Among the pioneers of White County, Richard Imes must not be forgotten. Born in Pennsylvania in 1821, he, with his parents, moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where he married Mary Ann Orr, and to them were born eight children, only two of whom, Mrs. John Brannan and Mrs. Rolandus Smoker, survived him. He died September 17, 1895, after a long illness from a complication of diseases. He was an earnest worker in the Presbyterian Church and Sunday school, and at his funeral in the Bedford Cemetery each of the Sunday school children dropped a bunch of flowers upon his casket after it was lowered into the grave, to show their love and respect.
He whose name initiates this paragraph is a representative of the third generation of the Imler family in White County and is well upholding the prestige of a name that has been signally honored in connection with civic and industrial activities in this community. By virtue of the fact that on other pages of this volume is entered a memorial tribute to Mr. Imler's father, the late Reuben Imler, it is not necessary to repeat the data in the present article. In the Village of Sitka, in Liberty Township, Cassius D. Imler conducts a thriving general merchandise business, and the success of this enterprise rests securely upon adequate service, fair and honorable methods and the personal popularity of the progressive and energetic proprietor of the business.
On the old homestead farm in Liberty Township, where his widowed mother still resides, Cassius D. Imler was born on the 30th of July, 1880, and he early began to contribute his quota to the work of the home farm, the while he was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of the county. He continued his association with agricultural pursuits until he had attained to his legal majority, and he has since developed marked ability in connection with the mercantile business, in which he acquired practical experience prior to establishing his present independent enterprise in this line. In 1903 Mr. Imler was employed in the general store of Charles Frost, at Sitka, and in the following year he occupied a clerical position in the mercantile establishment of Marsh Brothers, at Burnettsville this county. For the ensuing five years he was again associated with the work and management of the home farm, after the death of his honored father, and on the 30th of October, 1912, about one year after his marriage, he purchased the general store of Pearl Frost, at Sitka, where he has since continued the business, the same having increased materially in scope and importance under his effective administration. Mr. Imler is essentially one of the representative citizens of his native township and is progressive and public-spirited in his civic attitude. Aligned as a staunch advocate and supporter of the principles of the democratic party, he has taken a lively interest in local affairs of public order and he is now serving with marked efficiency as township trustee, the duties of which position he assumed on the 1st of January, 1915. At Monticello Mr. Imler is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Missionary Baptist Church at Sitka, in which he is a teacher in the Sunday School.
On the 15th of February, 1911, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Imler to Miss Elizabeth Collins, who was born in Adams County, Ohio, August 23, 1876, a daughter of Francis E. and Julia Ann (Graham) Collins, in whose family were four children, one son and three daughters, of whom three are living: Lina, who is the wife of Harry Lucas, of Pontiac, Illinois, and a contractor; Mrs. Imler; and William, a resident of Buffalo, Indiana. Mr. Collins, the father, was a native of Ohio and an agriculturist. From Ohio he moved to Illinois in 1884, and after about twenty years in the latter state came to Monticello, White County, Indiana. He gave his political support to the republican party. Mrs. Collins, also a native of Ohio, died in August, 1909. She was a member of the Christian Union Church. Mrs. Imler supplemented her common school training by attendance at the Gibson City, Illinois, High School, of which she is a graduate, and by two terms at the Summer Normal at Normal, Illinois. She then became a successful teacher and taught eleven years in Ford County and three years in White County. The only child of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Imler is a daughter, Olive Ruth.
When mention is given to those families who were actively identified with the early development of White County, reference should be made to the Imlers, who were established in this part of Northwestern Indiana more than sixty years ago and whose names have been significant of the best qualities associated with the sturdy early settlers. While David Imler was a child when brought to the county he has himself spent nearly fifty years of honored and substantial manhood in this county and is a farmer and citizen who stands among the leaders in Liberty Township. He owns a valuable and well improved farm of 160 acres in section 14 of that township.
Born in Marion County, Ohio, December 1, 1848, a son of Henry and Hannah (Walters) Imler, he accompanied them to White County in 1851. The Imlers are of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and both the parents were born in this country and were married in Ohio. On coming to White County they located in that portion of Liberty Township where David Imler has long had his home. They bought eighty acres from William Connell and later preempted eighty acres direct from the Government. These two eighties comprise the farm which in its present state of development belongs to David Imler. Henry Imler was a man who possessed great energy and did much to improve his land, among other things carrying out an extended plan of ditching. He died about twenty years ago, while his wife was ninety-eight years old at the time of her death. Henry Imler was active in public affairs of a local nature and in politics a democrat. His wife was a member of the Presbyterian Church. Both are now at rest in the Indian Creek Cemetery. The three children living from the ten born to them are named David, Maria and Elizabeth.
The boyhood of David Imler was spent on the old farm, and that has been the center of his activities since his early years. He remained with his parents and gradually assumed many of the burdens and responsibilities of the farm management. During his active years he has profitably carried on general farming and stock raising, and has been prospered beyond the average. In politics he is a democrat and takes a good citizen's interest in affairs.
Since he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Imler has had the responsibilities of a family and thus he and his good wife have always been associated in creating their destiny. On December 20, 1871, Mr. Imler married Christyanna Smith, a daughter of Charles G. and Rieuann (Mattix) Smith. In the years that followed six children blessed their home: Samuel; Rebecca Ann, who married Jacob Hepp; Delilah, who married Charles Bell; Silas, deceased; one that died in infancy; and Loretta, deceased.
Reuben Imler was born in Marion County, Ohio, July 22, 1841, and died at his home in Liberty Township, White County, October 31, 1905. He located in White County in 1852 and enlisted in Company F, 128th Indiana Volunteers, in January, 1864, serving as corporal until April 10, 1866. He was married to Mary Baily, September 11, 1867. He left a widow and five children, Emma, Sylvester, Estella, Cassius and Ellen.
The late Reuben Imler was a resident of White County from childhood until the time of his death, which occurred on his fine homestead farm, in Liberty Township, on the 31st of October, 1905. He was a man of utmost rectitude and integrity, marked the passing years with worthy achievement and accounted well to himself and to the world in all the relations of life, so that he naturally held inviolable place in the confidence and good will of all who knew him. Further data concerning the family history is given on other pages of this work, in the sketch of the career of his brother, David Imler. He whose name initiates this memoir was man of deepest loyalty and patriotism, and he honored Indiana by his faithful and valiant service as a soldier of the Union in the Civil war.
Reuben Imler was a son of Henry and Hannah (Walters) Imler and was born in Marion County, Ohio, on the 22d of July, 1841, so that he was sixty-four years of age at the time of his death. The family removal from Ohio to Indiana occurred in 1852, when Reuben was a lad of eleven years, and settlement was made on a pioneer farm in Liberty Township, White County, where the subject of this memoir was reared to maturity and duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the period. He here continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he found his youthful patriotism roused to responsive protest and finally, on the 4th of January, 1864, enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued in active and efficient service until fully a year after the surrender of General Lee, his honorable discharge having been received April 10, 1866. He won promotion to the office of corporal and was discharged with this rank. The exposures and other hardships incidental to his military service made severe inroads on his constitution and he never fully regained his physical well-being. His continued interest in his old comrades in arms was shown by his active affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic, in the affairs of which he took an active part, his political allegiance having been given to the democratic party, but the only public office of which he consented to become the incumbent was that of township assessor, in which he served one term, in 1880. He was a consistent member of the Church of God, familiarly designated as the New Dunkard Church, and of the same his widow has long been a devoted adherent.
After the war Mr. Imler returned to White County and here the residue of his career was one of close and active identification with the basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing, in which connection he eventually became the owner of an excellent farm of forty acres, 2½ miles west of the Village of Sitka, where his widow still resides and retains the ownership of the property, the same having been brought into a high state of cultivation and equipped with the best of improved ments by Mr. Imler, who was known for his progressiveness and good judgment in the carrying forward of his farm operations. Mr. Imler was the incarnation of honesty and integrity of purpose, punctilious in meeting all financial obligations, and at the time of his death not a cent of indebtedness rested upon his estate.
On the 18th of September, 1867, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Imler to Miss Mary A. Bailey, who was born January 20, 1847, and who is a daughter of Nathan and Sarah Bailey, who came to White County in 1859, from Tippecanoe County, Mr. Bailey having become one of the substantial farmers of White County, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives.
In conclusion is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Imler: Margaret Emma is the wife of Sanford Luse, of Liberty Township, and they have one child; Clementine; Sylvester Francis, who is a resident of Steptoe, Whitman County, Washington, married Mahalia Rowan and they have four children,—Maria, Emma, Reuben and Alwilda; Estella Blanche is the wife of Philip Conwell, of Liberty Township, this county, and they have six children,—Clarence, Dale, Mildred, Cassius, Stanley and Margaret; Olive Clementine died when young; Cassius D. is individually mentioned on other pages of this publication; and Alwilda Ellen is the wife of Charles B. Wilson, of Honey Creek Township, this county, their three children being Enid E., Grace and Donna Blanche.
Reuben Imler was a man of broad human sympathies and was always ready to
aid those in affliction, and in their home he and his good wife reared
three children besides their own, besides giving fostering care to
several other children in indigent circumstances. He was a man of broad
mental ken and was a specially earnest student of the Bible. His remains
were laid to rest in the Warden Cemetery, in Liberty Township, and his
memory is held in lasting honor in the county where he long lived and
labored to goodly ends.
A White County citizen who has accomplished much for his own advantage and for the community during his forty years of residence in this locality is George T. Inskeep, one of the fortunate farmers of Union Township, where he has a large and well managed estate that represents to a considerable degree his substantial achievements since beginning life on his own account. Mr. Inskeep has also taken an active part in township and county affairs.
George T. Inskeep was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, March 12, 1852, a son of William and Julia M. (Turner) Inskeep. Just two months before his birth his father died, and a week before that the parents had lost their third child, George Fox Inskeep. William Inskeep was born in West Virginia, while his wife was a native of Ohio. The grandfather, also named William Inskeep, was a Virginia planter and slaveholder, and died in Virginia on the old homestead. George T. Inskeep is probably the only living resident of White County who ever inherited anything from slavery. He received $67 on the settlement of his grandfather's estate. William Inskeep, the father, located in Indiana in 1832. That was an early time, when Indians, deer and other wild game were in abundance; the prairies were broken in only a few spots, and the forests were uncleared and the swamps undrained. The home of the family in Tippecanoe County was secured from the Government and is still in possession of the family, having been owned by William J. and Marcus Inskeep, brothers of George T., until their death, both passing away within fourteen hours of each other. One of their sons now occupies and owns the old homestead.
George T. Inskeep received as good an education as was possible in his generation, attending the somewhat primitive country schools in his home locality, and afterwards spending one year in the noted old institution of higher learning, Wabash College. He lived at home with his mother and brothers until the age of twenty-two, and moved to White County in 1874. In 1888, on March 21, he married Mary F. Davisson, daughter of Josiah and Anna (Hoffman) Davisson. Her father was born in Preble County, and her mother in Darke County, Ohio. Mrs. Inskeep was the fifth in a family of seven children. Her people came to White County in 1854, and both her parents died in this locality. Mr. and Mrs. Inskeep are the parents of five children, all of them unmarried and all natives of White County, named as follows: Anna M., Marcus M., Harold, George A., and Frances Gertrude.
The first farm Mr. Inskeep settled upon when taking up independent work for himself was northwest of Chalmers in White County. The land was entirely wild, had no improvements, and the ground had never yet been broken by the plow, lying as it had lain for centuries. He thus was presented with an undertaking similar to that of the older generation of pioneers. In February, 1875, he started to build a house, a frame structure 26 feet square and built in the box-like manner that then prevailed. This old home is still standing. It was constructed under the greatest difficulties. He started the building in the dead of winter, at a time when the roads in that section were not yet cut through, and the lumber had to be hauled a distance of five miles over twelve inches of snow. While living on that farm Mr. Inskeep put in a great amount of ditching, and in many ways improved its value and fertility. It continued to be his home for seventeen years, and in 1892 he sold and bought his present place in Union Township. His new farm had some advantages over the first place, but the buildings were old and his individual work and management are responsible for the thrifty and comfortable appearance of his present farm. He has added to the older buildings, has constructed a comfortable new home, and has added unmeasurably to the value of the farm by laying about $3,000 worth of tiling. The farm comprises 263 acres, and is devoted to general crops and stock raising.
Mrs. Inskeep is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Inskeep is a Mason, and his political activities have all been in harmony with the republican party. He served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners of White County from 1900 to 1904, and from 1886 to 1888 was township trustee of Big Creek Township. He also served on the county council from 1906 to 1910. His fellow-citizens have complete confidence in his integrity, his competence as a business man, and in all the relations of an active life he has measured up to the best standards of good citizenship.
One of the fine country homesteads of Jackson Township is that owned by Thaddeus E. Ireland, situated half a mile southwest of Idaville. Mr. Ireland is one of the progressive farmers and citizens of White County and has lived in this locality about thirty years. His prosperity has been a matter of steady growth, and he is now comfortably situated and is the owner of 116 acres of fine land. Along with close attention to his private business affairs he has manifested a commendable degree of public spirit in community matters and is one of the leading democrats of his section of the county.
His family has been identified with Indiana nearly eighty years. His grandfather, Thomas Ireland, moved out front Greene County, Ohio, to Carroll County, Indiana, in 1836, and after living one year on what was known as the Dan Shafer farm entered 160 acres of land in section 8 of Adams Township. That is the old Ireland homestead, and has continued under that name ever since title was transferred from the Government. The Ireland family, in spite of the name, which is believed to be of French origin, is largely of German stock. The first of the name came from Germany to Pennsylvania with the religious society of Rappists. From Pennsylvania later members moved to Kentucky, then to Ohio, and finally to Indiana. Thomas Ireland married Mary Gettie, and they became the parents of nine children.
Samuel W. Ireland, father of Thaddeus E., was the sixth among these children, and was born in Greene County, Ohio, February 19, 1832. He was four years of age when he came to Indiana, and is now eighty-three years of age and still living on the old homestead which his father pre-empted in Carroll County. His life has been spent quietly but honorably in the vocation of agriculturist, and he has lived to see his children do him credit. He is a democrat in polities and in religious matters was at one time what was called a Seceder Presbyterian, but is now of the United Presbyterian faith. Samuel W. Ireland was married February 22, 1861 to Elizabeth Herman, daughter of John Herman, who was an early settler in Cass County, Indiana, coming from Shelby County, Ohio. Samuel Ireland was the father of seven children. Linnie A., the oldest, is the wife of Adam Hanna, and lives in Idaville. Thaddeus E. is the second in order of birth. J. Myron, who lives at Villisca, Iowa, married Hulda West, and their three children are Hazel, Ruby and Dale. Byron, who was a twin brother of Myron, died in infancy. Alpheus B., who lives in Cass County, Indiana, married Maggie Crowell, and their two children are named Gladys and Joseph. Bertha M., who lived with her sister, died July 12, 1915. Wilson B., the youngest, who now occupies a corner of the old homestead in Carroll County, married Margaret P. Rhodabaugh, and their family of five children are Linnie H., Elizabeth P., Josephine, Rachel and Paul W.
Thaddeus E. Ireland was born on the old homestead originally pre-empted by his grandfather in Carroll County, January 9, 1864. The years of his youth and early manhood were spent in his father's home, and there he learned the lessons of industry, while his education was secured in the common schools. On September 16, 1884, he married Mary A. Hanna, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Dimmit) Hanna. The Hanna family is well known in White County, and further mention of it is made on other pages of this publication. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ireland removed to their present farm in section 29 of Jackson Township. Thirty years of residence in one locality have made their home sacred by thousands of the intimate associations, and there all their children were born and reared, seven in number, as follows: Mary B., who is teaching school at Burlington, Indiana; Wilbur M., who lives just north of his father's home, married Fannie Harless, and has one child, Wilbur M., Jr.; Elliott, who lives at home; Bertha E., wife of Jacob Braaksma, living near Remington, in White County; Bernice E., Thelma Ruth and Wallace W., all of whom are still at home.
Mr. Ireland has been a democratic voter since Cleveland's first campaign. He is now chairman of both the township advisory and financial boards, and has served as a delegate to many democratic county conventions. His part in politics has been that of an influential citizen, though in no case has he proved an eager aspirant for any official honor. In 1881 Mr. Ireland joined the Reformed Presbyterian Church, in which he served as an elder for several years. The church of this denomination in this part of White County finally became so reduced in membership that it could not be continued, and in 1907 Mr. Ireland and wife joined the United Presbyterian congregation, and has since been liberal in its support.
Capt. Anderson Irion, one of the county's oldest citizens, was born in Fleming County, Kentucky, February 7, 1807. At an early age he removed to Ohio and thence in 1853 to West Point Township, where he lived until his death, which took place at the home of his son-in-law, James Lawrie, February 23, 1894. During the Mexican war he organized a company which, however, was not called into service. He was married in 1833 to Sophia Dragoo and to this union were born ten children, seven of whom survived him. He was at one time a county commissioner and filled the office acceptably.
Endowed by nature with a keen, practical business ability, the late Robert F. Irion, of Wolcott, was for many years the owner of a large and well-appointed farm in West Point Township, and in its successful management contributed largely toward the development of the agricultural interests of White County. A native of Ohio, he was born in Fayette County, January 3, 1847, coming on both sides of French extraction. His parents, Anderson and Sophia (Dragoo) Irion, migrated from Ohio to Indiana in 1853, locating in West Point Township, where they took up 700 acres of wild land, and on the farm which they redeemed from the wilderness spent their remaining years.
A lad of six years when brought to White County, Robert F. Irion was educated in the district schools, and on the parental homestead was reared to habits of industry and economy. Choosing farming as his life occupation, he started for himself in a small way at the age of twenty-two years, and having met with well-merited success in his undertakings, he bought land as opportunity offered, in due course of time becoming proprietor of a finely-improved farm of 320 acres, located in West Point Township. There Mr. Irion devoted his time and energies to general farming and stock raising, displaying excellent judgment in his operations. In 1906, having accumulated considerable wealth, he moved to Wolcott, where he lived retired from active pursuits until his death, June 30, 1914. Mr. Irion was a man of recognized worth as a citizen, and enjoyed to the utmost the esteem and confidence of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. He was a strong republican in politics, and took a genuine interest in public affairs, but never sought office. At the time of his death he was serving as vice president of the local state bank.
Mr. Irion married, October 2, 1870, Miss Lavina M. Carr, daughter of John H. and Martha (Grey) Carr, who came from Fayette County, Ohio, to White County, Indiana, locating at West Point Township in August, 1853, where both lived during their remaining years, Mrs. Carr dying in 1864, and Mr. Carr in 1866. Three children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Irion, namely: Minnie Glenn, who died in childhood; Bertie; and Mintie, wife of George D. Dye, of whom a brief sketch may be found on another page of this work.
"Mrs. Eliza Jane Irvine, whose home at Reynolds is with her daughter, Mrs. J. W. Gardner," says the Monon News of September 6, 1912, "has lived in White County eighty-three years and holds the record in point of continuous residence. She passed her 83d anniversary June 27th and was but three months old when she came to this county. Her birthplace was in Ohio, but her parents, Joseph and Mary Thompson, came from Virginia. Mr. Thompson was the first white man to locate on White county soil and entered about 400 acres of land in Big Creek township, the site of his home being where George Wolverton's residence now stands. All the trading at that time within the borders of the county was done with Indians, who were friendly but had no regard for property rights. A fine walnut grove was on the tract entered by Mr. Thompson and was an inducement in choosing his location. Here was born the first white male child in the county in the person of John Thompson, who died at Reynolds, Indiana, recently, never having married, and was buried in the Bunnell Cemetery. Lafayette was the trading point then and Indian trails were the highways. Other white settlers soon followed Mr. Thompson, who hailed with satisfaction the opening of the first store in Monticello by Peter B. Smith. The Reynolds, Spencers, Peter Price, Rowland Hughes and others who [sic] names are familiar as pioneers, came within two years after Mr. Thompson had blazed the way."
The development of the Wolcott Brick and Drain Tile Company from a non-paying investment to a prosperous enterprise and a substantial industry of the community, has been the achievement of Edward W. Irwin, its president and general manager, and it is typical of twentieth-century progress. When Mr. Irwin and his father took charge of this industry, it had been conducted for a score of years without paying a dividend; from the time of their advent, its business has been such that until recently the company could not supply the demands of the field.
Mr. Irwin is a Hoosier by nativity, born December 25, 1870, near Remington, Jasper County, a son of James F. Irwin, and a grandson of William Irwin, who was a grain dealer and stock raiser at Wolcott from about 1865 until 1870, and in the latter year removed to Remington, where his death occurred. James F. Irwin was born in 1840, in Hamilton County, Indiana, and in early life was a farmer, a vocation which he followed until his election to the county clerkship of Jasper County, in 1894. In 1902, at the expiration of eight years of faithful public service, he engaged in the real estate and loan business at Rensselaer. In the meantime, in 1900, he had become interested in the tile business at Rensselaer and conducted a plant there for several years. While he was interested variously at Wolcott, and particularly in the tile and brick business here, he maintained his home at Rensselaer until his death. He was a republican politically, and in addition to serving as county clerk, as mentioned, was for fourteen years trustee of Carpenter Township, and his public life was characterized by the same high ideals and energetic activities that made him so successful in business. His fraternal connections were with the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows. Mr. Irwin married Miss Mary Ravenscroft, who was born near Remington, Indiana, daughter of Edward and Sarah Ravenscroft, the latter of whom is still living near Remington at the age of ninety-four years. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Irwin: Schuyler C.; Frances M.; Edward W.; Alice, who is the wife of I. N. Warren; Maude, the wife of Alexander Wallace; Fred; and Marguerite, who is single and resides at Rensselaer.
Edward W. Irwin received a high school education at Rensselaer and in his boyhood worked on the home farm, gradually entering business life in his father's enterprises. In 1908 he came to Wolcott, where he has since grown to be one of the leading business factors in the town. The Wolcott Brick and Drain Tile Company was founded by Mr. Wolcott, and February 17, 1908, was incorporated under the above name by Edward W. and James F. Irwin and William D. Hill, with a capital stock of $20,000, Mr. Hill having been conducting the business for two or three years previous to this time. This plant had been operated at Wolcott for about twenty years and had never made one cent for its owners, but with the coming of the Messrs. Irwin new machinery was installed, business methods were revolutionized, and the concern began enjoying a prosperity which has continued unabated to the present time. The annual output is $20,000 worth of drain tile and silo blocks, the demand for these products being so great that it was not until the last year that the company was able to fill its orders. After several years Mr. Hill retired from the organization, and when James F. Irwin died, May 12, 1912, Edward W. Irwin, who had formerly been secretary and treasurer, ascended to the presidency.
Like his father, Mr. Irwin is a republican and has taken a keen and active interest in civic affairs, having been president of the town board of Wolcott for six years, during which time was installed the present modern waterworks system, a decided credit to the community. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the movements of which he has supported liberally. Fraternally his connection is with Wolcott Lodge No. 180, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master, and Wolcott Lodge No. 171, Order of the Eastern Star, of which he is worthy patron and of which his wife is also a member.
Mr. Irwin was married December 25, 1901, to Miss Nina Sweet, a daughter of Mr. F. M. and Emily Sweet, formerly of White County, but now a resident of Rensselaer, Indiana. They have no children.