The James family has lived in White County since the war times of the '60s. Hard-working farmers, public-spirited citizens, and people who have taken hold of every enterprise with characteristic vigor, they have for more than fifty years been identified usefully and worthily with this section of Indiana. Homer James and wife have found in agriculture an attractive and profitable pursuit, and out of their own efforts, their self-denial, and long continued capable management, they now have a valuable and comfortable home, located three miles northwest of Wolcott in Princeton Township.
The James family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William James, father of Homer, was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, January 19, 1833, was reared and educated in that locality and after his marriage brought his family to White County, where he lived until his death, June 18, 1902, at the age of sixty-nine years, five months and twenty-nine days. William James married Margaret Paulsel, a daughter of Charles Paulsel, who was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock and an early settler in Hamilton County, Indiana. William and Margaret James had eleven children. Charles and William died in infancy. Ida M. is also deceased. Samuel A. lives in Princeton Township and married Belle Thomas. A fifth child is Homer M. Clara F. married Henry Spangle and lives in Wolcott. George W. married Minnie Anderson and lives in Princeton Township. Alphie E. is the widow of John Kerlin and lives in Wolcott. Bertha is deceased. Frank T. died in infancy. Sarah F., the youngest, is the wife of Delbert Sharkey and lives in Princeton Township.
William James brought his family to White County in 1864, locating on section 1 of Princeton Township. He was a poor man, dependent entirely upon the work of his hands to support his little household. For about four years he was employed by the month by John Darrow, and then bought, partly cash and partly credit, a small farm which he was able to increase to an aggregate of 110 acres before his death. While a democrat in politics he usually voted for the man in local affairs and never consented to run for office though frequently urged. He was a member of no secret organization, but had a great many friends, and was affectionately known as "Uncle Billy" and was always quick to lend a helping hand in times of trouble and was very liberal. He was buried in the Dobbins Cemetery in Princeton Township.
Homer M. James was born on the old farm in section 1, range 6 west of Princeton Towhship, January 15, 1870, and never claimed any other place of residence than this one community. The common schools did something toward preparing him for a life of usefulness and before he reached his majority he was making his own way as a farm hand and as a farmer.
In 1895 Mr. James married Miss Delia Spencer, a daughter of William V. and
Hannah R. Spencer, members of the well known old Spencer family
of White County. Mr. and Mrs. James have one child, Lulu S. When Mr. and Mrs.
James were married and started out to face the world together they had neither
a home nor the means with which to buy one. Mrs. James had been teaching in
Princeton Township for five years and she continued in the same vocation for
another five years after her marriage. Thus by working hard, exercising strict
economy, they finally accumulated a little nucleus and secured their first stake
in the land as a start in agricultural enterprise. From this beginning they have
prospered until they now own 200 acres of land, 120 acres in Princeton Township
and eighty acres in Melroy Township of Jasper County. Mr. James also has some
stock in the Farmers Co-operative Elevator at Wolcott. The energy with which he
has managed his own affairs has caused his fellow citizens in the township to
entrust him with public responsibilities, and for six years he made a most
capable township trustee. He is a democrat, his wife is a member of the Christian
Church, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Wolcott.
Whatever success he has achieved in life--and it is considerable—is due entirely to his own well directed efforts. In his boyhood he was thrown largely upon his own resources, and with but few advantages, and by resolute purpose, indefatigable industry and the application of sound judgment he has steadily worked his way upward to a position of independence. The monument to his labors is his fine farm in Union Township, White County, where he has 140 acres of fertile land, which yields to its owner a golden return for the labor and care he bestows upon it.
Carl Jenning was born on a farm at Marion County, Illinois, March 26, 1875, and is a son of Fred Jenning, but his mother's name he does not remember, as she died when he was but six months of age. His parents were born in Germany and there married, and shortly there after started for the United States in a sailing vessel, which met bad weather in the crossing and several times was on the verge of sinking. After reaching this country the parents went to Chicago, and not long thereafter the great conflagration that swept that city carried away all Mr. Jenning's possessions and he was obliged to start life anew. He accordingly took his little family to Marion County, Illinois, where he secured forty acres of land, covered with timber, on which there had been no improvements made. Wild game was plentiful, and the family larder was assisted greatly by the game that the father brought down with his rifle. On his new farm Mr. Jenning erected a small log cabin, and it was in this primitive structure that Carl, the youngest of his five children, was born. There Fred Jenning continued to reside during the remainder of his life, engaged in farming and stock raising, and passed away June 15, 1914.
Mr. Jenning has two half brothers, Fred and Rudolph Jenning, residents of Kankakee, Illinois, and four sisters: Anna, wife of Frank Walkman; Minnie, wife of Fred Geninson, of Chicago; Bertha, wife of Louis Condt, of Maywood, Illinois; Dora, widow of Mr. Webb, and resides in Illinois, about forty miles from Chicago.
At the time of his mother's death, Carl Jenning was placed in the home of a neighboring farmer to rear, but when he was about two years old his father again married and he returned to his home. He received but few educational advantages, attending school about four months of the year in the country districts, and when still a youth began his career as a hand on the farms of the neighboring agriculturists. When he was twenty-three years of age he decided to found a home of his own, and February 15, 1898, was married to Miss Minnie Dittmann, who was born April 20, 1879, in White County, Indiana, a daughter of William Dittmann, who came from the same part of Germany in which Mr. Jenning's parents were born. Mr. Dittmann was one of the pioneer farmers of White County, and here passed his life, dying June 10, 1908, while Mrs. Dittmann still survives, and makes her home among her children, of whom there are five, one having died.
After his marriage, Mr. Jenning located on a rented property, and continued to cultivate that tract until 1912, when he secured his present farm, a tract of 140 acres, on which he has done a great deal of tiling, ditching and fencing, as well as having cleared up much of the timber and erected a number of buildings. With the assistance of his faithful wife he has made a success of his operations, and feels very kindly toward the state of his adoption, which he feels has treated him very well. His first load of oats here brought him only $10, but since that time he has seen a gradual increase in the value of grain and live stock, and through native business ability has been able to secure top-notch prices for his products.
Although he was reared in a republican home, Mr. Jenning has been a supporter of democratic principles. He has not, however, been an office seeker as he has preferred to give his entire attention to his farm, and has confined his activities in public life to a participation in those movements which have promised the betterment of his community. With his family, he is identified with the Lutheran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Jenning have three children: Walter, born July 11, 1901, in White County; Carl Jr., born May 27, 1905, in Carroll County, and Martha born October 27, 1906, in White County.
The enviable possessions of a comfortable home, a productive farm, a happy family and the esteem of many friends, belong to Robert A. Jewett, long one of the most substantial citizens of Princeton Township. His home is in section 13, and his farm comprises the southwest quarter of that section. Few men of his age have had more experiences since starting out in the world, and his life has touched some of the essential points in the history of Indiana, beginning with his birth in a log cabin, with a service as one of the youngest boy soldiers of the war in the '60s, varied experience as a railroad man, and latterly, with the co-operation of his noble wife, prosperous accomplishment as a farmer.
His birth occurred at Palestine, in White County, February 10, 1849. The Jewetts have lived in this county since the early '40s, his grandparents, Anson and Mary (Webster) Jewett, secured about 240 acres of government land and went through all the trials and hardships of pioneering in a new country. The grandfather died at Reynolds, in 1865, and is buried in the Bunnell Cemetery. Robert A. Jewett is a son of John Sanford and Jane (Royster) Jewett. His father was a cabinetmaker by trade, and died at Sheldon, Illinois, about 1899. One of the interesting records of his life was that he followed the trail of the gold seekers to California in 1850, but what his experiences were and to what degree he was successful as a miner cannot be stated. He and his wife were the parents of three children: Louis Johnson, who died in 1869; Robert A.; and John Sanford, now deceased. The mother of these children, by a previous marriage to Joseph Campbell, had one daughter, Elizabeth Campbell, now deceased. John S. Jewett was a man who was known for his thorough industry, scrupulous honesty, a general interest in public affairs, and as a working member in the Methodist Church. He was one of the organizers of the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Monticello. He was educated beyond the average man of his generation, and accordingly exercised not a little influence among his neighbors and in the community where he lived. At one time he owned 120 acres in Princeton Township.
Robert Anson Jewett did not come to manhood through the comfortable and easy way of many boys of later times. His schooling was somewhat irregular, and he attended the common schools found in Indiana during the '50s and '60s. When only fourteen years of age he contrived to get himself enrolled in the Federal army, enlisting July 7, 1863, in Company K of the 116th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and being mustered in at Camp Orth, at Lafayette, under Capt. Elijah Davis. Most of his duty as a soldier was in guarding the arsenal at Dearborn, Michigan, for twelve weeks and then he went to the front with the Army of the Cumberland. He was discharged from the army at Lafayette, March 15, 1864, having been out about eight months.
For thirteen years Mr. Jewett followed railroading, five years with the Panhandle Route, twenty-six months with the Wabash Railroad, then to Midland Railroad, then to Chicago with the C. & A., and at different times had his headquarters in Chicago and was as far west as Nebraska. As a brakeman he rode back and forth on daily trips through White County on the Panhandle train for several years.
The substantial beginning of his career of prosperity began with his marriage, on November 22, 1880, to Miss Sarah C. Allen. Mr. Jewett credits her with an important part in their success. She is a daughter of Calvin and Mary (Fraser) Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Jewett have six children: Ione Myrtle, now the wife of Guy P. Houston in West Point Township; Louis Anson, who is living in Princeton Township and married Bertha Batts; Bobbie, who died fifteen days after his birth; Blanche K., wife of Marion Wright of Princeton Township; Earl Tucker and Robert Spencer, both at home.
Mr. Jewett is a democrat in polities, and for eight years has served as a member of the county council, his present incumbency. Since the early years of his life he has taken much interest in public affairs and has followed the course of politics, both nationally and locally. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she is an active church worker. As farmers they content themselves with the general crops and with the raising of graded stock, and have done a great deal in the course of years to increase the value of their land and its improvements and conveniences. They have a comfortable home, all the land is tiled and under cultivation, and it is such a place as they may be well contented with for the spending of their last years.
Ellis H. Johnson, commonly known as "Uncle Haines," was born in Frederick County, Virginia, April 28, 1814. He came to White County with his father, Jonathan Johnson, in 1835, locating near the range line west of Monticello, on the farm now owned by George T. Inskeep. Later he located on a farm near what is now Wheeler's Station, where he was married to Ellen Rease, January 6, 1843. She died in 1846, and their only son, Hampton Dodridge, later became a member of Company D, Twelfth Indiana, and died at Grand Junction, Tennessee, in 1863. In 1851 he married Chloe Ann Clark. He died at his home in Monticello, December 20, 1898, leaving a widow and two children, Harry C. and Fannie Alice, the former of whom still resides in Monticello.
One of the human links connecting Monticello almost with the days of the
Revolution was broken in the death of Mrs. Johnson, which occurred July 17,
1915, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. P. Simons, in Monticello. Her
father, Drewry Wood, was born in North Carolina September 27,
1785, and her mother, Rhoda (Shaw) Wood, was born March 1, 1792. They were married
August 21, 1814, and came to White County, locating south of Wolcott in 1846.
Here her father, Drewry Wood, died in 1856, but the mother lived till 1878. Emily
J. Wood was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, June 13, 1832. She was married to
Jeremiah B. Johnson, September 16, 1854. He was wounded at the battle of Jackson,
Mississippi, July 10, 1863, and died July 19. She remained a "war widow" the
remainder of her life. Her only son, Edgar A. Johnson, died in 1904. She left
surviving two daughters, Mrs. Rhoda DeForest, of Chicago, and Mrs. Sallie E.
Simons, of Monticello.
A prominent and prosperous business man of Monticello, actively engaged in the insurance and loan business, Harry C. Johnson is of pioneer descent.
In the year 1772, in Hampshire County, Virginia, a number of people took refuge in a fort built as a protection against the Indians. In this fort, on June 23d, was born H. C Johnson's paternal grandfather, Jonathan Johnson. He grew to manhood in his native Virginia home, was married to Abagail Haines, and to this union was [sic] born nine children.
Following the steady march of civilization westward, he with his entire family came to Indiana in 1835. Being favorably impressed with White County as a desirable location, he pre-empted a tract of land 1½ miles southwest of Monticello. He subsequently entered the land in Big Creek Township where Wheeler Station is now located and lived there the remainder of his life, where he died March 29, 1844. His wife remained on the homestead until her death in March, 1859. They are both buried in the Monticello Cemetery.
The second son of this family was Ellis Haines Johnson who was born near Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia, on the 28th of March, 1814. He came to White County with his parents in 1835 (as above stated), settled in Union Township for a while, but later entered land in Big Creek Township adjoining his father's farm. He became actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and remained on the farm until 1880 when he retired, moving to Monticello, where he resided until his death, December 20, 1898. He was ever interested in local and national affairs, but never held office. Politically he was a whig until the formation of the republican party, when he became one of its most earnest adherents. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and served as an elder in the church at Reynolds in his earlier life, and later in the church of that denomination at Monticello.
Ellis Haines Johnson was twice married. He married first, January 4, 1843, Ellen Reece, and their only child, Hampton Johnson, was killed in battle. He married second, March 29, 1851 Chloe Ann Clark, who was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, June 6, 1829, and died in Monticello, March 18, 1903. Two children were born to their union, namely: Harry C. on October 6, 1860, and Fannie A., born November 14, 1864, who is now the wife of John D. Miller, of Michigan City, Indiana.
Completing his early studies in the Monticello schools, Harry C. Johnson began his active career as a teacher in the public schools, and taught successfully for two years. In 1883 he embarked in the grocery business, which he conducted for nine years. Making a change of occupation, in 1892 he bought an interest in a real estate and insurance business in Monticello, and has met with such satisfactory results in the business that he has continued it ever since. Mr. Johnson has also been closely associated with the White County Loan, Trust & Savings Co., having been one of its directors almost continuously since its organization. True to the political faith in which he was reared, he is a loyal supporter of the principles of the republican party, and equally true to the religious beliefs of his ancestors, he is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and one of its elders. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Johnson was married in Monticello, June 18, 1889, to Miss Maud Henderson, daughter of Matthew and Margaret (Ross) Henderson of Monticello. Their family consists of three children, namely: Leonard Haines, Howard Clark, and Jessie Margaret.
Vigor and progressiveness have significantly marked the career of this representative business man of the fine Village of Brookston, where he has maintained his residence since 1896 and where he controls a substantial and prosperous enterprise in the handling of boots, shoes and men's furnishing goods, his well appointed establishment being at all times equipped with the best of stock and the business having its stable basis on fair and honorable dealings and effective service. Mr. Johnson is essentially a business man and though he takes a loyal interest in all that touches the well being of the community, he has had neither time nor inclination for political activities or for the tenure of public office. In a general way he has proclivities that measureably cause him to be designated a democrat in politics, but he prefers to be known as one independent of partisan dictates and free to support measures and candidates meeting the approval of his judgment.
Mr. Johnson takes loyal satisfaction in claiming the fine old Hoosier State as the place of his nativity and he is a scion of old and sterling families of this state. He was born on the homestead farm of his father in Jefferson Township, Carroll County, Indiana, on the 26th of October, 1859, and is a son of James Harvey Johnson and Nancy A. (Davidson) Johnson, both likewise natives of this state, the Davidson family having been founded in Carroll County in the pioneer days. James Harvey Johnson was born December 31, 1825, and his wife was a few years his junior, her death having occurred on the 11th of November, 1889, and he having been more than eighty years of age when he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 5th of March, 1907, the remains of both resting side by side in the Pleasant Run Cemetery in Carroll County, where Mr. Johnson had been a prosperous farmer, though too generous and liberal to accumulate a fortune. He was a man who "kept himself unspotted from the world," his course was guided on a high plane of integrity and honor and he ever commanded the confidence and high regard of his fellow men, both he and his wife having been most zealous members of branch of the Presbyterian Church commonly referred to as Seceders. Of the eight children the eldest is Mary A., who maintains her home at Washington, Iowa; Robert P., whose wife bore the maiden name of Sarah Love, is a representative farmer in the old home township in Carroll County; Margaret H. remained unmarried till her death; James C. is deceased; Joseph M., who married Miss Sarah Marvin, resides in the historic old City of Vincennes, Indiana; John H., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Russell L. married Miss Edith Reed and they reside in the City of Omaha, Nebraska; and Nancy J., who became the wife of Hiram Rice, is deceased.
John H. Johnson was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and is indebted to the public schools of his native county for his early education. As a youth he learned the trade of jeweler, at Delphi, the judicial center of his home county, and later he gained excellent experience through his service first in a drug store and later in clothing and shoe stores. He continued his residence in Carroll County until 1896, when he came to White County and established his permanent home at Brookston. Here he purchased the retail shoe and men's furnishing store and business of Isaac Dryfus, and through his progressive policies he has greatly augmented the scope of the enterprise, with the result that he has secure vantage-ground as one of the representative merchants of this part of the county, with a large and appreciative patronage. Further evidence of the success of Mr. Johnson is indicated by his being a stockholder in the State Savings & Trust Company of Indianapolis, this being one of the solid and ably managed financial institutions of Indiana's fair capital city. Mr. Johnson gives punctilious attention to the management of his business, finds his chief solace and pleasure in the associations of his ideal home and has identified himself with no fraternal organizations, both he and his wife holding membership in the United Presbyterian Church of Brookston.
In the year 1899 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johnson to Miss Leone D. Cartwright, of Delphi, and both are popular factors in the representative social activities of their home village; they have no children.
Nearly fifty years of residence have given Ira Johnsonbaugh many strong and interesting associations with White County. He came here as a boy, and saw some service in the Union army before he reached his majority. He has performed the average share of the individual in developing the fertile lands of White County, and for many years has been one of the prosperous farmers and stock raisers of Jackson Township. His home is on rural route No. 21 out of Idaville.
Born in Wayne County, Indiana, May 28, 1845, Ira Johnsonbaugh is one of the nine children born to Henry and Christina (Condo) Johnsonbaugh. His parents were Pennsylvania Dutch people, and in the fall of 1856 moved to White County, Indiana, and located on land in Jackson Township, where they spent the rest of their years. The father in his time cleared up many acres, and provided abundantly for himself and his family through his vocation as a farmer and stoekraiser. Both parents are buried in the Shafer Cemetery. Seven of their children are still living. Henry Johnsonbaugh was a democrat in polities and his fellow citizens showed their confidence in his integrity and ability by twice electing him township trustee.
When Ira Johnsonbaugh started to school he attended one of the now obsolete temples of leaning which fifty or sixty years ago could be found in almost every school district of the county. It was an old log building, and the instruction he received was confined to the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. His practical training, however, was not neglected, and he also started life well grounded in the principles of honesty and industry. At the age of twenty-two he became an independent farmer, and has made that his vocation ever since. Mr. Johnsonbaugh owns a well improved farm of ninety-two acres in section 27 of Jackson Township.
His first wife was Angeline Tam, of the well known family of that name in White County. She died March 10, 1880, and was laid to rest in the Shafer Cemetery. She was the mother of six children: Flora, Effie, Harry, Grace, Sanford and one that died unnamed. On April 15, 1881, Mr. Johnsonbaugh married Elizabeth Ginn, who died without children on December 22, 1905, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Idaville. On February 7, 1907, he married Harrietta Weiand.
In politics Mr. Johnsonbaugh has always been aligned with the democratic interests, and has ever been a keen student of current affair, and many times has made himself a factor for local improvements. It is noteworthy that like his father he has served two terms as township trustee, and during his administration kept the schools up to the highest grade of improvement and efficiency. He and his wife attend the German Lutheran Church in Cass Township. A part of his record which will always be esteemed by his descendants was his service in the Union army during the critical days of the Civil war. In 1864, when nineteen years of age he enlisted in Company B of the One hundred and Forty-second Indiana Volunteers, first commanded by Colonel Comport of Fort Wayne and later by Colonel Oakley. He was ordered with his command to Nashville, and took part in some of the campaigns which brought the rebellion to a close. He was given his honorable discharge at Indianapolis in July, 1865, and is one of the youngest of the veterans of that great conflict, still living and active in affairs.
For more than a quarter of a century the mercantile interests of Monticello, Indiana, have been capably and worthily represented by Sanford Johnsonbaugh. A progressive, enterprising and energetic man, early in his career Mr. Johnsonbaugh learned the lesson that individual prosperity depended in large part upon community success, and therefore, while his own interests have been growing, he has not neglected to aid his fellow citizens in promoting the welfare of the town.
Mr. Johnsonbaugh has been a resident of Indiana all his life, having been born in Wayne County, November 11, 1851, a son of Henry and Christina (Condo) Johnsonbaugh. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and from that state as young people moved with their respective families to Wayne County, Indiana, where they met and were married. In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. Johnsonbaugh removed to about two miles southeast of Idaville, in White County, Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. Johnsonbaugh was a man of no strikingly predominant qualities save his sturdy honesty and integrity, characteristics which made him highly esteemed by the citizens of his community who elected him several times to the office of township trustee.
Sanford Johnsonbaugh was a child of five years when his parents removed to White County, and here he grew to manhood, the major part of his education being secured in the district schools. He was brought up on the home farm, amid agricultural surroundings, and assisted his father until twenty-five years of age, and in the meantime taught for three terms in the local country schools. He then came to Monticello and for eight years was a teacher in the public schools, and during a period of five years, beginning about 1884, served as township trustee and deputy postmaster, and wrote insurance. Eventually Mr. Johnsonbaugh turned his attention to the grocery business, and in this has continued to be engaged to the present time, at present having an excellent trade, attracted from the surrounding vicinity. Mr. Johnsonbaugh carries a full line of high-class staple and fancy groceries, and makes a practice of studying the needs and wishes of his trade. He has been honorable and straightforward in his dealings, and thus has gained a substantial reputation in commercial circles. In politics a democrat, he has exerted some influence in behalf of the securing of good measures, although his business has kept him engaged to the exclusion of active participation in affairs of a public character. With his family he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his fraternal connection is with the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows No. 107, in which he has numerous friends.
On December 23, 1877, Mr. Johnsonbaugh was united in marriage with Miss Tura
Anderson, who died November 1, 1907, after having been the mother of four
children: Earl, who married May Leonard; Anna, who died at the age of eight
years; Gail, who became the wife of Rev. Frank P. Morris; and Lloyd, who died
when eleven months old. On August 23, 1909, Mr. Johnsonbaugh was married to Mrs.
Serena (Phillips) Lowe, who by her former husband had four children. Mrs.
Johnsonbaugh had wedded Gustave Lowe, and of their children the following are
living and are residents of White County: Charles, an agriculturist of White
County, married Miss Mary McCuaig and they have four children; William, a retired
agriculturist living in Monticello, married Miss M. Warfel; Amy, wife of Charles
Jackson, and a resident of Monticello, and they have three children; and Harry,
a farmer, of Monticello, wedded Miss Grace Rawlings. Mrs. Johnsonbaugh died
November 2, 1913, and her remains are interred in the Bedford Cemetery in White
County. She was an admirable lady, of pleasing personality and her home was the
dearest place on earth to her. She had a host of friends. Her presence in the
family circle is sadly missed by her devoted husband and her children.
By more than forty years of residence James C. Jones claims White County as his home and the chief center of his achievements in life. While farming has constituted the basis of his work and prosperity, Mr. Jones is also widely known over the county through his interest in public affairs, and especially because of his efficient record in the country treasurer's office. Mr. Jones now resides at Monticello, but still owns a farm out in West Point Township.
James C. Jones was born in Big Rock Township, Kane County, Illinois, October 14, 1848. His parents, Thomas and Anna (Evans) Jones, were both natives of Wales, where they were married. Later they came to America, went onto a farm in Illinois, and both spent their last years in Kane County.
James C. Jones grew up on the old farm in Kane County, and had the usual training of an Illinois farmer boy. He attended the neighborhood school and developed both mind and body by exercise in the fields and in such duties as were required of him around the home.
When Mr. Jones arrived at the age of twenty-two he left home and began on his own responsibilities. The two years following his marriage were spent in farming in Illinois, but in 1872 he removed to White County, Indiana, and in this section has worked out his career. His home was four and one-half miles south, near Wolcott, and his farm in West Point Township, and he continued the active supervision of his rural interests and his residence there until 1895. Mr. Jones still owns the old farm, comprising 140 acres. His interest in public affairs has made him well known and he has frequently assisted in the local campaigns of the republican party. For four years he served as trustee of West Point Township, and in 1894 was honored with his first election to the office of county treasurer, in performing the duties of which he subsequently removed to Monticello, and has had his residence in that city for the past twenty years. Mr. Jones was re-elected county treasurer and served a few months longer than four years.
On February 26, 1870, Mr. Jones married Eleanor Mary Pugh, daughter of Richard and Margaret Pugh. To their marriage have been born two children, Margaret Anna, who married John R. Nelson, and they now occupy and manage the home farm of Mr. Jones; and Albert R., a merchant at Wolcott.
Thomas D. Jones was born in Brooklyn, New York, December 10, 1830, and on August 4, 1854, was married to Sarah Parker, and to this marriage was born six daughters and two sons, all of whom were present at his death except a daughter, Mrs. Grace Newberry, who died in 1893. His wife died September 1, 1908. Mr. Jones came to Monon in 1859 and lived there until his death in May, 1912. He taught school for a time, was an old soldier in the Civil war, was a member of the G. A. R. and for fifty years was a member of the Baptist Church. His remains were buried in the Bedford Cemetery.
William Jordan was born in Cable County, Virginia, December 17, 1803, and died at White County, Indiana, May 5, 1876. He was married to Miss Catharine Sexton on March 19, 1826, with whom he lived for more than fifty years. In 1827 he moved to Indiana and began farming about six miles northwest of Lafayette, and on June 7, 1844, he moved to White County, which was his home until his death. By industry, frugality and honesty he amassed a competence and enjoyed tbe respect of all with whom be came in contact.
John M. Jost, one of the pioneers of the county, died at the home of his married daughter, Mrs. Richard Hinshaw, of Monticello, in September, 1913, his age being eighty-nine years, four months and thirteen days. By trade he was a tailor, but at various times had been engaged in business at Francesville, Cooper's Mill and Monticello. The deceased had been married three times. He was an old Mason and an upright citizen.
John William Jost died April 3, 1903. For a number of years Mr. Jost had been a well known and successful grocer in White County, first at Cooper's Mill, later at Norway, and finally in Monticello, where for a number of years he was connected in business with Walter R. Spencer. During this partnership they built the splendid two-story brick business building at the northwest corner of Main and Washington streets. Later Mr. Jost joined with M. Goodman & Son in the corporation known as "The Big Store," which joined in the building of the Odd Fellows Block on the southeast corner of Main and Washington streets. He had charge of the grocery department of the company in this building at the time of his death. Mr. Jost was the son of John M. Jost and was born in New York City, February 8, 1855. He was never married. His father was born in Staffenburg, Birken Province, Germany, May 3, 1824, and came to America in 1851. His mother was a native of Sheffield, England, and died in White County, May 20, 1878, at the age of fifty~one years. His father has since died—about 1913. Three brothers, Charles, Henry and Albert, are still living; also two sisters, Mrs. Lizzie Booth of Rochester, New York, and Mrs. Rosina Hinshaw of Monticello.