With the old-time residents of White County must be numbered the Magee family. Empire A. Magee, the founder of the family in this county, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1797, where he spent his boyhood and learned the millwright trade. On August 22, 1822, he married Jane Noble, of Ohio, who died in the State of Missouri in 1837, leaving five children to be cared for by relatives in Ohio, one of which, Miss Anna Magee, now lives in Monticello. His second wife, Emily Gay, was born in East Randolph, Vermont, February 12, 1812, her mother dying when she was quite young. She was taken by her oldest brother, Doctor Gay, to Fort Dearborn, now Chicago, where she was married to Empire A. Magee in 1840. Some time after this the family moved to Logansport, where Mr. Magee followed his trade for a time, when he removed to Lockport, in Carroll County, where he continued to reside until April 10, 1849, when he located in Monticello, built the dam and flouring mill for Reynolds & Brearley and a few years later built the woolen mill, just north of it, for Hoagland Brothers, of Lafayette. The old flour mill stood for over sixty years and was destroyed by fire Sunday evening, May 20, 1911, and the woolen mill was abandoned and taken away many years ago. The Magee home was for many years on the lots now occupied by the Lougbry Brothers Milling and Grain Company. There the family lived for more than a quarter of a century until the death of both parents in 1875, when the family home was abandoned. Both Mr. and Mrs. Magee were members of the Presbyterian Churdh at Monticello and one of the windows in the south side of this church is set aside as a memorial to these worthy people.
In the Brookston community Augustus E. Mahin has for a number of years been one of the most substantial factors, and though primarily a farmer and he and his wife are owners of a large tract of excellent land in that community, his activities have also had a wide scope. He has done his share of local improvement, and by following out his inclinations for mechanical pursuits has developed a good business at the Township of Prairie by operating a shop for general repairing and the handling of automobile accessories, windmills, threshing outfits and other machinery. The grain growers in that section have appreciated his service as a thresherman for a number of years, and he has also performed some large contracts and general drainage work.
The Mahin family is one of the oldest established in this section of Indiana. The name was originally spelled Mahan, and is of Irish origin, though with important admixtures of German and other stocks. One of the interesting social events in the Battleground [sic] community was the celebration on March 27, 1899, of the ninety-fifth birthday anniversary of Mrs. Hester Mahin, the grandmother of the Brookston business man above mentioned. This anniversary was made the occasion for a family reunion, at which four of grandmother Mahin's sons were present besides a large number of other relatives and friends. Grandmother Hester (Shigley) Mahin was born in Greene County, Ohio, March 27, 1804, and was a daughter of John and Barbara (Potts) Shigley, who were born in the Kingdom of Wuertemberg, Germany, and were married after coming to this country. On January 29, 1824, Hester Shigley married John Mahin. Four years later, in 1828, they moved from Ohio to Indiana and settled in the extreme northern part of Tippecanoe County. That they were among the earliest settlers is indicated by the fact that their nearest neighbor was five miles away. They raised and made their own clothing and bedding from flax and wool, and Hester Mahin in the early days was noted for her expert skill in spinning and weaving. She and her husband had seven children, six sons and one daughter. At the time of the birthday anniversary above mentioned, in addition to her four living sons, she had forty-two grandchildren, thirty of whom were living, seventy-four great-grandchildren, fifty-five of whom were living, and two great great-grandchildren, making a total of 126 descendants. At the anniversary celebration four generations were represented, one of her great-grandchildren being present, an infant one year old. At that time the four sons of Hester Mahin were Milton, Charles W., William and Augustus.
The late William Mahin, father of Augustus E. Mahin, was born in Indiana, January 27, 1840, and spent his entire life in White and Tippecanoe counties with the exception of the three years of his career as a soldier. When about fourteen years of age he was employed by a neighbor in breaking sod, driving six yoke of oxen to the plow. Soon after reaching manhood in 1862 he enlisted in Company G of the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry, and was with that regiment in its various campaigns and marches, including Sherman's march to the sea, until the close of the war. Throughout his life he was noted for his noble character and his fine example as a Christian. Early in life, he became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and three of his brothers were also preachers in that denomination. He had charge of the Methodist Church at Monon when his son Augustus was born. His last charge was at Oxford, and while there his health broke down. In the latter part of his life he was a gardener at Brookston and Battleground [sic]. In politics he was an ardent prohibitionist. After a lingering illness he died at his home at Battleground [sic] November 20, 1911, and was laid to rest in the Battleground [sic] Cemetery.
On Jnly 23, 1865, William Mahin married Miss Virginia Fleek, who died October 24, 1914. She was born in Lafayette, Indiana, December 8, 1844, a daughter of Conrad and Nancy Fleek. Her father was a wagon maker at Lafayette, and lost his life there while fighting a fire. Of the marriage of William and Virginia Mahin there are four children: Olive S., wife of Elmer Skinner of Morocco; Augustus E.; Estella E., wife of William Snyder of Long Beach, California; and Miss Lillian Belle, who is unmarried and lives in Lafayette.
Augustus Eddy Mahin was born at Bradford, at what is now the Village of Monon, April 9, 1869. He received a good education, largely of a practical character, and early learned the trade of carpenter. About two years after his marriage he moved to his present farm, and since then has always been a farmer in addition to his other activities. He and his wife own a fine place of 240 acres well improved, situated 6½ miles northwest of Brookston, and he owns some town property in West Lafayette. He was superintendent of construction of the William F. Myers ditch which passes through his farm. Mr. Mahin is a republican in politics and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church at Badger Grove. He is affiliated with Anchor Lodge No. 263 of the Knights of Pythias at Brookston.
November 22, 1894, Mr. Mahin married Miss Mary J. Holwerda, daughter of Hine G. and Isabelle (Sayer) Holwerda, who were of Dutch descent. Mrs. Mahin is a native of White County. Their family of four children, all still at home, are named Ralph H, Iva E., Agnes V. and C. Vernon.
Among the early settlers of White County was Jacob Markle, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1803 and died at Monticello in November, 1880. After spending most of his life in Tippecanoe and Jasper counties, Indiana, he removed to White County about the close of the Civil war and built the woolen factory which formerly stood on the east side of the river opposite Monticello, but this enterprise was beyond his means, the result was financial ruin, his friends forsook him and his life was closed in comparative poverty.
William P. Marshall died suddenly in Monticello, Monday evening, April 5, 1914. He was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1834, and on August 17, 1865, was married to Florence Rose Brown of Monticello, who is still living. A son, Charles Marshall, of Indianapolis, was born to their union. He left a good soldier record, being a member of the One Hundredth Pennsylvania and the Ninth Indiana regiments. He was a skilled painter and decorator by trade, but for the last years of his life was a justice of the peace in Monticello.
During a residence in White County of nearly half a century, Lewis B. Martin has not only identified himself in a successful manner with the cares and responsihilities of farm management, but has possessed and exercised that public spirit which looks after the welfare of the community, and supports institutions and movements that have a broader significance than the well being of the individual. Mr. Martin has one of the fine rural places in West Point Township, situated on rural route No. 12 out of Chalmers.
Though not a native of White County he was brought here in early youth by his father, John W. Martin, who was born in Franklin County, Ohio, March 12, 1828, and moved with his family to White County on November 18, 1865. He was reared in his native state and was married there in 1849 to Samantha J. Neiswander, who was born November 20, 1832, and died July 25, 1901. Her parents were natives of Germany. John W. Martin was a son of John J. Martin, a native of Scotland but of English stock. Of the nine children born to John W. and wife, two died in infancy. Charlotte is the wife of Soloman Carr and lives in Frankfort, Indiana. The second oldest is Lewis B. Virgil A. and Walter both reside in West Point Township. Ella is the wife J. H. Carson, living in Rensselaer. Adda married George W. Chamberlain and they live at Chalmers. Lillie is the wife of Oliver Reid, living at Frankfort.
John W. Martin died May 30, 1902, and is buried in West Point Cemetery. He was a man of many positive qualities and a useful factor in every community where he lived. For two years he served as township assessor and was a democrat, who stood loyally by his party and its principles but was not an office seeker. He was a man of college training, well informed, was keen in debate and argument, and for about ten years followed the vocation of teacher. He taught four or five terms in White County, having charge of the old West Point School two terms, the old Evolve School two terms, and for many years served as school director. He held to the Universalist faith in religion. John W. Martin arrived in White County with about $3,000, and at the time of his death was the owner of about 200 acres of fine farming land. He was a big man physically, stood 6 feet 2 inches tall, and weighed 200 pounds or more. For two or three years from 1883 he conducted a store at Wheeler Station.
Lewis B. Martin was born January 18, 1853, in Franklin County, Ohio, and was about thirteen years old when he came with the family to White County. His father first settled in section 11, range 5 west, West Point Township, and in that locality the son completed his education in the common schools and was well trained in the industry, good habits and skill required of the successful farmer.
In 1883 he married Lulu Campbell, a daughter of John J. and Susan Campbell of Tippecanoe County. The first of the five children born into their home is Edna M., now the wife of Frank Reissig and living in Hobart, Indiana. Mrs. Reissig was graduated from the Valparaiso University, and all the children have been given an excellent home training and the opportunities of schools. Blanche M., the second daughter, married Charles Wynekoop of Princeton Township, and their two sons are named Lewis and Allen. Cecile is the wife of John Sensenbaugh, living in Carroll County. The other children are at home, named John W. and Estella C.
A farmer all his life, Mr. Martin is now the possessor of what is known as the "Good Hope" farm, situated eight miles northwest of Chalmers. It comprises about 172 acres and in general improvements and value ranks with any of the farmsteads found in that community. Mr. Martin also owns some property in Chalmers, and has stock in the Farmers Elevator Company at Chalmers, in the Bank of Chalmers and in the Reynolds Creamery. One of the secrets of his success has been his strict adherence to the rule never to go in debt and always pay cash for what he buys.
He has more than once been a factor in securing local improvements. He took the initiative in the building of several roads and ditches, and started and circulated the petition for the Ernest Scipio and Charles Vineyard roads. In every direction he has stood for improvements of this character throughout the county. In politics he is a democrat, but only nationally, while in local affairs he votes for the man who will give the best service, but has never sought any honors of that kind for himself. Though not a member he supports the Methodist Church, and has no secret affiliations.
On a small marble stone in the old grave yard at Monticello, is carved the following epitaph: "Anthony Mastaw, of the 46th Reg. Ind. Vol. A patriot, a Soldier and a Christian, died near New Madrid, Mo., March 26, 1862. Aged 42 years."
His biography would read like fiction. In fact, but little is known of him,
though to the older generation he represented himself to have some Indian
blood in his veins, of which he was quite proud. He lived with his wife in a
log cabin on the east side of the river, about five miles north of Monticello;
was a member of the Presbyterian Church and intensely religious. He enlisted
from White County and was mustered into the
service November 5, 1861. The late L. G. Kenton, was a comrade with Mr. Mastaw
and has often told the writer of being alone with him the night of his death,
which occurred in a log cabin. His death was caused by typhoid fever and his
remains were brought to Monticello for interment. His wife, who died from a
cancer some years later, is buried by his side. Mr. Mastaw was a brother-in-law
of Prof. George Bowman.
Among the men of White County who have long been identified with the industry of farming and in such a manner as to reach substantial places in the general business consideration of the district is Levi A. Mathew, whose particularly fine homestead is found in section 2 of West Point Township.
The Mathew family is of French descent and has been identified with this county fully forty years. It was the late Alfred Mathew who introduced the family name into this section of Indiana. Alfred Mathew was born in Kankakee County, Illinois, August 14, 1856, a son of Flavius and Mary Mathew. As a boy he had very meager advantages in the way of schooling and made his way by dint of hard work and persistent effort carried on over a period of many years. On July 6, 1875, he married Anna Lebeau. All of the eleven children born to them are still living. In the early '70s Alfred Mathew came to White County, locating in West Point Township, and at that time possessed none of those material resources which attract social attention to a man in a business way. He was a hard worker, accepted all the opportunities that came to him, and by the wise direction of his resources eventually accumulated about 1,600 acres of land in White County. The operations of this land he directed to the general crops and to the raising of stock. Alfred Mathew died in West Point Township May 14, 1914, and is buried at Remington. He and his family were members of the Sacred Heart Church at Remington, and in politics he was a republican, and much interested in any movements for local improvements. His widow is still living in Wolcott. The names of their eleven children were: Levi A., Meddie, Mina, Cordelia, Alfred, Jr., William, Oscar, Arthur, Amos, Clarence and Herman.
The birth of Levi A. Mathew occurred at Kentland, August 9, 1876, and he is the oldest of the children, all of whom were reared and educated in White County. Soon after reaching his manhood he started out to assume the responsibilities of making a home, and on September 20, 1898, was married to Armelia Provo, daughter of Jeremiah and Margaret (Budreau) Provo. Mrs. Mathew's people are French-Canadians, and came to White County from Illinois a number of years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Mathew are the parents of ten children: Nealla, born November 26, 1900; Edwin, born June 29, 1902; Mildred, born January 5, 1904; Iva, born October 11, 1905; Mabel L., born April 17, 1907; Florence, born December 2, 1908; Lorene, born April 19, 1910; Lillian, born June 25, 1911; Ryland, born June 16, 1912; and Rita, born August 24, 1914.
In the years since his marriage Mr. Mathew, with the help of his good wife, has accumulated a fine farm of 240 acres. He uses it for the general crops and for stock raising and few men of his age are better situated as to future prospects and present advantages. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church at Remington, and his older children are attending the local public schools. In politics he is a republican.
There are many points in the individual career of Isaac N. Matthews that deserve record in this history of White County. He represents one of the oldest families to be established in the southern part of the county, and more than eighty years have elapsed since the family home was moved to the country bordering upon the Wabash Valley. He is one of the few veterans of the Civil war who has survived the assaults of time and is still living to enjoy the respect and esteem of a generation that has reaped untold benefits from the sacrificing devotion of their patriotic forefathers. In the half century since the war he has been a capable farmer and a public spirited citizen, has reared and liberally provided for a large family of children who lived to do him honor, and can now enjoy in peace and comfort the attractive surroundings and conveniences of his home, located three miles northeast of Brookston.
His grandparents were Ezekiel and Letitia (Meredith) Matthews, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Scotland. These grandparents came to America and settled in Western Pennsylvania, where John Matthews, father of Isaac N., was born on May 19, 1808, in Allegheny County. After reaching manhood he moved to Pike County, Ohio, and in 1833 married Rheuamy Chenoweth, a daughter of Arthur Chenoweth, who was of English stock. Immediately after their marriage John Matthews and wife came West to the new country of Northwestern Indiana, and located in Tippecanoe County, arriving there in the fall of 1833. From Tippecanoe they moved over into White County in 1845, aud John Matthews bought land direct from the Government, consisting of forty acres, in section 2 of Prairie Township. Two years later he entered eighty acres more in section 35 of Big Creek Township. This fine old pioneer was prospered in his undertakings as a farmer and at the time of his death owned a total of 360 acres, divided into three tracts. A brief record of his eight children is as follows: Arthur, now deceased; Elizabeth, who is the wife of James K. Price and lives in Brookston; Thomas M., deceased; Isaac N.; Ezekiel, who married Clara Wallace and lives in Lafayette; Letitia J., deceased; Nancy E., who is the wife of Robert Taylor and lives in Chalmers; and Emmarillis A., deceased.
Isaac N. Matthews was born in Larramie Township of Tippecanoe County December 26, 1841. About four years later he was brought to White County and his recollections of the people in Southern White County cover almost seventy years. He attended some of the early schools conducted in Prairie Township and came to manhood just about the time the Civil war was at its height. On July 25, 1863, he responded to the call for more troops and enlisted in Company E of the 116th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was in Burnside's command for some time and his service was in the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia. On March 1, 1864, he was given his honorable discharge at Lafayette. Thereafter for a period of nearly half a century he has followed an uninterrupted career as a practical farmer, and is now living in comfort and plenty on his farm of 91½ acres in Prairie Township. He has always been known as a man of generous inclinations, and has acted on the principle that others were as honest as himself, a trait which has caused him a number of losses at different times.
On September 24, 1909, death bereaved Mr. Matthews of his devoted wife and the companion of many years. She is buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery at Chalmers. Her maiden name was Margaret K. Lister, a daughter of James W. and Rhoda (Mowbray) Lister of Carroll County. Her memory is now enshrined in the hearts of her husband, her children and grandchildren and the many loyal friends she had in Southern White County. There were nine children: Elizabeth J. is the wife of Newton J. Schooler, living in Prairie Township, and of their five children, May Sharpe and Pauline Nichols, are married, the fourth, Hazel, is deceased, and the third and fifth are William and Virgil. John H., who is a farmer in Big Creek Township, married Dora Thompson, and their two children are Cecil Pearl and Opal. Rhoda R., the third of the children, is now deceased. Mary E. married D. E. Noland, who is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and lives at Coatesville, Indiana, and the names of their four children are Lowell, Neva, Margaret and Florence. Nancy L. is the wife of John F. Hankins, and they live with her father, their three children being William M., Leona L. and Lillian P. Lynn E., who lives at Maza, North Dakota, married Minnie Gibson and has two children, Cecil and Paul. Schuyler A. lives at Maza, North Dakota. Roy N., who lives at Garske, North Dakota, married Cora Sites and has a child named Kenneth N. George W., whose home is in Plymouth, Indiana, married Laura Schneider, and their one child is Howard.
While always a republican, Mr. Matthews has been content to do his civic duty
by being a good neighbor and a friend to all progressive movements, without
participation in office seeking. He is a member of the Christian Church at
Spring Creek, and revives memories of the war by his association with Champion
Hill Post No. 171 of the Grand Army of the Republic at Brookston.
During a period of thirty years, James M. McBeth has been engaged in the insurance business in White County, about half of that time on the road, although for the past four years he has been located in a local business at Monticello. While he is widely known as a business man, however, he has gained equal prominence and popularity in official office, while still further back in his history he put in four years of service as a Union soldier during the Civil war, and was also one of the early school teachers of White County. In whatever direction his activities have been conducted he has won and retained the esteem and respect that are only granted to those who perform conscientiously and well the duties devolving upon them.
James M. McBeth was born July 31, 1842, in Stark County, Ohio, of Scotch ancestry and a son of William and Anna (Steele) McBeth. The family came to White County, Indiana, in December, 1847, settling on a farm in Cass Township, and here William McBeth died in September, 1854, being buried in the Leyman Graveyard at the northeast corner of Liberty Township. James M. McBeth attended the Monticello School, under the preceptorship of George Bowman and until nineteen years of age resided on the home farm, content to follow the vccation of agriculturist as had his father before him. At that time the Civil war came on, and with other patriotic young men of his neighborhood he enlisted in the Union army, joining Company E of the Forty-Sixth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, October 21, 1861, at Monticello. By reason of re-enlistment he was discharged January 1, 1864, but on the following day veteranized, and continued with that famous and hard-fighting regiment until September 11, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at Indianapolis. During this time Mr. McBeth saw some of the fiercest struggles of the war and had his full share of active service. At Sabine Cross Roads, April 8, 1864, he was captured by the enemy, and was confined at the Confederate Prison at Tyler until August 12, 1864, when he was marched 250 miles to Camp Grove, near Hempstead, where he was confined until paroled, December 12, 1864, and later rejoined his regiment. His record is that of a brave and faithful soldier, courageous in the face of danger, cheerful under all circumstances, and obeying unquestioningly and unfalteringly the orders of his officers.
Probably the experience and excitement of his military life changed Mr. McBeth's ideas in regard to an agricultural career. At any rate he was possessed of an ambition to do something in the world beside tilling the soil, and in order to prepare himself more fully took a three-year course at the Battle Ground College. When he left that institution he was equipped to follow a teacher's career, and for eleven years was engaged in educational work, two years at the Wylie School in Cass Township, two years at the Benham School in Carro1l County, three years in the Monticello schools, two years at the Hull School in Caroll County, and two years in the Village of Norway. In 1875 Mr. McBeth was appointed a deputy in the county auditor's office, a capacity in which he served for ten years, and during eight years of this time acted also as township assessor and two years as township trustee. He embarked in the insurance business in 1885, having been defeated for the office of county auditor in the foregoing year, and from that time to the present he has given his attention almost undividedly to this line of endeavor, with the exception of the two years from 1894 that he served as a member of the Indiana Legislature. In 1895 Mr. McBeth went on the road in the insurance line, and continued to travel for sixteen years, when advancing years caused him, in 1911, to settle down permanently at Monticello, where he has a well-established business. He is widely known among the representatives of the various concerns, and it has been his fortune to have transacted some of the best business done in this section.
Mr. McBeth has never lost interest in the welfare and activities of his old Army comrades. A charter member of the Grand Army Post at Monticello, he is one of its most popular comrades, is a Past Commander, has filled about all the offices, and at present is Adjutant. Fraternally, he is affiliated with Monticello Lodge No. 107, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has been twice through the chairs. With his family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church.
On November 25, 1872, Mr. McBeth was married to Miss Sarah C. Turner, of West Carrollton, Ohio, and seven children have been born to this union: William E., who died in infancy; Doctor Walter, a practicing physician of Burnettsville, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this work; Bertha, who died August 13, 1902, as the wife of Delbert H. Moorhouse; Burdella; Lewis and James E., who died in infancy; and Marjorie, who is a graduate in music from Oberlin College and aso took special instruction at a conservatory at Chicago.
This well known old resident of Cass Township is now nearing the eightieth milestone of his life's journey. He came to White County when a boy of ten years of age and has a keen recollection of the many hardships and diffcult circumstances environing the family residence in those early days. He had little more than attained manhood when he was called away to service in the Civil war, and has a creditable record as a soldier, for which his descendants will properly give him honor. For more than a ha1f century Mr. McBeth has pursued farming and stock raising, and has one of the largest and best farms in Cass Township, comprising 420 acres of land.
Born in Clark County, Ohio, May 3, 1837, Joseph McBeth is a son of William and Anna (Steele) McBeth. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, were married in Ohio and of their seven children only two are now living. In the fall of 1847 the parents and children transferred their residenee from Greene County, Ohio, to White County, Indiana, and settled in Cass Township. There were no railroads to Indiana at that time, and the journey was made in the typical manner of the times, over the rough roads, with a four-horse team, and the wagon carried not only members of the family but also the household goods. Both parents were well educated and taught school in White County after coming here. The father died in 1854, but was survived by his widow many years, and both are now at rest in the Layman Cemetery. William McBeth was a republican, a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and was one of the early farmers to introduce graded stock for his own use.
Joseph McBeth, the subject of this sketch, attended the public schools of Clark County, Ohio, during the first ten years of his life, and had some additional training in local schools and got the instruction of his parents after coming to White County. He was twenty-four years old when the war broke out, and on the 4th of July, 1861, enlisted in Company K of the Twentieth Indiana Infantry, under Col. William L. Brown. His command was mustered in at Lafayette, and he continued in the active service just two years. In the memorable engagement at Gettysburg in July, 1863, he was wounded and was soon after given an honorable release from military duty. Since then he has applied himself to farming, and with what liberal success everyone acquainted with the rural district of Cass Township well knows. In 1864, soon after returning from the army, he was elected township trustee, and held that office two terms. Mr. McBeth is a member of the Grand Army Post at Monticello, is a republican in politics, and belongs to the United Presbyterian Church. His family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
On May 3, 1866, Mr. McBeth married Miss Elmina M. Sheehan, daughter of David and Lydia (Hubbard) Sheehan. Into their home came ten children, and the five now living are: John S., Anna A., Blanche F., William W. and Joseph M.
In no profession are the opportunities for social service greater than those which come to the physician almost daily while in the performance of his routine duty. The professional standards of White County's physicians are unusually high, and one of the younger men who have gained reputation and honor in their respective communities for capable and intelligent practice is Dr. Walter McBeth, of Burnettsville, where he has practiced nearly fifteen years.
The McBeth family has been identified with White County upwards of seventy years, and the name is one that has always stood for good citizenship. Doctor McBeth is a son of James M. and Sarah C. (Turner) McBeth. James M. McBeth, who is now living at Monticello, was born in Clark County, Ohio, July 31, 1842, a son of William and Anna (Steele) McBeth, and in December, 1847, the family settled in Cass Township of White County.
Dr. Walter McBeth was born at Monticello, August 22, 1875. He grew up in the county seat, and was one of the boys who attended the high school there during the '90s. He afterwards, having determined upon medicine as his chosen vocation, entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, an institution affiliated with the State University, and was graduated M. D. April 8, 1901. Almost immediately he located at Burnettsville, and has enjoyed an increasing prestige and a substantial practice. Doctor McBeth stands high in medical circles, and is a member of the White County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
Those individuals who have given of their energy, skill, ambitious vigor and enthusiasm in the building up of a community are benefactors of humanity, and their names cannot be held in too high esteem. The qualities of such citizenship have been possessed in an eminent degree by members of the McCabe family, who have lived in White County for more than forty years. Mr. John McCabe is one of the successful business men, farmers, and public spirited citizens in the Chalmers community. It is a fact of historical interest that when the McCabes first came to White County they bought 240 acres, now included in the site occupied by the Village of West Chalmers.
The McCabe family is of Scotch-Irish origin. Ezra McCabe, father of John McCabe, was born in Ohio, and married Adelia Dillon, a sister of John Dillon of Ohio. Mrs. McCabe died at Momence, Illinois, and was buried in Spring Creek Cemetery in White County. She was born, reared and educated in Ohio, and was almost ninety years of age at the time of her death. Of their ten children John was the fifth, and all the others are now deceased except his brother Theodore, who lives in Tippecanoe County. Ezra McCabe died March 14, 1888, after a long and honored career of seventy-seven years. He spent his life as a farmer, and did well by himself and his neighbors.
John McCabe was born near Adelphi, Ohio, January 20, 1843, and came to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, with his father about 1852. He grew to manhood there, and for fully half a century has been engaged in farming and in the buying and shipping of live stock. He early manifested that quality of patriotism which was willing to sacrifice all for the advantage of a united country, and in February, 1865, enlisted in Company A of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He remained in the service during the closing months of the great rebellion, and was given his honorable discharge in August, 1865. Since 1874 his home has been in White County, at which time he located in Big Creek Township. He has developed a large business as a stock buyer and has also at different times cultivated a large amount of White County land. Mr. McCabe now owns forty acres of valuable farming land three miles northeast of Brookston, and has some town property in the latter village. His activity in public affairs has been particularly identified with the prohibition movement and party. In 1914 his name appeared on the county ticket as prohibition candidate for the office of county treasurer. At one time Mr. McCabe served as marshal at Lowell, Indiana. He and a part of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, others being members of the Christian Church.
His first wife was Lydia McLaughlin, a daughter of John McLaughlin of Tippecanoe County. Of the two children of this union Rebecca died in infancy and Sylvester is still living and unmarried. After the death of his first wife, Rebecca Taylor married Mr. McCabe. Her father was Thomas Taylor of White County. Both the children of this union, Thomas W. and Carl L., are now deceased. The present Mrs. McCabe was before her marriage Mary Ann Alkire, a daughter of Harness Alkire, of the well known Alkire family that were identified with the early settlement of White County.
The McCall family has had a substantial representation in White County for nearly half a century. It came to the county early enough to perform its share of pioneer development, and the active members of the present generation are known as aggressive farmers, upright business men, and citizens of honor and usefulness in all their relations.
The founder of the family in White County was James McCall, who came from Greene County, Ohio, to White County in the fall of 1866, settling in section 28 of Jackson Township. He was born in Pennsylvania, December 22, 1806, and on his birthday in 1828 was married to Mary Graham, who died in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1862. To this marriage were born nine children: John Graham, Elizabeth Thompson, Isabelle, Mary H., Dorcas J., Jennie Morrow Proudfoot, Daniel, Matthew Waddell and Joseph Smiley. James McCall was of Scotch-Irish descent, and a practical farmer throughout his career. He was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian denomination, and was devoted to church affairs. In earlier life he voted for the democratic party, but subsequently became an ardent prohibitionist. He was a man of liberal views, and in every sense a good citizen. During the war he enlisted, but was not accepted on account of an injured leg. His death occurred February 4, 1896.
Daniel McCall had just reached manhood when he came to White County. In April, 1865, he had enlisted in Company D of the Eighth Ohio Cavalry at Columbus, and was in service a few weeks until the close of hostilities. He now occupies the fine farm home a half mile southwest of Idaville, comprising 140 acres of land. That estate is one practical measure of his activities, since he started out with comparatively nothing, and has made his success through his own efforts.
Daniel McCall was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, near Concord, October 6, 1844, came with his father to White County and continued to live at home until his marriage on January 21, 1874, to Miss Emily MacWilliams at Idaville. She was a daughter of Robert and Mary Jane (Jacoby) MacWilliams. The MacWilliams family came to White County in 1854. To their marriage were born four children: Byron R.; Marcellus, who lives east of Idaville and by his marriage to Nina Vanderplat, has one living child, Vera Joy, and one deceased; John E., who is a United Presbyterian preacher in Ohio, married for his first wife Stella McCutcheon, and has a daughter Bessie L., and for his second wife married Bella Swan, who is the mother of one daughter, Thelma R.; and Mary L., who died in infancy.
Daniel McCall is a republican in politics, but shows a liberal attitude in matters of local affairs, voting for the best man. He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, with which his wife is also identified, and both contribute liberally to its support. He has always been on the side of improvement and ready to help out in the upbuilding of the community.
His oldest son, Byron R., was born in White County, December 14, 1874, had a common school education, and now lives with his father and is active manager of the homestead. For five years he has served as an elder in the United Presbyterian Church. Byron married Lydia A. White, a daughter of Alexander L. and Jennie R. (McDowell) White of Jackson County, Ohio. They were married at the home of the bride in Jackson County, February 23, 1915, on his wife's birthday. Mr. and Mrs. McCall have one of the old parchment deeds which was executed under the hand and seal of President Van Buren and dated August 20, 1838. It is one of the valuable heirlooms of the county as well as of the home of Mr. and Mrs. McCall. This makes the eighth deed found in the County of White. One of the most commendable features in the biography of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel McCall, is the tender and loving remembrance of parents by their affectionate children. True reverence is held for the dear old father and mother, and the greatest of veneration is shown in the home life of the McCall homestead. Daniel McCall is held in the highest esteem by those who know him. He has a double record—a record as an honorable and upright citizen who worships his home and his family, and a record as a soldier. When his country was in peril and need, he offered his services and, if need be, his life for the preservation of the Union.
The youngest son and child of the McCall family, that has lived in White County since the spring of 1866, Joseph S. McCall has made himself a factor in the local life of Jackson Township and has a good farm home 4 1/2 miles northwest of Idaville.
Joseph Smiley McCall was born near Concord in Muskingum County, Ohio, April 18, 1850, and during boyhood removed with his father to Green County, Ohio, and was about sixteen years old when the family located in White County.
The founder of the family in White County was James McCall who came from Green County, Ohio, to White County in the spring of 1866, settling in section 28 of Jackson Township. He was born in Pennsylvania, December 22, 1806, and on his birthday in 1828 was married to Mary Graham, who died in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1862. To this marriage were born nine children: John Graham, Elizabeth Thompson, Isabelle, Mary H., Dorcas J., Jennie Morrow Proudfoot, Daniel Steward, Matthew Waddell and Joseph Smiley. James McCall was of Scotch-Irish descent, and a practical farmer throughout his career. He was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian denomination, and was devoted to church affairs. In earlier life he voted for the democratic party, but subsequently became an ardent prohibitionist. He was a man of liberal views, and in every sense a good citizen. During the war he enlisted, but was not accepted on account of an injured leg. His death occurred February 4, 1896.
Joseph Smiley McCall was married April 24, 1883, to Miss Amanda M. Sproggs, daughter of Elam and Hannah (Beard) Sproggs. Elam Sproggs was a son of David Sproggs, who came to Indiana from Blount County, Tennessee, and further mention of this White County family will be found in other connections. Mr. and Mrs. McCall have three children: Charles L., who lives at Monticello, married Sarah Wortman, and their five children are Edith May, deceased; Charles Harry; Bertha Fae; Walter Steward; and Lucile Ruth; Estella May married Harley Shafer and lives in Carroll County; Steward A. is unmarried and lives at home.
Joseph S. McCall is a republican, but for the past eight years has supported actively the prohibition movement. He has never sought office, but for eight years served as township supervisor and gave a very efficient administration of local affairs. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and liberal supporters of the same. Mr. McCall is the owner of sixty-five acres in Jackson Township, and has made farming his career for more than forty years.
The work of the high-minded and progressive modern physician is not confined entirely to the treatment of individual cases or the needs of an exclusively private practice, but in the case of a man like Dr. Joseph D. McCann is broadened into efforts affecting the vital welfare of the entire community. Doctor McCann at Monticello is not only a physician who has enjoyed a large and distinctive practice there for twenty-five years or more, but has also taken the lead in various movements for sanitary reform and civic improvement.
Joseph D. McCann was born at Newport, Madison County, Ohio, August 15, 1858, and is the only one of two sons and two daughters still living who were children of James and Margaret (Packer) McCann. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother was born in Alleghany City, Pennsylvania. After the death of his first wife James McCann married Catherine Eskridge, and one of her children is still living in Ohio. The family came out to White County, Indiana, in 1872, and the father died there in January of the following year.
Dr. Joseph D. McCann passed a considerable part of his youth in ill health, but in spite of that handicap at the beginning has made himself useful and prominent in his community. As a young man he clerked in general stores and drug stores, and in 1885 removsd to Monticello and took up the reading of medicine with Doctor Robison. He later entered the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, where he was graduated M. D. in June, 1888. Returning to Monticello he became associated in practice with Doctor Robison, and their relationship was continued uninterrupted until Doctor Robison left Monticello at the close of 1914. Doctor McCann now looks after the practice by himself.
For twenty years Doctor McCann has served as surgeon of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He has taken the lead in the introduction of several important improvements in Monticello. After three petitions his plans for a local sewer system were adopted. He was the cause of laying the first paved streets of the town, and also brought about the ordinance which abolished for sanitary reasons the keeping of hogs within the town limits. Doctor McCann is prominent in Masonic circles, belonging to the Consistory of Scottish Rite, and is a Past Grand Patron of the Eastern Star. He is president of the Monticello Library Board, is past president and secretary of the State Eclectic Medical Society and a former president of the National Eclectic Society, honors which well indicate his high standing in the profession. He is also a former president and is now secretary of the Association of Railway Surgeons. In politics he is a democrat of the Wilson type.
On August 15, 1889, Doctor McCann married Elizabeth Engle, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Gingrich) Engle of Pennsylvania. Dr. and Mrs. McCann lost one daughter at the age of eleven months. They are members of the Methodist Church, and Mrs. McCann is prominent in foreign missionary work.
Edward McCloud, an old time resident of Cass Township, died at the home of his son Sidney, Tuesday, July 17, 1900. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, February 4, 1829, came to Indiana in 1850, and on August 21, 1851, married Emeline Wiley, by whom he had nine children, six of whom survived him. On January 3, 1864, he enlisted in the Sixty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers and at the close of the war returned home. He was intensely religious, a good citizen and a brave soldier. His funeral services were held at the White Oak Church and his remains were interred in the Buffalo Cemetery.
Maritta McCloud-Parcels was born in LaRue, Marion County, Ohio November 9, 1826, and died at Monticello, June 9, 1912. She was a sister of Edward McCloud and grew to womanhood in the place of her birth. On February 25, 1847, she was married to William H. Parcels, who died in Monticello, May 19, 1886. In 1850 they moved to Pulaski County, Indiana, and six years later came to Monticello and located on the premises where both died. In early life she joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and continued faithful until her death. She was also the last surviving charter member of the Rebekah Lodge of Monticello. Rev. J. E. McCloud, her nephew, assisted Rev. H. L. Kindig in the funeral services and her body was laid to rest in the Monticello Cemetery.
As a representative of the agricultural interests of White County, James M. McClure has established a creditable record for industry, perseverance and integrity. He has spent most of his active life in this county, and he and his wife, who was a daughter of the late James S. Van Voorst, now have one of the attractive farm homes of West Point Township, situated on Rural Route No. 12 out of Chalmers.
Born September 29, 1867, near Logan, Dearborn County, Indiana, James M. McClure is a son of James and Mary E. (Boatman) McClure. Grandfather McClure came from Ireland. Mr. McClure was born on a farm, but at the age of seven years was taken to Logan, and at eighteen came to Benton County, Indiana, and after five or six years there moved to White County and for several years was in the employ of Jacob W. Roll.
On October 28, 1902, Mr. McClure married Miss Laura D. Van Voorst, a daughter of James S. and Mary A. Van Voorst, whose lives are traced on other pages. Mr. McClure is a stanch [sic] republican, one of the leaders of his party in West Point Township, served one term as township supervisor, and in the fall of 1914 was elected township assessor overcoming the combination of the democrats and bull moosers against him. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America at Chalmers, and he and his wife are members of the Springdale Baptist Church.
Solomon McColloch, the pioneer of Prairie Township, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Clara Lilly, at Pleasant Ridge, Ohio, in April, 1912, aged ninety-four years and four days. He was born near Bellefontaine, Ohio, March 29, 1818, both his parents being Scotch. He had two brothers and three sisters. His father, Solomon McColloch, Sr., moved from Ohio to White County with a family of five children in 1832, being one of the earliest settlers of Prairie Township and the first election inspector appointed after the organization of the township. Solomon McColloch, Jr., was married three times and of the twelve children born to him by these unions three only survive. For many years Mr. McColloch farmed the Bartley place on the southeast border of Monticello, and it was here that his older children reached manhood and womanhood. The deceased was buried at Pleasant Ridge, Ohio.
William W. McColloch, a soldier who lost a leg in the service of his country, was county recorder eight years and postmaster at Monticello at the time of his death. For almost forty years Mr. McColloch was one of the most familiar figures on the streets of Monticello, with a wide acquaintance all over the county. He was a son of Solomon and Elizabeth McColloch and was born on a farm near Brookston, September 14, 1842. He enlisted in Company K, Twentieth Indiana Infantry, July 22, 1861; was wounded in the seven days' fight before Richmond June 25, 1862, taken prisoner and had his left leg amputated by rebel surgeons. Was confined for a time in Libby Prison. While attending school at the Battleground [sic] Academy he was elected county recorder in 1866 and entered upon his official duties in July, 1867, serving eight years. He then became a member of the abstracting firm of McColloch & Bushnell and was appointed postmaster in Monticello in January, 1898, re-appointed in 1892, having served a little more than five years at the time of his death, March 8, 1903. October 5, 1871, he was married to Martha M. Huff, daughter of Judge Samuel Huff, who survived him a little more than five years, dying April 20, 1908. They had no children.
For more than sixty years a resident of Monticello, few men
in White County are better known than James H. McCollum, who was born in Greene
County, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1834, the son of Thomas M. and Sarah
(Hughes) McCollum. Most of his early life was passed in Coshocton County, Ohio,
and in 1854 he came to Monticello, where for six years he clerked in the general
store of his uncle, Rowland Hughes, at the end of which time he was admitted as
a member in the firm. His subsequent years have been spent in business in
Monticello, where he still resides. He is a democrat in politics but has never
been an aspirant for political honors, though for six
years he was treasurer of the school board of Monticello and served the public
with fidelity and zeal. On June 15, 1858, he married Nancy J. Hughes, who died
March 22, 1862. On August 23, 1864, he was married to Miss Mary M. Turner and to
this union was born four children: Lillie M. (deceased), Edna M. (now Mrs. Helm,
of Greenville, Ohio), Stuart T. and William E. McCollum. Mr. McCollum's parents
in 1874 came to White County, where his mother died January 2, 1878, and on
August 13, 1880, his father also died. Mr. McCollum and his wife live in their
beautiful home in Monticello, respected by their friends and in full enjoyment
of health and prosperity.
Thomas McCollum was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 20, 1803, and was married February 28, 1823. In 1836 he moved to Coshocton County, Ohio, where he lived until 1872, when he located on a farm four miles northwest of Monticello. In the spring of 1878 his wife died, and on August 13, 1880, he, too, passed away. He was the father of fourteen children, most of whom are dead. One son, Mr. James H. McCollum, a retired business man of Monticello, and now past eighty years old, is living in Monticello, which has been his home since 1854.
A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many deeds well done and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, was that of the late James McComb, who, brought to White County when a child in the early '50s, deserves to be remembered among early settlers. In the round of everyday duties and in the faithful and intelligent performance of every task that was allotted to him during his life, he left a record which may well be admired by those that follow him. Mrs. McComb is now living at Brookston, and has all the comforts that the diligence and enterprise of her husband supplied during his lifetime, and also enjoys the esteem which was paid both to herself and to her husband while he was living.
The McComb family was of Scotch-Irish descent. James McComb was born in Madison County, Ohio, March 15, 1850, a son of Robert and Maria (Hare) McComb, who within a few years after the birth of their son James moved out of Ohio and located in White County, settling in Round Grove Township near Oxford. Robert McComb was a farmer and stock raiser, and he and his wife died within two weeks of each other and are buried in the Oxford Cemetery.
The late James McComb got such education as served for his equipment in life by attendance at the public schools, but was only fifteen years of age when he became self-supporting. His active career was spent largely in dealing in cattle and hogs, and he possessed what may be called a genius for this particular vocation. There is no record in which a case of his judgment was ever seriously at fault, and guided by this almost infallible intelligence he had complete confidence and ability to meet every issue wihch [sic] arose. One of his earliest enterprises which shows his self-reliance was the taking of $1,800 of his own money to Chicago to invest in hogs, which he then brought back to Indiana and fed and fattened until they were fit for market. His scrupulous integrity and honesty matched his business ability, and he enjoyed the high esteem of all with whom he came in contact.
Mr. McComb was first married to Miss Nettie Brandon, and the one child of this union was a daughter, Nellie Dean, who became the wife of Harry W. Hagerty, a practical agriculturist of Prairie Township, and they reside on the McComb Estate. They are the parents of a son, James Henry. Mrs. Hagerty attended school in Wabash and White counties, also the Brookston High School, and received musical instruction. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church and of the Pythian Sisters. Mr. Hagerty attended both the public schools of White County and the Brookston High School. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Brookston.
On March 2, 1898, Mr. McComb married Elizabeth Berry, daughter of Michael and Mary (Murray) Berry. Her parents were born in Madison County, Ohio, and the family came to White County soon after the father's death about 1860. In White County the mother married Moses Wilson, and she lived in Monon Township until her death in 1906, and is now at rest in the cemetery at Monon. Mrs. McComb was the only daughter and child by the first marriage.
Mr. and Mrs. McComb had one daughter, Mildred L., who was born December 17, 1899, and died May 27, 1915, at the entrance to a promising young womanhood. The following excerpt is quoted from the home newspaper relative to her death:
"Miss Mildred McComb, daughter of Mrs. James McComb of Brookston, Indiana, died at 2 o'clock after an illness of several months' duration. She was a patient sufferer and her death is attributed to pernicious anaemia. She was born near Brookston December 17, 1899, and all her life was spent in White County. Mildred possessed a sunny disposition and was loved by a large circle of friends. She was a member of thc Methodist Church at Brookston and was an affectionate daughter. Besides the mother she leaves one half-sister, Mrs. H. W. Hagerty of Brookston. The funeral was held at the family residence in Brookston."
She is laid to rest in the family burial ground at Brookston, where the remains of her father also find their repose.
Mr. McComb died June 19, 1912. In politics he was a radical democrat and took a keen interest in public affairs, though his ambition did not extend to office holding. He was a member of the Masonic order and with his wife belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Physically he was a fine specimen of manhood, of the decided blond type, stood six feet tall and weighed about 180 pounds. As a result of his business activities he acquired the ownership of about 160 acres in section 19 of Prairie Township, and that is still the property of Mrs. McComb. In 1906 he removed his family to Brookston, and Mrs. McComb has lived there since that year.
David McConahay, of Jackson Township, who always enjoyed the name of "Buckwheat Dave," from his singing the old-fashioned notes, was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, January 5, 1817, and came with his parents to White County in the fall of 1833, but after a short stay moved to Rush County, where he lived for two years and came back, locating in Big Creek Township. He taught the first school held in what later became Liberty Township. On October 15, 1840, he married Miss Sarah Crose, who was born in Indiana, August 15, 1825, and this union was blessed with seven children. In 1848 he located in Jackson Township. He was ordained a preacher in the Christian Church in 1853, and for many years followed that calling. A democrat in polities, he served as county assessor in 1849-50, and for two terms served as township trustee, in all of which offices he left an unblemished record. His wife died in March, 1900, and he passed away at Idaville, December 30, 1890.
In Bourbon County, Kentucky, was born, November 30, 1803, to David and Jane
(Ranson) McConahay, a son, who, with his family, was destined to play an active
part in the early history of White County. Ranson McConahay received a good
practical education, later he taught school, learned the blacksmith and
shoemaker's trade, and for a time engaged in farming. On March 26, 1829, he
married Mary Thompson, in Campbell County, Kentucky, and in the same year
located in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where he farmed for three years, when he
came to what is now White County, locating about twelve miles south of what is
now Monticello. For twelve years he farmed and taught school when he moved to
Liberty Township, and upon the death, on January 7, 1846, of William Sill, he
was appointed to the office of clerk, auditor and recorder of White County, the
office held by Mr. Sill at his death.
He was the second incumbent of this office, and at the expiration of his term by
appointment he was elected clerk and served two terms, the last term closing in
1858, when he was succeeded by his son, Orlando. He then engaged in mercantile
business in Monticello, Burnettsville, Norway and also Pulaski County. About the
year 1867 he quit the active life, and on April 22, 1868, died at the home of
his daughter, Mrs. Haworth, in Pulaski County. His remains are buried in the
Star City Cemetery. His first wife died in Monticello, September 19, 1849. She
was the mother of Orlando, deceased, and James A., yet living in Kansas. On
December 17, 1850, he married his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Haworth) Sturgeon,
by whom he had two children, Ranson C. and John W. His son, Orlando McConahay,
served for two terms as clerk of White County, being the third person to hold
that office, quitting it in 1867. From this brief sketch the reader will readily
see that Ranson McConahay filled a prominent part in our early history. For twenty
years he, with his son Orlando, filled the responsible position of clerk of the
county, and filled it well.
A resident of White County more than half a century, a veteran of the Civil war, and for many years identified with the drug business in Monticello, John McConnell has turned the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey and is now retired, having accomplished what the world must regard as a worthy share of life's duties.
John McConnell was born in Greenfield, Highland County, Ohio, November 6, 1838. His parents were James Boyd and Sarah D. (Stewart) McConnell. Both were born also in Highland County, Ohio, the father October 10, 1813, and the mother also in the year 1813. James B. McConnell was a physician of the old school, had acquired his medical education by classical training and association with older doctors, and was regarded as an able and skillful practitioner. He moved to Cass County, Indiana, in 1852, and died there January 23, 1853. His widow survives him more than forty years, passing away January 24, 1898, at the age of eighty-five years and six days, and both are laid to rest in Logansport. They were the parents of ten children, five of whom are still living. After the death of Doctor McConnell, the family, in the fall of 1859, after two years' residence in Illinois, came to White County, and this has been the home of John McConnell ever since.
He acquired his early education in Ohio, was about fifteen years of age when he came to Indiana, and was at the beginning of his manhood career on locating in White County. From this county early in the war he entered the Union army, being mustered in at South Bend, as a member of Company G of the Seventy-third Indiana Infantry, and served three years until discharged at Indianapolis. He was captured and spent two weeks in the notorious Confederate prison at Richmond, the Libby, and the same length of time at Belle Isle in the James River. After the war Mr. McConnell came to Monticello and bought an interest in the drug business conducted by Doctor McMillen. Doctor McMillen finally sold to Mr. Prior, and some years later Mr. McConnell acquired the other interest and was in business alone until he retired about three years ago.
He has served as a member of the city council of Monticello and has been generally interested in local affairs, though never a seeker for official honors. For years he has served as elder in the Presbyterian Church and takes much interest in church work. August 2, 1871, Mr. McConnell married Martha Cowger, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Bolton) Cowger. Mrs. McConnell's parents were pioneers in the Pike Creek community, were farmers, and people of the highest character. Mr. and Mrs. McConnell have two daughters, as follows: Abigail D., who died August 23, 1896; and Sarah Faye, who died February 7, 1908.
For nearly half a century a resident of White County, Rev. William McCorkle came to this locality after a service in the Union army during the Civil war, and the later years of his life have been spent as a leader in the militant church, a cause to which he has given as faithful service as performed while fighting the battles of freedom in the South.
William McCorkle was born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1844, a son of William and Elizabeth (Faults) McCorkle. His parents spent all their lives in Pennsylvania. In 1862 William McCorkle enlisted in Company F of the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and his regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac. He was in many battles, scouting and skirmishing campaigns, and at the end of the war he received his honorable discharge at Pittsburgh in 1865. As a boy, while attending school, he had acquired the trade of blacksmith, and on coming west to White County in October, 1865, found employment at his trade in Monticello. In 1867 Mr. McCorkle went west to Missouri, but returned to White County in the fall of 1872 and located at the Village of Idaville. That was his home for nearly thirty years, and during that time he followed his trade and was otherwise identified with the industrious and high-minded citizenship of that community. He removed to Monticello in March, 1902, and has since lived in the county seat.
Many years ago Mr. McCorkle took up the study of theology, and for the past
sixteen years has been a minister in the Baptist Church. He was formerly
connected with the New Dunkard Church of God at Idaville. On November 15, 1866,
Mr. McCorkle married Miss Margaret D. Howie, daughter of James and Jane (Malcolm)
Howie. Their one daughter, Jennie, is the wife of Hamilton E. McCulley. Rev. Mr.
McCorkle in politics combines the doctrines and principles of the old republican
party as represented by Lincoln, but has strong leanings towards the
prohibition cause. He is affiliated with the independent Order of Odd Fellows,
and is a member of Tippecanoe Post No. 51 of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Dan McCuaig, one of the old and honored residents of White County, now living retired at Monticello, was for many years engaged in farming and stockraising operations in Union Township, and through a life of industry and well-directed effort accumulated a substantial property and won his fellow-citizens' regard and esteem. Mr. McCuaig was born near Campbeltown, Argyllshire, Scotland, November 9, 1839, and is a son of Neil and Margaret (Johnston) McCuaig.
The McCuaig family emigrated to the United States in 1842 and first located near Marietta, Ohio, from whence they removed to Cincinnati, and in 1856 came to White County, Indiana, locating in September of that year in Union Township. There Neil McCuaig continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits during the remainder of his life, but did not live to enjoy a full measure of success, as his death occurred in 1861. He was a democrat in politics, but never took any active part in public affairs, his entire time being devoted to the cultivation of his land. Mrs. McCuaig survived her husband until 1886, when she died and was laid to rest beside him at Monticello. Of their ten children, seven grew to maturity.
Dan McCuaig was three years of age when the family emigrated to America, and was a lad of fourteen years when he located in White County, his education being finished in the primitive district schools of his day. At the time of his father's death he took over the management of the home farm, and continued to be engaged in successful farming and stock raising operations during the remainder of his active career, which ended in 1901 when he retired and took up his residence at Monticello, his present home. A democrat in his political views, Mr. McCuaig served as trustee of Union Township on two occasions, once by appointment and once by election, but he has not been an office seeker, preferring to serve his community rather as a citizen than as an official. He has long been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and for some years served as elder therein.
In 1874 Mr. McCuaig was married to Miss Jeanette Breckenridge, daughter of John
and Martha (Dunlap) Breckenridge, pioneers of White County,
whence they came in 1848. Four children have been born to this union: John, who
is engaged in farming operations in Carroll County, Indiana; Frank, who is deputy
treasurer of White County; David, who is connected with a banking institution at
Monticello, Indiana, and Alvin, whose death occurred in March, 1899.
Locating in Monticello at a comparatively early date and engaging in the hotel business Mr. McCuiag was closely identified with the town's material and social advancement throughout a long and busy life. He was possessed of a well balanced mind and natural force of character which made his counsel and advice valuable both in public and private matters. He was born in Greenock, Scotland, September 17, 1836, and came with his parents to America in 1846, stopping first in Washington County, Ohio. He came to Monticello in 1856, and on November 20, 1860, was married to Jane Clingen, who is still living. In June, 1866, they began the hotel business in a little one-story building on lot 42, at the southeast corner of Main and Washington streets. To this they added as the years went by until it grew to a large and commodious hostelry, known as "The McCuaig House," for many years the town's leading hotel. In 1901 they sold the lot and the site of the old hotel is now occupied by the splendid Odd Fellows' Block erected the same year. Mr. McCuaig died March 11, 1902.
William L. McDonald, an old settler of Monon Township, who died May 14, 1899, was of Pennsylvania nativity, born in Juniata County, December 28, 1821. He was a farmer by vocation, which he followed in his native state, and in connection therewith, for a few years, was engaged in canal boating. He married Rebecca Foltz, and from Juniata County, he and his family, with some two score other families of the same locality emigrated to the West in 1852, coming down from Toledo, Ohio, on the Erie Canal and disembarking at Delphi, Indiana. From the latter point, in March, 1861, Mr. McDonald came with his family to White County, Indiana, and bought 120 acres of land in Monon Township from Byron Cowdrey, at $25 per acre. There was at that time a frame house on the property and this was then one of the first frame houses between Wolcott and Monon. Here Mr. and Mrs. McDonald passed the remainder of their days, cultivating the soil and improving their farm. While Mr. McDonald was a man of but ordinary education, he was possessed of an unusual degree of practical sound sense, and through his good judgment, foresight and acumen, together with his constant industry, he had accumulated 240 acres of land at the time of his death. Perhaps his most marked characteristic was his sturdy honesty in all of life's transactions. For many years he held the office of supervisor of his township, but he was in no sense a politician or office seeker, although always a sturdy supporter of the policies of the democratic party. William L. and Rebecca McDonald were the parents of eight children: Anna; Amanda J., who married James Long and resides at Terre Haute, Indiana; John; Mary Elizabeth, who married John Phebus; Martha, who married Amos Rogers; William B.; George F. and Sarah.
John McDonald, the oldest son of the pioneer William L. McDonald, was born in Carroll County, Indiana, May 10, 1855. He was brought to White County, Indiana, by his parents as a lad of six years, and here has continued to make his home ever since. As a boy he helped in the development of the home farm, and spent much of his time in herding cattle, and for thirty-five years, during the winter seasons, he devoted his activities to the buying of cattle hides and game. Of late his attention has been devoted to farming, and his present well~cultivated property consists of 240 acres. Mr. McDonald was married April 9, 1890, to Miss Katie C. Tucker, daughter of Wesley and Maria (Lamb) Tucker, farming people of Monon Township. The Tuckers originally came from France, locating first in Ohio, going thence to Illinois and finally settling in Indiana. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tucker are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. McDonald there have been born four children: Elmer, who died in infancy; John Evert, Amos Perry and Clarence Lee.
William B. McDonald, son of William L. and Rebecca McDonald, was born in Carroll County, Indiana, April 19, 1859. As a boy his time, after he had reached sufficient years, was passed in grubbing, making rails, planting, reaping and similar work, and his early recollections of his boyhood include the herding of cattle on the open prairie when vast tracts were open to pasturage. As a youth, by working out among the neighboring farmers, he earned enough money to purchase a gun, and when this was secured he earned the leisure to devote to hunting by working far into the night on other days. As game was abundant and his skill developed rapidly, he killed many pheasant, prairie chicken, snipe, quail and other fowl which added to the family larder and gained him pocket money, while he was also able to obtain a good price for the mink and muskrat skins which he secured. Mr. McDonald was married January 12, 1897, to Miss Ella S. Owens, the daughter of John T. and Clara J. (Woosley) Owens, at that time farming people of Jasper County, Indiana, but now residents of Monon. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have one daughter: Nellie May. The mature life of Mr. McDonald has been passed in agricultural pursuits, and at this time he is the owner of 160 acres of well-cultivated land, devoted to diversified farming. In political matters he is a democrat.
John T. Owens, father of Mrs. William B. McDonald, was born May 28, 1848, in Jasper County, Indiana, near the western border line of Monon Township, of White County. His parents were Jacob and Elizabeth (Bishop) Owens. Jacob Owens was one of the early settlers of Jasper County, Indiana, and passed through all the experiences and hardships incident to the life of the pioneer, and moved from this state to Kansas, but after a few years returned to Indiana, and then moved to Oklahoma, where he is now living at a very advanced age. John T. Owens, who until his retirement was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Indiana, married Clara J. Woosley, and they became the parents of seven children, namely: Ella S., who is the wife of William B. McDonald; James Albert; Abram Hoy; Thomas Ray; Lillie May, who is the wife of Artie Haskins; Charles C.; and Valera Jane, who is the wife of Emmet Haskins.
Amor S. McElhoe was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1817, died at his home north of Monticello October 12, 1905, aged nearly eighty-eight years. He was a son of Samuel McElhoe, a revolutionary soldier, who served under Washington and who told of losing his shoes on the night the troops crossed the Delaware to surprise the Hessians. his grandsons, Robert and William McElhoe, still living near Monticello, remember well how their father and mother used to have to aid this revolutionary grandfather in dressing himself. Thus are those remote times of that stirring period linked directly with the present. Amor S. McElhoe's family located in Monticello in 1848, coming from Pennsylvania overland and by the Wabash and Erie Canal. He was a blacksmith and claimed to have made the first steel mouldboard plow in White County. He was married in 1842 to Mary D. Burns, who died in December, 1896. He left surviving four children, Mrs. Joseph Adams, of Rensselaer, Mrs. George Henderson, of Wolcott, and Robert and William McElhoe, north of Monticello.
A worthy representative of the native-born citizens of White County, Edwin E. McKillip is industriously engaged in the prosecution of a calling upon which the support and wealth of the nation largely depends, and in which he is meeting with genuine success, being one of the leading farmers of Princeton Township. A son of Jackson McKillip, he was born on the parental homestead, September 1, 1861, coming of pioneer stock.
A native of Indiana, Jackson McKillip was born in Tippecanoe County, about a mile and a half from the Layfayette Public Squire, a son of Daniel MeKillip. About 1850 he located in White County, and having purchased a tract of land that was still in its virgin wildness, lying in Princeton Township, near Palestine, he cleared and improved a valuable farming estate of 200 acres, on which he lived and labored until his death, September 29, 1913, at an advanced age, during the later years of his life, however, giving up the active management of his homestead. He was a man of much force of character, and held in high esteem throughout the community in which the larger part of his long and useful life was spent. He married Jane Hughes, who preceded him to the better world. Seven children were born of their marriage, as follows: Elda, deceased, was the wife of James Jacobs; Edwin E., the special subject of this brief sketch; Alva died in infancy; Lottie, who married John A. Patton, died at an early age; Karah, deceased; Effie, wife of Thomas H. Covington; and Alberta, wife of William T. Cory. Both parents were faithful members of the Baptist Church, and reared their children in the same religious faith.
Edwin E. McKillip was early initiated into the mysteries of agriculture, and, finding farming congenial to his tastes, determined when young to adopt it as his life occupation. Accordingly, the day after taking unto himself a wife, he assumed possession of his present farm, advantageously situated on section 3, Princeton Township, and in its management has met with eminent success. He has now 439 acres of land, all of which is well tiled, and the greater part of it under cultivation, it being well adapted to the production of the cereals common to this part of the country. Mr. McKillip has made improvements of great value, having erected substantial buildings, including a commodious residence, and has equipped his farm with all the most modern approved machinery necessary for successfully carrying on his work. Inheriting the political and religious faith in which he was reared, he is a democrat and a Baptist.
On July 22, 1890, Mr. McKillip was united in marriage with Miss Mattie Rogers,
a daughter of James and Sarah A. (Spencer) Rogers, and into their attractive
home three children have made their advent, namely: Fern, born September 6, 1892;
Frank, born March 11, 1895; and Fae, born August 19, 1898.
The rewards attainable in a life of industry and consecutive effort, are illustrated in the career of William A. McPherson, now one of the successful business men of Monticello and Monon. When he entered upon his career he was only a lad, and was compelled to accept such employment as was offered, but he sturdily and independently worked his way upward until now he is the occupant of a position of prominence in the business world of White County, and is accumulating the material emoluments that accompany such distinction.
Mr. McPherson was borh near Hamilton, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, August 21, 1872, and is one of two living children in a family of three born to the marriage of Robert McPherson and Elizabeth (Knowles) McPherson, the former a native of Scotland and, the latter of Canada. Robert McPherson died in 1879, while his widow survived him for many years, passing away in 1905. William A. McPherson, after his father's death, went to the public schools to a limited extent and made his home for a time with his mother who had remarried. At twelve years of age he began working on a farm, subsequently took a position in a sawmill, and for a time accepted any honorable employment that would attain him the means with which to keep body and soul together. He was about sixteen years of age when he began to learn the trade of baker, a vocation which he followed during the next twenty years. In the meantime, in 1892, he came to the United States and located at Detroit, Michigan, where he lived for a couple of years, then going to Lexington, Kentucky, and later to many other large cities of the Union. During the period that he worked as a journeyman baker, Mr. McPherson visited three countries, and in the United States has been in twenty-six states. He took out his first papers of citizenship in Minnesota, in 1894, and his final papers were granted him at Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1900.
At LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Mr. McPherson was married January 25, 1894, to Miss Anne Kletske, and in 1902 they came to White County, Indiana. For the two years following Mr. McPherson worked at his trade at Brookston, but in 1904 moved to Monon, which has continued to be his home ever since. Here he started working at his trade, subsequently began buying cream from the farmers of the locality, and thus started handling butter. Gradually he drifted into manufacturing ice cream, and when this business assumed large proportions turned his entire attention thereto. Later Mr. McPherson added the manufacture of soda water and bottling thereof, a side line which has also met with satisfactory success. In December, 1913, he established an ice cream factory at Monticello, and a year later added there the bottling of milk. In pursuance of the latter enterprise, Mr. McPherson first standardizes his milk, then cleans it of all impurities by centrifugal force, then bottles it, and finally the milk is sterilized and pasteurized, thus going to the consumer in an absolutely pure condition. In preparing all of his products for the market, Mr. McPherson has instituted "cleanliness and purity" as a motto, and this has become generally known by the public, which perhaps is the chief reason for the success which he has attained within a few short years. Mr. McPherson is well known in fraternal circles, being a member of the American Yeomen, the Tent and Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and also belongs to the Traveling Men's Protective Association. In his political belief Mr. McPherson is an independent republican. He is the father of two children: Bernita, who is the wife of John Hands, Jr., of Monon; and Miss Frances, who resides with her parents. All the members of the family are connected with the Presbyterian Church.
Robert McWilliams, son of David and Martha Hamilton McWilliams, was born in Knox County, Ohio, October 1, 1819, and died on his farm near Idaville in 1892. In 1840 he came on a canal boat from Dayton, Ohio, to Logansport to visit Robert Ginn, on which occasion he bought a farm northeast of Idaville, but returned to Ohio and pursued his trade of wagonmaker for fourteen years, when he came back to Jackson Township, lived for a year on the Stringtown Road, and in 1855 located on the farm which he owned until his death. He was married three times, first to Emily Jones on July 1, 1847, who died June 4, 1848. They had one son which died in infancy. On December 26, 1850, he married Mary Jane Jacoby, and to this union was born seven children, Emily, wife of Daniel S. McCall; John, who died at the age of twelve; Martha, who married David Hess; Peter, who died in his youth; David, a farmer in Illinois; Henry and Robert, Jr., of California. His second wife died January 17, 1870, and on September 5, 1871, he married Elizabeth McCall, who died childless, about 1898. Mr. McWilliams was a republican, but no office-seeker. In 1874 he was the republican candidate for trustee of Jackson Township, being defeated by one vote in that democratic stronghold. About the year 1868 he united with the United Presbyterian Church at Idaville, of which he was an active member until his death. He was a man of deep and positive religious convictions and active in upholding all that was for the good of the community in which he lived.
Dr. John W. Medaris, who died in Brookston, September 21, 1911, wanting one
month of being ninety-seven years old, was one of the most honored of our old
settlers. At his death he was doubtless the oldest Mason in the State of Indiana,
having been a member of that institution since 1846. He was born in Clearmont,
Ohio, October 22, 1814, was educated in Ohio and married Miss Martha Perry in
Cincinnati, Ohio, who died in 1856, and in 1858 he married Elizabeth S. Pate,
of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, who, with two children, Wilbur and Alta, survived him.
His only child by his first marriage, Mrs. W. B. Cochran, of Danville, Illinois,
died in October, 1911. In 1859 Doctor Medaris located in Brookston, and thereafter
was intimately identified with the welfare of its people.
A business man and citizen whose activities continued through more than thirty years have given him a prominent place in White County, Curtis D. Meeker is a man who has believed in and practiced the gospel of self-help, has never asked for any opportunity except that of hard work, and has been a diligent, public spirited and thoroughly progressive member of the community.
Curtis D. Meeker was born in Dayton, Ohio, August 31, 1857, a son of Charles A. and Sarah (Curtis) Meeker. Both parents were born in Ohio and are now deceased, the family came to Indiana in 1862 and resided in Winamac. Curtis D. Meeker removed to Monticello in 1871 with his mother and younger brothers. Of the seven children four lived to maturity, and the survivors are Curtis D. and Benjamin D., the latter a citizen of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Curtis D. Meeker finished his schooling after coming to White County. For eleven years he was employed in Doctor Spencer's drug store at Monticello, and in 1888 engaged in the lumber and coal business. That has been his line of enterprise for the past quarter of a century, though the years from 1895 to 1900 were largely spent in Indianapolis. Mr. Meeker is an all around lumberman and knows a tree from the stump to the finished product. He was president of the Retail Lumber Dealers Association of Indiana in 1913, and through the recommendation of this body was appointed by Governor Ralston a member of the Indiana State Board of Forestry. Mr. Meeker now has a large business incorporated as a stock company.
On May 3, 1882, Curtis D. Meeker married Gertrude Spencer, whose father, Dr. Wm. Spencer, was one of the prominent old residents of Monticello. Of their five children, three are still living: Mrs. Mabel Beardsley of Michigan; Mrs. Harriet Turner of Indianapolis; and Fred William, who is attending high school in Monticello.
Mr. Meeker has been active in public affairs, a lifelong republican, was
elected city clerk in 1881, was president of the school board in 1893, was a
member of the city council in 1902, and served in the State Legislature during
the sessions of 1905 and 1907. Mr. Meeker is a Lodge and Chapter Mason, and
affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks. His church home is the Presbyterian.
Any community that has had the citizenship and thrift activity of the old Pennsylvania "Dutch" has reason to congratulate itself on its good fortune, since there has never been a class of better homemakers and citizens than the people familiarly referred to under this classification. The Mertz family and their connections represent this old stock in White County. The Mertz family have lived in White County for more than half a century, and has been specially identified with the community about Burnettsville.
The founder of this family was the late Daniel A. Mertz, who was born at Union County, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1836, a son of Philip and Lydia (Showers) Mertz, who were also natives of Pennsylvania. Philip Mertz died in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1883, aged seventy-seven years, three months, nineteen days. His wife died there April 18, 1882, at the age of sixty-nine. Philip Mertz always lived in Pennsylvania, but extended his investments out to White County, Indiana, where he bought three eighties of land in Jackson Township in section 24, and gave part of it to his son Daniel A., who by hard work and economy eventually acquired the entire tract.
Daniel A. Mertz was reared on a farm until eighteen years of age, and was then apprenticed to learn the carriage and wagon maker's trade. He served three years as an apprentice, and for about twelve years conducted a shop of his own. On December 24, 1863, he married Miss Sarah Sieber, one of the thirteen children born to John and Mary (Sausman) Sieber. She was born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, December 4, 1835, and was married December 4, 1863, on her birthday. To Daniel and Sarah Mertz were born five children: Edward S., who now lives with his mother; John M., deceased; David Franklin, who became a prominent educator, was a graduate of the University of Michigan, served a principal of the high schools at Mount Clemens and Ypsilanti, Michigan, and died at the age of thirty-one years while attending as a post-gradnate student, Columbia University; William Morris, who is a successful attorney living in Detroit, married Lois Ferguson, and his three children as [sic] Virginia and William Morris and David Franklin, twins, the latter of whom died at the age of two weeks; and Charles Milton.
Daniel A. Mertz came to Jackson Township in White County in 1864, locating on the farm where he lived the greater part of his years. For the first three years he worked at his trade in the old settlement known as "Git-Away" meanwhile overseeing his farm, and then gave his landed property his personal supervision until he retired about twenty-one years ago. He owned one hundred and twenty acres with excellent improvements, and before his death had a total holding of two hundred and sixty acres. He was one of the successful men of Jackson township. In politics he was a dyed in the wool republican, but displayed no eagerness to hold office. For forty years he was a deacon in the Brethren Church and very active in religious matters. He was a hard worker, conservative, even tempered, and in that respect somewhat different from other members of the Mertz family, and was cool in judgment, never jumping at conclusions. He was one of the leaders in building the Dunkards Church at Burnettsville, in 1889. He also served for several years as a member of the school board in that town. Though his education was that acquired from common schools, he was throughout life a reader and well posted on affairs. The death of this good citizen occurred August 21, 1909, and he was laid to rest in Davis cemetery. His widow is still living.
Charles Milton Mertz was born in White County May 29, 1873, and grew up on the old farm near Burnettsville. His common school education was supplemented by one year of commercial training in the Mount Morris College at Mount Morris, Illinois, but after his marriage he took up farming and has made that his regular business. That he has been successful is indicated by his ownership of three hundred and eighty acres of land, most of which is situated close in to the village of Burnettsville, and is a high grade farm, notable for its productions in both grain and stock. Mr. Mertz also owns property in town. He is in comfortable circumstances, uses an automobile for pleasure and in the performance of his business duties, and is one of the leading men of affairs in his community. He is a stockholder and director in the State Bank of Burnettsville and in the Burnettsville Elevator Company, and is a trustee of Davis cemetery. For the past five years he has been a deacon in the Brethren Church. He classifies himself as a stand-pat republican, and while his influence has often been exercised for public improvements, he has never stood in line for an office.
Charles M. Mertz married Miss Bessie Newcomer, a daughter of Melcher and Mary (Hammer) Newcomer of Mount Morris, Illinois. They are the parents of two daughters: Ruth and Sarah, and also have an adopted son, Harold, who is now nineteen years of age and is a student in Purdue University, Lafayette. The daughter Ruth is a graduate of the class of 1915 in the ldaville schools, and Sarah is a student in the fourth grade.
An older representative of this well known White County family is George W. Mertz, a brother of the late Daniel A. Mertz and one of the ten children of Philip and Lydia Mertz. Those children were: Susan, who married Joseph Amick and died in White County May 13, 1870; Daniel A., whose career has already been sketched; Emma J., who is living in California, the widow of Hiram Smith; Peter H., who died March 20, 1909, married for his first wife Sarah Sieter, a cousin of his brother Daniel's wife, while his second wife was Kate Farris and his third Amanda Mertz, a cousin; Edward, who was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862; Mary, who is now living at Omaha, Nebraska, married Isaac Reiff, who died in October, 1875, and her second husband was Joel Weaver, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1914; George W.; Philip D., who lives on the old home farm in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and by his marriage to Susan Mudderspaugh has twelve children, all living; Sarah, who died in infancy; aid Adaline, who married Walter T. Rupert and lives in Dunkirk, New York.
George W. Mertz was born in Pennsylvania, September 23, 1846 and has lived in White County since the spring of 1873. He has been a farmer all his active career. In 1875 he married Amanda York, daughter of John and Sarah York, very early settlers of White County, who are mentioned elsewhere. To this union were born six children: Clark E., who lives in Burnettsville, married Gertrude Alexander, and of their five children the three living are Roy, Walter and Robert; Minnie M., who now lives at Wolcott, Indiana, first married Arthur S. Galbreath, had three children by him, the first Arthur S., dying, and the two living being Ethel J. and Cloyd, and her present husband is August Bustler; Guy W., who lives in Dallas, Texas, married Lavina Hunt, and has two children, Lucile and George B.; Elmer L. lives at home with his father; Jacob C., is also at home; and John R. is an electrical engineer at Newark, New Jersey.
George W. Mertz is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred twenty
acres lying adjacent to the village of Burnettsville on the north.
He is a republican, and a member of the German Baptist Brethren Church, while
his wife is a member of the regular Baptist denomination.
Cashier of the State Bank of Monon, Carl C. Middelstadt represents a family that has long and usefully been identified with White County.
His parents were Christopher and Wilhelmina (Long) Middelstadt, both natives of Germany, who moved to White County and settled at Monon about 1882. Christopher died April 29, 1909, and his wife on April 7, 1892. An older son is Otto C. Middelstadt, present county treasurer of White County. Otto was born at Medaryville, Indiana, March 12, 1867, was reared at Monon, where he attended the public schools, and in 1908 was elected township trustee, serving five years, and in 1912 was elected treasurer of White County, a position which he has since occupied. He has been twice married and has one daughter, Georgia.
Carl Middelstadt, who has identified his career with banking, was born at Medaryville, Indiana, November 12, 1877, and when still a child came with his parents to Monon, where he was reared and educated. He was engaged in the hotel business at Monon until entering upon his present duties as cashier of the State Bank.
Mr. Middelstadt is a Knight Templar Mason of Delphi and Shriner of Indianapolis,
also an Odd Fellow and belongs to Lodge No. 124 of Monon; in politics he is a
democrat. On July 17, 1896, he married Miss Maude
Bunnell, daughter of Stephen Bunnell. They are the parents of two children:
Wilhelmina and Leo.
The connection of the Miller family with the farming interests of White County has made the name widely known and highly respected among the citizens of West Point Township, where Lewis M. Miller now resides on the old homestead on Rural Route No. 7 out of Wolcott. He is following in the footsteps of his father as a farmer and public spirited citizen, and his father, the late Christian Miller, was one of the early settlers and by his industrious efforts and able management caused a fertile tract of land, originally an uncultivated prairie, to become a fine farm. Mr. Lewis Miller has always been a busy man and yet has found time to devote to the needs of his locality, and has often taken the lead in the matter of public improvement, particularly the building of good roads.
The late Christian Miller, who lived in White County for many years, but from 1893 was a resident of West Lafayette until his death on August 29, 1913, was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, October 28, 1839, and came to America with his parents at the age of ten years. After a residence in New York and later in Ohio, he came into White County, and for several years found employment among the neighboring farmers as a farm hand. That was his means of subsistence until he was twenty-four, and his success is entirely attributable to his own character and industry. At the time of his death he owned about 600 acres of land, and the farm estate is still kept intact, not having been divided among the heirs. Christian Miller was married April 1, 1863, to Catherine Fulton, who died six years before her husband. To their marriage were born nine children, and of these the only two now living in White County are Albert and Lewis. In order of age these children are: Charles, of West Lafayette; Mrs. Emma Dickson, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio; Frank J., of Lafayette; Miss Florence, of West Lafayette; Mrs. Elizabeth Fauber, of Delphi; Albert J., of Wolcott, who married Lelia Arihood and has a daughter named Mabel; Lewis M.; Mrs. Martha Reed, who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada; and Miss Clara L., of West Lafayette.
The late Christian Miller had many qualities which made him greatly admired by his large circle of acquaintances and in his own family. He was a man of deep religious convictions, was a member of the First Presbyterian Church at Lafayette, but in his later years regularly attended the West Lafayette Methodist Church. Politically he supported the republican party all his active career and favored every local improvement, and his own example and his influence helped to forward the cause of good roads and the building of ditches. During his residence in White County he helped organize the Meadow Lake Presbyterian Church and was one of its elders for a number of years.
Lewis M. Miller was born May 21, 1879, on the old farm in section 30, range 6 west, of West Point Township. This has been his home ever since with the exception of five years spent in Lafayette. His education was acquired from the common schools and from a business college and he is numbered among the successful and progressive farmers of West Point Township. He lives on the undivided estate of his father, his land being in section 26, range 5, and his home 6 1/4 miles south of Wolcott. Just recently Mr. Miller has secured a petition for a new gravel road through his farm on the east and to be known as the Miller Road, and he has frequently exerted his energies to secure that class of improvement in his township.
On December 17, 1907, Mr. Miller married Miss Bertha E. Wilson, a daughter of Martha G. Wilson, whose name is well known in White County and a sketch of whom will be found on other pages. Mr. Miller is a republican, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Francis M. Million, son of Ephraim Million, was born in Jackson Township, June 19, 1841, and died in Burnettsville. November 29, 1911. His father was killed by a runaway team in 1847. On October 4, 1860, Mr. Million was married to Katie E. Hoagland, who survived him with their three children. His entire life was spent in and around Burnettsville, where he was well known and respected.
When White County was still in the early stages of development it received a substantial addition to its sturdy pioneer stock in members of the Million family, who made homes here, helped to clear up and cultivate the land, have walked uprightly and done good both to themselves and others, and have made their presence one of varied benefit to the community. One of the most successful farmers in the Burnettsville community is Jacob E. Million whose possessions and activities constitute him one of the leading citizens of that locality.
His parents were Ephraim and Martha (Elniore) Million, who back in the early days moved from Miami County, Ohio, to a location ten miles south of Lafayette, and from there came to White County, locating on 160 acres in section 24 of Jackson Township. Ephraim Million had the energy and ability to make a success in a new country, and by farming and intelligent management had acquired more than 580 acres of land at the time of his death. He was born in Miami County, Ohio, December 11, 1811, and on November 2, 1847, was killed in a runaway while coming home from Logansport. He was married August 27, 1829, and was the father of eight children: John, deceased; Anderson, who lives in Taylor County, Iowa; William, deceased; Phoebe, deceased; Robert, deceased; Francis M.. deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; and Jacob E.
Jacob E. Million was born August 28, 1847, only a few weeks before the unfortunate death of his father. He grew up in the home of his widowed mother in Jackson Township, and attended some of the early schools taught in White County. He completed his education at Burnettsville Academy, and since leaving school has applied himself with the energy characteristic of the family to farming pursuits. He is now the owner of a fine place of 240 acres, and has considerable town property at Burnettsville.
Early in his independent career Mr. Million married Miss Sadie Bishop, a daughter of James Bishop. The Bishop family belongs among White County's pioneers. To this marriage were born four children: Ida, who is the wife of Marion Hanna and of their eight children six are still living; Jane, first married John Galbreath and her present husband is Charles Moore of Burnettsville; Frankie married Charles Sheets of Saratoga, Indiana, and they have four children; Manford. who lives at home with his father, married Victoria Sheets, and their four children are named, lona, Elsie, Bertha and Blake. After the death of his first wife Mr. Million married Amanda Bishop, a daughter of Peter and Jane Bishop. His present wife before her marriage was Melissa Delzell, daughter of William and Rosie (Carson) Delzell who were pioneer settlers of Carroll County. Mr. and Mrs. Million now reside in one of the attractive and comfortable homes of Burnettsville.
Ephraim Million was a democrat, served one term as township trustee in the early days, and he and his wife were Methodists and among the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Burnettsville. Jacob E. Million has followed his father in politics, but has never cared for public office. He has been a liberal contributor to church and to community improvement, and is a member of the Church of God, while his present wife is a United Presbyterian. Mr. Million was one of the charter members of Burnettsville Lodge No. 663, F. and A. M., and his second wife was affiliated with the Order of the Eastern Star. In all his varied relations he has maintained the high standard of conduct and accomplishment that belongs with the record of the Million family in White County.
A well-known member of the White County bar, and son of Francis R. and Kate E. Million, was born in Jackson Township, September 7, 1867, and died at his home in Monticello, September 8, 1911. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1889 and the following year was admitted to practice at the White County bar. On August 29, 1891, he married Miss Zulu Hanna, of Burnettsville, and to them were born eight children, six of whom, with the mother, were left to mourn their loss. Soon after coming to Monticello he united with the Christian Church, in which he held a membership at the time of his death. He was buried in Riverview Cemetery.
Rev. Robert M. Million, who served for many years as an active minister of the Church of God (New Dunkards) at Burnettsville, died at his home in that place in May, 1912. He was a native of the county, born January 22, 1839, and spent his entire life in the vicinity of Idaville and Bnrnettsville. In June, 1862, he was married to Marie J. Alkire and in October, 1868, they both united with the Church of God, in which two years later he was ordained to the ministry. Besides his wife, the deceased left two sons and a daughter.
One of the highly respected citizens of White County, Kilbourn J. Mills, son of Henry and Mary (Purdy) Mills, was horn in Dutchess County, New York, October 15, 1829. His father was of Holland Dutch extraction, while his mother was English, and from such a union it was but natural that the offspring should possess those sterling qualities so predominant in the subject of this sketch. In 1833 his parents moved to Ohio, where they lived until 1860. On Saturday, December 23, 1851, Kilbourn J. Mills was married to Miss Caroline Belle Hemline, near Bolivar, Ohio, and to this marriage were born nine children: Mary, now Mrs. William Phillips, of White County; Samuel H. Mills, who died in Prairie Township March 31, 1908; Susan R., who married John H. Wallace, a former lawyer of Monticello and who died November 27, 1874; Caroline B. Mills, who died July 22, 1909; David H. Mills, now living in Ohio; Alice I. Mills, who died at the age of nine; Loretta E., wife of Albert Stephan, of Chalmers; Lucretia A. Mills, deceased; and Kilbourn J. Mills, who is still living.
About 1860 Mr. Mills purchased and located on a farm of 270 acres three miles northeast of Brookston, which he developed into a fine homestead. In 1894 he removed to a farm northwest of Brookston and in 1901 he moved to his present home about four miles south of Monticello. Mr. Mills in youth had learned the tinner's trade and for a few months conducted a business in that line in Monticello, but this not proving a lucrative venture he returned to the farm.
For sixty-four years Mr. and Mrs. Mills have lived together and both bid fair to live to celebrate their diamond wedding. He was a whig but when the republican party was organized he cast his lot with it and has remained true to its principles. He was one of the founders of the Brookston Presbyterian Church, but is now transferred to the same communion in Monticello. In 1857 he was made a Mason in Bethlehem, Ohio, and three years later transferred his membership to Brookston Lodge, of which he is a member. As the shadows lengthen, these two old people are cheerful, happy and contented. Their labors are almost done, but for them the future has no terrors.
During the long period of his residence within the borders of White County, Indiana, J. S. Minch has worked out an admirable destiny, and although still in the prime of life, has from small beginnings drawn about him for the comfort and happiness of his later years such substantial compensations as wealth, the credit for having contributed materially to the general development of the community and its interests, and the confidence and good will of his business and social associates. Mr. Minch was born in Henry County, Illinois, May 12, 1870, and is a son of George and Catherine (Luther) Minch.
Mr. Minch is a grandson on both sides of the family of natives of Germany. His paternal grandfather was but nineteen years of age when he emigrated to the United States, but had already acquired some reputation in his native land as a musician, but when he came to this country and located at Peoria, Illinois, he found but little demand for his services in this direction, and accordingly accepted whatever employment was offered him, at first working as a farm hand at $10 per month. In later years John Minch became the owner of a good farm, and when he died was known as one of the substantial men of his community.
George Minch was born in Illinois and grew up as a farmer on the rolling prairies of the Prairie State. He received his education in the pioneer district schools and while assisting his father on the homestead also learned the trade of carpenter. When Joseph S. Minch was one year old the family moved to Peoria, and there the father worked at the trade of carpenter for about two years, subsequently going to the little town known as Washington, Illinois, where he settled on the farm that had belonged to his father. That continued to be the scene of his successful labors until 1880, when he moved to Ford County, Illinois, and purchased his first farm. There he remained until the spring of 1896, when he came to White County, Indiana, and until his retirement was engaged in general farming operations, being the owner of 400 acres of highly developed land. At the present time Mr. Minch makes his home at Chalmers, where he has a modern residence of the bungalow type. He and his wife have been the parents of seven children, of whom Joseph S. is the first born.
Joseph S. Minch was ten years of age when the family moved to Ford County, and there in the public schools he received his education. Reared as a farmer, when he had finished school he adopted that vocation as his life work, and when twenty-two years of age laid the foundation for establishing a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Lydia Fellwock, who was born in Ford County, Illinois, June 15, 1873, the only child living born to Charles and Catherine (Barrick) Fellwock. She was reared and educated in her native County of Ford. Mr. Fellwock, the father, was a native of Germany, but was only eight years of age when he came with his parents to the United States, their first place of residence being in Southern Indiana. Mr. Fellwock became an agriculturist and a member of the Methodist Church. He is now living in White County, Indiana. Mrs. Fellwock was born in the State of New York, and she died on the 21st of December, 1912, and was buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery in Big Creek Township.
In 1896, Mr. Minch, with his wife and parents-in-law, came to White County, Indiana, and here Mr. Fellwock purchased 240 acres of unimproved land, on which he and Mr. Minch later made all the improvements, doing draining, tiling, fencing, etc. Mr. Minch has since added materially to the first purchase, and now operates 2,900 acres, of which he is the owner of 2,700 acres, the balance belonging to Mr. Fellwock. Here general farming and stock raising are carried on extensively, and the property has been brought to the highest state of cultivation, the soil being rich and fertile, the buildings substantial, the equipment of the practical and useful character, and the cattle fat and contented.
While his time has been largely devoted to his agricultural operations, Mr. Minch has also engaged actively in other matters, and with an equal measure of success. He is a member of the board of directors of the State Bank of Chalmers, is president of the Farmers Grain Company, which was organized in 1913, and is vice president and a stockholder of the Chalmers Telephone Company. Mr. Minch came to Chalmers in 1901, and has identified himself since that time with every progressive movement that has been warranted to benefit the community. In the generally accepted meaning of the term he is not a politician, but he has taken an active part in the operations of the republican party, has served one term as a member of the county board, and at the latest election met with defeat by but four votes. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 6058, and took the offices of the lodge;, and of the Masonic Lodge at Brookston, No. 66, White County, and in both orders has numerous friends. Mr. Minch has found the time and the inclination to take an active part in religious affairs, being a charter member of the First Baptist Church of Chalmers, in which he has served for some time as superintendent of the Sunday school, a position which he now fills.
Mr. and Mrs. Minch are the parents of four daughters: the Misses Verna May, Laura Gladys, Maude Evelyn, and Shirley T., the first two born in Illinois, and the latter two in the county which is now their home. With the exception of Shirley, the daughters are graduates of the Chalmers High School. Verna also spent one year in Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and one year in the Woman's College at Oxford, Ohio. Laura also spent two years at Oxford, and is now a student in Bradley Institute at Peoria, Illinois. Maude has had one year at Oxford and is also attending Bradley Institute.
The late George H. Mitchell, who claimed to be the first native white child in Jackson Township, was born December 5, 1835, and a few years afterwards the family settled on the first farm north of the present Town of Idaville. His father, William W. Mitchell, was a Kentuckian who moved to Madison County, Ohio, where he married Miss Maria Phoebus. After the birth of a son in 1828 the family located in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, ten miles north of Lafayette, and two daughters were born in that locality before the family settled in Jackson Township during 1834. Most of Mr. Mitchell's life was spent on the old farm, except the Civil war period, which he spent in active service, but in 1890 he moved to Idaville, where he died in 1913.
Now the owner of the fine farm of 320 acres in section 33 of West Point Township, John E. Mitchell is a man who experienced numerous hardships and discouragements in early life, and it would be hard to find an individual who is more deserving of credit for lifting himself above the limitations of a responsible and cheerless youth. Early thrown upon his own resources, with his only advantage a somewhat limited education of the district school kind, he applied himself so earnestly and ambitiously to the securing of a competence that he was able to rise step by step to a position of independence, and today is numbered among the substantial men of his locality.
An Irishman by birth, John E. Mitchell was born in County Cavan, September 4, 1848, a son of John and Christina (Flack) Mitchell, who, though natives of Ireland, were of Scotch-Irish descent. The parents came to the United States in 1864, locating in Tippecanoe County, where both of them died, and are now at rest in Wheeler's Cemetery, eighteen miles southwest of Lafayette. Nine children were born to their union, five of them living: Archibald, now deceased; Maggie, deceased; Esther, wife of G. H. Geary of Talbot, Indiana; John E.; Ingram; Mary, deceased; Samuel, who lives north of Battle Ground; Robert, deceased; and Jennie, wife of William Fenters, living north of Morocco. The father of these children was a strong republican in politics, and the family were strict Presbyterians in the old country, but affiliated with the Methodist Church in Indiana. John Mitchell, Sr., was a farmer and stock raiser, and reared all his children to good Christian lives.
John E. Mitchell until he was twenty-one spent his early boyhood in the home of David Meharry. His education came partly from the schools of Ireland and he also attended a time in Indiana, and was about fifteen when he accompanied his sister Esther to the United States and they landed in Tippecanoe County on the 23d of June, 1863.
In March, 1875, Mr. Mitchell married Miss Lydia N. Carpenter, a daughter of Oliver and Isabella (Orr) Carpenter, who were Canadian people. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell take great pride in their family of children, which they have carefully reared, and provided with excellent advantages. One of the ten born to them died unnamed, and the others are: Lettie, wife of Ed Slater; Oliver; Elmer, Jesse and Stella, all deceased; Ethel; Robert; Roland; and Esther Marie.
Mrs. Mitchell passed away April 30, 1909, and thus the children lost a devoted mother and Mr. Mitchell his companion of twenty-four years, and she had been a great factor in encouraging him to success. She was laid to rest in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery at Chalmers. She was born in Canada July 26, 1858, and at the age of ten years came to this country with her parents, who located in the northwestern part of Warren County, Indiana. This part of the state was quite on the frontiers at that time. She was the oldest of ten children. Her mother and the other nine children are still living. She was converted when thirteen years old and at once united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and lived a consistent Christian life until the end came. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell began house-keeping in Benton County, near the Town of Talbot, where they lived six years. They then moved to Warren County, where they lived five years and then moved to Nebraska in the year 1887, where she and her husband with a large family of children endured the privations of a newly settled country in an effort to make a home. In 1895, on account of the severe drouth of the two previous years, they became discouraged and moved back to Benton County, Indiana, where they lived for several years, and finally purchased a beautiful home on Grand Prairie in White County, seven miles west of Chalmers, where she resided until her death. She was the mother of ten children.
Mrs. Mitchell was an affectionate wife and a loving mother, never tiring in her efforts to administer to the wants and necessities of her family. The family had recently moved into a beautiful new house, but she left this home for one not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
In 1902 Mr. Mitchell moved his family to White County and for three
years lived on the Montgomery farm, and then bought his present place.
His operations include general farming and the raising of graded stock,
including some very fine Poland-China hogs. He is a republican,
and has been interested in local affairs, is a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, but has no fraternal orders. His home is seven miles
west and a quarter mile south of Chalmers, and he gets his mail over
Rural Route No. 13 out of that village.
Out of the struggles and adversities of youth John W. Moody, now living comfortably retired at Brookston, has contrived a liberal prosperity, and has made his career one of the most active and useful in the farming community of Prairie Township for many years.
It was in Ross County, Ohio, that John W. Moody was born, September 17, 1858. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Fay) Moody, who spent all their lives in Ohio. Joseph Moody a few years after the birth of his son John responded to the call of patriotism and went away to fight for the Union, and lost his life during the war. The Moodys are of a mingling of German and Irish stock, and the principal ancestor came to the United States many years ago. John W. Moody was one of two children, and while he has practically no recollections of his father, he was still further bereaved by the death of his mother when only twelve years old. When most boys of the modern generation are learning their first lessons in the public schools, John W. Moody was using his strength for the benefit of the humble home in which he was reared and after the death of his mother his life was one of constant struggle. Thus his success has been due entirely to his own efforts, and few men have a more creditable record.
Farming has been his lifelong career. In 1876 he moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and the following year saw his advent to White County. For several years he moved about the county in the capacity of a farm laborer and his services were much in demand, since he was known to be diligent, reliable and had the ambition which made him useful both to himself and to others. For several years he was employed by the month by Mr. Gross and later by Samuel Shaw. About 1883 he had advanced far enough to be able to buy forty acres in Prairie Township. There he settled to the work of making a home for himself, effected numerous improvements, and as more capital came to his command invested in other lands until at the present time he has a splendid estate of 160 acres in section 21, besides a comfortable home surrounded with six acres of land in the Town of Brookston.
Another factor in his success was his capable wife. On February 23, 1881, he married Margaret Ellen Stewart, daughter of William and Mary Ann (Chilton) Stewart. The Stewart family came overland from Kentucky in 1844, and were among the pioneer settlers in Prairie Township. Mr. Stewart died in 1875 and his wife in 1908, and both are now at rest in the local cemetery. Mr. Stewart was a democrat in politics, took a general interest in public affairs, though he never held any important office.
Mr. and Mrs. Moody became the parents of two daughters. Lida A., born December 10, 1881, is well known in educational circles and is now principal of the high school at Brookston. The second daughter, Lula Mary, born February 1, 1884, is the wife of John K. Maxwell, and their one son, Glenn Moody Maxwell, was born December 30, 1913. Mrs. Maxwell died May 6, 1913, and is now at rest in the local cemetery.
Mr. Moody made his success as a farmer by raising the staple crops and graded live stock. Eleven years ago last November he moved into Brookston, and since then has given only nominal supervision to his farm out in Prairie Township. He is a democrat in politics but by no means a radical, and is rather inclined to independence of political opinion. He is a member of the Baptist Church and is affiliated with the Blue Lodge of Masons at Brookston. He has performed some conscientious and efficient public service to his community. While living in the country he served ten years as township supervisor and for two terms has been a member of the town council at Brookston.
Isaac B. Moore was born in Morgan County, Ohio, January 30, 1827; came to White County in 1845; was married to Miss Margaret A. VanNice September, 1858; died at his home just west of Monticello, June 9, 1901. He was a graduate of Hanover College and of McCormick Theological Seminary. A number of years of his life were devoted to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, but failing health caused him to drop this work and engage in farming.
In the person of Jacob D. Moore, White County has a fine representative of its native-born citizens, one who by his enterprise, progressiveness and marked ability is materially forwarding its financial welfare in several ways. At the present time he is the owner of 130 acres of well-cultivated land in Monon Township, in which vicinity he has spent his entire life, and is making a decided success of his operations in farming and stock raising. His career has been one eminently useful and worthy, and his neighbors and old friends will unitedly bear testimony to his sterling worth and valuable services.
Mr. Moore was born on his father's farm in Monon Township, White County, Indiana, March 29, 1862. His father, John D. Moore, was a native of Morgan County, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm and where he received his education in the public schools. He was then united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Paul, and with his wife and six children moved to White County, Indiana, in the year 1858, locating in Monon Township, on what is now known as the Curtis farm, situated about one and one-half miles east of the present site of Monon. There Mr. Moore passed the remaining years of his life, being engaged extensively in farming and the raising of stock. Of the ten children born to him and his wife, eight are still living. Mr. Moore was a man unusually well informed on the public questions of the day and in general knowledge. He was a republican in politics, but while he was a man held in high regard in his community never held an office of any consequence. A devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he did much to help build the first church of that denomination at Monon, as well as the chapel located about three miles east of that city. Mr. Moore died in the fall of 1894, while his widow survived him until September 25, 1911. They were among the best people of Monon Township.
The next to the youngest of his parents' children, Jacob D. Moore has always made his home in Monon Township. Such education as he acquired was obtained in the public schools of his native township and his boyhood was passed like other Indiana farmers' sons. Mr. Moore remained under the parental roof until he reached the age of thirty-two years, at which time he entered upon an independent career, the first transaction of which was the purchasing of a small tract of land which is now a part of his present farm. To this he added from time to time as his finances would permit, until he is now the owner of 130 acres of good land, all fertile and in a high state of development. While diversified farming has demanded the greater part of his attention, Mr. Moore has also engaged to some extent in the breeding of registered Short Horn cattle, and in both departments has met with well-deserved success. His property boasts a good set of modern buildings and improvements, and in every way shows the presence of thrift and good management.
Politically, since attaining his majority, Mr. Moore has been a stanch [sic] supporter of the policies of the republican party, in the interests of which he has been a faithful worker. In 1906 he was elected county commissioner of White County, and his services in that office were of such a satisfactory character that he received the re-election in 1910. He was one of the promoters and organizers of the State Bank of Monon, and since its inception has served as a member of its board of directors.
On November 11, 1896, Mr. Moore was married in Greencastle, Indiana, to Miss Daisy Harvey, the daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Hendricks) Harvey, of Putnam County, Indiana. Mrs. Moore was born April 15, 1878, and is the seventh in a family of ten children, two sons and eight daughters and nine are living, all residents of Indiana. Mr. Harvey is a native of Kentucky and has been an agriculturist. He was educated in the common schools and is now a resident of Putnam County. He is a democrat and he and his wife are members of the Universalist Church. Mrs. Harvey is also a native of Kentucky.
Mrs. Moore was reared and educated in her native county, and she has been a faithful wife and affectionate mother having always been her husband's counselor and adviser in business relations and has nobly done her part in the establishment of the home and the rearing of her sons. Her brother, Thomas Harvey, has been a teacher eighteen years in Putnam County, having received his education in the Monon High School and the normal school of Danville, Indiana. Mrs. Moore's sister Kate is a teacher in the Russellville public school and her husband, Clemeth Malen, is the superintendent of same school, and he is also an attorney, having been admitted to the Indiana bar. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Moore has been blessed by the birth of two children: Paul W. who graduated from the grammar school at the age of thirteen and is now in his second year in the Monon High School; and Wade H. who is a member of the class of 1916 in the public school. Mr. and Mrs. Moore are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the work of which both have been active, and in the congregation of which they have numerous friends.
While Prairie Township is distinguished for its many fine farm homesteads, there are few residents of that township who control a greater landed acreage and have been better prospered from year to year during the last half century than James H. Moore. Mr. Moore's land holdings extend beyond the limits of White County, and he is one of the most substantial property men in his section of Indiana. His large and attractive rural home is in section 17 of Prairie Township, nine miles south of Monticello.
Fully eighty years have passed since James H. Moore first saw the light of day in Henry County, Indiana, on January 7, 1835. While he still attends to a routine of duties and goes about with firm step and unclouded mind, he has long been in a position where he could command his own time and take leisure as he needed it. He was the second son in the family of Philip and Julia A. (Wilson) Moore. His grandfather, William Moore, a native of Tennessee, married Catherine Cotener, and lived for some years in Preble County, Ohio, and finally became one of the very early pioneer settlers in Henry County, Indiana. He was one of the young western men who participated as soldiers in the second war with Great Britain from 1812 to 1815.
In Eastern Indiana James H. Moore grew to maturity, received such education as the schools of that time offered, and was already a vigorous, prospering and progressive young man when he married on December 22, 1861, Emily L. Lamb. Mrs. Moore was born in Wayne County, Indiana, where her father, Thomas Lamb, was a farmer. For two years after his marriage Mr. Moore lived on rented land, and it was in that way that he got his start in the world. He then bought eighty acres in Howard County, Indiana, but after farming there a year came to his present location in Prairie Township of White County in 1865. In partnership with his brother Miles M. Moore he bought 265 acres there, and under their joint proprietorship they subsequently increased their holdings to 365 acres. In 1874 Mr. Moore bought out his brother's interests, and as a result of selling and buying his present land holdings in White County comprise 250 acres. He is also owner of 190 acres in Carroll County, and has a considerable stake in the lands of Western Canada, owning 332 acres forty miles south of Winnipeg in the Province of Manitoba, all of which is under cultivation. Another important interest which Mr. Moore holds and which has been the means of contributing to the industrial activities of the state is a block of stock in the Indiana Iron Rolling Mill Company at Newcastle, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Moore several years ago celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, and there are few couples in White County who have traveled together the road of life for a longer time. Both are members of the United Brethren Church. They are the parents of two children. Mary L. married Wilson B. Lucas of Battleground [sic], and they live with Mr. and Mrs. Moore. Hattie E. is the wife of C. W. Mouch, who is now president and general manager of the Indiana Iron Rolling Mill Company at Newcastle and also president of the Farmers State Bank at Newcastle. He is at the present time erecting a $28,000 residence at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Mouch have two children named Lois H. and James Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have one of the most beautiful modern country residences in White County. It is equipped with all modern improvements, and is a large and spacious mansion, it is built like an English Manor House. Fraternally Mr. Moore is an honored member of the Masonic Fraternity of Brookston, Indiana.
A life of quiet effectiveness, marked by a record of many duties well done and many responsibilities faithfully fulfilled, has been that of John H. Moore, now living retired at Reynolds. He is one of the men who have developed and made White County what it is. As a farmer and landholder his record will compare favorably with that of any successful man in the county, and his life in every relation has been such as to be admired by the people of the present and future generations.
John H. Moore was born February 11, 1854, in Miami Township of Cass County, Indiana. It was just fifty years after his birth that Mr. Moore, in March, 1914, retired from the active responsibilities of business and took up his residence in Reynolds. His parents were Sebastian C. and Martha A. (Hoover) Moore. His father was an early Cass County settler, a prominent farmer and stock raiser, and he and his wife died and were laid to rest in Cass County. Of the four children only two are now living, the brother being William R., of Cass County.
John H. Moore had very little education when a boy, partly for the reason that schools were conducted only for limited terms and partly on account of the requirement of his services at home. When twenty-two he started out for himself and took up farming, which basic industry he has made his vocation. Mr. Moore came to White County in 1879, locating on 113 acres in West Point Township. While he experienced the trials incident to farming at that time, he knew his business thoroughly and went steadily ahead until prosperity awarded his efforts. He cleared and improved the first farm, added to his land holdings from time to time, and at the present writing is the possessor of 540 acres, all of it improved and under cultivation. This land is in West Point Township. Hard work and thrift have been the chief factors to which Mr. Moore owes his success, and he now finds himself in independent circumstances for the remainder of his life. His principal revenues as a farmer came from general crop growing and stock.
While generally interested in public affairs, he has never sought office, and the worth of such a citizen in any community cannot be estimated by any official honor. He is a member of Lodge No. 484, F. & A. M., at New Waverly. On May 13, 1879, the same year he came to White County, Mr. Moore married Jessie M. Grace, daughter of Jesse and Harriet (Swayze) Grace. Her family were Ohio people. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have the following children: Pearl, wife of John Plummer; Gertrude, wife of O. A. Scipio; Charles S.; Clifford Delbert; Grace, wife of Ora Dillinger; and John E., who died in infancy.
Liberty Township has had few more honored citizens than Thomas B. Moore, who was born in Morgan County, Ohio, August 9, 1824, and at the age of twenty-eight moved to the farm in Liberty Township, where he spent the rest of his life. He was married September 20, 1849, to Louisa W. Paul, who died in July, 1892. He was afterward married to Mrs. Sarah Tucker. He was the father of Mrs. Lilly Renwick and Prof. Benjamin F. Moore, one of the leading educators of the state and at present superintendent of the city schools of Muncie, Indiana. His life was one of industry and sacrifice and he became one of the county's most prosperous farmers. At the age of fifteen he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and remained steadfast in his faith during life. His death occurred at his home near Buffalo, October 8, 1895.
For more than fifty years Hiram A. Moorhous was a resident of White County, and while most of his life was spent in the quiet vocation of farming, his influence and activities were by no means confined to his farm, since he frequently entered public affairs and held some of the most important offices in the gift of White County people. His life was one of sobriety, good judgment, keen intelligence and directed to useful purpose, and as such he deserves a memorial in any history of White County.
Hiram A. Moorhous was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, November 12, 1835, a son of William and Catherine (Minch) Moorhous. William Moorhous was a physician, highly educated, well read and informed in all local and national affairs, and for many years enjoyed a large practice in his profession. He early removed to Indiana, locating at Crawfordsville, and in 1855 brought his family to West Point Township in White County, where he lived retired until his death in 1871. He was buried at Lafayette. His wife died in Crawfordsville before the family came to White County. Of their six children, only one is now living.
Hiram A. Moorhous spent most of his life in Indiana, acquired his education in the schools that existed during the '40s and '50s, and was about twenty-two years of age when he came with his father to White County. He forthwith became identified with agriculture, and years of labor and effective management eventually brought him to a commendable degree of prosperity.
He was long one of the most familiar factors in the democratic party. On that ticket he was elected at different times to the office of county treasurer, served as drainage commissioner, as county commissioner, and was always ready to help out in any movement of importance.
Hiram A. Moorhous died January 15, 1908, in his seventy-second year. While he affiliated with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, he was noted for his devotion to his home and family. On December 25th, Christmas Day of 1869, he married Sarah Irion, daughter of Anderson and Sophia (Gragoo) [sic] Irion. The Irion family came to White County from Ohio in 1851, locating on a farm in West Point Township, where her father spent the rest of his career, and both parents died there and are buried in one of the local cemeteries. Mrs. Moorhous is one of ten children, and one of the two still living. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Moorhous were born six children: Merritt; Delbert; Maud, who died in November, 1914; Claudia; Ruth; and one that died in infancy.
Joseph Mower, whose family name was formerly spelled Maurer, came from Pennsylvania. He married Mary Harley of Ohio. In 1852 they came from near Wabash, Indiana, to White County and bought the farm now owned by Spencer Carson. Their children were: Levi, Elizabeth, Jesse, Sarah Anne, John, Rudolph, Joseph, Daniel and William. The only living member of this family is Joseph, now living in East Monticello.
Joseph Mower of East Monticello married Elizabeth Burgner of Ohio. They bought the farm known as the Pike Creek farm and built the present house on that place. With the exception of a few years they lived there until they moved to East Monticello. Their children are: Blanche, widow of William Couger, living near Pike Creek; Charley, living in Monticello; Frank, living in Monticello; Lucy, who married Mr. Witham; and Walter, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mower live a quiet life and are devoted to their religion. They are members of the Christian Church at Monticello.
Farming is a noble profession and also a very profitable one as conducted by the enterprising men of White County, among whom is James Mowrer, who has spent all his career in this county and belongs to one of the pioneer families. The secret of his success has been hard work combined with intelligent management, and those qualities are at once recognized on his farm located in section 27 of Jackson Township. He has been one of the leaders in the rural development of that part of White County, and his neighbors recognize in him the qualities which comprise good citizenship in any station and any place of life.
The Mowrer family came to White County about 1850, and settled in the partially developed region of Union Township. In that township James Mowrer was born, February 10, 1854, a son of Levi H. and Matilda J. (Bagwell) Mowrer. The Mowrers are of German descent, as is indicated by the present form of the name, and came West from the State of Pennsylvania. Levi Mowrer married Miss Bagwell in Indiana, and she was of Scotch-Irish descent, her ancestors having lived for a number of years in Southern Indiana. To Levi and Matilda Mowrer were born five children: Joseph, now deceased; James; Rudolph; Mary, wife of William Fisher, of Winamac; and Daniel. Levi Mowrer was a republican but did his part in the world as a good citizen without holding office. He was a farmer and stock raiser, and owned sixty acres of land, which he subsequently sold, and had been retired for several years before his death on October 9, 1898. His wife passed away July 80, 1879. They are at rest in the cemetery by the old Brethren Church. The mother was a member of the German Lutheran Church.
The first school attended by James Mowrer was a log building with rough seats and the other crude furnishings of that period. He subsequently attended school in a frame schoolhouse, and acquired the rudiments of an education which, combined with practical experience, has served all his needs. When about eighteen be started out to earn his own way, and for several years operated the old homestead.
On November 8, 1887, Mr. Mowrer married Mary Royer, daughter of Samuel and Hannah Royer. To their marriage was born one daughter, Mabel; who is now the wife of Raleigh Guy. Their two children are Ruth Guy, born June 25, 1910, and Mildred Guy, born July 14, 1913. The husband and daughter were called upon to mourn the loss of the devoted wife and mother on November 7, 1914. She is now at rest in the Riverview Cemetery at Monticello.
For the first eighteen months following his marriage Mr. Mowrer conducted a dray line in Monticello, and then sold that business and moved to the farm. Farming has been his regular business ever since, and his place of eighty acres is practically all under cultivation. His profits have come from the general crops that are staple in this country and from the raising of good grades of stock. His wife's people were from Pennsylvania and located in White County in 1865, living first on the river north of Monticello and afterwards in Jackson Township, where her father died. Mrs. Mowrer's mother is still living. Mr. Mowrer is a republican in polities and has fraternal affiliations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Monticello.
Material prosperity was in the possession of Jeremiah Murphy many years before his death, which occurred January 8, 1912, and which was a grievous loss to the good citizenship of Prairie Township. The late Mr. Murphy earned all that he ever acquired, and few men performed a more skillful and industrious part in the life and activities of Prairie Township than this citizen, who at an early age was thrown upon his own resources, and who made a remarkable record of increasing his possessions, all his accumulations representing industry and honorable dealing. His life should prove an encouragement to younger men who have little more than perseverance and industry as their capital in life.
Jeremiah Murphy was born at Castleisland, Ireland, March 6, 1830, a son of Jeremiah and Mary (Edenden) Murphy. In 1840 the family came to the United States, and for ten years resided at Dover, Delaware. The father died while in the East, and the mother and children subsequently came West to Indianapolis where she passed away. Of the ten children all are now deceased except Margaret and Daniel. The senior Murphy came to the United States in order to find better opportunities and provide a home for his family.
The late Mr. Murphy through the death of his parents was early thrown upon his own resources. When about eighteen years of age in 1848 he came to White County, and was thus one of the pioneers and helped to develop the country from its wilderness condition. He was soon established as an independent farmer, and for a great many years applied himself to that business with a rare judgment and exceptional skill which well account for the prosperity he gained. His first land ownership comprised eighty acres, and before his death his accumulations were represented in 800 acres, devoted to general farming and sheep and cattle raising. His widow and the children still own this generous estate, and the son is active manager. Mr. Murphy was one of the organizers of the Brookston Bank at Brookston, Indiana, and was one of the prominent men in that well known bank.
In 1863 Jeremiah Murphy married Miss Harrietta McIntyre, daughter of Doctor Benjamin and Esther (Teck) McIntyre. Doctor McIntyre was a native of Vermont, and in the early days drove the entire distance from his native state to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where he bought a small tract of land. Returning to Vermont, in a few years he became a permanent resident in Indiana, and lived here until his death. Mrs. Murphy's parents are both now at rest in Tippecanoe County. Mrs. Murphy was for four years a student in the seminary, St. Mary of the Woods at Terre Haute, and when only sixteen years of age taught her first term of school. She spent about four years in teaching before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy became the parents of six children, and the two now living are: Charles, a member of the State Board of Equalization and one of the prominent farmers of White County; and Henrietta, wife of J. Paul of Indianapolis.
The late Mr. Murphy was a radical democrat, but too busy with other affairs to
hold an office. He was affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
with the Masonic Order, and in religious matters favored the Presbyterian
Church, of which Mrs. Murphy is an active member. The late Mr. Murphy was a
great lover of home and of domestic animals, and in all the relations of his
busy and long life commanded universal respect.
On the 6th of June, 1909, death took away from the active citizenship of White County Henry Lane Murray, after nearly seventy years of continuous residence in the neighborhood five miles east of Monon where he was born. At the funeral service, conducted under the impressive Masonic ceremonies and those of the Grand Army Post, his pastor chose as the text of the discourse the words— "And what shall the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?" One of the best tributes that could be made to human life was the affirmative answer that could be returned to the questions of these Old Testament words. The late Mr. Murray during all his life sought to do justice and exercise mercy in his relations with himself, his family and his community, and in the commonplace and humble walks of life found such opportunities for real service as to make his character and influence a blessing to all those around him.
The Murray family has been identified with White County since pioneer times. Henry L. Murray was born on the farm where he spent almost his entire career, September 16, 1840, and was a son of Daniel and Mary (Kenton) Murray. His mother was a daughter of the noted Simon Kenton, a frontiersman in the Ohio Valley whose fame rests secure in early history and whose name is perpetuated in one of the thriving cities of Ohio. Daniel Murray came to White County about four years before the birth of his son Henry, and paid $1,000 for 800 acres of land, a portion of which the late Henry Murray long occupied as a farm. Daniel Murray was the father of a large family of children, and among them were five sons, Marshall, Wallace, Lewis, George and Henry, all of whom went from White County to serve the Union cause during the Civil war. Few families performed a greater sacrifice for the preservation of their country's integrity than the Murrays. The last survivor of these militant brothers was Wallace Murray, who at the time of his brother Henry's death was past eighty years of age and living in Oklahoma.
The late Henry Murray was in his twenty-first year when the war broke out, and at Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers he at once joined the band of young men who had been hastily organized at Rensselaer by Captain, afterwards Major-General Milroy. This company went across the country overland to Monon, and there took cars for Indianapolis to be mustered in. At Clark's Hill Henry was detained by the accidental death of his cousin John Brown, who fell under the wheels of the cars and whose death is thought to have been the first that befell any enlisted man in the Union service. Mr. Murray returned home with the body of his cousin, and after the funeral went to the camp at Indianapolis to join Company G. There he found three of his older brothers members of other regiments and they persuaded him to return home to care for their widowed mother and it was so arranged. For this reason he did not get into the three months' service. However, on the reorganization of the Ninth Indiana Infantry at LaPorte in August, 1861, for the three years' service, two of his brothers having returned home, Henry Murray then enlisted in Company B, and remained with that command until January, 1863, when he was honorably discharged on account of a wound received in the battle of Pittsburg Landing. It was in the second day's fight at Shiloh that he was severely wounded, but after recovering at the hospital he was on duty until discharged. The Ninth Regiment made a notable record in the war and lost from wounds and sickness more than 350 men. Mr. Murray was in several important engagements and was given the post of honor as an escort on General Nelson's staff for bravery at the battle of Perrysville.
When he returned from the army his health was almost wrecked by wounds and exposure, and it was some time before he was able to take active charge of his business as a farmer. After that for more than forty years he lived in the locality where he was born, prospered in his agricultural enterprise, and endeared himself to the entire community by his upright and honorable life. He was a man of unusual social qualities, was kindly and considerate in his conduct, and had a wide circle of loyal and devoted friends. In February, 1883, he was appointed trustee of Monon Township to fill a vacancy and was afterwards twice elected the same office. He gave an excellent account of his administration as trustee. On July 22, 1865, he became a member of the Masonic order and at the time of his death was next to the oldest member of the Libanus Lodge of Monticello. He was also a member of Tippecanoe Post, G. A. R., at Monticello, and the presence of these two organizations gave additional impressiveness to the funeral services.
In March, 1866, Mr. Murray married Emma J. Berkey, daughter of David and Rebecca (Wilson) Berkey. She died September 6, 1877, and of the seven children born to them three survived their father, Frank, Jennie and Clara. On December 30, 1882, Mr. Murray married Miss Mary E. Russell. Mrs. Murray is still living at Monon, and by her marriage was the mother of four children: Charles, Florence, James and Edward.
In the life of the late Frederick Myers were found many of the qualities of character and the vigorous activities which have brought White County to the forefront as a prosperous agricultural center. Endowed with natural ability and backed by shrewd business judgment and determination, though beginning in poverty and with only the work of his hands to rely upon, he was able before the close of his life to step aside from the path of labor to let pass the younger generation with their clear-cut hopes and unrealized ambitions. His career deserves record in a history of White County, where his sons are now found among the active and prosperous farmers and stock raisers of Prairie Township.
His parents were sturdy Swiss people, who came from that country and settled in Ohio a short time before the birth of Frederick Myers, which occurred in Franklin County, Ohio, September 23, 1833. When he was still a child his father died, and the mother married again, and brought the boy to Tippecanoe County, where both his mother and foster father died, and she is buried in that locality.
Under such circumstances Frederick Myers had to start life on his own responsibility when quite young and acquired only the rudiments of an education, which was later supplemented by observation and practical experience. He was trained to farming and stock raising and made that the basis of his substantial success. In 1855, soon after attaining his majority, he married Elizabeth Duncan, a daughter of Crawford Duncan. A brief record of their eight children is as follows: Martha I., who was born April 2S, 1856, and is the wife of David Guntrip; William F., who was born November 15, 1858, and is living in Brookston; Morris L., born August 9, 1860; Oliver C., born August 24, 1862; Charles F., born June 9, 1867; Albert A., born September 19, 1869; Alice, born September 23, 1873, and died in infancy; Elizabeth, born October 24, 1875, and also died in infancy.
The late Frederick Myers came to White County in 1855, and settling in Prairie Township purchased forty acres of land there, but for some reason, perhaps a defective title, lost this property, and then returned to Tippecanoe County. He settled permanently in White County in 1867, securing eighty acres in section 23 of Prairie Township. Around that nucleus he built up a generous prosperity, and at the time of his death left an estate of 224 acres. Frederick Myers' useful and honorable career was terminated by death on April 8, 1897. His wife had passed away February 16, 1896, and both are now at rest in the cemetery at Brookston. Frederick Myers was a radical Lincoln republican in politics, and took a keen interest in public affairs, though this interest was never accompanied by office holding. He and his wife died in the faith of the Baptist Church, and were active members at Brookston. Their home had been in Brookston since 1892, in which year he was able to retire from his long continued work as a general farmer and stock raiser. Mr. Myers is remembered for his devotion to his home and the welfare of his family, and at the same time his interest extended to anything that would better the life of the community. Among the older generation White County possessed few men who more thoroughly exemplified and advocated the cause of temperance. His life was such as to command respect among all classes, and while his time and energies were devoted to farming and he was not widely known beyond the limits of Prairie Township, the influence of his character and activites is probably more strongly impressed than those of many better known men.
Among his sons, Morris L. is one of the best known residents of the Brookston community. He was reared and educated in White County, attended school along with other farmer boys of his neighborhood, and at the age of seventeen was self~supporting in the capacity of a farm laborer by the month. After two years of that he bought with his brother, Frank, eighty acres of land. Since then his time has been profitably devoted to agriculture, and he has bought and improved and sold several tracts of land. His present home is in section 31, range 4. He imbibed many of the sterling principles exemplified by his father, is a republican and temperance man, and stands for the best things in his community. On February 2, 1887, Morris L. Myers married Miss Estella Vencill, daughter of John and Rebecca (Shigley) Vencill. Six children were born to their union: Clara A., born April 5, 1888, and now the wife of Ora Cassaday; Edna M., born June 15, 1890, and the wife of Bert Fisher; Anna Pearl, born November 9, 1893, Mabel, born September 30, 1897; Owen R., the fourth child, born October 7, 1895; and Amy Belle, born June 9, 1900. The four younger children are all living at home with their parents.
Charles F. Myers, who has made for himself a substantial position in the community and is a supporter of all worthy and beneficial movements, was born in the home of his parents June 9, 1867, and grew up in White County with about the same advantages of education that were bestowed upon his brothers and sisters and all the farmer boys of that time and community. He also had some higher education in the Valparaiso University, but at the age of twenty-one started out to carve his own fortune. Farming and stock raising has [sic] been his substantial pursuits, and since early in his career he has had the responsibilities of home and family.
On January 23, 1889, he married Miss May M. Smith, a native of Ohio, born February 29, 1864, the second of the four living children of Isaac and Nancy (Correll) Smith. Amanda is the widow of Freeland Harmon and a resident of Chalmers; Mrs. Myers; Cora B., wife of David F. Yost, of Chalmers; and Francis M., who wedded Daisy Knox and resides in Tippecanoe County. Mr. Smith, the father, was born in Ohio in 1830, and died on the 2d of August, 1886, and he lies buried in the Brookston Cemetery. In about 1859 he came with his family to White County, but later returned to Ohio, where he enlisted for the Civil war, entering a regiment of infantry, and served for three years, receiving then his honorable discharge. He was a republican and a strong temperance advocate, and he was a member of the Methodist denomination and a pillar of his church. Mrs. Smith was also a native of Ohio, born in 1836, and she died on the 6th of December, 1898. She lies buried by the side of her husband in Brookston Cemetery. Mrs. Myers was but three years old when she became a resident of White County, and here she was reared and educated. She is a devout member of the Baptist Church, and is now the president of the Foreign and Home Missionary societies of her church. Four children have been born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Myers: Curtis S., born January 11, 1890, and died September 23, 1895; Ord F., born July 22, 1895, and died April 2, 1905; Ira J., born April 8, 1897; and Kenneth L., born October 7, 1905. Both the boys are living at home with their parents and are receiving the best advantages of home and school training. Ira graduated from the graded schools at the age of twelve and from the Brookston High School with the class of 1914, and is now a student of Purdue University, in the agricultural department. Kenneth is a member of the fifth grade of the public schools.
Some of the evidences of Mr. Myers' work as a business man and farmer are
found in the possession of his large estate, 160 acres in his homestead in
Prairie Township and 120 acres in Round Grove. All this land is under
cultivation, and he has carried forward the improvements
until they now comprise a comfortable home, substantial barns, and all
facilities needed for his business. Mr. Myers is a republican and like his
father a stanch [sic] temperance advocate. He has been continuously honored with a
position on the township advisory board for the past sixteen years and for the
last six years has been township assessor. He is a member of the Knights of
Pythias fraternity, Lodge No. 289, at Brookston, Indiana.
A prominent and highly esteemed resident of Monticello, Squire W. Myers is numbered among the extensive land owners of White County, and is also well known in connection with a number of business enterprises, and is also a justice of the peace. A native of Illinois, he was born July 26, 1856, at Eureka, Woodford County, a son of Lewis H. and Christean (Helvern) Myers, the former of whom died October 12, 1909, at Rensselaer, Indiana, while the latter is still living, in 1915, making her home in Washington, Illinois.
Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the public schools of his native county, Squire W. Myers subsequently attended Westfield College, in Westfield, Illinois, for two years. Possessing excellent business ability and judgment, he accumulated considerable money, and in 1902 came to White County, Indiana to invest it. Locating in Honey Creek Township, Mr. Myers bought land, and now holds title to 834 acres, practically all of which is under a high state of culture. He has made improvements of great value on his farms, which he rents, drawing a good income from them, and now devotes his attention to his work in Monticello, for five years having been engaged in the abstract business, in addition to fulfilling his duties as justice of the peace. He is a democrat in politics, but not an office seeker.
Mr. Myers married, February 12, 1878, Isabel Stumbaugh, of Montgomery Township, Woodford County, Illinois, and they are the parents of five children, namely: Gae, wife of Charles W. Seeley; Clark S.; Lewis Dean; Maucie; and Ruth. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Myers are connected with the Presbyterian Church. They are whole-souled, generous people, and their pleasant home is a center of social activity.
A courageous soldier in the dark days of the rebellion, a man who has fought the good fight in all the occupations and relations of a busy career, and honored alike in his home and among his neighbors, Mr. Myers is one of the oldest citizens of Burnettsville. His home has been in that village for half a century, and of that group of citizens who were of adult age when he came there he is now the last survivor.
His family has lived in White County since 1859, in which year his parents, Michael and Eleia (Lemmon) Myers came from Guernsey County, Ohio. His grandfather, Frederick Myers, was a native of Germany, and on coming to America made his home near Cincinnati. At one time he owned about 500 acres of land now included in that city and its suburbs. Michael Myers was one of the youngest in his father's family, and spent most of his youth in the home of a man named Wilson near Piqua, Ohio. He was a carpenter and millwright by trade and after his marriage he bought ten acres of land where Putnam, Ohio, was later built, now included in the City of Zanesville. After selling that place he moved to Guernsey County near Cambridge, and in 1859 brought his family to White County, locating in Princeton Township, about two miles southeast of where the Village of Wolcott now stands. His death occurred in this county June 8, 1863. Up to 1856 he had been a whig voter, and afterwards was a republican. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. They had six children: Noble, who died in 1833 when an infant; William E.; Asa L.; who was born in 1844 and now lives at Bluffton, Indiana; Nancy Sarah, who was born in 1847, and is now deceased; Frank C., born in 1851 and now lives at Warren, Indiana; and Adda, who was born in 1853 and died in infancy.
William E. Myers was born in Ohio December 18, 1841. He had not yet reached his majority when the war broke out and he responded to the call for troops to put down the rebellion. He enlisted at Wolcott December 12, 1861, and a little later was mustered in at Logansport in Company G of the Forty-sixth Indiana Infantry, his captain being R. W. Sill. When in the army, a spell of measles had left him with weak lungs and it was on account of this disability that he received an honorable discharge from the regiment on April 8, 1862. He came home and in a few weeks had recovered sufficiently so that he again proffered his services to the Union. He enlisted at Wolcott and on being sent to Indianapolis was assigned to duty in Company G of the Sixty-third Indiana Infantry, under Captain Holloway. His second enlistment was on August 10, 1862. He continued with the army until receiving his honorable discharge at Greensboro, North Carolina, June 21, 1865, having fought until the Confederacy had completely crumbled. He saw a great deal of hard fighting while with the Sixty-third. He was engaged in guard duty chiefly up to the fall of 1863, when it marched from Covington to Knoxville, Tennessee, and then participated in the engagements of Strawberry Plains, Salt Creek, and in the fighting around Chattanooga. He was a participant in the almost continuous fighting for 100 days during Sherman's advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta, including the battles around and the siege of Atlanta. After the fall of that stronghold of Confederacy he returned with Scofield's army in pursuit of Hood, and took part in both the bloody battles of Franklin and Nashville during the closing weeks of 1864. His command then followed the shattered forces of Hood to Mussell [sic] Shoals on the Tennessee River, subsequently went up the Ohio River on boats to Cincinnati, was transferred east of the mountains to Alexandria, Virginia, later to Fort Fisher, on to Wilmington, North Carolina, thence up Cape Fear River to Goldsboro, from there to Raleigh, and was at Greensboro when Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman.
Mr. Myers reached his mother's home in White County July 4, 1865. After his father died his mother had moved to Burnettsville, and her death occurred in that village November 8, 1866. Prior to entering the army Mr. Myers, in addition to gaining his education in the common schools, had served an apprenticeship in Guernsey County, Ohio, at the blacksmith's trade under John Swan. He also worked for a Mr. Newman at Wolcott, and while there welded the first piece of iron in the village. On returning from the army he established a blacksmith shop at Burnettsville, and that was the steady and dignified vocation which followed continuously up to his retirement in December, 1912. Few men continue one employment for so many years as Mr. Myers, who was a blacksmith fully fifty-three years. Since his retirement he has enjoyed the comforts of his good home in Burnettsville. He owns three acres of land around his house and barn, and has everything he needs for the evening years of life.
On March 1, 1867, Mr. Myers married Mary A. Robbins, a daughter of Jesse and Mary Robbins, who came to White County as early settlers in 1855. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Myers were born six children. Addie L., the oldest, lives at Burnettsville with her husband, Frank McCully, and of her eight children four are still living. The next children, Gertrude B. and Jesse C. and Louis B., all died in infancy. Mary E., the widow of Wilson Coble, by who [sic] she has one living child, resides with her father at Burnettsville and is the chief comfort of his old age. Adoka L., the sixth child, is the wife of Edward Caley and they have their home in Burnettsville and are the parents of three children.
Mr. Myers is one of the honored old soldiers of White County and is a
member of the Grand Army Post at Monticello. He belonged to a regiment
which sustained heavy losses during the war, and when his regiment was
discharged there were only thirty-three men to the company. While an
out and out republican, Mr. Myers has never cared for the honors of office. He
and his wife are members of the Methodist
Church, and he has been a liberal contributor to church and other
causes. His daughter Mary is a member of the Order of Rebekahs. At one
time Mr. Myers served as a member of the school board and on the town
council, and he has always been a citizen whose character and conduct
have commanded respect and confidence.