A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 15

Author: William Travis
Publication date: 1909
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 631

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Janus. F. Lankford

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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

Left an orphan at 'an early age, Walker Lankford was bound out to a wood worker, from whom he learned the trade of a carpenter and cabinet maker. In 1818, during the trouble with the Seminole Indians in Florida, he enlisted as a soldier, and served under that gallant hero, General Andrew Jackson. While in the army he formed the acquaint- ance of a charming Southern girl, Polly Williams, the daughter of an Alabama planted and slave owner. This daughter, whom he subsequently married, inherited from her father eleven slaves. Mr. and Mrs. Walker Lankford afterwards removed to Kentucky, taking with them six of these slaves, having freed five of them. In 1832 they made another removal, coming to Clay county and locating in Harrison township, where the grandfather bought land lying about one mile west of the present site of Middlebury, and established the first distillery in this part of the county. He improved a good homestead, and there resided until his death in 1848. His wife survived him a number of years. They had a large family of children, and their posterity is numerous.

Born and reared in Rockcastle county, Kentucky, Harvey Lankford was twenty-two years old when he came with the family to Harrison township. Familiar with agriculture from his boyhood, he. soon pur- chased a tract of land not far from his father's homestead, and was there engaged in farming for a number of years. Turning his attention subsequently to mercantile pursuits, he was employed in the grocery business at Middlebury until the breaking out of the Civil war. He then enlisted in the Forty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but in a short time was transferred to the Second Ohio Battery, sent South, and died while in service at St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried in the town- ship cemetery in this city. His wife, whose maiden name was Delilah Cooprider, was born in Harrison township, Clay county, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (White) Cooprider, and granddaughter of Peter Coop- rider, of whom a more extended account may be found on another page of this volume in connection with the sketch of John Cooprider. She survived him, and married for her second husband John Dalton, and lived to the venerable age of eighty-eight years. She reared by her first marriage three children, James F .; William; and Polly, who mar- ried Joseph Francis. By her marriage with Mr. Dalton she also had three children, Mahala, John and Nannie.

In 1861, although but sixteen years of age, James F. Lankford offered his services to his country, enlisting in Company G, Fifty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Going to the front with his regiment, he participated in all of its marches, campaigns and battles, marching with Sherman to Atlanta and on to the sea, thence through the Carolinas and Virginia to Washington, where he took part in the Grand Review. Subsequently with his regiment he was honorably discharged from the service July 17, 1865, at Indianapolis. Returning home, Mr. Lankford learned the trades of a carpenter and wagon maker, the latter of which he followed successfully for more than a score of years, his only inter- ruption being the two years, from 1880 until 1882, when he served as sheriff of Clay county. In 1889 Mr. Lankford opened a general store in Middlebury, and has since carried on a thriving business, his stock embracing a choice line of groceries and general merchandise.

Mr. Lankford married, December 19, 1872, Calista M. Ecret, who was born in Bowling Green, Clay county, a daughter of Wesley and Rebecca Ecret, natives respectively of New Jersey and Indiana. Nine

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children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lankford, namely : Pius, Flora, Elva, Letha, James B., Bertha, Otto, Frances and Harvey. Pius married Alma Baumgartner, and they have two children, Albert Leroy and Kedrick. Flora married first Carry Moody, by whom she had one child, Mary Moody, and married second William Bond, by whom she has two children, Willie and Helen. Elva, wife of Daniel K. Kittle, has one daughter, Glenna Alberta. Letha married John Everett, and has one son, Herman Wayne. Frances was drowned when in the thirteenth year of her age. Politically Mr. Lankford is a straight- forward Republican, and was the second member of his party to be elected sheriff of Clay county. In the spring of 1881 he proposed to the county commissioners, Messrs. William Buckalew, Adam B. Moon and Archibald Love, that maple trees be set out around the court house in Brazil, that there might be a nice grove in the future. They dis- couraged the idea, but Lankford, in true Andrew Jackson style, said: "By the eternal I will be sheriff of Clay county two years, and I will see that these trees are taken care of and watered." So the grove was set out, and to-day, in 1909. there is a beautiful grove there. Religiously Mrs. Lankford is a faithful member of the United Brethren Church.

PETER MILLER .- Among those who came to Clay county during an early epoch in its history is numbered the Miller family, and from those early days to the present its representatives have been identified with its agricultural and business interests. Peter Miller, a member of this honored pioneer family, had his nativity in Posey township, born on the 15th of November, 1863, the third born of the nine children in the family of Nicholas Miller, whose genealogy is given on other pages of this work. At the time of his father's death Peter Miller came into possession of eighty acres of the homestead farm, and he has cleared twenty acres of this tract and has made all of the many improvements which gives it prestige among the estates of Posey township.

The marriage of Mr. Miller was celebrated in 1887, when Martha Logsdon became his wife. She, too, was born in Posey township and is a member of another of its prominent early families. Her father, Law- rence Logsdon, was for many years one of the prominent farmers of Posey township, taking up his abode here in an early day in its his- tory, and he is also represented elsewhere in this work. His daughter Martha is the fourth born of his six children, all born in this township, and she was educated in its district schools. Two children, a son and a daughter, Grace May and Charles Peter, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Miller has given a life-long support to the principles of the Democratic party.

ELIJAH TRESSEL .- Possessing in an eminent degree those qualities that command respect in the business world and win the esteem and respect of the people, Elijah Tressel occupies a position of prominence among his many friends and associates. He has spent a busy and use- ful life, and is now living somewhat retired from active pursuits, hav- ing a pleasant winter home at No. 118 South Thirteenth street, Terre Haute, but spending his summers on his beautiful farming estate in Cass township. Clay county, the management of which he personally superintends. A son of George Tressel, Jr., he was born in Carroll

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county, Ohio, January 8, 1847, where his earlier years were spent. His grandfather, George Tressel, Sr., migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in pioneer times, and there spent his remaining years.

George Tressel, Jr., was born in Pennsylvania October 7, 1812, and when a boy moved with the family to Ohio. He there married Sarah Moughiman, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Henry Moughiman, and began life as a farmer in Carroll county. Disposing of his Ohio land in March, 1864, he came to Clay county, Indiana, bought a tract of partly timbered land, and on the farm which he im- proved resided until his death, April 24, 1868. His wife, who was born June 3, 1816, in Pennsylvania, died October 18, 1874. They were the parents of twelve children, seven boys and five girls, of whom the fol- lowing are now living: Adam, of Terre Haute; John, of Bowling Green; Delila, wife of Steward Drake, of whom a brief sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Elijah, the subject of this sketch; Jemima, wife of Monroe Payton, of Iowa ; and Leander D., of Owen county, Indiana.

Seventeen years of age when he came with the family to Indiana, Elijah Tressel remained with his parents two years, and then began life as a teacher, having charge of schools in Parke county, Indiana, and in Poland and vicinity, continuing his professional labors for three years. The following five years he was employed as a clerk in the store of his brother Adam in Poland. Then, in company with Henry Katt- man, he bought his brother's store, and for fourteen years he and his partner carried on a flourishing business as general merchants. Mr. Tressel then sold out his interest in the store to William F. Kattman, and a year later bought out his former partner, Henry Kattman, and at the end of five years sold his share of the business to his partner, William F. Kattman, since when he has lived retired from mercantile pursuits. An able business man, honest and upright in his dealings, Mr. Tressel accumulated money, and subsequently invested in land, buying two hundred and twenty-one acres in section twenty, Cass town- ship. He also bought for his summer home two hundred and seventy acres of land in section twenty-seven, just north of Poland, in Cass township, purchasing the place from the heirs of his father-in-law, the late Henry Shults, and as a farmer he has met with great success, find- ing pleasure as well as profit in his agricultural work.

On January 26, 1873, Mr. Tressel married Mary E. Shults. She was born in Cass township December 23, 1853, a daughter of Henry and Margaret ( McKeeman) Shults. Her father was born in Ger- many, and her mother at Knightstown, Indiana, near Richmond. Mrs. Tressel died May 10, 1906, and her body was laid to rest in the Poland Cemetery. Seven children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Tressel, namely: Archie R., born July 26, 1874, is a clerk at Poland, Indiana ; Minnie E., born July 30, 1876, is the wife of B. F. Latting, of New York state; Myrtle A., born October 25, 1879, has kept house for her father since the death of her mother; Grace E., born September 1, 1885, died March 10, 1891 ; H. Arthur, born July 19, 1887, is attending a medical college in Chicago; Harry S., born August 3, 1892; and Rob- ert P., born February 28, 1896. Politically Mr. Tressel is a stanch Democrat, and uniformly casts his vote in favor of that party. Fra- ternally he is a member of Bowling Green Lodge, No. 85. A. F. & A. M., and of Poland Lodge, No. 364, K. of P. Religiously he is a Pres-

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byterian, and since 1873 has been an elder in the church, being now as- sociated in that capacity with the Central Presbyterian church in Terre Haute.

PHILIP RAAB .- Conspicuous among the successful business men of Van Buren township is Philip Raab, a well-known butcher and pro- vision dealer, who for a score of years has helped to supply the wants of the people in his community. A native of Clay county, he was born February 7, 1866, in Jackson township, a son of Valentine Raab.

Valentine Raab was born in Germany, where his parents spent their entire lives. Two of his brothers came to this country, one settling in New York city, where he acquired much wealth and where his de- scendants are still living. When twenty-one years old, having previously served for a time in the German Army, Valentine Raab emigrated to the United States, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel and being several weeks on the voyage. After spending a short time in New York city, he lived for a few years in Ohio. In 1864 he came from there to Indiana with his family, locating in Clay county and taking up land in Jackson township. A few acres of the land was cleared at the time of purchase and a log house had been erected, this being the birthplace of his son Philip. Industrious and ambitious, he toiled carnestly and wisely, and in course of time had cleared the land of timber and ex- changed the log buildings for those of more pretentious materials. There, on the homestead he had redeemed from the wilderness, he lived until his death, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He married Phebe Lockhart, who was born in Germany and came with her parents to Ohio, where she met and married Mr. Raab. She still lives, being a woman of eighty-five years. She reared eight children, as follows : Catherine; Elizabeth, who married John Diel and died at the age of thirty-eight years; Barbara; John; William; Rosanna; Charles and Philip, of this sketch.

As a boy and youth Philip Raab attended the district school when it was in session, and at other times assisted his father in the labors of the farm. At the age of twenty-three years he began life on his own account, establishing himself as a butcher and provision dealer. Lo- cating at his present stand in South Harmony he rented the place at first, but after two years of success in that line purchased the property, and has since conducted an extensive and exceedingly lucrative business.

In October, 1888, Mr. Raab married Rebecca Boyd, who was born in Jackson township, a daughter of John Boyd, and granddaughter of Philip Boyd, both natives of Ohio. Philip Boyd was one of the early settlers of Clay county, coming here with his family in pioneer times and clearing from the forest the farm on which he resided during his remaining years. John Boyd followed farming during his entire life, dying in this county February 24, 1907, aged seventy-three years. He married Sarah Palm, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Nancy Palm, who came to Clay county as pioneers, and here lived to a good old age. They had a family of seven children, as fol- lows: Esther Ann; Jemima; Charlie: Rebecca, now Mrs. Raab; Joanna ; Sadie; and Edgar. Mr. and Mrs. Raab have five children, namely : Ora, Ray, Earl, Vergil and Catherine. Politically Mr. Raab is a stanch Democrat. Fraternally he is a member of Knightsville Lodge, No. 409, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; and of Shasta Tribe, No. 282, Improved Order of Red Men.

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WILLIAM C. SMITH, one of the thrifty agriculturists tilling the fer- tile soil of Clay county, Indiana, residing in Sugar Ridge township, was born in Anderson county, Kansas, January 8, 1863, a son of William and Mary ( Harrison) Smith. . William Smith, the senior, was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, and the mother of .Owen county, In- diana. The former located in Poland, Clay county, Indiana, in 1850, and engaged in the practice of medicine, having married Elmira Phegley about 1852; she died in 1856, leaving one son, , Powhatan D. Smith, who died in 1889. Mr. Smith for his second wife married Mary Harrison in 1858, and about that date gave up the practice of medicine and moved to Kansas, in which new state he took up the homestead on which his family resided until 1865, when they returned to Riley, Vigo county, Indiana, where he resumed the practice of his profession. In 1890 Dr. Smith moved to Emison, Knox county, Indiana, where he continued his practice for a number of years, dying December 18, 1907, aged eighty-two years. His wife died in Kansas about 1865, leaving two children : Mrs. Martha Weddle, of Clay county, Indiana, who died October 29, 1890, and the subject of this memoir, William C. Smith.

At the age of four years Mr. Smith went to live with G. W. Latham, of Clay county, and remained until he was nineteen years of age. He attended school at three school houses in Cass township, Clay county ; also attended two terms at Valpariso, Indiana. When nineteen years old he set out to see something of the country in which he lived and led somewhat of a roving life until at twenty-five years of age he mar- ried (September 15, 1887) Elizabeth Fensel, daughter of John and Louisa Fensel, of Clay county, Indiana. After his marriage he moved to the farm on which he still lives, which is situated in Sugar Ridge township. In 1890 he purchased the farm, which contains eighty acres in section seven. When Mr. Smith bought this land it was not im- proved and he has made substantial improvements, including ample barns and other necessary buildings ; also added a good five room house, with summer house and kitchen. He has several acres of fruit-bearing trees and bushes which afford an abundance of fruit for family use and marketing purposes. At this date (1908) he is tilling his place in a thorough manner, and designs making it one of the valuable places in the county for its size. His method is to do diversified farming. He is being assisted by Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Robertson, who now live on his farm and with whom he makes his home.

On May 27, 1902, Mrs. Smith died, leaving one son, Robert H. Smith. On November 25, 1903, Mr. Smith married Mrs. Xenia Fogle, daughter of John C. and Melisia Moss, of Sugar Ridge township, and who died February 7, 1907.

WALTER COVINGTON DUNCAN, M. D .- Among the representative business men of Harrison township is Walter C. Duncan, M. D., a well- known druggist of Clay City. A native of Indiana, he was born October 13, 1855, at Noblesville, Hamilton county. He comes from substantial Scotch ancestry, being a lineal descendant in the fifth generation from the immigrant ancestor, the line of descent being thus traced: Coleman, Daniel Coleman, Henry Coleman, Coleman Covington, and Walter Cov- ington.

Coleman Duncan, who was born in Dumfrieshire, Scotland, came with his brother George to America in colonial days, settling in Virginia,

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where he lived during the remainder of his life. Daniel Coleman Duncan removed with his family from Virginia to Kentucky, becoming a pioneer of Hopkinsville, and was there employed in tilling the soil until his death. James Coleman Duncan was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, but was brought up on the Kentucky homestead. When a young man he came to Indiana as a pioneer settler of Hendricks county. Taking up a tract of timbered land three miles north of Salem, in the Fort Red School House district, he reclaimed a farm from the wilderness, on which he resided until his death, and many of his descendants are now living in that vicinity. He was twice married, and was the father of sixteen chil- dren, and as his second wife was a widow with six children when he mar- ried her he had the care of twenty-two children, truly a patriarchal family.

Coleman Covington Duncan was born in 1831, in Hendricks county, Indiana, on the parental homestead. He was reared to agricultural pur- suits, and as a boy eagerly seized every opportunity for increasing his knowledge and advancing his education beyond that obtained in the com- mon schools. When ready to start in life on his own account he em- barked in the mercantile business, for a number of years thereafter being located at Carpentersville, Putnam county, Indiana. From there he went to Otterville, Boone county, Missouri, where he dealt in live stock until after the breaking out of the Civil War. Returning then to this state, he kept a hotel at Greencastle for a number of years, and then engaged in the marble business in Illinois, first in Salem, and later in Vandalia. Giving up that business, he again came back to Indiana, and after a short residence in Brazil settled in Clay City, and here spent his last days, dying at the age of seventy-three years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Glen, was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, sixty-seven years ago, a daughter of William A. and Mary ( Mckenzie) Glen. Her par- ents were both born in Virginia, of colonial ancestry, and were among the earlier settlers of Hendricks county. Of the children born to Coleman C. and Elizabeth Duncan, four grew to maturity, as follows: Walter C., the subject of this sketch; James William; Mary ; and Frank.

Walter C. Duncan received his early education in the public schools, and at the age of nineteen years began the study of medicine with Dr. R. H. Hogan, then one of the leading practitioners of Salem, Illinois. He subsequently attended lectures at the Saint Louis Medical College from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1876. The ensuing year Dr. Duncan practiced with his former preceptor, and then located in Vandalia, Illinois, where he was in active practice for eight years. Removing then to Smithboro, Illinois, he was there located as a physician for three years, in his professional career meeting with suc- cess. Coming to Clay City in 1889, the Doctor purchased a drug busi- ness which he has conducted most successfully ever since.

Dr. Duncan married, in 1889, Mrs. Elizabeth ( Perkins) Brown, who was born in Bond county, Illinois, a daughter of Henry and Mary Per- kins. By her marriage with Mr. Brown, Mrs. Duncan has one child, William Brown, of Millbury Grove, Bond county, Illinois.

CURTIS G. SCOFIELD, one of the strong and able lawyers practicing at the Brazil bar, is a native of Illinois and a son of John and Nancy C. Scofield, in whose family were seven children, Lenore, Bernard A., Curtis G., Amy, Nannie, Blanch and John, Jr. The father is supervisor for the Vandalia Railroad Company, having been associated with the com-

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pany for thirty-five years, or more. He is widely esteemed in Brazil be- cause of his reliability in his business relations and the many excellent traits of character which he displays.

Reared in Brazil, Curtis G. Scofield pursued his education in the city schools, passing through consecutive grades until he became a high-school student. When his more specifically literary education was completed, he began preparation for the bar and matriculated in the Indiana Law School at Indianapolis, Indiana, and graduated with honors. Having se- cured his admission to the bar, he entered upon practice in the city and was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney of the thirteenth dis- trict in 1904. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases, have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its con- duct. His arguments have elicited warm commendation not only from his associates at the bar but also from the bench.

Mr. Scofield wedded Miss Anna Brattin, a daughter of D. W. Brat- tin. She was born in Brazil February 26, 1882. Theirs is an attractive home, whose hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. They have one child, Lucia Caroline, born July 4. 1907. Mr. Scofield is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Elks.

JOHN CLARENCE GREGG, the present capable and obliging postmaster of Brazil, Indiana, was born in Milroy, Rush county, Indiana, January 15, 1871, and was educated at the high schools of his adopted town- Brazil, graduating with the class of 1888. He is the son of John Carson and Susan A. ( Welty) Gregg. The father was born on a farm in Green county, Ohio, and is now living in Brazil. The subject's mother was born in Oxford, Ohio. John Carson Gregg was educated at Oxford college, in Ohio, and soon after his marriage removed to Indiana, locat- ing in Rush county, where he taught school. He came to Brazil in 1877 and took charge of the Brazil high school as its superintendent and re- mained there for twenty years, he being the originator of the Brazil high school system. He is in the employ of the United States government at present as store-keeper for the Internal Revenue offices at Terre Haute, Indiana. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order, and has held the office of Noble Grand in his lodge. He served in the Union army in the days of the Civil war, as a member of an Ohio volunteer infantry regi- ment, and belongs to General Canby Grand Army Post. In his church affiliations, he is connected with the Presbyterian church in which he is an elder. Politically, he is a staunch Republican. By his marriage to Susan A. Welty the following children were born: William B. died aged twelve years; Nellie K., wife of B. F. Crawford: Lillie J., now Mrs. James Simms of Brazil; Dr. Joseph W., located in Brazil, Indiana; John Clarence, of this review.

Soon after completing his education, John C. Gregg learned the machinist's trade with Crawford & McCimmon Co., with which firm he remained between fourteen and sixteen years, and January 18, 1905, re- ceived his commission as postmaster of Brazil, from President Roosevelt, and is the present incumbent. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and politically, is a supporter of the Republican party, in which organiza- tion he has taken an active part for the last fifteen years ; has been chair- man of the city central committee; also chairman of the county central

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A History of Clay County Indiana (Volume 2), Part 15

Author: William Travis Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Number of Pages: 631

Author: William Travis
Publication date: 1909
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 631