USA > Indiana > Decatur County > A Genealogical and biographical record of Decatur County, Indiana : compendium of national biography > Part 50
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COLEMAN THOMAS PLEAK.
Among the most respected citizens of Greensburg will be found the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, and who holds the office of auditor of Decatur coun- ty. He was born near Adams, this county, May 22, 1849, and is the son of Joseph D. and Nancy (Coleman) Pleak.
The Pleak family is of German descent. The paternal grandfather of our subject, who bore the remarkable name of Narcas Baron Steuben Isaac Henry Fielding Lewis Pleak, and Stalver, was born in Montgom- ery county, Kentucky (in Castleton's fort), . and came to Indiana in ISIS, settling in Decatur county, where he died in 1822. He entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Washington township and became a very successful farmer. He was a Federalist in his political views and · took an active interest in local affairs. His wife was Sabina Vert. a native of Kentucky, .
and their family consisted of five children, -two daughters and three sons.
Joseph D., father of our subject, was born at the old homestead, November 27, 1822. and has spent his entire life in Decatur county. For many years he followed farm- ing and stock-raising, and was at one time among the most extensive farmers in south- ern Indiana, owning eight hundred acres of land. For five or six years he was engaged in the mercantile business at Adams, where he built the first warehouse ever erected there and handled a large amount of grain for that time. . He is now seventy-seven years of age and has long since retired from active business.
In his earlier days Mr. Pleak was a Whig. but joined the Republican party in 1856 and represented Decatur county in the state senate of 1861. He has for many years been a leading member of the Christian church, in which he has filled all the offices. and has liberally supported all its enter- prises. It was through his influence that a comfortable brick church was built at Adams, at a cost of five thousand dollars. he being responsible for the entire amount.
Mr. Pleak was married in 1846 to Nancy E. Coleman, who became the mother of two sons: J. D., who is a farmer in Adams township: and Coleman T. Mrs. Pleak died in 1850, and four years later Mr. Pleak married Mary J. Robison. One son was born of this union, William R., who owns a large farm in Adams township and is an . ex-member of the state legislature. The death of his second wife took place in 1855. and Mr. Pleak was again married in 1858. to Martha J. Woodward, who is still living.
The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in Adams township, and remained on his father's farm until he was twenty-five years of age. He then removed to Mount
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Zion, near Decatur, Macon county, Illinois, where he lived for a short time, and while there was bridge carpenter for the Illinois & Midland Railroad Company. From this place he went to Gentry county in north- west Missouri, where he followed farming until 1887. He then returned to his old home in Adams township and purchased one hundred and thirty acres of his father's farm, on which he built a home and where he has since resided.
Mr. Pleak has always been an active Re- publican and in 1894 was elected auditor of Decatur county. So satisfactorily did he perform the duties of his office that he was re-elected in 1898 for another term of four years. He is a member of the Christian church at Adams, in which he has filled the offices of deacon and treasurer, and also superintendent of the Sabbath-school. So- cially he belongs to Greensburg Lodge. No. 36, F. & A. M., in which he is senior warden: to Greensburg Chapter, No. S. R. A. M .; to Shelby Council, at Shelbyville. Indiana; the Eastern Star Lodge at Greens- burg, and to Greensburg Lodge, No. 103. I. O. O. F. He is also past grand of No. 103. I. O. O. F., and a member of Sexton Encampment, No. 42, at Greensburg.
The first marriage of Mr. Pleak took place October 10, 1875. when he was united to Deborah A. Buckley, of Decatur county. Five children were born to them, of whom four died in early life. The one surviving is Octa H. Mrs. Pleak died July 30. 1891. and on March 29. 1893. Mr. Pleak was mar- ried to Julia Ryan, also a resident of Deca- tur county. Three children were born of this union, of whom two. Lucille and Flor- ine, are living.
Mr. Pleak is a man of many excellent
qualities of head and heart, genial in his manners, liberal in his opinions and in the use of his money, and has the good will of his community in a larger degree than is the lot of most men.
W. F. MCCULLOUGH.
W. F. Mccullough, postmaster and a prominent merchant at Westport, Decatur county, Indiana, is a descendant from Revo- lutionary stock and of men prominent in the early settlement of the south and west. His great-grandfather. John McCullough, was a brave and faithful soldier all through the war for American independence, and after peace was declared he settled in Virginia. Later. when Kentucky became a favorite destination for pioneers, he settled on the "dark and bloody ground" and there pros- pered and reared a family, and there died. honored as a soldier and as a citizen. His son William married Druzilla Morgan, of Kentucky, and they had a son named Wil- liam M .. born in Kentucky, who married Sarah Harper, a native of Pennsylvania, and had children named James H., Jasper C .. Leota, Lena E., J. T., Simon and William F. James became a farmer. Jasper C .. Leota and Simon died unmarried. Lena is Mrs. Appleton and lives in Iowa. J. T. is a successful educator. W. F. is the imme- diate subject of this sketch.
Mr. McCullough's family history is in- teresting genealogically, and there is much of interest in those portions of it which deal with earlier generations. William McCul- lough, his grandfather in the paternal line. was reared in Kentucky and there he mar- ried and there were born all his children but
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two. He was a farmer and a mechanic, a Whig in politics, a prohibitionist and in all intellectual aspects a man in advance of his time and superior to his environments,- one who was highly respected even by men who opposed him in some things. for the reason that the integrity of his character was unassailable. He came to Indiana in 1829 and in Ripley county entered land. which he improved and upon which he died in 1837. He long filled the office of justice of the peace with much ability and discretion. Druzilla Morgan, born at Morgan's Station. Kentucky, was a daughter of Rafe Morgan, and her parents were both natives of Vir- ginia. Her mother was a Mrs. Douglas. whose first husband had been killed by In- dians. Rafe Morgan and his wife were early settlers in Kentucky. He was instrumental in building a fort for the protection of pio- neers at the point afterward known as Mor- gan's Station and in having the country round about surveyed, and he was rewarded for his public spirit by a government dona- tion of five thousand acres of land. He ac- quired three thousand acres elsewhere in Kentucky and was in all things a leader among the men with whom he associated. The same family of Morgan that produced Rafe Morgan produced John Morgan, the guerrilla of Tennessee, famous as the leader of Morgan's raid into Ohio, in 1863. an ex- ploit which stands out with much distinc- tion in the history of our civil war. The family is of Scotch-Irish descent and has in- cluded a number of other men noted for their courage and ability and for their manly qualities. Rafe Morgan was a whole-souled man who won friends by his hearty. genial manner and retained them by his fidelity and his friendly deeds. Rafe Morgan and
his wife (formerly Mrs. Douglas) had a son named Rolla, who was a farmer in Ken- tucky. By her first husband Mrs. Morgan had two sons, William and David Douglas. David became known in Decatur county as a farmer and as a preacher in the New Light church.
. The children of William and Druzilla (Morgan) Mccullough were as follows: Harvey, who became a lawyer and who died at Versailles. Indiana; Jane (Mrs. Burk): Eliza (Mrs. Spilman); John, who removed to Illinois; Sarah (Mrs. Runner); William M. (father of W. F. McCullough): Eliza- beth (Mrs. Hillis); and S. M. Mccullough. a soldier of the civil war and now a resident of Westport. Indiana. William M. McCul- lough came to Westport in 1853 and worked for farmers and earned money with which to educate himself. He acquired a good education and for some years was a teacher, studying medicine meanwhile and entering upon a country practice as soon as he received his diploma. He opened the first drug store at Westport and was suc- cessful as a physician. A man of generous proportions, he became too fleshy to con- tinue the practice of medicine, it being diffi- cult for him to ride continually about the country, and he abandoned practice and de- voted himself exclusively and more largely to merchandising. adding groceries and other lines of goods to his regular drug stock. He prospered until his store burned. His loss was almost total, his insurance hav- ing been only nominal. With characteristic energy, however, he set about the work of retrieving his fortunes and soon erected a commodious brick building and continued business successfully until his death. Jan- uary 8, 1895. He several times filled the
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office of postmaster at Westport and as jus- tice of the peace he made a record for fair- ness and good judgment of which any man might be proud. Politically he was a Whig and later a Republican, and he was influen- tial in local politics. He was a member of the Christian church, a Mason and an Odd Fellow and in all relations of life lived fully up to his profession. Sarah Harper, who became his wife, was a daughter of Samuel Harper, of Pennsylvania, who came to Rip- ley county, Indiana, at an early day and was a farmer until late in life, then a hotel-keeper ¿at Versailles, where he died respected and regretted by all who knew him. He had five children: Jane (Mrs. Bunten), Mark- land, Sarah (Mrs. McCullough) John and Watson. Mrs. McCullough was, like her husband, a consistent member of the Chris- tian church. She survived him until 1899.
W. F. Mccullough was born at West- port, Indiana, October 23, 1870, and was reared a village boy and educated in the vil- lage school. After his father's death he bought the store which the latter had con- ducted so long and so successfully, with its stock of goods and the good will of the busi- . ness, and continued the enterprise. catering to a large and increasing country trade with drugs and kindred goods, groceries and family merchandise. He is interested in the Westport Natural Gas Company, of West- port, and was the promoter and one of the organizers of the Citizens' Line Telephone Company. In connection with these enter- prises and otherwise he has demonstrated his public spirit and he is regarded as a ris- ing man whose success will mean much to the village and its people.
In September. 1897. Mr. McCullougli married Miss Bertie E. Lugenbell, daughter
of George W. and Victoria (Wiles) Lugen- bell, of Greensburg, Indiana, where Mrs. Mccullough was born December 12, 1878. Mr. Lugenbell is a son of Peter Lugenbell and is a blacksmith and carriage-ironer, a Democrat and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which his wife also is identified. Mrs. Lugenbell's parents are B. F. and Lydia Wiles, both natives of Rip- ley, Ohio.
Mr. Mccullough may be said to have been born a Republican. He was certainly reared one and has very near to his heart the success of that party, its nieasures and its leaders. He was appointed postmaster at Westport in 1897 and has served in that office since August 14 of that year. He is an Odd Fellow and a member of the West- port lodge of Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. McCulloughi are members of the Chris- tian church.
ROBERT JOHNSON.
The subject of this sketch is of that ster- ling Kentucky stock which, transplanted to Indiana. has been so progressive and so in- fluential in the development of the best in- terests of the state. He is a representative of families who have been prominent in the political and religious history of this part of the United States, and lie married the (laughter of another family of Kentucky blood and distinguished in more ways than one.
Robert Johnson, a prominent and repre- sentative farmer and trader of Decatur county, Indiana, was born in Boone county, Kentucky, May 21. 1858, a son of Andrew and Mary (McClure) Johnson, both
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native Kentuckians. Andrew Johnson was a son of Andrew and Betsy (Sherlock) John- son, natives of Virginia, who settled early in Kentucky, where Andrew Johnson, Sr., be- came a leading farmer and a man of influ- ence. The children of Andrew and Betty (Sherlock) Johnson were John S .; William; Andrew, father of Robert; Elizabeth; and Mary. Andrew Johnson, Jr., has been a lifelong resident of Kentucky and is now seventy-one years old. He lives on the old Johnson homestead in Grant county, where he is a well known Democrat, but has never been an aspirant for office. He married Mary McClure, daughter of Jeffries and Mary (Dungan) McClure. Jeffries Mc- Clure, in his younger days a distiller, has been for many years a farmer. He is prom- inent in the community and commands the respect of all who know him. The families of Johnson and McClure in Kentucky are Baptists. The children of Jeffries and Mary (Dungan) McClure were named as follows, in the order of their birth: Martha, Kate, Louisa, Elizabeth, Mary (mother of Robert Johnson), Thomas, Henry, John, Samuel and Fielden. Thomas, Henry and John were killed in our civil war, two of them battling for the Confederacy and one fight- ing for the stars and stripes. The children of Andrew and Mary (McClure) Johnson were Thomas (a farmer in Kentucky). John C. (detective in the employ of the Big Four Railroad Company), Robert (subject of this sketch), and Elizabeth (wife of I. N. Fearl, a Kentucky farmer).
Robert Johnson remained under his father's roof until ISSo, when he was twen- ty-two years old. He then married and re- moved to Indiana. He located first in Shelby county, but came to Greensburg
within the year and engaged in stock-rais- ing. In 1886 he purchased a farm and established his home on it and during the next few years became prominent and suc- cessful as a farmer and stockman. . In 1895 he purchased a small place near Greensburg and moved upon it. He has always been a Democrat in his political adherency, and though he works hard for the success of his party he has no wish to hold any office in the gift of his fellow citizens, for farming and stock-raising are the pride of his life, and to these lines of industry he desires to devote his best energies.
Mr. Johnson married Miss Dora M. Points, a lady of much intelligence and many accomplishments and a member of an honored Kentucky family. She is a daugh- ter of William and Martha Points, the last mentioned of whom is dead. Hon. William Points, now ninety, is passing the closing years of his life on his old Kentucky home, honored by a wide circle of acquaintances. He was always a successful farmer, and up to the time of the civil war a slave-owner. Prominent as a Democrat and influential as a citizen, he represented his fellow citizens three times in the Kentucky legislature and once in the national congress. It is a mat- ter of history that he was never defeated for any office for which he permitted himself to be a candidate. For some years he gave his attention to pork-packing and he was one of the founders and long the president of the Grant County Deposit Bank. He mar- ried a member of the Franks family. His children were Mattie (Mrs. J. W. Spellman). Sally (Mrs. McBee), Susan (Mrs. A. W. Spellman), Elizabeth (Mrs. Williams), Rosa (Mrs. Franks), Kate (Mrs. Conrad), Huldalı (Mrs. Vest), Dora M. (Mrs. Johnson).
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Thomas (a retired physician, now a farmer 'and handler of tobacco), William. Jr. (spec- ulator, financier and extensive breeder of shorthorn cattle), and David C. ( a promi- nent lawyer at Williamstown, Kentucky). The family are prominent in Baptist circles.
Mr. Jolinson ranks with the successful, progressive young business men and farm- ers of Decatur county. His success has been ample, and those who know how worthily he has labored for it know that it is amply deserved.
WILLIAM SMITH.
Among the prominent settlers of Decatur county Mr. Smith is one of the oldest. and he has been an important factor in the de- velopment of Jackson township. He is now a resident of Sardinia and is one of its most honored and venerated citizens. He was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, De- cember 3. 1812, and was reared on his father's farm, obtaining a limited education in the primitive schools of his day. but put . to a practical use all the information gained from observation and experience. His par- ents were Samuel and Letitia .(Updike) . Smith, natives of New Jersey, the story of whose pioneer hardships will be told later in this sketch.
William Smith remained under the pa- rental roof until he was of age, and was his father's principal assistant in improving his farm and making a start in the new country. When twenty-one years old he married and. building a cabin on a portion of the home- stead, he lived in this primitive dwelling for five years. He worked early and late. saved his earnings, and entered land in
Blackford county, Indiana, seven miles from the nearest settler. He never moved on to his property, however, but subsequently bought forty acres of land in Jackson town- ship, Decatur county. and in March, 1840, came here to live. At that time there was a cabin built in a clearing of four acres. or rather it was a partial clearing, with a large amount of big timber still standing. This he cut, and then cleared three acres more. on which he set out an orchard. He planted the seven acres in corn, and raised a crop the first spring, the only help he had being that of his faithful wife, who assisted in pil- ing up the brush ready for burning. Pros- perity rewarded the efforts of the sturdy young farmer, and it was not long until he was able to add forty acres more to the orig- inal forty, and so he kept on until he had one hundred and sixty acres under culti- vation. Subsequently he purchased another farm, of eighty acres, and for many years carried on general farming, as well as stock- raising. His aim in life has always been to make his way by hard work and fair dealing. and the success which he has attained may be traced to the following out of this prin- ciple. After acquiring a handsome compe- tency, Mr. Smith, about 1886. bought a comfortable house. with ample grounds. in Sardinia, and there he and his esteemed com- panion are passing the evening of their lives in quiet domestic happiness, with the con- sciousness of many well spent years behind them, and the hope of a blissful future. For fifty years they have been members of the Methodist church, of which Mr. Smith is a trustee. Originally an old-line Whig. Mr. Smith naturally affiliated with the Repub- lican party on its formation in 1856, and he still takes an active interest in all questions
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of the day, and uses his influence in securing the best men for official positions.
Mr. Smith was married in March, 1834. to Miss Delilah Smith, who, although of the same name, was no relative. She was born in Butler county, Ohio, but was reared in Franklin county, Indiana. Her parents were David and Margaret (Crooks) Smith, the former of German descent and a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter born in Ken- tucky. They were married in Ohio, and later Mr. Smith entered land in Franklin county, Indiana, on which he settled and - which he improved, and there he success- fully carried on general farming until his death. Before leaving Pennsylvania Mr. Smith was captain of a keel-boat on the Susquehanna river, and the title clung to him, so that all the rest of his life he was known as Captain Smith. His wife was a devout member of the Methodist church, and both were highly respected wherever they were known. Their children were as follows: Delilah, wife of our subject; Jane, Mrs. Wallace; William C., deceased; Amy, Mrs. Updike; Monroe, living in Missouri; Margaret, Mrs. J. Webb; Milton, deceased, and Louisa, Mrs. Masters, residing in Brookville, Indiana. To-Mr. and Mrs. Will- iam Smith eight children have been born, as follows: Samuel, a farmer in Jackson . township, Decatur county; Ellen married J. R. Thompson, and both are deceased; David, living in California; Margaret, Mrs. Joab Stout, living in Letts, Indiana; Dru- silla, Mrs. Seth Shepardson; John, de- ceased; Amanda, who resides with her par- ents ; and Katie, Mrs. M. R. Fremain.
Samuel Smith, father of our subject, was a son of Thaddeus Smith. The latter was of German descent, and was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war. Late in life he camne from New Jersey to Indiana, and spent the rest of his days among his children, dying at the good old age of one hundred years. His family comprised seven children, as follows: Eli; Zophar: Benjamin; Samuel: Nancy, who married Peter Updike; Sophie, who became the wife of Anthony Abel, and Eliza, wife of John Rogers. Samuel was married to Letitia Updike in Pennsylvania. where William, their eldest child was born. In 1817, in company with a few neighbors, Samuel Smith built a flat-boat, in which, with their families, they found their way to Cincinnati. From that city Mr. Smith went to Franklin county, Indiana, where he leased some land and improved a farm. He also worked at his trade of wheelwright, making spinning wheels, and by every means strove to make a living in the wilds of the new state where he had selected a home. How many hardships and privations the early comers of those days endured, we, of the nineteenth century, have but little idea. There were trees to fell and brush to clear away before the little log cabin could be built; every necessary of life had to be hauled over miserable roads for many miles; neighbors were few and far between, the nearest often being ten miles away; and there were no amusements nor recreations, and no opportunity for gaining knowledge or religious instruction, except for the rare visits of the itinerant preachers. Life was, according to Mr. Mantilini, "one demni- tion grind," and yet those courageous men and women bore their burdens cheerfully for the sake of making a home for then- selves and their children, and even man- aged to extract some humor from the inci- dents which sometimes occurred.
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Mr. Smith often tells with amusement the story of one episode of his struggle at this time. Adjoining the land which he leased was a tract of sixty acres of swamp land, of which the owner was anxious to be rid. He finally persuaded Mr. Smith to take it at. three hundred dollars, securing his note for the same, at long-time payments. These were not kept up, and finally when all the notes became due the man pressed Mr. Smith for payment. The latter had no money, but he had built a log stable and cleared a few acres, and he offered to take nothing for the improvements if the man would take the land back. This the owner refused to do, but offered to make a trade, which was concluded by Mr. Smith giving him a mare and colt valued at one hundred " „and eighty dollars, a saddle, some harness, a quantity of cloth which his wife had woven, for all of which he charged good prices, and, in addition, his fur cap. He took up his notes and now owned the land, but had nothing else, not even a cap to wear. However, he managed to get along. and later bought a one-eyed horse for forty dollars, contriving to make a bridle out of a rope and a saddle out of straw stuffed into a bag. Success was bound to crown the efforts of a man of such perseverance, in- dustry and resources, and with a brave heart, cheered by the companionship and help of his no less brave wife, he surmount- ed all obstacles, and lived to see the wilder- ness turned into a beautiful land and to enjoy an old age of ease and comfort. He died at the age of sixty-five years, his wife surviving him, and she passed away at the age of eighty-six years.
Mrs. Smith's father, Isaac Updike, who was a native of Pennsylvania, had preceded
Mr. Smith to Indiana by a few years, and had purchased and improved a farm in Franklin county, where he died when sixty years old. He became well known and was an honored citizen, respected by all who' knew him. He and his wife were consistent members of the Baptist church. They had four children,-Betsey, Mrs. Abram Smal- ley, of Franklin county; Peter and Elijah, both deceased; and Letitia, mother of Will- iam Smith, the subject of this sketch. All of these families are worthy of mention in a historical work of this kind, for it is to such men and women, who developed its re- sources and labored for its improvement. that Indiana owes her proud position in the galaxy of states.
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