BROWN TOWNSHIP AND MOORESVILLE
TRANSCRIBED FROM THE BOOK COUNTIES OF MORGAN, MONROE & BROWN,
INDIANA. HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL 1884
GEORGE W. BASS is a native of Johnson County, Ind., and was born June 20, 1842. His parents, Josiah H. and Elizabeth (Robinson) Bass, natives of Kentucky, had seven children, of which George W. was the sixth, and with three older brothers. His youth was spent upon the farm, and his education acquired at Greenwood High School in his native county. In the summer of 1862. he enrolled at Springfield, Mo., in Company I, First Missouri Calvary, and served to the close of the war. The first year of his service was spent scouting in Southwestern Missouri and Northeastern Texas; and he also participated in the battle of Prairie Grove and the Van Buren (Arkansas) raid    He was at the siege of Vicksburg as Orderly to Gen. Herron, and afterward saw service of  the  following  places in their order: Yazoo, Miss., Baton Rouge, Carrollton, Morganza Bend, and New Orleans, La.    From Brownsville, Tex., he returned to Baton Rouge, where he had charge of the division mail for some time, when he was ordered to his regiment, then at Little Rock, Ark., from which place he was honorably discharged from the service. After leaving the army, he clerked awhile in a dry goods house, a drug store, and finally, in the year 1874, settled down in the drug business at New Augusta, Ind., where he remained four years  In 1878, he removed to Mooresville, where he has since been engaged in the drug business. On November 8, 1871, he was married at Greenwood, Ind., to Mary E., daughter of W. A. Woods, Esq. By this marriage he has had born to him three children, Frank R., Charlie W. and Nellie B. The mother of these children, died March 30, 1880, and October 27, 1881, Mr. Bass was married in Morgan County to Martha T. (Turley) Bray. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Bass belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Knights of Honor, of which latter lodge he is present Financial Reporter. He owns a small farm in Johnson County, and his residence in Mooresville, as also the business property in which he carries a lucrative drug trade.
JAMES M. BISHOP, a promising young lawyer of Mooresville, was born in Hamilton County, Ind., May 31, 1850. His parents, Joseph and Nancy (Chew) Bishop, were natives of Virginia, and of English descent. They had eight children, our subject being the seventh, with two older brothers. He grew up in Westfield, and finished his education at the Mooresville High School. In May, 1873, he began the study of law with Ford & Blair in Shelbyville, Ind., and in the year following was admitted to the bar in Indianapolis, and from there came soon afterward to Mooresville. As a practitioner, he is successful, and we bespeak for him a prominent place in the very front rank of his profession at no distant day. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, an active Republican, a good debater, and a public speaker of much more than average ability. He made his first political speech in 1876, and has since taken an effective part in all the .election campaigns. The declining years of his aged mother and father are made comfortable and happy by the generosity and kind attention of an ever dutiful son.
HARRIS BRAY, a pioneer of Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., a native of Chatham County, N. C, is the sixth child and fourth son of six sons and eight daughters of William and Peg (Brooks) Bray, natives of North Carolina, and of English descent, and was born December 24, 1798; came into Morgan County in the year 1822; entered from the Government a tract of land in the year 1823; settled upon it, and here as a farmer he has since lived. Until nearly twenty one years of age, he lived with his parents in North Carolina. His education was limited to that of reading, and something of penmanship was acquired at the subscription schools of his native place. In September, 1819, he was married in North Carolina to Rachel Moon, by whom he had born to him ten children, Brantley, now in Iowa; Austin, now in Iowa; Nancy, now in Iowa; Eli, now in Kansas; Wesley, now in Iowa; Riley, now in Morgan County, Ind.; Alfred, now in Kansas; William, died in the army at Buford, S. C.; Ellen, wife of David Sheets, in Morgan County, Ind.; and Younger, died at the age of thirty eight years. The mother of these children died in April, 1876, at the age of seventy eight years. Mr. Bray joined the Methodist Episcopal Church when about forty five years of age, and has since lived the life of a consistent Christian. His deceased wife was a member of the same church many years of her life, and was noted for her purity of life and Christian conduct. Together, these two people labored as only pioneers of a new country can appreciate. Their home was for many years the headquarters for all immigrants to the " new purchase," and what they had they gave freely. They inherited nothing but cheerful hearts and strong arms, and their worldly goods were acquired by their united industry. Mr. Bray entered from the Government from time to time in Indiana about 240 acres of land, and has put about 100 acres in cultivation. He owns now a fine farm, where he lives, of 108 acres, all in cultivation and well improved. He has upon this farm a magnificent quarry of blue sandstone of much value. About 1831, he erected a still house on the East Fork of White Lick, about one mile from where Mooresville now stands, and for twelve years ran it with a capacity of about thirty gallons per day. After his conversion, he abandoned the trade in liquor. About the year 1841, he put into operation a grist mill at the confluence of the East Fork and the main White Lick Creeks, and ran it about three years. As the mill was run mostly to supply meal for his distillery, he parted with it soon after going out of the liquor business. He is a Democrat. He has been a liberal giver to both church and school.
JARVIS P. CALVERT was born in New York City June 17, 1842, and is the youngest of four children of John T. and Sarah (Reese) Calvert, of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania respectively, and of English extraction. When he was but an infant, his parents removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where his mother died in the year 1844, and his father in less than a year afterward.    Until about ten years of age, Jarvis P. existed a part of the time in Louisville, Ky., and a longer period at Columbus, Ohio. From the age of ten to twenty one years, he lived on a farm in Ohio, and attended the public schools. In the spring of 1863, he came to Indiana and stopped a few months at Plainfield, and October 26, 1863, he enrolled at Indianapolis in Company I, Sixty third Indiana Volunteer Infantry. From this command he was transferred to Company H, One Hundred and Twenty eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the spring of 1865, and was finally mustered out of the service April 10, 1866. While in the Sixty third Regiment, he saw much hard service, and took part in some nine or ten regular battles, and any number of hot skirmishes. "With the One Hundred and Twenty eighth Regiment, his service was lighter, having been most of the time on detached duty as clerk about headquarters. He returned to Plainfield and there studied photography, and in February, 1867, opened his art gallery in Mooresville, where he has since made great progress in his profession. May 19,1868, he married Delia Perce, by whom he has had born to him five children, Archie B., Lennetta May (deceased), Gertrude (deceased), Percy H and Bertha Emma. Mr. Calvert is Steward and Chorister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of H. He is a Republican in politics, and an advocate of prohibition.
JOHN D. CARTER was one of the pioneers of " the new purchase," a wealthy farmer of Brown Township, a native of Ashe County, N. C, is the son of Nathaniel and Ann (Ramsy) Carter, and was born March 1, 1811. His parents came to Indiana in 1814, and settled in Orange County, where they lived eight years, coming to Morgan County in 1822, when they located upon a small tract of land entered from the Government, and at once proceeded to erect a log cabin, upon the dirt floor of which they stowed away their little family and scant supply of household goods. Their stock, consisting of horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, geese and ducks, they brought with them from Orange County. From a journal, written by the subject of this sketch, in which it faithfully recounted the many experiences of this family, we quote: "We saw hard times the first winter; we had to cut down green beech and sugar trees for our cattle to eat the buds; had to go from twenty to thirty miles for corn to make bread; and five to six miles for help to raise the cabin." But their experiences were but repetitions of those of hundreds of brave pioneers whose hardships and privations are recounted upon the pages of the early history of our country. November 26$ 1834, Mr. Carter was married to Ruth Pickett, in the manner and form peculiar to the Friends' Society, of which they were both birthright members. This union has been blessed with ten children, George, Amos (deceased), Vincent, Sarah Ann (deceased), Mary, Ella (deceased), William P., Nathaniel, Benjamin, Harriet B. and Emma. Three of his sons, George, Vincent and Nathaniel, are prominent attorneys at law in the city of Indianapolis, and his son William lives in San Antonio, Tex. Mr. Carter has been one of the hardest working men of the county. His children have all been thoroughly educated, and as they have arrived at the estate of men and women, have received bountifully of the world's goods from the munificent hand of an ever generous parent. The declining years of his life are being happily spent upon his magnificent farm of about 350 acres, one and a half miles southeast of Mooresville, where at least once a year he assembles around his hearthstone and at his sumptuous table his children and grandchildren, and where the merry romp and laughter of the little folks are subdued to breathless silence, as they listen to the tales of pioneer life, as they come from the lips of one who has been an actor in scenes that seem to their young ears fraught with wondrous impossibilities. In politics, Mr. Carter has always been a Republican of the most pronounced type. He is a consistent Christian gentleman, and lives supremely happy in the glorious anticipation of eternal life in Heaven.
NATHANIEL CARTER, native of Orange County, Ind., the sixth child and third son of Nathaniel and Ann (Ramsey) Carter, natives of North Carolina, and of Irish and Scotch extraction respectively, was born March 25, 1815. His parents came into Morgan County in 1821, and located upon land entered from the Government, and where the two old people spent the remainder of their days, and where Nathaniel has since resided. He attended a little at the subscription schools and learned something of reading and writing. November 23, 1837, he was married at Plainfield, Ind., to Martha, daughter of Edward Chamness, a native of North Carolina. She bore him six children, James R., Hannah, Thomas F., Mary B., Nathaniel W. and William Edgar. His son, Thomas F., was killed at the battle of Chattanooga, Tenn., on May 31, 1865. The mother of these children died October 2, 1871. at the age of fifty four years, and February 13, 1873, subject was married at Monrovia, Ind., to Louisa Jane (Hubbard) Blair, daughter of George Hubbard, deceased, native of North Carolina. ~ Our subject and wife are birthright members of the Friends' Church. He is a Republican in politics, and a strong advocate of temperance. He gave the land gratis upon which is located public school building No. 1. What Mr. Carter possesses he has toiled for, and after giving away considerable land to his children, he yet owns a nice farm of ninety acres, all in cultivation and well improved. He lived with his parents and took care of them till their death. His religious work and charities are mostly among the poor of the country, and in such labor he is endeavoring to do the will of the Everlasting Father.
MATTHEW COMER is the second son of Joseph and Hester (Compton) Comer, natives of North Carolina and Ohio, and of Irish and English extraction respectively. Joseph Comer came to Indiana Territory in 1804, and located upon the site now occupied by the city of Richmond, and Matthew was born July 1, 1825. He lived twenty one years with his parents, learned the habits of a farmer, and attended a few terms at the subscription schools. The first twelve years of his majority were devoted to the carpenter's trade, an apprenticeship to which he began a short time before. He was married in Randolph County, Ind., in November, 1846, to Adila J. Harris, who died March 27, 1881, having borne seven children, Mary Jane, Jabez S., Sarah A., Levi C, William C, Minnie H. and Mattie F., all of whom are living at this writing (December, 1883). The Comer and Harris families were of the Quaker faith, but having refused to " marry in meeting " young Comer and wife were peremptorily dismissed, and the Methodist Episcopal Church immediately gained two new members. August 13, 1862, Mr. Comer enlisted at Richmond, Ind., in Company B, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, and served to the close of the war. His Company was the first to charge upon and occupy the town of Knoxville, Tenn. They also took a prominent part in the capture of the famous command of John A. Morgan. He came to Mooresville in 1865, and soon afterward embarked in the saw mill business, which he has since followed, and at which he has made considerable money. He is a strict temperance man, a Republican in politics, and a citizen of. unimpeachable integrity.
PAUL COX (deceased) was a native of Pennsylvania, son of Alexander and Elizabeth Cox; was born November 6, 1808, and died March 15, 1876. He had four brothers and two sisters, two of the brothers being older than himself. He was reared a farmer and followed it all his life, though he was a brick mason by trade, and also did a great deal in that line. His parents removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and later on to Indiana, and settled near Centreton, where they spent most of their after lives. Paul received at the neighborhood schools in Indiana such education as was practicable in so new a country. He was first married when quite young to Mary Mathews, who bore him seven children, Milton, Morgan, Elizabeth Ann, Emily, Harriet (deceased), Margaret and George. The mother of these children died in April, 1846, and in the fall following Mr. Cox was married in Morgan County to Elizabeth Chandler, who bore him seven children, Morris, Alfred, Madison, Mariah, Ida, Laura and Austin. Mr. Cox was a consistent member of the Christian Church, as is also his widow. He inherited a small tract of land from his father, but the rest of his property he worked for, leaving his family a handsome patrimony which his widow has managed with skill. She was left with four minor children, which she reared and cared for, educated and made of them honored and respected men and women. Mr. Cox was one of the best citizens of Morgan County, strictly honest and upright in all his dealings, beloved by his neighbors, and respected by all who knew him.
NATHAN DAY is the son of John and Edith (Lowder) Day, who were born in North Carolina, where they met, loved and married, and from whence, as hopeful young pioneers they came to Indiana in the year 1820. They located at once upon a tract of land which they entered from the Government, and which lies about half a mile southeast from the present town of Mooresville, in Morgan County. Here they underwent the trials and hardships incident to pioneer life. Here their children were born; here, by their united effort and direction, the primitive forests were reduced and replaced by broad and fertile fields, and from here, when life was no longer fraught with privations and anxious cares, they took their final leave of all earthly things, and, their spirits returning to Him who gave them, their bodies were laid away to await the final resurrection morn. They were members of the Friends' Church, and died in the sixtieth and fiftieth fourth years of their ages respectively. Nathan is their third son and the only one of the family now living. He was born June 29, 1843, and has always lived upon the old homestead which he now owns. He was married November 24, 1864, to Candace C, daughter of Asbury Rooker, and has had born to him two children— Nellie E. and Francis R. Mr. and Mrs. Day are members of the Friends' Church, and he belongs to the I. O. O. F. He is a strict temperance man, and in politics a Republican. His farm, consisting of 120 acres, is one of the best improved and most valuable in the neighborhood.
JOSEPH H. EDWARDS is the son of Henry J. and Hannah (Davis) Edwards, natives of Virginia and North Carolina respectively; was born in Grayson County, Va., May 4, 1833, and was brought by his parents to Indiana in 1837. They settled first in Wayne County, where they lived about twelve years, and where the mother died. The family afterward removed to Randolph County, where the father is living at this writing. Joseph H. was married in Hendricks County,  November 24,  1855, to Sarah Jane Mills, who has borne him seven children, Lucinda A. Ase-nath D., Martha A., Luna J., Effie M., Lottie O. and an infant deceased, not named. Mr. Edwards was reared upon a farm, and sent to the neigh­borhood schools when a boy, where he learned something of the element­ary studies. In the spring of 1856, he came into Morgan County, lived a few years at Mooresville, and removed to his farm where he has since resided. He was taken seriously ill in July, 1882, and has never fully recovered. He has sold his farm property with a view to removing into Mooresville, where he will make his future home. Mr. Edwards is a self-made man. His mother died when he was but thirteen years of age, and his father turned him at once upon the world. He worked four years for one man at $50 per year, and two years after at something of an increase. Thus he began life, and slowly but surely he has crept up. He has given each of his children $2,000, and reserved to himself a handsome competency. Both he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, having come into that organization from the Society of Friends.
GEORGE FARMER is a farmer, a native of Guilford County, N. C, is the third of ten children, four sons and six daughters, of Jacob and Pena (Shoffner) Farmer, natives of North Carolina and of German descent, and was born April 11, 1821. His parents came to Morgan County in 1824, and after about eight years' residence in Brown Town­ship removed to Hendricks County, where they lived the remainder of their days, the father dying in September, 1861, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and the mother in August, 1865, in the sixty-eighth year of her age. George was reared upon a farm, at the subscription school learned something of reading, writing and arithmetic, and lived with his parents until twenty-eight years of age, when, on December %4, 1848, he was married in Monroe Township, Morgan County, to Lydia Elliott, daughter of Alfred Elliott, also a native of North Carolina, and by this marriage he has had born to him eleven children, the first of whom died in infancy not named. The others were Jacob (died at the age of seven years), Mary, Caroline, Alfred, William, Catharine, John, Alvaro (died), George and Leonard R. Both Mr. and Mrs. F. are mem­bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. F. is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Mooresville. He removed from Guilford Township, Hen­dricks County to Brown Township, Morgan County, in August, 1858, where he purchased and settled upon the farm he has since owned and occupied. He was one of the incorporators of the Mooresvjlle Monitor. He and his wife inherited from their respective parents a small sum of money, and the rest of their possessions have been acquired by their united industry. He owns at present a splendid farm of 200 acres, mostly in cultivation, well improved, stocked and equipped for agricult­ural purposes. In politics, he is a Republican. He is an ardent tem­perance man and an advocate of prohibition. He is a good, substantial citizen, held in high esteem by his neighbors and those who come in contact with him.
ABNER HADLEY, farmer, Brown Township, Morgan Co., Ind,, is a native of Hendricks County, Ind., and the third of four children of Joshua B. and Mary T. (Hadley) Hadley, natives of North Carolina. He was born December 28, 1828; reared upon a farm; at the public schools of Indiana acquired a good Flnglish education, and in his early manhood taught two terms in Hendricks County.    His father died in the twenty-eighth year of his age when our subject was about three years of age. His mother died in Hendricks County November 19, 1880, in the seventy-third year of her age. Subject lived with his mother until he was about twenty-one years of age, when he set out in the world for him­self. On March 21, 1850, he was married, at West Union, Morgan County, to Ann, daughter of David and Mary Lindley, natives of North Carolina. By this marriage he had born to him four children, Charles (farmer in Hardin County, Iowa), Mary E. (wife of Thadeus S. Townsend, now at Albany, Oreg.), Franklin M. (in Morgan County), and Flora E. (wife of James P. Henley, of Hendricks County, Ind.). The mother of these children died February 1, 1862, in the thirty-third year of her age. On April 15, 1863, he was next married to Beulah, daughter of William and Ann Hadley, natives of North Carolina. By this marriage two children were born, Joshua and Edgar. Mr. Hadley's second wife died February 24, 1867, in the thirty-seventh year of her age, and on January 14, 1869, he married for his third wife Sallie A., daughter of William B. and Ludah E. Hubbard, natives of North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley are both birthright members of the Friends' Society, and are at present Elders in the White Lick Church of that denomina­tion; Mr. H. is also one of the Trustees of this church. He is a liberal giver to all churches and schools in his vicinity without regard to sect or creed. In politics, he is a Republican; is also an ardent temperance man and ad­vocate, and a friend of prohibition at all times. From the estate of his father, he inherited a tract of land of small value. The rest of his prop­erty he has acquired by his own industry. He owns at present a line farm of 285 acres, nearly all in cultivation, well improved and stocked with horses, hogs and cattie. The farm and stock receive his personal supervision and management He came into Morgan County in the spring of 1863, and located upon the farm since owned and occupied by him, about one-half mile north of the town of Mooresville. He is a reputable and influential citizen, respected by his neighbors and esteemed by his church as one of its most substantial pillars and supporters. His wife is a woman of unquestionable merit, and noted for her charities and Christian conduct.
CLINTON C. HADLEY, druggist, Mooresville, Ind., was born in Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., May 11, 1855, and is the young­est of four children of Isaiah and Emily (Hadley) Hadley, natives of Ohio and Indiana respectively. He was but about two years of age when his father died. The first sixteen years were spent by Clinton C. upon the farm, and by devoting a portion of the time to his studies at the Mooresville school he acquired a good English education. At the age of eighteen, he began the drug business as clerk for Joseph Pool, and two years afterward, in the fall of 1875, he went to Mt. Carmel, Ill., and for one year had charge of a drug house belonging to his brother. Re­turning to Mooresville he clerked for Hadley & Harvey, druggists, until the summer of 1880, when he bought out the interest of the senior mem­ber of the firm, and shortly afterward became the sole owner, of the estab­lishment Mr. Hadley is a " birthright." member of the Friends' Church, and fills official chairs in the Subordinate Lodge and Encampment of the I. O. O. F. He is unmarried, and in consequence very popular with the ladies, a wide-awake Republican politically, and possessed of all the es­sential requisites to an upright citizen and gentleman
JOHN FRANKLIN HADLEY is of the sturdy old Quaker stock, and adheres faithfully to the teachings of that unostentatious society. A native farmer and stock grower of Brown Township, is the youngest son of Aaron atnd Lydia (Hadley) Hadley, originally of North Carolina, was born January 14, 1840, and educated at the Friends White Lick School. He was married, March 13, 1860, to Lydia Ann, daughter of "William Macy (deceased), and has had born to him four children, William A., Linnie, Mahlon and Cora. His son William is studying medicine, Mahlon is at Earlham College, and the accomplishments of his daughters are not being neglected. In the fall of 1880, Mr. Hadley was elected County Commissioner, and re-elected thereto in 1882. He was one of the organ­izers of the Farmers' Bank of Mooresyille, and for eight years was one of its directors. Though a straight Bepublican politically, he is not radically partisan, and to this fact was due his first nomination for the office of County Commissioner. His second nomination and election re­sulted naturally from the efficient manner in which the affairs of the office were administered during his first incumbency. Mr. Hadley holds the office of Assistant Dictator in the order of K. of H.; he is an unqual­ified advocate of prohibition, and was among the very first public men in Morgan County to oppose the system of legally licensing the whisky traffic. Mr. H owns and resides upon the farm upon which he was born and reared.
ARNOLD W. HADLEY was born at Mooresville, Ind., May 8,1846. Kis parents, Jeremiah and Eliza (McCracken) Hadley, had eight chil­dren, of whom our subject was third,1 with two brothers older. He lived upon the farm with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age, spending about one-third of his " school age" in pursuit of an education. In 1867, he went to Kansas, and remained six years, four years in mer­cantile business, and two dealing in live stock. Betuming to Indiana in 1873, he for the next succeeding ten years, in company with his brother, ran the Mooresville Elevator, handling large quantities of grain, and also dealt extensively in coal. September 16, 1873, he was married at Mon­rovia to Almeda, daughter of Amos Hunt, deceased, and has had born to him two children, Edward J. and Hermon A. In April, 1883, as the head and sole manager of the fii'm of A. W. Hadley & Bro., he began the manufacture of drain tile at Mooresville, and at this writing they have one of the most extensive works of the kind in Morgan County. Mr. Hadley and wife are members of the Friends' Church, and he is Deputy (District) Grand Dictator of the Order of Knights of Honor. Subject is a Bepubiican in politics, an active worker in the cause of temperance, and prominently identified with the educational interests of Mooresville.
WILLIAM FOSTER HADLEY was born in Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., August 3, 1855. His parents, Jeremiah and Eliza E. (McCracken) Hadley, were North Carolinians, and traced their ancestral blood to the persecuted Quakers of the British Isle. They accompanied their respective parents into Indiana probably about half a century ago, and here they married and reared a family of eight children, William F. being the youngest son and seventh child. The subject of this sketch spent the first eight years of his life upon the farm, and his education, which consisted of a thorough English course, was acquired before he was seventeen years of age. At the age of twelve years, he was placed in charge of the M. & M. Gravel Boad Toll Gate, just west of Mooresville, and at this time his business career commenced.    At the age of fifteen, he entered the grocery house of R. R. Scott, at Mooresville, as clerk, and the following year studied the mysteries of pharmacy io the drug store of J. Edwards. It will not be forgotten that Tip to this time his winters had been regularly spent at school. In the' fall of 187&, he went into the Mooresville office of the Indianapolis & Vincennes Rail­road, and there learned the art of telegraphy, which he followed profes­sionally for the next nine years. December 29, 1880, he was married in Morgan County to Cassie, daughter of George Farmor, and has had born to him one child, Everard F. May 16, 1881, he was elected cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Mooresville, and has since filled that position. In the spring of 1882, the citizens tendered him the office of Treasurer of Mooresville, but the trust was declined for reasons of his own. He is a member of the firm of A. W. Hadley & Bro., in the manufacture of drain tiles, and up to June, 1883, was largely interested in the grain and coal business. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics a Republican. He is a thorough business man, a gentleman and a scholar.
S. M. HADLEY, eldest son of John and Elenor (Chambless) Hadley, natives of'North Carolina, was born in Morgan County, Ind., October 12, 1838. He grew to manhood upon a farm, and during his youth received .a good English education at the subscription and public schools of his native county, supplemented by a course at the Parke County Graded School. October 2, 1858, he was married to Samira Ann Kemp, a native of Parke County, Ind., and has had born to him two children, Curtis J. (dead) and Lizzie E. Mr. and Mrs. Hadley are birthright members of the Friends' Church,,and Mr. Hadley belongs to the order of Knights of Honor. In politics:, he is a Republican, and with the anti-temperance element he admits of no compromise. He removed from his farm into Mooresville about the year 3 872, and engaged at once in the drug business, which he has since followed. He owns a nice farm of eighty acres, well improved, stocked and cultivated, and in addition to his many other duties, he has been for several years past Deputy United States Postmas­ter at Mooresville. His worldly acquisitions are the results of his indi­vidual effort and management
JOHN W. HINSON was born at Mooresville, Ind., on January 2,1842, and is the eldest of eleven children born to his parents, William H. and Mary (Putner) Hinson, of North Carolina. His early life was spent upon the farm, and his education acquired at the Mooresville High SchooL On August 15, 1861, he enrolled in Company C, Thirty-third Indiana Volun­teer Infantry, and served until September, 1865, having veteranized with his regiment in 1863. He took part in many hard-fought battles, and at Kenesaw Mountain, June 29, 1863, as a result from a shot fired from a Mississippi rifle, lost his right leg above the knee. December 27, 1869, he was married at Mooresville to Margaret Elliott, who died October 9, 1881, having borne him three children,"Viola, Maude (deceased), and Ethel E. Mr. Hinson was elected Assessor of Brown Township in 1866, and held the office about five years. In 1869, he was appointed Post­master of Mooresville, and has since been the incumbent of that office. To his present wife, —Flora B. Roseberry he was married at Coffman, Mo., August 1, 1883. Mr. Hinson owns both residence and business property in Mooresville, and while, with reference to worldly goods, he is comfortable generally, nothing has been given him. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics a Republican.
HENRY HOUSE, native of Prince William County, Va., and third of eight children of John and Catharine B. (Bless) House, natives of Germany, was born March 28, 1823. His parents came to America in the year 1800, and into Morgan County in 1836, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Our subject was reared upon a farm; remained with his parents till twenty-one years of age, and at the neighborhood schools, both in Virginia and Indiana, acquired a fair English education. His father died in 1874, at the age of eighty-four years, and his mother two years earlier, at the age of seventy-seven. On September 5, 1845, our subject was married, at Mooresville, to Elizabeth King, a native of Indiana, who died September 28, 1848, leaving two children—Sarah Jane and Harriet. Sarah Jane died at the age of five years. On October 25, 1849, he married Sarah E. Fultz, of Tennessee, and by her had born to him eleven children—Anna, Virginia, Charlotte (deceased), Nathaniel (deceased), Dora, Douglas, John, Otto, Catharine, Gertrude (deceased), and Ethel. Mr. H is a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Democrat in politics, and a temperance man from principle. He is an industrious and successful farmer and stock-grower, and his property ac­cumulations are due solely to his own industry. He owns 400 acres of fine land in Morgan County, to the management of which he gives his personal attention. He is a lover of learning, and a liberal supporter of churches and benevolent institutions without reference to sect or creed.
WILLIAM A. HUNT, editor of the Mooresville Monitor, is a native of Martinsville,Ind.,and is the only child of Nathan A. and Mary A. (Coble) Hunt, natives of the State of North Carolina, aiid of English and Ger­man extraction respectively. William A. was born August 5, 1853, and his parents removed to Mooresville in the year 1854. where, with the ex­ception of two years spent in Danville, Ind., our subject has since resided. At the age of fourteen years, he was thrown upon his own resources, and his schooling, limited to about eight months in the aggregate, was pro­cured after that age. In 1865, he entered the confectionery store of his grandfather, at Mooresville, and remained up to 1874. At this time, his grandfather having died, he embarked in business on his own account, and for two years, though nearly destitute of financial capital, he man­aged, young as he was, to support himself, his mother and grandmother, both the latter being confirmed invalids. In 1877, he entered the office of the Mooresville Herald, as a " printer's devil," where he remained three years, learning the trade of a printer in the meantime, and in 1880 engaged as a compositor on the Mooresville Monitor, and in 1881, upon the retinnent of A. W. Macy, Mr. Hunt was appointed by the directors, editor, which position he has since held, and the duties of which he has discharged with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his patrons. Since becoming the editor of the Monitor, which is owned by a joint-stock company, he has by industry and economy been able to possess him­self of two-thirds of its stock, and is at this writing, December, 1883, the owner of a controlling interest. January 9, 1877, he was married, in Mooresville, to Mary E. Dickinson, by whom he has had born to him two children, Dwite A. and Margaret A. Mr. Hunt is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is Reporter or Secretary of the Lodge of the Kmghts of Honor. He is also Secretary of the Old Set­tlers' Association, of the district comprising the counties of Morgan, Hendricks, Johnson and Monroe. He is a writer of more than ordinary ability, and the Monitor, under his management, is rapidly increasing in popularity.
GEORGE ANDREW JACKSON was born in Stokes County, N. C, June 1, 1842, and is the sixth of the twelve children bom to William and Celia (Gorden) Jackson. He was reared a farmer, and came to this county in February, 1866; he resided for some time in Madison Town­ship, and then came to Brown Township and purchased a farm of 100 acres, which he has well stocked and improved. May 21, 1871, he mar­ried Lucy J. Perkey, daughter of George and Lucy (Landers) Perkey, and to this marriage have been born the following children: Violette J., Laura Etta, William Sidney, George Amer, Louisa Jane and Allen Hick-lin. Mr. Jackson is a member of Mooresville Lodge, No. 78, F. & A. M., and Mrs. Jackson is a member of the Christian Church.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN JONES, carriage trimmer and harness maker at Mooresville, Ind., is a native of Warren County, Ohio; is the youngest of ten children, four sons and six daughters, of Nathan and Margaret (Hawkins) Jones, natives of New Jersey and Ohio, and of Welsh and English extraction respectively, and was born May 9, 1846, He was reared upon a farm, and at the public schools of Ohio acquired a good English education. September 2, 1864, he enrolled at Waynesville, Ohio, in Company B, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served to July 25, 1865, when he was honorably discharged with the rank of Duty Sergeant on account of cessation of war. While in the service, he participated in the battle of Kingston, N. C, and a number of skirmishes. Soon after enlistment, he was detached and put into garrison duty. Mr. Jones came to Mooresville in November, 1870, and took service with Dorland & Gregory, dealers in hardware and agricultural implements. In January, 1873, he began the trade of harness maker and carriage trimmer, and, in 1876, set up in business on his own account. April 26,1876, he was married at New Albany, Ind., to Emma Thompson, a native of Indiana, and daughter of Rev. I. N. Thompson, and by this marriage he has had born to him one child, Bertram T. After returning from the army, he was engaged in the dry goods business at Lebanon, Ohio, during the year 1867 and a part of 1868, and, in 1869-70, he was at Oskaloosa, Iowa, in the grocery business. Aside from a small inheritance from the estate of his father, he has worked for what he has, and owns a nice residence property and the splendid brick building in which he carries on his business. In politics, he is a wide-awake Republican, a temperance man and an advocate of prohibition. From 1879 to 1882, he carried on the manufacture of carriages and buggies in addition to his other business, and altogether his industrious efforts have proved satisfactorily remunerative. He is a highly respected citizen and a reliable business man. In 1876, he was Town Clerk of Mooresville, and as such wrote and compiled the town ordinances. The father of our subject died in August, 1865, at the age of sixty eight years. His mother yet lives at the age of about seventy eight years, and makes her home with him.
THOMAS ELWOOD LAWRENCE was born in Grant County, Ind., June 19, 1847, and was the eldest of eight children, four sons and four daughters, of William and Priscilla (Williams) Lawrence, natives respectively of North Carolina and Indiana. When eighteen years of age, our subject accompanied his parents to Morgan County, where he has since lived, and where his father died in 1883, at the age of sixty four years, and his mother eight years before, at the age of fifty one. Subject was  educated at the public schools, five terms of which he afterward taught in Morgan County. He married Delphina Harvey April 26,1871, and has two children, lvalue and Grertrude. He is a birthright member of the Friends' Church, in which society his mother was for fifteen years preceding her death a prominent minister. Mr. L. is a prominent Odd Fellow, a Republican politically, and an ardent temperance worker, In 1882, he rented out his farm, and engaged in the lumber business at Mooresville, Martinsville and other points, and is today one of the most extensive hard-wood lumber dealers in the county, dealing extensively in walnut lumber. To give an idea of the present value of walnut lumber, we will state that Mr. Lawrence has just shipped one car load of five-eights walnut, of 14,230 feet, which brought him, loaded on car at Mooresville, $825.35.
JAMES MADISON LEATHERS (deceased), native of Franklin County, Ky., was born May 15, 1814, and died July 3, 1880. In 1828, he accompanied his brother Thomas J. into Indiana, and spent the rest of his life in Morgan County. His school advantages were very limited, though he learned something of reading, writing and arithmetic by at­tendance at the subscription schools when not engaged upon the farm. He married Martha Jane McDonald September 15, 1835, and she bore him twelve children, William "W. (deceased), Charles S., Nancy A., Mary, Theodore (deceased), John (deceased), Margaret (deceased), Sam­uel (deceased), Sarah M., Harrison, Douglass and Mintie E. From the age of fourteen years until the day of his death, subject was a consistent member of the Christian Church, and was for many years a Master Ma­son. His first wife died March 4, 1871, and November 5, of the same year, he was married in Morgan County, Ind., to Phoebe T. Jones, daugh­ter of the Rev. H. T. Burge. By this marriage he had born to him three children Florence Mabel, Bessie B. (deceased), and Samuel M. Mr. L. left his family a nice property, consisting, among other things, of a fine farm of 183 acres, which his widow manages with skill and success. He was a great religious worker, educated his children, and voted the Democratic ticket with persistent regularity.
RILEY McCRARY is a native of North Carolina, but the name of his father and the date of his birth are unknown. He was left an orphan at a very early period of his existence, and bound out until twenty-one years of age. He was taught only in manual labor, and has turned his accomplishments in that direction to good account. He was about twen­ty-one years of age when he came into Morgan County, probably about 1834-35, and for several years carried on the blacksmith business at Mooresville, at which he made considerable money. On April 2, 1837, he married Gracie Staley, who bore him twelve children, Mary Jane, John Wesley, William A., James F. (deceased), Samuel L., Margaret. M. (deceased), Sarah M. (deceased), Rebecca (deceased), Elizabeth E., George T., Joseph W. (deceased), David J. (deceased). The mother of these children died in 1870, and January 3, 1873, he married Mary Jane Lockwood, who has borne him three sons, Franklin (deceased), Charles and Frederick. He lives now upon his farm, about one mile north of Mooresville, and makes a specialty of breeding thoroughbred hogs. In addition to his home place of 186 acres, he owns a fine farm in Hendricks County. He has done as much hard work as any man of his age in any country. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Democrat in politics, and has never in his life used tobacco or whisky, nor had one dollar given to him.
PHILIP McNAB,  M.  D., a native of Morgan County, Ind., only son of  Henry and Casandra (Evans) McNab, natives of Kentucky, and of  Scotch and Welsh extraction respectively, was born July 12, 18S3. Philip was reared upon a farm and educated at the Northwestern Chris­tian University at Indianapolis  In  the summer of 1859, he entered the office o£ Dr. Ford at Wabash, Ind., and began the study of medicine, and the following fall and winter took a full course of lectures at Ann Arbor (Mich.) University.  Returning to Wabash for the summer, he attended the succeeding fall and winter at Ann Arbor, from whence he graduatedjin chemistry in the spring of 1861, and in May of this year (1861), he opened an office at La Gro, Ind., and practiced medicine for the next two years.  In March, 1863, he entered Long Island Hospital College, Brooklyn, and in June, 1863, graduated therefrom with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and after another shorfc stay at La Gro removed to Indianapolis,where in the beginning of 1864, he formed a partnership with Dr. R. T. Brown, Professor of Natural Sciences in the Northwestern Chris­tian University, and for four years following pursued his profession of physician and surgeon. In the fall of 1868, he came into Morgan County, and the following year  opened an office in West Newton, in Marion County, where he remained about three years. In November, 1872, he removed to Mooresville, Ind., where he immediately took rank among the leading men of his profession. On July 29, 1861, he was married at Bethel, Me., to Mary, daughter of Aaron and Rubie Mason, of that State, and by this union he has had born to him two children, Solon Mason, now a student at Butler University, and Howard Barlow, a resident of Arizona Territory.  Dr. McNab is respected for the knowledge he has gained in his profession, in the practice of which he has enjoyed more than ordinary experience. Some years since, he was associated with Dr. L. D. Waterman, of Indianapolis, as expert  in the chemical analysis of the stomach of a Mrs. Dr. Beason, who, it was alleged, had been mur­dered by her husband at Kokomo, Ind., and was one of the most cele­brated cases of the day  Later on, in 1873, he was employed in the same capacity in the case of  Basil Bailey, another notorious case,  at Frankfort, Ind., and was the author of the exhaustive synopsis of the analysis published in the Mooresville Enterprise, June 19, 1873.   Upon the analysis in the case first named, he was highly complimented by the celebrated Prof. Blarney, of Chicago, who fully indorsed it in every par­ticular. The subject of this sketch is a man of versatile ability.    His lectures on " Medical Sciences " before the society of physicians and sur­geons, upon Physiology before the high school, and upon temperance be­fore the people, are noted for their purity of diction and originality of thought and eloquence of delivery. At this writing  (November 1883), Dr. McNabb is Secretary of the Mooresville Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons; member of both CouDty and State Medical Societies, an active Republican in politics,  an ardent " Prohibitionist," a consistent member of the Christian Church, and in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice in the community where  he  is best  known, and therefore most   highly esteemed.
REV. PERRY T. MACY, a wealthy and influential farmer and stock grower, was born in Randolph County, Ind., August 19, 1825, and there lived upon the farm with his parents, William and Hannah (Hinshaw) Macy, until he was twenty-three years old. His parents, who were na­tives of  North Carolina, and  descended from the  English and Irish respectively, had thirteen children (seven sons and six daughters), of whom our subject was the ninth, with five older brothers. The subscrip­tion schools supplied the source of his education, which was limited to elementary studies. Though he continued to reside in his native county until the spring of 1856, he was married in Morgan County September 14, 1848, to Charity, daughter of Henry Mills. Slie bore him four children, three of whom, Albert W., Charles L. and Ida Ellen, were liv­ing at her death, which occurred December 27, 1863. August 26, 1869, he married in Dallas County, Iowa, Rebecca Hadley, daughter of George Bowles, and has had born to him two children, Oliver P. and Vernon D. Rev. Mr. Macy has been many years regular recorded minister o f the Friends Church, and since moving to Morgan County he has owned and occupied the farm upon which he now resides, about one mile west of Mooresville. From 1860 to 1872, he was superintendent of the business department of the Mooresville High School, and for two years, 1873-74, was proprietor of the Mooresville Enterprise, a weekly paper now known as the Moores­ville Monitor. His son, Albert, W., is at this writing (December, 1883) the talented editor of the Richmond (Ind.) Palladium. Our subject is well supplied with this world's goods, nearly all of which have been ac­quired by his own industry.
ALLEN T. MANKER was born in Highland County, Ohio, April 15, 1827; is the sixth son of nine children (eight sons and one daughter) of Jacob and Marion (Jones) Manker, natives of Ohio. His mother died when he was five years of age, and the succeeding eleven years of his life were spent at different places in the neighborhood of his nativity. He acquired something of an education by a few months' attendance at the winter schools in his neighborhood, and in 1841, in the town of Hillsboro, Ohio, began the trade of carpenter and served an apprenticeship of three years. He came into Morgan County in 1845, and has since recognized Mooresville as his home. In 1854-55, he ran a grist mill in Montgome­ry County, and from 1874 to 1880 had charge of the Magnolia Mills at Mooresville two different times, aggregating something over three years. Going thence to Brooklyn, Ind., he closed his mill experience by about one year's service. In 1856-57,he was engaged in the livery business at Mooresville, and the rest of his life has been devoted to the business of contractor and builder. He was married at Darlington, Ind., April 16, 1857, to Nancy J. Gaskill and has had born to him seven children, Frank E., Clinton W., Mary L, James M., John W., Charles and Livingston. In 1852, he "bull-whacked" across the plains from Iowa to Portland, Oreg., and returned to New York via the Isthmus. The best buildings in Mooresville are marks of his handiwork. He superintended the erection of the new Methodist Episcopal Church, drew the plans of the Masonic building, and erected the Odd Fellows Hall^ He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the Masons and Knights of Honor; is a strict temperance man, and in politics an out-and-out Demo­crat.
GILES BEFORD MITCHELL, M. D. (deceased), was born in Bar­tholomew County, Ind., November 17, 1822. His parents, Giles and Mary (Moore) Mitchell, natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively, were married in Kentucky in 1807, and emigrated to Indiana in 1810, locating in Charleston, Clarke County, when the only buildings there were a block-house and a log fort. In 1820, they removed into Bartholomew County, and in 1833 settled in Martinsville, Morgan County, where Giles Beford, who was the fourth of a family of six children, acquired the rudiments of an English education. In about 1837, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Barnard, of Martinsyille, and at the end of one year entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, from which institution he subsequently graduated as M. D. He practiced medicine a few years in Martinsville, and from 1847 to 1857 in Mooresville, when he returned to Martinsville and embarked in the mercantile business. This he fol­lowed about three years, but growing dissatisfied sold out and returned to Mooresville, where he resumed his practice which he continued up to within a few days of his death, which occurred October 6, 1878. He was a man of much more than ordinary mental caliber, and his success through life was due to his own industry, energy, and indomnitable perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge. He was married, November 30, 1847, at Mooresville, to Sarah Reagan, daughter of Reason Reagan, an early settler of Morgan County, and had born to him six children,  Mary E., Laura A. (deceased), John (deceased). Ida E. (deceased), Sarah V. (deceased), Emma G., and William L. At his death, Dr. M. had been many years a consistent member of the M. E. Church, and a Mason in high standing. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers' Bank of Mooresville, and for several years its President. In politics, he was an unswerving Democrat, and was at one time his party's candidate for Representative in the State Legislature. He esteemed his profession above all other employments in which he was engaged, and devoted him­self to the bank only because the accumulation of his toil required it. His aim was to be a successful practitioner, and he allowed nothing to conflict with his darling purpose. His perceptions were very keen, and in the treatment of acute diseases he was very successful. Much of his extensive practice was due to the promptness of his calls. He attended strictly to work, and was careful not to neglect any of his patients. He took hold with a firm hand, and the result was nofc doubtful. His suc­cessful career is a brilliant example of what can be accomplished by earnest devotion to present duty. He started with nothing, having to sign a note for borrowed money widh which to prosecute his studies in the medical college. As a business man, he was exact in his habits and prided himself on system in all that belonged to his affairs. When he received certain premonition of his approaching death, he arranged to settle his business, that future embarrassment might be avoided. He be­lieved in applying bank principles to ordinary business affairs, and this system, no doubt, had much to do with his success in temporal matters. He deserved great credit and reaped a liberal harvest for his painstakings in departments of duty. He left his family a handsome patrimony, which has been skillfully managed by his surviving widow.
JOHN NAUGLE, blacksmith and wood worker, Mooresville, Ind., second son of Emanuel and Delinda (Reede) Naugle, natives of Pennsylva­nia and Virginia, and of German and English extraction respectively; was born in Scott County, Ind., October 25, 1832. He was reared upon a farm, and at the common schools acquired the rudiments of an English education. On January 1, 1854, he was married at Salem, Washington County, Ind., to Charlotte A. Hoggett, by whom he has had born to him ten children, two of whom died in infancy, not named; the others were named as follows: John Albert, Joseph Wilburn, Edward Emanuel, Alice Irene, Leonora (deceased), George Elmer (deceased), Ernest Morton (de­ceased) and Archibald T. Both Mr. and Mrs. Naugle are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Naugle came to Mooresville in Feb­ruary, 1864, and for the next five-years followed blacksmithing. Having patented a garden and field hoe, he for a few months traveled from place to place introducing them. He next perfected other patents, and devoted his time to them for about three years. In 1871, he removed with his family to Center Valley in Hendricks County, and lived there four years. He then lived seven years at Valley Mills, in Marion County, and carried on a blacksmith and wood working shop. His shops having been con­sumed by fire, he returned to Mooresville in August, 1883, and again embarked in his old business. He now owns a nice residence property, and the handsomest blacksmith and wood working shop combined in the county. He employs, aside from his own labor, two skillful workmen and is rapidly placing himself at the head of this particular braoch of business in the town of Mooresville. What he has of this world's goods he has worked for.
ROBERT BARCLAY NEWBY was born at Salem, Washington County, Ind., July 21, 1827, and lived there, following farming as an occupation, until eighteen years of age. He is the eldest son and third child of five boys and three girls born to Micah and Mary (Coffin) Newby, natives of North Carolina and of English descent. Robert B. was schooled at the Washington County Seminary, and in the year 1845, came to Mooresville, where he has since resided. His first service here was with S. Moore, as clerk in a mercantile establishment, going into a partnership with him at the end of five years. After being with him three years Mr. Newby retired from the mercantile business, but continued a partnership with Mr. Moore in farming and stock business for several years. June 16, 1850. he married his partner's daughter, Jane M., who died in August, 1853, after having borne him two children, Samuel M. and Frank W. (deceased). Mr. Newby married his second wife, Mary Rariden, in Morgan County in April, 1870. Since 1870, he has been farming and stock trading. In 1879, he was elected Marshal of Moores­ville, and held the office one year, and since 1882, has been Justice of the Peace of Brown Township, and in addition to the duties of that office, is carrying on a general collecting agency. He is a member of the Masonic order, and in politics an active Republican.
WILLIAM D. OVERTON is the third son of James H. and Ann M. (Parker) Overton, who spent their lives in North Carolina; he was born in Northampton County that State, July 4,1852; came to Morgan County, Ind., in the winter of 1874, and up to the spring of 1882 farmed near Monrovia. At this town, after a short trip West, Mr. Overton entered the hardware store of Hobbs & Johnson, as clerk. In July, 1883, he bought out the Mooresville elevator and has since been engaged in the grain business. On November 19, 1878, he was married at Hillsdale, to Maggie Lankford, who died March 21, 1881, leaving her husband one child, William Henry. In 1860, Northampton County, N. C, cast 14 votes for Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States and James H. Overton was one of the number. On account of his anti-Southern principles, he was compelled to leave home during the war, and the mother dying in the meantime, the family was completely broken up. So it will be readily understood that so far in life William D. Overton has "paddled his own canoe." He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, an earnest supporter of the cause of temperance, belongs to the Masonic order and votes the Republican ticket.
BENJAMIN HENRY PERCE, M. D., prominent physician and surgeon of Mooresville, Ind., is eldest of five children of Prosper and Mary O. (Robinson) Perce, natives of New York and New Hampshire, and of English and Scotch Irish extraction respectively, was born in St. Joseph County, Mich., June 27, 1838. His fattier having died in 1854, leaving the family in somewhat straitened circumstances, the subject of this sketch was thrown early in life upon his own resources. He had acquired some knowledge of sign writing and ornamental painting, and did considerable work in that line, by which he accumulated a small sum of money, the most of which he liberally gave to his mother and young sister, and with $3 in his pocket and his extra wearing apparel rolled up in an old silk handkerchief, young Perce left the place of his nativity, and took up his march in search of a livelihood. Trudging onward, stopping occasionally to saw wood for bread, he arrived finally at the crossing of the New Albany & L. S. R. R. Footsore, tired, hungry and discouraged, he thrust his cane into the sand and allowed its falling to decide the course of his further travel. It bent its head to the south, and in the year 1857, after sleeping in fence corners and feasting off dry crackers alone as sable night spread her wings over hill and dale, our subject landed at Greencastle, Ind., the sole possessor of but 25 cents. He retired without supper and began work before breakfast, so that when dinner arrived, a good one to which he was kindly invited, the manner in which he attacked the eatables, made the eyes of his generous host and hostess stand out from very wonder. He alternated the two succeeding years between Greencastle and Plainfield in following his trade, and in the spring of 1859, came to Mooresville, and a year afterward formed a partnership with a Mr. Mitchell in the manufacture of carriages and buggies, which enterprise failed in the following year. As "journeyman," he followed his old trade at different places up to the summer of 1862, when he raised a company preparatory to entering the army, and drilled it, but declined a commission as its commander in favor of Capt. Peoples. In August of this year, he entered as a Corporal in Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served up to June, 1865. In July, 1864, at Marietta, Ga., he received a sunstroke which resulted in the destruction of his right eye. In October, 1864, he was placed upon detached duty as Hospital Steward in the provisional division of the Army of the Tennessee, going from there to Washington in the same capacity in the Auger General Hospital, and here received his final discharge. Dr. Perce is a self educated man, having attended school but about eighteen months of his early life. His first ideas of medicine were acquired while in the army, and in the winter of 1872-73 he took a course of lectures at the Indiana Medical College, where the following winter he held the office of Prosecutor to the Chair of Anatomy. At the end of this session he graduated as Doctor of Medicine, and in February, 1879, took addendum degree at the Medical College of Indiana. In the spring of 1873, he began the practice of medicine at Mooresville, and, growing rapidly into popularity, he to-day (December, 1883), ranks among the foremost in his profession. May 14, 1867, he was married at Mooresville to Eunice Ann, daughter of Jacob and Jemima Coombs. By this marriage he had born to him two children, Henry (deceased in infancy), and Elsie Gertrude. The mother of these children died September 18, 1874, and in April, 1876, the Doctor married at Plainfield, Ind., his present wife, Elvira, daughter of Simon and Martha Hornaday.
    Two children, Edith (deceased in infancy) and Mary, have crowned this union. The Doctor is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the I. O. O. P., is a Master' Mason, a Knight of Honor; has filled most all the official chairs in these societies and is at present Examiner of the one last named. In Masonry and Odd Fellowship, he belongs to the Grand Lodges of the State. He is a member of both county and State Medical societies, of the first of which he has been twice President. He is in the enjoyment of a lucrative position, owns a handsome property, is proud of his profession, and justly so of his successes; he votes the Republican ticket.
AMOS W. REAGAN M. D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Mooresville, Ind., is the fourth son of Reason and Diana (Wilson) Rea­gan, natives of South Carolina, and probably of Irish and English extraction respectively. Amos W. was born in Marion County, Ind., April 3, 1826, and the first sixteen years of his life were spent upon a farm, alternating, in the usual manner of farmers' sons, the duties thereof with occasional attendance at the common schools. In 1845, he entered Asbury University, where for three years he assiduously devoted himself to study, acquiring a thorough English education and a fair familiarity with the classics. January, 1847, in the office of Dr. G. B. Mitchell, at Mooresville, he began the study of medicine, and at the end of one year entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, from whence he graduated in the spring of 1851 with the degree of M. D. Returning to Mooresville, the Doctor formed a partnership with his old preceptor, and for the next succeeding twenty two years, interrupted only by a three years' service in the army, carried on the practice of medicine. Dr. Rea­gan rose rapidly in the profession, and ere many years was ranked among the most successful practitioners in Morgan County. Early in July, 1862, he entered the service of the United States, and was at once commissioned Surgeon of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. From his enrollment to the close of the war, his command was never without his services, and the last eighteen months of the time he was Acting Bri­gade Surgeon of the First Brigade, Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps. The distinguished services of the old Seventieth Indiana are immortalized in the already written history of our country, and it is not essential to the purposes of this sketch that many bloody engagements  be here detailed or even referred to. Suffice it to say that in bivouac or in battle, its sick, its wounded and its dying were never without the attendance of one of the most skillful surgeons of the army. While at Bow­ling Green, Ky., in September, 1862, the Doctor contracted chronic diarrhea, resulting in disease of the heart. From the effects of this, he has never recovered; but, on the contrary, the symptoms have grown perceptibly worse within the past few years. From 1872 to 1875, our subject was associated with Dr. Perce at Mooresville, since the dissolution of which partnership he has been alone in the practice. He has been thrice married, and is the father of three children, two only of whom are living. His first wife was Nancy Rooker, daughter of Jesse Rooker, who died in the fall of 1858, after having been married about three years. His second wife was Sarah E., a younger sister of his first wife. She lived about five years of married life, and died without issue in October, 1871. To his present wife, a Mrs. Ella Elliott, who has borne him one child, he was married in November, 1882. In 1860, he was elected to his third term of Trustee of Brown Township, but entered the United States Army before the term of his office expired. At writing (November, 1883), Dr. Reagan is enjoying a lucrative practice; is a prominent member of both County and State Medical Societies; belongs to the Masonic order, and to the Methodist Episcopal Church; has been for the past nine years member of the Mooresville High School Board; is a Republican in politics, an upright gentleman, and rightfully holds the esteem and confidence of the community in which his life has so far been spent.
THOMAS A. RICHARDSON was born in Hendricks County, Ind., September 8, 1837. His parents, James and Rachel (Little) Richardson, natives of Virginia, came to Mooresville when Thomas A. was an infant, and here the father died in 1882, at the age of seventy eight years. Up to fifteen years of age, our subject lived in town, and the next five years he spent upon the farm. His education was limited to such as could be -had at the public schools, and having learned the tinner's trade at Mooresville, he, in 1861, went to Wabash, Ind., at which place and at Indianapolis he worked as tinsmith for the next six years. October 5, 1865, he was married at Mooresville, to Miss Hawk, daughter of Dr. Charles Hawk, and has had born to him three children , an infant (deceased) not named, Gracie and Florence. Mr. Richardson is one of the Stewards of the Methodist Church; Treasurer of the " Morgan " Lodge, No. 211, I. O. O. F., and " Guide " of " Vesty " Lodge, No. 997, K of H. In the spring of 1880, he was elected Trustee of Brown Township, and re-elected thereto in the spring of 1882. In the fall of the year last named, he was defeated in his candidacy for Clerk of the Circuit Court. In politics, he is a Democrat, and his preferment in a township largely Republican at once indicates his popularity and his fitness for the office to which he has been twice called. In ,the spring of 1868, in partnership with J. H. Rusie, he embarked in the stove and tin business at Mooresville, and here he has since remained and has been successful. He is a self made man, and the result is an upright and honorable merchant, conscientious alike in his dealings and his public trusts.
DR. CLARK ROBBINS is the son of Alford and Isabel (Griggs) Robbins, who were natives of Ohio, and of Irish extraction. They came into Indiana about a half a century ago, and settled in Morgan County, where on July 10, 1836, their second son, the subject of this sketch, was born. Clark alternated the duties of farm life with attendance at the public schools. He lost his father when but fourteen years of age, and since that time has "paddled his own canoe." At the age of nineteen, he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Hutchinson at Moores­ville, and in the winter of 1856-57 took a full course of lectures at Ann Arbor (Mich.) University. The following winter, he spent profitably at the Cincinnati (Ohio) Medical College, and in August, 1858, began the practice of medicine at Monrovia, Ind. At the end of two years, he removed to Brooklyn, Ind., where for the ensuing sixteen years he pursued his profession with flattering success. The superior school advantages of Martinsville took him to that town in the spring of 1876, and from Martinsville he removed to Mooresville in the fall of 1880. Here he has since plied his profession with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his patrons. September 29, 1859, he was married in Monrovia to Eliza J., daughter of John J L "Wilhite, and has had born to him one child, John A. Mrs. Robbins having died, the Doctor was married, December 10, 3863, at Centreton, Ind., to Melissa Hardwick, by whom he has had born to him three children, Ella, Minnie and Schuyler. He and family are all members of  the Methodist Protestant Church, the Doctor in fact being one of its most substantial pillars. He is class leader, Financial Steward, and Superintendent of the Sabbath school. For twenty -three years, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but in February, 1881, joined the above body and has since been an earnest worker. The only political office the Doctor ever aspired to was that of Trustee of Clay Township, and this office he held for ten consecutive years. Dr. Bobbins was by education, early training and many years' practice, identified with the " allopathic system," but a few years since he chose to adopt a more liberal course, so he cut loose from u creeds and ethics," and now practices under the best authorities of the allopathic, eclectic  and homeopathic schools.
ISAAC W. ROOKER was born in Blount County, Tenn., November 25, 1806, and came to Indiana in 1818, with his parents, who settled in Wayne County. From Wayne the family removed into Morgan County in 1822, and located upon land entered from the United States Government in Brown Township, and here the father and mother, William and Nancy (Saffell) Booker, spent the remainder of their lives. They were natives of England and Old Virginia respectively, and lived to a very old age, being each about eighty four years when they departed this life. They were married in Virginia, and lived together as man and wife about sixty five years, rearing a family of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, of which number Isaac W. was tenth. He was reared as a farmer, and had the benefit of about nine months' schooling in Brown Township, but seems, however, to have improved his opportunities for learning, for he was employed several months at teaching the young children in his neighborhood. .April 6, 1826, Mr. Booker was married in Morgan County to Polly Ballard, a native of Ohio, by whom he had born to him nine children, Elizabeth J., Nancy A. (deceased), Bachael E. (deceased), Mary Ann, Calvin F., Bufus B. (deceased), John W., 'William A. (deceased), and Catharine L. William A. died in the United States Army, and the mother of these children died October 8, 1883, at the age of about seventy six years. Mr. and Mrs. B. both became members of the Methodist Episcopal Church when young, and Mrs. B. lived and died as a Christian should. His property, aside from a small inheritance from the estate of his father, has been acquired by his own industry, and like most of the pioneers of a new country, he learned lessons of hardship and privation, and has eaten of the bread earned by the sweat of the brow. He has always been of a somewhat retiring disposition, and to attend strictly to his own business and allow other people to do the same, has been the rule of his actions through life. His declining years are being spent peacefully upon his old homestead, where his wants are administered to by his daughter and her husband, who live with him, and who spare no efforts to make his old age comfortable and happy.
CAPT. SAMUEL M. ROOKER, citizen of Mooresville, Ind., is the third son of Jesse S. and Candace L. (Conduitt) Hooker, natives of Tennessee, and descendants from the German and the French, respectively. He was born at Mooresville May 22, 1824. He was trained to farm life, and educated at the public schools. His parents came into Morgan County in the year 1816, and here spent the remainder of their years, his father dying in 1843, at the age of forty nine years, and his mother ten years earlier, at the age of thirty eight.    He was married, February 24,1844, to Nancy McNeff, by whom he had born to him six children, Mary Candace (deceased), Marion Howard (deceased), Kansas, Adalide, Otto E. and Mattie B. August 13, 1862, he entered the service of the United States as Captain of Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry,, and five months thereafter was compelled to resign on account of physical disability. Though out but a short time, he saw considerable real service, having participated in the battle of Richmond, Ky., and any number of skirmishes. Returning from the war, he engaged in the mercantile business at Mooresville, from which he retired in about a year and built the Magnolia Mills, and conducted them twelve or thirteen years. He has bought and sold over 4,500 acres of valuable lands in Brown Township; dealt extensively in grain, and been an active business man generally. The panic of 1875-76 cost him over $20,000, and in November, 1881, his residence in Mooresville was completely destroyed by fire. So, with all, Capt. Rooker has had his share of the ups and downs of life, and still rides the waves. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; high up in the order of Odd Fellows; a Democrat in politics; a farmer by occupation, and takes life easy in his new splendid residence, into which he has just moved.
WILLIAM ASBURY ROOKER (deceased) was born in "Wayne County, Ind., January 6, 1819, and died at Mooresville, Ind., August 16, 1849. He was the second son of Jesse S. and Candace L. (Conduitt) Rooker, and had one brother and six sisters younger than himself. At the age of about twelve years, he entered a dry goods house as clerk, and remained nine or ten years. On December 26, 1839, he was married to Susan Rusie, daughter of Michael and Catharine (House) Rusie, of Mooresville, and had born to him four children, Thomas B. D., Candace C, Mary C. and Wallace A. (deceased). Soon after the death of his father, which occurred in 1843, our subject purchased the old homestead, consisting of about 200 acres, the title to which descended to his widow, who yet owns and manages it with the skill of an adept. His early education was limited to such as the neighborhood schools of the day afforded, but lived to be a self taught and self made man, and at the time of his death was a superior scholar. In 1837, he was elected Treasurer of Morgan County, and was the incumbent of that office when he died. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a Master Mason Kunder and by the rites and ceremonies of which order he was buried. In politics, he was a Democrat, but his election to the office of Treasurer of Mor­gan County was due not alone to his rank and standing in that party, but to his true worth and merit as a good citizen as well. His widow was left with four small children, whom she has reared and cared for as only a Christian mother could. Wallace A. died at the age of twenty three years. Thomas resides at home with his mother, and the two daughters, married, and with families of their own, live in the immediate neighborhood.
HENRY ROSSIER, a native of Canton Vaud, Switzerland, was born December 11, 1839, and came to America in the spring of 1862. He was well educated in the French language, and before he was nineteen years of age had mastered the trade of watch-maker. His parents, Jacques and Margaret (Tetaz) Rossier, had five sons and five daughters, and of the ten children our subject was next to the youngest, and the only one who ever came to America. From 1862 to 1867, Henry alternated between New York, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, the first three years at his trade, and the last two in the grocery business, January 20, 1865, he was married in Terre Haute to Emily Drotz, who has borne him five children, William,
Katie, Emil, Charles and Walter (deceased). By persistent effort and the application of a naturally superior mind, Mr. Bossier has possessed himself of a good English education, and is at this writing (December, 1883) one of the Trustees of the Mooresville High School. He was brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but is now a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. He belongs to the T. O. O. F., A. F. & A. M. and K. of H at Mooresville, where he has been engaged in the jewelry business since the year 1867.   
JOHN H. RUSIE, born in Prince William County, Va., December 22, 1834; came here with his parents, Michael and Catharine (House) Rusie, natives of Germany, who settled at Mooresville in 1836, and here spent the remainder of their years. In his youth, our subject learned the tinners trade, and received a fair English education. In 1855, he engaged in the hardware and tin business, and followed it for five years; sold out, and for the next two years managed the business for his successors. In September, 1857, he married Mary J. Olleman, daughter of James Olleman, of Mooresville, and has had born to him three children, Arameda, James H. and Frederick. August 17,1862, Mr. Rusie entered the service of the United States as Fourth Duty Sergeant of Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged, having in the meantime been promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant. He took an active part in the battles of Richmond, By.; Jackson, Miss.; Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Gridersville, and Savannah, Ga.; Columbia, S. C.; Bentonville, N. C, and in Sherman's celebrated campaign from Atlanta to the sea. He returned to Moores­ville in 1865, and again embarked in the stove and tin business, to which was subsequently added hardware. In the spring of 1882, he sold oat to his partner, Mr. T. A. Richardson, and engaged at once in his present business, of furniture and undertaking. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow, and in politics an uncompromising, first class Democrat.
ROBERT R. SCOTT was born in Franklin County, Ind., July 16, 1833, and lived in the State of Wisconsin from 1842 to 1853, since which time he has made Brown Township, Morgan County, his home. The first seventeen years of his life were spent upon a farm, since when he has been in mercantile business as much as twenty five years. August 13, 1862, he enrolled in Company E, Twelfth Indiana Volunteers, and served three years. He was promoted to Orderly Sergeant almost immediately upon his entering the service, and was next raised in order to the rank of Second Lieutenant, First Lieutenant, and in June, 1863, to that of Captain of the company. He was with his command in all the deadly battles through which it passed, and the history of Indiana's soldiery is augmented no little by the brilliant achievements of the " gallant Twelfth." Capt. Scott retired from the mercantile business in 1883, and has since been upon his farm recuperating his health, which had been somewhat depleted by long confinement at indoor labor. He entered the directory of the Mooresville Bank in 1880, and was elected its Vice President the year following. In addition to his Mooresville property, he owns five fine farms in Morgan County. All his property has been acquired since the late war by his own industry, and in a strictly legitimate way.  January, 1866, he was married to Mary Hadley, who died in August, 1869, and in June, 1872, he married Louisa H. Harvey, who has borne him five children, Mary, Carie, Jennie, Robert H. and Sallie. Capt. Scott is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belongs to the
Masonic Order, is a Republican in politics, and is a citizen of whom Mooresville may well be proud.   
FREDERICK SHEETS, merchant, farmer and stock grower, was born in Prince William County, Va., February 24, 1823. His parents, George and Margaret (House) Sheets, were natives of Germany, and came to America in 1814 or 1815, and in 1836 took up their abode at Mooresville, and here spent the remainder of their days, the former dying in 1877 at the age of ninety one years, and the latter in the year of 1847 at the age of fifty seven years. Our subject Learned the carpenter's trade with his father, and followed it about eight years. He was first married, at Mooresville, to Charlotte, daughter of Dr. Charles Hawk, and has had born to him six children, Laura Alice (deceased), "William O., Kate Alma, Harry O., Hattie L. and Mertie. The mother of these children having died, Mr. Sheets was married, October 20, 1879, to Caroline Peoples, his present wife. In 1851, the firm of F. Sheets & Bro. was organized at Mooresville, and has since existed. They do a large mercantile business, and carry on four extensive farms in Morgan and Hendricks Counties. Aside from the firm property, F. Sheets owns some half dozen pieces of town property, among them the finest residence in Mooresville. He is a member of the Republican County Central Committee, belongs to the Masonic order, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His property has all been acquired by his individual effort and enterprise.
DANIEL SHEETS, a native of Prince William County, Va.,, and younger brother of Frederick Sheets, was born June 18, 1825, and came with his parents into Morgan County in 1836. He remained with his parents until he was about twenty two years of age. His early life was spent upon the farm, and at the neighborhood schools he acquired a fair English education. Since 1851, he has been an active partner in the firm of F. Sheets & Bro. He was one of the organizers, and for two years Director of the Farmers' Bank, Mooresville. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Treasurer of the Mooresville Lodge of A. F. & A. M. He is an enterprising bachelor, a good business man, an upright citizen and a Republican.
REV. HUGH. STACKHOUSE, present resident minister of the Methodist Protestant Church, Mooresville, Ind., was born in Breckinridge County. Ky., November 9,1837. His parents, William and Jane (McNab) Stackhouse, natives of England and of North Carolina respectively,, came to Indiana in the year 1841, settled in Orange County, and there ended their days. They had eleven children eight sons and three daughters and six of the sons and one of the daughters were older than the subject of this sketch. Up to eighteen years of age, Hugh Stackhouse lived upon a farm, and from his father (who was a superior scholar), and through a pretty regular attendance at the public schools, he received a good English education. About this time, he began his theological studies, and in the year 1859 was received into conference at Morristown, Ind., and two years thereafter regularly ordained Elder of the church. After being received into conference in 1859, he was at once assigned to Richland Circuit, which embraced twelve places for preaching, and held this charge three years. The year following he occupied the Monroe Circuit; and on April 29, 1863, he was married at Solsberry, Ind., to Nancy Jane, daughter of "William and Mary Hannum, of Ohio, and has had born to him four children, Urbine, Charles H (deceased), Arthur and Cora May. Since entering the ministry, the Rev. Mr. Stackhouse has been kept constantly on duty, and daring the time has held some of the most important charges in the United States. He is a thorough theologian, and ranks high among the many eloquent ministers of the Methodist Protestant Church. In addition to his pastoral duties, he is the occasional correspondent for several Church periodicals, and holds the position regularly of Corresponding Elder for the Methodist Recorder. He has represented his conference in four General Conferences and two General Conventions; is a Royal Arch Mason, a Republican in politics and a stanch advocate of the cause of temperance.
ELI J. STIMNER was born in Highland County, Ohio, May 28,1812. His parents, Absalom and Priscilla (Jackson) Sumner, were natives of Surrey County, N. C, and of "Welsh and Scotch extraction respectively. Eli J. Sumner received a respectable common school and academic education, and subsequently became a teacher in "Union Seminary, in his native county. In the fall of 1830, he visited Mooresville for the first time, spent a few weeks in prospecting, and then returned to Highland County, where, June 13, 1833, he married Anna E. Boxley, daughter of George Boxley, of Spottsylvania County, Va.. May 5, 1834, Mr. Sumner’s wife died. In the fall of the same year, he came on horseback to Mooresville, and the following winter taught in the Moon Schoolhouse, near by. January 21, 1836, he was married in Morgan County to Jane E., daughter of Joshua Carter, and at once settled on a tract of land presented to him by his father, about six miles west of Mooresville. In the fall of 1849, he purchased a large flouring and saw mill near the village, and operated it until the spring of 1853, when he removed to Sharpsville, Tipton County, and engaged in the manufacturing and shipping of lumber for a few months, and then returned to his farm near Mooresville, where he remained until 1865 (in the meanwhile carrying on a lumber trade in the Wabash Valley), when he moved to Wabash. In the spring of 1868, he moved to Indianapolis, and in the fall of 1869 returned to Mooresville. By his second wife he became father of seven children, all born in Morgan County, Thomas C, William C, Caswell B., James O., Anna E., Hannah C. and Nancy E.; of these, the eldest two only are living. Mr. Sumner has been identified with several religious denominations, but is now, with his wife, a consistent Methodist. In politics, he is a Republican, and he has always been an active worker in the cause of temperance.
GEORGE P. THOMPSON, a farmer of Brown Township, was born in Chatham County, N. C, September 5, 1814, and came to Indiana in 1833. After spending a few months in Morgan County, he returned to his native State, but before the end of 1834 he was back in Morgan County, where he has since lived. His life has been spent upon a farm, and his schooling acquired at the Friends' School, White Lick. December 18, 1836, he was married in Brown Township to Millie, a daughter of George A. Schoffner, a native of North Carolina, who came into Mor­gan County in 1826, and was one of the four men drowned in 1829 while attempting to cross White Lick Creek in a canoe. Mr. Thompson has haS born to him eleven children, Louisa (dead), Margaret, Mary A., Asbury, Sylvester, Anson, Spencer, Malinda (dead), Sarah, Fremont and Samuel. Mr. Thompson's parents, Samuel and Sarah (Womble) Thompson, were natives of North Carolina. The Thompsons came originally from England, and the two old people emigrated into Indiana in 1869 and located in Hamilton County, where the mother died in 1881 at the age of eighty four years. The father, however, died in North Carolina, whence he had returned in 1872, at the age of ninety five years. Our subject owns a fine farm of 100 acres, upon which he resides; is a stockholder in the M & M. Gravel Road Company, and was for fifteen years one of the Directors of said company. His property has been acquired by the united industry of himself and wife. They are both consistent members of the Christian Church, and have been for more than a quarter of a century.
JAMES O. THOMPSON is the son of Jonathan H. and Elizabeth E. (Latta) Thompson, who were born and married in North Carolina, and there, in the county of Orange, on August 11, 1839, the subject of this sketch first saw the light of day. The family came to Indiana in the year 1845, and for the next two years lived about four miles west of Mooresville, when they removed to Tipton County, where a. change of county lines subsequently placed them in Howard County, and here they . lived up to the year 1867. Returning thence to Morgan County, they lived again two years upon their old homestead, when they removed to Mooresville, and the firm of J. H. Thompson & Sons dry goods merchants, first became known to the business world. The father, Jonathan H., was a highly respected and enterprising citizen of both the town and county. He died February 5, 1884, aged sixty seven years. Prior to 1869, J. O. Thompson lived upon a farm, and his education was the best possible to his circumstances and surroundings. December 20, 1866, he was married, in Howard County, Ind., to Gulic E., daughter of Jonathan Lee, Esq., and by her had born to him five children , William L., two infants not named, Gulic and Ella, the four last all dying in infancy. The mother of these children having died, our subject was married, May 14, 1874, at Irvington, Ind., to Melissa E. Eitter, who has borne him three children Ralph E., Harry H., and Clyde C. (deceased in infancy). Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Honor. He was elected Trustee of Brown Township in 1876, and held the office two terms. As a business man, he is enterprising and successful, and as a politician, an active Republican.
JOHN HABBISON THORNBURGH is the second son of Benjamin and Susan (Monical) Thomburgh, and was born in Washington County, Ind., November 4, 1821. He was reared upon the farm, and acquired the rudiments of an English education at the neighborhood schools. At the age of twenty two years, he left the parental roof, and for the next four years taught school during the winter months and farmed during the summer. He was married, December 24, 1846, in Mooresville, to Eliza Gray, widow of Dr. Gray (deceased) and daughter of Reason Reagan (also deceased). Their first born, Thomas, died in infancy, and his daughters are Elizabeth (wife of A. W. Conduitt), Alice L. (widow of Dr. Wharton), and Susie (wife of O. E. Booker). At the age of forty years, our subject gave up farming, and for fifteen years followed merchandising in Mooresville, and in the spring of 1881 engaged in general insurance, real estate and money brokerage, which he has since followed. He has been thrice Trustee of Brown Township, and Deputy Revenue Collector for Morgan County under Grant's administration. The late panic came nearly bankrupting him financially, but left his energy and business ability unimpaired. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Republican, an advocate of temperance, and a public speaker of merit and a progressive citizen.
BENJAMIN THORNBURGH (deceased) was born September 25, 1797, in Mercer County, Ky. In. 1808, his parents moved to Indiana Territory, and settle! one mile southwest of Salem, on Blue River, in Washington County. He lived with his father on the farm until his twentieth year, when he was married to Susan Monical on the 20th day of February, 1817, by Rev. James Harbison. During the war of 1812, he joined the Territorial army of the frontier under the proclamation of Gov. Jennings, and helped to build several block-houses for defense, into which the early settlers fled for protection from the Indians. He enlisted under Maj. "William Hockett, and they sent out pickets who passed over the country from where Fredericksburg now stands to Liv­onia and Brownstown. They built a fort near Salem, in which his parents remained about three months before the close of the war. In April, 1822, he moved to Morgan County and settled on the east side of White Lick, near where Brooklyn now stands. He assisted his father-in-law, Peter Monical, in building the first permanent dam across White Lick, at Brooklyn. In about 1825, he entered the land from Congress, which he cultivated and lived upon until his death, which occurred on the 13th of November, 1883, at the advanced age of eighty six. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in August, 1816, and was licensed as an exhorter in 1833, by Eli P. Farmer. He was a firm believer in the truth of the Bible and in the Christian religion, and tried to follow out every day, during his long and eventful life, the principles taught in that great Book. He was among the first to speak out against licensed saloons in Mooresville. He never had a law suit with any one, but peace seemed to crown his pathway, and he closed his life in full hope of immortality and eternal life.
BENJAMIN F. TROGDON, farmer and stock dealer of Brown Township, Morgan County, Ind., second of the twelve children of Joel J. and Sallie I. (Julian) Trogdon, was born in Randolph County, N. C, February 15, 1847. His parents emigrated from Carolina to Missouri, and from there came to Indiana in 1865, our subject having at that time been in Morgan County about five years. Benjamin grew to manhood on a farm, and at the common schools acquired the rudiments of an En­glish education. On February 9. 1864, he enlisted in Company L, Twenty-first Regiment, First Indiana Heavy Artillery, and served until January 10, 1866. August 17 following, having laid aside the accou-terments of war, he donned those of a true civilian, and forgetting not the many pretty promises he had made, and remembering the heart that beat most wildly as two tearful eyes glanced over the dispatches that told of the booming of the cannon at the siege of Mobile, he led to the altar Elmira J. Moon, and there took upon himself the obligation which enrolled "him again, in the service of his country, and though his commission en­titles him not to gilt bands and epaulets, he is nevertheless captain of the host which to the time of sweetest music engendered by happy hearts goes marching on, making the world better for having lived in it. Mr. and Mrs. Trogden are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have had born to them four children, Ada B. (deceased), Lena D., Glenney Y. and Ida May. Mr. T. is a self-made man, and there is nothing in his make-up that he need be ashamed of. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. and G. A. R.
REV. JOHN ANTHONY WARD was born in Rock Island County, Ill., December 25, 1839, and is the second son and fourth child born to Stephen and Adaline (Baxter) Ward, natives respectively of North Carolina and Ohio, and of English extraction- The family came into Indiana in 1846 and located in Putnam County, where they resided several years, coming finally into Morgan County in 1857. John Anthony was reared upon a farm, and educated at the public schools, two terms of which he afterward taught. On February 16, 1860, he was married in Morgan County to Sylvina Farmer, and on August 12, 1862, enrolled at Indianapolis in Company D. Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served about three years. He was with this regiment in many bloody engagements and escaped without injury. At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., he contracted, chronic dysentery, from which he has never fully recovered. He has six children living, Laura L., Charles G., Luella Ann, Harry H., John S., Walter R. and Francis Asbury (deceased). He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1858, and in the fall of 1865 was licensed local preacher, and a year afterward entered the traveling connection. In 1868, he was ordained Deacon, and in September, 1870, graduated in the theological course of study, and was regularly ordained Elder at Bloomington, Ind. In the fall of 1866, he was assigned to Francisco Circuit (Gibson County, Ind.), and has since devoted his entire time to the service of the Master. The Rev. Mr. Ward is a forcible and argumentative speaker. He has received into church membership not less than 1,200 persons. He took charge of the Methodist Episcopal congregation at Mooresville in 1881, and is at this time upon the last year of the maximum limit according to the rules of the church. He is purely a self made man; belongs to the Masonic order, and ignores politics.
WILLIAM FLETCHER WHITE was born in Putnam County, Ind., November 1, 1842, and is the second son and fourth child of John and Cynthia (Ruggles) White, natives of Virginia and Kentucky respectively. William F. was twenty eight years of age before he left the parental roof for the purpose of making a home for himself. The vigorous exercises incident to farm life, and the tutelage of the public schools had supplied him with both muscle and a fair English education before he. arrived at his majority. In the spring of 1861, he enlisted in the three months' service as a private in Company H, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in the summer of 1862, did the sixty day service in the Seventy eighth Indiana. At Uniontown, Ky., the enemy " gobbled him up" and put a temporary " embargo" upon his soldiering. However, being full of patriotism and fight," and having been exchanged as prisoner of war, he enlisted October, 1863, in Company F, One Hundred and Twenty eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry: was promoted to a noncommissioned office, and stayed with them until August 25, 1865. He fought the enemy at Richmond, Ky., Resaca, Ga., and in the Atlanta campaign, at Nashville, at Franklin, at Kingston, N. C, and at Kenesaw Mountain; and when the war was over, returned to his home as sound as a dollar. From 1866 to 1871, he worked at carriage making in Green castle, and in 1872 canvassed a few months in the picture business. He came to Mooresville in October of the latter year, and for five years worked as "journeyman" at his trade.    In 1877, the firm of White & Shanafelt, carriage manufacturers, was organized, and has proved a success. Mr. White was married, December 25, 1873, to Ladoskey Jenkins, and has had born to him two children, Jessie Pearl and Arthur Earl. Mr. and Mrs. White are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the voting one of the family is a Republican.
MICHAEL M. WILSON was born in Guilford County, N. C, on July 6, 1838, and was twenty years old when he came to Morgan County. His life has been spent upon the farm, and his learning, consisting of a fair English education, was not acquired at school. He was married, February 10,1861, at Mooresville, to Margaret, daughter of Hiram Staley, and has had born to him ten children, William M., John B., Mary C, Peter F., Charley O. (deceased), Michael M., Cora (deceased), Thomas M. (deceased), Robert R. and India P. His parents, Louis and Mary (Coble) Wilson, were natives of North Carolina; came to Indiana in 1865, and have since resided in Morgan County, and at this writing are both octogenarians. They had five children, four sons and one daughter; the eldest being the subject of this sketch. Since July, 1883, M. M. Wilson, in addition to his farming and stock growing, has been engaged in the buying and shipping of grain at Mooresville. He is well fixed financially, every dollar of which has been acquired by his own industry. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church; holds official positions in both Masonic and Odd Fellows societies, and in politics is a Democrat.
WILLIAM HENRY PRESLY WOODWARD is descended from the English and Welsh. His parents, William and Lavina (Munsee) Wood­ward, spent their. lives in Virginia, the mother, who lived seventeen years after the death of the father, having died in 1834. They had three children; the youngest. William H. P., was born in Lee County, Va., September 30, 1816, and came to Mooresville in the spring of 1835, having walked all the way. From fourteen to eighteen years of age, he learned the tailor's trade, and followed it for several years after coming to Mooresville. October 17, 1839, he was married to Keziah Bray, daughter of John H. Bray, one of the early settlers of Morgan County. She bore him five children, two of whom, Sarah and Ella, were living at her death, December 1, 1858. August 25, 1859, our subject married Lydia E. Thompson, who has borne him one child, Mattie, wife of W. A. Comer, of Martinsville, Ind. In 1853, Mr. Woodward accepted a clerkship with Holman Johnson in the mercantile business, and at the end of four years, in partnership with D. Fogleman, bought his employer out, since which time he has continued in the goods business, Mr. Fogleman having retired from the firm in 1856. July 3, 1881, his business house was consumed by fire, as was also much of his stock; but by the fall of the same year he had rebuilt, and was again in business at the old stand. He received little schooling. His father was a school-teacher, but his step-father took no interest in him. Mr. W. is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a Republican. He inherited from his father one old book, and from his grandfather $65. What else he has has been acquired by his industry, and though somewhat crippled by the burning of his store and by friends (?), for whom he unwisely endorsed, he is yet full of life and energy, and possessed of sufficient property to insure ease and tranquillity to his declining years.
HENRY L. WOODWARD is the fourth son of Clark and Ann (Warren) Woodward, natives of Vermont and Ohio respectively, and was born in Jefferson County, Ind., October 26, 1840. He accompanied his parents to Mooresville in the summer of 1861, and here he has since remained. His father, who died at the age of seventy two years, was Postmaster at Mooresville from the year 1861 to 1864-65, and was succeeded therein by the subject of this sketch, who held the office for several years, carrying on the boot and shoe business at the same time In 1873, he formed a partnership with Reuben Harris in the grocery business. In 1875, Mr. Harris sold out to James Hinson, and the business was continued under the firm name of Woodward & Hinson until November, 1879, since which time Mr. Woodward has been alone. In February, 1873, he was married in Mooresville to Artie, daughter of William Rose, of Ohio, and has had born to him four children, Luther, Walter, Charles and Sadie. From about the year 1868 to 1880, excepting probably one year of the time, Mr. Woodward held the office of Clerk of the town of Mooresville. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a Republican, a good citizen, an honorable merchant, and does the leading grocery business of Mooresville.
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