tablished his residence on section 15, Clinton Township. He bought 160 acres of land which was covered with a heavy growth of timber and with his limited means the work of clearing and improving it depended upon his determination to succeed in spite of all obstacles, as time went he invested his earnings in land until he was the owner of 810 acres, nearly all of which is in one tract, and the most of it in cultivated fields or in pasture land, only about sixty acres being reserved for timber. A portion has been given to his children, but he still retains 485 acres, divided into three farms which are leased. He also has several residence lots in Clinton, three of which are improved and occupied by tenants. January 5, 1882, Mr. Scott moved to Clinton, and is now living on West street where he has a fine residence, and has settled down to enjoy the fruits of his many years of toil and hardship. Mr. Scott was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, February 17, 1823, a son of Joseph and Rebecca (Cruson) Scott, his father a native of Fleming County, Kentucky, born September 30, 1797, and his mother born near Manchester, Ohio. They were married in Ohio, where the father had lived from the age of eleven years. The mother died at the age of forty-six years, the father surviving her many years and dying at the age of seventy-five years. to them were born nine children who lived till maturity, but five of whom are living -- John, Joseph, Matthew W., Mary A. and Asenath. Matthew was the fifth of the family. He was reared to the vocation of a farmer, which he has followed through life, and by his industious habits and perservering energy has met with good success. He has shipped considerable stock to Chicago, and also shipped some to Cincinnati and Indianapolis. He made two trips on the Mississippi River in the years of 1842-'43; and on October 11 and 12, 1846, he was in Chicago with horses for sale. He then walked from Chicago to Greencastle, in three days. He remained at home until twenty years of age, when he went to Putnam County, Indiana, and remained three and a half years, when he moved to Vermillion County. Mr. Scott was married in Putnam County, March 10, 1847, to Miss Mary Mann, a native of that county, born July 9, 1829, a daughter of Levi Mann. To Mr. and Mrs. Scott have been born eight children, three sons and five daughters -- Mrs. Elizabeth Mann, of Clinton; Mrs. Arabelle McClain, of Lawrence County, Missouri; Leonard D., of Vigo County, Indiana; Levi S., who lives on the old homestead on section 15, Clinton Township; Mrs. Hannah Moss, of Greene County, Indiana; Dollie; Matthew M., junior member of the firm Edwards & Scott, dealers in boots and shoes, Clinton, and deputy postmaster, and Gertrude, who is the youngest. Mr. Scott is a public-spirited man and takes an especial interest in the cause of education, giving his children the advantages of the best schools. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.
FREDERICK WALTER, a prominent and enterprising farmer of Clinton township, residing on section 17, was born near Worth, in Alsace, France, now a province of Germany, the date of his birth being November 13, 1834. His parents, Michael and Louisa Walter, were natives of Germany. When the subject of this sketch was a child of three years, they came to the United States, and made their home in Erie County, New York, ten miles east of Buffalo, where they spent the rest of their lives, the
father dying in his forty-ninth year in July, 1844, and the mother dying in 1855, aged fifty-five years. Four of their children lived to maturity -- Mrs. Magdalena Clouse, now residing in Kansas; Frederick, whose name heads this sketch; Jacob, who died at the home of our subject in 1859, and Mrs. Louisa Taylor, living in Clinton Township. Frederick Walter was reared to agricultural pursuits, and has always followed the avocation of a farmer. He was married in Erie County, New York, in September, 1854, to Miss Sarah Kinsley, who was born in Germany September 15, 1836, but reared from childhood in the State of New York. Her parents embarked with their family for America in the year 1844, her mother dying on the voyage, and was buried in the ocean. Her father settled in New York State where he was again married. He died in Erie County, that State, in 1860, leaving his children to the care of their step-mother. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Walter seven are living -- Mrs. Louisa S. Foltz, Charles F., John F., George W., Effie E., Julia and Richard. The younger children are at home with their parents, and none live far from the parental roof. The children deceased are William, who died aged one year and ten months; Cora, aged nine years, and a daughter who died in infancy. John F. has been blind since seven years of age, and is now a vigorous man. He is successfully engaged in the manufacture of brooms, and has his workshop near his father's house, and few men are more skilled in their work or better able to go about the country, buying material or selling their wares. Mr. Walter came with his vamily to Vermillion County, Indiana, in the spring of 1857, and April 14 of the same year settled on the land which they now occupy, the place being one of the early pioneer homes of the county, formerly owned and occupied by Judge Charles Porter. Mr. Walter also brought with him to the county his youngest brother and sister, for whom he cared after their mother's death until they reached maturity. When Mr. Walter settled on his homestead, the property having been so long neglected and unoccupied, was almost in a state of its natural wildness. His capital then consisted of $350, with which he purchased forty acres of his land, which he at once began to clear and improve, having no stock or team to assist him in the work. With the aid of his excellent wife, and by his own industry and energy, combined with habits of economy, he has acquired a good property, his homestead of 130 acres being now one of the finest and best cared for farms in this part of Clinton Township. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist church, and among the respected citizens of Clinton Township. In politics he is an ardent Republican.
JAMES C. SAWYER, one of the leading lawyers of Vermillion County, and a member of the law firm of Conley & Sawyer, of Newport, is a native of Indiana, born in Hendricks County, September 8, 1848. When he was quite young his father, John Sawyer, died, and at the age of sixteen years he began life for himself, working on a farm during the summer months, and in the winters attending school. Being thrown upon his own resources at an early age, and desirous of obtaining an education with but little opportunity for instruction, he early acquired habits of industry and perservering energy. At the age of eighteen years, by studiously improving such opportunities as were attainable, he had qualified himself to teach a country school, and for some time followed