USA > Indiana > Clay County > A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2) > Part 13
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Ohio, died in 1879, at the age of thirty-eight years. They were married in Perry township. this county, in 1859. and Mrs. Phillips was a daughter of Stephen Fagan, one of the pioneers of the county, who, casting in his lot with the early settlers, took up his abode near Cory, where he reared a large family. Unto Early and Cerilda Phillips there were born seven children, of whom four are now living. One died in infancy, and James Wallace, the third in order of birth, lost his life in a railroad accident on the Vandalia line in November, 1905. The others in order of birth are: Thomas, of this review ; Milo C., who died July 12, 1908; Stephen W., who is living in Perry township; Annie O., the wife of Frank Barker, a resident of Staunton, Clay county; and Oscar, who is living in Brazil. After losing his first wife, the father married again, his second union being with Miss Emma Ewart, whom he wedded in 1883. She was born in Ohio and by this marriage became the mother of six children : Ora E., who is engaged in teaching school; Mrs. Osa O. Kibler; Mona; Maud; Everett ; and Ansil.
A native son of this county, Thomas Phillips was educated in the district schools of Perry township. He lost his mother when about fifteen years of age, and afterward worked at farm labor until he reached the age of twenty years, subsequent to which time he was employed at book- keeping in Indiana, Kansas and Colorado. In 1891 he accepted the posi- tion of deputy county auditor of Clay county, continuing in the office until February, 1894, when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the office of county auditor as successor to Matt R. Yocom. He held that position until 1804, when he was elected to the office for a four years' term. His previous experience as deputy well qualified him for the duties of the position, which he discharged with accuracy, fidelity and promptness. When retired from the office he engaged in contract work, building gravel roads for some time, and later he engaged in the real estate, abstract and loan business, in which he is now engaged as senior partner of the firm of Phillips & Weaver at Brazil. He has supervision of a portion of the real estate interests of the Vandalia Railroad Company and has a large clientage in the various departments of his business, having met with success since entering this field of activity.
On the 30th of December, 1891, Mr. Phillips was married to Miss Katie Stewart, who was born in Brazil, January 28, 1873, a daughter of Robert S. and Rebecca ( Brackney) Stewart, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Phillips is a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 264. A. F. & A. M .; the Elks Lodge, No. 762. His political alle- giance is given to the Democracy, and in its ranks he is an active worker, doing much for its support and for the promotion of its interests. The fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood until the present time is an indication that his has been an honorable, straightforward career.
ALBERT PAYNE .- One of the leading attorneys of Brazil. Clay county, and a man of thoroughly disciplined mind and strong character, Albert Payne is a striking example of the American citizen who has attained a substantial position in his community without the aid of a broad educa- tion obtained within the walls of the school room. At the age of fifteen, family circumstances were such that he left the school room as a pupil forever, and since that time his career has been a manly and successful struggle for self-improvement and honorable self-advancement.
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Mr. Payne was born in Jackson township, Clay county, Indiana, on the 26th of December. 1855. a son of Bennett and Ellen ( Mccullough) Payne. The father was a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, born June 6, 1825. and who died on the 22d of July, 1903. The mother was born at Bull's Gap, Tennessee, on the 23d of September, 1825, and died July 22, 1897. Their marriage occurred in Washington township, Putnam county, Indiana, in February, 1849.
Bennett Payne came to Indiana in 1830, being then a child of five years, accompanied by his parents and grandparents. His parents and grandparents on both sides were raised amid the environments of slavery in Kentucky, and came to Indiana at this early date to escape the blighting effects of slavery. The household goods were conveyed into the Hoosier state on pack-horses, and the first family homestead was fixed at a locality a short distance north of Poland, in Clay county. In this wilderness Ben- nett Payne developed into a sturdy frontiersman, married, and built a log house and reared a family to the useful and steadfast ways of the typical Christian pioneer. The father was a cooper by trade, and a general mechanic of fine ability, and was one of the first men in Clay county to engage in the block coal business. He also cultivated and developed a farm of eighty acres, and was, in many ways, a man of remarkable versa- tility in practical achievements. During all his life he was an earnest and active member of the Predestination Baptist church. In politics he was an ardent Whig, his nativity and family influences, from his earliest recollec- tions, welding him to the party and to the personality of its great leader, the brilliant Kentuckian, Henry Clay.
As a boy Albert Payne assisted his father in his coal mining opera- tions, but with the acquirements of sufficient schooling he himself com- menced to teach in Clay and Vigo counties, and continued in the educa- tional field for thirteen years. Notwithstanding his lack of normal train- ing, his success was so unqualified that the last two years of his career as a pedagogue were spent as principal of the Lambert School at Brazil. He then spent a summer in farming and recuperating, and in 1888 was admitted to practice at the Indiana bar at Brazil. The succeeding twelve years were occupied chiefly in various lines of business at Brazil, and in 1900 he removed to his farm in Perry township, Clay county, which he conducted until September 1, 1904.
On the latter date he re-entered the practice of law again at Brazil. which has been both profitable and most creditable to his professional ability. Among his professional associates he is known as an active member of the County Bar Association, and has an influential connection with the following fraternities: Brazil Lodge, No. 264, A. F. and A. M. (past master) ; Brazil Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M. (present high priest ) : Brazil Council, No. 40, R. and S. M., and Brazil Commandery, No. 47. K. T. Both Mr. Payne and his wife are very prominent in the work of William Black Chapter, No. 80, Order of the Eastern Star, of which the former is past worthy patron, and the latter past worthy matron. They are also both leaders in the work of the Methodist church.
On the 22d of February, 1880, Mr. Payne was united in wedlock with Emma A. Nevins, who was born near Rockville, Parke county. Indiana, on the 13th of September, 1859. She is a daughter of David M. and Margaret ( Adams) Nevins, the father born in Parke county. Indiana. and the mother in the state of Kentucky. Mrs. Payne's grandfather. Henry Nevins, settled in Parke county in 1817, and served with General
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Was Many Atreviline Kennedy .
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Maj. R. L. Kennedy
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OF THE OWNERSBY OF ILLINO'S
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Harrison in several of his Indian campaigns. The parents of Mrs. Payne were married in Parke county, Indiana, in 1852, and five of their eight children are still alive, as below : Ellen, wife of E. M. Liston : Emma A., Mrs. Albert Payne: Amanda, now Mrs. Reuben Brown: Clara, who married William O. Richey ; and Sarah, wife of Clifford Elliott. David M. Nevins is a Baptist minister who has spent his life in forwarding the work of his church in Vigo and Parke counties, and is now a resident of Black- hawk, in the former county. He lost his first wife by death, his present helpmate being known before marriage as Sarah McGruce. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Payne have become the parents of eight children, of whom three are living-Warren E., who is now in the practice of law with his father (he is a graduate of the Brazil high school and was admitted to the bar . on his twenty-first birthday, he being the youngest attorney admitted in Clay county ) ; Reynold G., who is a midshipman in the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, representing the Fifth congressional district of Indiana ; and Oran. Allen R., who died at the age of twenty- three, served in the Spanish-American war as a member of Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers.
JUDGE JOHN M. RAWLEY, circuit judge of the thirteenth judicial dis- trict. comprising Putnam and Clay counties, was born in Clay county, Indiana, April 6, 1862, and educated in the Central Normal College of Danville, Indiana. He studied law and taught school for eight years, being principal of the Carbon school the last three years he taught. In 1891 he opened a law office in Brazil, Indiana, with Thomas W. Hutchi- son, which relation existed until Mr. Rawley was elevated to the bench in 1906. The Judge is a member of Brazil Lodge, No. 30, of the Knights of Pythias fraternity ; of Knights and Ladies of Honor, Zenith Lodge, No. 169. He has acted as Grand Protector of the Indiana jurisdiction and is at present one of the Supreme Lodge representatives. He is also a member of the Brazil Lodge, No. 762. of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In his religious faith and profession he is of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and in politics he is a supporter of true Democracy.
Judge Rawley was married December 25, 1901, to Miss Lenore Sco- field, who was born in Illinois, September 19, 1875, daughter of John and Nancy Scofield. One daughter has been born of this union-Nancy Josephine, whose birth occurred December 25, 1903.
Concerning the parentage of Judge Rawley, it may be stated that his . father was John C. and his mother Nancy A. (Torr) Rawley. The father died at the age of seventy-three years in 1895. The mother is living at Terre Haute, Indiana, aged eighty-two years. This worthy couple were the parents of four sons and four daughters, John M. being the fifth child in the family. The father was a farmer in Clay county for many years, having settled there in 1848. He was a native of Putnam county, Indiana, where the city of Greencastle now stands being his birthplace, he being the first white child born in that locality. The date of his birth was March 25, 1822. He became a justice of the peace and served in that capacity for twelve years in Clay county. He owned. a four-hundred- acre farm in Clay county. Politically he was a staunch supporter of the Democratic party.
RUFUS LINCOLN KENNEDY. one of the most gifted and honored sons of Clay county, is the proprietor of the beautiful home known as Cedar
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Hall, named by Governor Mount, who visited him and christened his beautiful home. The Governor also made him his aide-de-camp, with the military rank of major. and he was associated with him during his term of service, and during Governor Durbin's tenure of office he was appointed secretary of the board of trustees for the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane, on which he served for three years, and during one year was president of the board. In 1862 Mr. Kennedy enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining the Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in the spring of 1864 re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-third Vol- unteer Infantry, while later he was connected with the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Indiana Volunteers, and served with those regiments until the close of the war.
Mr. Kennedy is a member of one of the oldest and most prominent of Clay county's families and was born in what is now Center Point, April 10, 1846. He is a son of Martin Hugh and Susan ( Rawlings) Kennedy, born respectively in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1813, and in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, in 1815, and a grandson of William and Sarah (Russell) Kennedy, of Scotch-Irish descent. His grandfather Rawlings was a soldier in the war of 1812. Martin H. and Susan Kennedy were married in Parke county, Indiana, and came to Clay county when this section of country was covered with timber, Mr. Kennedy starting at once to clear away the timber, and he erected one of the first saw mills here- in fact. was the very first to erect any kind of buildings here. He entered a number of acres from the government and also bought all the land on which Center Point has since been built, owning in all about seven hun- dred acres in this vicinity. He was a man of unblemished character, with clean temperament and habits. Ever generous and hospitable, his death was mourned by all when he passed away in June of 1897. His wife had died previously, in June, 1893, and they had nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to years of maturity, and seven are now living.
Rufus L. Kennedy, the fifth born, received an excellent educational .training in his youth, passing from the public schools to the Westfield, Illinois, College, and thence to the Normal of Center Point conducted by William Travis, the historian of the Twentieth Century History of Clay County, Indiana. After the completion of this excellent training, he taught school in Center Point two years, and in the meantime read law with Carter & Coffley for two years ; but his father then needing his services to superintend his farming interests, he returned to the farm and was thus employed for over twenty years. In the meantime he was also in the real estate business. During the past three years he has been closing out his interests, his time being principally devoted to looking after his farming interests, and he is also the secretary of the Center Point Brick Works. He was admitted to the bar of Clay county as one of its honored members about 1881.
On the 9th of April. 1874. Mr. Kennedy was married to Mary Alven- tine Givens, who was born in Paris, Illinois, May 14, 1856, a daughter of William and Eliza Jane ( White) Givens, the father born in Tennessee and the mother in Kentucky. The father was one of the early ministers in the United Brethren church, and he yet preaches in Center Point. He was born in 1827 and his wife in 1828. The father is yet living, but the mother. Eliza Jane Givens, died in Center Point, Indiana, July 4. 1908. She joined the United Brethren church in 1855, and was active in Chris-
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Martin H. Kennedy
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tian work until disabled by affliction. When her husband entered the active ministry as an itinerant, in 1860, she willingly and cheerfully ac- cepted the sacrifices, labors and anxieties of an itinerant minister's life, sharing with him the defeats and victories of the glorious warfare which, with her, ended in triumph over death and in a victor's crown.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are: Addie G., who was born in 1875 and died in 1882: Frederick R., born February 10, 1887. cashier of the office of the O. S. L. Railroad Company, and is a resident of Elgin. Oregon ; Bertha Lucile, born November 7. 1879, married Jesse A. Miller, and died in February, 1906; and Stanley H., born in September, 1886, is in the government reclamation service at Natchez, Washington. Mr. Kennedy has been more or less associated with farmers' insti- tutes and has served as president of the Clay County Farmers' Institute for four years. He is an active worker for the Republican party, and is a member of Governor Mount Post. G. A. R., of Center Point, of which he was one of the organizers, and has served in all of its offices, and since 1906 has held the office of patriotic lecturer. He is also a member of the Uniformed Rank of Knights of Pythias, and is a Mason of high standing, affiliating with the Scottish Rite, of Indianapolis, the Knights Templar of Brazil, and the blue lodge, No. 597, at Center Point, Indiana. He is also an earnest and efficient member of the United Brethren church, active in the work of Christianity. He has served as either a teacher or as superintendent of the Sunday-school during the past forty years, and was president of the Clay County Association for four years. Mr. Kennedy has in his possession one of the old parchment deeds, executed August 1, 1839, under the hand and seal of President Martin Van Buren.
FRED SCHULTZ .- For many years Fred Schultz was numbered among the prosperous and progressive agriculturists of Cass township, but now, in partnership with William W. Huber, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, he is successfully engaged in the milling business at Poland. A son of William Schultz, he was born September 19, 1862, in Owen county, Indiana. where he received a practical common school education.
A native of Germany, William Schultz emigrated to the United States in 1829. being then about eleven years old, his birth having occurred in 1818. He subsequently located in Owen county, Indiana, where he entered a tract of wild land and from which he improved a good homestead. Industrious and thrifty, he became very successful as a farmer, and was an extensive landholder, owning land in both Owen and Clay counties. He died on his home farm in Owen county in 1901 at a venerable age. He was twice married. He married first a Miss Kattman, of German descent. and of their union three daughters and two sons were born, Fred, the subject of this brief sketch. being the youngest child. By his second marriage he had five children also, three sons and two daughters.
Becoming well drilled in agriculture when young. Fred Schultz re- mained at home until twenty-three years old, when he moved to Cass township and rented his father's farm, of which he had charge for a number of years, in his operations being exceedingly prosperous. In 1901 Mr. Schultz bought an interest in the mill of Mr. Huber at Poland and has since been associated with him in business, being part proprietor of one of the leading industries of the place. This millsite is one of the oldest in this section of Clay county, and is liberally patronized, its customers coming here from many miles around.
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Mr. Schultz married, April 21. 1887. Ella Harrison. She was born in Owen county. Indiana, where her parents, John and Amanda ( Coch- ran ) Harrison spent their lives. Politically Mr. Schultz is an influential member of the Democratic party. Religiously he is a valued member of the German Reformed church. Fraternally he belongs to Poland Lodge, No. 364. K. of P., in which he has filled all the chairs, and he is one of its punctual members.
MARK WASHINGTON PARKINS,-Although a native son of the south- land, born in Virginia, August 14, 1840, Mark W. Parkins has been a resident of Indiana since the Civil war period, coming to this state in the early part of the year of 1864 and for twelve years was a resident of Brazil, where he worked at the carpenter's trade. At the close of that period. in 1877, he moved to his present homestead in Posey township. Clay county, at first purchasing a tract of one hundred and forty acres, of which he cleared about twenty-five. His estate now embraces four hun- dred acres of rich and valuable land in Jackson, Posey and Brazil town- ships, and the many improvements which are now located thereon are the result of his splendid business ability and perseverance. He was for- merly the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Harrison township, near the Eel River station, and after improving the tract he sold it for eight thousand dollars.
Mr. Parkins is a son of Benniah Parkins, whose home was in Virginia from birth until death. His wife, Amanda Bruffee, was also a native of that commonwealth, and they were of English and Irish descent and the parents of thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters, all of whom also claimed Virginia as the state of their nativity, and Mark Washington was the third born. Mr. Parkins, the father, was both a Whig and a Republican in his political affiliations, and he was a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Before leaving his native southland Mark W. Parkins enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of Company B, Twenty- sixth Virginia Infantry, a member of the division known as Edgar's Battalion of the Confederate army. His services continued until the 5th of September. 1863. and in the meantime, at Clav Court House, he was taken prisoner and was paroled from Charleston in 1863. Shortly after returning from the war, as above stated, he came to Indiana and has since been identified with its business and agricultural interests, his homestead farm being one of the best in Posey township.
In 1867 Mr. Parkins was married to Lizzie Kidd, the widow of Joseph Kidd. and she died in 1874, after becoming the mother of two daughters, Mary and Nellie, by her second marriage. In 1875 Mr. Par- kins wedded Melissa Brown, who was born in Clay county, a daughter of Michael Houk and the widow of George Brown. Michael Houk was one of the pioneer farmers of Dick Johnson township. The six children of this union, two sons and four daughters, were born on the present home- stead farm. They are Lizzie. Nora. Loring. Chauncey. Delpha. and one that died in infancy. Mr. Parkins is an active and efficient member of the United Brethren church, in which he is serving as one of the trustees.
JOHN FREDERICK AHLEMEYER, late of Cass township, Clay county. was for many years known throughout this vicinity as an industrious and enterprising farmer. a faithful citizen, a kind neighbor and a loving hus-
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band and father. He was born in Prussia, Germany, September 21, 1823. and his death, which occurred August 17, 1898, at the homestead where he had so long resided, was a cause of general regret. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Labedach) Ahlemeyer, emigrated with their family from Germany to Maryland in 1832. The following year they settled in Cin- cinnati, Ohio, from there coming a few years later to Wayne county, Indiana. near Philoma Postoffice, and thence to Cass township, Clay county, where they bought at first eighty acres of wild land. They subse- quently bought other land, and on the homestead they improved spent the remainder of their lives, his death occurring in January, 1850, and hers the following August.
The only child of his parents, John Frederick Ahlemeyer succeeded to the ownership of the homestead which he had assisted in clearing, and for thirty years after his marriage lived in the house which his father built. In 1881 he built the pleasant two-story, eight-room house, which is advantageously located, having an extensive view. and, with its beau- tiful grove of pine and ornamental trees, enhances the value and attrac- tiveness of the landscape. The homestead is known as "The Ahlemeyers." Inheriting in a marked degree the industry and thrift characteristic of his German ancestors, he was very successful in his agricultural labors, adding to the area of his farm until he became owner of three hundred and seventy-five acres of rich and fertile land, a large part of which he placed under cultivation. In addition to general farming, Mr. Ahlemeyer raised fine horses, mules, Hereford cattle, sheep and Poland-China hogs, as a stock-raiser being fortunate. A man of sterling integrity and worth. he was held in high esteem by his many friends and associates, of whom a very large number followed his body to its last resting place in the Reformed Church cemetery, one mile south of Poland.
On October 23, 1851, Mr. Ahlemeyer married Hannah Sonnefield, who was born January 1, 1831, in Prussia, Germany. Her father, William Sonnefield, was born December 12, 1791, and her mother, whose maiden name was Catherine Ahlemeyer, was born in 1792 and died in 1851.
These children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Ahlemeyer, namely : Cornelia. Edward, Otto, Theodore F., William Calvin, George Emmo, Laura Lenora, Oscar, Nora Amelia, and Lafayette B. Seven of these children have passed to the higher life, and three are living : George E., Nora A. and Lafayette B. George E. Ahlemeyer, born March 20, 1863. married, March 25, 1888, Clara C. Tapy, by whom he had three children, namely : Paul R., born March 4, 1890; Ruth Elmira and Carl A., twins. born September 24, 1897. His wife died March 2, 1899, and since that time Mr. Ahlemeyer has resided on the home farm with his widowed mother. Nora Amelia, born September 21, 1869, married, August 12, 1892, William O. Tapy. For five years thereafter she resided in Terre Haute, and then went to Denver, Colorado, where the death of Mr. Tapy occurred on December 3, 1899. Since that time she and her only living child, Virgil Harold Tapy, born February 6, 1896, have resided with her mother on the Ahlemeyer homestead. One child, Clayborn A., died Sep- tember 17. 1899, aged almost three years. Lafayette B. Ahlemeyer, born July 31, 1878, resides on the old homestead, assisting in its management.
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