James
Madison
Swadley, of Pine
Village, Adams township, Warren county, Indiana, is a well known
citizen and a representative of one of the early families of this
county. His father, Nicholas Swadley, was a native of Ohio, the Swadley
family being among the primitive settlers of Highland county, that
state. Nicholas Swadley grew up in his native county and married Nancy
A. Chaney. Her parents were from Pennsylvania, but had settled in Ohio
in the pioneer days. In 1826, about a year after their marriage,
Nicholas Swadley and wife removed to Indianapolis, and there he engaged
in work at his trade, that of wagon maker. He established the first
wagon shop in Indianapolis, and although he was successful and was
earnestly solicited to remain, he was not satisfied in his new
home, and three years later returned to Ohio. About 1830 he came back
to Indiana, bringing his family with him and locating at Shawnee
Mound, Tippecanoe county.
Ten or
twelve
years later he removed
to a place one mile and a half north of Shawnee Mound. Later he located
at Odells Cross Roads, in the same county, and established a shop.
About 1846 he crossed the Wabash and settled on the Kickapoo river in
Warren county, where he engaged in farming, which he had followed
for a number of years previously, having abandoned his trade a few
years after coming to Indiana. At the last location mentioned he
continued to live until his death, at the age of sixty six years.
Nicholas Swadley was an industrious, worthy citizen, highly esteemed.
He was a justice of the peace for many years, and occupied that office
at the time of his death. Politically, he was a Democrat. His wife
survived him about seven years. They were the parents of six
children,
five sons and one daughter, all of whom are living except the eldest
son, Wesley, who died in California a number of years ago. The second
is James M., the immediate subject of this sketch; John, a resident of
Lafayette; Nicholas, of Pine Village; and George, of Wabash, Indiana.
The daughter is Sarah Ann, wife of Dr. James McMullen, of Pine Village.
James
M. Swadley,
the oldest of the
surviving members of the family, and from whom the facts for this
sketch were obtained, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 14,
1827, and nearly all of his life has been spent in Tippecanoe and
Warren counties. He began learning the trade of wagon maker of his
father when he was only twelve years old, has followed the business
together with blacksmithing for sixty years, and is still, though now
seventy two years of age, hale and hearty and actively engaged in
business in Pine Village, where he has lived since 1852, the year the
village was laid out. He was the first postmaster of Pine Village. The
mail was then received only once a week, and he could easily carry all
the mail received weekly in his coat pocket.
Mr.
Swadley has
been three times
married. His first wife was Martha Crowell, who left three children,
her death occurring at the birth of the youngest. Two of this number
are living, William and Samantha. His second wife, whose maiden name
was Sarah Jane Thomas, died, leaving a daughter, Anna. For his third
companion, with whom he now resides, he wedded Miss Lydia H. Goss, of
Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, to whom he has been married for fourteen years.
JACOB SHEFFER
One of the
youngest soldiers of
Indiana who saw actual service and was engaged in some of the most
serious battles and campaigns of the civil war, was Jacob Sheffer,
afterward the popular and efficient treasurer of Warren county. He
enlisted when barely fourteen years of age, in Company H, One Hundred
and Sixteenth Regiment of Indiana Infantry Volunteers, for six months,
being mustered into the army in August, 1863, and faithfully stood at
the post of duty as long as his country had need of his services. At
the expiration of his first term of enlistment he re-entered the
service, this time as a private of Company G, One Hundred and Fiftieth
Indiana Infantry, and continued until after Lee's surrender at
Appomattox, in the meantime being a participant in the Shenandoah
valley campaign, fighting all day in the battle of Blue Springs,
Tennessee, taking an active part in the notable engagement of
Cumberland Gap and many others. He is now an honored member of W. B.
Fleming Post, of West Lebanon, of which he has officiated as treasurer.
In his political affiliations he is a stalwart Republican, and was
elected on that ticket in 1887 to the responsible position of
county treasurer, in which office he made a most creditable record,
both for himself and for his constituents. Socially, he is a Mason,
joining the blue lodge in 1898.
One of
the
respected pioneers of
Warren county was Nicholas Sheffer the father of our subject. He
was
born July 1, 1796, in Pennsylvania, and came to Warren county in 1828.
He had grown to man's estate in Pennsylvania and had there married
Matilda Davis. With his wife and one child he settled in Washington
township upon his arrival in this section, and soon afterward entered a
quarter section of land in Jordan township. That property he
greatly improved, and spent many years of his life there, devoting his
energies to the cultivation of the farm. His death occurred at his home
at that place, April 22, 1852. His wife survived him over thirty years,
her demise taking place July 5, 1883. Twelve children were born to this
worthy couple, and of the entire number only the subject of this
article continues to reside in Indiana. O. H. is a citizen of Colorado
Springs, Colorado ; Mrs. Cynthia Benge lives in Oregon; Frank is a
resident of Santa Ana, California ; William is in Danville, Illinois;
Nicholas Vance makes his home in California ; George K. is in Champaign
county, Illinois ; Mrs. Ruth J. Hopkins and Rebecca are deceased ; and
three others died in childhood. The father served as
sheriff of this county from 1841 to 1846.
Jacob
Sheffer was
born in Jordan
township, this county, May 26, 1849, and was educated in the public
schools of the vicinity. From his early years he was made familiar with
all kinds of farm work, and has followed this calling during his mature
years. He raises a fine grade of live stock and owns a fertile,
valuable farm, located in Washington township. He has made a success in
business by strict attention to his own affairs, and that he possesses
the esteem and confidence of his neighbors cannot be doubted.
In
1873 Mr.
Sheffer married Delphine
Schlosser, whose father, Elias Schlosser, was a pioneer of Washington
township, but both he and his wife have passed to the silent land. Mrs.
Sheffer is a native of this county. The elder son of our subject and
wife is Wilmer, who married Miss L. Brutt, and resides in Washington.
MICHAEL BLIND
A
prosperous farmer in Medina
township, Warren county, was born on the farm where he now resides,
November 1, 1835. His parents were John and Catherine (Wagner) Blind,
the former of whom was a native of Germany, born December 24, 1793. He
came, to America before 1820, on a sailing vessel, and was nine months
and two weeks reaching his destination, which was near Chillicothe,
Ohio. He worked three years to pay his passage to this country and
lived in Ohio until 1833, when, with his wife and three children ,
Mary,
John and Catharine, he journeyed by team to Warren county, Indiana,
and settled on the farm where his son Michael was born. He
purchased eighty acres of government land on section 14, for which he
paid one dollar and twenty five cents per acre, and on this place built
a log house and here he resided until his death, January 22, 1862. His
wife departed this life July 16, 1882, when over eighty four years of
age. Both parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Six
children were born to them: John (see sketch of Charles O. Blind);
Mary, who became the wife first of John Moore, second of James W.
Moore, and is deceased; Catherine, who married David James and is
deceased; Charlotte, who married Elbert G. Hickman, and Margaret, who
was the wife of John Boyer, are also deceased, our subject, Michael
Blind, being the only survivor of the family.
When
he was only
eighteen years of
age our subject assumed the management of the farm under his father's
direction, and after the death of the latter he purchased the interest
of the other heirs in the homestead and has spent his entire life on
the same place where he was born. He has one of the best farms in
Medina township, embracing two hundred and forty acres of land four
miles east of Pine Village, of which sixty two acres are in timber. He
has already been extensively engaged in stock raising and general
farming, and is one of the wealthy and prominent men of the township.
His early education was limited, being such as could be obtained in the
primitive log school-house of those early days, but by reading and
observation he has become well informed and is an intelligent and
progressive citizen. In politics he is a stanch supporter of the
Republican party and contributes liberally to the good of the
cause. Mr. Blind has never married. The engraving accompanying
this sketch was made from a picture taken when Mr. Blind was twenty six
years old.
MALCOLM A. McDONALD
The Banner Stock Farm, in Liberty township, Warren
county, is owned and
managed by Malcolm A. McDonald, a son and the only surviving
representative of Hon. Joseph Ewing McDonald, who was one of the
foremost statesmen of Indiana for many years, and whose reputation
extended throughout the United States. For a period of twenty eight
years the subject of this sketch was engaged in railroading,
serving in various capacities with different corporations, and rising
by his own individual merits from a lowly to a high and very
responsible position. In the later years of his connection with
the business, he was general manager of the Champaign & Havana
Railroad and held a similar position with the Cairo, Vincennes &
Chicago, and the Pittsburgh & Western Railroads.
Hon. Joseph Ewing McDonald was born in Butler
county, Ohio, in 1819,
and after the death of his father, John McDonald, when the former was
still a child, the lad accompanied the other members of the family to
Indiana. They settled at first near Crawfordsville, and the mother
passed her declining years with her several children, dying in
Covington at quite an advanced age. In 1898 two of her children were
yet living, viz.: Mrs. Francis Marsh, of Hamilton, Ohio, and James D.,
of Attica, Indiana, who died May 28, 1899, at the age of eighty eight
years and seven months. Joseph E. McDonald was educated in Asbury, now
DePauw, University, and studied law under the preceptorship of the Hon.
Zeb. Beard, of Lafayette, then one of the leading lawyers of the state.
Before he had reached his majority Mr. McDonald was elected prosecuting
attorney, and served as such for two terms. Soon afterward he was
elected to congress, and was one of the youngest members of that
honorable body. But still greater honors were in store for the talented
young statesman, for he was next chosen attorney general for the state
of Indiana, being the first attorney general of this state. He served
with credit in this difficult office for eight years, and in 1864 was
the Democratic candidate for the gubernatorial chair, but the
candidate of the opposite party, Oliver P. Morton, was the fortunate
man. Then for a number of years Mr. McDonald was practically retired
from public life, though he maintained his deep interest in political
affairs. In 1880 he was induced by his friends to enter the race for
the United States senate, and was elected to represent Indiana in the
highest legislative branch of the government. Upon the expiration of
his term as senator he again retired from active public life, though he
continued to work more or less in the interest of his party and was
chairman of the Democratic state central committee for a long time. His
ability and zeal, his loyalty to his country and community were never
for a moment questioned, and though he was greatly attached to his
own party and its principles, he never made enemies by offensive
partisanship, but was liberal and charitable in the extreme toward
those who differed with him in matters of state and national policy. An
incident illustrative of his magnanimity toward a political opponent,
and often severely criticized by his Democratic friends, may be cited
in evidence of his justice and generosity. His colleague in the United
States senate was O. P. Morton, who started for Washington at the
beginning of a congressional session, but became seriously ill and was
obliged to leave the train at Richmond. Senator McDonald, learning of
the illness of Senator Morton, called upon the sick man to express his
sympathy. Senator Morton spoke of his deep regret that he could not
reach Washington in time to vote upon an important bill which, it was
expected, would be presented early in the session, and out of the
goodness of his heart Senator McDonald offered to "pair" with his
colleague, which offer was gratefully accepted. A man of kindly
disposition and rare social gifts, he was welcomed wherever he went,
and few men had more friends among every class of citizens. In religion
he was a Presbyterian and a consistent member of the church. His death
took place June 21, 1891, when he was in his seventy second year.
The first wife of Senator McDonald was Miss Ruth
Buell prior to their
marriage, which event was solemnized November 24, 1844. Mrs.
McDonald was born twenty years before, in Ohio, September 21,
1824, a daughter of Dr. Walter Buell, and her death occurred September
7, 1872. Her brother, Dr. Harvey Buell, a man of fine education and one
who was very prominent in the early history of Indiana, was a member of
the first constitutional convention of the state. Subsequently to
the death of his first wife the Senator remarried, but had no children
by that union. His son, Ezekiel M., died when in his twenty sixth year.
Frank Buell, the third son, died at the age of thirty seven years; and
the only daughter, Anna M., passed into the silent land at twenty two.
Malcolm A. McDonald was born at Crawfordsville,
Indiana, in 1848, and
supplemented his public school education with a course at the state
university at Bloomington, Indiana. Then followed his long, faithful
railroad service, previously mentioned, and finally he put into
effect a cherished plan, and about 1887 bought a farm in Jordan
township, and commenced the quiet routine of an agricultural life.
After owning that homestead for several years he removed, in December,
1890, to his present valuable farm, comprising four hundred acres. He
raises standard and high grade horses and Jersey cattle, and has met
with great success in his recent enterprise. He brings to bear upon all
of his business transactions the lessons of wide experience which he
mastered in the busy world of commerce, and is eminently deserving
of the success which he has wrought out for himself, unaided. Needless
to say that he follows in his illustrious father's footsteps in the
matter of politics, and fraternally he is a Mason of the thirty second
degree.
The first marriage of Mr. McDonald occurred in
Ashland,, Nebraska,
March 31, 1874, Miss Jessie Scott being his bride. She died January 6,
1879, leaving two sons, Malcolm Scott and Frank W., both of whom are
engaged in railroading. The lady who now bears the name of our subject
was Miss Miriam Noble, of Lawrence, Kansas, in her girlhood. She was
born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1860, her father being
Colonel George Noble, who was a nephew of Colonel Tom Scott, of
national reputation in railroad circles. Three children born to
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald died in early years, namely : George Noble,
Lawrence Buell and Ruth Miriam; and three children remain to bless
their home, Clarence, Alice and Thomas R.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN
EVANS
Born in Washington township, Warren county, May 14,
1835, William
Franklin Evans was one of the pioneers of northwestern Indiana, his
life history being indissoluble entwined with that of this region. He
was a successful agriculturist, interested and active in the
promotion of the farmer's welfare, and for several years he was the
president of the Farmers' Institute, an organization calculated to
benefit the agricultural class of this locality.
The parents of W. F. Evans were David D. and Anna
Evans. When he was
about twelve years of age William F. Evans removed to Jordan township,
Warren county, and there he aided materially in the improvement of
the homestead on which the family settled. There were not half a dozen
houses in the township at that time, and much of the farm produce was
hauled by team to Chicago and Cincinnati, or floated down the rivers to
New Orleans, supplies for family uses being brought back. Game was very
plentiful in those days, and geese and ducks in immense flocks had to
be scared away from the fields in the spring. April 24, 1858, Mr. Evans
started west, and after teaching a term of school in western Illinois,
he continued his journey to Bedford, Iowa, where two of his uncles
resided. The Pike's Peak gold excitement was then at its height, and on
the first of the following March the young man started with a company,
which was compelled to turn back at Denver (then a small hamlet) on
account of Indian troubles in the mountains. He then hired out to a
train which was engaged in delivering government supplies to the
Indians, and for three months he walked or drove an ox team over
Nebraska, Kansas and eastern Colorado. Once the train was obliged to
wait while a mighty army of buffalo passed, and for almost a whole
day there was nothing to be seen, as far as the eye could reach in any
direction, but moving herds of the majestic animals. Mr. Evans arrived
at home October 9, 1859, after eighteen months of strange and
interesting experiences. During the civil war he was employed in
Washington in the government army trains, but was not sworn into the
regular service.
From the time that he returned to Jordan township
from the west until
his death Mr. Evans was an industrious, hard-working tiller of the
soil. He owned a valuable farm, and by diligence in business and
economy he not only provided well for the needs of his family, but laid
up a comfortable bank account. In religious and temperance work he was
strongly interested, and his voice was ever to be heard on the side of
law, morality and progress. When but sixteen years old he joined the
Christian church at West Lebanon, and in February, 1856, he identified
himself with the "Church Of God," and was one of its faithful and
consistent members. The great event and pleasure of the later years of
Mr. Evans' life was his trip, in the fall of 1891, to the west, in
company with five of his old friends and neighbors. The " Pilgrims," as
they were called, have been mentioned frequently in the histories of
those participated in this delightful journey, which included visits to
most of the celebrated places of interest in the great west. Mr. Evans
was never tired of telling of his experiences in this eventful
pilgrimage, and of the wonderful changes which had taken place during
the thirty odd years which had elapsed between his first and last trips
through the west.
The marriage of Mr. Evans and Miss Eliza J. Scudder
was solemnized
January 22, 1863. Mrs. Evans was born in Switzerland county, Indiana,
March 22, 1843, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Williams) Scudder.
The mother died soon after the birth of Mrs. Evans, and the father was
summoned to his final rest when his child was but nine months old. Thus
left an orphan, she was reared in the home of a maternal aunt, in
Carroll county, Kentucky, and came to this county when eighteen years
old. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans were born two sons on the old homestead in
Jordan township. Harry H., born August 29, 1864, was educated at the
University of Chicago, and is at present superintendent of the West
Lebanon schools. His wife was formerly Miss Ida
Kelley, daughter of Albert Kelley. Cyrus C, a farmer by occupation,
married Miss Nettie Smith, of Jordan township. Mrs. Eliza Evans has
resided in West Lebanon since the demise of her husband. The death of
W. F. Evans was a sad and tragic one, and the whole community was
deeply moved and shocked by the calamity, so sudden and unlooked for.
While enjoying robust health and in the midst of a prosperous, busy and
happy period of his life, he was called upon to cease from his labors
and enter into the wider and fuller blessedness of the '' land beyond
the river. On the 4th of October, 1897, while he was driving from his
home in Jordan township to West Lebanon, his team became frightened and
unmanageable, and he was thrown from the wagon and instantly killed.
His large circle of friends and acquaintances were inexpressibly
grieved, and the last sad rites of burial were attended by a large
concourse of those who wished to pay a last tribute of love and esteem
to one whom they had trusted, looked up to and admired in a thousand
ways.
PERRIN KENT
This honored name is indelibly written in the annals
of Warren county,
and few men were more prominently identified with its early
development. At one time, when measures of wealth were more modest than
at the present day, he was considered a rich man, and this property had
all been acquired by himself, in the legitimate channels of business
enterprise. His absolute integrity and uprightness of character were so
well known and justly appreciated that he was frequently called upon to
act as an administrator of estates, and never did he betray a trust in
the slightest degree.
Born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 11,
1794, Perrin Kent was
a son of William and Sarah (Perrin) Kent. The father, whose birth
occurred in Oldtown, Maryland, in 1763, was a son of Absalom and Nancy
Kent, and the mother was born March 24, 1770, in Hagerstown, Maryland.
They were married February 24, 1789.
With his father, our subject removed from Pennsylvania to Ross county,
Ohio, at an early day, and in 1826 came to Warren county, settling in
that portion of Mound township now known as Kent township, it having
been divided later and named in his honor. He learned the business of
surveying, becoming an expert in that line, and the year subsequent to
his arrival here he was appointed surveyor of public lands by the
governor of the state. This responsible position he held for
thirty five years, during which time he surveyed nearly all of the land
in this county, and his duties in the service of the government led him
as far as Iowa, where he surveyed large sections of that state.
Mr. Kent was a member of the first grand jury of Warren county, and
ever sought to uphold the laws and good government. When but eighteen
years of age he enlisted in the second war of the United States against
Great Britain, and the same patriotic spirit ever animated his actions.
Politically, he was a Whig in the early part of this century, but later
espoused the cause of the Democratic party. In disposition he was
social, vivacious, and exceedingly fond of a good joke, and many a
pleasing anecdote is related of him by his old friends, who delighted
in his happy, cheerful views of life.
In Ross county, Ohio, Mr. Kent married Miss Rebecca
Dill, April 17,
1818. She was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and was of
Irish parentage. Five daughters and three sons were born to this worthy
couple, and all of them lived to maturity. Only three are now living,
namely: John W., of Danville, Illinois; Mrs. Caroline DuBois, of the
same town; and Mrs. Isabel Hannah, who owns and occupies part of the
old homestead in Kent township. Those who have entered the silent land
are Charlotte D. (Mrs. E. F. Lucas), William, Sarah (Mrs. Supply
Woods), Thomas and Rebecca (Mrs. R. E. Carmichael). The four eldest
children were born in Ross county, Ohio, while the others were natives
of this county. The death of Perrin Kent occurred January 30, 1882,
when he was eighty seven years, seven months and nineteen days old. His
wife preceded him to the better land, her death having occurred June 9,
1863, when she had reached the age of seventy one years, five months
and thirteen days.
As has been noted above, Mrs. Isabel Hannah is the
only representative
of her father's family now living in Warren county. She was born on the
old homestead within a half mile of her present home, and in 1850
became the wife of George H. Warren, who died five years later. In 1866
she married William P. Hannah, and four children were born to this
union, namely: Kent, Isabel, Alex and Abbie K. Mrs. Hannah possesses
many of the pleasing qualities of mind, disposition and manner which
were noticeable in her revered father, whom she has just cause to honor
and praise.
WALTER B. MILLER
Since the opening year of the war of the Rebellion
Walter B. Miller has
resided upon the present homestead in Steuben township, Warren county,
where he lives on a finely improved and valuable farm of four hundred
acres. He is one of the well known early settlers of western Indiana,
and has long been a leading and representative citizen. A native of
Ohio, he was born in Eaton, Preble county, May 18, 1826.
The parents of our subject were Lazarus and Frances
(Buell) Miller. The
father was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was a son of
Colonel Isaac H. Miller, who, with seven brothers, fought in the war of
1812, and lost six of his brothers in that patriotic struggle for the
rights of their beloved land. Lazarus Miller was a well educated man
for his day, and indeed, for any period, and in this early manhood he
studied law under the tutorship of the famous lawyer, Colonel Tom Ross,
of Xenia, Ohio. He then engaged in practice with success in Eaton,
Preble county, Ohio, remaining there for several years, serving as
county auditor there during a great portion of the time, and as
postmaster of Eaton. In 1842 he removed with his family to this county,
and here was elected the first auditor of Warren county. Though death
called him ere he had lived in this section more than five years, he
had already won a lasting place in the esteem of his fellow citizens
here, and had made a name and fame among the legal practitioners of
Williamsport, in which town he had established himself. He was a stanch
Whig in his political relations, and religiously was a Presbyterian. He
departed this life on Friday, February 5, 1847, at Williamsport, loved
and mourned by all who knew him. His faithful wife, who survived him
for many years, died December 12, 1887, aged eighty one years.
Lazarus and Frances C. Miller were the parents of
eleven children, of
whom six grew to mature years, and four survive at this time. Isaac C,
who died in the city of Washington, November 9, 1894, was a prominent
business man and at the time of his death was a clerk in the treasury
department, which position he had occupied for many years. The
surviving members of the family of Lazarus Miller are Walter B., Mrs.
Celia Hamilton, Levin T. and James C.
Walter B. Miller attended the old red school-house
of his boyhood in
Eaton, Ohio, and in 1836, when he was ten years old, he accompanied his
uncle, Dr. J. H. Buell, to Warren county, on that gentleman's return
here from a trip to the Buckeye state. During the eighteen months of
the lad's stay here he went to school, a distance of two and a half
miles, at what was known as the Parker school-house, with his young
aunt, Ruth Buell, who later became the wife of United States Senator
Joseph E. McDonald. A neighbor of the Millers in Ohio, George D.
Hendricks, coming to this county on business, was instructed by our
subject's father to take the lad back with him, on his return to Ohio.
Traveling in those days was by primitive methods, and when Mr.
Hendricks was ready to start eastward Walter Miller had no alternative
than to ride behind that worthy man on his strong horse, at least as
far as Indianapolis. Thence the rest of the journey was made by stage.
An incident in the life of the youth is worthy of being mentioned, as
it indicates not only the state of the country at that day but also the
self reliant character of the lad, then less than fourteen years of
age. His father had been appointed as a delegate to the famous
political convention which convened in Columbus, Ohio, on February 22,
1840; but his duties as auditor of his county would not then permit of
his absence from home, and he sent his son Walter as his substitute.
The boy accompanied Mr. Hendricks (above mentioned) and several other
gentlemen, in a carriage, the journey requiring a number of days. It
was a time of great political excitement, and our subject well
remembers many of the circumstances and speeches, and that banners
bearing the watchwords of the Whig party included "National Banks,"
"Protective Tariff" and "Distribution of the Public Funds." A
presidential election was at hand and the name of General William Henry
Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe, was under consideration as a
candidate. Speech-making was the order of the day in this campaign, and
Walter Miller, though a mere boy, was called upon to address one of
these meetings in a small town where their party passed the night while
en route to Columbus. He bravely responded, this fourteen-year-old boy,
extolling the virtues of the old battle worn hero, his favorite
candidate, and doubtless his youthful ardor and patriotism made more of
an impression on the minds of those present than did the speeches of
many a man three times his age and wisdom. After the Miller family had
removed to this county, in 1842, it was the privilege of Walter B.
Miller to attend another of those historic conventions. This one was
held in Richmond, in 1842, and it was on this occasion that the old
Quaker, Mr. Mendenhall, asked the orator of the occasion, Henry Clay,
the famous Kentuckian, why he did not free his slaves. To this Clay
replied that he was willing to do so but that they preferred to remain
with him. In rather a skeptical manner the Quaker asked Clay to give
the slave who had accompanied his master from home his freedom. Clay
consented, and the colored man, upon being approached on the matter,
replied, "I will stay with Massa Clay."
When he was twenty one years old Walter B. Miller
became deputy auditor
of Warren county, his uncle, Dr. Buell, having been elected auditor;
and subsequently the young man filled the office of auditor for one
term, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. In 1858 he removed
to Marshfield, Warren county, where he sold goods for about three
years, when, the Civil war coming on, he disposed of his stock and
located upon the farm which he has since cultivated. He is a man of
extensive information, well posted on all of the leading issues of the
day, and an advocate of the principles of the Republican party.
In the civil war Levin T. and James C. were members
of the Thirty third
Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the first mentioned being
colonel of the regiment. They were taken prisoners at the battle of
Spring Hill, and were placed in Libby prison. Colonel Miller, then a
major, with some other officers, managed to effect an escape, through
one of the famous tunnels, at the imminent risk of his life. Mr. Miller
was married June 14, 1855, to Miss Juliett Tomlinson, daughter of Jesse
and Mary (McFarland) Tomlinson. She was born January 15, 1831, in
Steuben township, Warren county, Indiana, and in this county she has
lived her entire life. This worthy couple have had six children, of
whom the two oldest, Mary Jessie and Levin Dean, died young, and the
surviving ones are Zeruiah F., James M., Nancy S. and Juliett T. B.
Miller.
RICHARD W. CLAYPOOL
Richard W. Claypool, a representative man of
Williamsport, Indiana,
where he has been a resident many years, was born in Fountain county,
this state, March 12, 1831, and is a son of Wilson and Sarah (Evans)
Claypool and a grandson of Abram Claypool, of Ross county, Ohio. Wilson
Claypool, the father of our subject, was born in Virginia, August
24, 1798, and came to this state in 1822, locating on Sugar creek,
below Crawfordsville, in Montgomery county; but about a year later sold
this land and returned to Ohio, where he was married March 2, 1824, to
Miss Sarah Evans, a native of Highland county, Ohio, and a daughter of
Richard and Mary (Pearce) Evans. Soon afterward he returned to Indiana
and lived at the home of one of his brothers at Connersville for a
time. In October, 1824, he came to Shawnee Prairie, where he lived over
fifty years, when overtaken by death, on July 18, 1876. The wife was
born November 13, 1805, and reached the age of nearly eighty eight
years, dying July 19, 1893. She had lived on the old homestead for
nearly sixty nine years, and was a kind and sympathetic neighbor.
Wilson Claypool was a good man who inherited his father's strong
antipathy to slavery and all forms of oppression. He was jovial and
pleasant, loved a joke, and appreciated it all the more -when turned on
himself. Although more than twenty years has passed since he was called
home, he is still kindly remembered by those who knew him.
Seven sons and two daughters blessed their union and
grew to adult
years. They are Evans, who lives on the old homestead in Fountain
county, and is unmarried; Horatio, a resident of Covington, this state;
Solomon, a prominent lawyer of Indianapolis, where he died in
February, 1898; Richard W., who is here represented; Augustus L., a
resident of Springfield, Ohio; Abram, a resident of Chicago; Jacob, who
was a soldier in the Rebellion, the lieutenant of his company in the
Sixty third Regiment, Indiana Volunteers, and was overcome by heat
during the battle of Resaca, Georgia, from the effects of which, he
died; Elizabeth was the wife of Nelson Case, and died at Oswego,
Kansas, February 1, 1892; and Maria is the wife of Joseph Shannon, of
Vernon, Kansas.
Richard W. Claypool was trained to a life of
industry on the old
homestead in Fountain county. He remained at home until he was
twenty one, when he came to Warren county, but in a short time went to
Ludlow, Illinois. Soon after this he purchased a farm, which he has
well improved and still owns; and he for many years bought and shipped
grain, doing a very successful business. Mr. Claypool was married on
January 11, 1855, to Miss Eliza T. Pearson, and in December, 1861,
returned to Williamsport, where he has since been an honored citizen.
They are the parents of five children that are still living: Robert W.,
who is a physician at Newton, Indiana; Bessie, who is the wife of Loy
Schossler; Jessie, who is the wife of Grant Taylor; and the two younger
are Fred and Mabel. Mr. Claypool is not a partisan, having no
"politics." In religion he is a Presbyterian.
DAVID B. PURVIANCE
David B. Purviance is one of the few remaining of
the earliest of the
pioneers of Warren county, Indiana, he having come here in 1829, when a
child, with his father, Eleazar Purviance, and family. Eleazar
Purviance was a native of North Carolina, born in 1782, a son of John
Purviance, an officer in the Revolution. From North Carolina Eleazar
went to Tennessee, when a young man, and settled in Giles county, where
he resided until his removal to Indiana, in 1829. Arrived here, he
settled on a farm near West Lebanon, where he lived for many
years, until after his wife died and his children married and left
home. He spent his last years with his children. Three sons and four
daughters composed their family, but all have passed away except David
B. and his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Caroline Lincoln, of Tennessee.
David B. Purviance was born in Tennessee March 21,
1819, and was about
ten years old when he came here with his parents. He well
remembers the frontier appearance of the country at that early
day. His school advantages were such as were afforded in the pioneer
log school-house, attending a few weeks each winter.
Reared on a farm, he engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own
account when he grew up, and farming has been his life occupation. He
still owns a farm, but is now practically retired; making his home in
West Lebanon, Warren county, where he is well known and highly
respected. He laid out a part of what is known as the north addition to
West Lebanon.
Mr. Purviance was married, at the age of twenty five
years, to Miss
Fanny Hamilton, who died in 1858. They had four children, as follows:
Edward D., a dental surgeon of Attica, Indiana; Mary Frances, deceased;
Fannie, who resides with her brother at Attica; and Lizzie A., also of
Attica. In i860 Mr. Purviance wedded for his second wife Mary M. Beck,
who died in May, 1893. She left three children: Ida V., wife of Frank
Burge; William E., a surgeon in the regular army, now stationed in
Alaska; and Rhoda A., wife of A. Francis.
Religiously, Mr. Purviance is a member of the Christian church, with
which he has been identified since his twenty first year.
JOHN CHEESMAN
An honored veteran of the civil war is John
Cheesman, of West Lebanon,
Warren county. He was one of seven brothers, five of whom
volunteered their services to the Union and heroically suffered
the hardships and dangers of the fierce sectional strife, in order that
one flag should continue to float, as it now does, over a united
country.
Thomas Cheesman, the father of these brave,
patriotic sons, was a
native of Scotland, and was a child of eight years when his parents
emigrated to America. His father at one time owned the land on which
the present Jersey City is located, and the elder man continued to live
in the state of New Jersey for years. Thomas Cheesman, a shoemaker,
removed to Eagle Works Village, Center county, Pennsylvania, and from
the time that he took up his residence upon a farm in that section
until his death he never lived a quarter of a mile distant from the
place of his first settlement there. He married Silence Mallory, and
they became the parents of eight sons and four daughters. Four sons and
two daughters are living (1898), namely: John; Roland, an employee of
the pension department at Washington; Thomas Calvin, now a resident of
Broadtop, Pennsylvania; James I., of Colorado; Mary, of Howard,
Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Nora Taylor, of Beliefonte, same state. Mrs.
Louisa Evans died several years ago, and the other daughter died in
infancy. Wentworth died when a babe, and Alpheus died in May,
1897. The other sons are mentioned below.
When the first gun of the civil war was fired, stern
zeal filled the
hearts of the Cheesman brothers, and one by one they abandoned all else
and went forth to battle for their beloved land. Roland was a major in
the Forty fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, and led his men in the famous
charge on the Confederate works in front of Petersburg, after the great
mine explosion. He was many times wounded, and was taken prisoner
by the enemy. His leg was so badly injured that it was amputated by the
Confederates, and after some time had elapsed, when he was almost
dying, he was exchanged and was taken good care of by sympathetic
northerners, and eventually recovered. William, a gallant soldier, was
killed at the battle of Spottsylvania. Thomas C. served in the One
Hundredth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Constance I., a member of the Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania
Infantry, faithfully stood at his post of duty until exposure and
privations undermined his health, and his life paid the penalty.
John Cheesman was born in Center county,
Pennsylvania, March 2, 1839,
and was reared there, learning the trade of blacksmith as soon as he
had attained suitable years. He was one of the very first men of his
native state to respond to the president's call for troops after Fort
Sumter was fired upon, the date of his enlistment being April 21, 1861.
He became a member of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry, which was one of
the fifteen regiments constituting the famous Pennsylvania
Reserves, to whose gallant services were due some of the most
illustrious Union victories of the war. The first battle in which Mr.
Cheesman took part was Ball's Bluff, where General Baker and many
of his brave men fell. Then followed innumerable engagements with the
enemy, among them being Falmouth, Cedar Mountain second battle of Bull
Run, Monocacy, Harrisonburg, the Shenandoah valley, campaign, under
General Fremont, Deep Bottom, North Anna, Spottsyl-vania,
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In the last named the remnant of the
Pennsylvania Reserves occupied Cemetery Ridge, and three times the
Confederates, including what was known as the Louisiana Tigers, made
desperate charges, striving to take the ridge, but each time were
repulsed by our brave boys, with fearful slaughter. No more fierce
fighting took place in the famous three days' battle at Gettysburg
proper than this struggle for the possession of Cemetery Ridge, and
nowhere were the rebels more signally defeated. In 1864 Mr. Cheesman
took part in General Grant's campaign in Virginia, and was active in
the battles of the Wilderness, Petersburg, Ream's Station, etc. After
the last named battle he was mustered out, by reason of the expiration
of his term of enlistment. He had served four months in the state
troops of Pennsylvania and upon August 23, 1861, he had enlisted in the
United States army, and now, at the close of the three years for which
he had volunteered, he was honorably discharged, in August, 1864.
Returning home, John Cheesman resumed his accustomed
duties, his home
being in Venango, Pennsylvania, until 1866, when he removed to West
Lebanon. Here he carried on a blacksmith shop for thirty years, and is
well known and esteemed. By industry and honest labor he has
accumulated a competence, and his integrity as a man and citizen has
always been above question. He has been faithful and true in all the
varied relations of life, and as far as known, he has no enemies, but
all wish him well.
On the 4th of October, 1865, Mr. Cheesman married
Mary E. Swaney, a
daughter of John and Mary Ann (Furey) Swaney, who were, respectively,
of Irish and Scotch ancestry. Mrs. Cheesman was born at Bellefonte,
Pennsylvania, and is one of twelve children. Her
mother was lost in the fearful Johnstown disaster, of 1889, being
a passenger on the ill fated railroad train which was overwhelmed by
the rushing flood. The only child of our subject and his estimable wife
is Mary, wife of Kemper Aherns, of Attica, Indiana. She was born March
17, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Cheesman are active members of the Presbyterian
church, and are always ready to lend a helping hand to the poor and
needy.
WILMER H. GEMMER
William H. Gemmer, son of Major Philip and Lydia E.
(Smith) Gemmer, the
present and efficient county surveyor of Warren county, is one of the
popular young men of ability which this county has produced. He was
born in Williamsport, his present residence, on February 7, 1871, and
his education was obtained in the common and high schools of his native
city and at Purdue University. At this latter institution he was
graduated in June, 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Civil
Engineering. Before he had finished his university course Mr. Gemmer
had been placed in nomination for county surveyor by the
Republicans of Warren county, and in the fall of the same year he was
elected to that responsible office by a large and complimentary
majority. By re-election after re-election he is
still serving, now in his third consecutive term of office. He has also
been civil engineer of Williamsport since 1894. During his incumbency
of this office much labor has devolved on him in this connection. A
large number of concrete walks have been laid, much and important
street improvement work has been, accomplished, and the important
water-works system has been introduced. All of these matters have been
conducted under Mr. Gemmer's personal superintendence. In 1896 Mr.
Gemmer published a wall map of Warren county, Indiana, drawn, compiled
and corrected by himself, which met with great commendation and
testifies to his accuracy and ability in his
profession. A copy of this map hangs in every
school-house in the county.
In fraternal organizations Mr. Gemmer has been a
valued member of
several bodies, and at the present writing (June, 1899) is holding the
office of worshipful master of Williamsport Lodge, No. 38, Free and
Accepted Masons. Like his gallant father, he has ever given strong
allegiance to the Republican party.
In June, 1895, Mr. Gemmer was united in holy wedlock with one of
Williamsport's attractive young ladies, Miss Lota M. Biggs, daughter of
Elias A. and Lena (Crane) Biggs. They have two children, Kathleen and
Philip.
GEORGE A. BECKETT
For sixty five years the Becketts have been
residents and land-holders
of what is now Kent township, Warren county, and no more honorable,
upright citizens have dwelt in this region. They have led quiet,
industrious, peaceful lives, have ever endeavored to do their whole
duty toward God and man, and have enjoyed the confidence and genuine
esteem of all their associates.
The father of the subject of this sketch, George W.
Beckett, was born
in Pickaway county, Ohio, June 10, 1813, a son of James Beckett, who
died in 1816. About 1822 the widowed mother came to Indiana with her
three children, two of whom were sons. George W. was reared in the home
of his uncle, William Beckett, a pioneer merchant of Perrysville,
Vermilion county, Indiana. In the early part of the '30s the young man
came to Warren county, and in 1834 he located at Gopher Hill, now
included within Kent township, and, having secured the patent to a
tract of one hundred and sixty three and four fifths acres of land, he
proceeded to develop and improve the property, which has never since
left the possession of the family, and now belongs to the subject of
this narrative. The patent to the land, which was first owned by Henry
Coons, bears date of April 20, 1826, and is signed by John Quincy
Adams; and this curious old document is now held by the present owner
of the farm. George W. Beckett was a Democrat of the Jackson
school. A devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, he died, as
he had lived, strong in the Christian faith, his death occurring April
12, 1887. He is survived by his widow, who is now living in the town of
State Lide, Indiana. She was a Miss Amanda Taylor in her girlhood, her
parents being William and Amasa (Young) Taylor, and her birth took
place in Fleming county, Kentucky, August 1, 1821. Eleven children
were born to G. W. and Amanda Beckett, and six of the nine who lived to
maturity are now living, namely: William, whose home is in Iowa;
Mrs. A. Powell, of this township; John, a citizen of Illinois;
George A.; Mrs. Belle Browne, of State Line; and Mrs. Jennie Jones, of
Montgomery county, this state. James died when about thirty years of
age; Mattie at twenty five and Josie at thirty. The father of these
children, feeling the great desirability of a good education, which he
had not been able to enjoy himself, was strenuous in his efforts to
procure advantages for them, and was rewarded by seeing each one, with
one exception, as he arrived at mature years, become a teacher.
George A. Beckett, who owns and successfully manages
the old Beckett
homestead, was born "thereon, July 2, 1855, and he has never known any
other place of abode. He made the best of his educational privileges,
and further improved his mind by special study, and for more than
twenty years he was accounted one of the leading educators of Warren
county. He was actively occupied in teaching from the summer of 1875
until 1895, and in the meantime gave some attention to farming, as
well. He is now diligently engaged in general farming and
stock raising, and is prospering. In November, 1894, he was
elected a trustee of Kent township, and is still acting in that
capacity. He. follows in his father's footsteps in regard to politics,
but is not radical, and believes that only good men should be placed in
office, no matter what banner they stand under.
On the 24th of November, 1892, Mr. Beckett married
Miss Mabel Switzer,
a daughter of Wesley Switzer. She was born in Vermilion county,
Indiana, and by her marriage has become the mother of four children:
Lloyd; Ruth; Carl, who died in infancy; and Carter H. They have a
pleasant home, and are surrounded by many of the comforts and
blessings of life.
DAVID
B. PURVIANCE
David B. Purviance is one of the few remaining of
the earliest of the
pioneers of Warren county, Indiana, he having come here in 1829, when a
child, with his father, Eleazar Purviance, and family. Eleazar
Purviance was a native of North Carolina, born in 1782, a son of John
Purviance, an officer in the Revolution. From North Carolina Eleazar
went to Tennessee, when a young man, and settled in Giles county, where
he resided until his removal to Indiana, in 1829. Arrived here, he
settled on a farm near West Lebanon, where he lived for many
years, until after his wife died and his children married and left
home.
He spent his last years with his children. Three sons and four
daughters composed their family, but all have passed away except David
B. and his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Caroline Lincoln, of Tennessee.
David B. Purviance was born in Tennessee March 21,
1819, and was about
ten years old when he came here with his parents. He well remembers the
frontier appearance of the country at that early day. His school
advantages were such as were afforded in the pioneer log school-house,
attending a few weeks each winter. Reared on a farm,
he engaged in agricultural pursuits on his own account when he grew up,
and farming has been his life occupation. He still owns a farm, but is
now practically retired; making his home in West Lebanon, Warren
county, where he is well known and highly respected. He laid out a part
of what is known as the north addition to West Lebanon.
Mr. Purviance was married, at the age of twenty five
years, to Miss
Fanny Hamilton, who died in 1858. They had four children, as follows:
Edward D., a dental surgeon of Attica, Indiana; Mary Frances, deceased;
Fannie, who resides with her brother at Attica; and Lizzie A., also of
Attica. In i860 Mr. Purviance wedded for his second wife Mary M. Beck,
who died in May, 1893. She left three children: Ida V., wife of Frank
Burge; William E., a surgeon in the regular army, now stationed in
Alaska; and Rhoda A., wife of A. Francis.
Religiously, Mr. Purviance is a member of the Christian church, with
which he has been identified since his twenty first year.
JOHN CHEESMAN
An honored veteran of the civil war is John
Cheesman, of West Lebanon,
Warren county. He was one of seven brothers, five of whom
volunteered their services to the Union and heroically suffered
the hardships and dangers of the fierce sectional strife, in order that
one flag should continue to float, as it now does, over a united
country.
Thomas Cheesman, the father of these brave,
patriotic sons, was a
native of Scotland, and was a child of eight years when his parents
emigrated to America. His father at one time owned the land on which
the present Jersey City is located, and the elder man continued to live
in the state of New Jersey for years. Thomas Cheesman, a shoemaker,
removed to Eagle Works Village, Center county, Pennsylvania, and from
the time that he took up his residence upon a farm in that section
until his death he never lived a quarter of a mile distant from the
place of his first settlement there. He married Silence Mallory, and
they became the parents of eight sons and four daughters. Four sons and
two daughters are living (1898), namely: John; Roland, an employee of
the pension department at Washington; Thomas Calvin, now a resident of
Broadtop, Pennsylvania; James I., of Colorado; Mary, of Howard,
Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Nora Taylor, of Beliefonte, same state. Mrs.
Louisa Evans died several years ago, and the other daughter died in
infancy. Wentworth died when a babe, and Alpheus died in May,
1897. The other sons are mentioned below.
When the first gun of the civil war was fired, stern
zeal filled the
hearts of the Cheesman brothers, and one by one they abandoned all else
and went forth to battle for their beloved land. Roland was a major in
the Forty fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, and led his men in the famous
charge on the Confederate works in front of Petersburg, after the great
mine explosion. He was many times wounded, and was taken prisoner
by the enemy. His leg was so badly injured that it was amputated by the
Confederates, and after some time had elapsed, when he was almost
dying, he was exchanged and was taken good care of by sympathetic
northerners, and eventually recovered. William, a gallant soldier, was
killed at the battle of Spottsylvania. Thomas C. served in the One
Hundredth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers.
Constance I., a member of the Seventy ninth Pennsylvania
Infantry, faithfully stood at his post of duty until exposure and
privations undermined his health, and his life paid the penalty.
John Cheesman was born in Center county,
Pennsylvania, March 2, 1839,
and was reared there, learning the trade of blacksmith as soon as he
had attained suitable years. He was one of the very first men of his
native state to respond to the president's call for troops after Fort
Sumter was fired upon, the date of his enlistment being April 21, 1861.
He became a member of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry, which was one of
the fifteen regiments constituting the famous Pennsylvania
Reserves, to whose gallant services were due some of the most
illustrious Union victories of the war. The first battle in which Mr.
Cheesman took part was Ball's Bluff, where General Baker and many
of his brave men fell. Then followed innumerable engagements with the
enemy, among them being Falmouth, Cedar Mountain second battle of Bull
Run, Monocacy, Harrisonburg, the Shenandoah valley, campaign, under
General Fremont, Deep Bottom, North Anna, Spottsyl-vania,
Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In the last named the remnant of the
Pennsylvania Reserves occupied Cemetery Ridge, and three times the
Confederates, including what was known as the Louisiana Tigers, made
desperate charges, striving to take the ridge, but each time were
repulsed by our brave boys, with fearful slaughter. No more fierce
fighting took place in the famous three days' battle at Gettysburg
proper than this struggle for the possession of Cemetery Ridge, and
nowhere were the rebels more signally defeated. In 1864 Mr. Cheesman
took part in General Grant's campaign in Virginia, and was active in
the battles of the Wilderness, Petersburg, Ream's Station, etc. After
the last named battle he was mustered out, by reason of the expiration
of his term of enlistment. He had served four months in the state
troops of Pennsylvania and upon August 23, 1861, he had enlisted in the
United States army, and now, at the close of the three years for which
he had volunteered, he was honorably discharged, in August, 1864.
Returning home, John Cheesman resumed his accustomed
duties, his home
being in Venango, Pennsylvania, until 1866, when he removed to West
Lebanon. Here he carried on a blacksmith shop for thirty years, and is
well known and esteemed. By industry and honest labor he has
accumulated a competence, and his integrity as a man and citizen has
always been above question. He has been faithful and true in all the
varied relations of life, and as far as known, he has no enemies, but
all wish him well.
On the 4th of October, 1865, Mr. Cheesman married Mary E. Swaney, a
daughter of John and Mary Ann (Furey) Swaney, who were, respectively,
of Irish and Scotch ancestry. Mrs. Cheesman was born at Bellefonte,
Pennsylvania, and is one of twelve children. Her
mother was lost in the fearful Johnstown disaster, of 1889, being
a passenger on the ill fated railroad train which was overwhelmed by
the rushing flood. The only child of our subject and his estimable wife
is Mary, wife of Kemper Aherns, of Attica, Indiana. She was born March
17, 1875. Mr. and Mrs.Cheesman are active members of the Presbyterian
church, and are always ready to lend a helping hand to the poor and
needy.
HENRY WOODHAMS
Warren county has been peculiarly fortunate in her
citizens of foreign
birth, who are almost without exception intelligent, enterprising and
progressive men and loyal to the country of their adoption. Among the
representative farmers of Warren county is found the subject of this
sketch, whose birth-place was near Alfirston, Sussex county, England,
the date of his birth being July 8, 1841. His parents came to America
in 1851, on a sailing vessel which consumed six weeks in making
the voyage. They landed at New York city, whence his father came to
Indiana and located at Lafayette, residing there some two years,
engaged in the mercantile business. He then removed to Warren county,
Indiana, where he followed farming for two years, and from there went
to Benton county, same state, where he purchased three hundred and
twenty acres of land near Pond Grove. At this place the parents are
still residing. His father, George Woodhams, was married to Miss Anna
Brooker, and their children were: Herbert (deceased); Alfred; Philip,
now of Colorado; Frederick, of Benton county; Anna (Mrs. John Foster),
deceased; Henry; Ellen (Mrs. J. H. Bartindale); Mary (Mrs. Henry
Foster); Clement, Louisa, Thomas and Edwin (who died young).
Henry Woodhams remained upon his father's farm until
twenty years of
age, when the civil war broke out and with many of his young companions
he offered his services to the government. He enlisted September 18,
1861, in Company D, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three years,
and was mustered in at Indianapolis. His regiment was sent to
Louisville, Kentucky, and the first engagement in which he took part
was at Corinth. Other battles in which he saw active service were those
of Salt river, Perry-ville, Tullahoma, Hoover's Gap, Buzzard's Roost,
siege of Atlanta, and other less important conflicts. He was honorably
discharged at Indianapolis, September 24, 1864, and, returning to
his father's house, began working out on a farm, where lie
remained for three years. The following three years he lived on a
rented farm in Benton county, subsequently coming to Medina township,
Warren county, where he rented land and four years later purchased the
farm he now occupies and where he has resided since 1874. His land
comprises one hundred and thirty three acres and is situated on
sections 14 and 21, four miles east and one mile south of Pine Village.
Here he carries on general farming and stock raising and has been very
successful in all his undertakings.
In politics Mr. Woodhams has always been a
Republican and a leader in
his party. He was elected county commissioner of Warren county in 1894
for a term of three years, at the expiration of which he was re-elected
by a majority of over nine hundred votes. He has proved an able and
popular official and since filling that office he has been instrumental
in reducing the county debt many thousands of dollars, earning the
gratitude of his fellow citizens and demonstrating his ability as a
financier.
The marriage of our subject took place September 5,
1867, Miss Lucy C.
Turman becoming his wife. Of this union six children have been born:
Minnie, who is teaching school; Thomas, a farmer in White county;
Daisy, the wife of William Clawson, a farmer in Warren county; Annie,
living at home; Nellie and Carrie, both pupils in the Oxford high
school.
Mr. Woodhams is a self made man in the strictest sense of the word,
having had but few opportunities for an education and having attained
his present position by his industry, perseverance and individual
merit. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity, holding place in
Otterbein Lodge, No. 605; and is also a member of Otterbein Post, No.
206, G. A. R., and is a supporter of the Methodist church.
JOHN W. RHODE
John Wesley Rhode is a leading farmer and stock
dealer of Warren
county, and has the honor of being the oldest resident born within the
present boundary of Pine township. The name of Rhode has been
prominently identified with the growth and prosperity of this county
for the past seventy three years, our subject being the fourth
generation of the name residing here. He was born in Pine township
November 3, 1842, and is a son of Lewis Rhode, a grandson of William
Rhode, and great grandson of John and Mary Rhode. These
great grandparents were from South Carolina, and the
great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution. He moved to Ohio
in 1803, and later to Warren county, Indiana, where he died
in 1844.
Six children composed their family, viz.: William, Jonathan, Thomas,
Caleb, Esther and Seymour.
William Rhode, the grandfather, also was a native of South Carolina,
and was married to Sarah Murray, with whom he moved to Warren county,
Ohio, and in 1827 to the county of that name in Indiana. Here he died
in 1858, leaving a wife, who survived him six years, and thirteen
children.
The children were Mary, William, John, Thomas,
Lewis, Martha, Isaac,
Joel, Seymour, Caleb, Sarah J., Jacob M., and one that died in infancy.
Lewis Rhode was born December 10, 1816, and came with his father to
Warren county, this state, when he was in his eleventh year. December
30, 1841, he was married to Miss Eliza Jane Clifton, who was born in
Sussex county, Delaware, July 26, 1825. Her parents also were natives
of that state, where the father, Thomas Clifton, was born March 17,
1793, and the mother, Sarah, was born June 25, 1805. They were married
in 1834 and came to this state, where the father died August 6, 1874,
and the mother September 6, 1880, after sixty years of married
happiness. Lewis Rhode and his wife were married about fifty six years
before death desolated their home by taking the wife on September 16,
1897. The aged father now makes his home with his children, John W.,
Thomas W. and Lewis M. He is a gentleman who richly merits the respect
shown him, has held a number of local offices, and is an honored
member of the Free and Accepted Masons.
John Wesley Rhode, the eldest of the three brothers,
was married
February 13, 1867, to Miss Fannie Jones, who was born April 17, 1849.
She is a daughter of Clement G. and Nancy (Russell) Jones, residents of
this county since 1828. The father passed to his reward June 25, 1893.
He was a native of Delaware, moved to Ohio, thence to this county. The
mother makes her home with Mrs. Rhode, the only surviving child. The
other three were: Mary Isley, who died September 14, 1887; Isaac,
February 22,1890, and Clement Curtis, August 10, 1891. There are two
half sisters, Mrs. Eleanor Brier, of Pine Village, and Mrs. Sarah E.
Jones, of Missouri. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Rhode has been blessed by
the birth of two daughters : Mrs. Nancy L. Bright, who is the mother of
two children, a son born July 2, 1891, and died July 25, 1894, and
Fannie Agnes, born February 10, 1898 ; and Mrs. Eliza C. Grames, who
also has two children, Cecil Glenn, born September 13, 1892, and
Raymond Russell, born November 18, 1894. When Mrs. Bright's son
was born he had eight grandparents living, and still more remarkable is
the fact that Cecil Glenn Grames had eleven living grandparents
(including great grandparents) at the time of his birth. Both daughters
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Rhode is a Democrat,
and a member of the Royal Arch Masons.
WILLIAM E. MILLS
William E. Mills, the druggist at Pine Village, has been engaged m
business at this point since the spring of 1894, succeeding I. W.
McConnell. This is the only drug store in this village.
Mr. Mills is a native of La Salle county, Illinois,
where he was born
in 1863. His father, Edward Mills, was a native of Cohoes, New York,
who married Lavantia Guy. In 1866 the family removed from Illinois to
Story county, Iowa, where the father died, in 1876 ; and the mother of
our subject, surviving, is a resident of Maxwell, that county. Of their
eight children seven grew up to years of maturity. The eldest, Dr.
Daniel Mills, is a physician practicing at McCallsburg, Story county,
Iowa ; William E., our subject, is the next in order of birth ; Lelia
is a teacher by occupation ; Dr. Frank W. is a physician at Ottumwa,
Iowa ; Charles is the next in the order of birth ; Rose A. is the wife
of John Douglas, of Maxwell; and Lavantia, the youngest of the
children, is a music teacher.
William E. Mills, the subject proper of this sketch,
was reared on a
farm and educated at the public schools. In 1889 he began learning the
drug business in a store at Maxwell, and finally bought an interest in
the store, where he continued to carry on business until he came to
Pine Village, and here is establishing a good reputation for faithful
service. He is a member of the village board of trustees. In his
political views he is a Republican, active in the local councils of the
party ; is chairman of the Republican central committee of his
township. Socially, he is a member of the orders of Freemasonry and
Knights of Pythias. He is a representative citizen and is held in high
esteem by his fellow citizens.
On the 1st of October, 1893, Mr. Mills was united in marriage with Miss
Maude Fleckinger, of Story county, Iowa.
JAMES VV. McMULLEN, M.
D.
Dr. James W. McMullen, of Pine Village, Warren
county, has been engaged
in the practice of his profession here ever since 1875, the whole
period of his professional career. Dr. McMullen is a native of Ross
county, Ohio, and was a child when his father, Samuel A. McMullen,
died; and in 1852 the mother, with her two children (the subject of
this sketch and a sister), emigrated to Warren county, Indiana,
locating at Williamsport. At that place young James attended school.
His medical education he obtained at the College of Physicians and
Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, where he graduated in 1875, and the same year
he located at Pine Village. From 1892 to 1894 he was editor of the
Village News, the paper being conducted by the firm of McMullen &
Son.
For his wife the Doctor married Miss Sarah Ann
Swadley, a daughter of
Nicholas and Nancy Ann Swadley, and the Doctor and his wife have four
children, John, Annetta (wife of Charles Ale, of Francisville,
Indiana), Clarence A. and Ray, the last two mentioned being yet inmates
of their parental home.
Dr. McMullen is president of the village board of trustees, and both
professionally and socially he is held in high esteem. Politically, he
is a Republican.
GEORGE McGAHAN
George McGahan was born in Medina township, Warren
county, May 11,
1845, on the farm where his brother Simeon now lives. His parents were
Thomas and Lavina A. McGahan. His father was a native of
Pennsylvania, and his mother either of that state or Indiana. Her
maiden name was Gard, and her first husband was a Mr. Watts. The
McGahan family are of Scotch descent and their children inherit many of
the noble qualities of that thrifty, noble race.
Our subject was one of the five sons born to his
parents and was
brought up to manhood on his father's farm. When twenty one years old
he began life for himself, and the following year was married to Miss
Mary J. Harmon, and farmed on various places until 1889, when he
purchased and cleared the farm on which he now resides. He owns eight
hundred and sixty four acres of land, of which four hundred and
sixty four are in Medina township. Over four hundred acres of this
property are under excellent cultivation, and on this he carries on
general farming and stock raising. Mr. McGahan has had four children,
namely: Abraham O., Simeon, deceased, Silva and
Arthur.
In politics our subject is a decided Republican and
always takes an
interest in public affairs. He is a loyal citizen and
a good neighbor.
JOHN W. MILLS
John W. Mills, ex-county commissioner of Warren
county and a
representative agriculturist and stock raiser, was born in Adams
township, on his present farm, April 6, 1832, a son of Jacob and Jane
(Cassell) Mills. The father was born near Newbury, South Carolina, and
was the first one of his family to locate in Warren county, to which he
came in 1829 from Ohio, the trip being made by wagon. He entered eighty
acres of government land in section 29, township 23, range 7 west, for
which he paid one dollar and twenty five cents an
acre. On this he erected a log cabin eighteen feet
square, and began improving the land, which consisted of prairie and
timber. Here he died in 1887, at the age of eighty four. In his latter
years he was a devout member of the Baptist church. To him and his wife
were born thirteen children, as follows : Thomas; Sarah, widow of
Benjamin Davis, who lives in Pine Village; James, Mary, Joseph,
William, Elizabeth, Jacob, Rachel and Abijah are deceased ; John W.,
our subject; Margaret J. resides at Oxford and is the wife of John
Freeman; and Job lives at Pine Village.
John W. Mills remained on the home farm with his
father until
twenty one years of age, then farmed for his father on shares for two
years, after which he went to Benton for a year and later to Nebraska,
where he pre-empted a homestead near Nebraska City, on which he
lived for part of a year. He then returned to Adams county, rented his
father's farm and other land until 1867, when he purchased one hundred
and sixty acres, and in 1868 another eighty acres, and moved thereon in
1869. In 1876 he bought the old homestead of one hundred and sixty
acres, which, in addition to his other property, makes him the
possessor of about six hundred acres here and about one hundred and
twenty acres in Pine township. He carried on general farming and
stock raising until recent years, when he rented part of his land and
is now retired from active work. On the land he now owns stood the old
log school-house where he attended the subscription school of pioneer
times.
In his political views Mr. Mills is a thorough
Republican, and has
belonged to that party ever since its organization. He was elected
assessor of Adams township and served two years. In 1886 he was chosen
one of the county commissioners of Warren county for a term of three
years, at the expiration of which time he was re-elected for a similar
term. In both of these positions he performed the duties incumbent upon
him with ability, intelligence and circumspection, thereby winning the
high regard and consideration of his fellow citizens.
The marriage of Mr. Mills was solemnized January 1, 1866, when he was
united to Miss Hannah A. Frazier, a native of Adams township and a
daughter of David and Zemia Frazier. Mr. and Mrs.
Mills have no children.
WILLIAM W. SALE
William W. Sale, a merchant and hotel keeper at Pine
Village, Warren
county, is a son of John F. Sale, who was a native of Warren county,
Ohio, born December 9, 1809. John F. was the eldest child of Robert and
Magdalena (Smith) Sale, both of whom were natives of Virginia and of
French descent. Robert Sale was a gallant soldier in the war between
the United States and England, in 1812, serving under General Wayne,
and after the British aggressor had been deservedly chastised Mr. Sale,
in the prime of early manhood, went to Ohio, and took up military land.
At first he settled in Greene county, but soon he removed to Warren
county, Ohio, and there he became the owner of one hundred and ninety
acres of the aforesaid military land. This tract he improved and
continued to make his home thereon until his death, which occurred
October 1, 1823, when he was but thirty eight years old. He
was married November 8, 1808.
John F. Sale, father of the subject of this article,
was reared as a
farmer and always followed that occupation, meeting with success in his
industrious and well directed efforts. For his wife he chose Miss Lydia
A. Wilkinson, their marriage being celebrated February 27, 1834. Seven
children were born to them, and all but the eldest, Robert, who
was killed by lightning, June 28, 1858, are yet living, namely: Mary
M., Martha A., Harriet E., Sarah L., John F. and William W. The
mother entered into the silent land November 5, 1867, and January 26,
1879, Mr. Sale wedded Mrs. Elizabeth A. Metzker, daughter of Jonathan
and Eveline (Moore) Campbell. Mrs. Sale was born in Warren county,
Ohio, August 12, 1833, and she is still living, her home being at the
Pique Village Hotel, as it has been for a number of years past. In 1856
Mr. Sale purchased a quarter section of land in Adams township, Warren
county, and there he settled with his family the following year. In
1876 he sold his farm and embarked in the hotel business in the same
locality, and for a score of years he carried on this enterprise
successfully. His death took place December 10, 1896. He was a faithful
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which denomination
Mrs. Sale has also belonged for years. An excellent citizen and a most
worthy man in every respect, Mr. Sale possessed the entire confidence
of all with whom the relations of life brought him into
contact. For a score of years, dating from 1858, he
was a justice of the peace, and in
addition to this he likewise acted in the capacity of notary
public.
William W. Sale was born in Wayne township, Warren county, Ohio,
September 11, 1838, and in 1857 he came to this section of Indiana with
his father and the rest of the family. On the 4th of August, 1862, he
enlisted as a member of Company I, Seventy second Regiment of Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, and for three years he nobly fought for the stars
and stripes and a united land. His regiment was a part of the
Fourteenth Army Corps, which was in the Army of the Cumberland. Mr.
Sale participated in twenty three important battles, and though he
suffered the untold hardships and dangers of a soldier's life he
escaped injury from rebel bullets save once, when he was slightly
wounded, in the battle at Ebenezer Church, Alabama, April 2, 1865.
Always having a sincere comradeship with the boys who " wore the blue,"
he has long been a member of Wagner Post, No. 365, of Pine Village. In
political matters, he is to be found on the side of the Republican
party.
On the 23d of December, 1866, Mr. Sale married Miss
Margaretta Jarvis,
a daughter of John and Charlotte Jarvis. They were natives of Virginia,
and were early pioneers of Montgomery and Warren counties, Indiana',
coming here about 1854. Mr. Sale resumed farming upon his return from
the battlefields of the south, and continued to be thus engaged until
February, 1882, when he opened a store in Atkinson, Benton county,
this state, and from that time to the present he has been occupied in
merchandising. In September, 1896, he settled in Pine Village, and
since January 18, 1898, has also had charge of the hotel.
Mrs. Sale died October 5, 1890, and of their three
children only one,
Aria, grew to mature years. She is the wife of Edward Berkshire, of
West Lebanon, this county. January 10, 1892, Mr. Sale was a second
time married, the lady of his choice being Miss Lelia Hanson.
WILLIAM S. ANDERSON
William S. Anderson, who is one of the prosperous
and influential young
farmers of Adams township, Warren county, is a native of this county,
his birth taking place February 18, 1866, in Prairie township. He
received a good, practical education in the public schools and on
coming of age rented land in Prairie township, on which he remained
until 1891, when he removed to Adams township and subsequently to
Liberty township. In 1893 he took possession of the farm on which he
now lives, comprising one hundred and twenty acres of finely improved
land situated two miles south and one mile east of Pine Village. He
also owns one hundred and ninety acres of land in Liberty township. He
carries on general farming and is engaged to some extent in
stock raising.
Mr. Anderson was married September 13, 1893, to Miss
Fannie E. Jones,
and they have two children, Malcolm and Margery. In politics he is a
Republican and contributes liberally of his time and money to forward
the interests of his party. He is a young man of excellent character, a
good neighbor and a progressive citizen.
James Anderson, the father of William S., was born
in Warren county,
Ohio, in 1840, came to Prairie township with his parents, Joshua
Anderson and wife, in 1849, and lived there nearly a quarter of a
century before removing to Washington township, his present home.
He was a soldier of the civil war, serving three years. He has always
been a Republican in politics and was elected county treasurer of
Warren county in 1887 and served one term. He married Margery Graines,
in 1861, and they had nine children: Harriet A. (Mrs. James Pope),
William S., Emma R. (deceased), John F., Jennie (Mrs. Augustus
Broadie), Joshua C, Elizabeth Pearl, Minnie A. and James Elwood.
JOSEPH D. FARDEN
Joseph D. Farden, a progressive farmer and stock
raiser of Adams
township, Warren county, was born December 25, 1843, and was
educated in the district schools of Adams township. He was still at
home with his parents at the outbreak of the civil war, and, becoming
imbued with the patriotic spirit that filled the breast of every
northern man, he enlisted for three years as a private in Company G,
One Hundredth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and participated in the
following battles: Jackson, Mississippi; Mission Ridge, Dalton,
Reynolds Roost, New Hope Church, Dallas, Kenesaw mountain, siege of
Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, the march to Savannah, Macon,
Georgia; and Savannah. He was wounded at Jackson, Mississippi, and
again at Mission Ridge, where he was shot in the muscles of the left
arm.- He was honorably discharged June 6, 1865, at Washington, D. C,
and returned to his home in Adams township, where he has resided ever
since. - He moved upon the farm where he now lives in 1874, and owns
one hundred and twenty acres of land on sections 16 and 21.
Mr. Farden was married March 26, 1871, to Miss Mary
Van Tress, and
three children have been born to them, namely: William M., Fairy and
Flora. Our subject is a strong Republican and a firm supporter of the
principles of his party. Socially, he is a member of the George D.
Wagner Post, No. 365, G. A. R., of Pine Village.
HON. ELISHA LITTLE
Among the representative men of Adams township,
Warren county, none is
held in higher regard than the gentleman whose name initiates this
review. A native of his home county, he was born October 13, 1837, on a
farm in section 27, now owned by Newton Little, and on which his
father, George Little, who was a native of Ohio, settled in 1828. The
home farm comprised one hundred and sixty acres, which was bought for
one dollar and a quarter an acre, and the log cabin, which contained
but one room eighteen by eighteen feet, and was the home of the family
for many years, stood on the banks of the Kickapoo river. The Indians
were plentiful in those days, but very seldom molested the settlers, on
the whole being even good neighbors.' On this place the parents
spent the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1877, aged
seventy one years, and the mother in 1839, at the age of twenty seven
years.
The boyhood days of our subject were spent upon the
home farm and his
early education was obtained in the primitive log school-house, the
same being supplemented by a course of study at Thorntown Academy. On
the breaking out of the civil war Mr. Little, then a young man of
twenty three, was among the first to respond to the call of President
Lincoln for volunteers, and in September, 1861, enlisted as a
three years man, being assigned to Company D, Tenth Indiana Volunteer
Infantry. He took part in many of the noted battles, among them being
Mill Springs, Kentucky, Perryville, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Resaca
and Kenesaw mountain. From Mill Springs his regiment went to Atlanta
and from there was sent back to Marietta, Georgia, and he received
his honorable discharge at Indianapolis, September 20,
1864. He was promoted to be corporal of his company,
and his record throughout his service was that of a brave and faithful
soldier.
He was wounded at the battle of Mill Springs by a mine ball but
escaped serious injury.
After his return home from the army Mr. Little
taught school the
following winter and in 1865 moved to the farm which he now
occupies and which comprises two hundred and eighty eight acres, on
sections 22 and 27. He carried on general farming and stock raising and
has been successful in his enterprises.
Mr. Little was married May 23, 1865, to Miss Mary
Hargrave, who died in
1875. They had four children, George, Annie, Carrie and Leila. George
and Annie are deceased. His second wife was Miss Ella Hargrave, to whom
he was married in 1876, and they have two children, William O. and
Richard H.
Mr. Little was elected to the state legislature on
the Republican
ticket in the fall of 1876 and served one term. He filled the position
with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his
constituents. Socially he is a member of Green Hill Lodge, No. 455, F.
& A. M., senior warden of the Knights of Honor at Attica, Indiana,
and belongs to George D. Wagner Post, No. 365, G. A. R., at Pine
Village. He is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in
whose work he takes an active part.
GEORGE W. LOGAN
One of the enterprising and prosperous farmers of
Steuben township,
Warren county, is George W. Logan, one of Indiana's native sons, his
birth having occurred in Rush county, July 29, 1843. His parents, John
and Mary Jane Logan, were born and reared in Kentucky, and for many
years were numbered among the substantial agriculturists of this county.
The Logan family was well represented in the war of the Rebellion, on
the Union side, as George W. of this sketch, and his brothers, Hugh T.
and John, and his brother-in-law, William Jones, were all members of
the celebrated Eighty eighth Indiana Regiment of Volunteer
Infantry, belonging to Company D, all enlisting on the same day, July
2, 1862. Two of the brave boys never returned, but
their lives were offered up on the altar of
our country's safety and preservation. Hugh T. was killed at the fierce
battle of Stone river, and John encountered death in the battle of
Jonesboro, near Atlanta, Georgia. During the battle of Prairieville
George W. Logan was wounded, a bullet penetrating his left arm below
the elbow; and in the terrible conflict at Kenesaw mountain, where
he was in the thickest of the fight, he was so severely wounded in the
left foot that an amputation of the large toe was necessary. With his
regiment he participated in many of the most important engagements of
the war, including the battles of Stone river, Chickamauga, Missionary
Ridge, Resaca, Adairsville and siege of Dallas. The Eighty eighth was
one of the finest and most gallant regiments which Indiana contributed
to the Union, and this regiment it was that planted the stars and
stripes of victory on the brow of Missionary Ridge, after the
Confederates had been driven from their position there. After the
injury to his foot Mr. Logan was given honorable discharge, as he was
thus incapacitated for further service.
Returning home, the young hero of many a southern
battlefield encounter
with the enemy, settled down to the quiet routine of life on the farm,
and industriously and perseveringly toiled to acquire a comfortable
home and assured income for his little family. For his companion and
helpmate along the journey of life he chose Miss Elizabeth J. Powell.
They had seven children attaining maturity. Two of their elder
sons, Charles and Alvah, promptly responded to their country's call (as
their father had done more than a third of a century before), in the
late Spanish American war. Charles enlisted in Battery A, at Danville,
Illinois, and Alvah was identified with the Second Nebraska Regiment.
The younger children, named in the order of birth, are Anna, Clifford,
William, Hugh and Sarah. Mrs. Logan died March 24, 1891, and Mr. Logan,
on August 12, 1896, married for his second wife, Miss Cora Dell Riser,
daughter of Marion and Mary (Van Pelt) Riser, of Steuben
township. Mr. Logan is a Republican in politics.
REUBEN GROSCOST
The blood of both the north and the south flows in
the veins of Reuben
Groscost, of Jordan township, Warren county; but when the war of the
Rebellion came on he did not hesitate, but enrolled himself among the
brave patriots who were ready to do all and dare all, that the Union
might be preserved. It fell to his lot to be in some of the most
thrilling and important campaigns of the dreadful strife which ensued,
but he never wavered in the discharge of his duty, and stood at his
post as long as his brave spirit could hold the mastery over his mortal
frame.
Born in Columbus, Indiana, October 10, 1840, Reuben
Groscost is a son
of Jacob and Martha (Mitchell) Groscost, the father a native of Ohio
and the mother a native of Virginia. On the 2d of August, 1862, Reuben
Groscost enlisted as a member of Company A, Ninety third Regiment of
Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years or until the
close of the war. Among the numerous important campaigns and battles in
which he participated were the two battles of Jackson, Mississippi, and
the memorable siege of Vicksburg, one of the most noted sieges in
the world's history. It continued through a period of thirty seven
days, and for all but ten days of this time Mr. Groscost was with his
regiment in the trenches, in front of the doomed city, and he was one
of those who made the brilliant and daring charge upon the enemy's
works, a brilliant but unsuccessful movement. During the last ten
days of the siege he with his regiment was stationed on the shore of
Black river, where a portion of the Union forces were retained, in
order to prevent General Johnston, the Confederate officer, from
joining Pemberton in Vicksburg with reinforcements. After the
surrender of Vicksburg Mr. Groscost and his comrades were sent in
pursuit of General Johnston, going to Jackson, Mississippi, and thence
on transports to Memphis, Tennessee. In the last named city the
regiment was left for some time, while it was recruited, its ranks
having become much depleted by the fearful battles and campaigns
through which it had passed and in which it had borne a part so
meritorious. Next it was sent in pursuit of Price, through Arkansas and
Missouri, and when returning to St. Louis Mr. Groscost succumbed
to severe illness and was admitted to the general hospital at Benton
Barracks, there receiving his honorable discharge from the army, May
17, 1865. He had managed to escape wounds, but his health was more or
less impaired for a long time.
For his companion and helpmate along life's journey Mr. Groscost chose
Miss Nancy J. Hamblen, and their marriage took place February 20, 1869.
Mrs. Groscost was born in Brown county, Indiana, and is a daughter of
Jesse Hamblen, an early settler of that region. Five children have
blessed the union of our subject and wife, namely: Martha, Effie,
Bertha, Jesse and Stella.
The main occupation in which Mr. Groscost has been
engaged is that of
farming and stock raising, and in this he has been quite successful.
After his return from the war he lived in Bartholomew county, and
subsequently in Fountain county, Indiana. In February, 1894, he removed
to this county, and here he intends to make a permanent home. He has
won the respect of the people of every community in which he has dwelt,
and has faithfully met every requirement devolving upon him as a
citizen. In his political views he holds with the Republican party.
J.
FLETCHER WOOD
One of the trustees of Pike township, Warren county,
is he whose name
stands at the head of this brief tribute to his worth. He now owns and
manages the old homestead on which he was born, which property has been
in possession of his family for seventy years.
Samuel Wood, the father of J. F. Wood, was born in Muskingum
county, Ohio, in the year 1800, and in 1828 came to Warren county.
He was then unmarried and made his home with a relative, James Ireland,
whom he had accompanied to this state. Mr. Wood entered a tract of
land, the identical property now owned by our subject, and in 1831
he brought his bride to a humble home which he had built in the
wilderness. But few settlers inhabited the country and wolves and
other wild game were very plentiful, and almost unmolested by their
enemy, man. The wife, Rebecca (Hopkins) Wood, whose birth had occurred,
in 1812, in Ohio, from which state she had come to Fountain county,
Indiana, with her parents, was a typical frontiers-woman, brave
and hardy, industrious and capable. She passed to her reward some years
prior to the death of her husband, her death taking place in 1864,
while he lived until 1883. He married a second time, but had no
children by that union. Samuel Wood and wife are well remembered by the
few old neighbors and associates of their pioneer days who remain, and
they agree with one accord in their verdict that this honored couple
were sterling characters, consistent members of the Methodist church,
kind friends, loyal toward God and just toward man. By hard labor they
cleared a good homestead, and left to their posterity an unsullied
name and record, more precious
than gold. Of their large family but two survive, our subject and Mrs.
Mary Miller, of Chicago. Those who lived to maturity and have entered
the silent land are Elizabeth, William, Jane and Sarah.
J. Fletcher Wood was born October 21, 1848, and has
always lived in
this immediate vicinity. Upon the death of his father he removed to the
old homestead, and has since operated it with the ability and
thoroughness which are among his distinctive traits. In politics
he is a loyal Republican, and fraternally he is identified with
the Knights of Pythias. He was elected to serve as one of the trustees
of this township in 1895, and has exercised the same good judgment
in public affairs as he has always manifested in his own finances. He
and his family are members of the Christian church, and are actively
engaged in religious and charitable work along many lines of practical
endeavor.
On the 20th of March, 1872, Mr. Wood married Miss
Harriet F. James, who
was born December 12, 1851. They have six children, namely: Nellie,
Minnie, Grace, Ethel, Russell and Dorothy. Mrs. Wood is one of twelve
children, four of whom are now living: Wesley, of Alvin, Illinois; Mrs.
Elizabeth Hall, wife of James C. Hall; Addie, wife of S. F. French; and
Harriet F. The parents, Hugh and Eliza James, were early settlers of
Warren county, coming here in 1830, and the following year taking up
their abode in Pike township. The father died the year that Mrs. Wood
was born, and his widow later became the wife of Joseph Davis. They had
one child, Emma, who married T. H. Salts. Mrs. Eliza (James) Davis was
born in 1813, and passed her last years at the homes of her children,
her death occurring in January, 1898.
RUFUS PRIBBLE
A veteran of the Mexican war and a life-long
resident of the section of Indiana in which he now dwells, Rufus
Pribble is one of the pioneers of western Indiana, and few men are
better known hereabouts than he. It has been his good fortune to travel
extensively and to see much of this wonderful country; and it would be
hard to find a man better posted and more entertaining as a
conversationalist. His experiences in life have been very diversified
and full of interest at some periods, but many decades have been spent
by him in the quiet routine of agriculture, in which calling he has
been prospered.
Bernard Pribble, the father of our subject, was born
in Virginia in 1785 and grew to maturity in that state. He then went to
Kentucky, where he met and married Amelia Carr, and soon afterward the
young couple removed to Circleville, Ohio. For many years Bernard
Pribble was engaged in flat boating down the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, this being prior to the era of the steamboat. He made no less
than thirteen trips to New Orleans on flat-boats and each time returned
the whole distance on foot! After coming to Fountain county, Indiana,
he made about as many more voyages to the Crescent City, taking
provisions and supplies, for which he found a ready market in the
south. He established a ferry at Portland, Indiana, and, it being on
the regular route of emigrants going westward, he derived a good income
from this source. He owned and operated the ferry until his death, in
1839, and his heirs then managed it until the building of a bridge
across the Wabash at Covington diverted the travel to that point.
Bernard Pribble bought and improved land on both sides of the river,
and was noted for his energetic business methods. His wife survived him
some fifteen years, and eight of their children grew to maturity. Two
of the five sons and one of the three daughters are yet living. Silas,
the eldest, is a resident of Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin. Gabrielle,
the daughter, is the widow of Charles Hansicker.
Rufus Pribble was born at Portland, Fountain county,
only about half a mile from his present home, September 24, 1828. At
the age of sixteen years he went to Covington, Indiana, and there
learned the tailor's trade, which business he followed for ten or
twelve years. In 1846 he enlisted in Company D, First Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, his captain being Robert M. Evans. This was one of the three
regiments which this state raised for the Mexican war, and Mr. Pribble
served for a year, the whole term of his enlistment. After his return
home he resumed work at his trade. In 1850 he went to California with
the gold seekers, and after crossing the Missouri river was one hundred
days on the trip across the plains. Upon arriving in the Golden state
he at once went to Coloma, where Captain Sutter's employee had first
discovered gold, and in fact he worked in the identical race where the
precious metal had first been found. He and his companions made about
sixteen dollars a day, but at the end of a week concluded to search for
more profitable diggings. They went thence to Nevada City and worked at
various places, but chiefly at Stony Point, on the north branch of the
middle fork of the American river. After an absence
of three and a half years Mr. Pribble returned home, by way of the
isthmus of Panama. He then made his home for many years on the old farm
which had been the scene of his boyhood days, and the rest of his life
he has either resided in West Lebanon or on his farm in Pike township,
Warren county, where he is today. Always very fond of travel, he was
one of the "Pilgrims" so often referred to in this work, who in the
fall of 1891 made their memorable tour through the western states,
having a most enjoyable time. Mr. Pribble then visited the identical
spot where he had delved for gold forty years before and found men
working the same mine and even the same shaft that he had formerly
used. He has been a patriotic citizen and has given his allegiance to
the Republican party since Lincoln's first election.
In 1856 Mr. Pribble married Prudence Porter, who was
born twenty years before in a cabin only a few rods distant from her
present home. Her father, Elias Porter, passed away many years ago, but
her mother, now in her eighty fourth year, lives with her. One son and
two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pribble: Florence, who married
Frank McBroom and is deceased; Bertha, who is the wife of J. W. Rhodes
and resides in Chicago; and William, the only son, who married Miss
Laura Lake and lives on the old homestead, which he is managing with
ability.
