Pleasant M. Adamson Pleasant M. Adamson was born in Dalton Township, Wayne Co., Ind., Dec. 25, 1830, a son of Aaron and Sarah (Milman) Adamson, his father a native of Tennessee and his mother of Ohio. His parents both died when he was nine years old and he went to Marshall County, Ind., to live with an older sister, remaining there till he was twenty years old. He then returned to Wayne County. Feb. 10, 1852, he was married to Lucinda, daughter of Nicholas and Rosa (Petty) Shaw. He soon after went to Delaware County, Ind., and four years later came again to Wayne County and bought his present farm. He owns eighty-six and a half acres of fine well-improved land. Mr. and Mrs. Adamson are members of the United Brethren church. Politically he is a Republican. Source: History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, Perry Township, page 692 Joseph P. Addleman Joseph P. Addleman was born Sept. 6, 1819, in Chester County, Pa., a son of John M. and Sarah (Whitaker) Addleman, the former born April 14, 1790, and the latter in 1796. His parents were married Nov. 24, 1813, and when he was seven years old moved to Wayne County, where he was reared on a frontier farm and educated at the subscription schools. He was married July 10, 1845, to Catherine, daughter of Jesse and Ellen Townsend, early pioneers of Wayne County. They have had six children, of whom only two survive---Thomas J. and Charles A. The deceased are---Milton D., Samantha Jane, Jesse w. and Ida. After his marriage he lived on a farm four years, after which he carried on the mercantile business in Whitewater for seven years. In 1861 he removed to the farm where his grandfather settled in 1828, where he followed agricultural pursuits with success, and now has a fine farm of 178 acres of well-cultivated land. His great-grandfather, John Michel Addleman, was born Sept. 15, 1723, a son of Martin Addleman, and came from Germany to American, May 24, 1752, because of the law forbidding his marriage with the lady of his choice, whom he married on board the ship. Having no money, his services were sold to pay for their passage here. He worked at the shoemaker's trade in Philadelphia till the debt was paid, after which he followed farming in Chester County, Pa., the rest of his life. His second son, Joseph, married Sarah Pierce by whom he had ten children. In 1826 his children ---John M., Caleb and Orpha (now wife of Isaac Pyle), came to Wayne County, Ind., and Joseph settled on what is known as the Addleman farm in Franklin Township, which is now owned by our subject. Here he passed the remainder of his days. His son John M. settled one and a half miles northwest of Whitewater where he lived till 1856 when he removed to the village of Whitewater, where he died, aged eighty-three years. His wife died about ten days later aged seventy years. They were active members of the Episcopal church. They were the parents of thirteen children, eight of whom survive, seven living in this county and one in Randolph County, Ind. John M. in connection with his farming pursuits worked at masonry, carpentering and coopering. He was Justice of the Peace eight years. William, the youngest son of Joseph Addleman, was elected to the Legislature from Wayne County, Ind. Ezekiel Aiken Ezekiel Aikin, deceased, was born in 1812, in County Donegal, Ireland, and when quite a child came to America with an uncle. He lived in Wilmington, Del., where he learned his trade, and was there married to Elizabeth Porter, who was born in Ireland in 1827. They were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are still living. He came West with his family and first settled in Ohio on the State line, and worked in the mills of Richmond, and finally settled in Richmond, where he died in 1881. He was foreman of the woolen mill for quite a while, and later became proprietor of the mill. In the latter part of his life he joined the Presbyterian church, to which his widow and most of his family belong. His son, James p. Aikin, was born and reared in Wayne County. He learned his trade in the Fleecy Date Woolen mills, and is now Superintendent of the same. History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, City of Richmond, page 154. W. W. Alexander W.W. Alexander is a native of Camden, Preble Co., Ohio of Irish ancestry. He was reared in his native county and enlisted in the late war, on the first call for volunteers, in the Twentieth Ohio Infantry. He afterward enlisted in the Thirteenth Missouri Infantry, which was afterward changed to the Twenty-second Ohio Infantry, serving in said company three years. He came to Richmond in the fall of 1864, and immediately became connected with the Volunteer Fire Department, being Foreman of the hose part of the time. Since its organization as pay deparment (sic) he has served in minute department until his election as Chief, in 1879, since which he has held that position by being annually re-elected. The company is well organized and managed, and as Chief of the Fire Department Mr. Alexander has shown his efficiency. Source: History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, City of Richmond, page 154 John Allen John Allen, second son of Hugh and Mary (Brooks) Allen, was born April 2, 1819, in Montgomery County, Ohio, and in 1821 his parents moved to Wayne County, Ind., locating in Jefferson Township. His father purchased eighty acres of uncultivated land and followed farming through life. He reared a family of eight children---Elizabeth (deceased), Jacob, John, Mason, Mary A., Marion (deceased), Thomas and Caroline (deceased). The father accumulated a good property, and died at the age of fifty-six years. His widow died at the age of seventy years. John received a good education at the subscription schools and worked on his father's farm till he grew to manhood, when he farmed on rented land one year. He then purchased seventy acres and has since been very successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. He owns 450 acres of fine land in Clay Township, worth $70 per acre, and has also considerable personal property and cash. He is also a stockholder in the Citizens' Bank of Hagerstown, of which he was one of the incoporators and also a director while it was doing business. He was married in October, 1843, to Mary, daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Martindale, of Wayne County. They have had five children-Hugh, died at the age of eighteen years; Martha, wife of E.S. Bunnel, of Clay Township; Franklin P; an infant daughter (deceased), and Etta, who died when two years old. Mr. Allen and wife are members of the Baptist church. His grandfather, Hugh Allen, was a native of Ireland, and his maternal ancestors were from Virginia. His father, Hugh Allen, was born in Kentucky and afterward moved with his parents to Montgomery County, Ohio, where he was married. Mrs. Allen's parents reared five children---Mary, Elizabeth (deceased), Martha, Julia A. and Thomas J. (deceased). Mr. Martindale died when fifty-four years of age. His wife is still living, in her eighty-first year. Source: History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, Clay Township, page 377 Mahlon Arnett Mahlon Arnett, youngest son of Willis and Elizabeth (Mendenhall) Arnett, was born Aug., 30 1833, in New Garden Township, Wayne Co., Ind. He resided with his father till he was nineteen years of age, after which he engaged in farming in his native township until 1858. He then purchased a saw-mill, in what is now Webster Township, which he operated for three years, when he removed to Ohio and followed farming for a time, after which he dealt in beef and poultry. In the spring of 1861 he returned to the old homestead, where he resided till 1868. He then carried on the grocery business in Richmond for two years, after which he again engaged in farming on the homestead till 1880. He again embarked in the grocery trade at Richmond, which he followed one year. He then opened a store in Fountain City, where he has since carried on the business. Feb. 19, 1854, he was married to Elizabeth Talbot, of Preble County, Ohio, by whom he had six children---Ella, Della Minnie, Charles, Willis (deceased) and Luther. Mrs. Arnett died Dec. 6, 1883. Source: History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, New Garden Township, page 639 Willis Arnett Willis Arnett, deceased, is a native of North Carolina, and was married in his native State to Elizabeth Mendenhall, a daughter of Jonathan Mendenhall, who was one of the first settlers of Wayne County. In the fall of 1829 our subject came to Wayne County, Ind., and followed agricultural pursuits in New Garden Township, till his death. Mrs. Arnett died in 1868. To this union were born seven children, only three still living. About a year and a half after his wife's death Mr. Arnett was married to Nancy (Scott) Hockett, widow of Nathan Hockett. Mr. Arnett's death occurred in September, 1868. He was a member of the society of Friends. History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, New Garden Township, page 639 & 640 John O. Austin John O. Austin is a native of Montgomery Co., Md., born March 29, 1807, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Offord) Austin. His parents moved to the District of Columbia when he was quite young, and kept a hotel in Georgetown. When he was ten years of age they moved to the Shenandoah Valley, where he grew to manhood. They afterward moved to Hamilton County, Ohio, where the father died in 1829. Of ten children, John O. and a sister living in Union Co., Ind., are the only ones living. John O. Austin learned the shoemaker's trade when a young man, at which he worked over forty years. In 1830 he moved to Richmond, remaining there till 1834. In 1832 he subscribed for the Palladium. While in Richmond he clerked in the dry-goods store of Theo. Sittle. In 1835 he went to Liberty, Union County, and soon after married Amy Rose, a native of Indiana, born in 1814, and a daughter of Abraham Rose. He located in Liberty, working at his trade in connection with farming. In the fall of 1871 he came to Wayne County, and bought the farm known as Jacob Brooks farm, consisting of 105 acres of find land with good farm buildings At present he lives rather a retired life, renting his farm to his sons. Mr. and Mrs. Austin are members of the Congregational church. Their children are five in number---Warren B., John R., Catherine (wife of P. S. Sutton), Brushrod W., and Garrie D., the latter deceased. Source: History of Wayne County, Indiana, Volume II, 1884, Centre Township, page 323 & 324
