WHITE COUNTY INDIANA
PIONEER
NAMES STILL FOUND IN THE
BURNETTSVILLE COMMUNITY
A few pioneers are still living in
the community or are represented by descendants carrying the names.
Buford Banta came from Kentucky in time to have four sons shoulder
muskets in the Civil War. They were John. William. Henry, and Benjamin.
Caleb, who died recently at the age of four score and ten. was a son by
a
second and
late marriage and an infant when the war began. Two brick houses across
the road from each other in the Curveton neighborhood were built by the
Bantas. A grandson of Buford Banta, Caleb's only son, George Banta,
carries the
name so far only, as his children are all daughters.
Thomas V. Barnes, living on the land entered by his grandfather.
"Tommy" Barnes, south of Burnettsvile. is the local survivor of a very
old
pioneer family. He is a son of William Barnes. His uncle. Robert
Barnes, never married.
The Buchanan family is represented by J.J
Buchanan of Burnettsville.
Mrs. Buchanan is also the descendant of pioneers. Her grandfather was
Richard Davis.
Richard Chilcott with four sons, Amos, Benjamin, Henry, and John, all
of whom served in the Civil War, established the Chilcott family in
Cass
and White counties. Amos was the only son to live in Burnettsville
continuously
until his
death. He had six daughters and one son, Charles, deceased. Ernest
Chilcott, mail carrier, Burnettsville. is a son of the later.
George
and James Duffey are the only survivors of this pioneer family,
who live in Burnettsville, to carry the name. The former is cashier of
the
State Bank of Burnettsville, the latter is a construction contractor
for thirty
years in Miami, Florida.
Elijah Eldridge was one of the 1830's pioneers. The family became quite
extended. Frank Eldridge with his big, flowing black mustache and bass
voice was a leader in singing groups that flourished in the era of
barbershop
quartets. John Eldridge, who lived and died on his farm adjoining the
Barnes
homestead south of town, was one of the few prohibitionists of his
time. He was
active to the extent of distributing tracts on the subject. An
accidental death
prevented him from realizing his fondest hopes as it occurred before
the passage
of a constitutional amendment banning liquor in every state. His son,
T.E.
(Ed) Eldridge, lives on the old home place and doesn't lack much of
qualifying as a pioneer in his own right with a residence of seventy
five years in one
spot.
The Frys, born sawmill men, constituted a large family grouped a few
miles south of town about the Fry sawmill, the group known as Frytown.
Answering the roll call were Frank. George, John, Joseph. Jonah, and
Marion, the
last, a farmer. Quincy Fry of Burnettsville is a son of Marion and Mrs.
Walter
McBeth (Fuye Fry) of Royal Center, a daughter of Frank Fry.
Dr. Jesse Galbreath is the representative of the large pioneer family
of that name. His father lived east of town on the border of Lake
Cicott.
Another branch of the family settled north of Burnettsville.
William Gardner, who lives on the farm adjoining Burnettsville on the
south-west, where he has produced tons of pork and other foodstuffs
annually
for about sixty years, must rate as a pioneer himself at something like
eighty years of Burnettsville citizenship, while his father and mother
had preceded
him in that distinction by a generation.
David Graham and his four sons. Woods, Frank, Samuel and Robert,
counted two generations of pioneers. Robert and Samuel left the home
town, the
latter with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Logansport where in
time he
became train dispatcher. He had no children and none of Woods Graham's
has survived. Virden Graham, Burnettsville postmaster, is a son of
Frank
Graham.
Delbert M. Hatton, Burnettsville and Monticello plumbing
contractor,
whose father died when the two sons, Del and George, were quite young,
has
pioneered the name through four fifths of the town's century, and holds
forth, hale
and hearty, and looks much the same as then, in the home which he built
near the business section fifty years ago. If good citizenship awards
are
made, the committee on awards need look no further.
The name of Heiney represents three generations of pioneers. Jonathan
Heiney and wife, who was a sister of Any Irelan, were the parents of a
dozen
children of whom James and Mrs. Annette Herman, third generation
pioneers, both
over ninety, live about a block apart in Burnettsville.
The Johnsonbaugh family dating from "Uncle Henry," who had three sons,
Ira, John, and Sanford, the latter a long time businessman of
Monticello, has at least one third generation pioneer living, in the
person of Charles
Johnsonbaugh, a farmer in the Burnettsville vicinity all his years
going back to the
sixties. He belonged to the old Burnettsville band which was the town's
pride in
the eighties and has not missed a local farmers' institute in its fifty
years of
sessions.
Mrs. Frank Morris (Gaile Johnsonbaugh) is a daughter of Sanford
Johnsonbaugh, an uncle of Charles who was one of Ira's sons.
The three Mertz brothers, Daniel, George, and Peter, were almost
cornerstones of Burnettsville, literally and figuratively, as their
farms
surrounded it on two sides, east and north. These pioneers were among
the community's most progressive farmers and cattlemen. Milt Mertz, 80,
son of Daniel
is the only one of the numerous sons of the brothers to stick to the
home
fires right straight through. He is a faithful representative of the
splendid
traditions of his family, of the pioneer spirit, and of the best
interests of his
community and country. He lives in Burnettsville but operates the Mertz
farms, part
of one of which is within the corporate boundaries.
Earl Perkins, Burnettsville, section foreman, and his sister, Mrs.
Braskett (Maggie Perkins), represent two pioneer families. On the
Perkins side
were veterans of the Civil War and on the mother's, the Bishops who
were in
the 1830's arrivals. Peter Bishop, Sr., was their grandfather.
Roy Personett is of the third generation of that family. His father was
Marshall (Marsh) Personett, prominent farmer and water melon expert
from north of town. Two pioneer families are combined here. Mrs.
Personett is a
daughter of William Lontz, brother of Simon, AI, John, and Samuel.
Russell Reiff, son of Milt K. Reiff, a former trustee of Jackson
township, occupies the Reiff homestead northwest of town and is well
known as a
scientific farmer and stockman, taking up where his father left off and
fully sustaining the reputation of the pioneer Reiffs as thrifty,
successful
agriculturists. Minnie Reiff, a sister, is a registered nurse and lives
in Burnettsville.
Elton Shafer, around the four score mark, is a third generation
pioneer. His grandfather was a first settler on the north side of the
Carroll County
line in White County and his father an Adams township pioneer on the
south side
of the line. Elton has lived in the town of Burnettsville most of his
adult life.
Jacob Showalter, whose farm adjoined the town on the
northwest, was one
of the organizers and a director of a co-operative creamery which was
built on the corner across from the present Christian church. The
enterprise
flourished for a time but could not withstand the impact of the
financial crisis of
the nineties and finally suspended operation. The building was razed.
Sam and John Showalter were his sons. Charles Showalter of
Burnettsville is Sam's
son.
The Tedford family, founded by Newton Tedford, was well
represented in the early pioneer days as there were.five sons of the
second
generation. Alonzo, the only son to remain permanently in the
community, lived on a farm
halfway between Burnettsville and Idaville. His wife was a daughter of
Henry Johnsonbaugh. Their son, Dalton, occupies the homestead and is
well
known in farming circles.
The Townsley name goes back to the first settlements in the
Burnettsville vicinity. William and Samuel, brothers, located a few
miles south of
the site of the town. The former's life was spent in the same spot
while Samuel
bought a farm a mile Southwest of town where he lived until his
retirement and
removal to Burnettsville. Samuel had no children but William reared a
large
family which included Newton Townsley, the eldest of the family.
Newton's son,
A.O. (Art) lives in Burnettsville where with his son, Wayne, he
conducts a
lumber and building materials business. Mrs. Townsley is a daughter of
a
pioneer, the late Hiram Beshour.
Many of the families, as shown above, belonged both to Burnettsville
and Idaville communities. This was especially true of the Barnes,
Coble,
Gibson, Henderson, Marvin, Small, Tarn, Timmons, and Townsley families.
The name Timmons was found from the Wabash River below Lockport,
through Burnettsville and Idaville, and northward from those towns.
John Green Timmons represented the district in the state legislature in
the
eighties or early nineties. J.D. (Jake) Timmons moved from Idaville to
Monticello where he was connected with a bank and was prominent in
financial circles. The
late Wilbur Timmons served as township trustee.
White County Democrat, 17 June 1954, p. 9.
By Guy C. Hanna
Originally Published in The Hoosier Genealogist Vol 39 No 2 June 1999