his flooring out of blue ash and hewed
it down. This humble house was his home
for twenty-five years, when he built the com-
fortable home his son, William, now lives in,
the same being sided up with pebble-dash sid-
ing. Here he spent the remainder of his days
and passed away in the fall of 1870.
The names of the brothers and sisters of
William Cox are : Sarah, wife of Robert Lan-
sing; Caroline, wife of J. C. Long; Nancy,
wife of Wilham Adsit; Joanna, wife of Isaac
Sleeth; Eliza, wife of Dr. Helm — William being
the youngest of the family. When William
Cox was twenty-two he went to Minnesota,
where he remained one year, and then returned
home, his mother dying soon after, in 1854.
Again leaving home he went to the Rocky
mountains, at Gold Run, Colo., and worked in
the mines for four years, being very success-
ful and making enough to buy the farm upon
which he lives, then consisting of eighty acres.
Subsequently he bought the farm of his father,
consisting of 200 acres.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
767
William Cox was married, December lo,
1865, to America Long, daughter of William
and Anna (McLaughlin) Long, of English and
Scotch descent, respectively. The parents of
Mrs. Cox came from Clinton county, Ohio, at
an early day and settled in Delaware county,
Ind., on what is known as the William Props
farm. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Cox
are: Lucetta, wife of Joseph Hinton; John W. ,
a farmer; Martha J., wife of John Morris; and
Mary, wife of John Pilkey — Mrs. Cox being the
second child. After his marriage, Mr. Cox
settled upon the farm where he now lives, a
splendid tract, consisting of 306 acres, finely
improved. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are the parents
of five children, namely: Charles V., a farmer;
Anna, wife of Ezra Armstrong; John, a farm-
er; Frank, and Jennie Fern.
When Isaac B. Cox settled here there were
no roads between this point and Muncie, and
game of all kinds abounded. During a period
of thirty-five years of their married life Mr.
and Mrs. Cox had no cook stove, and the
father worked with a wooden plow, and cut
his grain and grass with a sickle and other old-
fashioned tools and implements. Once a year
these parents made a trip to Ohio for flour,
salt and coffee, and hauled it home in a wagon
drawn by oxen. The first wheat grown in
this section was called "sick," and could not
be eaten. Mrs. Cox is a consistent member
of the Methodist Episcopal church and is
highly esteemed in that body and also by all
who know her. Mr. Cox is a member of the
Masonic order and is much esteemed ior his
active interest in that society. He is a repub-
lican, having cast his first vote for Fremont
and his last for Harrison.
It will be seen that the Cox family are of
pioneer stock, and that the township is some-
what indebted to them for its splendid present
development, and the present generation is
not at all behind in continuing the good work.
@EORGE W. DUKE is a successful
farmer of Union township, who was
born in North Carolina, May 22,
1820, being the son of James and
Catherine (Reece) Duke, natives of Virginia.
James Duke went from Virginia to North
Carolina after he was married, and was over-
seer for Capt. Williams on a slave plantation
for four years. He then removed to Henry
county, Ind., where he entered 120 acres of
land, cleared the same, and after a life of toil
died in 1S73, and was buried in the Canada
cemetery in Henry county, where his mother
was buried in 1833. To James and Cathe e
Duke were born the following" chil
George W. ; John, living in California; Ed-
ward, a farmer; William, an invalid; and
James, a laborer.
George W. Duke left home when a lad of
sixteen, and worked by the month for three
or four years, after which he went into the
business of buying stock, and continued at
that for twenty-five years. He was married
in the year 1847 to Jane, daughter of William
and Hannah Smith, her parents being of Irish
and German descent, respectively. The peo-
ple of Mrs. Duke all lived in Virginia, and in
the year 1870 came to Henry county, Ind.,
and spent the remainder of their days. The
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Duke, are: Carl-
son, a grocer; Myer, a farmer; Emeline, wife
of Myer Bell; and Minerva, wife of Miles
Pierce.
George W. Duke first settled upon a farm
of 160 acres in Henry county, and lived there
the twenty-five years he was dealing in stock.
From that point he came to Delaware county,
I Ind., and lived near Selma for four j'ears on a
farm; then moved upon a farm west of Mun-
cie, resided there four years, after which he
bought the farm of 120 acres, in 1882, upon
which he now lives. His children by his mar-
riage to Jane Smith were ten in number,
768
DELAWARE COUNTY:
namely: William, hotel keeper in Danville;
John, a barber in Missouri; Martha, wife of
George Koons; James, a liveryman in Eaton;
Morrison, a cattle dealer in Texas; Joseph, a
farmer in Illinois; Scott, a farmer; George, de-
ceased; Newton, a locomotive engineer, and
Luther, restaurant keeper in Missouri. The
mother of this large and interesting family died
in Henry county in 1873 and was buried there.
Mr. Duke remained there -a short time and
then married Sarah, daughter of Wilson and
Sarah (Dixon) Wisehart, both of German ex-
traction. The people of the second Mrs. Duke
went from Virginia to Tennessee; lived there
for several years, and then went to Henry
county, Ind., where they lived upon a farm.
One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Duke,
namely, Josie. Mr. Duke and his wife are
members of the Christian church, and are very
much esteemed by all who know them. Mr.
Duke has given up buying and selling stock,
and devotes his entire time to the management
of his farm.
ISAAC G. GOODRICK is widely known
throughout Union township, and the
adjacent country, and is highly re-
spected, being a farmer of industrious
habits and correct life. He was born in Ohio,
was reared on a farm, and married at the age
of twenty-six to Martha, daughter of John and
Asenath (Greenleaf) Murphy, her father being
a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother of
Virginia. The parents of Mrs. Goodrick came
to Delaware county, Ind., first settling near
Smithfield, in Liberty township, and then re-
moving to Albany, where they spent the re-
mainder of their days, the father dying Janu-
ary 5, 1885, and the mother September 5,
1872. A fine monument marks their resting
place in Bethel cemetery. The brothers and
sisters of Mrs Goodrick are Samuel B., a
farmer; Maria, wife of Joseph Blakely, and a
half-brother, Abram R. , a farmer.
Isaac G. Goodrick first settled on a farm
near Albany, where he lived two years, and
then removed to the Reesling farm, near
Smithfield, where he lived three years. At
this time he bought eighty acres near his pres-
ent farm, and lived there sixteen years; then,
selling out, he bought his present farm, con-
sisting of I 1 1 J acres, where he has lived for
the past eighteen years. The children by our
subject's marriage are seven in number, name-
ly: Thomas W., a farmer; Albert L. , de-
ceased; Walter A., a teacher; John N., de-
ceased; Emma O., Mary M. , wife of Riley
Garrard, and Josie L. The parents and chil-
dren are members of the Christian church, and
are highly respected by all who know them.
The children have received a good common
school education, and are ocTcupying worthy
and useful positions in the community in
which they live. Mr. Goodrick is a republi-
can, and cast his first vote for Fremont.
^^AMUEL J. HARTLE, was born in
•^^^k* Mianii county, Ohio, December 26,
K^y 1 85 1, being the son of Andrew and
Anna (Petersiamee) Hartle. The father
was born in Pennsylvania, and his father came
to Ohio when his son was but ten years old,
bringing him with the family. Mrs. Anna
Hartle came from Germany with her parents
when she was but ten years old. They settled
in Miami county, Ohio, where she, like her
husband, grew to maturity. There they were
married and lived until 1882, when they came
to Union township, Delaware county, Ind.,
where they live upon a well improved farm of
eighty acres. The family comprised the follow-
ing brothers and sisters: Jacob, John, and
Andrew, farmers; Peter, a carpenter; Samuel
UNION TOWNSHIP.
769
and James, farmers; Barbara, wife of Jacob
Baker; Hester, wife of Mahlon Martin, Fannie,
wife of Zachariah Tobias, and India, wife of
Isaac Tobias. The brothers and sisters of
Mrs. Anna Hartle are, Adam, Henry, and
Martin, farmers; Christena, the wife of C.
Smith; Harriet, wife of John Hartle; and
Mary, the wife of Dr. Lingen. Samuel J.
Hartle has no brother, but four sisters: India,
Sarah, wife of Henry McDowell; Cassie, wife
of Charles Carpenter, and Mina, wife of Levi
Hayworth. After Samuel }. was of age he
remained on the farm until two years before
he was married, and these two years his sister
kept house for him. In 1875, February 11,
he was married to Hester, daughter of Wilson
J. and Nancy Johnson. Her parents were of
English descent, and lived near Cincinnati for
a number of years; they moved to Champaign
county, Ohio, where they bought land, and
lived the remainder of their days, the father
dj'ing in 1892, and the mother in 1872, both
being buried in Honey Creek cemetery in that
county. The father of Mrs. Hartle had one
brother, Samuel. After his marriage, Samuel
J. rented his uncle's farm for four years, and
then moved in with his father, and has farmed
his place ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Hartle are
the parents of six children, namely: Mahlon,
Emma, Charles, Wesley, Martin, Willie and
Onie Maud. The family are members of the
German Reformed church, and are held very
high in esteem by all who know them. Mr.
Hartle is a democrat in politics.
Vj'AMES M. MOTSENBOCKER.— The
m following biography concerns one of
/• 1 the members of a popular and success-
ful business firm of the town of Eaton,
Ind. , a gentleman of many talents and a fine
character. Mr. Motsenbocker was born in
Marion county, Ind., December 30, 1856, a
son of Samuel and Sarah (Draper) Motsen-
bocker. The father was born in Crittenden
county, Ky., and was left an orphan at an
early age, but when eighteen years old he
came to Indiana and located in Marion coun-
ty, where he followed his trade of coopering
until the close of the late war, and then en-
gaged in farming in Boone county, following
the same in connection with coopering, at
Zionsville. In 1869 he removed to Grant
county, and there engaged in farming until the
fall of 1877, when he removed to Kentucky,
where he decided to remain two years, at the
end of which time he removed to Arkansas,
where he and wife remained until his death,
in 1 88 1, she surviving him one year.
Samuel Motsenbocker was of a roving dis-
positioc, but was a good man, and never will-
ingly injured any one. The political party to
which he held allegiance was the republican,
and he took much interest in the affairs of the
nation. Mrs. Motsenbocker was a member of
the Disciples of Christ church and died in that
faith. They were the parents of seven chil-
dren, as follows: Surilda, the wife of Joseph
Cluster, of Arkansas; James M., our subject;
Elias, of this place; Mary C, of Kansas;
Leander M., Delos S., and Nancy A., all three
deceased, and Sylvester L., of this place.
James M. Motsenbocker was reared in
Grant county until he was about sixteen years
of age. For three years he worked for an
uncle near Indianapolis and thus assisted his
father, and later attended school in winter and
worked during the summer until he had ac-
quired a good common school education. He
was a lad of more than ordinary intelligence
and ability, and was possessed of a desire for
a thorough education. For five weeks he at-
tended school at Charlottesville, Ind., and
upon his return to Grant county obtained a
certificate, enabling him to teach school,
770
DELAWARE COUNTY:
which he did for six months. In the winter of
1875 he thus taught, and in the following sum-
mer studied telegraphy at the business college
at Indianapolis, but this term lasted only six
weeks, and, having an opportunity, he
taught during the following winter in Grant
county and the next summer attended two
terms of school at Lebanon, Ohio. The follow-
ing winter, Mr. Motsenbocker taught in Ma-
rion county, Ind., and when his school was
out attended one term at Terre Haute, follow-
ing this with one term more of teaching in
Marion county, and then, to recuperate after
so much intellectual labor, he returned for a
time to farm labor. In the fall of 1878 he
came to Delaware county and engaged in
teaching until 1888, and then embarked in the
hardware business until the following January,
when, in company with Dr. A. L. Murray, he
bought the drug store of which they are now
the proprietors, and where they carry a full
line of drugs, wall papers, etc. — in fact, they
have the largest and most complete line in the
county outside of Muncie. Mr. Motsenbocker
was married in Delaware county, December
25, 1885, to Nanny A. Peterson, daughter of
Eli and Sarah (Hook) Peterson, of Green
county, Ohio. One child has come to bless
this union. Merlin Bliss. Mrs. Motsenbocker
is a member of the Methodist church, and a
very estimable lady. Politically Mr. Motsen-
bocker is a republican and is considered a val-
uable member of the party. He is a stock-
holder in the Eaton Window Glass company
and was its manager for some time. He is also
interested in the Mississinewa Land Improve-
ment company, and is its secretary and treas-
urer, and is also a member of the Masonic
fraternity.
James M. Motsenbocker, although yet
quite a young man, has shown himself to be
made of sterling material, and to be worthy of
the pioneer family from which he is descended.
5>^ R. ALFRED LESLEY MURRAY.—
I I Conspicuous among the successful
/<^^_^ professional men of the town of Ea-
ton, Delaware county, Ind., is Dr.
A. L. Murray. Dr. Murray was bron in Henry
county, Ind., February 25, 1845, a son of
James and Catherine (Taylor) Murray, the
former born in Pennsylvania, July 19, 1813,
and the latter in Indiana, March 31, 18 17.
James and Catherine Murray were married in
Wayne county, Ind., November 19, 1835, and
immediately thereafter located in Henry coun-
ty and engaged in farming. During the winter
seasons Mr. Murray engaged in teaching
school, which profession he followed for sev-
eral years after his marriage. In 1880 he sold
his farm and built a home in Blountsville,
Henry county, Ind., and has since then re-
sided there. Mr. and Mrs. Murray were
among the early pioneers of Henry county, he
buying his first forty acres of land in 1838.
During his farming life, he accumulated some
200 acres and was a very prosperous and suc-
cessful business man. In 1855 he was stricken
with paralysis, and since that time he has not
been able to do much in any active line. In
early life he was a whig, but later joined the
republican party. Public affairs, particularly
temperance and educational matters, have in-
terested him greatly, and he has always been
regarded as a man of intelligence and high
moral character. Mr. and Mrs. Murray reared
the following family: F. W. , of Henry
county, where he is engaged in farming;
S. T., a physician of Greentown, Howard
county; Mary A., deceased; Alfred L. , Helen,
Viretta and Alice, all three deceased, and
Laura, the wife of R A. Johnson, of Hamil-
ten township, Delaware county.
Dr. A. L. Murray was reared on the home
farm and received the advantages afforded in
the common schools, remaining with his par-
ents until he was nineteen years old. At the
UNION TOWNSHIP.
771
age ot eighteen he began teaching in Delaware
county, in 1863, and taught six terms, and
two years later entered upon the study of
medicine, under the direction of Dr. John A.
Windle, of Blountsville. He continued his
reading with him for eighteen months, finished
his preparatory course with Dr. D. N. Kendall
of the same place, subsequently passing one
term in the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati,
and then began his practice at Economy,
Wayne county, in 1867, at which place he re-
mained one year. He then returned to
Blountsville, where he practiced his profession
until 1873, at which time he located in Gran-
ville, Delaware county, and in 1884 removed
to Eaton, where he practiced until 1892, vvhen
failing health caused him to retire. In 1889
he engaged in the drug business with J. M.
Motsenbocker. Dr. Murray was married
December 24, 1870, to Miss Viretta Jordan,
of Delaware county, where she was born Jan-
uary, 30, 1849, a daughter of W. A. and
America (Davidson) Jordan, of Irish and Eng-
lish descent. Three children have been born
to this union: Bertha, wife of C. K. Van
Buskirk; Gcldie, and Cora deceased. Politi-
cally, the doctor is a republican. He takes
great interest in public affairs and is one of
the representative citizens of Delaware county.
^V^^AVID P. ORR was born in Greene
I I county, Ohio, Januarys, i837. a son
^^_^ of Joseph and Mary (Hoppings) Orr,
natives of Ireland and Ohio. Joseph
Orr left Ireland when a lad of eleven years,
and came to Monroe county, Va. , where he
helped his father on the farm until he grew to
manhood, and then removed to Greene county,
Ohio, where he worked in a woolen factory,
later in a saw mill, but in the year 1840, he
came to Delaware county, Ind. , and bought
eighty acres of land, later becoming the pos-
sessor of 176 acres. This tract was located
near Selma, where he lived and died, March
28, 1 88 1, and the mother at the home of our
subject, August 26, 1886. They were laid to
rest near Selma, in the Orr cemetery. In
those days large families were the rule among
the worthy pioneers, and Mr. and Mrs. Orr
had nine children, as follows: David, James,
deceased; Josephine, wife of Aaron Sholty;
Ann Eliza, wife of Mordecai Whitney; Eliza-
beth M., deceased; Martha, who died in Iowa,
was the wife of Hugh HcHardy; Julia, wife of
Zeph. Martin, and Joseph J., deceased in in-
fancy.
When the civil war broke out among those
who hastened to offer his country his services
was our subject, who enlisted July 29, 1861, at
Indianapolis in company K, Nineteenth Indi-
ana volunteer infantry. From there the regi-
ment was sent to Washington, D. C. , where
they remained until the last of April, 1 862,
after which he was engaged with his regiment
in the battles of Lanesville, Md , Bull Run,
South Mountain, Anteitam, Fredericksburg
and Fitz Hugh crossing. They were taken to
Belle Plains, Va. , on the Potomac river,
vvhere they went into winter quarters. In the
spring, operations were commenced under
Gen. Hooker, who took them across the river
to Chancellorsville, from there to Frederick,
Md., and on to Gettysburg, after which they
wintered at Mine Run. Mr. Orr re-enlisted
at Culpeper, Va. , as a veteran and was given
a furlough of thirty days, after which the regi-
ment remained at Culpeper until March 5,
1864, when they took part in the following
battles: Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North
Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and Weldon
railroad, where he was discharged October 19,
1864. He draws a pension for his services
and was one of the fortunate ones who came
out ot the war unhurt.
772
DELAWARE COUNTY;
At the age of twenty-four years Mr. Orr
was married to Miss Rebecca Sholty, daugh-
ter of Christian and EHzabeth (Mussehnan)
Sholty, both of German extraction. They
had come from Pennsylvania in 1838 and set-
tled upon an eighty-acre farm, later buying
twelve acres more, where Mr. Sholty now lives
in comfort. The mother was laid to rest Feb-
ruary 3, 1890, and was buried in Liberty
township, near Selma. When Mr. and Mrs.
Sholty came to this part of the country, they
were members of the United Brethren church,
but later united with the Methodist Episcopal
church. Mr. and Mrs. Orr, Sr. , were mem-
bers of the United Presbyterian. He was a
man widely known and served as commissioner
for one term. The three brothers of Mrs. Orr
are all farmers — Aaron, in Indiana; William,
in Kansas, and John, in Pennsylvania, and her
sister Mary resides at home.
David P. Orr first settled on a farm near
Selma, where he lived until 1879, when he
sold this and came to Union township, near
Eaton, where he purchased eighty acres of
extra fine and well improved land, where he
now resides. The children of Mr. and Mrs.
Orr are as follows: William H., married
Belle Davis and they live Eeaton; Christian
W., May 9, 1893, married Miss Bertha Gra-
ham; John B., Ida L. , Cora, died February
I, 1885, and is buried at Eaton, and Samuel.
As members of his family, Mr. Orr has two of
his grandchildren, Oscar and Ethel Younts.
He and family are connected with the Meth-
odist Episcopal church and the whole family
is one highly esteemed throughout Union
township.
^y^\ AVID S. RENCH.— Among the farm-
I I ers of Union township, David S.
/^^_^ Ranch is one of the most earnest,
hardworking and enterprising. He
was born in Blackford county, Ind. , Septem-
ber 25, 1864, the son of John and Elizabeth^
(Studebaker) Rench, who were both of Ger-
man extraction. John Rench and his wife
moved from Pennsylvania to Miami county,
Ohio, and purchased eighty acres of land, and
after living there several years sold out and
came to Blackford county, Ind., living there
until 1873. Selling out again, they came to
Delaware county, Ind., and purchased forty
acres, which were situated near Shideler, on
which farm they now reside. Mr. and Mrs.
Rench had a family of ten children : Mary,
wife of Elsworth Galbraith; Abraham, a farmer;
David; Sarah, wife of Louis Holliday; Emma,
John, a farmer; Henry, a farmer; Bertha; Hat-
tie, deceased; and Joseph.
David S. Rench remained at home, assist-
ing his father on the farm, until April 24,
1 889, when he married Miss Sarah Haynes,
the daughter of John and Catherine (Ashen-
felter) Haynes, the former of English and the
latter of German extraction. John Haynes
was born and reared in Indiana, while his
wife was born and reared in Ohio. After their
marriage they settled in Union township, where
they now reside. They had four children,
whose names are: Sarah; William, deceased;
Flora A. ; and Anna P. The father of these
children is a very honest, industrious, influen-
tial and highly respected citizen. He served
as supervisor for several terms, and is a mem-
ber of the order of Red Men, and he and his
wife are members of the Christian church.
Mr. and Mrs. David S. Rench have been
blessed with two children, Lulie and William
M. Mr. Rench resides on his grandfather's
farm, which consists of 160 acres. He is an
honest and hardworking man, and is highly
respected in Union township. He is a faith-
ful member of the Dunkard church, and Mrs.
Rench of the Christian Disciples church at
Eaton, and both show the sincerity of their
faith in their conduct.
0. I. REASONER, M. D.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
778
OSMER IRWIN REASONER, M. D.,
is a descendant of an old and highly
respectable family, which settled in
Blackford county, Ind., at an early
period in the history of that part of the state.
His grandparents, Peter and Rhoda (Fry)
Reasoner were natives respectively of Penn-
sylvania and Virginia. The great-grandfather,
Benjamin Reasoner, was born April 27, 1770,
the son of Peter Reasoner, who left Germany
for France in early manhood, and in 1770,
during a religious persecution emigrated to
America, locating in Pennsylvania, having
married Sallie Spears in France. Then, in
1805, he located in Muskingum county, Ohio,
where they lived and died quite aged. Peter
and Rhoda Reasoner, grandparents of Osmer I. ,
were married in Ohio, and in 1832, with their
family, then consisting of two children, set out
by a team for Indiana, which they reached
after a long and tedious journey, locating in
what is now Licking township, in the county
of Blackford. It was here, in an almost un-
broken forest, that this hardy pioneer began
to lay the foundation of a home, and all the
vicissitudes and hardships incident to those
early times were experienced by him in full
measure. He was a true type of the settler
of sixty years ago, a successful hunter, an
energetic, hard working farmer, and most
estimable christian gentleman of the Presby-
terian faith, as his ancestors were before him.
He died on the farm where he settled in Octo-
ber, 1868. The following are the names of
the children born to Peter and Rhoda Reason-
er: Levina S., Washington F. , MaryE., Noah
H., Calista Ann., John B. , Almira C, and
Jacob M. Washington F. Reasoner, father of
the gentleman whose name introduces this men-
tion, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, July
27, 1830, was reared amid the scenes of pioneer
times, and, on arriving at a suitable age,
his ax was swung in unison with that of his
father's in the work of clearing the farm. He
was united in marriage, October 15, 1850, to
Rachael Slater, who was born in Guernsey
county, Ohio, June 26, 1S29. Mrs. Reasoner
accompanied her parents, Jacob and Sarah
(Alban) Slater, to Indiana in the year 1836,
settling in Blackford county. Her father died
in September, 1839, and the mother departed
this life in 'July, 1840. W. F. and Rachael
Reasoner are the parents of the following chil-
dren: Mary K., deceased; Harriet Samantha,
deceased; Ethan Thomas, a prominent attor-
ney of Peru, Ind. ; Osmer Irwin, the subject of
this sketch; Rhoda Ann, wife of Lewis D. Mc-
Vicker; Riley R. ; AlHe Maria; and Orval Mad-
ison. Mr. Reasoner is one of the substantial
agriculturists of Blackford county and has been
residing upon his present beautiful farm since
the year i860. During his long period of
residence in the county of Blackford, embrac-
ing a period of over sixty years, he has wit-
nessed many important changes, and by his
upright character and conduct has gained the
respect and confidence of his fellow citizens.
Dr. Osmer I. Reasoner, the immediate
subject of this mention, was born November
20, 1852, in Grant county, Ind. His youth-
ful years were spent on the farm of his father,
and at the age of nineteen he entered the
academy of Wabash college, Crawfordsville,
Ind. , for a period of two years. Having de-
cided to enter the medical profession, he
began the study of the same shortly after fin-
ishing his literary education with Dr. Reason-
er at the town New Cumberland, Grant
county, under whose instructions he continued
three years, and then entered upon a course in
the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati. Sub-
sequently, he became a student of the Ken-
tucky school of Medicine, Louisville, graduating
from the same upon the 29th of June, 1876,
after which he began the practice of his pro-
fession at the town of Wheeling, Delaware
774
DELAWARE COUNTY:
county, where he remained for a hmited
period. In April, 1878, he removed to his
present location, the town of Shideler, where
he has since been actively engaged in the
practice, which embraces a large area through-
out the northern part of Delaware county and
southern part of Blackford county.
Dr. Reasoner began the practice at the
town of Shideler under circumstances not the
most encouraging — the sum total of his earthly
wealth at the time consisting of but seven dol-
lars in money, and for several years his life
was full of struggle against adverse conditions.
With an energy born of a determination to
succeed, he overcame the obstacles by which
his pathway was beset, and his ability in his
profession won for him a lucrative business.
During the period of his residence in Union
township his practice, as already noted, has
taken a very wide range, and he now ranks
among the most successful physicians of Dela-
ware county, and the town of Shideler largely
owes its growth and developjnent to the inter-
est the doctor has taken in its welfare, behaving
done more for the town than any other citizen.
In addition to his success in his chosen calling.
Dr. Reasoner possesses good business tact,
and his careful judgment pertaining to matters
financial, has enabled him to accumulate a
comfortable competence of worldly wealth.
The doctor is a leading horticulturist of Del-
aware county, growing all kinds of small
fruits in abundance. He is a member of
the Delaware county Horticultural soci-
ety. Politically a republican, he takes an
active interest in public affairs, but is not
known as an aspirant for the honors or emolu-
ments of office. Religiously he is a Presbyter-
ian, but he affiliates with the Methodist church
— which church organization he organized,
and became its first member. He is active in
behalf of all religious movements, and for a
period of several years served as president of
the Delaware county Sunday Scho'ol union.
He has also filled various official positions in
the local congregation to which he belongs,
including that of class leader, the duties of
which he discharged for a period of eight
years.
Dr. Reasoner was married September 28,
1876, to Miss Luella Wood of Delaware
county, daughter of Samuel and Harriet (An-
derson) Wood, both natives of Clermont
county, Ohio. Samuel Wood grew to man-
hood in his native county and there married
Miss Anderson, in 1854. He followed the
carpenter's trade. He immigrated to Indiana
in 1866, locating in Union township, where he
lived a farmer's life and was one of the pro-
gressive men. He died in 1875, having been
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mrs. Wood, his widow, is now a resident of
Shidelfer, and is a worthy member of the Ger-
man Baptist church. Mr. and Mrs. Wood
were parents of seven children — four sons and
three daughters, and Mrs. Reasoner is the
second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Reas-
oner are parents of six children, viz: Birch W.,
born September 16, 1877; Selina M. , born
February 13, 1879; Claude B., born June 17,
1880; Homer A., born December 11, 1881,
deceased February 19, 1883; Herbert W.,
born February 17, 1883, and Frank A., born
October 12, 1885.
Mrs. Reasoner was educated in the com-
mon schools and began teaching when but
sixteen years of age, which vocation she fol-
lowed four consecutive years, her last term
being taught after her marriage. Mrs. Reas-
oner has been a helpmeet in the true sense of
that term, and is a valuable factor in the com-
munity where she lives, being a worthy mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. It
will be understood that Mr. Reasoner affiliated
with the Methodist church because there was
no Presbyterian body at Shideler.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
775
OTTO M. SHARP, a prominent busi-
ness man in the hardware Hne at
Eaton, Delaware county, Ind , and a
member of the late prosperous firm
of Sharp & Shirey, was born at New Corner,
Delaware county, Ind., January 24, 1856, a
son of Thompson and Christina (Bowers)
Sharp, whose biography appears in another
part of this volume.
Mr. Sharp was reared on a farm and re-
ceived the advantages of the public school,
later attending three terms at the Ladoga
Normal school. He then engaged in teaching
and followed that profession, very successfully,
in this county for seven successive terms, after
which he bought a farm of eighty-two acres in
Washington township, which he cultivated for
eight years. Leaving the farm, Mr. Sharp
moved into Eaton, where he engaged in the
hardware business with D. W. Younts, which
partnership lasted but a month, and subse-
quently he effected a co-partnership with L.
E. Shirey, with whom he continued in busi-
ness until April, 1893. This firm did a large
and lucrative trade in all kinds of hardware,
implements, paints, oils, crockery, china,
pumps, etc.
Mr. Sharp was married in Centre township,
December 4, 1881, to Miss Kate C. Stradling,
who was born in Centre township, a daughter
of William Stradling, a biography of whom ap-
pears in this volume. Five children have been
born of this marriage — Edna, Leda H., Albert,
Hilda and Ina. Politically, Mr. Sharp is a
republican and is regarded as an important
factor in his party in this county. He is con-
sidered one of the leading business men of the
town and owns considerable property in the
place. He is progressive and alert, and always
is ready to look with favor upon any project
which seems to promise benefit to the town,
and is an earnest advocate and liberal patron
of all movements having for their object the
public good. Mr. Sharp is now engaged in
the lime and cement business, and contem-
plates farming for some time in the future.
*y-» UTHER EMERY SHIREY, a well
I C known resident of Eaton, Delaware
^l^A county, Ind., is a native of this
county and state, having been born
near the village of Tabor, a son of Joseph W.
and Susan (Bowers) Shirey, his birth occur-
ring December 24, i860. His father was a
native of Roanoke county, Va. , his mother
coming from the same place, and they were
married in 1855, and were among the early
pioners of Delaware county. Joseph W. Shirey
located near the village of Tabor, where he
engaged in farming and followed this occupa-
tion all of his life until 1888, when he and
family removed to Hanover, Jefferson county,
where they now reside. Mr. and Mrs. Shirey
were the parents of nine children, as follows:
Lillie, L. E., C. O., W. B., W. E, W. A.,
N. C, J. P., deceased, and Hazel. The fam-
ily belongs to the Presbyterian church, and
politically, Mr. Shirey is a republican.
Luther Emery Shirey was reared in his
native county and there attended the common
school, and supplemented this education with
three terms spent in the Danville normal
school. For the following four years he en-
gaged in teaching, after which he engaged in
farming in this county, continuing the latter
occupation until 1890, when he went into
partnership with Mr. Sharp, with whom he
continued in business until April, 1893. Mr.
Shirey married in Muncie, Ind., March 29,
1883, Miss Julia Stradling, who was born
March 7, 1862, a daughter of William Strad-
ling, to which union were born three children,
Claire, Ivy and Winogene. Mrs. Shirey died
January i, 1892, and her remains rest in the
776
DELAWARE COUNTY:
Collins cemetery, west of Muncie. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Shirey were members of the Presby-
terian church. In politics, Mr. Shirey is an
ardent republican, keeps well posted in the
affairs of his party, and is a man much
respected in his neighborhood.
at
'ILLIAM S. SHIDELER lives a
retired life in the little town of
Shideler, Ind. , where he takes life
easily, as he well may, having
fought a good fight through the years which
have passed. He was born in Miami county,
Ohio, August 31, 1836, and is the son of Isaac
and Sarah (Little) Shideler, the father born in
Miami county. May 8, 1812, and the mother
in Pennsylvania, May 12, 1812. These
parents were married in Ohio in December,
1834, and moved to Delaware county, Ind.,
in 1836, locating in Hamilton township,
where Mr. Shideler improved a tract of eighty
acres from its primitive condition, upon which
they remained the rest of their lives. They
were the parents of thirteen children, three of
whom died in infancy, the rest living to be-
come heads of families. The names of these
children are as follows: Joseph K. , a physi-
cian of Muncie; William S. ; Isaac, a resident
of Shideler; Henry, a merchant of Merom,
Sullivan county; John S., a grain dealer of
Lincoln, Kan.; Mary J., wife of O. P. Kane,
of Shideler; David L. , of Delaware county;
Elizabeth, deceased; Margaret E., wife of B.
K. Burt, and Thomas R. , who owns a sawmill
and tile manufactory in Shideler.
Isaac Shideler died November 16, 1875,
his death resulting from the kick of a mule.
The mother of the family died November 18,
1888, and with her husband lies buried in the
Granville cemetery, this county. They were
among the most respected members of the
Christian church. Mr. Shideler was a promi-
nent man in the township of Hamilton, hav-
ing been its trustee for three terms. He was
a democrat in his political opinions and filled
all of the positions of life in a commennable
manner.
William S. Shideler was reared on the home
farm, under good influences. The principles
of industry and economy were early instilled
into his mind, and these have undoubtedly
contributed much to his prosperity. His early
education was limited, but he has proved that
a college education is not necessary to become
a successful business man. He began life for
himself when he reached his majority, but did
not buy land — only farmed on shares. On
May 10, 1864, he enlisted in company G, One
Hundred and Thirty-fourth regiment of In-
diana volunteers, and served in the army of
the Potomac, being discharged at Indianapolis,
September 2, 1864. In 1865, he engaged in
the mercantile trade and became railroad and
express agent, which position he filled for a
period of fourteen years. In 1871 was made
assistant postmaster, and two years later was
appointed postmaster and served until Decem-
ber, 1876; then, in 1877, was reappointed and
served continuously until July 14, 1884; was
again appointed September 3,1885, under Pres.
Cleveland, and resigned when Gen. Harrison
was elected. From 1871 to 1891 he was en-
gaged in mercantile pursuits when he sold out,
and e.xcept for his duties as notary public, since
1889, he has lived retired from business. Mr.
Shideler has, at various times, owned a large
amount of real estate, at one time being the
possessor of 280 acres, all of which he obtained
by his own labors. He recently sold 140 acres
of choice land, but how possesses seventy-seven
acres, and some valuable town property. At
the time of his marriage he was entirely with-
out means, but he possessed a clear head, a
sound body, and the proper ideas of right and
wrong, consequently he has prospered.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
777
The marriage of Mr. Shideler took place
August 7, 1867, in Delaware county, with
Miss Lavina B Miller, who was born in Rip-
ley county, Ind., February 23, 1840, the
daughter of John and Nancy (Murphy) Miller,
the former a native of Indiana and the latter
of Ohio. John and Nancy Miller were the
parents of twelve children, all of whom are
deceased except three. Mr. and Mrs. Shideler
are the parents of three children: Millie, the
wife of Arthur G. Bowen, a telegraph operator
at Decatur, 111. ; William H. , a telegraph op-
erator at New Castle, and Dora Souders, at
home with her parents. Mr. Shideler and his
excellent wife are members of the Christian
church, of which he is a deacon, and they are
among the most respected residents of the
community. Each of Mr. and Mrs. Shideler's
children has one child, making them the
grandparents of three families. The grand-
children are Carl, Herbert Bowen, Beatrice,
Souders and Hazel Shideler.
HBRAHAM SNYDER was born in Mi-
ami county, Ohio, September 2,
1835, the son of James and Catherine
(Studebaker) Snyder, both of Ger-
man descent. This worthy couple were reared
in Ohio, and lived there a number of years
after their marriage, when they settled in Del-
aware county, Ind., Abraham at that time an
infant of six weeks old. Here the father en-
tered up 1 20 acres of land, which he proceeded
to improve with industry and skill. Upon
this place the parents spent the remainder of
their \iays, the father dying in 1845, and the
mother in 1849 — the latter making her home
with her children after the death of her hus-
band. Both were members of the Dunkard
church, and the remains both lie in the ceme-
tery of that body. They reared a family of
eight children, all of whom grew up to be es-
teemed members of society, their names being
David, a farmer; Alexander, Jacob, who died
in the army; John, a farmer; Abraham, Joseph,
who died in the army; Hannah, wife of George
Keppler, and Sarah, wife of Daniel Studebaker.
Abraham Snyder was united in marriage
with Melissa Johnson, daughter of Israel and
Lizzie (Berry) Johnson, on the 5th of March,
1866. Her parents were of German extraction
and settled at an early day in Delaware county,
having come here from Ohio. The father
bought sixty acres of land and settled upon it
with his family, remaining there until the
death of his wife, which occurred in 1883.
Mr. Johnson then moved to Blackford county,
where he died in 1887 and was buried in the
Dunkard cemetery, by the side of the wife, to
whom he was so strongly attached in life.
They were parents of three children: Melissa,
Mary and James. This much respected pair
were members in good standing of the Dun-
karp church. Abraham Snyder began life for
himself by working the farm of his father,
i continuing to do so for a nnmber of years,
1 when he moved upon what is known as the
Powell farm, remaining at that place three or
1 four years, and then bought his present farm
of sixty-one acres. This property was at that
time but partly cleared, but Mr. Snyder went
to work with will and determination and has
made of the tract a most valuable property, it
I being highly improved and well stocked.
; Eight children have blessed the union of this
I couple, their names being as follows: Francis,
Willie, Roily, Isaac, deceased, Eva, Joseph,
I Walter and May. The good wife of Mr.
Snyder died March 31, 1892, and was buried
! in the Dunkard cemetery. The father and his
boys reside upon the home place and are all
I highly respected as honest and industrious
people. They are consistent members of the
' Dunkard church, following the teachings of
1 that body and living at peace with everybody.
778
DELAWARE COUNTY
eDMUND H. STRADLING.— Among
the prominent men of Union town-
ship, Delaware county, Ind. , Edmund
H. Stradling occupies a conspicuous
place. He now resides in the town of Eaton,
but his efficient services have made him well
and favorably known all over the country. He
was born in Centre township, Delaware county,
April 3, 1857, a son of William Stradling, and
was reared to manhood on the home farm.
His common school education was supplement-
ed by a course in college at Danville, in April,
1879, where he made substantial progress in
the department of science and engineering,
having previously taken a teacher's course,
which enabled him to follow that profession
very successfully for a number of years.
While at college he improved every oppor-
tunity, teaching at intervals and acting as
janitor of the building, thus making his way,
in the face of many obstacles, until he suc-
ceeded in graduating August 3, 1882. On the
5th of the following October he was appointed
county surveyor, which office he efficiently
filled until November, 1882, at which time he
was regularly elected to the office on the repub-
lican ticket. For two years Mr. Stradling(
faithfully performed the duties of his office,
when, in 1884, he was re-elected for a term of
two more years. He afterward went to Cali-
fornia, where, from 1886 until 1888, he was
engaged in railroad surveying in San Bernadino
and San Diego counties. In the latter year, he
was made superintending engineer of the free
gravel roads of Union township, Delaware
county, Ind. , which position he held until No-
vember, 1889, when he removed to Spencer
county, Ind., where he engaged in the lumber
trade, in hard wood, until July 28, 1892, at
which time he retired to the pleasant little
town of Eaton, Delaware county. He was
again appointed superintendent of the free
gravel roads July, 1892, and engages in sur-
veying and engineering work whenever his
services are in demand, having had much prac-
tical experience in all departments of his pro-
fession.
Mr. Stradling was married June 3, 1891,
to Miss Ollie Hopkins, a native of Spencer
county, Ind., and daughter of Richard and
Ellen (Porter) Hopkins, to which union one
son, Richard H., has been born. Mr. Strad-
ling owns a fine farm of eighty acres in Wash-
ington township, and also eighty acres of ex-
cellent land in Spencer county, and some valu-
able real estate in the town of Eaton. He is
a republican in politics and takes a great inter-
est in public affairs. Mrs. Stradling is a mem-
ber of the Methodist church, and they are both
among the well known and esteemed residents
of the village. On the resignation of WiUiam
Freeman, March 6, 1893, Mr. Stradhng was
appointed to succeed him in the honorable and
responsible office of township trustee of Union
township. He is a member of Welcome lodge,
No. 37, K. of P., of Muncie. He also belongs
to lodge 78, I. O. O. F. , and also encamp-
ment No. 30, at Muncie, of the same order.
EARRISON STRONG is a citizen of
Union township, Delaware county,
and a farmer of the highest respecta-
bility. He was born in Greene county,
Ohio, November 18, 1840, being the son of
George W. and Nancy (Hummer) Strong, they
being of Irish and German descent respectively.
The father was taken from Vermont when he
was five years old to Greene county, Ohio,
where he grew to manhood and married. He
lived near Jamestown for forty-four years, and
then sold his farm and came to Blackford
county, Ind., where he purchased land and
lived on it for twelve years, having nearly
cleared it when he sold it, and came to Union
UNION TOWNSHIP.
770
township, and bought 120 acres of nearly
cleared land. Upon the latter property he
ended his days. He had a sister, Elizabeth,
wife of Wm. Galbraith, living in Grant county.
George W. Strong was married the first time
to Sarah Minninghall, and there were eight
children as the result of this marriage, namely:
Martin, deceased; Adolph, a farmer in Iowa;
Moses, living in Ohio; Jefferson, a farmer in
Iowa; Prudence, deceased; Susanna, wife of
Osborn Lemark, deceased, living in Madison
county, Ind. ; Martha, wife of David Glass, de-
ceased, living in Greene county, Ohio, and
Benjamin, deceased. The mother of these
children was born in Greene county, Ohio, and
died in the fall of 1835 George W. Strong
departed this life April 27, 1863, and Nancy
Strong September 6, 1864, and they are laid
to rest in Ashenfeller cemetery, where a fine
monument marks the spot. It will be under-
stood that Harrison Strong is the son of the
second wife, who had three children, he being
the second child; Elizabeth being the first, and
George W. the last.
Harrison Strong was married August 25,
1863, to Naomi, daughter of Samuel and Jane
(Haight) Irwin. Her parents went from
Maryland to Pennsylvania, and after a short
residence there moved to Ohio, stayed there a
number of years, and then came to Delaware
county, Ind. They lived on a farm of 160
acres in the latter place for seven or eight
years, then removed to Blackford county,
where they bought a farm of 280 acres, and
ended their days there, the father passing to
his rest October 11, 1878, and the mother
July 14, 1849. These good people sleep in
Mt. Zion cemetery. Mrs. Naomi Strong has
one brother, William L , a farmer of Black-
ford count}-. Harrison Strong, immediately
after his marriage, settled upon a farm of 120
acres, which was partly cleared, and by hard
work and rigid economy he has succeeded in
making it a delightful home, and a valuable
piece of property. The residence and the
out-buildings are in fine condition, and every-
thing shows Mr. Strong to be a prosperous
and good farmer. The union of Mr. and Mrs.
Strong resulted in si.\ children, namely: Mary
A., wife of Wm. Michael, of Union township;
Samuel W. , at home; Wm. A., restaurant
keeper at Eaton; Nancy J., died in 1872;
Emma E., died in 1885, and Lizzie May, at
home. Mr. and Mrs. Strong received a com-
mon school education, and are people of su-
perior intelligence In politics he is a demo-
crat, and a member of the F. M. B. A. He
and his wife are members of the Methodist
church, and are highly respected in that body,
where they are most useful workers.
eDMUND TAYLOR.— Among the en-
terprising, intelligent and successful
young farmers of Union township,
Delaware county, Ind. , none have
shown more ability in the management of his
place than has Edmund Taylor. Mr. Taylor
^as born in Grant county, Ind., June 9, 1862,
son of Edmund and Patience (Seely) Taylor,
natives of England and America, respectively.
He was reared on his father's farm until he
was prepared to found a home of his own, and
received a good education, improving many
opportunities until he is now among the best
informed young men of his neighborhood.
His family has been reduced to himself and
one brother, Frank, who is an invalid, his
father having died November 18, 1889, and
his mother in 1866.
The marriage of Mr. Taylor occurred Sep-
tember 18, 1883, to Miss Inez Lambert,
daughter of John R. and Mary A. (Smith)
Lambert, natives of Indiana, of English and
German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Lambert are
780
DELAWARE COUNTY:
prominent residents of Delaware county,
wliere also reside Mrs. Taylor's two younger
brothers, Jesse and David, who are engaged
in the pursuit of agriculture. After marriage
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor removed to the fine farm
of 1 60 acres on which they have since lived.
This well improved tract of land was a pres-
ent to Mr. Taylor from his father, and to the
original gift he has added fifty acres by pur-
chase. This place is well located, under good
cultivation, and is in every way a desirable
home. The children born into this pleasant
home are five in number, as follows: Edith,
Harry, Elma, Howard and Ruth. In politics
Mr. Taylor espouses the principles advocated
by the democratic party, and the family is one
of the most respected in the township.
m:
'ILLIAM HENRY YOUNTS.— The
ancestors of this gentleman were of
German descent and spelled their
name Yountz. It has been Angli-
cized, however, by various members of the
family to its present form. His grandfather,
Philip Yountz, was a native of Ashe county, N.^
C, where he married Margaret Byrkett, and
subsequently removed to Miami county, Ohio.
He was among the first white settlers of that
that county, and served as a soldier in Wayne's
e.xpedition against the Indians of the north-
west, which terminated with the treaty of
Greenville, August 3, 1795. He died in Miami
county in 1864, having served for fifty-two
years as an elder in the German Baptist
church. His wife died in 1862. They had
eight sons and two daughters. All lived to
maturity and married, and one' of the daughters
and one son still survive. George, the fourth
son, was the father of the subject of this
sketch. He was born in Miami county, Ohio,
where he married Mahala Mickel, by whom he
had twelve children, viz.: William H., John
A., Samuel, Elizabeth, Abram W. , Macy C.,
Margaret E. , Joseph W. , Daniel H. and Alice
— all of whom now survive. One son, Philip,
died in the service of the Union at Matagorda,
Texas, November 24, 1865, being first ser-
geant of company G, Fifty-seventh Indiana
volunteer infantry, and Charles A., a private in
company I, Indiana volunteer cavalry, was
killed at Okolona, Miss., February 22, 1864.
The daughters, with one exception, are mar-
ried— Elizabeth to George W. Smith; MaryC. '
to John Miller, and Alice to Albert Mills.
The father devoted his time to agricultural
pursuits, remaining in his native county till
1856. In that year he came to Delaware
county and purchased a farm in Union town-
ship, where he died Februrry 9, 1878. He
was a member of the German Baptist church,
and an honest and highly respected citizen.
His wife survives him. William H. , the eldest
son, was born March 21, 1835, in Miami
county, Ohio. His youthful days were passed
in the performance of farm labor at home, and
he never enjoyed the privilege of attending
school, with the exception of about three
months; yet he prepared himself for the voca-
tion of school teaching by a system of diligent
study at home, and, when he came to Indiana
in 1856, he entered at once upon that line of
work in Delaware county, and was thus en-
gaged, with a few intermissions, every winter,
till 1882. In the twentieth year of his age —
September 21, 1854 — he married Miss Anna
M. Lowery, niece of the late Judge Lowery,
of the supreme bench of Ohio. On the 1 5th
day of February, 1864, his wife died, leaving
one son, George W. , of Eaton, a manufacturer
of pulleys. In April, 1864, Mr. Younts went
to Greenville, Ohio, and enlisted as a soldier
in the Union army, enlisting in company B,
Second provisional battalion, of Richardson's
sharpshooters. He re-enlisted December,
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
781
1864, and was assigned to duty in company
C, One Hundred and Seventy-third Ohio vol-
unteer infantry, which became a part of the
Second brigade, Second division, of Hancock's
veteran corps, Mr. Younts passed through all
the commissions up to the rank of sergeant
major of his regiment, from which he was
made lieutenant of company B, and assigned
to duty on the staff of Gen. Eugene Powell,
as A. A. A. G. , in the army of the Shenandoah.
He was mustered out of the service with his
regiment at Columbus, Ohio, September 13,
1865, and returned to his home in this county.
On the 22d day of May, 1866, he was wedded
to his present companion, LydiaJ., daughter
of John and Celia McClain. He continued
the occupation of school teaching, and, in
1868, resumed the study of law. In 1869, he
was admitted to the bar of Delaware county,
and began the practice of his profession at the
town of Eaton. The position he occupies, as
an attorney, has been gained by unremitting
effort on his part, and his limited educational
advantages entitle him to the more credit, and
mark him as one of the self made men of the
county.
In his social relations, he is esteemed as
much for the frank goodness of his nature as
he is among the teaching fraternity for his
ability; and in this sphere the honors are
shared by his wife, who is a lady of an ami-
able, kindly disposition. Although not a mem-
ber of any church, Mr. Younts adheres to the
tenets of the Christian religion, and contributes
cheerfully to the support of the chcrch and the
spread of the Gospel.
He is a member of Delaware lodge, 46, A.
F. & A. M., and has served as junior and sen-
ior warden and senior deacon in that lodge.
He also belongs to the Muncie chclpter. No. 38,
Muncie council No. 16, Muncie commandery K.
T. ,and Muncie chapter, No. 104, of the Eastern
Star. The other fraternities with which he is
identified are the G. A. R., John Brant
post. No 156; Muncie tribe, No. 144, I. O.
R. M.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
>-7*OHN BARRETT.— The blessings of
J the farm life, and the profit which
A 1 comes from following that calling, are
aptly shown in the life of John Barrett,
of Washington township, Delaware county.
Mr. Barrett was born in Jefferson county,
Ohio, November 25, 1825, and lived with his
parents until he was of age. His boyhood and
youth were spent upon the farm, and he re-
ceived but a limited education. After reach-
ing his majority, he worked by the month,
cutting down forest trees, and fitting the soil
for cultivation, and in this way cleared a very
large amount of land. After his marriage, he
bought forty acres in Madison county, Ind. , at
that time covered with a dense forest growth,
but he cut down the trees and broke the
ground and put it in a nice state of cultivation,
after which he traded it for eighty acres,
which compose his present farm. The latter
is under a fine state of cultivation, and what
he owns came as the result of the work of his
own hands.
Mr. Barrett is the son of Thomas and
Elnora (Johnson) Barrett, the father a native
of Maryland, and the mother of New Jersey.
782
DELAWARE COUNTY;
The father was taken to Ohio when a boy by
his parents, who located in Jefferson county;
removed to Madison county, Ind. , in 1842,
where he bought forty acres of land; remained
there a few years, and then came to Delaware
county, buying eighty acres of land in Wash-
ington township. His death occurred in 1881
and his wife followed him to the grave the
next year. They were members of the Chris-
tian church, and had been for forty years
prior to their death.
John Barrett was married April i, 1852, to
Martha Zedekar, who was born in Montgom-
ery county, Ohio, May 4, 1837, being the
daughter of John and Catherine (Nowland)
Zedekar, her father a native of Pennsylvania,
and her mother born in Shelby county, Ohio.
The father of Mrs. Barrett came to Madison
county, Ind., in 1840, where he combined
farming with his trade of carpentering. He was
a very successful man, owning at the the time
of his death 300 acres of land. He was a
democrat up to the time of Buchanan's admin-
istration, and then he became a republican,
and continued so for the rest of his life. For
a number of years, Mr. and Mrs. Zedekar were
active and influential members of the Christian
church. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Barrett there have been born seven children,
namely: Elnora, John Z., Thomas, Cathe-
rine, Nellie Frances, Rebecca Florence and
William Wesley. Mr. Barrett is an honest,
hard working man. He has always given the
democratic ticket a very hearty support.
^y^ ENJAMIN BARTLETT is one of the
Ir*^ very old citizens of Delaware csunty,
f^^^J was born in Salem township, Dela-
ware county, Ind., July 12, 1834,
and is the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth
(Flemings) Bartlett, natives of Virginia, and
of English descent. The father left Virginia
in 1830, and located in Henry county, Ind.,
where he remained one year, and then moved
to Salem township, this county. There he
bought eighty acres of land, but remained only a
short time. Coming to Washington township,
he bought 400 acres of forest land. He lived to
see 100 acres improved, and reared a family of
ten children. The mother of our subject died
when he was a small boy, and. his father mar-
ried a few years later Elizabeth Dragoo, also
a native of Virginia. The father died in 1858,
and his second wife had then been dead some
time. In politics he was a whig, and a strong
supporter of Henry Clay. Benjamin Bartlett
lived with his parents until he was twelve years
old, and then with his brother David until he
was twenty-one, working at anything that
would bring him in an honest dollar. He
had very few educational advantages, having
gone but four months to school in all, yet
he is a well informed man, having studied
and read after he grew to manhood. He
rented land up to the time of the war, and
then enlisted, August 24, 1861, in company B,
Thirty-sixth Indiana regiment, for three years
or during the war. Mr. Bartlett took part in
the following battles: Shiloh, Round Top
Mountain, Perryville, Stone River, Chicka-
mauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge,
Ringgold, and Dalton. Mr. Bartlett was
with Sherman at Dalton, where he received a
wound in the left thigh from a musket baM.
As a result of this wound he receives a pen-
sion of $6 per month. Mr. Bartlett has al-
ways been an active man, and after the war
he engaged in farming in this township for six
years, after which he ran a saw mill for a
number of years, and then ditched for about
five years. In the year 1885 he bought a title
factory in New Corner, where he now carries
on a large business; having the latest improved
facilities for the manufacture of tile. Mr.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
788
Bartlett has acquired his property by his own
exertions, and is a man who has the confi-
dence of the entire community.
Mr. Bartlett was married .April 8, 1854, to
Miss Lucinda Gilliland, who was born June 9,
1S38, in Henry county, Ind. She is the
daughter of Joseph and Lucinda (Clark) Gilli-
land, her father being a native of Kentucky,
and her mother of North Carolina. The for-
mer, when a boy^ moved to Ohio, and then to
Henry county, Ind., after which he came to
Delaware county, in 1840, and entered eighty
acres. After some years he went to Howard
county, Ind. He was a shoemaker as well as
a farmer, and whatever he did he did well.
This worthy man died in 1862, and his wife
followed him two years later. They were con-
sistent members of the New Light church. In
politics he was a republican, and a warm ad-
mirer of Lincoln. He and his wife were the
parents of the following children: Mary Ellen,
John Riley, Sarah Jane, Lucy Florence, Clar-
issa, Matilda, David Vincent, Joseph Willis,
George Harrison, deceased, Charles and Nellie
Pearl. In politics Mr. Bartlett is a democrat,
and does good services for his party in election
campaigns. He is a member of lodge No.
425, of Odd Fellows, at New Corner; also of
Live Tribe No. 123, Red Men, at New Corner,
and Lookout Mountain post. No. 140, G. A. R.
eDWARD BEUOY, farmer and worthy
citizen of Washington township, this
county, was born September 12, 1828,
in Guernsey county, Ohio, and is the
son of Thomas and Mary (Harte) Beuoy,
whose sketch appears in this volume in con-
nection with that of Randolph Beuoy. Ed-
ward grew up on a farm, where he had very
limited chances for schooling, and remained
with his parents until he was twenty-one.
Until this time he had worked hard, helping
his father to clear the land and get it into
good farming shape. He began life for him-
self by working for his father by the month
for a few years, and that parent gave him 125
acres in section 2, Washington township.
After living on this land for three years he
bought his present farm near Wheeling,
consisting of 100 acres, all of which is im-
proved, and under cultivation. He followed
farming all his life until a few years ago, when
he retired from active work. He has one of
the best farm residences in the township, and
the barn and the out-houses are neat, attrac-
tive and roomy.
Mr. Beuoy was married in this county,
March 6, 1850, to Sarah Jane Milhollin,
daughter of John and Melinda Milhollin. Her
parents are old pioneer: of Grant count}', and
are both members of the Methodist church,
and in politics he is a strong republican. By
this marriage Edward Beuoy is the father of
the following children: Owen, John, Thomas,
Eliza, Cedora and Mary Jane, all deceased;
Alsina, Cora and Maggie, all at home, Ellen,
wife of Frank Kepplinger, of Fairmount, Ind.
Mrs. Sarah Jane Beuoy died August- 25,
1875, and her remains lie in the Olive Branch
cemetery. She died, as she lived, in the faith
of the Presbyterian church, of which her hus-
band is also a member. Mr. Beuoy is a strong
supportor of the democratic party, and firmly
believes in its teachings.
^y^ ANDOLPH BEUOY. — Washington
I /<^ township, Delaware county, Ind., is
M W settled with a peaceful and law abid-
ing people, the majority of whom are
in good circumstances. Among the well
known residents is Randolph Beuoy, who is
highly esteemed for his many good qualities
DELAWARE COUNTY;
and admired for his knowledge of practical
farming. Mr. Beuoy was born August 14,
1834, in the same township in which he now
resides, and lived with his parents until he was
twenty-one, working upon the farm and aiding
in subduing the forest and adding to the culti-
vable acres of the farm; consequently, his
education was very limited. After attaining
his majority, he and his brother took charge
of his father's farm in partnership, and so ran
it for twenty years, and then Randolph bought
his present farm of 1 20 acres in Washington
township. It was larger originally than at
present, as he has just given his son seventy
acres from it. Previously he had bought a
farm which he gave to his daughter.
Mr. Beuoy is regarded as one of the best
citizens of Delaware county. His house is
beautifully situated on a knoll, and everything
about the place affords evidence of thrift and
enterprise. He gives much care to the raising
of poultry, and has every convenience at hand
for that purpose, his hennery being heated by
gas during the cold weather, and the result is
the supply of eggs continue through the win-
ter months. His poultry department adds no
little to his income yearly. Mr. Beuoy is also
very successful as a grower of fruit, the pro-
duct of his orchards being second to that of
none in the county of Delaware. The resi-
dence is a large and very attractive building;
the barn is roomy and convenient, and all
other needful buildings upon the place are in
good condition. In short, Mr. Beuoy is a live,
wide awake and progressive farmer, who suf-
fers no interest of his to be neglected. He is
a liberal and public spirited man, always ready
to assist in any movement that promises to
benefit the community or the county.
Mr. Beuoy was married January 14, 1858,
to Miss Eliza McVicker, a most estimable lady,
born in Blackford county, Ind., January 9,
1837, the daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth
(Bruner) McVicker. Her parents came from
Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1836, and settled
in Blackford county, Ind., the father entering
160 acres of land, which was all forest. With
brave heart and strong hands he went to work
and made of it one of the finest farms in the
county. There they lived until their death,
both passing away in the faith in which they
had lived, the Old School Baptist church.
Mr. Beuoy is the son of Thomas Beuoy,
who was born in Virginia, June 3, 1787.
Thomas Beuoy was one of the old settlers of
this county and township, and was at Wheel-
ing, W. Va. , when that city was a mere vil-
lage. He helped to build the first court house
in Greene county. Pa., and settled in Ohio
when it was yet a territory. He spent a few
years there hunting and trapping, until his
marriage, then he leased a piece of land,
bought and disposed of it, after which he pur-
chased 160 acres of land, which he sold for
$700, and, then, in 1832, came to Delaware
county, Ind. Here he entered 160 acres of
land, in the township of Washington. After
locating in Indiana he prospered, althongh he
reared a family of twelve children, eight sons
and four daughters, all of whom attained their
majority. In addition to his first entry he sub-
sequently purchased forty acres of government
land, which he improved, and afterward bought
each of his eight sons eighty acres of land.
Notwithstanding the fact that he could neither
read nor write, he was a very intelligent, and
a very good man. It was the aim of his life
to provide each of his children with a home,
and this he did. He and his wife were con-
sistent members of the Old School Baptist
church. Randolph Beuoy and wife also are
held in the highest esteem in that body, as
they are in the community generally. They
are the parents of three children, namely:
Alice, at home; Mack, married to Miss Jennie
Watson, and Jennie, wife of Jonathan Rich-
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
785
ardson. In politics Mr. Beuoy has always
supported the republican ticket with hearty
good will.
lOMAS BEUOY (deceased) was born
October 17, 1818, in Ohio, where he
remained until he was thirteen years
of age; then came with his parents to
Washington township, Delaware county, Ind.,
where his father purchased a tract of land
from the government. Faithfully he remained
at home, assisting his father in the improve-
ment and cultivation of the land, until he was
twenty-two years of age, at which time he be-
gan life for himself, choosing agriculture for his
life work.
Mr. Beuoy married when he was twenty-
two years old and removed at once to the farm
in Washington township, where he ended his
days, and upon which his widow now lives.
His father gave him eighty acres and he bought
eighty acres additional, all of which at that
time was in a primitive state. He built a
humble log cabin, in which he and his wife
lived for twelve years, for they werq quite
poor in those days. Their furniture was scant
and of the simplest kind; but industry, per-
severance and favoring seasons brought their
reward, and a finer and better house took the
place of the rude cabin, and comforts and
luxuries were added to the home.
Mr. Beuoy gave his time to farming and
stock growing, taking a special pleasure in the
raising of cattle and sheep. He was never
connected with any church, but was always
generous towards the cause of religion and
gave freely to the poor. He was a kind and
considerate husband and an indulgent father.
Mr. Beuoy died January 23, 1889, and his re-
mains lie buried in the cemetery at Wheeling,
where a beautiful monument marks the spot.
The wife of the subject, Esseignor Beuoy,
was born January 24, 1821, in Gallatin coun-
ty, Ky., being the daughter of Benjamin W.
and Tamer (Corn) Furnish. Benjamin W.
Furnish was born April 14, 1796, and his wife
January 2, 1796; both natives of Kentucky,
and they were reared to maturity in Harrison
county, that state. The grandfather of Mrs.
Beuoy was a soldier in the Revolutionary war,
and her grandfather, Joseph Corn, was in the
war of 1 8 12. The father of Mrs . Beuoy moved
to Rush county, Ind., from Kentucky, in 1823,
and bought land, upon which he remained
until 1830, and then he went to Franklin
county, where he purchased eighty acres.
After living there for several years he settled
in Grant county, where he lived until his
death, which occurred in 1851 Her mother
lived until 1888, when she passed away at a
ripe old age. Both were members of the Bap-
tist church from childhood to the end of their
lives. Mr. Beuoy was married to Esseignor
Furnish, August 27, 1840, and the fruit of
this marriage were the following children:
Catherine, Emeline and Mary, all deceased;
Benjamin T. , married Catherine Grimes and
lives in Washington township; Emily, wife of
Edgar Grimes, and Amanda, deceased. The
father of these children was a strong republi-
can, and took an active part in matters polit-
ical.
BRANK BLAKELY, the courteous and
thriving general merchant of Gas-
ton, Washington township, Delaware
county, Ind., was born in Randolph
county, Ind., September 15, 1855. His par-
ents, WiUiam B. and Leah A. (Lyon) Blake-
ly, came from Clinton county, Ohio, in 1852,
and sttled on the farm near Farmland, Mon-
roe township, Randolph county, where the
father died in 1887. The mother still sur-
vives, together with three sons and one daugh-
DELAWARE COUNTY:
ter, one son having died at the age of five
years. The Lyon family is of English origin,
and Mrs. Leah Blakely is the niece of Gen.
Lyon, who was killed at the battle of Wilson's
Creek, Mo., August lo, 1861, while gallantly
charging the enemy. Mrs. Blakely also had
three brothers in the Union army under the
intrepid Gen. W. T. Sherman.
Frank Blakely performed the regular labor
of a farm life until fifteen years of age, re-
ceiving his elementary education at the dis-
trict school, and then being sent to a higher
grade, until prepared to engage in teaching,
which vocation he followed for several years.
Later, while attending college at Ridgeville,
Ind., Mr. Blakely, in 1879, became acquaint-
ed with his future wife. Miss Nellie Rowley,
who was the preceptor of music in the same
college. This acquaintanceship ripened into
love, and June 28, 1883, at the home in Stur-
gis, Mich. , the two were united in matrimony, and
at once located in Albany, Ind., where Mr.
Blakely had for some years been engaged in
the dry goods business. There came to bless
this happy union two children, a boy and a
girl, named Karl and Nina, the girl now aged
nine and the boy seven years. But in Octo-
ber, 1892, the young mother was seized with
typhoid fever, and lingered until November 17,
following, when death claimed her for his own.
She was a most exemplary christian, and
strove to soften the ills and asperities of life
whenever within her power. She felt more
the pang of parting with her most helpless
children, still almost in their infancy, than she
did the sting of the enemy of life, but she
meekly bowed to the will of God. She was"
much beloved by her sorrowing husband, and
loved and respected by her numerous acquaint-
ances and the large circle of friends, who held
her very dear.
The father of Mrs. Blakely was also a war-
rior-patriot, and fell in the battle of the Wil-
derness, while fighting under Gen. Grant. Mr.
Blakely, since his residence in Washington
township, has won many warm friends, and by
sound and substantial business methods, his
business has had a very rapid and profitable
increase since the first establishment of the
store.
QC. BRADDOCK is a well known
citizen of Washington township,
whose many good qualities have
endeared him to the people of his
community. He was born in Greene county,
Pa., April 27, 1833, being the son of David
G. and Susan (Crow) Braddock. His father
was born May 9, 1 807, and his mother in 1 808,
both in the above county and state. His
parents remained in Greene county until their
death; the father was a farmer who acquired
250 acres of land. He died in 1889, having
survived his wife forty-three years. They
were members of the Presbyterian church, of
which he was a ruling elder. The father was
of German descent. M. C. Braddock lived
with hi_s parents until he was twenty-one, obe-
dient to them, and then he worked for his
father until he was twenty-seven years old. In
the year 1864 he enlisted in company A,
Eleventh Pennsylvania infantry, and remained
in the service until June 17, 1865. He parti-
cipated in the battle of the Wilderness, of Five
Forks, and was under fire every day after that
engagement until the surrender of General
Lee. He received a slight wound in the hip,
caused by a musket ball, and receives a pen-
sion of six dollars per month. After the war Mr.
Braddock engaged in farming on eighty acres of
land in Greene county, Pa. This he sold in
1870, and moved to his present farm in Washing-
ton township, Delaware county, Ind. , consisting
of 165 acres. Here he has engaged in farm-
ing ever since, as well as stock raising, hand-
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
787
ling a great many sheep. He was married
April 21, 1 860, to Mary Carter, who was born
in Greene county, Pa., in 1835, and died in
1863. By this marriage he had one child,
Viola, wife of George Reasoner. Mr. Brad-
dock's second marriage was solemnized Octo-
tober 6, 1870, with Mrs. Mary Ann Miller, who
was born December 22, 1837. She was the
widow of Abraham Miller, a native of Mus-
kingum county, Ohio. Mr. Miller was born
in 1832, and died in i868, owning, at the time
of his death, 200 acres of land. Mrs. Brad-
dock is the daughter of Nancy and John (John-
son) Crow, her father being a native of Greene
county, Ohio, and her mother of Guernsey
county, Ohio. Her father came to Delaware
county, Ind., in 1S36, and made a great deal
of money, having given his children 960 acres
of land. He died July 9, 1891, and the mother
died December 9, 1887; both being members
of the Presbyterian church. In politics her
father was a republican, and warmly supported
the ticket of that party. ]
Mr. Braddock held the office of justice of !
the peace for two terms, and has in other
ways been identified with the interest of the
community. He is a worthy man, and much
esteemed by all who know him.
"^VACKSON BROCK was born March 5,
B 1828, near New Burlington, Delaware
A ■ county, Ind., and resided with his par-
ents until he had reached the age of
twenty-one years. His parents were Sherod
and Mary Brock, the former having been born
March 13, 1781, in Tennessee; he came from
there when still a young man and settled in
Wayne county, Ind., where he remained for a
period of two years, and then bought land in
Perry township, county of Delaware. He sold
this in 1834 and purchased more land in Dela-
ware county, but one year later disposed of
his country real estate near Muncie, rented
land and worked at shoemaking for a few
years. He spent his remaining days with his
son, the subject of this mention, and died
August 8, 1S58.
Jackson Brock grew up in the country, and
like most farmer lads, had but few educational
advantages. He lived on the home place,
assisting in the labor incident thereto, until
1854, when he bought a piece of land and
went to work for himself. He has continued
this until, at the present time, he is the
owner of ninety-six acres of good Indiana soil.
Mr. Brock takes an interest in his farm, for he
alone has earned it, $17 representing all of the
assistance he received from any source what-
ever. Politically he is a republican, is a
member of the United Brethren church, and is
one of the worthy and reliable citizens of the
township.
Mr. Brock has been twice married; his
first wife was Elizabeth Barrett,- born in 183 1,
daughter of Jacob and Sarah Barrett. They
were married June 7, 1849, and had a family
of five children, William, deceased, Samantha
Ann, Lydia Jane, deceased, Jonathan Wesley,
and Mary Emily, deceased. Mrs. Brock's par-
ents were natives of Ohio, where Mr. Barrett
carried on farming. In 1864, Mr. Brock mar-
ried his present wife. Miss Malissa Rhodes,
born in Ohio, in 1843, daughter of George
and Elizabeth Rhodes, and the follow-
ing children have been born of this union:
Jacob Sherod; Andrew Jackson; \'an Buren
and Elizabeth Etta. The family are all
attendants at the United Brethren church and
are highly esteemed throughout the community.
It will be seen that Mr. Brock has been
the architect of his own fortune, and his ex-
ample is one that is well worthy the imitation
of the rising generation of Delaware county, as
well as elsewhere.
788
DELAWARE COUNTY:
,Y^ RYAN BROTHERS represent one of
1/''^ the most flourishing business houses
J^^J of the town of New Corner, Dela-
ware county, Ind. The elder, R. J.
Bryan, was born in Washington township,
Delaware county, December i6, 1852, and
William R. Bryan, the junior partner, was
born November 17, 1866, sons of John and
Sarah (Bryan) Bryan, who were natives of
Virginia and Ohio, respectively. They married
in this county September 2, 1850, and imme-
diately located in Washington township, with
which they were so well pleased that they
spent the rest of their lives there. They
reared a family of eight children, as follows:
Mary E., R. J., Jennie, Frank, Laura, Anna,
William R. and Walter I. The father of
this family died in October, 1882, and the
mother resides with her son. They always
always belonged to the Methodist church, and
were good and worthy people in every way.
Mr. Bryan followed farming all of his life, and
at death left an estate of 120 acres of land.
R. J. Bryan grew up in his home under
parental care, receiving a good common school
education, and he himself taught school for
seven terms in the county before he was
twenty-four years old. He was married Au-
gust 3, 1876, in this township to Miss Lydia
J. Clemens, born in Ohio, a daughter of
William D. and Sarah F. (Jones) Clemens,
who were natives of Ohio, and of English de-
scent. By this marriage th^re were born
three children: Flossie, deceased; Bessie and
Bertha. In their religious connection Mr.
and Mrs. Bryan are Methodists. Politically,
both brothers are republicans and take promi-
nent parts in local affairs. In 1 877, R. J.
Bryan began farming, at which he continued
until 1883, when he engaged in general mer-
chandise, following the latter until 1888, when
he took in a partner in the person of his
brother, since which time, the firm has done
a flourishing business of several thousands of
dollars annually. He has been a hard worker
and says that his success in life has come from
close application to the work in hand.
William R. Bryan, the junior member of
the firm, was reared on the farm, educated in
the public school, and afterward took a course
at Danville, Ind. In March, 1888, he went
into business with his brother. He is a young
man much respected in the village and is con-
sidered a good business man.
*| ^ ARRIET WILSON BROYLES is
l'^"\ the widow of Anderson Broyles, one
M. ,r of the most prosperous farmers of
Washington township, Delaware
county, Ind., a good and worthy man who
left a large estate of 500 acres to his survivors.
Mrs. Broyles was born April 9, 1812, in the
state of Kentucky, a daughter of Robert and
Mary (Scott) Wilson, also natives of the same
state. They came to Decatur county, Ind.,
when Mrs. Broyles was eight years old, there
engaged in farming and entered land. They
Hved in a tent until they could build the house
in which they lived until their death On
February 20, 1835, the subject was united in
marriage with Anderson Broyles, who was
born in Greenville county, Va., August 19,
1812, and died December 29, 1889. He had
immigrated with his father from Virginia to
Rush county, Ind., in 1834, and afterwards
lived in the state of lUinois for some time, but
in 1837 removed to the western part of
Washington township, Ind., which at that
time was a wilderness. Industry and perse-
verance made him successful, and. he had the
satisfaction of knowing that he had provided
well for those dependent upon him. His
father had a large family, but two children
only of his are left, these being Madison, of
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
789
this county, and Joseph of Wright county,
Mo. For fifty-five years he was a consistent
member of the Methodist church, in which
body Mrs. Broyles also holds a membership.
Mr. Broyles was a son of Ephraim and Eliza-
beth (Harvey) Broyles, natives of Virginia.
He did not rear as large a family as his father,
but as his death left a widow and five children
to mourn his decease, together with a large
number of friends. His remains were laid to
rest in the Zion cemetery. His family were as
follows: James T., John W., Nancy, de-
ceased, William H., Lewis H., Irena, died
February i, 1851, and Joseph A. Mrs.
Broyles manages her fine estate with wisdom
and intelligence and is one of the most re-
spected residents of the township.
• HOMAS BROYLES (deceased) was
born May 6, 1817, in Virginia, and
when a young man came to Rush
county, Ind., and engaged in team-
ing, hauling goods from Cincinnati to Rich-
land. When he married he gave up teaming
and went to work on his uncles's farm by the
month for two years, and then came to this
county. This was in 1830, and he located
near his present farm in Washington township,
entering forty acres, right in the wilderness.
He was obliged to borrow $50 to begin with,
and by hard work and good management he
made a success of life, owning 400 acres at the
time of his death. He was united in marriage
February 22, 1838, with Sarah Ann (Lyon)
Broyles, who was born February 10, 1817, in
Bourbon county, Ky. She was the daughter
of John L. and Margaret (Sharp) Lyon, both
parents natives of Kentucky. They came to
Rush county, Ind., in an early day, and en-
tered eighty acres of land. He was a carpen-
ter and worked at the trade in connection with
farming. He and his wife were members of
the Methodist church. The father of Mrs.
Broyles voted the democratic ticket up to the
beginning of the war, when he joined the re-
publican party and remained loyal to it until
his death; which occurred a number of years
ago. His wife likewise is dead. Mr. and
Mrs. Broyles are the parents of two children:
Margaret Elizabeth, wife of John Harris, and
Joseph William, who married Miss Mary
Broyles.
*w ^ ANNAH McCREERY BROWN.—
■''"X The well known lady whose name
I .p introduces the present sketch is the
widow of William Brown, who, during
life, was one of the largest land owners and
most prominent men of Washington township,
Delaware county, Ind. She was born March
24, 1 83 1, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, a
daughter of Samuel McCreery, whose sketch
appears elsewhere in this volume. In 1851
she was united in marriage with James Mar-
shall, who was born in Harrison township and
who engaged in farming there until the date of
his death. He left two children, but both of
whom are deceased, namely: Rhoda Catherine,
and Elizabeth. Some time later Mrs. Mar-
shall married Mr. William Myers, a native of
Clinton county, Ohio, who came to the county
of Delaware when a young man. Again she
was left a widow with three children, Mary
Ellen, now the wife of Frank Johnson, Lavina
Ann and Jacob Henry, the last two of whom
are deceased.
Mrs. Myers is a womrn of agreeable nature
and of sociable temperament, eminently fitted
to make a pleasant home for a husband, and
I March 20, 1867, she was married to William
Brown. He was born in Ohio, and had come
to this county at an early day and located in
Washington township, where his father had
790
DELAWARE COUNTY;
previously entered a piece of land. After the
death of the latter, William bought the old
home place. He was a man of prominence
and was successful in a financial way, owning,
at the time of his lamented demise, 520 acres
of fine land, which is now managed by his
widow. In politics, Mr. Brown was a demo-
crat, and was an important factor in the
deliberations of his party in local affairs.
Both he and his wife were valued members of
the Methodist church. Beside his widow, he
left the following children: Sarah Catherine,
the wife of Otis Broyles; Cora Eddie, the wife
of Frank Hayden; and Rebecca Leona, the
wife of William Shipley.
HLFRED CAMPBELL is a native of
Indiana, having been born in Jeffer-
son county. May 12, 18 19. He is
very active for his years, and is held
in very high esteem by his neighbors. Mr.
Campbell is the son of James and Sarah
(McClure) Campbell; his father a native of
Culpeper county, Va., and his mother of
Pennsylvania. The father immigrated with
his parents to Kentucky when very young; re-
mained there several years, and then came
with the family to Jefferson county, Ind., and
entered 160 acres of land, where he remained
until within a few months of his death, when
he sold and moved to Ripley county, Ind. , and
purchased eighty acres. He made farming his
principal business, and died in 1829. At that
time Alfred Campbell was but ten years old,
and he remained with his mother until he was
twenty-two years old, being her mainstay
after he was old enough to understand and per-
form the duties of the farm. Alfred Campbell
was united in marriage, at the age of twenty-
two, to Sarah Nicholson, of Ripley county.
Ind., born September 18, 1841. She is the
daughter of George and Sarah (Basset) Nichol-
son. Her parents were natives of Holmes coun-
ty, W. Va. George Nicholson immigrated with
his parents to Kentucky when a boy; remained
there until after his marriage, and then brought
his family to Ripley county, Ind., where he
purchased land and settled and finally died.
He was very successful as a farmer, and accu-
mulated considerable land. He and wife were
of Scotch descent, and were members of the
Baptist church.
After the marriage of Mr. Campbell he
rented a farm for four years in Ripley county,
and then bought forty acres, upon which he
remained six years; then came to Delaware
county and located upon his present farm in
Washington township, consisting of eighty
acres, all of which was in timber at the time
of the purchase. He has remained upon this
property ever since, and now owns no acres,
all of which are under cultivation. Mr.
Campbell has always been a farmer, but has
devoted a great deal of his time in the past
thirty years to the work of the ministry. He
has never received any pay to speak of for his
services, his church, the Missionary Baptist,
engaging his services in establishing new
places of worship where the congregations
were small and unable to give him any stated
salary. He and his wife have been members
of that church for upwards of fifty years. Mr.
and Mrs. Campbell are the parents of the fol-
lowing children: Jeanetta, George, and Will-
iam Oliver, deceased; Sarah Ann, wife of
James Stace, a blacksmith of this township;
Cynthia, deceased; Acha, wife of S. W. Hay-
den, a farmer of Washington township, and
Jane, wife of David Williams, also a farmer
of the same township. In politics Mr. Camp-
bell is a republican, and believes that the
safety of the country demands the continued
success of that party, consequently, he ardent-
ly works for it.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
791
at
ILLIAM A. CLEMENS was born
in Randolph county, Ind., January,
II, 1834, and is the son of Dr.
WiUiam D. and Sarah (Jones) Cle-
mens. The parents came originally from Ohio,
and were married at Fairview, Randolph
county, Ind., in April, 1832. The married
couple located at Fairview, and here Mr. Cle-
mens engaged in the shoemaking business for
a living, and at the same time studied medi-
cine. He was of the old school, and began
practicing medicine in Alexandria, Madison
county, Ind., in 1862, and remained there for
four years, when he came to this place, and
remained until his death, which occurred July
18, 1889. He remains are in the Odd Fellows'
cemetery at Cumberland, Grant county, Ind.
The widow is now the favorite milliner of that
place. They are the parents of two children:
William A., and Lydia J., the wife of R. J.
Bryan. Dr. Clemens was a republican in
politics, and was moderately successful in life,
and both he and wife were members of the
Methodist church.
William A. Clemens was practically reared
in the village of Fairview, and came from that
place to Delaware county. He received a
good common school education, and began
life for himself at the age of seventeen by
teaching school in the winter. He then served
under Thomas Stubbs at the carpenter trade
for three years, and has followed the same
ever since. He v/as married February 28,
187s, to Martha Burgess, who was born in
Delaware county, Ind., August 2, 1854, the
daughter of David and Elizabeth (Bryan) Bur-
gess— the family of German extraction. To
this union there have been born three children
— Omer E., Joseph C. and Harry M. Mr.
Clemens and wife are members of the Method-
ist Protestant church. He was elected justice
of the peace in 1888, entered upon the duties
of office in April, 1889, and has served in that
capacity with fidelity, and to the satisfaction
of the public to the present time, having been
re-elected since that date In politics Mr.
Clemens is a republican, and takes an active
interest in all matters relating to the success
of that party.
"^T^OHN DUNN a prominent and popular
M citizen of Washington township, was
/• J born in Monroe county, Ohio, August
26, 1829. He is the son of John and
Cathander (Knight) Dunn. The father was
born in 1775, in Monongalia county, Va. , and
the mother in Monroe county, Ohio. John
Dunn went to Monroe county, when a young
man, and remained there until his marriage.
Following this event he engaged in farming,
and pursued that occupation in Ohio until
1832, at which date he came to Delaware
county, Ind., locating in Washington town-
ship, on 160 acres of land, in section 15. He
afterward bought 240 acres, but remained on
the first purchase until his death, which oc-
curred in 1865. His wife died in 1863, both
being members of the Baptist church. The
father was a democrat until 1856, and then he
became a republican.
John Dunn remained obedient to his par-
ents until he was twenty-one, and then rented
his father's farm until the death of the latter,
when he inherited eighty acres, and bought an
adjoining eighty acres, living upon this land
for ten or twelve years, and then bought 100
acres of his present farm in section 10, Wash-
ington township. At the present time he owns
eighty acres in section 15, and 280 in section
10, upon which he has erected one of the
handsomest residences in the township.
Mr. Dunn was married September 3, 1854,
to Sarepta Littler, born February 24, 1843, in
Grant caunty, Ind. She was the daughter of
Thomas and Susan (Fry) Littler. Her father
DELAWARE COUNTY:
was born in Hardy county (now W. Va.), in
1802, and her mother in the same county in
1805. The father removed to Grant county,
Ind. , with his wife, in 1829, and entered 120
acres of land; afterward buying 138 acres more.
Mrs. Littler died in 1869, and her husband in
1883. They were members of the Methodist
church, and were worthy and greatly respected
people.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dunn were born the fol-
lowing children : Rosetta, wife of John Dorton,
a farmer of this township; Sylvester, married
Angeline Richards, living in Jefferson town-
ship, Grant county, a farmer; Thomas L., at
home; Alma Amanda, wife of Henry Dooling,
of Grant county; Emma May, at home. Mrs.
Dunn died August 27, 1893, and her remains
rest in New Cumberland cemetery. Mr. Dunn
is a firm believer in the teachings of the dem-
ocratic party, and gives it a hearty support at
every election.
>J»0HN C. DUNN, a highly respected
M citizen of Washington township, was
A 1 born in Blackford county, Ind. , August
28, 1840, and is the son of Thomas
and Sarah (Reasoner) Dunn, the father having
been born in Pennsylvania in 1812, and the
mother in Ohio in 181 5. Thomas Dunn emi-
grated with his parents to Virginia when a boy,
remained there a short time, and accompanied
them to Henry county, Ind. He lived with
his parents until he was of age, and then
learned the carpenter's trade. About this time
he entered eighty acres of land in Washington
township, Delaware county, which he after-
ward traded for another eighty acres in the
same township, in section 10. This was about
the year 1842. In 1865, he bought the Cum-
berland mills in Grant county, and operated
them until the time of his death, which occur-
red in November, 1881. This enterprising
man also owned an interest in the Elizabeth
mills in Washington township, now operated
by his son, John C. He likewise owned eighty
acres of land in Jefferson township, Grant
county, and forty acres in Washington town-
ship, Delaware county. This property was
cleared by his own industry and good manage-
ment. He filled the office of township trustee
for sixteen years, and took a very active part
in politics, always supporting the republican
ticket. He and his wife were members of the
Presbyterian church, in which faith she lived
and died in 1890.
John C. Dunn's boyhood days were spent
upon the farm, where he acquired a thorough
knowledge of farming. He enlisted in 1862
in the Eighty-fourth Indiana infantry for three
years, or during the war, all of which time he
served except one month, taking part in the
Atlanta campaign, and was in the following
battles: Buzzard's Roost, Pulaski, Duck River,
Franklin and Nashville. In the last named
battle he was wounded in the knee by a minie
ball, and was in the hospital for five days.
He was mustered out in June, 1865, having
served throughout the entire war. He has
never made application for a pension. Upon
his return home he worked for his father one
year in the mills, and then traveled for a few
months in Iowa and Illinois and the northern
part of this state.
Mr. Dunn was married May 19, 1870, to
Sarah Horner, born in Darke county, Ohio, in
1843, daughter of Andrew and Nancy (Walker)
Horner, natives of Pennsylvania. Her father
was a farmer of Grant county, Ind. Mrs.
Dunn died February 22, 1891, and was buried
in Elizabethtown cemetery. She was the
mother of one child, Delia, wife of William
R. Janney, a farmer of this township. Mr.
Dunn married again October 25, 1892,
the maiden name of his wife being
Clara E. Irwin, born in Clinton county,
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
793
Ohio, October 30, 1852. She is the daughter
of Joseph and Nancy (KilHan) Irvin, the father
having been born February 24, 18 17, in
Fayette county, Ohio, and the mother in
Chnton county, Ohio, April 11, 1825. The
father was a cabinet maker, and followed that
trade all his life. In the year 1856 he settled
at Atlanta, Logan county. 111., where he re-
mained until his death, which occurred De-
cember 22, 1888. He was an active member
of the Christian church, and was the deacon
in that body for years. Mr. Irvin was a
strong supporter of the republican party. His
widow is living with her daughter, Mrs. Dunn.
J. C. Dunn is a deacon in the Presbyterian
church, and his wife is a member of the
Christian church. In politics he is a republi-
can, and always takes a lively interest in
elections. Mr. Dunn has been in the milling
business since 1866; first in Cumberland, and
then in the Elizabeth mills; being now owner
of the latter, and doing an excellent business.
He also own a store at that place, where he
sells all kinds of merchandise. In addition to
this property he owns fifteen acres of land
adjoining the mills, and is in very prosperous
circumstances.
VVOSIAH FERGUSON is a native of
M Southampton county, Va. , and the
rtt J youngest of six children of William and
Mary (Glovier) Ferguson, as follows:
Nancy, Drew, Lydia, Tabitha, Jane and Josiah.
But little is known of the history of his ancestors,
the father dying when Josiah was but ten
years of age, leaving him to the care of his
aged mother and sisters. The family left their
native state and emigrated westward to Ohio
about the year 1834. The journey through a
sparsely settled country was an undertaking of
no little magnitude, and Josiah and his sisters
were compelled to traverse the greater part of
the distance to their new home on foot. After
consuming about five weeks on the road, the
family reached Clinton county, Ohio, and
settled in a comparative wilderness, where Mr.
Ferguson began clearing a farm. He possessed
a strong rugged nature, and it is stated that he
become one of Ihe strongest and most able
bodied men in the community where he resided.
He worked early and late, and was a true type
of those hardy pioneers through whose efforts
civilization was introduced into the great states
of Ohio and Indiana. In 1848 Mr. Ferguson
came to Delaware county, Ind. , and purchased
a small tract of land in Harrison township,
and at once went to work with his characteristic
energy to make it habitable for the family. In
1856 he embarked in business in what is now
known as the village of Gaston, which ven-
ture proved unsuccessful, and he returned to
his farm, where, until the close of life, he de-
voted his attention, exclusively, to the pursuits
of agriculture. A few months previous to his
death he suffered a stroke of paralysis, from
the effects of which he never entirely recovered.
The infirmities ot age, together with the ail-
ment mentioned, brought on the disease which
ended his life; he died on the 30th day of
October, 1891, aged seventy-five years, nine
months and sixteen days. Susan Ferguson,
wife of Josiah Ferguson, was born in North-
ampton county, N. C, , June 9, 1823, and was
the daughter of Josiah and Tabitha Oliver.
From the best information obtainable, her
ancestors came from the British Isles and
snttled in North Carolina, at a period ante-
dating the revolutionary struggle. Her father,
Josiah Oliver, was born in 1782, married in
1807, Sallie Nelson, who became the mother
of two children; Zachariah and Charlotte.
The former died in early life, but Charlotte
became the wife of Drew Ferguson, who in
later years located in Grant county, Ind.
After the death of his first wife Josiah Oliver
794
DELAWARE COUNTY:
married Tabitha Thorpe, who bore him the
following children: Joseph, John, Charity,
William, James, Susan, Evart, Edmund, Mary,
Thomas and Benjamin Oliver. In 1833 Mr.
Oliver met with the loss of his second wife,
and a short time after that event removed to
Ohio with his large family. At that time
Susan Oliver was eleven years of age, and of
the party she was one of the gayest, and
she stood the trip remarkably well con-
sidering her youth, as the trip had to be made
on foot, a distance of over 500 miles. It was
while on this journey she first met Mr. Fergu-
son, who a few years later became her hus-
band. He was then with a number of friends
seeking a new home in the western country.
Josiah Ferguson and Susan Oliver were mar-
ried in 1838. Being in very poor circum-
stances, they were obliged to encounter the
vicissitudes of life in the best way possible,
and he soon found employment in the family
of Mr. Edward Thorpe. As soon as sufficient
money could be procured, Mr. Ferguson pro-
cured the necessary household effects and farm
implements, rented a place and began house-
keeping. After leasing and clearing a consid-
erable farm in Ohio, he concluded to better
his condition by emigrating further westward;
accordingly in 1848 the family removed to
Delaware county, Ind. This country was at
that time quite new, deer and wolves moved
unmolested through the thick forests, and life
in the woods had many hardships and obsta-
cles for the pioneer family. It was in the fall
of 1848 that the new house was reached, and
Mrs. Ferguson, who still survives to tell the
story of those stirring times, recalls with
pleasure the many meals she cooked in the
hollow stumps and the many days and nights
of toil spent with her husband in battling with
adverse circumstances. Mrs. Ferguson has
reached the good old age of seventy years.
Sixteen children *were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Ferguson, namely: Lucinda, Elizabeth, Jane,
George, Ruth, Mary, Rhoda, Emma, Lydia,
John, Silas, Daniel, infant son, Caroline,
Josiah and Joshua. Of the above, death has
claimed Elizabeth, Jane, George, Rhoda,
Emma, Lydia, John, and Caroline and the
infant, which died without being named.
^~V* AMUEL GROOVER is a worthy citi-
•^^^k* zen and successful farmer of Wash-
K^^^y ington township, who was born in
Pennsylvania, September 20, 1833.
Samuel Groover is the son of William and
Catherine (Roderick) Groover, both of Penn-
sylvania. The father moved to this state when
Samuel was thirteen years old, and located in
Mount Pleasant township, near the present
site of Yorktown, took a lease, and was en-
gaged in farming until 1859, the period of his
death. His wife was called hence in 1851;
they were both natives of Germany, and very
worthy and good people.
Samuel Groover lived with his parents
throughout his minority, and then rented the
farm on which his father had lived in Mount
Pleasant township. After two years he bought
his present farm, consisting of forty-five acres,
which is in a fine state of cultivation. This
was in 1867, and Mr. Groover has continued
to reside on the same ever since; in fact, his
entire life has been spent as a farmer.
Mr. Groover was married May 20, 1854,
to Miss Elizabeth Schults, who was born in
Ohio in 1827, the daughter of Jacob and
Elizabeth (McClurry) Schults. Her father
was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother
of Ohio. Jacob Schults went to Ohio with
his parents when a young man, and later
moved to Indiana when the wife of our the
subject was ten years old, settling near York-
town, and engaging in farming, which he fol-
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
795
lowed to the time- of his death. Mrs. Schults
was a member of the Methodist church, and,
like her husband, was of German descent. To
the union with Miss Schults Mr. Groover is
the father of the following children: Martha
Ellen, Esther, Margaret, deceased, Charles
L. ; Mary C., Amanda, William and Rosetta,
all four deceased.
^>^ AVID HEAL is an old and highly re-
I I spected citizen of Washington town-
J^^^ ship, Delaware county, Ind., who
was born November 5, 1823, in
Muskingum county, Ohio, being the son of
William and Olive (Carter) Heal; the father
was born October 29, 1791, near Belfast, Me.,
and the mother October 18, 1799, in the same
place; the father died April 16, 1847, and the
mother September 19, 1844. William Heal
went to Muskingum county when twenty-two
years old, and worked in a foundry for seven
years, after which he was employed in burning
brick, cutting stone, building houses, he being
a mechanical genius, who could turn his hand
to almost anything. In 1829 he moved to
Indiana, and entered 200 acres of land in
Washington township, Delaware county,
which at that time was virgin forest. He and
his family lived by a log heap until he erected
a rude cabin, which was very small, and only
six feet in pitch to the ceiling. William lived
to see 100 acres under cultivation, and had his
family in a good substantial dwelling. In
those days most of the marketing was done at
Cincinnati and Michigan City. He was the
father of nine children, seven of whom lived
to rear families.
David Heal lived with his parents until he
was twenty-one, his boyhood being spent in
working upon the farm, splitting rails; and
other work necessary for the improvement of
the place. His playmates when a boy were
chiefly Indian lads, the red men being there in
numbers, and living in great concord with the
whites. The chances for an education were
most limited, yet David so improved them,
that he was able to teach school when twenty
years old. He taught two terms, then at-
tended school at Muncie for six months, and
then resumed teaching for five terms, receiv-
ing from $30 to $50 for seventy-two days'
work. Mr. Heal purchased his first tract of
land in 1848, it being a share of his father's
estate, and consisting of twenty-one acres,
worth at that time about $290. At the pres-
ent time he owns thirty-one acres, having
given his children 127 acres. He is one of
the most useful men in the township, being
public-spirited, and interesting himself in
everything that will advance the welfare
of the community. He held the office
of justice of the peace for sixteen years,
and has been a notary public for twenty
years. An idea of the confidence that
is placed in him may be seen in the fact
that he has been administrator for twenty-five
different estates, all of which were satisfactorily
settled. He was married May 21, 1848, to
Anna Caroline Rigdon, born May 24, 1831, in
Guernsey county, Ohio. She is the daughter
of Eli Rigdon, and her mother's maiden name
was Nixon. Her father came to this state in
1838, and located in Blackford county, where
he bought a grist mill and managed it for some
time, after which he engaged in farming for a
few years, and then came to Wheeling, Dela-
ware county, where he was a merchant until
his death. Mrs. Heal departed this life Janu-
ary 7, 1878, and her remains rest in Olive
Branch cemetery. She was a good mother, a
faithful wife, and a consistent member of the
Christian church. The children by this mar-
riage are: George E. and Anna Lacy, who are
also members of the Christiih church. In poli-
796
DELAWARE COUNTY:
tics Mr. Heal is a stanch republican. He is
living a retired life, after long years of arduous
labor, and, despite his age, is strong as a
young man of thirty.
*-|-* EWIS J. HOOKE, a prominent
I r farmer and successful man of Wash-
M ^ ington township, Delaware county,
Ind. , was born in Rockingham coun-
ty, Va. , July 17, 1840, a son of Jerry and
Anna (McNett) Hooke, both natives of the
same place. By trade the father was a car-
penter, who spent his whole life in the county
of his birth, and died when Lewis J. was six
years of age. Following this event, Lewis J.
lived with Mr. Elijah Huffman until he was
nineteen years of age, and then learned the
trade of miller, being apprenticed for two
years, at wages of $40 for the first year and
$60 for the second year. He filled out his
contract, serving the first year on Mill creek,
Rockingham county, Va. , and the second year
in Augusta county, on Middle river. For six
months he served as a soldier in the Confeder-
ate army, having been pressed into the service;
in 1862, went to Roanoke county, where he
worked in a mill until 1864, and then removed
to Logan county, Ohio. In the state of Ohio
Mr. Hooke remained until 1S65; engaged in
the milling business, at which date, he re-
turned to Roanoke county, Va. , and engaged
in farming for a short time, subsequently com-
ing back to Logan county, Ohio, where for a
brief period he continued to pursue his chosen
calling. Again he returned to the state of his
birth, but in a short time came back to Logan
county, Ohio, and after engaging in milling for
a time farmed for three years. Mr. Hooke then
came to Delaware county, Ind., in 1873, and
located on his present farm of eighty-three
acres of well improved land in Washington
township, and as agricultural labor proved
remunerative he has devoted the greater por-
tion of his time to the cultivation of the soil.
In addition to his labors in this direction Mr.
Hooke is the solicitor for the German Baptist
Mutual Insurance company.
Mr. Hooke was married June 12, 1866, to
Miss Lucy A. Moomaw, born September 9, 1845,
near Amsterdam, Va. , daughter of Joseph and
Mary (Stover) Moomaw. The following interest-
ing family have been born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hooke: Calvin W., Joseph W., Harvey L., Effie
C. and Eddie C, twins; Hugh A., Mary Esta,
Clara V., and Anna F. In politics Mr. Hooke
is a democrat, and is one of the leaders of
that party in the township. He and his family
are very prominent in the German Baptist
church, of which he and his wife are members.
Having risen by his own industry, Mr. Hooke
is rightly considered one of the representative
men of the township, and is highly .espected
by all his neighbors and friends.
ISAIAH HOWARD.— The history of
Washington township would be incom-
plete without the sketch of Isaiah How-
ard, a well known and popular farmer
of this section. Mr. Howard was born De-
cember I, 1 83 1, in Ross county, Ohio, and
his days were passed under the parental roof
until he reached manhood. His father, being
a farmer, he toiled in the field, and when there
was nothing to do on the farm he attended
school, if any was in session. In other words,
Mr. Howard's educational opportunities were
very limited, and six months will cover the
time he spent under a teacher. After his mar-
riage, he rented a farm in Ross county, and
remained there for twelve years, and then
came to Delaware county, Ind., and located in
Washington township upon a portion of his
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
797
present farm. He bought 120 acres, all of
which is now under a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Howard has been a minister of the
gospel for a quarter of a century, being an ac-
ceptable preacher for the German Baptists.
The financial reward he has received for his
ministrations has been very slight, and he has
always looked for a higher source of recom-
pense. The wife of Mr. Howard was Sophia
Moomaw, of Ross county, Ohio, born Septem-
ber 5, 1835, being the daughter of Peter and
Celia (Adams) Moomaw. Her father is a na-
tive of New Amsterdam, Va. , and her mother
of Ross county, Ohio. The father came to
Ross county with his parents when about four
years old, and spent his life there engaged in
farming, and owned a large tract of land at
the time of his death. Her parents were mem-
bers of the German Baptist church.
Mr. Howard is the son of John and Mar-
garet (Jones) Howard, the father born in
Rockingham county, Va. , April 3, 1802,
and the mother in Augusta county, of the
same state, July 14, 18 14. The father went
to Ross county, Ohio, with his parents when
twelve years old, and resided there until his
death, which occurred in 1871. After attain-
ing manhood he learned the blacksmith's trade,
and worked at this, in connection with farming,
all his life. In politics he was a democrat,
and firm in the belief of the teachings of that
party. The marriage of Isaiah and Sophia
Howard resulted in the birth of nine children,
namely: Alice Mary, wife of Frank White,
clerk in a dry goods store in Hartford City;
Ella Jane, wife of E. E. Allen, an employe in
the handle works at Huntington, Ind. ; Eliza-
beth, wife of J. O. Allen, bank cashier, Sum-
mitville; Peter S., a farmer in Madison coun-
ty, married Miss Anges Thomas; John, a stock
buyer at Summitville; McCrillus, a farmer, at
home; Joseph, a farmer, at home, and Ed-
ward, at home. In politics Mr. Howard is a
prohibitionist, and stands squarely upon the
platform of his party.
*W ^ ENRY HYER is a man in the full
1^^^ vigor of strength, and a representa-
M. .r tive farmer of Washington township,
who has accumulated a good prop-
erty by the labor of his own hands. Mr.
Hyer was born in Ross county, Ohio, Novem-
ber 10, 1^37, and lived with his parents until
twenty-one years old. At the age of seven-
teen he went with his parents to Greenfield,
Ohio, and there attended school ten months,
working upon the farm for the remainder of
the time until April, 1861, when he enlisted in
company C, Twenty-second ■ regiment Ohio
volunteers, for three months. He served
about five months, and then returned home
and worked upon his father's farm. He was
married August 19, 1862, to Miss Elizabeth
Ellen Winengar, born August 27, 1839, in
Highland county, Ohio, and died December
8, 1873. She was the daughter of Richard
and Elizabeth (Johnson) Winengar, both na-
tives of North Carolina. Her father emi-
grated with his parents to Virginia when but a
boy, remained there a few years and went
with his parents to Highland county, Ohio, and
in 1866, with his wife, removed to Marion
county, Iowa. After farming there for
ten years, he moved to Nebraska, located
on a farm and died a tew days later. Some
time during the year 1864 Mr. Hyer entered
the lumber trade, and followed it for two years,
at the end of which time he went to Johnson
county. Mo., with his wife. There he engaged
in farming and stock raising, which he fol-
lowed until the spring of 1877, when he
moved to Madison county, Ind., and engaged
in the lumber business. At the latter place
he remained two years, ancf then moved to a
798
DELAWARE COUNTY:
point near New Cumberland, and carried on
the lumber trade there for three years. He
then bought the farm on which he now lives,
consisting of i6o acres, which was then in a
primitive state. He went to work with a will,
and the result is that the land is almost en-
tirely under cultivation. During this time he
continued to follow the lumber trade for several
years, and met with encouraging success in
the same. He served for a term as road sup-
erintendent, at a time when this official had
charge of all the roads in the township. He
now holds the office of township trustee, to
which he was elected by the republican party,
of which he is an active and influential mem-
ber. B}' his marriage, previously noted, Mr.
Hyer is the father of five children, namely:
James Orlin, Charles Henry, Lizzie Maude,
Evelyn, and Orland; the first and last deceased.
Mr. Hyer's second marriage was consummated
in October, 1881, with Mary P, Moore, who
was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, Novem-
ber 8, 1850, she being the daughter of Jesse
and Mary (Ferroti) Moore. Her parents are
natives of the same county and state. When
she was but one week old she lost her mother,
and her father passed away in 1889. The
latter owned a farm of 120 acres in the county
in which he was born. By his last marriage
Henry Hyer is the father of two children,
namely: Henry Clyde, and Edith Pearle.
John and Elizabeth (Strayley) Hyer, par-
ents of Henry, were natives of Ross county,
Ohio. The father lived in that county
until fifty years of age, and then moved
to Greenfield, with the object of giving
his children an education. There he re-
mained four years, during which time he
conducted a hotel. He then moved back to
his farm in Ross county, which consisted of
twenty-two acres, staid there a few years and
th«n moved to Henry county, Ind., purchasing
120 acres, where he lived until his death.
Henry Hyer and wife are active an^ upright
members of the Methodist church.
HMOS F. JANNEY is a highly respect-
ed citizen of Washington township,
who has lived a successful life, and by
industry and strict attention to his
own affairs has become one of the leading
farmers of the community in which he resides.
He was born in Stark county, Ohio, May 5,
1837, being the son of Joseph and Sarah
(Hayden) Janney, the father a native of Stark
county, born December 21, 181 1, and the
mother born in Westmoreland county. Pa.,
March i, 181 2. The father came to Dela-
ware county, Ind., in 1837 and located in the
township of Washington upon a farm. Up to
the time of settling in Indiana he operated a
grist mill, but on becoming a resident of the
Hoosier state he gave his time unreservedly to
farming, at which he was most successful. He
occumulated ample means and was able to
give to each of his seven children an eighty-
acre tract of land. He was an active member
of the republican party, and always took an
interest in the great political questions of the
day. He and his wife were members of the
Christian church.
Amos F. Janney lived upon the farm with
his parents until he was twenty years old,
working upon the place during the summer and
attending school during the winter season. He
began life for himself by taking charge of the
home farm for a year, and working it upon
shares, and at the expiration of that time,
bought a farm of eighty acres in Washington
township, upon which he continued to live
until within a comparatively recent date, when
he removed to the village of Gaston, where he
is spending his years in retirement from active
business. Mr. Janney owns a farm of 150
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
799
acres, in a fine state of cultivation, and also
has a valuable property in Gaston. Mr. Jan-
ney was married March 12, 1857, to Miss Bar-
bara J. Roberts, who was born November 16,
1835, the daughter of Vincent and Dorcas
Roberts, natives of Dearborn county, Ind. Mr.
Roberts became a resident of Delaware county
in 1854, locating upon a farm in Washington
township. He was a minister of the Christian
church, and he and his wife died a number of
years ago, firm believers in the faith of that
body. Mr. Roberts was a very intelligent and
successful farmer.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Janney re-
sulted in the following offspring: Dorcas, wife
of Volney Reeves; Vincent R. , married to
Jane Woodring; John W. , married to Anna
Myers; Alice A., wife of Nathan Brown, of
Madison county, and Jacob, married to Delia
Dunlap. Mrs. Janney died November 10,
1 88 1, and her remains rest in the Perry ceme-
tery, Washinton township, she dying, as she
had lived, unshaken in her faith in the Christian
church.
Mr. Janney married again April 3, 1882,
his wife being Mrs. Cynthia (Wear) Love,
widow of Joseph Love and the daughter of
James and Eliza Wear; she was born March 4,
1848. Mr. Love was born in Ohio and came
to Dearborn county, Ind., when a boy with
his parents; Mrs. Love being a native of
Dearborn county, Ind. After the marriage of
her parents they came to this county and lo-
cated in Harrison township, in which they
lived the remainder of their days upon a farm,
the father making his business very successful.
Both have been dead a number of years and
their remains lie in the Nottingham cemetery,
Harrison township.
Mr. Janney has three children by his sec-
ond marriage, namely: Emerson, Lillian and
Everett, the last-named dead. Before giving
any of his land to his children, Mr Janney
owned 270 acres. He and his wife are mem-
bers of the Christian church and are held in
high estimation by all their neighbors and
friends.
*-w ^ ENRY A. JONES is one of the lead-
1^^^ ing men of Washington township,
K^^r 'ind one who is always ready to do
all in his power to advance the inter-
ests of his community. He was born August
6, 1828, in Adams county. Pa., being the son
of Jacob and Mary Ann (Neely) Jones, both of
Welsh extraction. Jacob Jones was born
January 6, 1806, in Cumberland county, V?.,
and Mrs. Jones is a native of Adams county,
same state. Mr. Jones emigrated to Ohio in
1832, lived in Miami county, upon a farm, for
six years, then farmed in Clarke county for
three years, after which he came to Delaware
county, Ind., in 1841, and located in Wash-
ington township, on 120 acres of land. This
land was covered with heavy timber, but he
lived to see it under a high degree of cultiva-
tion, and finally died January 5, 1891. His
wife died in Pennsylvania when Henry A. was
a mere boy. She was a member of the Epis-
copal church, as also was her husband; the
latter was a strong republican, and always
supported his party ticket. In 1837 he mar-
ried Maria Packer, who died in 1S53. He
filled the offices of justice of the peace, and
township trustee, and was very prominent in
the affairs of the county.
Henry A. Jones lived with his parents un-
til he was of age, and then learned the car-
penter's trade, but worked at home most of
the time until he reached the age of twenty-
four, but carpentering engaged his attention
for some time after his marriage. When this
latter important event occurred he owned
ninty-one acres of land in the township
named, and lived upon it until 1883. The
DELAWARE COUNTY:
farm was located in section i8, and consisted
of 165 acres. In tlie year named he sold this
tract, and bought his present farm near Gas-
ton, which consists of 164 acres. He also
owns four lots in the town of Gaston, where
he has built one of the finest residences in the
town, in which he and his wife expect to spend
the remainder of their days. Mr. Jones en-
gaged in the mercantile business for a short
time a few years ago, but was burned out and
sustained a loss of $3,000.
Mr. Jones was married June 24, 1853, to
Miss Mary Reasoner, born January 4, 1833;
being a daughter of Peter and Rhoda (Fry)
Reasoner. See sketch of Dr. O. I. Reasoner,
Union township. By his marriage Mr. Jones
is the father of the following children: Frances
A., wife of Allen Oxley; JuHa Ann, wife of
Henry Higdon; John and Jennie, twins, Jennie
being the wife of B. A. Brown; Rhoda C.,
wife of John Watson; Mary E., wife of Milton
Gwinup; Effie M., wife of Frank Woodring.
Mr. Jones and his wife are members of the
Methodist church, and are much esteemed in
that body. He is a strong republican, and
always votes for the candidates of that party.
>rr» W. McKINLEY, of the mercantile firm
fl of Rowlett & McKinley, Gaston, was
rtt J born in Delaware county, Ind. , Sep-
tember 22, 1864, the son of B. H. and
Arab McKinley. B. H. McKinley was a na-
tive of Ohio and married in Delaware county,
Ind., in 1850, Arab Bryan a native of Virginia,
who bore her husband nine children, as fol-
lows: Nancy, deceased; William, a citizen of
Delaware county; John W., whose name in-
troduces this mention; James A., Samuel,
Thomas, Mary A., George M., and Robert.
Mr. and Mrs. McKinley are both living at this
time. They are members of the Methodist
church, and Mr. Kinley is a democrat in poli-
tics; he belongs to the I. .O. O. F. , No. 425,
and the Improved Order of Red Men.
J. W. McKinley was reared on the home
farm, received his early education in the com-
mon schools, and prepared himself for the
teacher's profession by taking a course in the
Normal school at Danville, this state. He
taught successfully for six years in the schools
of Delaware county, and earned the reputation
of a competent and painstaking instructor. He
abandoned the profession in 1892, and in part-
nership with E. M. Rowlett, under the firm
name of Rowlett & McKinley, engaged in the
mercantile business at the town of Gaston,
where he has a large and constantly increas-
ing trade. Mr. McKinley was married Febru-
ary 22, 1890, in Muncie, to Miss Ethel Trow-
bridge, who was born in Delaware county,
January 28, 1866, the daughter of Dr. D. L.
Trowbridge of Muncie. One child has glad-
dened the home of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley,
namely, Fred W. Mr. McKinley wields an
influence for the democratic party, and is a
member I. O. O. F. , belonging to lodge No.
425. He is still a a young man, but is recog-
nized by his fellow citizens as one of the wide
awake and enterprising residents of the town
where he lives. He possesses good business
qualifications and has before him a future of
much usefulness.
ai
ASHINGTON MAYNARD is a na-
tive of the Buckeye state, and a
well known citizen of Washington
township, this county. He was
born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, June 21,
1837, being the son of Benjamin and Letha
(Tracy) Maynard, both natives of Virginia.
The father removed to Tuscarawas county
when a young man, farming there, and re-
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
801
mained there until 1841, when, with his fam-
ily, he came to Washington township and
bought eighty acres of land in section 27.
Later he purchased eighty acres, where he re-
mained until his death, which occurred in Au-
gust, 1S83. He and his wife were members
of the Methodist church. Benjamin Maynard
was a republican, and gave his hearty support
to that party.
Washington Maynard came here with his
parents, and remained with them until the age
of twenty-four; receiving a good common
school education as he grew up. At the age
named he owned forty acres of land in Harri-
son township, which he sold, and bought the
same amount in section 29, in Washington
township. Here he lived until 1S68, and then
moved to New Corner, and engaged in mer-
cantile business for fourteen months, at the
expiration of which time he sold out and
moved back to the farm. Here he remained
until 1 891, and then again moved to New
Corner, where he now lives, and is a notary;
having been a justice of the peace for twelve
years, he is very familiar with all kinds of legal
forms.
Mr. Maynard was married September 24,
i860, to Martha J. Thompson, daughter of
David and Melinda (Davis) Thompson. She
was born January 10, 1842, in Delaware
county. Her father was born October 27,
1 817, and her mother May 13, 1820, in Butler
county, Ohio, and came to this county in 1840,
where Mr. Thompson engaged in farming up
to 1872. In this year he removed his family
to Muncie, where he now lives a quiet retired
life. He and his wife are members of the
Church of God. In politics he is a prohibi-
tionist, and is very earnest in his support of
that party. Mr. Maynard is the father of the
following children: Mary Alice, George
Thomas, and Munroe, deceased, John and
Sherman. He and wife are members of the
Methodist church, both identifying themselves
with the church in early life. Mr. Maynard is
a trustee in the church, and superintendent of
the Sunday-school. In politics he is a prohi-
bitionist, and firmly believes that party is
necessary to the salvation of the country.
HDAM H. MILLER, a prominent
farmer of Washington township, of
which he is a native, was born March
9, 1839. He lived with his parents
until he was of age, spending his boyhood on
the farm, and received but little education, the
district schools of those times being anything
but what they now are. Added to this, the
farmers could ill afford to spare their boys from
the hard work that was necessary in the clear-
ing of the land and putting it in shape for cul-
tivation, accordingly the schools were slimly
attended. When Mr. Miller arrived at his
majority, he farmed rented land until he was
married, and then built upon forty acres of his
present farm. His marriage took place Jan-
uary 20, 1 86 1, his bride being Sarah Jane
Hayden, born July 12, 1841, in Sparta,
Morrow county, Ohio. She is the daughter of
Zachariah and Martha Ann (Bathal) Hayden.
Jane Hayden was left motherless when six
years of age, after which she made her home
with her grandmother until thirteen years old,
from which time she lived among neighbors
until her marriage. After the death of her
mother her father went to San Diego, Cal.,
where he slill lives and where he has accumu-
lated quite a comfortable fortune. Mrs. Miller
died at New Corner, Ind. , October 19, 1892,
a faithful member of the Methodist church.
She had been reared a member of the Chris-
tian church, but after her marriage united with
the Methodist body. During her illness,
which was protracted, she bore her affliction
with remarkable resitrnation and with christian
802
DELAWARE COUNTY;
fortitude, attesting by word and action her
supreme faith in a higher sustaining power
than earth affords. No complaint ever came
from her hps, and during her illness she con-
tinued to testify to the sustaining grace of the
gospel of the Son of God. This good woman
left seven children, with her husband, to
mourn her irreparable loss. All the relations
of life were sustained by her with a grace that
challenged the admiration of all, being the
best of wives and mothers and the kindest of
neighbors. To know her was to be benefited
by the good words that constantly fell from
her lips and by the brightness of her example.
The following are the names of the children
born to Mr. and Mrs Miller: Levi Franklin;
Rhuanna C. , wife of Oscar Needier; Martha
Ann, wife of Charley Hyer; Isaac Newton;
Effiie Estella, wife of Walter Morris; Pearl
Permelia and Harry Irwin.
Mr. Miller is the son of Levi and Rhuhanna
(Summers) Miller, the father born in Ohio, in
1801, of Irish descent, and the mother in Vir-
ginia. The latter went from Ohio to Henry
county, Ind., with her husband, in 1836,
where they remained for a short time and then
came to Delaware county, Ind., where Levi
Miller entered a tract of eighty acres in Wash-
ington township, the first home in the new
country having been a log dwelling of the
most primitive pattern. At the time of his
decease Levi Miller owned 420 acres of land,
150 of which were cleared. He died in 1871
and his wife in 1878. Both were members of
the Methodist church, and in politics Mr.
Miller was a democrat. Adam H. Miller has
one of the finest farms in the county, consist-
ing of 159 acres; the residence, barn and out-
houses all being in keeping with a first class
rural home, and showing the thrift and good
management of the owner. In religion he is
a member of the Methodist church, and in
politics he is a prohibitionist.
aALVIN F. MOOMAW, farmer of
Washington township, this county.
Calvin F. Moomaw stands prominent
as a careful and hard working man.
He was born October 13, 1841, in Botetourt
county, Va. , being the son'of Joseph and Mary
(Stover) Moomaw, his parents, natives of the
same county and state. Joseph Moomaw is
yet living there, and is a very successful farmer.
Calvin F. Moomaw lived with his parents
until he was of age, going to school during the
winter, and working on the farm in the summer
time as he grew to manhood, and in this way
acquired a fair knowledge of books, and be-
came a very good farmer. For a short time
after reaching his majority he worked for his
father, and then, about 1865, went to Ross
county, Ohio, worked on a farm for a while,
after which he spent a couple of months at
South Bend, Ind., returned to Ross county,
and then went back to Virginia. In the follow-
ing year, 1 866, he went back to Ross county
and remained one season upon a rented farm,
then came to Delaware county, Ind., and
rented a farm in Washinton township, remain-
ing on the same for two years. Then he
bought 100 acres in Harrison township, farm-
ed this place for eight years, at the end of
which time he bought the farm upon which he
now lives in Washington township, consisting
of ninety acres of well improved land. This
property came to Mr. Moomaw through his
own industry.
Mr. Moomaw was married in February,
1866, to Miss Sarah Moomaw, who was born
in Ross county, Ohio, February 5, 1848, be-
ing the daughter of Peter and Celia (Adams)
Moomaw, natives of Botetourt county, Va.
Peter Moomaw was born May 24, 1806, and
his wife in the month of June, 18 10. He was
a farmer, and followed that occupation all
his life.
Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Moomaw are the
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
parents of the following children: Lewis, mar-
ried to Jennie Keppler; Alice, at home; Lena
Belle, at home; Ella Jane, deceased; and
David O., deceased; Jessie, Howard, Ray, and
Lily Myrtle, the last four also at home. Mr.
Moomaw and wife are worthy members of the
German Baptist church. In politics Mr.
Moomaw is a democrat, and always supports
the candidates of that party.
^V^AVID O. MUNSEY, M. D., apopu-
I I lar physician and surgeon of Gaston,
/^^_^ is a native of Russell county, Va. ,
and dates his birth from the 7th day
of July, 1845. His parents, Skidmore and
Rebecca (Ewing) Munsey, were both born in
Virginia, in which state they were married in
the year 1842. Dr. Munsey was nine years of
age when his parents came to Delaware county,
Ind., and he fiest lived about three miles from
Muncie, in Hamilton township, where his
father purchased a farm. He received his ed-
ucation in the common schools and the schools
of Muncie, and, in early manhood, began
teaching, which profession he followed for two
years. In the meantime he decided to enter
the medical profession and to prepare for the
same began reading in the office of Dr. Kem-
per, under whose able instruction he continued
for two years, and then attended a course of
lectures in the Ohio Medical college, Cincin-
nati, from whice he graduated in 1878. Forti-
fied with a knowledge of the healing art, he
began the practice of the stme in the town of
Parker, Randolph county; thence, one year
later, he moved to Power's Station, Jay coun-
ty, where he remained until 1870, at which
time he moved to New Corner, Delaware
county, now the village of Gaston, where he
has since carried on a lucrative professional
business. In his chosen profession Dr. Mun-
sey has in a great measure solved the problem
of success, and he occupies a prominent place
among the professional brethren of Delaware
county. He is an enterprising citizen, alive
to all the better and higher interests of the
community and he endorses and patronizes all
movements having for their object the promo-
tion of the general welfare.
Dr. Munsey was married September 3,
1873, to Sarah Trout, daughter of Washing-
ton and Carmilla (Christe) Trout. Two chil-
dren were born to this union, namely: Ger-
trude, a student at Terre Haute, and Bessie.
Mrs. Munsey died September 4, 1883, and on
the 15th of December, 1885, the doctor mar-
ried Mrs. Kate McMahan of Madison county,
Ind., and daughter of William and Catharine
Knipe. Dr. Munsey served six months in the
late war as member of company B, One Hun-
dred and Thirty-fourth Indiana volunteer in-
fantry, and during that time did duty princi-
pally as a guard of railroads. He was dis-
charged in September, 1864. He is a mem-
ber of the G. A. R. , and votes the democratic
ticket. He owns a farm in Washington town-
ship and several lots in the village where he
resides.
HBRAHAM W. PENCE.— Those who
visit Abraham W. Pence will be ready
to join with his neighbors in pro-
nouncing him a genial, pleasant, and
kind hearted man of decided intelligence, who
takes a deep interest in matters pertaining to
his community. Mr. Pence was born in
Henry county, Ind., February 8, 1831, and
lived under his father's roof until he was
twenty-four years old, working upon the farm,
and making himself generally useful. He
married, March 23, 1854, Miss Elizabeth
Moffett, who was born August 5, 1827, in
Wayne county, Ind. She was the daughter
804
DELAWARE COUNTY:
of Lambert Moffett, a native of Ireland, who
came to this country when a young man. In
1827 Mr. Moffett purchased land in Mount
Pleasant township, this county, where he lived
until his death.
Mr. Pence is the son of Christian and
Frances (Fisher) Pence, the father born in
1805, and the mother in 1810, both natives of
Virginia. These parents moved to Henry
county, Ind. , in 1829, and the father entered
160 acres of land, which he worked, and at
the same time followed his trade as a cooper.
At one time. Christian Pence owned 600 acres
of land, and he lived upon his original tract
until his death, which occurred in 1875. He
gave his son, Abraham W. , a 160-acre tract,
upon which the latter now lives in Washing-
ton township. The wife of Christian Pence
survived her husband a few years. Abraham
W. Pence removed to this township after his
marriage, and located upon the farm which his
father gave him. It was at that time a wil-
derness, but with energy and hard work he
converted it into a very good farm. He had
the misfortune to lose his wife March 16, 1869,
and since that time has remained unmarried.
Mr. Pence is of German parentage, and his
wife was of Irish descent. She, like her hus-
band, was a member of the Christian church,
and her remains lie buried in the Perry Grove
cemetery. Mr. Pence has always voted the
republican ticket, and is an active worker in that
party. By his marriage he is the father of
seven children, as follows: Christian, Samuel
P., Frances Maria, Amanda Jane, Susan,
Alfred James, and an infant unnamed.
>T^AMES RIGDON is a worthy citizen of
M this county whom it is a pleasure to
A J know, because of his many sterling
qualities. He was born Angust 12,
1834, in Guernsey county, Ohio, being the son
of Eli and Harriet (Slater) Rigdon. The
father was born in Harford county, Md. , Oc-
tober 4, 1792, and the mother was born in
Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1812. Eli Rigdon
left home when a boy and went to Baltimore,
where he worked in a store mornings, evenings
and Saturdays, and attended school. This
youth was resolved to have an education at
any cost of honest work, and his father was
just as determined he should grow up in ignor-
ance. This is why he left home, and his
father disinherited him. Eli taught school for
a few years during the winter months and then
went to Ohio, teaching school in that state.
In Ohio, Eli bought eighty acres of land, but
finally lost this by going security for a friend.
He came to Indiana in 1834, located in Grant
county and entered 160 acres of land, after-
ward trading that for a saw and grist mill in
Blackford county. This property, too, he lost
by going security for a friend, and then he
bought forty acres of land, upon which he lived
until 1855, when he came to Wheeling and
bought a small farm, which he afterwards
sold. At this time he embarked in the mer-
cantile business at Wheeling, and continued in
it until his death, which occurred January 24,
1864. He was one of the first county commis-
sioners of Blackford county. Brought up an old
line whig, he continued in that party until the
republican party was formed, when he joined
that and and voted with it until he died. In
religion he was a Baptist and held firmly to
the teachings of that church.
James Rigdon lived at home until he was
twenty-two, then engaged in farming for one
year, at the end of which he bought an inter-
est in a blacksmith shop at Wheeling, at
which he worked until 1859. Selling out, he
went to the mines of Colorado, proceeding by
rail to Jefferson City, and thence to Denver
with an ox team. He remained there until
the fall, engaged in mining, but proved un-
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
805
profitable; so he returned to Wheeling and
went into a blacksmith shop of his own, re-
maining at that trade until 1869, then, in
1869, having saved enough for the purpose, he
bought 160 acres of land near the town, the
same costing $3,000. Since that time he has
followed farming and has been very successful,
now owning 400 acres around Wheeling. He
was married January 26, 1861, to Jane,
daughter of John and Susan (Ginn) Sanders,
who settled in this county, in 1838, and
owned a great deal of real estate. Mrs. Rigdon
died August 11, 1866. Mr. Rigdon then
married, February 14, 1867, Rebecca, the
sister of his deceased wife. Rebecca was born
November 28, 1848. By the first marriage
there were no children, but by the second
there were three — Minnie, deceased; Eli S. ,
at home; and Frank, deceased. Mr. Rigdon
voted for Peter Cooper, and is a strong peo-
ple's party man.
<y^AVID E. ROWLETT, a prominent
I I business man and ex-soldier, now
/^^_^ located in the pleasant village of
Gaston, Delaware county, Ind. ,
was born in Wayne county, Ind., June 28,
1849, son of Edwin and Mary E. (Wright)
Rowlett, natives ot Indiana and Pennsylvania
respectively. Mr. Rowlett's father first located
in Wayne county, where he lived for some time,
when he moved to Jay county, Ind., and then
to Madison county. Neb., where he is now en-
gaged in farming and stock raising. He has
been thrice married, and is the father of twenty-
one children, thirteen of whom are yet living.
He is a member of the Methodist church, and
is a temperance man, voting the prohibition
ticket.
David E. Rowlett was reared in Jay county,
Ind. , where he was given a limited amount of
schooling, but when little over fourteen years
of age, he enlisted in company B, Eleventh
Indiana cavalry, November 4, 1863, for a term
of three years, and received his honorable dis-
charge at Indianapolis, September 19, 1865.
He participated in the battle of Nashville, but
the greater part of his service was spent as a
scout. He now is the recipient of a pension
of $10 per month.
When the war closed Mr. Rowlett was still
a boy, and immediately after leaving the army
he began working in a saw and grist mill,
which occupation he followed until 1872. In
the latter year he engaged in the manufacture
of boots and shoes, which business he has pur-
sued since locating in the village of Gaston, in
1 88 1. He now deals in boots, shoes and har-
ness, and does a very prosperous and satisfac-
tory business. Mr. Rowlett married May 17,
1868, Miss Esther A. Heaton, born in Dela-
ware county, December 28, 1851, daughter of
Madison Heaton, a pioneer of the county and
state. By this marriage, five children have
been born, as follows: Mary J., Edwin M. ,
George W., Ida B., and John deceased. Mrs.
Rowlett died January 5, 1879, and on May 9,
1880, Mr. Rowlett was united in marriage to
Miss Samantha A. Brock, born in this county,
December 16, 1852, daughter of Jackson and
Elizabeth (Barrett) Brock, and three children
have been born of this union, as follows:
Orpha B., Arthur Jackson, deceased, and
Mettie E. Mr. and Mrs. Rowlett are mem-
bers of the Methodist and United Brethren
churches, respectively, and are highly esteemed
in the community where they reside. Mr.
Rowlett belongs to the G. A. R. and also to
the order of I. O. O. F. He owns eleven
acres of fine land in the village of Gaston,
which promises to be very valuable. Politi-
cally, he is a republican and upholds the prin-
ciples of his party with spirit, intelligence and
energy.
806
DELAWARE COUNTY
IHOMPSON SHARP, a prominent
farmer of Washington township, and
one of the leading citizens of Dela-
ware county, is a native of Indiana,
born on the I2th day November, 1827, in the
county of Henry. His father, Edward Sharp,
was born June 4, 1801, in Tennessee, and the
mother, whose maiden name was Anna
Thompson, was a native of Virginia, where
her birth occurred on the 18th day of January,
1808. Edward Sharp, in an early day, accom-
panied his father to Ohio, were he remained
for a few years, and then came further west,
locating, in 1820, in Henry county, Ind.
Subsequently he purchased a farm in Salem
township, Delaware county, where, in time,
he became the possessor of a large tract of
real estate, owning, at the time of his death,
in 1855, 640 acres, the result of his own energy
and thrift. In addition to the pursuit of
agriculture, he dealt, quite extensively, for a
number of years, in live stock, purchasing in
various parts of Indiana and driving to Cincin-
nati, making of this a very profitable business.
He was recognized as one of the leading citi-
zens of the community in which he resided;
was a prominent member of the Christian
church, and exerted a wholesome moral influ-
ence upon all with whom he had business or
other relations. His wife, a most estimable
christian lady, and a member of the Protestant
Methodist church, departed this Hfe in 1862,
and was laid to rest by the side of her husband
in the Sharp cemetery, in the township of
Salem.
Thompson Sharp remained under the pa-
rental roof until his majority, working on the
farm during the summer attending school about
three months of each year until reaching the
age of thirteen, consequently he is not an
educated man in his knowledge of books, but
in the practical affairs of life possesses a
knowledge such as institutions of learning fail
to impart. Immediately after his marriage,
which occurred in his twenty-first year, he re-
moved to his present farm in Washington
township, where he has since resided, actively
engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. At that
date the farm consisted of 120 acres, but he
has since enlarged its area until, at this time,
it contains 340 acres, the entire place being
under cultivation, the improvements upon the
same ranking among the best in the township
and county. Mr. Sharp has surrounded him-
self with all the modern improvements and
conveniences of agriculture, and devotes to
his calling the energies of a strong practical
mind, believing in the true dignity of the farm-
er's vocation. He is recognized as one of the
intelligent and substantial citizens of the com-
munity, manifests a lively interest in every-
thing that pertains to the material and moral
well being of the township of which he has so
long been a resident, and as an active worker
in the republican party is widely and favorably
known throughout the county. As a reward of
his party service, he has been twice elected to
the responsible position of county commis-
sioner; in 1888 first, and second in 1892, of
which office he is a present incumbent, and the
duties of which he has discharged with ability
and most commendable fidelity. His mar-
riage, as already noted, was solemnized on the
iSth of November, 1849, with Miss Christena
Bowers, who was born March 20, 1828, the
daughter of Jacob and Susanah (Andes) Bow-
ers. These parents were natives of the state
of Virginia, born in the counties of Shenan-
doah and Rockingham, respectively, and be-
came residents of Salem township in 1841,
purchasing a farm of 160 acres of land, upon
which the remaining years of their lives were
spent. The following are the names of the
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson
Sharp: Jemima A., Florence O. , Otto, mar-
ried Kate Stradling; Oral L., wife of John
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
807
Hall; Noah, married Amanda Prim; George,
Nelson Grant, Dora, wife of James Lewis and
Ozora T. This is a most interesting family,
and the children, like their parents, are held
in the highest esteem in the community. The
youngest son, Ozora T. , is a graduate of one
of the leading literary and law schools of the
country, and since his admission to the federal
and supreme courts at Indianapolis in June,
1893, has practiced the legal profession very
successfully in Delaware county. He is a
young man of more than ordinary ability abil-
ity and bids fair to make a creditable record
as an attorney. Mr. Sharp, although in his
sixty-sixth year, possesses in a remarkable de-
gree his faculties, both mental and physical,
and may be considered as in the prime of vig-
orous manhood. He has borne well his part
in life, and it is with pleasure this brief tribute
to his worth is presented in this connection.
1306