USA > Indiana > Greene County > Biographical memoirs of Greene County, Ind. : with reminiscences of pioneer days, Volume II > Part 1
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40 977.201 G83bi v.2 1351157
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02299 9236
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
-OF-
GREENE COUNTY, IND.
WITH REMINISCENCES OF PIONEER DAYS
VOLUME II.
Sc 977.201 983 bi V:2
ILLUSTRATED
·
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA 1908 B. F. BOWEN & CO.
1351157
Pourentanto 60,00 2-25-66 2vols. plone 2-23-66 C 2
Edivia Le Holford
EDWIN L. WOLFORD.
To the end that the life history of the honorable gentleman whose name forms the caption of this article and may prove an incentive to the young man at the parting of the ways, whose record is yet to be made and whose destiny is a matter for the future to determine; and also because the host of warm personal friends and admirers which his courteous manners, genial disposition and genuine worth have won and retained, will be glad to know more of the personal traits and admirable at- tributes of this well-known individual, who is essentially a man of affairs, practical in all the term implies, there- fore it is just that he be given proper representation. To- Mr. Wolford's clear brain, well-balanced judgment and sound business ability many important interests of Greene county are indebted for their continuous advancement and well-grounded success, for his past record shows him to be something of a wizard in the matter of organizing. promoting and developing various lines of business, hav- ing a keen discernment for the future and the happy faculty of seizing an opportunity at the psychological moment, and carrying it onward to ultimate success.
Edwin L. Wolford was born in Linton. Indiana. July 7, 1861, the son of John W. Wolford. a prominent citizen of this county, a full history of whose worthy career is to be found elsewhere in this volume.
Mr. Wolford received his early mental training in the public schools of Stockton township, which he at- tended during the winter months until he was twenty years old. Being an ambitious lad from early boyhood,
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS.
desirous of leaving the imprint of his ability and worth on the minds of those constituting the world of his per- sonal activities, Mr. Wolford applied himself in a most assiduous manner to his text-books and did a great amount of general reading, as a result of which he laid a broad and deep foundation in educational matters, on which he has since steadily builded. through home study and personal contact with the world, being an observing man and having highly developed perceptive as well as reflective faculties. At the age indicated above our sub- ject came with his parents to Linton, after receiving that valuable training on the farm which so many of our eminent men in many walks of life receive, which in some inscrutable manner enters into the meshwork of their soul-fiber, making them stronger, nobler, broader and in every way better equipped for the strenuous sub- sequent battle of life.
His first venture in the business world in which he has become so eminently conspicuous was shortly after his arrival in Linton, when he engaged as manager of a coal mine, which was conducted at that time on a very small scale with twenty men. However, the able man- ner in which he conducted the affairs of this mine augured that his future was to be replete with success if he had an opportunity to show his ability in larger affairs. In February. 1883. Mr. Wolford. in company with his father, opened a store, establishing the firm of Wolford & Son, carrying a general line of merchandise on a small scale, with a capital possibly not exceeding twelve hun- dred dollars. This they gradually increased as their trade grew, and in time the subject's brothers, T. L.
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
and W. F., became members of the firm, which was changed to J. W. Wolford & Sons, the business of which has continuously increased until now it is far beyond the most sanguine dreams of the Wolfords when they first began, for they now carry a sixty-thousand-dollar stock and erected a large and commodious brick building in 1903, two stories high, sixty-six by one hundred and thirty feet, being designed for what it is, a complete, modern and up-to-date department store, the fame of which has penetrated to all parts of Greene county, and many customers come from adjoining counties, know- ing that here they receive courteous treatment and always get the best grade of goods at the most reasonable figures. No store in the state is any better or systematically man- aged than this, and it has no worthy rival in the field which is serves. The success of this great business is largely due to the energy and enterprise of our subject, who is treasurer and financial manager.
In addition to this store, which would be enough to occupy the exclusive attention of most men, Mr. Wol- ford, in 1892, began as a stockholder in the Island Val- ley Coal and Mining Company, becoming treasurer of the same, which position he acceptably held until the com- pany closed its business in 1905. In 1894 Mr. Wolford also became stockholder in the South Linton Coal Com- pany, and acted as secretary and treasurer of the same until its business was wound up in 1905. In 1899 Ed- win Wolford was one of the organizers and promoters of the Black Creek Semi-Block Coal Company, and was secretary and treasurer of this company until they closed their business in 1905. Not being content with the phe-
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nomenal success he had won in this direction, Mr. Wol- ford in 1903 organized and promoted the Linton Semi- Block Coal Company, at once becoming secretary and treasurer, also general manager, succeeding admirably until the business was sold in 1905. Mr. Wolford was also one of the organizers and promoters of the United Fourth Vein Coal Company, a consolidation of six com- panies, as follows: Island Valley Coal and Mining Com- pany, North Linton Coal Company L. T. Dickason Coal Company, Black Creek Semi-Block Coal Company, . Antioch Coal Company and the Black Hawk Coal Com- pany, with a capital of one million dollars, and with the following officers: Job Freeman, president; A. B. Meyer, vice president ; Edwin L. Wolford, secretary and treasurer. This company has continued business in a most successful manner, and the present officers ( 1908) are Job Freeman, president; Edwin L. Wolford, vice president and treasurer : J. B. Sherwood, secretary. This company is doing an annual business of eight hundred thousand dollars, its capacity being six thousand tons daily.
Our subject is also a stockholder in the United States Powder Company, the Linton Rolling Mill and the Linton Trust Company, being a director in the last named.
Edwin L. Wolford was happily married in Linton April 8, 1883, to Anna Thorp, of Linton, who was born in Terre Haute August 29, 1863, the accomplished and highly cultured daughter of Alvin P. and Sarah (La- selle) Thorp, who were long regarded as people of promi- nence and influence of that city, but who have now both passed on to their rest.
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Four bright and promising children have been born into Mr. and Mrs. Wolford's home, bringing additional sunshine and cheer to this already ideal household, for the domestic life of this couple has always been most harmonious. The names of their children are Earl, a young man of much business ability and promise, who is in the store at Linton ; Ray, an unusually intellectual lad, now ( 1908) attending Franklin College; Leo is a student in the Linton high school, where he is making a brilliant record for both scholarship and deportment; the win- some and talented daughter, who is also a high school pupil, where she holds high rank, answers to the name of Jessie.
Mr. Wolford is an independent Democrat political- ly, and while he does not find time from his many and exacting business duties to take active part in political matters, he is a public-spirited man, thoroughly interested in all movements looking to the betterment or develop- ment of his native locality. Fraternally he is a thirty- second degree Mason, Indiana Consistory, Murat Temple Shrine, being past master of the Linton Lodge, No. 560. Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 866, of Linton. The Wolford family subscribes to the Baptist church, where they are held in high esteem by the entire congregation.
Mr. Wolford still maintains his home in Linton, where he has a modern and beautifully appointed resi- dence, but he has his main office in the Terminal Trac- tion Building in Indianapolis, maintaining there a fine suite of rooms.
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Mr. Wolford has been more than ordinarily success- ful in the accumulation of material wealth, being one of the financially solid men of Linton, and to his credit, be it said that the handsome competence now in his posses- sion and the liberal income of which he is the recipient are the result of his well-directed efforts, being in the full sense of the term a self-made man and the archi- tect of his own fortune, and having been scrupulously honest and upright in all his business career, his methods have never been assailed or questioned, having long ago es- tablished a firm reputation for sound business principles, and in the extensive work he has done in organizing and promoting various industries it has been done to the entire satisfaction of the stockholders in every respect. for in each instance they seemed to rest assured that their investments were safe with him at the helm of the 1In- dertaking. Of course, Mr. Wolford, as must many an- other successful business man, admit, which he freely does, that his worthy father has had much to do in mak- ing his own life successful and worth the living, for in the early youth of our subject his father took particular pains to inculcate such principles in him as would make for a successful future in the business world and the es- tablishment of an incorruptible reputation and a good name, which the Wolfords have always borne and still maintain.
JEFFERSON L. OLIPHANT.
One of Indiana's most notable patriots, and one who was held in high esteem by neighbors and friends,
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was the late Jefferson L. Oliphant, of Bloomfield, Indi- ana. He was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, August 28, 1836, and was the son of Lawson and Ruth ( Pen- nington) Oliphant, both natives of North Carolina, a state that has had a generous share in furnishing early settlers and pioneers for the Middle West. They came to Lawrence county, Indiana, in the early thirties, and in 1850 removed to Greene county, settling in Center township, where they bought a tract of government land, wild and uncultivated. This they soon transformed into an improved farm, and here they spent the remainder of their days, the father departing this life in 1860, being survived by his companion until 1888.
The family consisted of nine children, as follows : Frank, now deceased, having passed to rest at Blooming- ton, Indiana; Louisa died in Texas; Nancy entered into rest while living in Dubois county; Joseph, now living at Bloomfield; Parentha, widow of Jerry Stokes, living in Colorado; Jefferson L., our subject, who answered the call of death June 16, 1907; Sarah, widow of Ezekiel Stone, and now living at Dugger, Indiana ; Mary, widow of Henry Fitzpatrick, of Linton ; Belinda, wife of Riley Brinton, of Dugger. Jefferson L. was brought up on the farm and learned the rugged lessons of self-reliance through contact with problems encountered by this ex- perience. His education ·was limited to such training as was afforded by the primitive schools of the time, the conditions of which are quite familiar to present-day read- ers. Although these conditions do not seem at first glance to be favorable for much fruit, yet it threw the young men of those days back upon themselves, and in
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this very fact lies the secret of the strong and independ- ent spirit which is such a strong characteristic of the men of the times.
On April 3. 1856, Mr. Oliphant was united in mar- riage to Sarah A. Dugger, a native of Greene county, born February 4, 1838, a record of whose family history will be found in the biography of Oris B. Richeson, in the present volume. Upon his marriage he devoted him- self to farming and lived on several different farms dur- ing his life. He became the father of three children- Nettie, wife of J. D. Landis, now living at Linton ; Thomas, of Bloomfield, and Marion, of Washington. Indiana.
Thomas L. Oliphant was born in Greene county April 14, 1860, married Mary T. Byers, a native of Greene county, and they have seven children-Lessie : Charity, wife of Homer Foddrill, of Bloomfield; Charles, Dora, Grace, Carl and Claude.
Marion, whose wife, Allie V. Millen, is now de- ceased, became the father of six children, viz .: Glen, Le- lia, Elmer, Hazel and Margaret.
In 1862 Mr. Oliphant responded to the call of his country and enlisted in Company E of the Ninety-seventh Indiana, and served in this company until the close of the war. He was mustered in at Terre Haute and was discharged January 9, 1865, at Washington, D. C. He participated in all the important battles in which his reg- iment was engaged, and this included a great many fierce engagements. One needs but mention in this connection Sherman's march to the sea, in which this regiment had a part, and the reader will picture in his own mind the
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varied experiences of those connected with the history of the war in that vicinity, also the grand review at Washington, form incidents never to be forgotten in the history of our nation.
The war being over, Mr. Oliphant returned to the more peaceful pursuit of farming, but later operated a flour mill in the outswirts of Bloomfield. At another time he conducted a flour mill at Linton, and later one at Washington, Indiana. Subsequently he returned to Bloomfield and lived in well deserved retirement until his demise, as previously mentioned. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and a Republican. He had impressed himself upon all who knew him as a kind husband and father and a good neighbor.
JOEL BYERS.
Living with his daughter, Mrs. Thomas Oliphant, is Joel Byers, a retired farmer. He was born January 24. 1829, being the son of Jacob and Sarah (Young) Byers. He was reared on the farm and received his early edu- cation in the pioneer schools of the day.
In 1850 he was joined in marriage to Elizabeth Rain- bolt, who departed this life in September, 1889. Mr. Byers came to Lawrence county in 1844, and 1847 to Greene county, settling on a farm in Jackson township. continuing until 1889, when he came to Bloomfield to make his home with his daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Byers reared nine children-Jacob, Martha, Sarah, John M.,
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William D., Mary T., Manda, James W. and Nannie. Mr. Byers stands well with the neighbors and friends. He takes active interest in politics, and affil- iates with the Baptist church.
HENRY CLAY OWEN.
The subject of this sketch, Henry C. Owen, was born in Scotland, Greene county, Indiana, November 25, 1839, and, finding his native "heath" sufficient to meet his earthly wants, decided to remain there, devoting his life to various pursuits, now spending his declining years as proprietor of a grocery store at Newberry, Indiana.
Mr. Owen was the son of Henry C. and Mary Fran- ces ( Jones) Owen, the latter a native of Rockbridge coun- ty, Virginia, and the former of Kentucky, having been born near Owensborough. Henry Owen came to Greene county, Indiana, in the early years of the nineteenth cen- tury and worked at the carpenter's trade at Scotland. The subject was thirteen years old when his father removed to Newberry, Indiana, in 1852. This was before the Wa- bash and Erie canal, and only three frame houses had been erected there, together with a few cabins. The sub- ject's father remained there during the remainder of his life. Henry's father, William Owen, was a native of Kentucky, but he came to Indiana, locating on a farm near Owensburg, where he spent his life. Mary F. Jones, Henry Owen's wife. died in Newberry. They were the parents of seven children, namely: James M., who died at Newberry in May, 1908. aged seventy-three years ;
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Catherine, now deceased, was the wife of Barton Hines; Henry C., our subject ; Mary F., now deceased; Maranda, wife of Bazel Hindman, living at Newberry, Indiana ; Jane is the wife of John A. Wesner, living in Missouri; Cynthia C. is deceased. She was the wife of Alonzo Quackenbush. The parents of the subject were members of the Methodist church. His father was a class leader and took a great interest in church affairs. He was a Republican and took an active interest in politics, serving two terms as treasurer of Greene county, Indiana. He did much toward the upbuilding of the town of New- berry and subscribed to the railroad and the canal. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Henry C. Owen, our subject, learned the carpenter's trade from his father and followed this at Newberry, In- diana, until 1893. He received his education in the com- mon schools, taught in the primitive log houses of those days, and was married July 3, 1859, to Anna L. Skomp, who was born in Knox county. She died in Newberry, leaving six children, as follows: Charles, living in Ohio; James M., who lives in Martinsville, Indiana ; Mary Fran- ces, wife of W. M. Wesner, who lives in Newberry : Lilie A., wife of Clifford Courtney, who lives in Linton, Indi- ana ; Lucinda, wife of Edward Brookshire, living in Lin- ton ; Henry C., living in Newberry. The subject's sec- ond wife was Mary L. Sipley, who was born in New Al- bany, Indiana, the daughter of Caroline and Jacob Sip- ley. Two children were born to this second union- Norma and John D.
Mr. Owen enlisted in Company B, Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in 1862, at Paoli, Indiana,
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and served until the close of the war, having taken part in the battles of Baton Rouge, siege of Mobile, where he was nine days in the trenches. He was slightly injured at Canoe Station. He was then in the Third Division, Thirteenthi Corps, under General Oslerhouse. He was slightly injured before he got to the front in a railroad accident at Effingham, Illinois.
Mr. Owen was supervisor of Cass township, Greene county, Indiana, several times, and he served one term as county commissioner ; also was postmaster at New- berry for four years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and a member of the Eastern Star: also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is now ( 1908) justice of the peace. Mr. Owen and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has been trustee of the church ever since it was organized in that place. The entire Owen family is highly respected in Newberry.
REV. H. JULIAN MATHIAS.
Although yet a young man, the subject of this sketch, the Rev. H. Julian Mathias, has achieved pro- nounced success in his chosen profession and has accom- plished much good in all his ministerial work, being es- pecially liked by the congregation of the Lutheran church at Newberry, Indiana, of which he now has charge.
Rev. Mathias is a native of South Carolina, having been born there October 3. 1871. He is the son of David J. and Margaret (Kleckley) Mathias, who were South
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Carolina people. David was the son of Jesse Mathias, a farmer of the last named state. Margaret Kleckley was the daughter of John H. and Sarah (Montz) Kleckley, both natives of South Carolina, where they lived and died on a farm. David Mathias died in 1907. His widow is still living in South Carolina. They had nine children, born as follows: Rev. H. Julian, the subject ; Jesse, Sal- lie, Beattie, Simon, Samuel, Andrew, Ora and Tillman. The parents of the subject and all their ancestors were members of the Lutheran church.
The subject was reared on a farm, receiving his edu- cation from the common schools of the county and the high school at Lexington, South Carolina. He then en- tered Concordia College at Conover, North Carolina, and one year later entered Lenoir College at Hickory, North Carolina, where he spent two years. He then entered Newberry College, at Newberry, in South Carolina, grad- uating in 1896, and graduating two years later from the Southern Lutheran Theological Seminary at Newberry, South Carolina.
After leaving school Rev. Mathias accepted a charge at Selwood, South Carolina, for three years. He then preached two years at St. Luke's, Prosperity, South Car- olina. He then preached at Lincolnton, North Carolina, for two years. In June, 1905, he came to Newberry, In- diana, where he has remained to the present time ( 1908).
The subject was married in 1898 to Minnie Shell, a native of Conover, North Carolina. She was reared there and met the subject when he was attending school at that place. She is the daughter of John S. and Sarah (Miller) Shell, the former a native of North Carolina
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and the latter a native of Tennessee. John Shell and wife are both dead and Minnie is their only child.
Four children have been born to Rev. Mr. Mathias and wife, as follows: Hermann, born September 12, 1899; Mabel, born May 10, 1901 ; Margaret, who died in infancy ; Julian Voigt, born March 3, 1907.
The subject is a member of the Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran church. In connection with his charge at Newberry he preaches at a church near Monroe City, in Knox county, Indiana. He built up the charge at that place until a new church was recently erected. The subject is an earnest worker and leaves nothing undone to better the condition of the people among whom he is laboring. He is an apt scholar, and he received the senior medal at the Newberry College in South Carolina and second honors there.
ALEXANDER J. BAYS.
Alexander J. Bays was born October 25, 1838, in Center township. He had no opportunity to attend school, remaining at home until he was sixteen. He worked for various persons until his first marriage in 1862 to Lucy Ann Talbot, of Ohio, who is now deceased. They had three children-Katie, Fidelia and Robert." He married Levina Bland, of Highland township, a few years later, and they had six children, as follows: Har- ley, Minnie, Maggie, Orrie, Stella and Ernest. He had five children by his third wife, Annie Bingham, namely : Roscoe, Oscar, Otto, Bert and Don.
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GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Bays enlisted August 22, 1862, in Company C, Ninety-seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. After drilling at Indianapolis and Terre Haute the regi- ment was sent into Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, taking part in many battles, including Vicks- burg, Missionary Ridge and Kenesaw Mountain. He was seriously wounded by a shell on June 27, 1863, and was sent to a hospital at Rome, Georgia, but rejoined his regiment in three months and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was in the grand parade in Wash- ington at the close of the war and was discharged June 26, 1865.
After the war he lived in Highland township, Greene county, Indiana, until 1873, when he moved to Pleasant Ridge, Richland township, where he has since resided. He has conducted a store since 1891, at the same time be- ing engaged in the poultry and farming business, his farm consisting of one hundred and four acres. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic Post at Bloomfield, Indiana, a member of the Methodist church, and votes the Republican ticket.
Alexander J. Bays is the son of Hubbard Bays, a na- tive of North Carolina. He married Martha Bland. They came to Greene county, Indiana, with their parents in an early day, being first settlers in Center township, where he entered eighty acres of land, on which he and his wife remained until their death. They had seven children, namely: Lorenzo, Mordica, Hubbard, Jackson, Eveline. Nellie and Jane. Hubbard Bays lived at home until his marriage, when he moved to Beech Creek township. Greene county, where they lived for many years. They
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moved to Marshall, Illinois, where both he and his wife lived until their death, raising four children, namely: Al- exander J., the subject of this sketch; Sallie, who mar- ried Jesse Bland, of Richland township, Greene county ; James, who is a farmer in Beech Creek township, Greene county : Martha, who married Chris Bland, of Terre Haute.
COL. ELIJAH H. C. CAVINS.
Few states have been as greatly honored in the char- acter and career of their public men as Indiana. In every county are to be found individuals born to leadership in the various vocations and professions, men who dominate because of natural intelligence, superior endowment and the force of character that overcomes opposition to suc- cess in every laudable sphere of endeavor. It is always profitable to study such lives, to weigh their motives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activ- ity and higher excellence on the part of those whose careers are yet in the future. These reflections are sug- gested by the career of one of Indiana's distinguished sons who has forged his way to the front ranks of the favored few, and who, by strong inherent force and su- perior professional ability, directed by well-balanced judg- ment and intelligence of a high order, stands today among the representative men of his county and state. It is doubtful if any citizen of southern Indiana has achieved more honorable distinction or occupied a more conspicu- ous place in the profession which he represents than Col.
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