Click here to submit a biography

BOATMAN

John Boatman, a member of the population of Otter Creek township, Vigo county, Indiana, is a native of Parke county, this State, where he was born, April 4, 1862, the son of Levi and Nancy (Kilburn) Boatman. Mr. Boatman has four brothers and two sisters living, the brothers all being farmers in Parke county. The father was a native of Sullivan county, Indiana, born March 25, 1825 and died in 1893. The mother was a native of Pulaski county, Kentucky, born in January, 1825, and died December 6, 1908. She came to Indiana when she was seven years of age with her parents, and she and her husband were well-known and highly respected citizens of Parke county. John Boatman was reared in Parke county, and educated in the common schools of his home township. He engaged in business for himself at the age of sixteen, and has been a farmer all his life. He began at the bottom of the ladder, but has climbed to enviable heights of success. He married Mary Head, June 26, 1892, and they have had two children, daughters, of whom one is living, Florence L. She is a graduate of the public schools and is employed as a telephone operator with the Citizens Telephone Company, with which company she has been connected for five years. She makes her home with her parents. Mrs. Boatman is a native of near Union Springs, Alabama, born November 4, 1867, the daughter of William and Laura (Neidhamer) Head. There were two children in that family, Mrs. Boatman and her brother, Joseph, who lives at Los Angeles, Calif. Her father and mother are both living, and make their home with Mr. and Mrs. Boatman. Mr. Boatman established himself in Otter Creek township in 1900, and has won the respect of all his neighbors. He is a carpenter and joiner by trade, and has worked at these trades in both Parke and Vigo counties for twenty years. He has done much work for the coal companies of this region, and has been a most valuable addition to the county. He has taken an active part in local politics, and was elected assessor of Otter Creek township in 1909, serving in that office for five years. In February, 1914, he was appointed trustee of the township to fill a vacancy, and at the close of that unexpired term, was elected to the office in November, 1914. So valuable and efficient were his services, that he was re-elected to the trusteeship in 1918, and is the present holder of the office. Since his election to the trusteeship, the Otter Creek township grade and high school was erected, in 1917, at a cost of $50,000. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 826, at North Terre Haute, and has passed through all the chairs. He and his wife are members of the Rebekah lodge, No. 698, and Mr. Boatman is treasurer and Mrs. Boatman financial secretary of the lodge. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias at North Terre Haute and belongs to the Red Men Tribe, No. 544, at the same town. Mrs. Boatman is a member of the Pocahontas, No. 481, and also of the Pythian Sisters, as well as of the Daughters of America. Mr. and Mrs. Boatman and their daughter are constructive and worthy citizens of Vigo county, and are admired by their many friends.  - History of Indiana from Its Exploration to 1922,  By Logan Esarey, William F. Cronin, Pages 204, 205

BREWER

Jacob H. Brewer, farmer, Russell's Mills, is the son of John and Minerva (Prest) Brewer, natives of Pennsylvania, who settled in Vermilion county, Indiana, at an early date, and where he was born in 1841. The family is originally from Holland, and at present they are engaged in an effort to obtain a portion of a large fortune, which was left in that country by one of their ancestors. His great-great grandfather, Sybrant Brewer, or Brower, as the name was originally spelled, was one of the first settlers of New Amsterdam, now New York, and there married Sarah Webber, returning again to Holland, where they made their wills and died. His great-grandfather, Mathew Brower, was born in New Jersey; served throughout the revolutionary war, and afterward settled in Pennsylvania, and died there; his grandfather, Jacob Brewer, who was born in New Jersey, afterward removed to Ohio. His father and mother were born in 1813, in Pennsylvania, and in 1839 removed to Vermilion county, Indiana, where they resided until 1874, when they located in Sugar Creek township, where they are still residents. When Mr. Jacob C. Brewer settled in this township, in 1841, the farm he now occupies was heavily timbered, there only being about one acre cleared upon it. Now he has one of the most productive farms and beautiful residences in the township, the result of his own energetic labor and industry. He has been twice married; the first time, in 1864, to Miss Elizabeth Lusk, the youngest daughter of the late Salmon Lusk, one of the first settlers in the township; he married his present wife, Miss Rebecca Kemp, daughter of Jesse Kemp, who formerly owned what is known as Russell's Mill, in 1875, and has a family of five children: Salmon, Almeda, Governeur, John J. and Jesse Irving. His farm now consists of 340 acres. He is a member of the Society of Friends; is justice of the peace, and served during the war in Co. K, 976 Ind. reg., and in politics is a republican.  - Beckwith, H. W.. History of Vigo and Parke Counties, 1880, Page 456